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Forum Uprising I like this post, but I have no problem with the posters. My only problem with this site is we have a lot of fan boys on here. They copy and paste something to get points and then when someone combats them or proves them wrong, the get angry and give negatives and stuff. This forum is about basketball and when you have an open forum for discussion not everyone will agree with you. That's why I think the points system should be done away with. Let's just talk basketball without inflating some people's egos. On certain posts you can be guaranteed negatives even if you're right. Mention Austin Rivers, compare Perry Jones III game and college stats to Rudy Gay's in college. Say something about anyone one day being better than Michael Jordan(I'm sorry, one day MJ won't be the greatest anymore, get over it), Talk about good qualities in Darko Milicic, Comparing Carmelo Anthony and Kevin Durant, really any argument about Carmelo. Those are just examples of posts that you'll get negative points on no matter what you say. Do away with the point system and the trolls and this website will be returned to former glory. This forum needs a hero........ Unfortunately, you'll have to settle for me So, work has been hectic. I got a couple of minutes to check up on the site during my break. A great/heated topic about Kobe not being a top 5 player or something which was a great read btw. Im not gunna bring up anything. I also read ProudGrandpa's next chapter in his popcorn story, good stuff bro. I've seen this fool GangBangLilWayne absolutely tearing up the forums with some great comments! Unfortunately, I wish he was speaking English so I can understand him. Ah well, to quote Big Johnny, "I wish you best in all your future endeavors"....but please never have kids for the love of humanity! Haven't seen much McDunkin' actually. Maybe I missed it. Oh and Leroy's neighbor! Love the concept of your username...but Leroy is just too much. Still, orginality has been noted so +1 in life my friend. Here are the top 3 users on this site in no particular order. I May Be Wrong I May Be Batman I May Be BASED Just kidding, don't soil your depends you oldies. I got love for all y'all who make this site creative. And to the trolls, ehh its cool too. You guys suck but I need some good laughs sometimes just to remind myself that I'm not as dumb as I think I am sometimes. Top 11 (cuz I'm unique) personal favorites in no particular order its just people that I've noticed and have always loved what they bring to the site (whether its knowledge, topics, links, GIFs, etc). - YupYup - Leroy - Tongue Out Like 23 - Aamir - JoeWolf - MikeyV - CuzzCuzz - RUDEBOY_ - J-Nix - ProudGranda - McDUNKIN (aka the man who made me who I am today) lol ehh plenty more but y'all are the only I can remember off the top hahaha I normally ignore trolls, but this is comedy. This "troll" has the odasity to call someone else a troll. You've watched the site for years, but just joined the site two days ago... And you have the nerve to call out users who've brought it consistently and contributed to the site for years? "Time to give credit to the users who actually talk basketball..." That'd be over half of the people you just called out. And while we're on "talking basketball".... This thread sure falls under that category. Threads and posts like these are the only negatives about this site. It's clear you're a banned user or somebody who got their cyber feelings hurt. Everything I have said is true and at least 9 people agree with me. I come here for my basketball fix and lately I have had to go other places because this site has become a joke. I made this more to recognize the non famous posters who contribute to this site, but do not get the praise or recognition that they deserve. Funny thing is in this thread we have Indiana talking down to me and being an elitists. BangBangwayne trolling it up and RudeBoy coming in with an idiot joke and saying I am Leroy. We also have davidstern coming in here with a girl's a$$ as his profile picture. Why? This is a basketball site and that would not be acceptable no any other site. The only reason you have that is probably to get points and unfortunatly it looks like it is not working out for you. Thank you to the posters who actually did what this post was intended to do. I shall add Surve and Siggy to the team J-Nixon and NoMoney are well known and pretty great. I am an elitist on this site pretty often so I'm not going to complain that you called me one. To be honest, I've actually thought of making a post recognizing the lesser known posters but I stopped posting as much and didn't. Surve,Paradigm,Siggy,Providence Friars,ItsDwightHoward,BloodShy,JoeCheck,220 and some others are very Underrated..Becuz they arent Controversial or talk down to other posters,they just talk ball and they know their stuff....And i always look forward to reading their Posts and they might this forum interesting and everyone appreciate their work... But i find it strange that you '''Trevor''',made a post about people being elitists,idiots,point whores and trolls and not writing about basketball when your very first post and this post, isnt basketball related at all... Haven't been posting much of late because of school, but I hope the forum picks up steam with the season starting, posts like these are annoying but this particular one is rather comical. But some of my favorite posters are Bloodshy and Mr. 19134. They haven't been posting much of late, but when they did, they were my favorite posters. Seriously, I have no idea. All I know is, this has been a slow off-season and that we have a lot of complaining and off-topic things on the main board with very little interactive basketball content, at least as compared to the past. I guess I can't change the way certain people feel about me, but I will say what I do is try and make this forum a better place. The way I do it is not everyones cup of tea, some may feel I am talking down to people, just know that if you have actual constructive feedback (which I at the very least try to provide, rather than saying "you copy things and you write too much", which are not constructive in the least as I credit my sources and that you are obviously not an editor telling what to leave out), usually am up for it. People respond to criticism in different ways, definitely understand not everyone wants to be told what to do. Just feel that when I tell someone to credit a source or point something out as a possible suggestion, is that really talking down to them? To me, it is attempting to strengthen content and make people as informed as possible by sharing primary sources, or at the very least a news source. I do not find plagiarism cool, so at the very least I try to credit wherever I get a story or fact that may not originally be mine. Think that this is just a good habit to get into and all in all, can give whoever reads it that same information I read, or verify a source for a story. Well, just kind of wanted to clarify that. If someone thinks I am talking down to them, it more than likely is not my intention. Just know that their is always room for improvement and if you want to post great content with positive results, or like many people on here aspire to be writers or show off their knowledge of basketball, than sometimes I may provide advice or pointers. Never MAKE people take it and usually leave the choice up to you whether you want to. So, if you do have pointers of how I could be less "elitist", or how anyone else could, that would be much appreciated to probably anyone on that list. If not, you are just basically giving no real constructive criticism and writing people off. Feel that is sort of unfair and would just hope that maybe we could get to a mutual understanding as fans of basketball, not to mention the NBADraft.net message board. The only point I want to add is there are too many / fan boys or what I consider nut hungers ..... I notice some guys acting like Andrew Wiggins is the second coming of Jordan combined with LBJ... Anyone who offers an option that we should wait at least until he plays a single game in college, much less NBA before we freak out over him. This opinion gets poster negs like crazy... Watch, I respect the hell out of Wiggins but want him to play in NBA before I go crazy in my adulation .... Then u write everythang u find on da web. . On dem mile long posts.talkin bout u tryining to teach folks . When u bee lookin it up yoself. ;. pretending to bee smart. Thats whut tha fool mean bout talkin down to folks. I should not research things to back up things I am trying to point out? Just saying things the come to my mind without backing up facts, without using a tool we all have access to be being on this site? That would make you not hate everything I write? Or stop calling me me "micky" instead of "mikey"? Well, good to know. Bangbang, seeing that I am one of the many you have an issue with, than I appreciate the feedback or at least attempt at constructive criticism. Just do not find it very viable, am sorry. None of your attempts at constructive criticism have been constructive, usually not basketball related either. Like that you insult the guy that you are trying to back-up as well. I can assure you, I do not use google to look "kool". Just like I hope you do not spell it with a "k" to do the same. @zachb757 and Tongue-Out-Like-23 You know you must be doing something right when the only thing someone can critique in your post is a mispelled word. Is somewhat condescending, is it not? Well, here goes nothing, will try to address both of you and hope this is not taken as disrespect but maybe as just reflection of things we all (myself included) can improve on: @IndianaBasketball: Man, I know you tend to think I have it out for you or something. Really think we have both gotten beyond that and have gained at least a mutual tolerance of one another. Think you are an overall good poster and definitely are respected by many on this board. One thing I just tend to not understand is when someone says a tiny thing about you misspelling a word or maybe someone else doing so, you seem to come down upon them with great vengeance and furious anger (in the loosest sense of the term). Why not just take it in stride? I mean, I f#ck up my grammar every now and than, if someone corrects me for doing so or finds it funny, so be it. Still, this particular case, it was at the very least a tad funny, think you could have gotten a laugh if you just kind of accepted it rather than tried to make the other guys seem ridiculous for pointing it out. @TOL23: Dude, I find calling people "females" or "girls" is just a really lame insult. What is your issue with women, man, lol? Seriously, just do not know why the immediate need to question someone's gender is needed when they write something that may not be associated as, I guess for lack of better term, bad @ss. You have been a member of this board for a long time and I know that you definitely have what is best for it at heart. Maybe, piling onto people is not always needed and not necessarily constructive. Just my thought on the matter and you can take it or leave it. Just find that if you want to really make a statement of disagreement, calling someone a girl is maybe not the best way of going about it. Nor is than telling the person, "no need to get offended kid", as I am sure if someone you did not really well or were in an argument with, who was not necessarily your general acquaintance, might see that as a tad disrespectful. Sorry if this is stepping on peoples toes, you guys are just two posters I know and actually care enough about to voice my possible concerns with some ongoing repetitions in your behavior. Feel free to either tell me to f#ck off or to maybe think that I am looking out for both of your best interests. Just hope that we maybe can reflect on things and realize that if we actually give helpful tips to each other, we can all make our lives easier, this board better and maybe, just maybe, not get so far off the beaten path of discussing basketball. Thanks man, glad to hear it, just wanted to hopefully prevent things like this in the future. TOL23, suit yourself. Guess you are above everyone right now, I guess, which is really too bad. For a while, it seemed like you were actually becoming a tad approachable, hope everything is alright, man. One of the biggest d-bag moments I've seen and this is coming from someone nicknamed "Lipstick". Are you a fan of Jersey Shore by any chance? You sound like one. I don't know how it's being a D-Bag by saying another user has a similar writing style as my own and I agree with damn near most of what he writes. On his posts about topics like Eric Gordon, Austin Rivers and a few other ones, I damn near would've written the exact same thing. I like the way he breaks down his points. I've given Siggy credit since his first few posts. For years I have watched this once great forum continue to crumble and fall apart, and I can no longer sit idly by and let this happen. This forum is now run by the 1% and the corrupt. This place is now led by: Enough is enough. These posters have had their time in the sun, but it is over. It is time to give credit to the posters who actually talk baseketball, know what they are talking about, dont care about points, dont talk down to people, etc.... So now I call on the community to nominate and recognize posters who fit the criteria listed above. They shall be the team that brings this forum back to greatness. I shall start by adding Aamir to the team. Aamir gets alot of crap on here for only talking about basketball and maybe liking basketball too much, but this is a basketball forum! Ok Community now it is your turn.... Rise!
Patent application title: High Intensity LED Replacement of Incandescent Lamps Inventors: Raymond G. Janik (Wheaton, IL, US) Carlo Scianna (Des Plaines, IL, US) Carlo Scianna (Des Plaines, IL, US) Ted Lowl Thompson (West Lafayette, IN, US) Assignees: POLYBRITE INTERNATIONAL INC. IPC8 Class: AF21V2100FI USPC Class: 36224902 Class name: Plural light sources with support having light-emitting diode Publication date: 2013-04-04 Patent application number: 20130083533 Abstract: A method of forming a light bulb core, and a light bulb or lamp incorporating the core. The method includes forming a heat sink having at least six working facets located equally on opposite sides of a central plane, and then mounting a light source on each of the working facets. The light sources are mounted on circuit boards, each circuit board corresponding to a respective one of the working facets. The boards are then applied to respective working facets. The bulb is composed of a screw base, an external heat sink mounted in the screw base, and the light bulb core mounted in and extending from the external heat sink. The light source comprises a plurality of light emitting diodes. Claims: 1. A light bulb, comprising a. a screw base, b. an external heat sink mounted in said screw base, c. an internal heat sink extending from said external heat sink, said internal heat sink having at least six working facets, and d. a light emitting source mounted on each working facet. 2. The light bulb according to claim 1, in which said light source comprises a plurality of light emitting diodes (LEDs). 3. The light bulb according to claim 2, in which the LEDs of each facet are mounted on a circuit board secured to the facet. 4. The light bulb according to claim 1, in which said internal heat sink is metal. 5. The light bulb according to claim 1, in which said facets are located in mirror image relationship on opposite sides of a central plane. 6. The light bulb according to claim 5, in which said facets are formed at an angular relationship with one another. 7. A method of forming a light bulb core, comprising the steps of a. forming a heat sink having at least six working facets, said working facets being located equally on opposite sides of a central plane, and b. mounting a light source on each working facet. 8. The method according to claim 7, in which method step "a" includes locating said facets in mirror image relationship on opposite sides of said central plane. 9. The method according to claim 7, in which method step "b" includes the steps of i. locating said light sources on circuit boards, with each circuit board corresponding to a respective one of said working facets, and then ii. applying said circuit boards to the respective one of said working facets. 10. The method according to claim 9, including the step, between method steps "i" and "ii", of electrically connecting said circuit boards to one another. 11. The method according to claim 10, in which, before method step "i", including the steps of forming said circuit boards in a planar array interconnected by frangible tabs, and electrically connecting said circuit boards while in said planar array. 12. The method according to claim 11, including fracturing at least some of said tabs before method step "b". Description: RELATED APPLICATION [0001] This application is the non-provisional filing of provisional U.S. Patent Application Ser. No. 61/333,345, filed May 11, 2010. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002] This invention relates to LED lamps, and in particular to a method of forming a core for an LED lamp, as well as the lamp itself. [0003] Incandescent lamps are slowly being replaced with more modern lamps, including LED lamps. Low intensity LED lamps can provide efficient light without the need for a large heat sink, but as luminosity increases, providing a practical lamp becomes more difficult because a large heat sink is needed to remove heat, not only affecting the aesthetics of the lamp, but also blocking some of the emitted light. [0004] LED lamps are self contained. The power supply for driving the lamps, as well all circuitry, is located within the lamp. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/826,774, filed Jun. 30, 2010, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference, discloses an LED lamp replacement for low power incandescent lamps. It describes an LED lamp that allows light to radiate in a full 360° view angle and maintains the look of an incandescent filament. [0005] Higher intensity LED lamps require dissipation of heat, normally with heat sinks of various types of thermally conductive material. The heat sinks, however, tend to obstruct the light and create dark bands. It is therefore necessary to mount LEDs in a manner that allows light to radiate in all directions, while still dissipating heat. In incorporated application Ser. No. 12/826,774, because of the low power, heat is dissipated through a multi-layered printed circuit board and screw-type lamp base. That is sufficient to keep the LED junction temperature under the maximum rated value set by the manufacturer. However, increasing power requires an external sink for dissipating heat which cannot be adequately channeled through the printed circuit board and lamp base. [0006] For dissipating heat in higher intensity LED lamps, the individual LEDs are mounted on a thermally conductive medium, such as an aluminum plate. However, mounting LEDs on a plate of even nominal thickness will reduce the view angle of the emitted light, resulting in a noticeable band of lower intensity light when projected on a nearby surface. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [0007] The invention is directed to a light bulb or lamp comprising a screw base, an external heat sink mounted in the screw base, and an internal heat sink extending from the external heat sink. The internal heat sink has at least six working facets. A light emitting source is mounted on each of the working facets. [0008] In accordance with the preferred form of the invention, the light source for each working facet comprises a plurality of light emitting diodes. The light emitting diodes of each facet are mounted on a circuit board secured to the facet. Preferably the internal heat sink is metal, such as aluminum, which readily conducts heat from the internal heat sink to the external heat sink and to the screw base. The facets of the internal heat sink are located in a mirror image relationship on opposite sides of a central plane. The facets are formed at an angular relationship to one another. [0009] The light bulb core is formed by a method comprising the steps of forming a heat sink having at least six working facets, with the working facets being located equally on opposite sides of the central plane. A light source is mounted on each of the working facets. Preferably, the facets are formed in mirror image relationship on opposite sides of the central plane. [0010] In mounting a light source on each working facet, the invention includes the steps of locating the light sources on circuit boards, with each circuit board corresponding to a respective one of the working facets, and then applying the circuit boards to the respective one of the working facets. Preferably, the circuit boards are electrically connected to one another before the circuit boards are applied to the working facets. [0011] The circuit boards are formed in a planar array interconnected by frangible tabs. While the circuit boards are in the planar array, they are electrically interconnected. Then, the frangible tabs are fractured as the circuit boards are applied to the working facets. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS [0012] The invention is described in greater detail in the following description of examples embodying the best mode of the invention, taken in conjunction with the drawing figures, in which: [0013] FIG. 1 is an elevational illustration of an LED lamp for replacement of low power incandescent lamps as disclosed in incorporated U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/826,774; [0014] FIG. 2 is a front elevational illustration of the internal heat sink according to the invention as mounted in the external heat sink; [0015] FIG. 3 is a top perspective view of the combination shown in FIG. 2; [0016] FIG. 4A is a side elevational illustration of the combination shown in FIG. 2; [0017] FIG. 4B is a top plan view of the combination shown in FIG. 2; [0018] FIG. 4c is a schematic view similar to FIG. 4A, and showing overlap of the beams of mounted LEDs; [0019] FIG. 4D is a view similar to FIG. 4B, and showing the overlap of beams from mounted LEDs; [0020] FIG. 5 is an isometric view of the planar formation of the printed circuit boards in a printed circuit panel, showing the tabs maintaining the printed circuit boards in place, with all elements mounted thereon; [0021] FIG. 5a is a plan view of FIG. 5, better showing relative dimensions; [0022] FIG. 6A is an isometric elevational illustration of a lamp according to the invention; [0023] FIG. 6B is an isometric view similar to FIG. 6A, but taken from above; [0024] FIG. 6C is a front elevational illustration similar to FIG. 6A; [0025] FIG. 6D is a side elevational illustration of FIG. 6C; [0026] FIG. 7A is a block diagram of a driver using a series dropping resistor to limit input current; [0027] FIG. 7B is a block diagram of a driver using a linear current regulator to limit input current; [0028] FIG. 8 shows the peak LED current that can be set, using the driver of FIG. 7A; [0029] FIG. 9 shows the peak LED current that can be set, using the driver of FIG. 7B; [0030] FIGS. 10, 11 and 12A-12C illustrate how an LED lamp will dim with forward phase TRIAC dimmers for circuits shown in FIGS. 7A and 7B at different dimming angles; and [0031] FIG. 13 shows a circuit according to the invention including use of surge suppressor at the input to limit a temporarily high input voltage and guard against failure. DESCRIPTION OF EXAMPLES EMBODYING THE BEST MODE OF THE INVENTION [0032] Incorporated U.S. patent application Ser. 12/826,774, filed Jun. 30, 2010, describes an A-type lamp with an LED arrangement that allows light to radiate in a full 360° view angle and maintain the look of a typical incandescent filament. One form of that lamp is shown at 10 in FIG. 1, and reference should be made to the incorporated application for greater detail. [0033] FIGS. 2-4 illustrate one form of an external heat sink 12 and internal heat sink 14 of the present invention, with a fully assembled lamp shown in FIGS. 6. The external heat sink 12 is connected to a conventional lamp screw base 16 (FIGS. 6), and may, itself, be conventional and therefore is not described in greater detail. An insulator 15 electrically isolates the external heat sink 12 from the screw base 16. [0034] As is well known, higher power LED lamps require a larger power supply and require temperature dissipation so as to function properly. Typically, temperature dissipation requires a thermally conductive material, but the disadvantage of using a thermally conductive material is that it also obstructs some of the light and creates dark bands. Therefore, were the internal heat sink 14 simply a flat slab of thermally conducting material, such as metal, mounting LEDs on it would lead to unacceptable dark bands or a noticeably lower band of light intensity when projected near a surface. [0035] To overcome the problems of light intensity, the internal heat sink 14 is formed with six working facets as shown in FIGS. 2-4, the working facets being located equally on opposite sides of a central plane 18. Thus, working facets 20, 22 and 24 are located on one side of the plane 18, while working facets 26, 28 and 30 are located on the opposite side. The internal heat sink 14 also has truncated portions 32 and 34 which are not working facets, but rather are simply areas where material does not exist in order to easily accommodate fitting within a transparent glass dome or enclosure, as described in further detail below. [0036] As explained further below, each of the working facets 20-30 includes a light source mounted thereon. While in the preferred embodiment that light source is a series of LEDs, it could, in appropriate circumstances, be a different but similar light source. [0037] The working facets 20-30 are formed in an angular relationship to one another such that beams of light emitting from LEDs mounted thereon overlap and eliminate any dark bands. This is depicted schematically in FIGS. 4C and 4D, where LEDs 36 are schematically shown located on the various facets and the beam angles of the LEDs are also illustrated. While an LED actually illuminates past the beam angle illustrated, the LED beam angle is considered to be that where the light intensity diminishes below 50%. [0038] A typical white LED has a beam angle of 120°-150°. That is shown as the LED beam in FIGS. 4C and 4D. That leads to overlap of the emanated light beams so as to be visually uniform to the viewer, when the working facets 20-30 are appropriately oriented. In a preferred form of the invention, the working facets 20 and 26 are oriented at an external angle of about 150° to the central plane 18. The working facets 22, 24, 28 and 30 are oriented at an external angle of about 168°. Obviously, the angles of the working facets 20-30 may vary, depending on the beam angles of the LEDs being employed. [0039] FIGS. 5 illustrate one form of printed circuit boards that can be used for mounting of the LEDs 36. There, necessarily, is one printed circuit board for each of the working facets 20-30, or therefore six printed circuit boards that are sized to be mounted on their corresponding six working facets. [0040] The printed circuit boards are advantageously formed from a single panel 38. Thus, the panel 38 is divided into printed circuit boards 40, 42 and 44 on one side, and printed circuit boards 46, 48 and 50 on the other. Each of the printed circuit boards 40-50 corresponds, in sequence, to the working facets 20-30 upon which it is mounted. The printed circuit boards 40-50 are held together by tabs 52 connected between the respective circuit boards 40 and the remaining material of the panel 38, as well as between the printed circuit boards 40-50, themselves. The tabs 52 are easily broken to release the boards from the panel 38 and for mounting on the working facets 20-30. [0041] The printed circuit boards 40-50 may be formed in a conventional fashion, which is therefore not described in greater detail. The printed circuit boards 40-50 are populated with LEDs 36 connected in series as well as the various electrical components necessary to drive the LEDs 36. Those electrical components form no part of the invention, and are shown generally at 54 in the drawing figures. For electrical connection between the printed circuit boards 40-50, surface-mounted jumper wires 56 are installed while the printed circuit boards 40-50 are populated with the LEDs 36 and various electrical components 54. [0042] Spacing between the various printed circuit boards 40-50 is chosen so that the length of the jumper wires 56 is sufficient for the boards to be mounted on their respective working facets 20-30. Thus, spacings 58, 60 and 62 are established between the printed circuit boards 40-50, as shown in FIG. 5a, so that the printed circuit boards 40-50 can then be mounted on their respective working facets 20-30. Obviously, the spacings 58-62 may vary, and are varied depending on the angular relationships of the working facets 20-30. [0043] The printed circuit boards 40-50 may be mounted on the working facets 20-30 in a conventional fashion. For example, the printed circuit boards 40-50 may be underlain by an adhesive layer, which is overlayed by a release. Removing of the release will allow the respective printed circuit boards 40-50 to be adhesively secured to their respective working facets 20-30. For example, the six printed circuit boards 40-50 can be severed from the panel 38 by breaking the tabs 52 connecting the printed circuit boards thereto. Then, the printed circuit board 40 can be applied to the working facet 20. The tabs 52 connecting to the printed circuit boards 42 and 44 to the printed circuit board 50 can then be broken, and the printed circuit boards 44 and 42 applied to their respective working facets 24 and 22. Similarly, the opposite side of the internal heat sink 14 is then populated by the overlying printed circuit boards. [0044] A completed lamp or light bulb 64 is shown in FIGS. 6. A transparent glass enclosure or dome 66 extends from the external heat sink 12 and surrounds and protects the components of the invention mounted on the internal heat sink 14, and gives the lamp 64 the appearance of a conventional incandescent lamp. Obviously, since LEDs are used, no particular gas in the enclosure 66 or evacuation is needed. [0045] The working facets 20-30 are located in a mirror image relationship on opposite sides of the central plane 18, at the angular relationship to one another described above. While a mirror image relationship is preferred, it will be evident that if even light dispersion throughout 360° is not critical, then a mirror image relationship between the various facets would be unnecessary. [0046] A driver is necessary to drive the LEDs 36. Two drivers are shown in FIGS. 7A and 7B. In both, input voltage, after passing through a rectifier 68, is used to drive the series combinations of the LEDs 36. In FIG. 7A, in order to limit input current, a resistor 70 is employed, and this type of circuit is also discussed in incorporated U.S. application Ser. No. 12/826,774. In FIG. 7B, instead of the resistor 70, a linear current regulator 72 is employed. The types of driver illustrated and described are simply for purposes of explanation, and it will be evident that other types of drivers might be employed, as well. The driver forms no part of the present invention. [0047] Current regulator 72 is advantageous in that less power is used, and also the peak LED current can be set to not exceed a predetermined value, which insures that the LEDs operate within safe limits established by the manufacturer of the LEDs. This is shown simply and graphically in FIGS. 8 and 9. [0048] When the LED current drops below a constant current set point, the current regulator will no longer clamp the LED current but will be limited by the dynamic resistance of the LEDs and any resistance that is added to the driving circuit. As the input voltage is further reduced, the LED current will drop until the source voltage approaches the LED voltage, at which point the LED will turn off. In a similar fashion, the LED will dim with reverse phase or forward phase dimmers. These concepts are shown schematically in FIGS. 10, 11 and 12A-12C. This is simply for explanation, only, and dimming forms no part of the invention. [0049] A temporary voltage surge to an LED lamp can be destructive. To guard against a surge, a surge suppressor 74 can be employed, as shown in FIG. 13. [0050] The invention permits replacement of an incandescent lamp with an LED lamp, with little or no aesthetic difference that is discernible by the user. As shown in FIG. 6, the invention replicates an incandescent lamp, and with an Edison-type screw base 16, provides an A19 LED lamp fully compatible to the incandescent lamps it replaces. Various changes can be made to the invention without departing from the spirit thereof or scope of the following claims. Patent applications by Carlo Scianna, Des Plaines, IL US Patent applications by Raymond G. Janik, Wheaton, IL US Patent applications by POLYBRITE INTERNATIONAL INC. Patent applications in class Having light-emitting diode Patent applications in all subclasses Having light-emitting diode User Contributions: Comment about this patent or add new information about this topic:
? First, here’s what I think sets Spotify apart. (And by the way, I have no financial interest in Spotify.) Spotify allows you to choose to listen to a specific song or album at any time, unlike the awkward workarounds that Last.fm and Pandora rely on in order to fall into “webcaster” blanket licenses. It’s also easy to “star” favorite tracks in order to compile your music library, to build playlists, and to share your lists with friends. With the premier paid-tier subscription, you can listen to Spotify on your mobile device and to keep a local cache of your music that you can listen to when you’re not connected to a network. The most comparable service is Rhapsody, which has been offering a similar product since 2001. Rhapsody does not offer a free tier, which may explain its slower adoption rate than Spotify. It also supposedly has a somewhat smaller catalog. I never seriously considered Rhapsody because I wanted to own “my” music, but enough of my friends had raved about Spotify that I eventually compromised and decided to try the premium service. My listening habits in just the past week feel reinvigorated as I choose from the huge catalog and listen from my computer, phone, or in my car (bluetooth from my phone). The catalog includes a surprising amount of music within my somewhat obscure tastes, including many artists that are new to me. I feel a little bit dirty. I want to own my music, and I don’t like the idea of losing my whole library if Spotify goes out of business or loses license deals or if I decide to stop paying $10/mo. But I also really like Spotify. Have I made a Faustian bargain? Later in his book, Goldstein notes that:. Uh oh. Spotify has indeed been criticized by the Free Software Foundation as being “defective by design” because the files are subject to restrictive Digital Rights Management. DRM does not traditionally leave much room for fair use. Spotify stands in contrast to sites like Soundcloud in this regard. Soundcloud is a self-publishing site for music artists and DJs, which has grown rapidly in the past couple of years. I use Soundcloud extensively for listening to DJ sets, following up-and-coming artists, and listening to the many creative but often unauthorized remixes from new producers. Many artists make their tracks available for free download. Soundcloud is not for listening to the full catalog of established artists or for building an extensive music library, but it is an extremely vibrant hub of musical creativity. I can only imagine that Soundcloud has to rely heavily on the DMCA notice-and-takedown regime for legal protection. The social norms of the DJs on the site are certainly not to obtain authorization for every single track included in their mixes, nor would that be practical in such a highly dynamic environment. When I signed up for Spotify, the first thing I did was step through the tracklist of one of my favorite DJ sets on Soundcloud and search for each track on Spotify. I found about one in four tracks on Spotify, which I added to my library and used for recommendations to find other tracks that I might like. I found plenty of good stuff, and at the moment I am really enjoying my listening. Something is very good about all of this, but at the same time it seems like a tenuous balance. It’s not clear that the Spotify business model is viable in the long term, and it’s not clear that the artists are yet making their fair share. At the moment I’m singing along, but I’m not sure that the celestial jukebox will ultimately live up to its divine vision. I’m not sure I understand the argument against fair use here. It seems to be based on the notion that everyone who counts will always be able to pay whatever the market will bear for access, hence free access is no longer important. (And yes, in the short and medium term the price will stay at “whatever the market will bear,” i.e. the monopoly price, because of the huge cost of entry, network/positive feedback effects, and the interest of the content gatekeepers in maintaining the distributor’s price levels.) To my mind, what the celestial-jukebox argument against fair use really does is make the case for digital distributon of copyrighted material as a natural monopoly, and as one that should properly be handled by the government, which has the power to do the transfer payments required for universality. That doesn’t sound too far off from law professor Terry Fisher’s proposed “Alternative Compensation System” in his 2005 book, “Promises to Keep“. In Chapter 6 he describes.” Exactly; that was pretty much what I was going from, sans the memory and search-fu to come up with a citation . Or you could do some kind of variation of the blank-tape levy. Bandwidth would substitute for physical media, although you might have to play some games with data types to account for the differing information densities of text, sound and video. There would have to be exemptions for people claiming to transfer large volumes of noncompensatable material (and conversely, a loss of legal remedies for rightsholders who did not make their material available for the system, much the way that failing to register copyrights and pay the associated fee currently precludes collecting the most lucrative scale of damages.) “The government would raise, through taxes,” vs. “Music and films would thus be readily available, legally, for free.” You can’t have both sentences in the same paragraph. It is impossible to have something for free if the artists are getting paid via taxes. It isn’t “free” it is a forced tax based service. I rather purchase my music, legally as current then subscribe to any sort of service, and if it ever comes to being forced tax, I would refuse to pay taxes. Why should I pay for content that I don’t consumer? That is what a tax would be. There is no “free” music in such a model, just as there is no “free lunch.” In fact, there isn’t even “freedom” in such a model, it is and would be a complete bondage. Taxes have a purpose, but taxing a population to grant access to creative works is completely contradictory to the U.S. Constitution, as it would not foster creativity, it would put everyone in bondage. In economic terms the upfront payment through taxes makes a great deal of sense precisely because of the free-as-in-beer status. There’s a strong result that people will consume more of something if the price is low or zero than if they have to pay. That’s been falsely deployed in the healthcare debate (because healthcare consumption is an unpleasant-enough activity that price-based overconsumption is seldom a big deal) but in the area of creative works overconsumption isn’t a bad thing, it’s a good one. We want people consuming as many creative works as they can stuff in their ears and their eyeballs.; it would be a good thing for the country, and quite probably lead to the creation of countless additional creative works. This is absurd. Maximizing consumption has nearly destroyed music. Bringing the government into this presumes that the government is an impartial agent, a notion that is absolutely untrue. You can only take theory so far until it collides with reality. Also the idea of a creator of an item being paid per play is disturbing. I neither pay every time I read a book nor when I watch a DVD. This model is also socially deficient. The best way to increase the number of listeners is not by reducing price, which insults the listener, btw. The best way is to encourage friends to form listening groups, with incentives for promoting less consumed media. Finally, the idea that there is a positive outcome from having as many as possible views of media as possible is a meme lingering from Hollywood’s mass production and mass consumption theology. A positive outcome is determined when a song is valued by the listener. The mass consumption goal is offensive to listeners and perverse to idea of appreciation. Mass consumption reduces valuation. It is not possible to call something positive if the metric for measuring the outcome is destroyed in the process. The goal should be to get the songs to those who want to listen to them. To tax people in order to make them more cultured is one of the most umbrella society top down master’s paradise fantasy models I’ve yet encountered. If people ought to broaden their experiences than convince them, otherwise accept that some people care about other things. They value other media or perhaps none at all and would prefer not to have a fixed system with fancy ideas hanging over their heads. Idealism is fine, but this is the sort of lunacy that leads to police departments having tanks because no one is at the helm to say I don’t want my taxes paying for that. Next every child will have piano lessons including droopy eyed armless ones. Gets my tiger blood pumping. You list Spotify’s closest competitor as Rhapsody, but I thought I’d point out another service called Grooveshark, which is basically identical to Spotify in every way– it has a large library, single track selection with play/pause/skip options, it has a free version for online listening, and a premium subscription service that allows a local cache to a mobile defice for offline listening (I subscribed for $50/year during a Christmas special). Maybe I am naive in thinking that this is a legal competitor to spotify– maybe it is skirting by waiting to get sued and taken down– but my understanding is that they license their songs and respond quickly to DMCA takedown notices. I don’t know that this is particularly relevant, I just thought it deserved a mention. Yeah, Grooveshark is an interesting case. They have active lawsuits from all the labels (their library is user-uploaded rather than licensed directly). Their apps keep getting kicked out of the app stores. Facebook disabled their account integration. I haven’t followed the twists and turns lately, but I’d be interested to hear analysis from anyone who has. Interesting update, I’ll keep biding my time though. There’s not as much choice in Canada at the moment anyway, due to national restrictions, but Spotify is set to launch here soon. Soundcloud is an interesting place, and it’s where I make some good discoveries, but they do tend to be limited to a particular Dj-space. It’s definitely a good place to contrast the social norms of sampling and electronic music with the letter of copyright and terms of service. That said, they do filter uploads against a list of restricted works, including audio segments in mixes. Mixcloud seems like a good alternative (staying in the electronic realm), and it’s really effective at tracking identifying tracks in a mix and attaching direct links to various retailers.
I developed my own rating system for this site. It relies heavily on the Glicko rating system, with these differences: For the mathematically inclined, there is a very brief technical paper here. I put it together in an hour or so by request, and I'm aware that it's not exactly thorough or easily readable. (WARNING: This paper is outdated after we switched the underlying probability model from normal to logistic. The basic ideas are still valid, however.) To figure out the probability that a player beats another, take the difference of their relevant matchup ratings, and read out the result from the graph shown. (This is the logistic cumulative distribution function with mean zero and variance 1, scaled by a factor 1000). Now let's say a player has played a bunch of games during a period and we want to find his new rating. First, we form a likelihood function, which describes how likely a set of outcomes is, given the player's rating. This likelihood function will be a product of such probabilities of the player beating opponent A, B, C... and so on. Now we want to find out which rating maximises this function. That is, which rating maximises the likelihood that the outcomes that happened actually would happen. We also calculate the certainty of the likelihood function at this point. This is a measure of how consistent the results of the given player were in the last period. A high consistency gives a high certainty, and vice versa. Then, the new rating is adjusted somewhat in the direction of the maximal likelihood rating found above. How much it's adjusted depends on how certain the original rating was, and how certain the maximal likelihood rating is (how consistent the results were). The adjustment will be biased towards whichever of these two is most certain. Finally, the certainty of the rating is updated. It will always be higher than it was before, reflecting the fact that we now have more information about the player. If the results during the preceding period were very consistent, we will be very certain about his or her rating. There are some caveats to the above: By my understanding, very. This is a plot of more than 100k historical games (the whole database as of February 2013). On the horizontal axis you find predicted winrate for the presumed stronger player, using the ratings at the time the game was played. The games were grouped in reasonably small groups, i.e. 50%-53.3% and so on upwards. (Obviously no numbers below 50% since this is the predicted winrate for the stronger player.) On the vertical axis is the actual winrate for each group. As can be plainly seen, the actual winrate is close to the predicted winrate up to about 80%. The weighted linear fit (blue dashed line) is almost identical to the ideal curve (red dashed line) corresponding to the relationship that predicted winrate equals actual winrate. Above 80% the winrates become a bit more erratic, and it seems like the system slightly overestimates the chances for the stronger player. Thus, if the prediction system shows a winrate of the numbers should be taken with a grain of salt. If I were to update the ratings in real time, first I would have to make some changes to how the algorithm works. Recall that games versus different races are aggregated, and if a player has zero wins or losses, a couple of fake games are added. In real time, such fake games would almost always be required. Secondly, the discrete nature of time is a way to keep ratings from being excessively volatile. To take the top spot, a player now has to perform well over two weeks, instead of (say) just a couple of days. On the other hand, if the period is too long, the list loses relevance in a quickly-changing pro scene. I ended up compromising with two week periods. We do, however, update a preview of the next rating list every six hours, so you can see rating changes in something that is close to real time. The system itself is, however, essentially discrete. No, I don't. Korean tournaments and players receive no special treatment. The GSL is difficult because good players play there; the players aren't good because they play in the GSL. When fitting the model (deciding which parameters to use) I also don't weigh games differently, but this is something we're looking into. Since the database contains an overwhelming majority of non-Korean games, the system will tend to adapt to the non-Korean scene. We've noticed, however, that most people using the service are interested in the Koreans. We are still working on a useful solution to this problem. One of the most common forms of feedback we get are about how to improve the rating. These are not bad ideas, they're pretty good, but they might be more complicated than you think. Here are some common ones. One thing to keep in mind is that a good mathematical model has few parameters. The current rating system has three. Those three parameters are sufficient to give Aligulac the predictive power it has. If you want to suggest complicating the model, the additional parameters must be chosen with care. Games in regular online tournaments shouldn't count as much as Code S. Well, first we have to realize that games are weighted, in a sense, by opponent skill. You get more points for beating a higher rated opponent than a lower, and you lose more points by losing to a lower rated opponent than a higher. In addition it is worth considering that simply weighing games higher will not automatically increase the rating of those playing. The winners will gain more points, true, but the losers will also lose more. The mean rating of the players playing will not change. So aside from this, how should this weighing work? Even stronger weighing by opponent? The "weighing" is a result of a Bayesian inversion formula depending on the underlying probability model chosen. It's not something that can just be changed, that is, there's no parameter encoding this. It's a much deeper mathematical concept. Weighing by mean rating of opponent in a round? Well, why should this be any better than weighing by the actual opponents faced, which is what we already do? Weighing by prize pool? The theory goes that strong players are likely to "try harder" if the prize is higher. There is some merit to this idea, but there are also problems. Some tournaments offer prizes in equipment, and not money. Some offer qualification to a higher tier. For example, there is no monetary prize in the GSL Up and Down groups, but nobody would question the incentive to win there. In addition, there are internal team incentives which are not generally public knowledge. And, additionally, if a player knowingly plays weaker in some games, should that not be reflected in the ratings? Weighing by tournament? These arguments usually involve some classification of events into tiers of importance with coefficients associated with each level. This approach runs into the complexity problem. With five levels (say), the model becomes far more complicated for what is not shown (yet, anyway) to be reasonable benefit. Weighing by online and offline? Yes, this is a legitimate idea and probably the one closest to being implemented. We have working experimental code with this feature already. Rating gap cap. The idea here is to prevent players from "farming" much lower rated players. It is possible to artificially inflate a player's rating if he never plays other players close to himself in skill. The ideas usually consist of ignoring matches where players are farther away in rating than a given threshold. However, this can be seen as unfair to the lower rated players, who will have their wins against good players discarded. Capping the gap to a given value will make the problem worse. Say a 1700-rated player plays a 1000-rated player, but the cap is 500, so for the purposes of updating the stronger player's rating the lower rated player is assumed to be rated 1200. Then it will be easier for the 1700-rated player to overperform than it was previously. This question doesn't have an easy answer. We mostly decide this on a case-by-case basis. Generally we will add a round from a tournament if that round contains a significant number of already rated players. (Usually higher than 25% or so.) For the large regular cups this usually means somewhere around top 16 to 8. One common exception to this rule is large national tournaments, which when rated would create a «rating bubble». We try to avoid this as best we can, but it's a difficult thing to do. We are more lenient with tournaments where a significant proportion of the participants regularly compete internationally (Korea, Germany, Poland and Sweden), or if the tournament is significant in another way (such as TeSL). If a tournament isn't in the database, it could either be because we felt it didn't cut it, or it could just be we have missed it or forgotten. This work is done on a voluntary basis, after all. You could try asking us about it, or submitting it yourself. The best way for the up-and-coming player to get an Aligulac rating is probably to play lots of open tournaments and LANs, and keep going at it until you reach a round with a fair number of notables. If a player has not played any games for four periods (eight weeks, or about two months), he or she is removed from the list. The entry is still there, and will be taken into account if the player plays a new game some time in the future. It's only kept from the published list to keep it from filling up with uncertain and possibly irrelevant data. The same happens if your rating uncertainty goes over 200. I'm aware that a strict limit of only two months may seem harsh, but as the game is so volatile, if a player doesn't play fairly frequently, the ratings quickly become very uncertain and useless. Remember, your rating is still there. On the period list you can see OP/UP fields, and in the infobox for each period, the same data is given as "leading" and "lagging" race. This is an indicator showing which races are most and least prominent near the top of the list. Specifically, for each race imagine a hypothetical player with a rating equal to the mean of the ratings of the top five players of that race, and imagine these three players playing very many games against each other. If the players were of equal strength, each of them would score about 50%, however, in reality, one of them may score, say, 10% more than that. The race that scores the most in this scenario is the "OP", or "leading" race, and the race that scores the least is the "UP", or "lagging" race. This is provided as a way to analyse the metagame shifts near the top of the skill ladder, and should not be taken as actual evidence for real game imbalance. The rating adjustments can seem a bit off. Why is that? Common complaints include players gaining or losing points when they score exactly as expected, or gaining points when they underperform, and losing points when they overperform. Several things can impact this. First of all, the expected scores are rounded to one decimal place, so you're not seeing the whole story. (An expected score of 1.0–0.0 could in reality be 0.96–0.04 for example.) Also, you should keep in mind that the rating adjustments for each of the four categories (general rating, and each matchup rating) are not done independently of each other. The system will try to update each rating according to the certainty bias (mentioned earlier), but it's also restricted by the fact that the matchup ratings must have mean equal to the general rating. The upshot of this is that if a player overperforms versus Terran (say 2–0 when 1–1 was expected), but significantly underperforms in the other matchups (say 0–10 in each when 5–5 was expected), the rating versus Terran may still decrease. This could be due to several reasons. He just isn't as good as you think he is. He hasn't played enough games for the system to recognize that he is good yet. Remember that ratings change strictly on the basis of results, not the manner of games. A shoddy win with plenty of mistakes will earn as many points as a sick timing exploit that leaves the audience breathless. Your opinion of your favorite player is clouded by titles and hype. One advantage of a purely objective system like this is that it is immune to the cognitive biases that so often affect humans. What people sometimes see when predicting single elimination brackets is that the player with the largest probability of winning is not predicted to win in the median results section. The reason this happens becomes clear with a small thought experiment. Suppose a player called Alan has a rating of 2000 and he finds himself on one side of a 16-man bracket together with seven other players rated 1999. On the other side of the bracket only one player showed up (Brian). He is also rated 1999, and now he has a bye all the way to the finals. So who is most likely to win this tournament? Is it Brian or Alan? Well, it's Brian actually. He has a 50% of beating any of the seven 1999-rated players that could come out of Alan's subbracket, and he has a slightly smaller probability (49.X%) of beating Alan, if he wins. So overall Brian's chances of winning are slightly less than 50%. On the other hand, Alan has to win four matches where he is the slight favourite in each of them. That amounts to a probability of slightly more than 12.5%. So clearly Brian is most likely to win. The way the median results work, however, is to take the least surprising result in each match. Since Alan is favoured against each player he meets, the least surprising result for each match he plays is that he wins. Thus, the median result is that Alan wins the tournament by narrowly edging out each match he plays. In summary, you can see such discrepancies if the distribution of skill on both sides of the brackets are uneven. The example above was extreme, but this is not such an uncommon phenomenon. I would definitely recommend to pay more attention to the probabilities than the median results if you are unsure. Probably, or at least, depending on what you can offer. Design: I am a mathematician, and not a web designer. (Maybe you've noticed.) Building this rudimentary site took me longer than I care to admit. I prefer to keep it simplistic, but I wouldn't mind having someone who actually knows what he or she is doing. Data: At the moment I'm aggregating game results from several other sources. I would love to have an army of volunteers who submitted results directly to my database so that I could keep it up to date without relying on third party websites. I have functionality that allows people to enter results and make new players if needed. Let me know if you are willing to offer a hand, and I'll give you an account! If you have input, please let me know: evfonn(a)gmail(dot)com. The name Aligulac is derived from that of the Roman emperor Caligula, so if you can pronounce that, all you have to do is shift the C to the end and you're good to go. Here is a decent video demonstrating how to say "Caligula". Personally I use a hard U instead of a soft one (i.e. U as in RUDE instead of YU as in YUSSUF), but I'm not picky.
Here’s a fact for you: did you know that e-learning predates the Internet itself? That’s right. Technologies such as standalone computer-based trainings and simulations — for example, aspiring pilots were often trained in simulated environments — which were available long before Internet was even a thing. Having said that, the nascent versions of eLearning were not known for their good design or interactivity; these aspects, or their lack thereof, meant that the learning material seemed rather clunky. (If you remember the poorly simulated page-turning that passed for ‘online learning’ in the early 2000s, you know what I am talking about.) 5 Benefits of Using E-learning in 2019 - Move a step closer to a digital learning society - Give learners round-the-clock access to the learning content - Reach large groups of employees quickly - E-learning + multi-device learners = a match made in heaven - Create and deliver hundreds of courses in just a matter of weeks A global organization is only as good as its well-performing employees; but employee performance does not just sprout overnight. Firstly, they must be nurtured (read: trained) regularly to prove to be a guaranteed ticket to success. Secondly, as it goes without saying, every corporate learner brings a unique set of learning challenges and demands to the table the company must cater to. Therefore, the secret ‘sauce,’ if you may, is to devise a training mechanism that will satisfy the modern learner’s needs, all while not being too hefty on the budget. The good news is, despite initial setbacks, eLearning has managed to catch up with these modern learning demands and has come a long way from yesteryear’s clunkily-designed training courses. It has had to compete with classic training models such as classroom-based training/instructor-led training, to mark its niche in the digital society we find ourselves in. In this blog, I hope to answer why eLearning remains one of the safest and cost-effective options available for training modern learners. Benefits of Using E-learning in 2019 1. Move a Step Closer to a Digital Learning Society The corporate L&D landscape has seen a major disruption in the last decade alone. It has moved away from long, page-turning courses to mobile learning, video-based learning, and microlearning experiences, all consumed on the go. The raison d’être? Millennials! Millennials, who constitute much of today’s workforce, grew up with access to digital tools and technologies around them. They are quite simply technophiles, preferring to finish tasks on-the-go in as fewer minutes as possible; imparting training to them should be no different. In this regard, many companies have been moving their training content online with a staunch aim to impart crucial job skills right to their learners at the moment of need. With an online learning strategy for corporate learners in place, companies have been moving ever so closely to a digital learning environment. Unless companies wish to provide training that confines learning to the desk, online learning with its various strategies and formats up its sleeve seems to be a natural choice for training the modern learners. eLearning courses obey adult learning principles, of which giving adult learners the opportunity to learn at their own pace and time by making the courses self-directing is probably something that will appeal to the millennials. Adding to that is their propensity to prefer video-based learning over other formats as it offers an at-a-glance, quick way of learning and accessing solutions. 2. Give Learners Round-the-clock Access to the Learning Content Probably one of the biggest selling points, eLearning gives learners an anytime-anywhere access to learning material. Marc Jeffrey Rosenberg in his book E-learning: Strategies for Delivering Knowledge in the Digital Age characterizes employee learning in three key points namely access, comprehensive approach to knowledge, and a balance between training and information. E-learning, unsurprisingly, ticks all these boxes: Access: With eLearning in place, learners can seamlessly retrieve the information they require to perform their jobs whenever and wherever they need it. This can be achieved easily achieved through Learning Management System which enables companies to host, administer, and deliver all learning material online, giving learners a 24X7 access on their favorite smart devices. Comprehensive approach to knowledge: Accessibility alone cannot guarantee a good employee training program. Because learning on the job is a continuous struggle, for the lack of a better word, an eLearning strategy equips learners with training content that is not only readily available but also the sort of content that is always the right content (a particular product’s information for a sales person, for example) available in the right format (a microlearning module in the form of a PDF or a video). A balance between training and information: There is a thin line that separates training and information and that is one of application. Every company truly wants its employees to not just attend training but also gain required skills and apply them to their jobs. Training alone will surely not guarantee application. Besides, most training strategies fall short of offering learners a space for practicing what they have learnt. With an online learning strategy in place, however, learners can be given on-the-job support by directing them to performance support tools—in the form of infographics, PDFs, short videos, FAQs—which are aimed at at-a-glance learning and help immensely in boosting the job performance. The trick is to offer these bite-sized modules in spaced intervals so as to avoid any cognitive overload. This way, they not only learn but also practice on-the-job and apply the knowledge they gain from the training. 3. Reach Large Groups of Employees Quickly For a large global organization with a workforce whose number runs into the thousands, a traditional training method—such as classroom-based training—is a poor choice. Why? Firstly, the turnaround time of developing courses for classroom training is too high. (Also, employees working in separate business units in far-off/remote regions around the world need to be brought to a central training building, which involves allocating adequate budgets to cover expenses for their travel and accommodation.) Secondly, making employees sit through hours and hours of classroom training takes precious time off their working hours, time they can otherwise use to accomplish their work goals. Add to this, any course translation requirements are a huge time and cost consuming affair if the classroom-based training model is used. A benefit of implementing eLearning is that courses can be developed rapidly with some help from eLearning experts. The low course development timelines means distributing the courses to a large number of people through a learning management system (as mentioned earlier) becomes easier; and because the distribution takes place entirely online, it automatically cuts down any other form of logistical costs an organization is likely to run into had it used traditional delivery methods. And thanks to various rapid authoring tools (more on this later in the blog) combined with good instructional design expertise, offering training in the learner’s native or preferred language is possible without burning a big hole in the pocket. 4. E-learning + Multi-device learners = A Match Made in Heaven Today’s workforce is a mobile workforce that prefers to have access to the training content on whatever device they are using. This modern learning behavior naturally renders the traditional delivery methods obsolete. E-learning, on the other hand, is not space- or time-bound. Online learning gives learners access to course content on their favorite devices such as Android smartphones, tablets, iPhones and iPads. This multi-device support, also called as responsive eLearning, is possible thanks to various rapid authoring tools that eLearning vendors make use of. Responsive learning for online learning courses can drastically change a learner’s learning habits in an instrumental way. For example, a service technician in the field who is in dire need of assistance in completing a job task can easily reach for his smartphone, sign in to the LMS and access the required learning material at the click of a button. Most LMSs today are responsive LMSs as well, meaning they can be accessed on any smart device. 5. Create and Deliver Hundreds of Courses in Just a Matter of Weeks Did you know?: For any sales professional, the difference between making a good and a bad sales pitch is decided by how up-to-date their sales training is: Does it inform them on the newly-introduced products and their corresponding product information, or not? Is it good enough to help the sales reps to stand their ground and succeed in a challenging sales environment? One of the biggest challenges an organization faces when implementing a training program on a wide scale is the issue of scalability. Scalability is the ability to create new and append existing courses as and when required, and then be ready to be distributed to a growing number of learners located in different locations. Like any technology whose sole purpose is to try and enable performing a task faster, eLearning is no different. Gone are the days when it took months to create full-fledged eLearning courses. With rapid authoring tools such as Articulate Rise and Lectora Inspire, online learning courses today can be customized as per the training requirements — and rolled out within weeks. To make it easier for organizations to make the transition from instructor-led training to eLearning, existing ILT materials can be repurposed into courses that are online-ready with equal attention paid to instructional design as online courses that are created from the ground-up. To understand the potential of online learning when it comes to creating and delivering courses in the shortest time possible, here is an example: Concluding Remarks The modern learner has a wide range of learning demands such as accessibility, ease of use, and user-friendliness. Boosting a learner’s knowledge and performance on the job remain the basic tenets of training, corporate or otherwise. Right from the moment of its inception, the purpose of eLearning, as Luther Tai states in his book titled Corporate E-learning (2007), has been ‘to use Internet technologies to deliver a broad array of solutions that enhance knowledge and performance.’ eLearning still matters for corporate training because it remains one of the fewer training strategies that is able to incorporate newer technologies such as artificial intelligence and augmented reality without any hiccups. This adaptability of online learning to the growing challenges of the learning industry makes it a valuable and worthy option for delivering corporate training. If you already have instructor-led training materials that you wish to translate into fully-functional eLearning courses, here is an informative resource that lists 32 eHacks to jump start your e-learning endeavor.
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Regrettably, CPU operation took a hit against the faster GPU since the cooler is currently incapable of properly heating either chip under joint load. Screen quality was improved in general, and this season the conventional FHD panel provides superb quality and is significantly much more than acceptable for many use cases. Many attributes of the past season’s predecessor are still current, such as superb input apparatus, a strong case, and excellent connectivity. 2. HP ZBook 15 There is a whole good deal of laptops available claiming to be”workstation” grade, and though we’ll acknowledge the standard is somewhat subjective, even for the large part, you are likely to get exactly what you purchase this for, so that is very important to consider even at a budget laptop. With the majority of the genuinely capable machines glancing around a couple of thousand bucks, HP’s ZBook 15 (not to be mistaken with all the Studio G5) really provides some fairly impressive specs to get a notebook laptop at a less expensive price point. It is the only one in this course which matches a six-core Intel i9-8950HK that may reach turbo-boosted rates of around 4.8 GHz but also packs in NVIDIA’s Quadro 1000 GPU such as images. Additionally, it features the exact identical rugged design as the rest of HP’s ZBook lineup, which means that you could take it virtually everywhere. It has been analyzed from extreme temperatures, sand, dust, shock absorption, and even much more, which makes it a fairly good investment for the buck on that front too. 3. ConceptD 3 Creator While we want its exceptional screen to be smarter, this can be a strong entry-level selection for anyone on a budget. In comparison to Acer’s ConceptD7, concept 3 appears prosaic. This is a much more conventional, practical workhorse of a notebook, leaving the ConceptD 7’s magnificent 4K display and high-end GPU to get a more accessible cost. However, when it lacks the flair of its own stablemate opposite that, the ConceptD 3 is unquestionably nicely balanced. You still receive the six-core, 12-thread Core17-9750H processor, albeit using 16GB instead of 32GB of RAM. The GeForce GTX1650 GPU isn’t a game for our ConceptD 7 RTX 2080. It is a sensible compromise. This graphics processor includes sufficient power to quicken lightweight 3D workloads and manufacturing tasks, whereas the highly effective processor can manage number crunching in the image and video editing, also technological, financial, and technology software. Like a lot of Acer’s mid-range laptops, the construction can be a part aluminum (the computer keyboard surround and also the lid) and component vinyl, but it seems solid, with a minimal bend at the lid along with the keyboard plus a great, strong hinge. Additionally, it is well behaved as it comes to sound, staying silent until you push on the CPU and GPU close max. However, there are a number of limits on the front. The place where the ConceptD 7 packaged with Thunderbolt 3 service, the ConceptD 3 extends for regular USB-C 3.1 Gen 1, together with two USB-A interfaces of the exact identical spec plus a USB 2 interface. That is going to be frustrating for consumers searching for high-speed outside storage once the 512GB SSD begins to match up. We are also not so excited about ergonomics. Having a full numeric pad, the keyboard design feels somewhat bloated, whereas the touchpad changes left of center, so it sits beneath the spacebar. The keyboard itself is not horrible, but the activity is horizontal and spongy in comparison to the very best, and we had to creep up the trackpad’s sensitivity until it felt very useful. 4. HP ZBook 17 G6 Offered in cost ranges around $5,000, the G6 sport 9th-gen Intel Core i7 processors and also a complete HD screen. Based upon the version you elect for, you’ll consume up to 64GB of memory, including Intel HD or even Nvidia Quadro images, up to 16GB of devoted GDDR5 movie memory, and approximately 500GB of all SSD storage. All versions include a 96-watt-hour battery that needs to be helpful for a lengthy stretch of time in the ideal conditions, and each version weighs in at 6.9 lbs before extras. The combo of a massive battery, strong internal components, along reams of alternatives creates the HP ZBook 17 G6, a wonderful selection for any tasks you are taking on. It is not quite as special as a few other entries on this listing. However, it is a portable workstation that can do anybody proud. 5. MSI WS65 9TM The newest generation of the greatest workstations will be here. The MSI WS65 9TM is hammering through fools using an Intel Core i7-9750H processor and also a beastly Nvidia Quadro RTX 5000 GPU with 16GB of VRAM. About the Geekbench 4.1 total performance standard, the MSI WS65 scored 22,876. A combo that is using a super slim and lightweight design, a vivid 4K screen, and an adequate battery life. Even though the MSI WS65 is light and skinny, it does not forfeit the durability which consumers can count on in the workstation. It exceeded several MIL-STD 810G evaluations. Therefore it could withstand dust and sand, vibrations, vibrations, non – and – high-pressure altitudes, even intense temperatures. Regarding safety, the MSI WS65 packs equally a different TPM 2.0 chip along with also a built-in fingerprint reader, also situated inside the touchpad. The MSI WS65 9TM is still a directly upward monster. 6. MacBook Pro 16-inch As slim, light, and glossy as the MacBook Pro (16-inch, 2019) does not really feel like a 16-inch behemoth. This notebook will feel equally as streamlined as the 15-inch MacBook Pros who preceded it and possibly over any 16-inch laptops on the market even though it’s a behemoth once it has to do with power. Touting a 9th-generation Intel Core processor and an AMD Radeon Pro 5300M or even 5500M graphics card, in addition to up to 64GB of memory, so there is nothing that this portable workstation can not do. And, undoubtedly, it is going to undergo all of your workflows without even breaking a sweat. If this is not sufficient, in addition, it has amazing speakers for all of your entertainment requirements, along with a considerably improved keyboard so that you can sort all day with no fatigue. 7. Lenovo ThinkPad P73 The Lenovo ThinkPad P73 finishes our best in this list carefully after its allies. The most significant version of Lenovo’s ThinkPad P-series provides exactly the very exact attributes as the more compact P53, such as the exceptionally robust and sturdy scenario, ample connectivity, and excellent upgradeability. As a result of the 17-inch display, it provides a great deal more display real estate than both smaller sisters. To the surprise, the ThinkPad P73’s GPU operation was unsatisfactory since it throttled under load. Additionally, the P73 becomes relatively alluring, which Lenovo ought to have the ability to address by means of a BIOS upgrade and also a modified enthusiast curve. 8. ASUS ZenBook Pro 15 UX580GE ASUS might not be the first title that springs to mind when considering business-class cellular workstations, especially since its higher-end notebooks tend to get charged as”gambling” machines. On the other hand, the organization’s ZenBook Pro 15 is a much capable workstation, especially with all its adoption of eighth-gen Intel Core i9 CPUs. One of the lineups, the ZenBook Pro 15 UX580GE, stands out with its six-core i9-8590HK CPU that may turbo boost in rates up to 4.8GHz, 16GB of rapid DDR4 memory, also built-in 1TB SSD. Even the 15.6-inch UHD 3840 x 2160 pixel screen additionally offers an excellent appearance, even though the shiny finish might not be for everybody. When some purists one of the workstation users may decry the absence of some Quadro GPU (and there is no arguing that this is likely to definitely make it less than perfect for items such as CAD and 3D rendering software ) that the NVIDIA GTX 1050 Ti isn’t a slouch, and will still provide good performance for the vast majority of images programs. If you are operating in programs like Adobe Photoshop or Premiere Pro, you are probably not going to observe the difference. Even the ZenBook Pro 15 can be a fairly well-rounded laptop, using a 71-hour battery life and a complete selection of interface choices. Each of the typical suspects is here, such as two USB-A interfaces, two USB-C / / Thunderbolt 3 interfaces, sound and HDMI interfaces along with a micro SD card slot, and also service for each one the contemporary Wi-Fi and Bluetooth criteria. 9. Dell Precision 5520 Should you want a very light cellular workstation, Dell’s Precision 5520 must definitely be on your radar. Only at under four lbs, this is actually the lightest notebook on this listing, and it is rather streamlined, also. The 1080P models do include only 56 watt-hour batteries. However, the 4K variant comes with a 97 watt-hour variant, which in our tests managed to help keep the machine running for at least five hours. Alternatives past the screen resolution include a variety of both Intel Core processors, using i7 and Xeon CPUs to pick from. It’s possible to head up to 32GB of RAM should you require, and you will find choices for up to a terabyte of both PCI Express solid-state storage. The only limiting factor within this Valve’s customization is using the images, which can be Intel HD or even Nvidia Quadro M1200 only. 10. HP ZBook Studio x360 G5 The HP ZBook Studio x360 G5 is your king of 2-in-1 workstations. It is equipped to the teeth from military-durable aluminum, plus it is outfitted with an all-powerful Intel Xeon processor and Nvidia Quadro pictures. About the Geekbench 4.1 general performance evaluation, the ZBook Studio pinpointed 20,950. Regarding safety, the ZBook Studio has settings, which include Intel vPro, that utilizes remote control, a fingerprint reader, an IR camera to get Windows Hello, and HP’s SureView panel (make a solitude program ). HP also comprises its Sure Start applications, which can be the self-healing BIOS. Between this, its stunning 4K screen, 0.8 inches-slim body, and keyboard, this will be the device you desire. Another vital feature is that the ZBook Pen ($69) provides 4,096 levels of stress sensitivity in addition to tilt controllers along with three customizable buttons. In addition to this, this HP understands a bit over 9 hours of battery life. An ideal all-around innovative speed superhero one of the top workstations. 11. Dell XPS 17 To get a 17-inch notebook, the Dell XPS 17 (2020) is extremely light and thin, particularly once you consider the simple fact that it boasts strong specs for this top-notch functionality that content creators need. One of the greatest portable workstations on the market, this is almost the entire bundle, touting a large, stunning screen, excellent battery life that will last you the whole day, plus a stunning design in addition to everything else. That is without even mentioning its mid-range cost of entrance, providing the MacBook Pro 16-inch a pretty great run for the money. 12. Razer Blade 15 Studio Edition Razer made its title as a gambling notebook manufacturer, and if speaking about mobile workstations, Razer is among the final names that spring to mind. But the Razer Blade 15 Studio Edition was able to create our top 10 listings of mobile workstations. It’s anything but a classic mobile Valve that does not need to be a terrible thing considering that this is likewise true for some different devices such as Dell’s Precision 5530. We especially liked its 4K OLED touchscreen, its own high-quality metallic case, and also the simple fact that it remained relatively cool and complete. All things considered that the Blade 15 Studio Edition doesn’t suffer from a lot of defects, although both which we did locate could be showstoppers for most consumers. For starters, it lacks mass storage update choices, which can be almost mandatory for mobile workstations. Additionally, its computer keyboard is its rivals’. 13. Dell Precision 5530 Dell is among those three when it comes to business-class notebooks. Also, its own Precision lineup of portable workstations is now a classic in this sequence. For all of us, 5530 might be the sweet place among them, providing the ideal balance of power, cost, and durability. It is large enough to have adequate screen property and package in some true energy, but nevertheless, small and mobile enough continue to be utilized on the move. Within this setup, an Intel Core i9-8950H six-core CPU, which may burst to 4.8GHz, is connected by a Quadro P2000 GPU and a 512GB SSD along with 16GB of DDR3 RAM. Dell’s 15.6-inch UHD screen is your specific standout here, providing signature capacities and an impressive color gamut and brightness degree that actually looks good. Dell also promises an all-day battery lifetime around the 5530, and it’s quite impressive for a system of its size and capacities (it comes from a hair below four lbs using a 14-by-9-inch footprint). The aluminum build quality is fine but includes an understated design appropriate to get a small business class notebook. Keyboard texture and traveling are fine, so it is comfy for extended typing sessions, and Dell has made some fantastic improvements to its trackpad in late versions for a far better experience. The anticipated range of vents is here: two USB-A, 2-USB-C Thunderbolt, HDMI, SD card, along with sound out, together with a slot for a Noble notebook lock. 14. Microsoft Surface Book 2 15-inch Though not labeled as an organization, the Surface Novel two is among the most flexible workhorse laptops we’ve come around in quite a while. Its hardware is not anywhere near as striking as some of the additional entries on this record, however using its long battery life and an effective processor/memory mix, it is going to execute an assortment of intensive jobs for more than many. Beginning at $1,500 for your 13.5-inch variant and moving all of the ways up to $3,300 at the surface of the lineup 15-inch version, the Surface Novel 2 comes up to your Core i7 processor up to 16GB of memory to a terabyte of solid-state storage, along with also the option of an Nvidia GTX 1060 pictures processor. 15. Asus ProArt StudioBook Pro What drew me about the Asus ProArt StudioBook Pro W700G3T, aside from the exhaustively long title, is its gorgeous Turquoise Gray layout and its vibrant 16:10 screen. Its 17-inch display averaged 162 percent of the sRGB color gamut and emitted 292 nits of brightness. The StudioBook Pro additionally murdered it about the Geekbench 4.1 total performance evaluation, scoring 21,359 using its own beefy Intel Xeon E-2276M processor and 32GB of RAM. Top that off with a keyboard, and also, the StudioBook Pro makes it among the greatest workstations around. Like many workstations, the ProArt StudioBook Pro is still a tank. It passed several MIL-STD 810G evaluations. Therefore it managed to endure extreme low and high temperatures, humidity, vibrations, and elevation. On the safety side, you obtain a fingerprint reader using the Windows Hello service, and that is about it.
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Michael Morant was supposed to be lucky for life. On Memorial Day seven years ago, the North Haven man pulled into a Sunoco station in Milford, invested $2 on a Lucky-4-Life lottery ticket, and discovered that night he was a millionaire, winning a $2,000-a-week payout, guaranteed for at least 20 years. But Morant's winnings didn't end there. In a two-month stretch last year, he hit big on scratch tickets six times, pocketing $130,000. In the past decade, he's had scores of other lucky days with the Connecticut lottery, winning more than $300,000 in addition to his Lucky-4-Life checks. Today, however, Morant says his luck has run out. Over a year's time, he traded the rights to nearly all of his weekly Lucky-4-Life payments in exchange for lump sums of cash, some of which he put right back into the lottery. And a retailer who advanced Morant nearly $90,000 in lottery scratch tickets — thinking Morant could easily cover any losses — is now suing to collect the money. Nevertheless, Morant still plays. "Yeah, sometimes. When I can," he said. "You know, I don't have the money like that right now." Lottery players in Connecticut spend millions on tickets every day, most chasing a once-in-a-lifetime dream that never comes. But a handful of big winners show up again and again, seemingly beating astronomical odds to rack up dozens, even hundreds of sizable payouts. A first-ever analysis of lottery winnings dating back to mid-1998, conducted by The Courant in collaboration with students at the Columbia School of Journalism, found 57 people who have won $1,000 or more at least 50 times. A dozen have won that much at least 100 times. For those in Connecticut who have beaten the odds an extraordinary number of times, chances are most of them have spent far more on tickets than they have won. Some can clearly afford it. Some cannot. But William Ryan, director of the Gaming Division at the Department of Consumer Protection, said that without any suspicion of fraud, frequent winning — and frequent playing — is not a cause for concern. As a result, the lottery has no system for flagging its most prolific customers. "What's the crime?" Ryan asked. "It's like the person who drinks too much in a bar" — a problem perhaps, he said, but not one that routinely requires direct intervention by government. State Doesn't Track Players Lottery players in Connecticut scooped up more than $1.2 billion in tickets last year, from 50-cent draw games to $30 scratch tickets. That's about $440 a year for every Connecticut resident old enough to buy a ticket. By one analysis, Connecticut ranks ninth-highest in lottery spending per capita. And with national surveys showing that a little less than half the population plays the lottery, it means the average Connecticut player is spending close to a $1,000 a year on tickets. Some spend much, much more. Robert Akuoko, a mortgage adviser in Bloomfield, called his more than 200 wins since 2007 "a blessing, I suppose." But, despite cashing in more than $750,000 in the past decade, he acknowledged that he has gambled away more than he's won. The state has no way of tracking purchases by players. But the lottery is a game of statistics, and those who come out ahead are generally those with one or a small number of wins, including those who become instant millionaires beating wild odds on Lotto or Powerball. But some in Connecticut have pocketed a significant amount of cash with a stunning number of smaller payouts. More than 250 players have collected $100,000 or more without cashing a single ticket worth more than $5,000. Half a dozen have topped half a million dollars in relatively small prizes. And Connecticut is far from unique. A national analysis of 11 million lottery claims, conducted by the Columbia students and the news site PennLive, found close to 1,700 players in nearly two dozen states who have claimed significant lottery prizes at least 50 times in the past seven years. One Massachusetts man has redeemed more than 7,300 lottery tickets since 2011, collecting almost $11 million in winnings. State lotteries across the country keep track of lottery payouts exceeding $599 — the threshold for reporting to the IRS. After journalists began collecting the data and requesting information about frequent winners, two states — Massachusetts and New York — have announced plans to better scrutinize multiple winners, as a guard against possible fraud. In Massachusetts, lottery officials will be authorized to freeze payouts to customers who redeem six or more prizes of at least $1,000 during a 12-month period. Players will have an opportunity to appeal and show they are not violating the law. After The Courant inquired about repeat winners, Connecticut Lottery Corporation officials said they are considering a similar change. "We have had preliminary discussions here about the feasibility of implementing a similar policy, and it is something we will be examining more closely in the near future," said Andrew Walter, a lottery corporation attorney. On its website, the Connecticut Lottery projects a strong commitment to tackling problem gambling. At a gas station where Akuoko often buys his tickets, a "Game Sense" pamphlet on display next to lottery tickets advises players on how to avoid excessive game play. "Balance gambling with other types of leisure activities," reads one piece of advice. "Don't chase losses, accept them as the cost of entertainment," states another. Some people are in a position to follow that advice. One couple, who have cashed in more than $1 million in tickets, most in wins of $5,000, have roughly a one-in-ten-million chance of having broken even over the years, according to Philip Stark, a statistician at the University of California at Berkeley. If the couple hasn't beaten those odds, it appears they have the financial cushion to withstand any losses — with an expansive estate that includes a garage filled with vintage cars. But others, like Morant, have found themselves in trouble, and — lucky or not — have both big wins and big financial problems, along with a big appetite for the Connecticut Lottery. Morant has bought winning tickets worth $1,000 or more at least 21 times from J & H Food Mart in North Haven. He was such a good customer, court records show, that Morant was allowed to order large quantities of lottery tickets over the phone and pick them up with a promise to pay at a later date. But between June 2016 and February 2017, the store owner alleges in a lawsuit, Morant ran up an unpaid bill of more than $87,000 in lottery tickets. Babu Moore, the owner of J & H Food Mart, said Morant was a steady customer at his convenience store and had told Moore's wife, who ran the store on a day-to-day basis, that he had won the top prize in the Lucky-4-Life game. In time, Moore said Morant asked to buy large numbers of tickets over the phone, on credit. "He knew when the new boxes of tickets would be coming in and he'd call and ask that we not put them out because he wanted to buy the whole box," Moore said recently after a court hearing on his lawsuit. Morant has acknowledged in court papers that he ordered lottery tickets from the store by phone "to be paid for at a later time." He is now claiming through his attorney that he doesn't have the money to pay Moore back, and that any deal he had with Moore is void because retailers are prohibited from selling lottery tickets on credit. Indeed, under state laws on gambling debts, Moore may have trouble recovering his losses. "The guy was getting $2,000 a week for life," Moore said. "So I figured he was good for it." The Money's Gone Fortunes also turned for Joseph Lanoce, who cashed in more than 130 winning tickets between 2010 and 2014, collecting nearly $400,000. Lanoce made headlines in the summer of 2012 when he won $25,000 on a $20 scratch ticket just months after winning $10,000 on a $10 scratch ticket, both of which were bought at Courtesy Mobil in Greenwich. "I've been very lucky," Lanoce said at the time. But as he stood in the hallway of Stamford Superior Court recently he said he hardly felt like a winner. Lanoce is facing first-degree larceny charges, accused of stealing nearly $900,000 from an elderly man named John Thorne, by gaining power of attorney over Thorne and draining the man's bank accounts. Lanoce insists that he is innocent and that he never stole anything from Thorne, but in fact spent $120,000 of his own money to help finish building a house for Thorne. He also faces a civil suit, after an 87-year-old woman at the retirement home where Lanoce worked alleged that he scammed her out of $12,000. The suit claims Lanoce told the woman that the IRS had frozen his bank accounts, in part because he owed back taxes on his "substantial lottery winnings." Later, according to the suit, he asked for money to help pay for one daughter's wedding and another daughter's moving expenses. After the suit was filed, Lanoce signed a stipulation agreeing to repay $1,000 a month. After one payment, court records indicate, Lanoce stopped paying. The records do not indicate why. Lanoce said he "occasionally" plays the lottery these days but nothing like he did in years past, when, as he recalls it, he seemed to win at will. In addition to his back-to-back big wins at the Mobil station, Lanoce cashed in at least 11 other winning tickets in 2012, collecting a total of $88,000 that year. But his big payoff came the following year, in a lottery buy he credits to Thorne whom he refers to as Stewart. "Stewart was going into a rehab facility at 1188 King Street" in Greenwich, Lanoce said. So Lanoce bought $100 worth of tickets for the state's Play 4 draw game, with the numbers 1-1-8-8. That night, the balls were drawn in that exact order. And Lanoce collected nearly $300,000. But the money's gone. Hernan Zambrano, who has worked at the Mobil station for five years, recalled that Lanoce would sometimes buy hundreds of tickets a day, often playing the same numbers on multiple tickets for the state's draw games. But at one point, Zambrano said, Lanoce stopped playing, saying he had legal and financial problems. In Lanoce's arrest affidavit, another clerk described how Lanoce would "come into the store several times a day, withdraw hundreds of dollars from the ATM and play $30 scratch off tickets" — the most-expensive tickets sold by the Connecticut lottery. Those high-dollar scratch tickets were controversial when introduced across the country, with some experts saying they were particularly appealing to problem gamblers. Lanoce confirmed that he continued playing heavily until he realized Greenwich police were investigating him. "Sometimes I would win $500 and I'd put $250 back in buying more tickets," Lanoce said. Now, he's trying to get a public defender for his criminal case and says he's ready to prove he's no thief. "I've done nothing wrong and I'm not afraid to go to court," he said. Walter, the Lottery Corporation's counsel, said the agency wasn't aware of either Morant's or Lanoce's cases. 'I Was Just Lucky' A huge number of winning tickets can indicate a player who routinely buys a huge number of losing tickets. But it draws the attention of state regulators only when the player is also a lottery retailer. That's what put Michael Criscio on the state's radar. Criscio owns M&M Pawn Shop & Check Cashing on Howe Street in New Haven. He also is a part-time boxing promoter and, along with his father, a multimillion-dollar lottery winner. Since 2011, the Criscios have cashed more than $6.8 million in winning tickets. On a recent morning, sitting behind the glass windows that separate him from customers, Criscio bluntly explained his long winning streak: "I am just one lucky son of a bitch." How lucky? Criscio, buying as many as 40 tickets for a single drawing, has matched all four numbers in the state's Play4 draw game on at least a dozen different dates, collecting more than $1.1 million. Winning those games requires beating 10,000-to-1 odds. Far tougher odds: Holding so many winning tickets without losing money in process. Criscio has cashed in 48 tickets for exactly $5,000, representing a $1 bet that matches all four numbers in the exact order they are drawn. Rebecca Goldin, Ph.D., a professor of mathematical sciences at George Mason University and director of STATS, a consortium of statisticians, calculated for The Courant the statistical likelihood that a person winning so many times would have broken even, assuming he or she bought the same number of tickets for winning bets as for losing bets. Her assessment: For a player with 48 winning tickets, there's a 99.999-percent chance that person would have spent more on tickets than he or she won in prizes. Criscio didn't say how much he'd spent to generate those winnings, but doesn't pretend his lottery playing was a plausible investment strategy. "If [my numbers] come out, they come out," he said. "Everybody knows you can't make money gambling." Criscio bought and cashed most of his tickets at his own New Haven pawn shop, which prompted a visit in May 2013 from investigators working for the Department of Consumer Protection's Gaming Division. They looked for any criminal history, asked New Haven police if he was under investigation, and checked whether he was compliant with city regulations pertaining to his pawn shop. Criscio said they investigated whether he was cashing tickets for other people, taking a percentage of the money from winners who owed alimony, child support or back taxes. That is a practice known as "discounting." Retailers have also been caught "palming" — checking tickets for a customer and pocketing a winning ticket after telling the customer it was a loser. That practice was sufficiently concerning that the state now provides self-check devices at lottery retailers. State regulators also look for outright retailer fraud, as they allege they found with the 5 Card Cash game. Investigators concluded that lottery retailers who entered sales for the game could see if the tickets were instant winners in time to cancel sales of losing tickets. At least six people connected to lottery retailers face felony theft charges. But Criscio came out clean. "They came in wearing their three-piece suits trying to be hard asses accusing me of cheating but they turned out to be all-right guys in the end," he said. "They just figured out I was just lucky." State investigators filed a one-page report on Criscio's winnings, concluding there were no violations that would preclude him from selling lottery tickets in his pawn shop. Ryan, the gaming division head, said there was no basis to look more deeply into Criscio's heavy playing. "There were suspicions that he was his own best customer," Ryan said. "Nothing illegal about that." Carlos Collazo, a lottery retailer in Bridgeport, said he was never investigated by the state, despite evidence that he, too, might have been among his own best customers. In July 2013, he picked the correct numbers in the state's Play3 draw game — and cashed in the 135 tickets he bought with those numbers. Three months later, he won again — having bought 80 tickets with the same numbers. Collazo says he had a streak of play where he got "crazy," although state lottery records show he hasn't won any significant prize from the lottery since 2014. "I stopped playing," he said. "I was playing too much and not hitting anything. I had bills to pay." Limits To Intervention The state Department of Consumer Protection has no similar investigations of non-retailers who have won big over and over. But the Connecticut Lottery Corporation says it is committed to responsible gaming and helping those who get in over their heads. In addition to the "Game Sense" pamphlets, the quasi-public lottery corporation prints the telephone number for the Connecticut Council on Problem Gambling helpline on the back of every scratch ticket. And, in February, the corporation added a bright yellow button to lottery terminals, giving retailers the ability to add an additional slip of paper — with problem-gambling resources — when printing out tickets for the state's draw games. "The button provides retailers with a discreet way to link problem gamblers, their families, and friends with help," said Chelsea Turner, a spokeswoman for the lottery. The extra slip includes a telephone number and email addresses for problem-gambling organizations, along with the messages: "When gambling isn't fun anymore. Help is available — All day, every day." Nearly all of the state's 2,900 lottery retailers have used the button since it launched in late February. Overall, more than 68,000 slips have been printed, an average of about one slip per week for each retailer. Lottery officials say there are limits to how much they and their retailers can be expected to intervene with potential gambling addicts. "Neither CT Lottery Corporation employees nor our retailer partners are trained clinicians," Turner said in a written response. "It would not be appropriate for a store clerk or shopkeeper to attempt to treat a customer that they suspect has a problem gambling." 'Eveything will stay the same' The Lottery Corporation website features a seven-year-old photograph of Morant, wearing a big smile and standing in front of an oversized check and a balloon declaring "I'm a Winner!" "As Connecticut's newest lottery millionaire, Morant is guaranteed to receive prize money each week for the rest of his life from the CT Lottery for his win," the short profile declares. "$2,000 EVERY week for life. Yes, FOR LIFE." But that was before Morant sold off those weekly payments. "While still adjusting to the idea of his unexpected windfall, Morant didn't expect that his life would change all that much," the lottery wrote, before quoting Morant's view of the future. "I still plan to go back to school, and continue to work," he was quoted as saying. "Everything will stay the same, but it will be a lot easier." This story was reported and written as part of a collaboration between the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and news outlets in Africa, Europe and across the United States. In the U.S., a reporter from PennLive and students in an investigative-reporting class at Columbia last spring, working with support from the Fund for Investigative Journalism, acquired lottery-prize data from 35 states and the District of Columbia, amassing a database of 11 million records. That database included more than 460,000 records from Connecticut, showing all prize redemptions of at least $600, dating back to 1998. Matthew Kauffman and Dave Altimari are staff writers on the investigative desk of The Courant. Jon William Allsop, a student in the investigative-reporting class, received a master's degree in journalism from Columbia in May.
NBA Power Rankings: The Rockets Are Unstoppable The NBA is a third of the way through its 2017-18 season and it appears that there are legitimately five top-tier teams. These teams are the Rockets, Warriors, Cavaliers, Celtics, and Raptors. But let’s not forget the Spurs who recently got back two-time Defensive Player of the Year Kwahi Leonard. The Pacers, Blazers, Wolves and perhaps the Pistons are also among the second tier of teams. Here is the fifth edition of NBA power rankings. 1. Houston Rockets (25-4), No Movement The Rockets have matched their best start in franchise history through the first 28 games. They have rolled to 13 straight wins with 11 of those victories being by double-digits. There current winning streak is the franchise’s longest since winning 22 in a row during the 2007-08 season. The Rockets have a plus-16.9 scoring margin during their winning streak. Houston is 15-0 with Chris Paul in the lineup. Paul is having a great year despite missing half of the games, producing four double-doubles and making a career-high 2.6 triples a game while shooting a personal-best 42.9% from long distance. Paul, who is averaging 2.9 steals this month, is currently 14th on the NBA’s all-time theft list with 1,945. He needs 13 more steals to move past Derek Harper for 13th place. James Harden surpassed the 20-point mark for the 29th straight time (dating back to last year) as he poured in 31 points in 38 minutes in win over the Bucks, tying Moses Malone’s franchise record. Harden, who has made less than 50% of his shots from the field in his last three games, is averaging 30.5 points while shooting 43.4% from the field and 35.4% from beyond the arc over his last five contests. He drained his 1,500th career triple in the game against the Bucks, becoming the second-fastest player to do so. 2. Golden State Warriors (24-6), +1 spot The Warriors have won a season-high eight straight. The Dubs, who are dealing with multiple injuries, have had several players step up in the recent weeks. Five players have missed time recently though reserve wing Nick Young (concussion) will return Monday night against the Lakers after sitting out one game. In the meantime, Steph Curry (sprained right ankle), Draymond Green (right shoulder soreness), Shaun Livingston (sore right knee) and Zaza Pachulia (left shoulder) remain out. Veteran Omri Casspi, rookie Jordan Bell along with Klay Thompson and Kevin Durant have stepped up their games. Casspi starting in place of Draymond Green the last two games, produced 28 points and 20 rebounds while shooting 11-for-15 (73.3%) from the floor. In the meantime, Bell has contributed 19 points along with 12 rebounds and 10 assists -- setting a career-high with eight dimes against the Mavs on Thursday -- while making 9-of-11 shots from the field over the last two contests. Durant has been terrific since returning from a knee ailment that cost him three games at end of November. As he has averaged 28 points, seven rebounds and 6.6 assists with two double-doubles in his last seven games. Thompson is having the best month of the season so far. Thompson, who has poured in at least 20 points in five straight games, is producing 22.9 points and 3.0 assists while shooting 55.8% from the field and 51.1% from beyond the arc in December. After playing in Los Angeles on Monday, Golden State closes the month with seven straight home contests. 3. Cleveland Cavaliers (23-8), + 1 spot The Cavs have won 18 of 19, including five straight. LeBron James posted his third consecutive triple-double on Sunday to give him four triple-doubles in his last five contests and 61 in his career. James, who has scored 20-plus points in 14 straight games, is averaging 27.4 points, 11.3 assists and 9.4 rebounds over his last nine contests. Kevin Love is also filling up the stat sheet in December, compiling 20.9 points and 10.1 rebounds while shooting 49.6% from the field and 48.9% from beyond the arc. He has posted five double-doubles in his eight games this month. The Cavaliers, who outscored the Wizards 23-16 in the final quarter on Sunday, won for the second time this season when tied after three quarters and are now 19-0 when leading or tied when heading into the fourth quarter. The Cavs, 14-5 in clutch situations, are outscoring opponents by 1.4 points a game in the final quarter -- which is tied for the sixth-best scoring margin over the last 12 minutes of play. Cleveland has topped the century mark in 24 straight games while they have made at least 10 3-pointers in their last 20 contests. 4. Boston Celtics (26-7), -3 spots The Celtics have split their last six games. Rookie Jayson Tatum, who leads the NBA in three-point percentage (51.7%), has made 16 of 28 (57.1%) attempts this month. Boston has a league-high six come-from-behind wins when trailing after three quarters. The C’s, who are 15-5 in clutch situations, have outrebounded their opponents a league-high 18 times this season. They have won each game they have grabbed more boards than their opponents. Overall, Boston has outrebounded its opponents by 1.3 caroms a game as they hold a 44.3-to-43.0 edge in rebounding. The Celtics are grabbing 50.7% of all available rebounds, which ranks 10th in the league. 5. Toronto Raptors (20-8), +2 spots The Raptors have won 9 of 10. Jonas Valanciunas, who was just 3-of-10 from the field, tallied 13 points and grabbed a season-high 16 rebounds in win over Sacramento on Sunday for his third double-double in the last four games. Toronto is a league-best 11-1 at home. 6. San Antonio Spurs (21-10), -1 spot The Spurs have lost two of three. Manu Ginobili, who made the game-winning shot against the Mavs on Saturday, has scored in double-figures in five of seven games and is averaging 9.0 points a game in December as he is making 1.3 triples a contest. San Antonio is 6-7 in back-to-back contests, having lost both pairs once. . Leonard made his debut this week, appearing in two of the team’s three games. He compiled 25 points and 10 rebounds while shooting 52.4 percent from field only 33 minutes of action. 7. Indiana Pacers (17-14), +2 spots The Pacers went 1-2 this past week though they have won 4 of 6. Victor Oladipo has continued his torrid pace, averaging 30.2 points over the last five games as he is having his most productive month of the season -- tallying 28.8 points including 4.0 three-pointers in eight games. Indiana is getting a league-high 18.4% of its points from the midrange. 8. Portland Trail Blazers (16-14), No movement The Trail Blazers went 3-1 this past week with all three victories coming on the road where they are now 9-5 on the season. Damian Lillard, who recorded his third double-double of the season on Saturday, has scored at least 18 points in all seven December games and is averaging 28.7 points a game for the month as he is averaging 4.2 triples a game during this stretch. Portland, fifth in scoring defense at 100.5 points a game, has held its last three opponents under 100 points. The Blazers are fourth in defensive rating at 101.5 points a game. They are 12-3 when holding their opponents under the century mark this year. 9. Detroit Pistons (17-13), -3 spots The Pistons have won three in a row, marking their first win streak since winning three straight at the end of November. Reggie Bullock, who is getting extended minutes for the first time in more than a month, poured in a career-high 20 points in a win over Magic on Sunday and has a tallied 45 points in his last three games as he made 17 of 26 shots (65.3%). Detroit tied a franchise record with 17 treys in the game against Atlanta. The Pistons made an average of 13.0 triples a game this past week while knocking them down at a 43.0% clip. Overall, the Pistons rank 11th with 11.3 made 3-pointers a game and sixth in 3-point percentage (38.3%). 10. Minnesota Timberwolves (18-13), +2 Spots The Timberwolves went 1-2 this past week. Karl-Anthony Towns is on an excellent stretch, averaging 25.2 points and 13.0 rebounds over the last five games.He has scored 20-plus in four of those games and has collected at least 10 rebounds in nine of 10 games. With their 108-106 loss to Phoenix on Saturday, Minnesota fell to 8-11 when allowing opponents over 100 points. The Timberwolves are also now 4-4 in games decided by three points or less and 11-7 versus teams with a losing record. The Wolves who rank eighth in the league in field goal percentage at 47.0% are shooting 47.4% for the month of December. 11. Milwaukee Bucks (15-13), +4 spots The Bucks have lost three straight games as they have surrendered at least 115 points in each of those contests. Giannis Antetokounmpo has produced nine double-doubles and is averaging 11.0 rebounds over the last 16 games. Milwaukee is expected to sign free agent Sean Kilpatrick and waive Gary Payton II, whose 45-day two-way contract is slated to expire soon. 12. New Orleans Pelicans (15-15), +1 spot The Pelicans lost two of three this past week and are just 4-7 in their last 11. DeMarcus Cousins, who has topped the 20-point mark in six straight games, is averaging 28.7 points while shooting 49.7% from the field and 47.1% from beyond the arc in December. New Orleans is shooting 51.4% from the field, which is second best in the league, and a league-best 46.9% from beyond the arc as they are making 14.6 triples a game in the month. 13. Denver Nuggets (16-14), -2 spots The Nuggets are 4-4 in the month of December. Will Barton, who is having a career year, has scored in double-figures in seven of his last eight games and is averaging 15.4 points a contest this season. He is producing 17.8 points a game in eight games as a starter and 15.0 points in 22 games as a reserve. Denver will be on the road for three of its four games this week, starting with a trip to OKC on Monday night. The Nugs also have road matchups with Portland (Fri.) and Golden State (Sat.). The Nuggets are just 5-11 on the road as they are being outscored by 6.4 points a game away from the Pepsi Center. 14. New York Knicks (16-14), +2 spots The Knicks are currently on a season-high four-game winning streak. Michael Beasley tied his career-high with 30 points against the Thunder on Saturday to give him his sixth double-figure game in eight contests this month. New York’s victory over OKC (Sat.) was its first in five games without Kristaps Porzingis, who is out with a knee injury. 15. Washington Wizards (16-14), +2 spots The Wizards have won two of three and are 6-4 in their last 10. Bradley Beal, who pumped in 27 points on 10 of 27 shooting against the Cavaliers, has topped the 20-point plateau in six of seven games. Washington went 4-5 without John Wall, who is averaging 14.3 points along with 5.7 rebounds and 5.0 assists in his three games since returning from a knee injury. 16. Miami Heat (15-15), -2 spots The Heat have won four of five. Josh Richardson, who has scored in double-figures in four straight games, tallied a career-high 28 points on 10-of-16 shooting in a win over the Clippers on Saturday. Coach Erik Spoelstra surpassed Pat Riley for the most wins in franchise history with Miami’s 90-85 victory over Los Angeles (Saturday) with 455. 17. Oklahoma City Thunder (15-15), +4 spots The Thunder went 2-2 this past week with both of the wins by five points or fewer and both losses by double digits. Carmelo Anthony, who is in the midst of his least efficient scoring season of his career, scored only 12 points on 5-of-18 shooting in his return to MSG on Saturday night. OKC, which will play seven of its next eight games at home, is 9-4 at Chesapeake Energy Arena this season as they are outscoring their opponents by 6.2 points a game. 18. Philadelphia 76ers (14-15), -8 spots The 76ers have lost five of six and are just 3-7 in their last 10. Joel Embiid, who tallied 34 points along with eight points and six assists in the loss to the Thunder on Friday, has put up at least 28 points, seven rebounds and six assists while shooting over 50.0% from the field in his last three contests. With the loss to OKC in triple overtime, Philadelphia fell to 1-1 in overtime games and 1-4 in contests decided by three or fewer points. 19. Utah Jazz (14-17), -1 spot The Jazz have lost five of six. After a slow start to the season, rookie Donovan Mitchell has scored in double figures in 21 of 23 games and is averaging 25.8 points in December while shooting 49.4% from the floor. Rudy Gobert is expected to be out until mid-January after spraining a PCL in his left knee on Friday night. 20. Los Angeles Lakers (10-18), -1 spot The Lakers have lost two straight and 6 of 8. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope is slated to miss the Lakers next three games -- Houston (Dec. 20 and Dec. 31) and Minnesota (Jan.1) -- outside of California as part of his plea deal for his DUI arrest while a member of the Pistons earlier this year. Los Angeles will retired both of the jerseys Kobe Bryant wore during his two-decade tenure with the franchise, becoming just the 10th player in the organization’s history to have his number raised to the rafters. 21. Brooklyn Nets (11-18), +2 The Nets have lost three straight and four of five. Jahlil Okafor and Nik Stauskas, acquired from the 76ers, combined for 37 points and 11 rebounds in a loss to the Raptors on Friday. Brooklyn waived guard Yakuba Ouattara, who was on a two-way contract, and is expected to sign Milton Doyle to a two-way contract. 22. Los Angeles Clippers (11-18), +2 spots The Clippers have dropped two straight games as they have failed to top the century mark in each of those games, falling to 2-6 when being held to under 100 points. Lou Williams, who is averaging a personal-best 19.9 points a game, had his streak of 11 games of tallying at least 17 points snapped on Saturday as he finished with 11 against the Heat. Los Angeles is 0-5 in the second game of a back-to-back. 23. Chicago Bulls (9-20), +7 spots The Bulls have won all five games Nikola Mirotic has played in. Bobby Portis, who picked up his third double-double of the season in Friday’s win over Milwaukee as he scored a career-high 27 points and grabbed 12 boards, has been much better in wins than losses -- compiling 14.7 points while shooting 59.0% from the floor and 47.4% from beyond the arc in six victories that he has taken part in. Three of Chicago’s four opponents this week-- Philadelphia, Boston and Cleveland -- possess a .500 or better record, the Bulls are just 3-15 against those opponents this year. 24. Charlotte Hornets (11-19), -4 spots The Hornets lost their 13th straight game that has been decided by three or less points on Saturday, tying an NBA record with the 2015-16 76ers for the longest streak since 1979-80. Nic Batum has struggled in his 15 games this season, failing to reach double-figures in seven of those games and shooting just 38.8% from the field though he did tally a season-high 23 points in the loss to the Trail Blazers on Saturday. All 10 of Charlotte’s wins have come when they have scored at least 100 points. 25. Orlando Magic (11-20), +1 spot The Magic have dropped five in a row and 16 of 19. Third-year pro Mario Hezonja had a career game with 28 points, on 10-of-18 shooting including 8-of-12 from beyond the arc, to go along with six rebounds in a loss to the Pistons on Sunday. Dealing with depth problems due to several injuries, Orlando’s bench struggled this past week producing just 22.5 points a game while shooting 28.4% from the field and being outscored by their opponent’s reserves by 4.9 points a game. 26. Sacramento Kings (9-20), +1 spot The Kings have lost three of four and 6 of 10. Bogdan Bogdanovic, who has reached double-figures in three of his last four games, is 13 of 26 on his three-point attempts in the last four games. Sacramento, which plays three of its next four games away from home, is tied with Atlanta for the most road losses with 13. 27. Phoenix Suns (11-21), -5 spots The Suns snapped a five-game losing streak with a 108-106 win over the Timberwolves on Saturday, while also evening their record at 2-2 in games decided by three or less points. Veteran point guard Isaiah Canaan made his first appearance as a member of the Suns on Saturday, contributing 15 points, seven assists and five rebounds. Phoenix has trailed after three quarters in 24 of their 31 games, and possess a 4-20 record in those games. 28. Memphis Grizzlies (9-21), -1 spot The Grizzlies lost six of seven. Veteran Marc Gasol, in the midst of his worst shooting season of his career (42.3%), recorded his second double-double in his last three games and third of the month as he contributed 30 points and 10 rebounds in a loss to the Celtics on Saturday. Memphis was outscored 31-12 by Boston in the first quarter (Saturday), marking the 14th time in the past 18 games that they Griz have faced a deficit of at least nine points after the opening quarter. 29. Dallas Mavericks (8-23), -4 spots The Mavericks have lost five of six. 25-year old rookie Max Kleber has been a pleasant surprise and is currently surging, having produced double-digit games in four of his last nine including a career-high 21 points in a loss to the Spurs on Saturday. Dallas is 1-15 in games where the score is within five points in the final five minutes as they have been outscored by a league-worst 59 points in clutch situations. 30. Atlanta Hawks (7-23), -1 spot The Hawks, who own the worst record in the league, have lost four straight and are 2-8 in their last 10. Dennis Schroder picked up his second double-double of the season in a loss to the Grizzlies as he finished with 18 points and 11 assists, marking the second straight game that he has posted double-digit assists and third time this year. With their 96-94 loss to Memphis on Friday, Atlanta fell to 1-3 in games decided by three points or fewer and 5-3 when leading after three quarters.
Multilingual models #1 Posted 09 October 2009 - 12:42 PM Let's say I have a table product and product_trans, in product I store all locale aware attributes like price, sizes etc, while in product_trans I store name, description etc. It may be a solution to create a MultilingualActiveRecord class which extends CActiveRecord and are able to assemble a localized version of the Product instance based on a provided locale. Anyone doing this already? Maybe this is such a general feature that it could be supported in the framework? Any other ideas to accomplish the same result? #2 Posted 09 October 2009 - 02:21 PM #3 Posted 09 October 2009 - 02:38 PM #4 Posted 10 October 2009 - 02:08 AM /** * @return array relational rules. / public function relations() { // NOTE: you may need to adjust the relation name and the related // class name for the relations automatically generated below. return array( 'en' => array(self::HAS_ONE,'productTrans','productId','condition'=>"??.`language`='en'",'alias'=>'ProductEN'), 'ru' => array(self::HAS_ONE,'productTrans','productId','condition'=>"??.`language`='ru'",'alias'=>'ProductRU'), 'es' => array(self::HAS_ONE,'productTrans','productId','condition'=>"??.`language`='es'",'alias'=>'ProductES'), ); } Then if you need products with spanish translation, you do $models=Product::model()->with('es')->findAll(); and your title now is $models[0]->es->title Could anyone think of a better solution? #5 Posted 10 October 2009 - 05:47 AM If I'm thinking loud, I would like to write something like: $products = Product::model()->local('es')->findAll(); or: $products = Product::model()->localize('es')->findAll(); When defining a multilingual active record model you'll have to specify the table name and which attributes that are locale aware. In the product-table all attributes are present. In product_trans-table all locale aware attributes is added. Let's say my default language is English (en) and that my data in the product table is in English. Then this query should try to find translated attributes in Spanish (es) and if no translation is found it should fall back to the default language and use the default attribute values from the product-table. I think this could be a killer feature #6 Posted 10 October 2009 - 07:32 AM #7 Posted 10 October 2009 - 08:58 AM I'll post here the Model and ActiveRecordBehavior class (should give you a quick idea of what's going on). Check attachement for a small test app (and the other classes of course). I don't use any additional db-tables. There are "multilanguage"-fields that have to be suffixed with a language-code (eg "title_en"). If one of these special fields are NULL, it means the content is not available in the defined language. If that's the case, a fallback-language may be used. You can manually override the fallback-setting which is defined in the Model by doing for example: Model::model()->fallback(false)->findAll(); The supported languages are defined in the app-config (I18n app-component class). Well the whole thing is not complete of course, but it's something at least. Check test-app to see live (make sure to import database-dump). Use /index.php?language=it&fallback=1 to see the fallback-functionality in action. This works by the way: $postItem = Post::model()->findAll(); echo $postItem[0]['title']; So there's no need to mess around with any language codes when doing queries. class Post extends I18nActiveRecord { public $title; public $text; public static function model($className=__CLASS__) { return parent::model($className); } public function behaviors() { return array( 'I18n' => array( 'class' => 'I18nActiveRecordBehavior', 'fallback' => false, 'fields' => array('title', 'text'), ), ); } } class I18nActiveRecordBehavior extends CActiveRecordBehavior { public $fallback; public $fields; private function _getFallback() { if (null !== ($fallback = $this->owner->getFallback())) { return $fallback; } return $this->fallback; } private function _setFallback() { if (null === $this->owner->getFallback()) { $this->owner->setFallback($this->fallback); } } public function beforeFind() { $this->_setFallback(); foreach ($this->fields as $field) { $this->owner->dbCriteria->mergeWith(array( 'condition' => $this->_getCondition($field), )); } } public function afterFind() { foreach ($this->fields as $field) { if (true === $this->_getFallback() && null === $this->owner->fallbackActive) { if (null === $this->owner->__get("{$field}_" . Yii::app()->i18n->activeLanguage['code'])) { $this->owner->fallbackActive = true; } else { $this->owner->fallbackActive = false; } } $languageCode = (true === $this->owner->fallbackActive) ? Yii::app()->i18n->fallbackLanguage['code'] : Yii::app()->i18n->activeLanguage['code']; $this->owner->$field = $this->owner->__get("{$field}_{$languageCode}"); } } private function _getCondition($field) { if (true === $this->_getFallback() && Yii::app()->i18n->activeLanguage['code'] !== Yii::app()->i18n->fallbackLanguage['code']) { return sprintf("{$field}_%s IS NOT NULL OR {$field}_%s IS NOT NULL", Yii::app()->i18n->activeLanguage['code'], Yii::app()->i18n->fallbackLanguage['code']); } else { return sprintf("{$field}_%s IS NOT NULL", Yii::app()->i18n->activeLanguage['code']); } } } #8 Posted 11 October 2009 - 12:41 AM #9 Posted 11 October 2009 - 06:25 AM #10 Posted 11 October 2009 - 07:22 AM There is a join condition available including translated content, and it's possible to specify a defaultScope. I think it's possible to create a base model that use a language parameter in named scope call. This line in __call() seems to be the one to change. Some parameter binding semantic has to be added. $this->getDbCriteria()->mergeWith($scopes[$name]); The call would look something like MyModel::model()->translated('language')->... Edit: Just recognized the guide section about parameterized named scopes: No need to extend CActiveRecord then. Just define a method named by the scope. /Tommy #11 Posted 04 November 2009 - 02:25 PM Suppose you have a table (and model) Post, with fields id, title, content. The title and content fields store values in the primary or default language of the application. Then you have a table (and model) PostLang, with fields id, postId, lang, title, content, which stores title and content in additional languages. By adding the LocalizedBehavior to the Post model, you can do: $posts = Post::model()->localized('es')->findAll($criteria); What this will do is overwrite the value of the title and content attributes with their localized version. In case these values are empty it will leave the original ones. If the requested language is the same as the primary language, it will have no effect. You can also call it without the language parameter: $posts = Post::model()->localized()->findAll($criteria); And it will use the language currently set in the application. It works fine, but maybe the implementation could be improved. What I'm doing internally is creating a relation, applying the with() method, and using afterFind() to process the results. All comments are welcome! <?php class LocalizedBehavior extends CActiveRecordBehavior { /* * Name of the field that stores the language in the translations table / public $langField = 'lang'; /* * Name of the model/table that stores the translations. * For 'Post', it defaults to 'PostLang'. / public $langClassName; /* * Name of the foreign key column of the translations table. * For 'Post', it defaults to 'postId'. */ public $langForeignKey; public $skipFields; public $primaryLang; public $overwriteIfEmpty = false; public function localized($lang=null) { $obj = $this->Owner; if (!$lang) $lang = Yii::app()->language; if ($lang == $this->getPrimaryLang()) return $obj; $class = CActiveRecord::HAS_MANY; $obj->getMetaData()->relations['localized'] = new $class('localized', $this->getLangClassName(), $this->getLangForeignKey(), array('index'=>$this->langField, 'condition'=>"??.".$this->langField."='".$lang."'")); return $obj->with('localized'); } public function afterFind($event) { $obj = $this->Owner; if (isset($obj->localized) && sizeof($obj->localized)>0) { $row = current($obj->localized); $skipFields = $this->getSkipFields(); foreach ($row->getAttributes() as $field=>$value) { if (!in_array($field, $skipFields)) { if ($value \|\| $this->overwriteIfEmpty) $obj->$field = $value; } } } } private function getPrimaryLang() { if (!$this->primaryLang) return Yii::app()->sourceLanguage; return $this->primaryLang; } private function getLangForeignKey() { if (!$this->langForeignKey) return strtolower($this->Owner->tableName()).'Id'; return $this->langForeignKey; } private function getlangClassName() { if (!$this->langClassName) return $this->Owner->tableName().'Lang'; return $this->langClassName; } private function getSkipFields() { if (!$this->skipFields) return array('id', $this->getLangForeignKey(), $this->langField); return $this->skipFields; } } (Note: for some reason, camelcase in the class names LocalizedBehavior and CActiveRecordBehavior appears messed up) #12 Posted 02 December 2009 - 02:07 PM #13 Posted 01 March 2010 - 04:43 AM guillemc, on 02 December 2009 - 02:07 PM, said: Hi there, I integrated your Extension yesterday and it's just Great. Thanks for that. But I had a Problem with the CActiveDataProvider that is used with the grid view widget. So I made a smal addition to your Extension. Maybe you can add this class to your next release. class MultilingualActiveDataProvider extends CActiveDataProvider { public $blnLocalize = true; public $blnAll = false; public function __construct($modelClass, $config=array(), $blnLocalize=true, $blnAll=false) { $this->blnLocalize = $blnLocalize; $this->blnAll = $blnAll; parent::__construct($modelClass, $config); } protected function fetchData() { $criteria=clone $this->getCriteria(); if(($pagination=$this->getPagination())!==false) { $pagination->setItemCount($this->getTotalItemCount(true)); $pagination->applyLimit($criteria); } if(($sort=$this->getSort())!==false) $sort->applyOrder($criteria); if($this->blnLocalize) { if($this->blnAll) { return CActiveRecord::model($this->modelClass)->multilingual()->findAll($criteria); } else { return CActiveRecord::model($this->modelClass)->localized()->findAll($criteria); } } else { return CActiveRecord::model($this->modelClass)->findAll($criteria); } } } Now I can Use the DataProvider with his pagination with the Multilang extension $dataProvider=new MultilingualActiveDataProvider('Post', array( 'criteria'=>array( 'condition'=>'status=1 AND tags LIKE :tags', 'params'=>array(':tags'=>$_GET['tags']), 'with'=>array('author'), ), 'pagination'=>array( 'pageSize'=>20, ), ), true, true); hope you like it #14 Posted 25 March 2010 - 11:43 AM Its giving some issues with related models (like $model->related->localized()->field), but have to look in to that a bit further. Perhaps it can be defined in the relation. If someone can create a behavior like this please let it know! #15 Posted 15 June 2010 - 04:42 AM #16 Posted 19 June 2010 - 10:16 PM. #17 Posted 29 June 2010 - 05:31 AM Hudson Nguyen, on 19 June 2010 - 10:16 PM, said:. #18 Posted 11 July 2010 - 10:43 PM mech7, on 29 June 2010 - 05:31 AM, said: Yes, it's open source mech7. you can download it from. #19 Posted 23 July 2010 - 03:57 AM guillemc, on 02 December 2009 - 02:07 PM, said: umm is this working in 1.1? #20 Posted 01 September 2010 - 03:24 AM mech7, on 23 July 2010 - 03:57 AM,? Hi I'm having the same problems, please notify me if you'll find a way around this!
Vol. 11 No. 20 - Feb. 6, 2007 Features Seventh Annual University Conference Welcomes Author, Discusses ChangesThe seventh annual University Conference will take place from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Feb. 7. Students, faculty and staff will be able to participate in a variety of presentations and discussions concerning the topic “Building Our Third Decade of Excellence in the Liberal Arts and Sciences: Becoming More Learning-Centered.” The Conference is an opportunity for the entire University community to review and collectively address key issues affecting the future of the University and its ability to provide students with the best possible opportunities to learn and develop their talents both inside and outside the classroom. This year the event’s objective is to encourage discussion and input from all areas of the University community related to becoming more focused on the learning process and what hinders and aids this process. Classes will not meet from 7:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Feb. 7, giving students and faculty the opportunity to attend the event. Registration will begin at 8 a.m. outside the Ophelia Parrish Performance Hall, where light refreshments will be served. Garry Gordon, vice president for academic affairs, will give opening remarks and an introduction in the OP Performance Hall at 8:30 a.m. Immediately following at 8:45 a.m., John Tagg, author of “The Learning Paradigm College,” will give the plenary address, “Learning to Change, Changing to Learn: Creating a Learning-Centered University.” The first two of the day’s four sets of concurrent sessions will discuss Tagg’s and other’s ideas with multiple presentations on various topics. The first session begins at 10 a.m., the second set is scheduled for 10:50 a.m. Lunch will begin at 11:45 a.m. in the Student Union Building Lounge, during which Tagg will deliver the 2007 Baldwin Lecture, “In the Beginning...” In his lecture he will explore recent research capturing the nature of expertise, with the provocation that experts are good beginners. A break is scheduled for 1:30 p.m., after which an overview of Truman’s Strategic Plan is scheduled to take place at 1:45 p.m. in the OP Performance Hall. At this time, participants are also welcome to visit the Technology Fair in the Student Union Building Activities Room. See the Technology Fair article for more information about what will be on display at the Fair, which will run from 1:45-5 p.m. The final two sessions will follow. The third set of session, beginning at 2:45 p.m. will include a focus on the University’s Strategic Plan. The fourth, beginning at 3:30 p.m., will concern the different majors and disciplines that Truman offers. The Conference will conclude with a Conference Social held in conjunction with the Technology Fair at 4:30 p.m. in the SUB Activities Room. This time will allow participants to socialize and reflect on the day’s activities. Visit for a complete itinerary of the events for the day. Contact Julie Lochbaum, director of the Center for Teaching and Learning, at [email protected] or 785.4391 for more information on the Baldwin Lecture. A limited number of copies of Tagg’s book are also available in the Vice President for Academic Affairs office, McClain Hall 203. Fifth Annual Technology Fair to Take Place During University ConferenceMany projects will be on display and two Dell all-one-printers will be awarded at this year’s Technology Fair. The Teaching Learning Technology Roundtable (TLTR) is hosting the Fifth Annual Technology Fair from 1:45-5 p.m. Feb. 7, the afternoon of the University Conference, in the Student Union Building Activities Room. The Fair will showcase both exciting ways that technology can facilitate the educational process as well as innovative ways that technology is already being used at Truman. The topics that will be covered include, among others, creating an e-textbook, tailoring an online simulation game for use in courses, with audiovisual and textual resources to enhance the reading of a literary work, using an online “wiki” Web site to compile class resources for use by different instructors, developing an online mathematics curriculum for use in K-12 education, and the latest from Instructional Design Services led by Diane Richmond, the new instructional designer. In addition, the winners of the TruTech Challenge, a competition of technology projects open to students, faculty, staff, classes and organizations, will be awarded Dell printers in a ceremony at 4:30 p.m. The Technology Fair will conclude in conjunction with the University Conference’s social hour, during which refreshments will be served. Contact Chad Mohler at [email protected] for more information about the Fair or TLTR. Students Take Research to State CapitolPictured front row, left to right: Jamie Matthews, Brooke Hamilton, Jill Scognamiglio, Nohemi Alvarez-Landa, Rep. Rebecca McClanahan, Teresa Kerbawy, Shanna Foster and Miriam Savabi. Second row, left to right: Amanda Groebl, Laura Halfmann, Loretta Palmer, Maddie Schill, Kristen Overson, Meagan Batson and Megan Hasse. Third row, left to right: Josh Kelly, Keith Trivitt, David Bonner, Michael Landrum, Cari Brummit, Jaret Copeman and Rachel Goldammer. Fourth row, left to right: Zach Monroe, Steven Webb, Christopher Peterson, Sean Lowery, Adam Gouge and Ryan Hart. The University took 27 students to Jefferson City Jan. 31 to present their research to Missouri’s legislators. The poster presentations were part of Truman’s Capitol Appreciation Event. Students Spread the Fundamentals of Free EnterpriseStudents in Kirksville received an early lesson on spending habits. On Jan. 23 and 25, Truman’s Students in Free Enterprise team (SIFE) organized a project titled “SIFE Savings” at the Adair County Family YMCA. This two-day event, designed for third- and fifth-grade children, included a discussion and a game focused on the difference between impulse and smart buying. As part of the game, students were asked to make decisions about buying situations. They were also asked to keep track of their transactions in a savings register. At the end of the game the participants received prizes based on how much they had saved, thus demonstrating the consequences of poor spending choices. SIFE is a global nonprofit organization represented by student teams on more than 1,600 university campuses in 40 countries. SIFE offers students the opportunity to develop leadership, teamwork and communication skills through learning, practicing and teaching the principles of free enterprise. Each year SIFE competitions take place worldwide, paying tribute to the education outreach projects. Contact Jeni Long, Truman’s SIFE president, at [email protected] or 314.973.0977 or visit their Web site at for more information. Black History Month Events to Take PlaceFebruary is Black History Month and Truman State University will celebrate through competition, food, political discussion, film, music, dance and fashion. The month kicks off with the Black History Knowledge Bowl at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 8 in Baldwin Hall 156. Team sign ups will take place Feb. 5-8. The Soulful Sunday Dinner will take place at 5 p.m. Feb. 11 in the Ryle Hall Main Lounge. People can feed their mind, body, and spirit with a nourishing home cooked meal. The event is free, but there is a limited quantity of food. The next event helps people to enrich their mind by listening to a presentation by KC Morrison at 6 p.m. Feb. 12 in Magruder Hall 1098. Morrison is a member of the doctoral faculty of political science at the University of Missouri-Columbia specializing in the areas of Third World politics, African politics and society, African-American politics and society, and comparative political leadership. He is scheduled to discuss “Race Cycles and the 2008 Elections” with a focus on two-party politics in the United States. The third week of Black History Month will bring film, music, dance and fashion. The film “The Language We Cry In” will be shown at 6 p.m. Feb. 22 in Baldwin Hall 251. A woman traces her roots to a village in Africa in this film. Following the film, Sylvia Macauley, African historian, will lead a discussion concerning the issues illuminated by the film and its content. The month wraps up with a cultural explosion with “Sights and Sounds of Africa.” This event will celebrate African culture through food, dance, fashion and more at 4 p.m. Feb. 25 in the Student Union Building Lounge. This is event is sponsored by the African Student Association, the Residential College Program and Multicultural Affairs. All events are sponsored by the African Student Association, Association of Black Collegians, Multicultural Affairs Center, Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. and the Residential College Program. Scholarship Looks for Undergraduates Committed to the EnvironmentThe Morris K. Udall foundation is expected to award 80 scholarships of up to $5,000 to sophomore or junior undergraduates who have demonstrated a commitment to the environment. The campus deadline for this nationally competitive scholarship is Feb. 27. For more information visit the Udall Web site at and contact Maria Di Stefano, Truman’s Udall Foundation representative, at [email protected]. Scholarship AvailableThe Point Foundation has announced the availability of numerous scholarship opportunities for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students. The Point Foundation hopes to provide a greater level of acceptance, respect and tolerance within future generations for all persons regardless of sexual orientation, gender expression or gender identity. Visit for more information about the foundation’s scholarship opportunities. Announcements University Conference ScheduleUniversity Conference Schedule “Building Our Third Decade of Excellence in the Liberal Arts and Sciences: Becoming More Learning-Centered” Feb. 7 8 a.m.-Registration, outside OP Performance Hall 8:30 a.m.-Opening remarks and introduction, Vice President for Academic Affairs Garry Gordon, OP Performance Hall 8:45 a.m.-Plenary Address, “Learning to Change, Changing to Learn: Creating a Learning-Centered University,” John Tagg 10 a.m.-Concurrent Sessions I 10:50 a.m.-Concurrent Sessions II 11:45 a.m.-Lunch buffet, SUB Lounge 12:30 p.m.-Baldwin Lecture, “In the Beginning...,” John Tagg, SUB Lounge 1:45 p.m.-Overview of Truman’s Strategic Plan, VH 1000 Technology Fair begins, SUB Activities Room 2:45 p.m.-Concurrent Sessions III 3:30 p.m.-Concurrent Sessions IV 4:30 p.m.-End-of-Conference Social, SUB Activities Room Visit to view the complete schedule of events. Barbara Early-Vreeland Lecture“My Odyssey with John F. Kennedy” James N. Giglio, distinguished professor emeritus of history of Missouri State University, will present this lecture. 7 p.m. Feb. 7 Student Union Building Alumni Room Contact Mark Hanley at 785.4089 or [email protected] for more information. Red Cross Blood Drive10:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Feb. 8-9 Student Union Building Activities Room Blue Key members urge the public to participate in this upcoming Red Cross blood drive. This is the organization’s second blood drive of the academic year. The Red Cross will be signing-up walk-in donations the day of the event. Bulldog Football to Host Signing SocialThe Truman State University Bulldog football team will be having a signing social event beginning at 4 p.m. Feb. 8 in the Student Union Building Conference Room. KTVO Sports Director Fred Beck will provide a welcome at 4:15 p.m. Jerry Wollmering, Truman’s director of athletics, will speak at 4:20 p.m. Shannon Currier, head football coach, will speak at 4:25 p.m. followed by the 2007 Bulldog Signing Class Highlight Show at 4:35 p.m. There will be free appetizers and beverages. The Truman football staff thanks faculty and staff for all of their efforts in helping recruit the signing class. Health Awareness WeekHealth Awareness Fair Noon-5 p.m. Feb. 15 Student Recreation Center Multipurpose Room The Health Awareness. Feb. 15 Baldwin Auditorium This free event is sponsored by the Nursing Student Association in conjunction with the Health Awareness Fair. Visit for more information on the speaker. SAB Presents FilmSAB Spring Films presents “Stranger Than Fiction” starring Will Ferrell and Emma Thompson 6:30 p.m. and 9 p.m. • Feb. 9 3 p.m. • Feb. 10 Violette Hall 1000 Free with student ID. Career Expo1-5 p.m. Feb. 21 Student Union Building On the Career Center’s Web site,, find the Career Expo link and click on it. There students will find a helpful list of companies who have signed up thus far as well as a student registration link where students can sign up ahead of time. It is recommended that they sign up before Expo as it will save them a lot of time waiting in line the actual day of Expo. Feb. 14 is the last day to apply online for jobs with companies that will be conducting on-campus interviews Feb. 22. The Career Center will sponsor “Map Out Your Future” Feb. 20 which includes employer mock interviews all day. Students can sign up now in person for employer mock interviews but they will need to turn their résumé in at the same time they sign up. And as always, the career assistants are available, without appointment, to assist students with their résumé and cover letter questions. Stop by the Career Center or call 785.4353 for more information. Student Ambassador Applications AvailableThe Office of Admissions is looking for applicants who are responsible, energetic and sincere in their desire to relate all aspects of University life to perspective students and their families. Due 5 p.m. Feb. 15 The Student Ambassadors are a group of approximately 150 students whose goal is to promote Truman State University to prospective students and their families. They are in charge of visiting with prospective students, giving tours of campus and assisting with visit events. Applications are available in the Office of Admissions, McClain Hall 205. Interviews will be conducted Feb. 19-23. Contact Jill Graves at [email protected]. Truman Web Usability SurveyShare your opinion about the Truman Web site by taking the Web usability survey at. While you’re there, stay updated and involved in the process through the Web Redesign Committee’s blog. Your comments and suggestions are welcome as we redesign the Truman Web site for the fall semester. Notables NotablesMarijke Breuning, associate professor of political science, has been awarded a Ping Fellowship to support her participation in the CIEE (Council on International Education Exchange) International Faculty Development Seminar in Ghana summer of 2007. Matt Tornatore, associate professor of foreign language and linguistics, had his article concerning the disputed origin of several Italian Gallicisms published in the most recent issue of “Rivista italiana di linguistica e dialettologia” (Rome, Italy) pp 175-190. Notes NotesThe Truman campus was covered in red on Feb. 2 for National Wear Red Day. Karen Skoch, director of fitness/wellness programs, thanks those Truman students, faculty and staff that participated in helping to raise awareness and raise money in support of the American Heart Association’s research and educational efforts for Adair County. Special thanks to the SERVE Center, Janice Young and HES Health 440 Students, the Student Health Center, and SRC volunteers for planning and implementing activities on campus. Special thanks to the female athletic teams for helping support Wear Red Day. Also, a special thank you to Tim Barcus for taking photographs of the events. It is never too late to get involved and learn more about preventing heart disease. February is the month to love your heart. Schedule your heart health check up today. Applications are now being accepted for Le Coin français, Truman’s French language residence community, and La Casa Hispánica, Truman’s Spanish language residence community. These communities will be housed in Missouri Hall beginning in fall 2007. Applications are due Feb. 9. For more information or to receive an application, contact Tim Farley at [email protected] for Le Coin français and Carol Marshall at [email protected] for La Casa Hispánica. Upward. Book releases by Truman authors in February will be available at the Truman Bookstore. The new books include “An Illusion of Harmony” by Taner Edis, “Plunging to Leviathan?” by Robert Graber, and “Founding the Future: A History of Truman State University” by David Nichols. Visit for additional author titles. Contact Steve Pennington at 785.4211 for more information. John Tagg, author of “The Learning Paradigm College,” will speak at a Baldwin Lecture and Luncheon in conjunction with the University Conference at 12:30 p.m. Feb. 7 in the Student Union Building Lounge. Tagg’s interactive lecture is titled “In the Beginning...” He will also be speaking at a follow-up lunch Feb. 8 in the Student Union Building Alumni Room from noon-1:30 p.m. Those wanting to attend the follow-up lunch should R.S.V.P. by Feb. 6 to Julie Lochbaum at [email protected] or 785.4391. ACEI will meet from 8:30-9:30 p.m. Feb 7 in Violette Hall on the upstairs couches. The organization promotes the education and development of young children. Cookies will be provided. Contact Arianna Downard at [email protected] for more information. The Spring 2007 Academic Workshop Series continues at 5:30 p.m. Feb. 8 in Magruder Hall 1090. David Garth, John Hoffman and Diane Janick-Buckner will speak on the topic of “Preparing for Graduate School: M.A.E., M.S., Ph.D., M.D.Ph.D. - Is it for me? How do I get there?” Come and engage in a lively discussion on all things graduate school. CIAO is having a study abroad meeting for those interested in studying abroad in Italy at 7 p.m. Feb. 8 in West Campus Suites 100. Contact Gina Ribaudo at [email protected] for more information. The Career Center is hosting SCORE mock interviews from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Feb. 9 in the Career Center. Retired professionals who are members of the Service Corp. of Retired Executives (SCORE) will be conducting mock interviews with one-hour time slots. Upperclassmen who are actively applying to graduate or career schools or searching for a job are encouraged to attend. Prior sign-up, résumé and professional attire are required. Contact Polly Matteson at 785.4240 or [email protected] for more information. Are you flexible? Join people from 5:30-6 p.m. Feb. 9 in the SRC Aerobics Room for an interactive workshop demonstrating proper stretching techniques and highlighting the benefits of stretching prior to physical activity. Stretching 101 will be offered by the SRC Fitness/Wellness Program and HES Health 440 Students. Questions and one-on-one assistance will be from 6-6:30 p.m. Contact Karen Skoch at 785.7739 or [email protected] for more information. Hillel is hosting an Israeli dancing night from 7-9 p.m. Feb. 9 in Baldwin Hall 252. No experience is necessary and refreshments will be provided. Contact Anna Horowitz at [email protected] for more information. Runners and walkers of all abilities are welcome to join members of Truman’s women’s soccer team in a 2.6 mile minimarathon at 11 a.m. Feb. 10 in front of Pershing Building. All proceeds go directly to nonprofit organizations that fight disease and poverty in Africa. Suggested donations are $25. For more information or to register, contact Emily Huyck at [email protected] or 785.7260. Blue Key Spring Recruitment begins at 4 p.m. Feb. 10 in the Student Union Building Activities Room. Attendance at the event is required forall men who are interested in going through recruitment. Contact Joe Baumann at [email protected] for more information. The Center for Teaching and Learning is sponsoring a Global Issues Colloquium from 7-9 p.m. Feb. 15 in Magruder Hall 1000. Contact Julie Locbaum at [email protected] or 785.4391 for more information..
I promised this post forever ago. It took forever to write. Thanks for your patience: I sat on a relationships panel for WEEN a few months back. For those of you who don't know, WEEN, or Women in Entertainment Empowerment Network, is a fabulous national organization that seeks to empower young women (and was started by four of my friends). Anyway, I walked into the "green" room to ready myself for the production and was pleasantly surprised to find a roomfull of successful, personable, and friendly Black women, many of whom I knew well, some in passing, others were familiar faces from my TV screens. All together, their resumes read like a who's who in medicine, finance, education, media and more. I noticed that as a group they had some key characteristics in common and for those of you who write in (or just sit around and wonder), to ask, "Belle, how do I get to be like them?" I'd like to share some totally subjective tips about how to get there. Be Ambitious It's not about not being happy with what you have, it's more about earning an "A+" out of life instead of just an "A." You reach a goal, you set new ones (note that plural.) Onward and upward is the prevailing motto. Surround Yourself With Ambitious People (if for no other reason than it's incredibly motivating) You never want to be the one who's doing the nothing in a group full of people doing the something. I have a friend, Jen, who has a side hustle and a main hustle. Everytime I speak to her, she tells me about something major she just did or is thinking about doing. And the next time I see her, she's done the thing she was planning last time and is already planning something new. Ya'll know how much I do, but after I talk to her, I feel like there's always more I could be doing. I feel inspired to go home and work on something— a book, a blog, a media campaign, something!— just so I stay on point. Call it healthy competition and good motivation. Let Fabulous Women Light Your Path I am blessed to work in an an entire office of beautiful, inspiring, positive Black women who show me the way personally and professionally every single day. If you aren't blessed to have that too— and it's a rare office in most places, I know— follow some fabulous women on Twitter: Abiola Abrams, Bevy Smith, Lauren Lake, June Ambrose, Marvet Britto, dream hampton, Raquel Cepeda (all women I'm met in passing, one I used to work for) and heed their lessons. The one thing they all have in common is they're always doing something that takes them a step closer to making their current dream another reality. Follow them: @bevysmith @laurenlake @raquelcepeda @juneambrose @marvetbritto @dreamhampton @abiolatv Do Something Having ideas are only half the battle, and that's only if you actually act on them. Otherwise they are daydreams. And no one ever got far in life daydreaming all day. A fabulous life doesn't fall in your lap, you have to create it. Have a vision, make baby steps for it, and when you've worked hard to open your own doors, you'll find that other people start to open them for you and beckon you through. That doesn't happen overnight, likely not till you're dang near 30 or on the "better" side of 30. Ivanka Trump, who's become a real estate success in her own right, gave great quote to a magazine when she said, 'I've found the harder I work, the luckier I get." Luck = preparation and opportunity. Have More Than One "Hustle" You should have a job and a side hustle that you're at least passionate about and maybe it makes you some extra money. As Lester Freamon once told McNulty on The Wire, "the job will not save you." You should have something to rely on, emotionally, if not financially. For me, it's Belle, and all the opportunities it leads to. Stop Complaining About Problems & Solve Them Everybody needs to vent, but if all you ever do is vent and complain, then you're whining. And worse, you'll never get anywhere. You want change, then make change. You need more money? Make something and sell it. Spend less. Buy something and sell it at a higher price. It's really that simple. I have a friend that got laid-off recently. She was the chick that came to parties and top-cheffed all the drinks to make 'em tasty. You know what she's doing now? Selling homemade sangria for the holiday season. Think of a void and fill it. Know A Little About A Lot of Things. My godmother used to tell me this when I was a kid. It was how she defined an intelligent woman. You will always be able to connect with someone if you have a lot of information stored away. How do you get that?... Read Everything. Do stuff outside of your house. Visit musuems, parks. Watch intelligent TV and a little "trash" too. Talk to different people. Get online and read the news. Pick up a magazine, a book, or even the newspaper. Read stuff you wouldn't normally read about. Get on The Root, CNN, MSNBC, Gawker, The Huffington Post. Your conversational knowledege base can never be to vast. Network For most people this sounds intimidating. It doesn't have to be. Say hi, introduce yourself, and pay a compliment or ask someone a question about themselves. The conversation should go from there with most civilized adults. Being shy is no excuse. Shy people don't get very far. Oh, and before you go to any networking event, Google the people that are hosting it or who will be on the panel. They're usually the VIPs of the room and are most likely to be able to help you get where you want to be. If you can walk up to them and have something to say that shows you did your homework, you get an automatic advantage. Listen You have two ears and one mouth. Use accordingly. You will learn more (and have more to talk about) if you do less talking. You'll also seem more mature, since age can play against you professionally when you're young. There was a woman at the WEEN event who I gave the benefit of the doubt of being on point just because she was in the green room and everyone else was so fab. Then she got to talking about cursing out people at work, how she hadn't changed clothes from the night before, how she was hungover, how much she pays for her weaves, how often she gets one and how she doesn't care about maintaining it (um, we could tell that.) The more she talked, the more my respect for her dropped. One by one, the women she was casually chatting with (ie networking), drifted away with startled looks on their faces. You think she could ever call one of them up for a job lead or a coffee to discuss anything of importance after that? Tell your business to your girls or your mama and leave it at that. Look Neat and Dressed (Even if It's Over) For Every Occasion Whatever your style is, it should flatter you, and make you stand out, if for nothing but its crispness. It's for more than vanity. It gives people an easy entry point to talk to you with a compliment paid to whatever you're wearing. I can't tell you how many great people I've met who've said to me or I've said to them, "I like your shoes/hair." Then we get to talking and it's, "Sorry, what's your name?" and "You have a card?" Advertise Yourself There's a difference between bragging and doing some personal PR. There's nothing wrong with talking about yourself, your ambitions, what you're looking for, etc. People won't know what you do/want if you won't tell them. I met a young woman at the WEEN event who'd somehow landed a meeting with the president of The Magazine, not an easy feat. She wants to work there. She wanted to know how to make that happen. I told her to tell the President that she wanted a job, what she wanted to do exactly, list how she could be a benefit and what made her perfect for the position. She was baffled. "You want me to ask?!" Um... yes. How will she know otherwise? (I've found many 20-somethings hate being direct. Break that habit today.) Get Up Early This one was a devil for me to adopt as I'm an owl-type. But in the last two months I've been doing it, I've accomplished way more than I thought possible and in the down time I've thought up a million new ventures that will run me ragged until next July. I've even started to get up early on weekends. (Admittedly, this was after reading Chinese proverbs about rice paddy work in Outliers.) Give Back Oprah says it all the time, but giving back really does feel good. For you to get anywhere in life, someone had to look out for you. It's only fair that you do the same. It also gives great perspective on how far you've come, going from the person listening to the speaker, to the person speaking; from the person asking, "How do I?" to the woman explaining how. Save Money You can't be fabulous and have debt collection calling your house or mobile. And you don't have to be a baller. To be fab, you just have to be responsible with your money. Save up for what you want, even if it's just a little (I encourage 10 percent.) Stack some away for a rainy day or a big splurge on something nice for yourself. I don't believe in credit cards unless it's an emergency. Keep Your Hair in a Do Hair can make or break an outfit. Even if you're in Chanel from head to toe, and your face has been beat by Sam Fine you will look raggedy if your hair looks crazy. That said, if you're a corporate girl (or an aspiring one) get rid of "bad weaves" and acrylics. Bad weaves: anything without a part, unblended with your texture, of random colors, including all blonde, or having too much hair, all scream, "I'm an underling" and you'll get stuck being one. Take Your Tatas off the Glass Few women can be taken seriously in any professional setting (no matter how casual or artistic) with it all hanging out, even by other women. I know one woman who gets away with it and she's by far the exception to the rule. Don't try what she does at home unless your work requires you to p-pop like Bey Bey for a living. Have A Plan You want to move to a new city? You should have a plan that outlines how you'll get there and how you'll survive. It's not as simple as finding a new job, and just moving. You need a place to live/sleep, something to sleep on, etc. That takes money. You want to start your own business? Same thing. Write the Great American novel? Same thing. If you don't know what steps to take, buy a book, Google or ask someone who's done it already. Actually, do all three. Don't Do Dumb Ish Half-naked pics on your Facebook page. Saying inappropriate ish on Twitter. Taking pictures of you and your friends doing illegal ish. Recording sexual romps. Big tattoos in glaring places. So many people do it these days that it's cliche. But it still carrys a stigma and worse, your employer— now and future— have access to it. It's fine to live wildly. Keep the memories. Don't go around documenting it. Help Yourself I get a lot of emails, asking, "Belle, how do I...?" I'm always more apt to respond to women who outline what they're doing and what they've tried as opposed to those who aren't doing much, but waiting for an opportunity to fall from the sky or for someone else to fix what ails them. If you get on the right path, someone will help you. Guaranteed. You may have to ask, or someone may come along and take your hand or point you in the right direction, but they are guaranteed not to if you won't at least try first. Be a Big Fish I can't remember who told me this concept. And I hate that because I'd like to pay homage; its one of the wisest things I've ever been told. If you want to play in the big ocean (say New York), you must first prove you can swim in the small pond (ie anywhere else). You don't start at the top. You just don't. You've got to be a good student to be a good intern, to be a good assistant, to move up from there. You have to master each step. The faster you do, the faster you rise. Some people seem like they get to the top without working— they don't; they just did the hard work behind the scenes or really early in life. 10,000 hours I swear by this concept, which I learned from Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers: The Story of Success. The idea is that you must put in 10,000 hours of work in your chosen field to be among the greats at anything (it's 8,000 just to be recognized as a leader.) It's that simple, and there's no way around it and it usually takes ten years. Even the so-called naturally talented have to hone the gift for the same amount of time. Accept it as truth and start logging your time. Oh, and everyone you admire who is successful and more than a one-hit wonder or 15 minutes of fame getter is a nerd. I mean everyone. Ignore Haters They're like those plants that shoot fireballs from Super Mario Bros. Completely annoying and they pop up at worst possible moment to throw you off task— so we're clear that is the sole purpose of a hater. There's nothing you can do to please them, so don't try. Find solace in the idea that they find you worth hating on and move on. But be careful... All people with criticsm aren't hating. Some folks will break you down because you need to be. You can tell the difference by noticing who avoids name calling and personal attacks and who offers valid reasons for the critique and offers solutions or alternatives. Don't Be Influenced By Other People's Agendas I read recently about a woman from a self-described "po-dunk" town who wants to move to New York. She's about 21/22 and shared this with her sister. The sister quicky ran down a list of why she would never make it. Um... people come here from all around the world all the time. Some of them don't even speak English, have few literacy skills, and are here illegally. But an English speaking, legal citizen with a college degree can't be one of literally millions? Family can be tricky. If they're halfway decent, they want you to be happy, but they also don't want you too far away. They want you safe, warm, well fed, and protected at all times. They also don't want you to "out-grow" them. This doesn't make them bad people, but what they want for you is the exact opposite of what you get when you go on an adventure, like say, leaving a small town for a city. Sometimes you just have to go against the grain and live your life. (So we're clear MamaBelle and PapaBelle did their damndest to keep me from moving to New York. I'd tell the story someday when I no longer get angry thinking about it) Worst case scenario, you move, you can't pull it together to stay, so you go back home. Either you try again, try something else or you stop trying. Trying and failing is a part of life, but it's only a failure when you give up or worse, don't even try.
One of the great things about blogs is that they provide a forum for experts to provide more detailed information on subjects the media simply lacks the time to cover fully. A great example of that comes in the form of two posts by local immigration attorney Shahid Haque-Hausrath discussing the immigration records of Democratic Attorney General candidates Pam Bucy and Jesse Laslovich... I’ll let Shahid’s work speak for itself, but it highlights one of the key challenges in this race: while Laslovich has a very public legislative record, it’s much more difficult to see where Ms. Bucy stands on issues, not because of any obfuscation on her part, but simply because of the jobs she’s held. A couple of well-researched posts like these offer invaluable insight into the values and priorities of the candidates and are well worth your time. 3 Comments I truly believe healthy debate is good for democracy (even when it feels terribly like fighting with dear friends!). I also believe primaries are good for the Democratic Party in part because it gives us a space to talk about important issues like immigration that too often get swept under the rug in the name of “good politics.” I also want to say clearly and unequivocally that I have the utmost respect for Shahid and his work- largely unpaid- fighting for immigrants in Montana and fighting for a more just state and country for all of us. His dedication is uncommon and should be commended. For professional and personal reasons, I have never commented or posted on a political blog. However, the fact that I have a unique perspective on Pam’s commitment to justice compels me to publicly support her in this context. Her varied and impressive legal experience is already well-known. What is less well-known is her 16 years of quiet, unpaid, tireless work for access to justice in this state. I know that her commitment to justice is genuine and deeply grounded in the core of who she is and what she believes. I met Pam when I moved to Montana, right out of law school, to work for Montana Legal Services Association. Representing victims of domestic violence in eastern Montana, I was blown away by the utter and complete lack of access to justice for too many Montanans who couldn’t afford an attorney to help them exercise their rights in relation to housing, credit, parenting, and safety. When I met Pam, at 33 years old, she had already put herself through law school as a single mom and was Executive Assistant Attorney General (aka Chief Deputy) under Mike McGrath. She was pregnant with her second child, and, somehow, she found the time to serve as the volunteer Chair of the Supreme Court’s Equal Justice Task Force. This was more than a title for Pam. She showed dedication in her passionate leadership, but she also got her hands dirty doing all kinds of work that needed to be done to increase access to justice for low-income Montanans. In all of the years we worked with each other on access to justice issues, she was NEVER without a pro bono case. And she took the thankless ones that no one else wanted- complicated, highly contested, ugly, multi-year family law cases. There are women and children in Montana whose rights and safety were only protected because of Pam’s volunteer work. Her rare dedication has been recognized by her peers: In 2006, she was recognized by the State Bar with both a pro bono award and an award for distinguished service for access to justice. When the State Bar received a bit of money to do a legal needs survey, she didn’t just lead the effort, she joined Americorps VISTA volunteers in conducting hour long interviews of low-income Montanans all across this state. Then she led the effort to have the legislature commission their own study of legal needs. That study directly led to the first-ever investment by the state in services, forms, and support for unrepresented litigants in Montana. She helped create the first pro bono policy for state workers in Montana. More recently, she demonstrated her commitment to access to justice on the Board of the Montana Legal Services Association. The list goes on and on and on…. I haven’t met a candidate yet who shares all of my beliefs or all of my policy positions. What I look for are people who share my core values, who I fundamentally trust to do the right thing, and who are committed to work hard for the people they represent. Pam is without question that candidate for me. I can honestly say, without any fear of hyperbole or exaggeration, that Montana is a more just state because of Pam’s volunteer work over the last 16 years. Her commitment to justice is as deep and sincere as any person’s I know. I hope readers will consider this quiet, dedicated, and largely unknown part of Pam when they cast their votes for Attorney General in the primary. When I saw this post on the MT Cowgirl website, I did not realize that it had originally been written as a form of “response” to my blog post recounting a professional interaction I had with Pam Bucy. As you can see from the article linked above, that blog post described several discussions I had with Pam Bucy about the illegal disclosure of private information by the Department of Labor and Industry to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”) officers. I felt that this conduct was legally unsupportable, and was harming migrants by allowing ICE to engage in secret and illegal investigations without a warrant or legal basis. Pam Bucy generally disagreed, and felt that disclosure was permitted by law. I included direct quotes from Pam Bucy, and discussed my disappointment with her handling of the situation. In conclusion, I stated that this may provide some insight into the manner in which she might fulfill her role as Attorney General if she were elected. As many voters base their voting decisions on much less than this, I felt that this interaction would be of interest to others, and everyone could reach their own conclusion about how this impacts their vote, if at all. I take issue with Tara’s comment as any form of response to what I wrote about in my blog post. Tara speaks eloquently and passionately about her friend’s professional accomplishments. I have no reason to doubt anything that she says or the fact that Pam Bucy has committed a significant portion of her career to public service. However, I don’t understand how that public service in any way contradicts or invalidates the professional interaction I described in my original blog post, or the concerns it raised. Indeed, as one of the only people advocating for immigrant justice issues in the State of Montana, it appears dismissive of these concerns to minimize them because of Pam Bucy’s pro bono service on behalf of different constituencies. Unless we are to believe that Pam Bucy’s public service renders her infallible, then that public service is not directly relevant to the issues I was discussing. I believe that this response is a good example of the way that some of Bucy’s supporters have attempted to minimize discussion of factual issues or political positions in support of more general endorsements of her personal character and accomplishments. At its best, politics is about high level discussions about ideas and ideology. At its most base level, the discourse becomes about “cult of personality.” It has been disappointing and disheartening to see this campaign play out in Helena over the past several months. Rather than using the primary election as a means to flesh out the candidates’ positions on progressive issues, we have seen this campaign become nothing more than a popularity contest. Some prominent progressives who are good friends with Bucy have naturally been vocal in their support of her campaign. Despite great respect for these people, personal recommendations only go so far, because if we are honest we know that every candidate has close friends who will advocate for them. Like many other progressives, I reject the premise that I must support a candidate just because my friends do. For the rest of us, we want to know the candidate’s actual positions — but we want these positions on the record, not through second or third-hand assurances from friends. This has been part of the frustration that I and many others have felt with Bucy’s campaign. Whether intentionally or not, Bucy supporters have contributed to an atmosphere that has prevented a genuine discussion about the candidate’s positions on important issues. As many of these supporters would normally tell you, this type of discussion is why a primary is good for the Democratic party. I can completely understand how these supporters feel passionately about Bucy because they have been friends with her for some time. However, instead of allowing their support for the candidate to be borne out by the candidates own statements, they seem to be asking us to just “trust them” because they know Bucy personally. These same people often demand that other candidates state their positions clearly on the record — and rightly hold them accountable when they do not. While I don’t agree with Jesse Laslovich on all of the issues, I have grown to respect the fact that he has been clear about his positions throughout his campaign, while Bucy has appeared to benefit from ambiguity — stating moderate-left positions on the record, but making more progressive assurances behind closed doors. In reality, both candidates appear to be very similar on the relevant issues. A few examples of what I am talking about: On the death penalty, Bucy has stated on the record that she will “enforce” the death penalty. She has not publicly made any qualifications or limitations on its use, or any statement regarding her personal opposition to it. Nevertheless, there are progressives who believe that her “real” position is that she is opposed to the death penalty, and will take steps to limit its use. Whether this belief is based on private conversations or extrapolating from their personal friendship — this is not supported by anything she has said publicly. On how she would vote on the land board, many progressives believe she will be a strong advocate for the environment, making tough votes like Denise Juneau did on Otter Creek coal. However, when she was endorsed by Montana Conservation Voters, she stated in her interview that she would have voted in favor of Otter Creek coal development as long as the company paid a fair price. Her endorsement by MCV was not based on better environmental positions than Jesse Laslovich — it was based on the fact that she was considered to be more knowledgable about the issues. However, this is another area where ambiguity or conjecture has benefitted Bucy. On other issues from medical marijuana to alternative treatment courts, the candidates have stated very similar positions on the record. Nevertheless, within Helena circles one might be left with the impression that our very legal system was at stake in this primary election. This sentiment is based in large part on tensions that I believe to be fueled by the Bucy campaign. It should go without saying that there is no accountability to the voting public for statements made behind closed doors. I’d like to see a simple and generally accepted principle be applied to this primary: If you won’t state your position publicly, then you don’t get credit for it. It never gets easier to take a clear position on a political issue, especially progressive issues in Montana. If she doesn’t do it now, she won’t do it in the general election, and she won’t do it while in office. I believe I have now said all I have to say on this subject. As discussions of this nature are time consuming and try on personal friendships, I will attempt to avoid further engagement on this topic. It bears repeating that despite the unnecessarily personal nature of this primary, the candidates are objectively quite similar on the issues and I will support either one in the general election. Pam was a classmate of mine, and Jesse was too far behind me to get to know him. But if you believe that you elect people to handle all sorts of problems that can’t necessarily be known when you vote, you vote for the person with the character that you admire. Pam is a good solid liberal, and always has been. As to Shaid’s comment about her position on the death penalty, as the AG both she and Jesse will be required to defend it, even if it is stupid. And to Shahid, the issue of immigration is pretty low on the state level of concern. So much is driven by the feds, that we have very little impact outside of Helena. “Where did my client go?” – “Oh the feds took him, you’ll probably never see him again.” Frustrating, but little we could do without trying to be the reverse of Arizona.
Robot 6 Wonder Woman kicks Nazi butt in amazing fan trailer Considering Warner Bros.’ hand-wringing about the long-planned Justice League movie and The CW’s uncertainty about the Amazon pilot, it may be some time before we see a live-action Wonder Woman on the screen. Until that day, we’ll have to make do with the well-produced fan trailer directed by stuntman Jesse V. Johnson that evokes the first season of the Lynda Carter television series by pitting Wonder Woman (Nina Bergman) against a bunch of Nazis. After some torture and interrogation (the latter at the hands of Peter Stormare, no less), Wonder Woman naturally unleashes on her former captors, and even brings down a fighter plane. Maybe this is what The CW is looking for! “It was my manager/producing partner Kailey Marsh’s idea to shoot the trailer,” Johnson explained to Latino Review. “She really believes I should be a studio director, and thought shooting Wonder Woman would be a great way to show off my skills in a fun way that people could get excited about.” There’s also a concept poster by Robert Sebree, which you can see below, along with the trailer. 30 Comments Mark Kardwell February 27, 2013 at 11:59 am Some bondage, a little hint of lesbianism: Marston would approve. Another Ian February 27, 2013 at 12:18 pm A Wonder Woman movie should be fairly easy to pull off, shouldn’t it?? I don’t understand what all the studios and such are fretting over. She’s got the ass kicking abilities of Batman with superhuman powers…plus she comes from the world of Greek myth. It doesn’t really matter what time period you place the movie in because it has the “fish out of water” premise regardless. She’s a gorgeous, powerful woman that hails from an island populated solely by gorgeous, powerful women. She has the love interest in Steve Trevor. Make the villain be Ares or Hades or Cerci (or all three!) backing the Nazis or whatever armed force you like and away you go. Money in the bank. kutzcd February 27, 2013 at 1:31 pm I think the premise is good, but honestly, every time I see a live action version, her costumes just look plain ridiculous. How can someone be expected to perform as a superhero in an outfit like that. Her top is just too impractical and I seriously think that affects the story telling in this case. The comics and cartoons work because they’re clearly not real, but live action is just too obvious. Until some type of redesign is made for live action, it’s just not going to fly. Sucks though, the character has earned her screen time. Red Mask February 27, 2013 at 1:32 pm Nice. Once again the fans come through! Matt February 27, 2013 at 1:32 pm Fan films typically come off as really cheesy to me but this one is definitely A LOT better than the majority of them., Gary February 27, 2013 at 2:39 pm I think this is well done! It’s more gritty and kick-ass. Toned down look to it! Just stars on the tiara and bracelets! None on her shorts! Maybe just a little to short but forgiving! Wonder Woman can be done! Brave Dave February 27, 2013 at 3:18 pm I always thought Jamie McKelvie’s design was a good compromise of Colour and functionality : IllegalPAP February 27, 2013 at 3:32 pm Fantastic. Blown up and with a bigger budget, I think this would work. But what do I know? Booster February 27, 2013 at 4:08 pm Isn’t voiceover Marina Sirtis? Booster February 27, 2013 at 4:09 pm A-hem, that is to say, “Is the voiceover at the end Marina Siritis?” Fremgen February 27, 2013 at 4:59 pm For a fan flick it’s pretty good. But a a piece on Wonder Woman, I can’t get behind it. She comes off way too much like Xena. My idea Wonder Woman is what George Perez wrote. For an actress, I’d say Olga Kurylenko is my current fav. Kyle February 27, 2013 at 5:01 pm All right, but can we make her a modern-day CEO trying to balance career and relationships? Maybe stick her in some metallic-blue Spandex pants? Alternatively, what if she was a teenager trying to fit in at a new high-school? Something like that and we might be able to get it green-lit. beane2099 February 27, 2013 at 6:30 pm Color me impressed. That was great, especially for a fan made trailer. The little boy shorts were a bit off (not that I’m complaining, mind you) for a character we’re supposed to take seriously, but other than that, it was awesome. The double take down was my favorite part. And she was a damn good Wonder Woman. Lufio February 27, 2013 at 6:54 pm superhero costumes have always been hard to transition into live action, but whoever did it for Captain America got it bang on. they should be in charge of all costumes forever. mk February 27, 2013 at 7:31 pm Eh too much like marvel’s Captain america. Can we try to make WW doing her own thing? Not a rip of a marvel? mythology first for me and she’s weak power wise too. BLACKSTONE February 27, 2013 at 9:15 pm I think “realism” and “practicality” are not words to be used when dealing with superheroes. Leave her costume as is. One word should be very important: spectacle. This was spectacular. I just don’t get why DIANA was so WEAK…She should have thrown a truck at that plane… It was well done. Bronze Age Baby-68 February 27, 2013 at 11:29 pm Impressive, well done. Proving once again that movies studios are run by ass-clowns, and fan-boys are over critical and filmmakers with true passion friggin RULE!!!!!!! TC February 28, 2013 at 4:26 am If you take Wonder Woman out of that trailer it’s pretty decent. West February 28, 2013 at 5:57 am So, I’m going to be the first jackass to mention how she looked in that outfit, huh? I’m slightly proud of you all and slightly ashamed of myself. Capabilities and presence are important but that booty was distractingly flat. If you’re going to cast someone with such a bad assitude, then don’t show it. Do everything you can to deaccentuate it – like Sarah Jessica Parker’s nose or Mayim Bialik’s…everything. FWiW, I was similarly critical of Routh’s Superman physique (although not his butt, specifically). fearitself February 28, 2013 at 6:15 am Such a great video. Great efeects coreography and camera work…….. and all wasted on Wonder Woman. Everything about her is just so out-dated. Her costume, her bracelets, her stupid ass, invisible jet. She needs an entire overhaul, if the studios are planning to make some money at all. Jim February 28, 2013 at 6:32 am The trailer was nice and shows that WW can be well done on screen. If a fan can do this, surely Hollywood could do as well? Then again, the WB Batman films aren’t nearly as true to Batman as Sandy Collora’s works. As for the costume, why is it people are so afraid of putting comic accurate costumes on film? It worked well for Rami’s Spider-Man and even Reeve’s Superman holds up. Comic costumes work very well on film when done well. Don’t be afraid to be what you are. There’s no need for updating WW. The character is not out-dated at all, she’s a classic and and icon and as such, never goes out of style. WW and Superman and Batman set the style and they always have. Craig February 28, 2013 at 7:08 am Too bad we will never see a Wonder Woman live action film as long as WB owns the rights. I wish WB would sell DC comics and then we would see a flood of DC-related movies. WB executives are the sole reason we haven’t seen a Wonder Woman or Justice League movie. BSmithee February 28, 2013 at 8:19 am Well done! To be honest the whole ‘speed-up-slow-down’ action motif really doesn’t work for me, but otherwise it looks like you had a lot of fun on set and came up with a great piece! Shawn Kane February 28, 2013 at 8:20 am “her costumes just look plain ridiculous.” No more ridiculous than Stone Cold Steve Austin (pro wrestling) or George St. Pierre (MMA) who wear short trunks to fight in. If the problem is her top, this trailer didn’t show that to be a problem. Aaron B. February 28, 2013 at 1:03 pm Fan films are great. Remember the guys who made that awesome STREET FIGHTER short from a year or so ago? Fan films don’t have to worry about marketing budgets or merchandising or theater counts… imagination is all they need. mark February 28, 2013 at 3:19 pm dear wb throw money at this and get a real movie done with this wrtier director it’s a billion times closer than I think you’d get Farseeker February 28, 2013 at 5:34 pm @mk Traditionally WW was beating on Nazi’s before Cap. kalorama March 2, 2013 at 11:56 am “No more ridiculous than Stone Cold Steve Austin (pro wrestling) or George St. Pierre (MMA) who wear short trunks to fight in.” That’s really not an argument in favor of WW’s costume. It had nice production values but despite the serious music, gunplay, and gritted teeth, WW herself came across every bit as cheesy as in the worst nightmares of Warner Bros. execs. FARCE March 2, 2013 at 5:55 pm TOO MUCH SHAKY CAM…HALF THE IMPACT IS LOST and WONDER WOMAN NOT HOT ENOUGH watch THE RAID REDEPTION to learn how to shoot a fight or a JACKIE Chan movie I don’t understand the appeal of this for me BIG FAIL Dswynne June 9, 2013 at 8:13 pm I think some of you are missing the subtext of the trailer. The main setting is modern day, with a few flashbacks thrown in (think: the television show “Kung Fu”, but starring WW instead). But in both cases, WW is a an Amazonian who is out of her element, but has a calling to defend victims of patriarchy, whether it is doing war time or peace time. In fact, I can see a scenario where WW has to learn that not every problem can be solved by the use of force. Hence, you have an ongoing story where WW can grow as a character. And just because WW has traveled into the world in the past, that doesn’t mean everything she will face is the same, or that she will be treated the same. In fact, she would be disappointed how humanity, in all its sophistication, has gotten worse in spirit. Thus, I can see her hiring a publicist and manager to help her promote her message of peace. Also, I have no problem with WW using guns in this trailer, since their use was set during WW2. Otherwise, I don’t see her using them at all, given her level of fighting skills.
‘So busy last week and so shocked at singer/song-writer David Bowie’s death, I was sure it was too late to offer a tribute. But, when I saw the new Billboard Top 200 Albums and Top Rock Tracks charts and realized that Bowie all but owned them, I hoped that my memories might still be relevant. Commentary and Chart Compilations by Rick Hiduk I was 12 years old and watching Soul Train on my father’s and step-mother’s TV in New Albany (Bradford County), PA when I saw and heard David Bowie for the first time. Soul Train host Don Cornelius introduced David Bowie performing (probably lipsynching) his crossover 1975 hit “Fame” and then “Golden Years.” In appearance, he was fairly conservative. I felt the funky beat in the song and could understand why the program’s regulars considered it dance-able, but it was distinctly different from standard Soul Train fare. I had no idea that I was was watching the first solo white artist perform on Soul Train, the 1970s soul/r&b alternative to American Bandstand. In 1979, I was re-introduced to Bowie via a weekly Top 20 countdown of the previous week’s most-played rock tracks on Sunday evenings on Rock 107 (WEZX fm Scranton). It was my first connection to artists on the edge, like Bowie, Elvis Costello, Dire Straits, Sniff & the Tears, Talking Heads, and The Patti Smith Group. I wish that I had access to the “Radio & Records Charts” from the late 1970s to 1980s, from which the countdown was taken. In part because I was struggling with my own sexuality and was a tad homophobic, Bowie, in the visual sense, came across to me as freakish and something that I should avoid. But I could not deny the power that his music had over me. Every song connected with my world in some way, even when the theme was “otherworldly.” The first time that I heard “Space Oddity,” I almost wept. David Bowie took me farther into space with a song first charted in the UK in 1969 (that I heard for the first time in 1980) than to which Elton John’s “Rocket Man” even hinted. When I got my first shift on Penn State Wilkes-Barre radio station WPSU fm in 1980, Bowie’s “Fashion” was the first #1 song on my countdown of whatever New Wave, Progressive, Punk, Alternative tracks I could pull together each week on a shoestring budget (me and the college combined). For a creative writing class, I composed an epic poem about space traveler Yob Revol inspired in part by Major Tom and got an A. Like most music-oriented college students, my first girlfriend at PSU also liked Bowie. My next girlfriend – and still close friend – didn’t simply idolize David Bowie, she had a knack for taking on aspects of his look and persona when she so wanted. For some reason, Bowie looked just fine on her to me. Sitting together in the bedroom of her home deep in the woods near Tunkhannock, we listened to every Bowie album she owned. I was fascinated. Although it might have been her third time seeing Bowie on his “Let’s Dance” tour of 1983, it was the first of only two times that I saw him live, and I’m so glad that she was there. Also with was our friend Mark, who would eventually stand with me as my “best person” at the first of two weddings with my now-legal husband. The release of “Let’s Dance” paralleled my coming out, forever endearing David Bowie to me and many of my gay friends. I finally realized, however, that many if not most fans of Bowie’s music were neither turned on nor offended by his androgynous appearance – one more small lesson in not worrying what others are thinking about you. “Blue Jean” from Bowie’s next album was enormously popular, and it seemed that he’d reign supreme through the 1980s. But big hair bands, boy bands, cheesy Brit-pop and synth-heavy dance music were slowly taking over the charts. Nonetheless, Bowie continued to impress me through the rest of his recording career, especially when he collaborated with other artists. I was fortunate to be able to share his music with listening audiences of radio stations in the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and Williamsport markets. For most of my favorite artists, composing a “best of” chart is challenging. For David Bowie, it is Impossible. His music spanned so many decades and genres, that no one chart can effectively catalog his works. Songs of his that each of us hold dear and are certain were among his biggest hits may not have been, especially in the US in the early 1970s. What I offer here are several examples of how his vast repertoire is viewed from different perspectives. Sales and airplay of Bowie’s earliest recordings were first charted in the late 1960s in the UK by music industry publications there. By 1972, Bowie’s music started to sneak onto the (US) Billboard Magazine pop charts due largely to airplay on experimental FM radio stations and sales of imported LPs. FM radio would continue to further the popularity of the Thin White Duke and Starman, as would college radio stations and the earliest commercial alternative radio franchises like “Rock of the ’80s” on KROK fm in Los Angeles. MTV certainly augmented Bowie’s career, as he was always ready for his close-up…nearly to the end. Additional charts on which Bowie did well were Billboard’s Rock Hits Charts and Alternative Hits charts. I’m assuming that he’s also well-represented among the all-time favorites on the Dance/Disco charts. Surprisingly, I found that Bowie never (officially) crossed over to Adult Contemporary/Adult Hits radio, not even with “China Girl,” “Never Let Me Down,” or other mellow tunes, as did so many other rock stars. I decided that the best that I can do here is offer his pop hits (first) from a UK pop perspective, then a US pop perspective, US Rock (charted from 1981), and US Alternative (charted from 1988), and a few other unique chart appearances for comparison and recollection. Some surprises: Bowie’s first American #1 and biggest US pop hit ever, “Fame,” only reached #17 on the British Charts. His two songs about Major Tom were his biggest British hits. “Changes” hit the American charts in both 1972 and 1975. “John, I’m Only Dancing” reached #12 twice in the UK while never charting in the US. Bowie’s last Top Ten hit on the British charts was in 2013, but he had not placed any songs on any US charts from 1998 – except for his Christmas song with Bing Crosby – to 2013 when “Blackstar” made a brief appearance on Billboard’s Top Rock Tracks chart. This week, “Lazarus” debuted at #40 and “Blackstar” at #87 on the Billboard Hot 100. As “Lazarus” debuted at #3 on the Billboard’s Top Rock Tracks chart, it was followed by 15 tracks in the Top 25, with “Blackstar” the only other recent release. I’m certain that no other artist has enjoyed such enormous and immediate posthumous success. I hope that you will find your favorite David Bowie songs among the nearly 100 tracks listed here. The two numbers that follow each title are its peak position and year on that respective chart. I wrap up this report with a subjective chart of my personal favorite Bowie songs. Top British Pop Hits (as per Wikipedia) - Space Oddity 1/69 - Ashes to Ashes 1/80 - Under Pressure 1/80 - Let’s Dance 1/83 - Dancing in the Street w/Mick Jagger 1/85 - The Jean Genie 2/72 - China Girl 2/83 - Modern Love 2/83 - Absolute Beginners 2/86 - Drive In Saturday 3/73 - Life On Mars 3/73 - Sorrow 3/73 - Sound & Vision 3/73 - Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy w/Bing Crosby 3/81 - Rebel Rebel 5/74 - Fashion 5/80 - The Laughing Gnome 6/67 - Blue Jean 6/84 - Where Are You Now? 6/13 - Boys Keep Swinging 7/79 - Golden Years 8/75 - Jump They Say 9/93 - Knock on Wood 10/74 - Starman 10/72 - John, I’m Only Dancing 12/72 - Heroes 12/77 - John, I’m Only Dancing (Again) 12/79 - Hallo Space Boy w/Pet Shop Boys 12/96 - Under Pressure (Rah Mix) 14/99 - This is Not America w/ Pat Methany Group 14/85 - Little Wonder 14/97 - Thursday’s Child 16/99 - Fame 17/75 - Day-In, Day-Out 17/87 - Young Americans 18/75 - Loving The Alien 19/85 - Arauld Layne w/Dave Gilmore 20/06 - Scary Monsters & Super Freaks 20/81 - Everyone Says “Hi” 20/02 - Diamond Dogs 21/74 - Underground 21/86 - Rock ‘n’ Roll Suicide 22/74 - Alabama Song 23/80 - Fame ’90 28/90 - Survive 28/00 - DJ 29/79 - Up The Hill Backwards 32/81 - Dead Man Walking 32/97 - Seven 32/00 - TVC15 33/76 - Time Will Crawl 33/87 - You Belong in Rock ‘n’ Roll w/Tin Machine 33/91 - Never Let Me Down 34/87 - The Budha of Suburbia w/Lenny Kravitz 35/93 - The Heart’s Filthy Lesson 35/95 - Black Tie White Noise w/Al B Sure 36/93 - Beauty & the Beast 39/78 - Strangers When We Meet/The Man Who Sold the World (live) 39/95 - Miracle Goodnight 40/93 - When The Wind Blows 44/86 - Lazarus 45/15 - White Light,White Heat 46/83 - Rebel Never Gets Old 47/04 - Tin Machine/Maggie’s Farm (live) w/Tin Machine 48/89 - Baby Universal w/Tin Machine 48/91 - Changes 49/72 - Under The God 51/89 - Tonight w/Tina Turner 53/84 - Real Cool World 53/92 - Breaking Glass 54/78 - Seven Years in Tibet 61/97 - Blackstar 51/13 - I Can’t Read 73/97 - Ziggy Stardust 76/94 - Telling Lies 76/96 - Sue (Or Season of the Crime) 81/14 - Prisoner of Love w/Tin Machine 87/89 - Slow Burn 94/02 Billboard Top 100 Hits (US) - Fame 1(2)/75 - Let’s Dance 1(1)/20 - Dancing in the Street w/Mick Jagger 7/85 - Blue Jean 8/84 - Golden Years 10/76 - China Girl 10/83 - Modern Love 14/83 - Space Oddity 15/73 - Day-In Day-Out 21/87 - Never Let Me Down 27/87 - Young Americans 28/75 - Under Pressure w/Queen 29/82 - This is Not America w/Pat Methany Group 32/85 - Changes 41/75 & 66/72 - Tonight 53/84 - Absolute Beginners 53/86 - I’m Afraid of Americans 66/97 - Rebel Rebel 64/74 - TV15 64/76 - Starman 65/72 - Cat People (Putting Out Fire) 67/82 - Sound & Vision 69/77 - Fashion 70/81 - The Jean Genie 71/72 - Without You 73/84 - The Heart’s Filthy Lesson 92/95 Billboard Top Rock Tracks – starting 1981: - Blue Jean 2/84 - China Girl 3/83 - Day-In, Day-Out 3/87 - Dancing In the Street 3/85 - Modern Love 8/83 - Under Pressure w/Queen 7/81 - Time Will Crawl 7/87 - This is Not America 7/85 - Let’s Dance 8/83 - Cat People (Putting Out Fire) 9/82 - Absolute Beginners 9/86 - Cat People (Putting Out Fire) new version 11/83 - Never Let Me Down 15/87 - Underground 18/86 - Pretty Pink Rose 24/90 - Criminal World 31/83 - Tonight w/Tina Turner 32/84 - Bang Bang 38/87 - Neighborhood Threat 40/84 Billboard Top Alternative Tracks – starting 1988: - Pretty Pink Rose w/Adrian Belew 2/90 - Jump They Say 4/93 - Real Cool World 11/92 - The Heart’s Filthy Lesson 20/95 - I’m Afraid of Americans 29/98 Billboard Top R&B Hits - Let’s Dance 14/83 - Fame 21/75 Christmas David Bowie’s duet of “Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy” with Bing Crosby has routinely landed on both the pop and Christmas charts each December since the 1980s. It was recorded live in 1977 as part of Bing’s annual Christmas TV show. The David Bowie Songs That Meant the Most to Me* - Rebel Rebel 74 - Space Oddity 69 - Ashes to Ashes 80 - Let’s Dance 83 - Fame 75 - Under Pressure w/Queen 80 - Golden Years 75 - Changes 72 - Fashion 80 - Blue Jean 84 - Young Americans 75 - China Girl 83 - Modern Love 83 - Suffragette City 72 - Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy w/Bing Crosby 77 - This is Not America w/ Pat Methany Group 85 - The Jean Genie 72 - The Laughing Gnome 67 - Pretty Pink Rose 90 - Heroes 77 - Jump They Say 93 - John, I’m Only Dancing 72 - TVC15 76 - Cat People (Putting Out Fire) 82 - Never Let Me Down 87 - Real Cool World 92 - Time Will Crawl 87 - Day-In, Day-Out 87 - Without You 84 - *not counting “Lazaras” and “Blackstar,” neither of which I can put into perspective yet.
Change, Undone, and God’s Doing .* When we moved back from Prague (as in the Czech Republic and not as in New Prague, Minnesota), after it had become prayerfully clear that moving back home was what we were supposed to do, after Jon and I had already started processing what our missions work had meant and would mean, after Jon’s job came like a miracle, like manna from the sky even if it was working in a middle school, which he had never done in his life…after all of this it became clear that I was going to have to go back to work…if we wanted things like a house, food, or toilet paper. It became clear that one salary was not going to make our ends meet and at the end of a date night with Jon, I sat in the parking lot of Barnes and Noble in Chattanooga and cried. I cried because I had already gone through this once, this giving over to change when I surrendered as a stay at home mother, and then began to relish the experience of being at home with my babies. I cried because I remembered how anxious I was being away from them for even the few hours it took to finish school before we had moved to Europe. I cried because I did not know if I could handle that anxiety again. I cried because I was angry…angry over a lot about our transition back to Cleveland even though I knew it was what God had for us, knew it even if I didn’t understand it, knew it even though many people close to us did not understand it. I cried because what had become my idea and identity of motherhood was being challenged…again. Stability and routine are all very good things. It is this kind of security and knowing what to expect that promotes growth and healthy development. Too often we do not have enough of it. We need things like breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day. We need to know that we will always brush our teeth and that we go to bed at about the same time after the same cup of tea and a bedtime story. Rituals and routines keep us grounded and are so very important because the rest of life is…more often than not…anything but ritual and routine. Life is full of changes. You used to see these bumper stickers on cars and they would say things like: “Whoever dies with the most toys wins” or something like that. If I could create a bumper sticker, I would make one that says: “Whoever is the most flexible in life wins.” Ironically, it is the routine and rituals that we grow accustomed to as children and teenagers that make room for flexibility in life. Our little bodies and minds learn that they can count on so many things like supper around the table, church every Sunday…so that, sure, why not be ok when the unexpected does happen. We can deal with that. Because I still know that I will eat three meals a day, brush my teeth, can count on mommy or daddy coming home, and going to bed at about the same time after the same story. Bumps in the road can be tolerated in this kind of environment. The less routine and ritual a child has growing up, the more rigid they actually become as adults. It is as though our not so little bodies say I don’t know what to count on so I am going to hold on for dear life to any thing I can grasp and not be willing to let it go because who knows what is coming next. I don’t know that I can count on three meals a day, mommy coming home for supper, or on church every Sunday so when something good comes along I will grab it, strangling it to death or until I am tired and exhausted and have worn out everyone around me. I might even be a little obsessive about details and perfection and bite your head off if you do something not quite right…because I have learned that you have to fight for any good thing to last very long… and even then it usually doesn’t. Bumps in the road are not so tolerated in this kind of context…where routine and stability were not the foundation. Flexibility. Being able to go with the flow while still making your way. Having the ability to adjust and adapt. Not demanding that life look a certain way every day every month every year. I cried that night in the parking lot. Then, I got up the next morning and got to it. If I was going to have to work then I was going to do what I knew I was supposed to do, what I was trained to do. I was going to be a therapist, a good one. God was in the crying in the parking lot of Barnes and Noble. He was in that bump in the road. He knew that I could count on so many things…like that He would provide for me, that He would take care of my family and children because He always had., the mother He wants my children to have and see. We get into trouble when we demand that life look a certain way, when we hold on to rigid ideas and identities. We get into trouble and do damage to ourselves and to the loved ones around us because when I say that life has to look a certain way and that I have to look a certain way I am also saying that you do, too. Or else. I love Nora Jones. Jon and I were listening to her as we drove into California for the first time less than a year after we got married. I will always associate her with California and driving with the top down, wind in my hair…exploring the west. In her first album she sings these lyrics in her song Cold, Cold Heart: “my heart is paying now for things I didn’t do.” Sometimes when we refuse or find it difficult to be flexible, to see God working in the undoing that needs to be done…perhaps due to things we went through as children or teenagers…we make those around us today pay for things they didn’t do. Our inflexibility makes others pay. I cried that night. Then, I got up the next morning and got to it. That’s how I do things. I get it all out. Jon and I learned a lot about ourselves when we moved to Prague. We learned that I get the grieving over with fast and furious. I cry. I get angry. I face culture shock and stare it down. Jon’s comes, too…a few months later. Thank God we don’t go through it at the same time. I knew that with my education I was blessed to have choices in going back to work. As soon as word got out, a former colleague of mine who was the director of counseling at a local clinic called and offered me a job. 40 hours a week, 9-5 of seeing clients. While my brother is doing excellent work in this context, I knew there was no way that as a mother I would do a good job with clients in that kind of schedule. I would get burned out within weeks. I needed no time to give him an answer…thank you, I am honored, but no. My head clearing from the cascade of tears just nights before, I knew that there was a very good chance God was in this change, that God was calling out gifts I had been content to lay down forever. Before children, I had always dreamed of having my own private practice. So, with a fire lit inside me, I made the difficult choice to do the hard work of digging out a private practice where I could set my own hours and create an environment that was healthy for me, and therefore, healthy for my clients. My husband helped me design my first website and fliers. I sat up at night and created mailing lists from the phone book. I did it the old fashioned way and licked all of my own envelopes, writing out the addresses, until my tongue was raw and my hands were tired. I read books on starting a practice. I was blessed to have watched my father do this for almost 30 years. I knew that there would be very, very hard times. I had a colleague who had her own medical practice in town. She had told me that the first two years would be tough. Expect it. So, I did. I expected a slow, steady growth. I was able to get some adjunct teaching to help make ends meet and did some writing for my church’s International Girls’ Ministry office. I wanted to support two things: my family and doing good therapy for my clients. I would settle for nothing else. I was on fire for my work and it got me through the anxiety of change. That was well over four years ago. I can hardly believe it. My practice has seen changes and growth. I have developed some wonderful professional relationships. I love what I do. God was in the crying in the parking lot of Barnes and Noble. He was pushing me out of a nest., wants my children to have and see. 9 Responses And what awesome mother-making God is doing in you! Thanks for sharing this. And thanks for allowing God to do His work in you. Thank you, Jon…for letting me be me. I understand how leaving one country for another is traumatic and difficult. I’m in the process of that right now. I also understand that want for a child. I find, though, that a lot of my tears come from a place that isn’t very godly. I’m contrasting and comparing my life with others’ which seem better, or easier. I try to fight that and find joy in what I have when I’m feeling like I have a little less than everyone else. Thank you for stopping by and for sharing your thoughts. Thank you. I stumbled on your site through momastery. Your posts always resonate with me. They seem to be the things I need to be reminded of, daily. Katy, I am glad you stumbled on it and taking time to visit. Your comment is very encouraging to me…encourage–“to inject courage”. Vulnerability takes its own form of courage for sure. This was good for me to read Emily. I have loved watching mychildren grow and most of the time loved the way the relationship with them gets richer and more complex over the years. But there are times when the change though good is hard. I hold tightly instead of open handed. I too have worn us all out at times trying to stave off change. It did my heart good to read your heart. It reminded me God is in control even during changes that feel like the ground moving under our feet. He is our author and the author of our children. This season pushes me to see some things more clearly. They were always His. Now if I could just open my hand Tena, thank you so much for reading and sharing your thoughts. What a picture…opening that hand. Big Sigh I am sure I will continue to journey and learn to open my hand on many things that are really His! […] adulthood long enough, you look back on the landscape of life, and you realize that life is just a series of transitions. Change…that takes place slowly or quickly…that is expected or sneaks up on you…over and over […]
02-12-2019 01:46 PM - last edited on 02-14-2019 04:50 PM by RogersMoin I have both used Bell Fibe and Rogers Ignite TV. I originally went with Bell as I hated the Rogers Navigatr guide as their whole home PVR was slow and clunky. Bell Fibe was a much better TV experience, but I sacrificed much slower internet (even by using their pods) I was really happy with their service but I had some bandwidth issues due to the 50mbps cap. I also had signal issues as the modem had to be upstairs as there was no phone jack on the main floor that I use could use. As a result, I had wireless issues with the 4K box with Bell. However, I was really happy with the guide, and the IPTV technology that it provided over Rogers. When I read about Rogers Ignite TV, I was excited about all the features I could have with faster internet at the same time. Hear are some of the Pros and Cons between both providers that I have found so far. If I have missed any, please feel free to add any. This is soley based on features and benefits and not customer service. Bell Fibe vs Rogers Ignite TV Bell Pros (Rogers does not have) Ability to go back on the guide and play whatever show I want that I missed within the past 48 hours Channels are all grouped together by selection (news, movies, sports, etc...) not all over the place. Has picture in picture when scrolling channels on the guide. Scrolling through channels is a lot faster than Rogers. Have access to Bell ALT TV available on Apple TV and Amazon Fire 150 hours in 4K or up to 320 hours in HD (more recording space in HD) Can change channels less than 30 days Has 30 seconds fast forward for PVR, or skip backward 7 seconds. Are able to use 3rd party router and bypass Bell's modem if you wish disabling WiFi and using PPOE on router. Have some advanced router capabilities like changing the DNS and Dynamic DNS Cons Hardware looks dated for the TV receivers (big and bulky) You will lose your recordings if you PVR is exchanged Power failures and modem reboots will interrupt your recordings Recording multiple shows at the same time can put a strain on your internet bandwidth All remotes except the 4K version need direct line of sight to work Rogers Pros (Bell does not have) Has restart features programming in the future Has voice commands for searching channels, programs and functions Has cloud recording not dependent on physical hardware Remote lights up when touching it to make it easier using it at night Has faster internet in more areas than Bell does (at least in my area) Has YouTube available on all the boxes and just the 4K Box More channels are available in HD than Bell Has better channel packages, has the ability to switch out individual channels All Remotes are RF/Bluetooth unlike Bell (just the 4K box) VOD is much faster than Bell 200 hours of recording in 4K, HD, and/or standard (more recording space in 4K) You can undelete recordings from your PVR All receivers are 4K compatible with no difference in cost. Cons Slight lag (a few seconds) when changing channels Rewind options are not as plentiful as Bell Cloud recordings only good for 1 year No picture in picture on channel guide Cannot use 3rd party router and/or put modem into bridging mode. Router settings are pretty locked down so you can't change your DNS and/or setup Dynamic DNS. Added Labels 02-12-2019 03:33 PM - last edited on 02-14-2019 04:49 PM by RogersMoin Point: "Cannot use 3rd party router and/or put modem into bridging mode." I have my own router and modem is in bridge mode. There are several of us here that have setups this way. Ignite can skip forward/backward ANY amount you want. Just tell it so. Nice comparison...Thnx 02-12-2019 05:00 PM - last edited on 02-14-2019 04:49 PM by RogersMoin The point that I see with the issue of how we try to personally configure our home networks to meet our "Internet requirements", by bridging, VPN's, using our own personal mesh equipment and routers and so forth presents a problem for both Bell and Rogers. Both can be achieved as has been presented by members and experts of the forum that most of these can be worked around, but the reality is that at this point in time, Rogers has compromised its support to home network individual needs in order to not compromise the TV configurations (my opinion anyway). My reading of information on Bell is that it took a while for users to get a user friendly description of how to get both TV and more complex network set ups by bypassing the Bell Modem totally and just using a modem to convert the Optic fibe to Ethernet and then connect via your own modem via PPOPE (I don't think that is right acronym). It would be nice if the people who have managed to figure out how to set up personal home networks with our own equipment, could put together a how to, like was done way back with Navigatr. Great summary. Bruce 02-14-2019 09:16 AM - last edited on 02-14-2019 04:49 PM by RogersMoin 02-14-2019 05:46 PM @RogersTony wrote: Then what Rogers needs to do is to provide better functionality in the Gateway so that we can better control our internal networks. Not locking out all the variables that are needed for each home's unique network requirements. Yes the voice control is the BEST ! 02-14-2019 09:55 PM The issue of the personalized network I could see will remain as a challenging one. The best solution on the Bell side is that you take their modem out of play for the Internet side of things, because they use separate VLans, one for Internet, the other for Home Phone (not the standard phone over copper, but one connected to the hub), and another for Internet. You use your own router on the Bell, plus some of the routers, you can bridge, some you have to contact Bell to do it from their side - Ignite, you can at least easily bridge, it just creates challenges for the TV side of things and other things. Neither Bell or Rogers support their customers, when we step outside the standard configuration. The reason I have read why it is possible to do this with Bell is that they were forced by CRTC to not restrict customers from having Internet from another provider and pay for TV only. Bell at first said it was not possibly, but over time, they set up the new configurations allowing them to do it. The reality is that Fibe has been in limited public rollout since last April, and full rollout since Septermber, so they are kind of where Bell was in the beginning. Rogers can set up for us to be able to configure our own personal network configurations, but at this time, there is no incentive to do so, they are still working with a not fully stable product and their focus will probably have to remain on making the TV, home security, phone and Internet function in a stable manner, keeping everything fairly simple on the phone side and Internet side (can't speek to the home security side of things), and so those who have the technical skills have found work arounds, but if you call in for support on any of your servicess if you have Ignite TV, if you have made changes, support stops dead in its tracks until you set it back to orginal configurations. Maybe more freedom will come later to allow us to establish networks that meet our needs, not just the basic home user who is fine with the basic setups. and maybe along the way, Rogers will have to move to unbundling Internet and Ignite TV as Bell was, allowing more flexibility for us to choose the network provider that can best meet our needs, or flexibility to configure Rogers to meet our home network needs, while having the TV provider of our choice. Then the only advantage of bundling is the price and we have to figure out for ourselves how best to obtain suppport for our services. Over time, I see some of us with higher demands for individual network needs, finding technicians to do the work for us. Once a stable solution is known for various mixes of home services, I have no doubt that private consultants will come into play. Kind of like some people still work on their own cars, some go with the dealer, some use their own mechanic. With time, it will stabalize, at least until the next major technological shift. Bruce 05-31-2019 12:12 AM I'd like to add an update that you can put the Rogers modem into bridging mode and still use your own router with custom DNS setting and your can still pair your Ignite boxes with the router you own using WPS. It's so simple and I'm surprised that it actually works. There is no special configuration that you need for this to work. Just setup the router as it's connecting to a regular modem. 10-31-2019 09:26 PM - last edited on 10-31-2019 11:34 PM by RogersMaude That’s upsetting that there isn’t any slow motion on the new Rogers Ignite TV box! My old VCR had great slow motion back in the 90s. Rogers keeps jacking up the cost while taking away basic functions. It’s the lawyers always trying to dictate every little thing we can and can’t do in our lives. I think I’ll check out Bell. 11-01-2019 11:44 AM @DieselMVB wrote: That’s upsetting that there isn’t any slow motion on the new Rogers Ignite TV box! [...] I think I’ll check out Bell. For what it's worth, Bell Fibe does not have slow motion or frame-by-frame advance either. Some of the Ignite TV "cons" in the original post also need to be updated. e.g. Channel changes are quite fast now. Fibe TV may have more (and some better) "Rewind" options (and it is REALLY nice that you can go backwards in the Guide with Fibe TV) but one of the things that also drove me crazy was that "Rewind" would often kick in unexpectedly when rewinding while watching a normal broadcast, and then you can't fast forward again. The comparison in the initial post may also not even be relevant in the near future. The IPTV software platform that Fibe TV is based on was planned to have been updated ages ago but that effort is way behind schedule. If you choose to go with Fibe TV, you may or may not like the changes that lie ahead; something to consider before getting locked into a contract with them. I would encourage you to try out Ignite TV in a Rogers Store and post any questions here that you can't get answers to. I was a Fibe TV customer for many years and have no regrets switching to Rogers. a month ago. Specifically: 1. Is Rogers modem/router any better/stronger than Bell's? The Fibe guys were in 3 or 4 times after installation to put in extenders/amplifiers/pods etc. to get the best possible signal to all parts of the house. Am I looking at a repeat of this entire exercise? And likely with similar results since wifi is never perfect! 2. One online commentator says that Rogers versions of 4k TSN/SN channels have a lot more blurring than Bell, due to slower FPS rates. Any knowledge if this is true for this or any other reason? Not looking to switch to find out I have sacrificed picture quality, particularly since sports programming is very important to me. 3. One of my tv's is an old (but still great) plasma with b/g/r cables, no HDMI. One of the notes on Rogers website said TV must be HDMI compatible. All of them? 4. I also have a "spare" tv that doesn't get used much but it works off of an Amazon firestick using the BellFibe App. I take it from the initial post in this chat that Rogers has no equivalent, right? These are the key factors holding me from switching back. Any insights would be much appreciated. Thanks. Reigning heavyweight world champion Deontay "The Bronze Bomber'' Wilder takes on his most dangerous challenger as he defends his WBC title in a rematch against once-beaten Cuban slugger Luis "King Kong'' Ortiz.
JWT official website: GitHub address of JWT (Java version): What is JWT JSON web token (JWT) is a kind of network application based on JSONThe open standard (RFC 7519) defines a concise, self-contained method for communication between two parties JSONThe formal security of objects. Because of the existence of digital signatures, this information is trusted and JWT can use HMACAlgorithm or RSAThe public and private key pair of. JWT request process 1. The user uses the account and face to send the post request; 2. The server uses the private key to create a JWT; 3. The server returns the JWT to the browser; 4. The browser sends the JWT string in the request header like the server; 5. The server verifies the JWT; 6. The resource returned to the browser. Main application scenarios of JWT Authentication in this scenario, once the user completes the login, JWT is included in each subsequent request, which can be used to verify the user’s identity and the access rights of routes, services and resources. Because its cost is very small, it can be easily transferred in different domain name systems, and it is widely used in single sign on (SSO) at present. Information exchange is a very safe way to use JWT to encode data between the two sides of communication. Because its information is signed, it can ensure that the information sent by the sender is not forged. advantage 1. Compact: you can use URL， POSTParameter or in HTTP headerSelf contained: the load contains all the information needed by users, avoiding multiple queries to the database. 3 TokenSo JSONThe encrypted form is stored in the client’s, so JWTIt is cross language, and in principle, it is supported in any form of web. 4. It does not need to save session information on the server, especially for distributed microservices. ` Structure of JWT JWT is composed of three pieces of information, which are .The join together forms the JWT string.WT consists of three parts: header header (the header contains the metadata of the token and the type of signature and / or encryption algorithm); payload payload (similar to the items carried on the aircraft); signature signature / visa Header JWT header carries two parts of information: token type and encryption algorithm. { "alg": "HS256", "typ": "JWT" } Declaration type: JWT here Algorithm for declaring encryption: HMAC sha256 is usually used directly Encryption algorithm is a one-way function hash algorithm, the common ones are MD5, Sha and HAMC. MD5 (message digest algorithm 5) abbreviation, widely used in encryption and decryption technology, commonly used in file verification. Check? No matter how large the file is, after MD5, it can generate unique MDA (secure hash algorithm), digital signature and other important tools in cryptography applications. The security is higher than that of MD5 HMAC (hash message authentication code), hash message authentication code and authentication protocol of hash algorithm based on key. The public function and the key are used to generate a fixed length value as the authentication identifier, which is used to authenticate the integrity of the message. Commonly used for interface signature verification Payload The load is where the payload is stored. Valid information consists of three parts: 1. Declaration registered in the standard 2. Public declaration 3. Private declaration Declaration registered in the standard (recommended but not mandatory): iss: JWT issuer sub: users targeted (users targeted by JWT) aud: the party receiving JWT exp: expiration timestamp (the expiration time of JWT, which must be greater than the issuing time) nbf: defines when the JWT will be unavailable iat: when JWT was issued jti: the unique identity of JWT, mainly used as a one-time tokenTo avoid replay attacks. Public statement: Public declaration can add any information, generally related information of users or other necessary information required by business. However, it is not recommended to add sensitive information, because this part can be decrypted in the client Private statement: A private statement is a statement defined by both the provider and the consumer. It is generally not recommended to store sensitive information because base64It is symmetric decryption, which means that this part of information can be classified as plaintext information. Signature The third part of JWT is a visa information, which needs base64Encrypted headerand base64Encrypted payloaduse .Connect the string, and then use the headerAdding salt in the encryption method stated in secretCombined encryption, then jwtThe third part of. secret key secretIt is saved in the server. The server will generate it according to this key tokenAnd, so it needs to be protected. Let’s integrate springboot and JWT introduce JWTDependency, because it is based on Java, so what we need is java-jwt <dependency> <groupId>com.auth0</groupId> <artifactId>java-jwt</artifactId> <version>3.4.0</version> </dependency> Two comments need to be customized Used to skip validation PassToken @Target({ElementType.METHOD, ElementType.TYPE}) @Retention(RetentionPolicy.RUNTIME) public @interface PassToken { boolean required() default true; } Annotation requiring login for operation UserLoginToken @Target({ElementType.METHOD, ElementType.TYPE}) @Retention(RetentionPolicy.RUNTIME) public @interface UserLoginToken { boolean required() default true; } @Target: purpose of annotation @Target(ElementType.TYPE)——Interface, class, enumeration, annotation @Target(ElementType.FIELD)——Constants for fields, enumerations @Target(ElementType.METHOD)——Methods @Target(ElementType.PARAMETER)——Method parameters @Target(ElementType.CONSTRUCTOR)——Constructor @Target(ElementType.LOCAL_VARIABLE)——Local variable @Target(ElementType.ANNOTATION_TYPE)——Notes @Target(ElementType.PACKAGE)——Bag @Retention: reserved position of annotation RetentionPolicy.SOURCE: this type of AnnotationsReserved only at the source level and ignored at compile time classNot in bytecode file. RetentionPolicy.CLASS: this type of AnnotationsReserved at compile time. The default retention policy is set at classFile, but JVMWill be ignored, not available at runtime. RetentionPolicy.RUNTIME: this type of AnnotationsWill be JVMKeep, so they can be JVMOr other code that uses the reflection mechanism. @Document: indicates that the annotation will be included in the javadocin @Inherited: indicates that the child class can inherit the annotation in the parent class Simple customization of an entity class User, using lombokSimplify the writing of entity classes @Data @AllArgsConstructor @NoArgsConstructor public class User { String Id; String username; String password; } Need to write tokenGeneration method of public String getToken(User user) { String token=""; token= JWT.create().withAudience(user.getId()) .sign(Algorithm.HMAC256(user.getPassword())); return token; } Algorithm.HMAC256(): Using HS256generate token, the key is the user’s password, and the only key can be saved in the server. withAudience()Deposit needs to be saved in tokenHere I put the user IDDeposit tokenin Next we need to write an interceptor to get tokenAnd verify token public class AuthenticationInterceptor implements HandlerInterceptor { @Autowired UserService userService; @Override public boolean preHandle(HttpServletRequest httpServletRequest, HttpServletResponse httpServletResponse, Object object) throws Exception { String token = HttpServletRequest. Getheader ("token"); // take the token from the HTTP request header //If it is not mapped to a method directly through if(!(object instanceof HandlerMethod)){ return true; } HandlerMethod handlerMethod=(HandlerMethod)object; Method method=handlerMethod.getMethod(); //Check whether there is a passtoken comment, and skip authentication if there is one if (method.isAnnotationPresent(PassToken.class)) { PassToken passToken = method.getAnnotation(PassToken.class); if (passToken.required()) { return true; } } //Check for comments that require user rights if (method.isAnnotationPresent(UserLoginToken.class)) { UserLoginToken userLoginToken = method.getAnnotation(UserLoginToken.class); if (userLoginToken.required()) { //Perform certification if (token == null) { Throw new runtimeException ("no token, please login again"); } //Get user ID in token String userId; try { userId = JWT.decode(token).getAudience().get(0); } catch (JWTDecodeException j) { throw new RuntimeException("401"); } User user = userService.findUserById(userId); if (user == null) { Throw new runtimeException ("user does not exist, please login again"); } //Verify token JWTVerifier jwtVerifier = JWT.require(Algorithm.HMAC256(user.getPassword())).build(); try { jwtVerifier.verify(token); } catch (JWTVerificationException e) { throw new RuntimeException("401"); } return true; } } return true; } @Override public void postHandle(HttpServletRequest httpServletRequest, HttpServletResponse httpServletResponse, Object o, ModelAndView modelAndView) throws Exception { } @Override public void afterCompletion(HttpServletRequest httpServletRequest, HttpServletResponse httpServletResponse, Object o, Exception e) throws Exception { } To implement an interceptor, you need to implement HandlerInterceptorInterface HandlerInterceptorInterface mainly defines three methods 1 boolean preHandle (): preprocessing callback method to realize preprocessing of the processor. The third parameter is the response processor, customized Controller, return value is trueRepresents the continuation of a process, such as calling the next interceptor or processor, or the subsequent execution postHandle()and afterCompletion()； falseIndicates that the process is interrupted, and other interceptors or processors will not be called continuously to interrupt execution. 2. void postHandle(): callback method of post-processing to realize post-processing of processor（ DispatcherServletMake a view return call before rendering), at this time, we can use the modelAndView(model and view objects) to process model data or views, modelAndViewOr maybe null。 3. void afterCompletion(): callback method after processing the whole request, which also needs the current corresponding InterceptorOf preHandle()Only when the return value of is true, that is to say DispatcherServletExecuted after rendering the corresponding view. For resource cleanup. Callback method after processing the whole request. For example, in performance monitoring, we can record the end time and output the consumption time here, and we can also clean up some resources, similar to try-catch-finallyIn finally, but only in the processor execution chain Main process: 1. From httpRemove from request header token, 2. Judge whether to map to method 3. Check whether there is passtokenNote: If yes, skip the authentication. 4. Check if there are any notes that require the user to log in. If yes, take them out and verify them. 5. If the authentication is passed, you can access them. If it is not passed, an error message will be reported Configuring Interceptors Added annotation on configuration class @Configuration, indicating that the class is a configuration class and will be treated as a SpringBeanAdd to IOCIn container @Configuration public class InterceptorConfig extends WebMvcConfigurerAdapter { @Override public void addInterceptors(InterceptorRegistry registry) { registry.addInterceptor(authenticationInterceptor()) . addpathpatterns ("/ * "); // block all requests, and determine whether login is required by judging whether there is @ loginrequired annotation } @Bean public AuthenticationInterceptor authenticationInterceptor() { return new AuthenticationInterceptor(); } } WebMvcConfigurerAdapterIn fact, there is no method implementation in the abstract class, but the interface is empty WebMvcConfigurerAll the methods in do not provide any business logic processing. This design is just right so that we don’t have to implement the methods we don’t use. It’s up to WebMvcConfigurerAdapterAbstract class empty implementation, if we need to make logical processing for a specific method, we only need to WebMvcConfigurerAdapterIn subclass @OverrideThe corresponding method is OK. Note: stay SpringBoot2.0and Spring 5.0in WebMvcConfigurerAdapterIt has been abandoned. It has been changed to inheritance WebMvcConfigurationSupport, but after a try, it’s still overdue resolvent: Direct implementation WebMvcConfigurer(official recommendation) @Configuration public class InterceptorConfig implements WebMvcConfigurer { @Override public void addInterceptors(InterceptorRegistry registry) { registry.addInterceptor(authenticationInterceptor()) .addPathPatterns("/*"); } @Bean public AuthenticationInterceptor authenticationInterceptor() { return new AuthenticationInterceptor(); } } InterceptorRegistryInternal addInterceptorNeed an implementation HandlerInterceptorInterceptor instance of interface, addPathPatternsMethod is used to set filter path rules for interceptors. Here I intercept all requests, and judge whether there are any @LoginRequiredComments determine whether login is required Add login operation annotation to data provider @RestController @RequestMapping("api") public class UserApi { @Autowired UserService userService; @Autowired TokenService tokenService; //Log in @PostMapping("/login") public Object login(@RequestBody User user){ JSONObject jsonObject=new JSONObject(); User userForBase=userService.findByUsername(user); if(userForBase==null){ Jsonobject. Put ("message", "login failed, user does not exist"); return jsonObject; }else { if (!userForBase.getPassword().equals(user.getPassword())){ jsonObject.put ("message", "login failed, password error"); return jsonObject; }else { String token = tokenService.getToken(userForBase); jsonObject.put("token", token); jsonObject.put("user", userForBase); return jsonObject; } } } @UserLoginToken @GetMapping("/getMessage") public String getMessage(){ Return "you have passed the verification"; } } If there is no annotation, it is not verified by default, and the login interface is generally not verified. stay getMessage()I added the login annotation to indicate that the interface must be logged in to obtain tokenAfter that, add the tokenAnd can only be accessed through verification Now test, start the project, and use postman to test the interface No tokenAccess in case of api/getMessageInterface I use unified exception handling here, so I only see errors Log in to get token I didn’t annotate the login operation, so I can access it directly hold tokenAdd to request header, visit again api/getMessageInterface Note: here keyIt must not be wrong, because the key words are taken in the interceptor tokenValue of String token = httpServletRequest.getHeader("token"); add tokenAfter that, you can successfully pass the verification and access the interface Source code address of GitHub project: summary The above is the spring boot integrated JWT implementation token verification process introduced by Xiaobian to you. I hope it can help you. If you have any questions, please leave me a message and Xiaobian will reply to you in time. Thank you very much for your support of the developepaer website! If you think this article is helpful to you, welcome to reprint, please indicate the source, thank you!
Wednesday, May 27, 2009 End of an Era Monday, May 18, 2009 Advanced Slick Days - Gear that Works - Avoiding the perception that your priority is play, not work (bringing 7 rods, 3 shotguns, or 5 surfboards with you on the trip would do that) - Having gear that requires minimal maintenance during your trip - Having gear that will work in the widest range of "expected" conditions - Eliminating from consideration those activities that do not meet the above criteria Easier said than done, right? It's honestly not that hard - just be honest with yourself. We'll walk through my "slick day" tricks of the trade: FISHING - this one is pretty easy, because everything but your fishing rod can be secretly stashed in your luggage or professional gear bags. What you are going to need is a 2-piece rod and your most dependable reel (and a protective reel case). I personally hate 2-piece rods, but I own 3 of them. Why? Some of the reasons include hotel elevators, rental car trunk space, and ease of preventing theft (I dare you to leave that 7'6" St. Croix in the bed of your work truck in the Days Inn, or McDonalds, parking lot). Make it easy on yourself - take a 6'0 or 6'6" medium action rod, and if you don't have two spools for your reel, make sure you've got 6lb or 10lb mono for freshwater, and 18lb or 24lb mono or braid for saltwater. Again - you're trying to "get out," not catch a citation. These days, I often forgo the 2-piece for the 5'6" ultralight rod with 6lb test. Same concept though - small and easy to pack/hide/carry/store. Will catch a variety of small and medium size fish. Done. Tackle should include a soft tackle bag with no more than 4 Plano clear inserts - packed with your most sure-fire gear. You know what works for you - what are the lures you go to when you're getting bites but no hook-ups? Those are the ones you want for your trip. Forget the "tiger stripe diving crankbait" and the "Mega Rattl'r Fat Shad,".....leave that crap at home. Choice gear: Cabela's/Okuma spinning combo ($65), Cabela's salt striker combos ($55- $110), any rod case, Cabela's tackle bags ($22 - $150). My personal setup is an Okuma hardstone on a 5'6", 1 piece Wally Marshall signature crappie rod, occasionally switched out for a Berkley carbon rod (5'6", 2 pieces) KAYAKING - This is one of the toughest of all. Do not take your kayak or canoe with you on your work trip unless you can legitimately defend its use for work purposes (i.e. bridge inspection, pond surveying, etc.). Perception is sadly, just as important as reality these days. Do your homework ahead of time and find out where you can rent a boat. I know - Heresy again! First I recommend a two-piece fishing rod, and now, a rental kayak! O Noes! Those of you who have spent a lot of time on the water recognize that you can be comfortable (just not high performance) in a rental boat if the rest of your gear is up to your regular standards. I will take a rental kayak over rental paddles any day! I want you to pack a rubbermaid tub and include your best paddle (2-piece again), your most comfortable PFD, and a helmet if you will be hitting Class III waters, or above. And for God's sake, pack a nautical chart and a tide table. Please? Choice gear: Riot Angler 9.5 or 10.5 (fishing), Perception Patriot Angler 11.9 (fishing), Dagger RPM 9.0 (general whitewater, river runs), Paddle - Werner Corryvrecken - carbon shaft, plastic blades (since you don't know the river) HUNTING- Know ahead of time that if you do not properly scout, you will probably not end up with any harvest to speak of, and in fact you face a greater likelihood of drowning or getting shot. That being said, you can have a lot of fun on a weekday with your favorite shotgun (pump please - remember failproof maintenance), your 3-day license, and a map of the area you'd like to hunt. Again - please scout! Look for the high-effort, low payoff hunt. The WMA pond that is 3 miles down a forest road (walking only), and maybe only has 3 turkeys, 2 wood ducks, and 1 doe hanging out around it.........yup.......that's your spot. Especially if it's raining or snowing. Since a successful hunt typically does not end in a "catch and release" type scenario - I want you to think very carefully about what you'll do with your harvest ("begin with the end in mind"). If your boss does not mind deer blood all over the bed of his truck, you are in outstanding shape! Otherwise, this falls under the heading of be careful what you wish for. Prior to your trip, find out where the nearest butcher's shop is. Have a plan to prudently and quickly deal with game (butcher's shop, giant cooler with ice for dead birds, etc), because YOU NEED TO GET BACK TO WORK. You cannot spend all day butchering that deer in the hotel parking lot. If you can, then I need your job. For decoys, I want you thinking "minimal" in two different ways. In the obvious way, pack 12 or less dekes that represent the typical birds hanging out around your destination - for us it's commonly black ducks, buffleheads, and greenwing teal. "Minimal" in a second way because you must focus your potential opportunity in a way that "might" net you a few birds without needing 6 dozen dekes, 3 mojos, and 4 motorized duck butts. Don't take those 10 dekes out on a 500 acre impoundment, and then get ticked off that the birds ignored your spread. NO! Find a hole in the timber, a sand & gravel pit, a fish pond, or somewhere that a small spread will be appropriate.Choice gear: Remington 870, 12ga; Summit 4-point harness, GHG life-size decoys (cheap, light, decent paint), Herters lightweight waders, Walls insulated bibs. SURFING - Surfing is another tough one. Check the swell and tide forecasts regularly before you depart. If the forecast looks "average," then pack your shortest, fastest board that can catch small surf. For most of us, this is a fish or funboard. If the forecast looks "poor" or "epic," know and accept that by picking a single board on either end of the spectrum, you are pretty much locked in to the limitations of that board. Notice how I didn't mention longboards? Unless you have no fear of your board being stolen overnight, or smashed in the front door of a hotel as you've bringing it indoors, leave the 10'6" x 4.5" thick beast at home. 2.75" thick boards between 6'6" and 7'10", usually rounded pins or pintails, can ride 90% of the waves you'll find (unless you work in Tahiti). Many surfers refer to their chosen board in this size range as their "desert island board," for good reason. In fact, Rusty markets a Desert Island Board - dimensions 7'8" x 2.75". Yay Capitalism! Now...what to wear? If you are traveling in New England or Michigan in February and you want to surf during your trip, I have to trust that you have moved beyond the scope of this article. You should know what to pack....or you absolutely should not be in the water. Most of the rest of the year (April to October) in the Mid-Atlantic, I pack my summer surfwear (shorts, LS rashguard) and my 3/2 and booties. Why those? If the water's over 65, I'm wearing shorts. If the water is over 45, I will be comfortable in a 3/2mm, rashguard, boots, and no gloves for just long enough to catch a couple of waves. If the water's over 52 degrees....Eureka....perfect. Again, the goal is to absolutely minimize your gear stash during your work trip. Pack one wetsuit. If you are on the road for one week, and you will have one morning to surf, you will not need your 7/5/3mm, your 5/3mm, and your 5/4/3mm. Pick one. And as for the boardshorts (or boardshort / bikini top combo for the ladies)........if nothing else, you will be the only one of your coworkers who is able to go relax in the hotel's pool and hot tub (and not in your underwear). All of a sudden...look who's the professional traveller! It's you! Hit up the internet before you leave home, and find out where the most common spots there. Make sure you have a backup plan, for when you arrive at your "dream spot" and there are 300 people in the water, fighting for 2' surf. Go where they are not. The surf will probably be 7" smaller, and you will enjoy your brief few hours away from work.Choice gear: Rusty Desert Island 7'8", WRV Soap Bar or Bonefish, Dewey Weber Flying Pig, Natural Art Missing Link; any flexible 3/2 wetsuit. There are lots of reasons for wanting to sneak in some outdoor recreation while you're on a work trip - and it's like a dirty secret among us "road warriors." Yet, as you drive by the boat ramp on a tuesday morning, check out the armada of contractors vans, European sedans with suit jackets hanging from the window, and SUV's with a laptop bag in the front passenger seat. There we....I mean, there THEY are. The important thing is to keep focus on doing your job, and after that focus on enjoying the outdoors. Every fish, duck, waterfall, deer, and wave beyond that is a wonderful little bonus from God. Count your blessings and GET OUT THERE! Slick Days 101 - Outdoor Rec When You're On the Road for Work Note: I wrote this as a guide to young professionals in any field, to help them balance work and personal interests in the face of great temptation. This is not - in any way - meant to be construed as a guide to "get away" with recreating while you are supposed to be working. SO...your boss is sending you on a 60-hour per week, wild goose chase to "parts unknown," and you've heard it's "beautiful country," and for the first time in your life, you will have no daily supervision for the duration of your trip (although you will likely work an atrocious number of billable hours). If you're like I was 12 years ago, you'll immediately start researching the recreation opportunities in that area, "I've always wanted to climb that boulder wall - does the park have a gate?" or "How much does a 3-day license cost?" Or, "Can I use treble hooks in that stream?" . I've learned over the years that you must do 3 things to pull off these company/agency-funded "dream trips" successfully (let's define success as: you have completed the work your boss sent you to do, on time and on budget, and you also were able to enjoy the great outdoors, if only for a few hours): - Manage the Work - Manage your Personal Expectations - Answer the "What if's" Managing the Work Make no mistake - your boss is not sending you out into the world, on his/her budget, to screw around - outdoors or not. You have been given a task (or several), and just to remain employed, you must be able to demonstrate that you were able to independently deal with the task and complete it as he/she requested (or have a damn good explanation why not). Important note - know exactly what it is that you've been sent to do (a shortcoming of many supervisors is the inability to give clear directions)! If you want to be given similar opportunities again in the future, you'll have to do even better - you'll have to be able to manage the rest of your work remotely - which will probably mean putting in extra hours that you might not get paid for. There's no room for error here - if you deliver a poor or late product to your boss, he/she will inevitably find out that on wednesday from 8am to 10am, you were fishing instead of meeting with the IT director of the state DNR (or whoever). Your fishing may have absolutely nothing to do with your poor performance, but it doesn't matter - you must perform if you want to continue to receive the "mixed blessing" of unsupervised travel for work. Will your boss ever be so charmed by you, that you can tell him that instead of meeting in the Harrisburg Office, you took their manager out in the duck blind, or down a Class III rapid on a tuesday afternoon? Perhaps - but don't test it until you see him do it. You are getting paid to do a job - do it. Managing Your Own Expectations Once again - you are on travel for work purposes. I can't tell you how many times I've been on the road for work, with a truck full of outdoor gear that never left the truck, and sometimes a fishing license, park pass, etc. - that I paid my hard-earned money for - that will just end up in the trash. Especially as you drive that company truck into this summer, and gas goes from $2.50 to $3.00 to $3.50 a gallon - remember that work is first. The rest is a bonus. Moving on - because of the nature of your travel, you may have very small, or very strange, windows of time to pursue your outdoor addictions. The internet is your friend. Check wind, weather, stream gage data, fishing reports, etc. in at least the following intervals: 72 hours before your arrival, 24 hours before your arrival, when you arrive (check into the hotel), and obviously, right before you head out on an adventure. Essentially, have an idea of what's going on before you arrive - I can't emphasize how important that is. If you were on a long vacation, you could just stop by the outfitter's or the surf shop and ask them....but you don't have that kind of spare time on your work trip. Make sure you have relevant park maps, blind maps, tide predictions, creel limits, etc printed out and in a folder specific to this trip. Please do not do this at your office, the day before you leave town. Now that you're a fully qualified info-junkie, you have to make a strange mental adjustment. Repeat after me, "It's OK if it sucks." When you show up to climb a boulder, and homeless people are living all over it. When you show up to the "kayak ramp" and the ramp is 2 miles past a closed gate (it says "open at 9am" and you need to be on the road to a work appointment at 9am). When you hike 2 miles down a forest road to a public tree stand....that was burnt down the previous summer. These are all important parts of learning about a place, and again, it's not like you drove up to the area on your own expense and found it this way. This is all "bonus round." Those are all nightmare scenarios but my point is that you are going to have to chill out and take things as they come - some frustrations are absolutely guaranteed. Most likely, you will find the fishing spot, but the lake is covered in algae and you only catch a few fish. You have to surf 1 block north of your planned reef/jetty, due to the lifeguard/black ball zone, and end up only catching a few waves. How many fish, or waves, would you have caught if you were working in the office that day? Probably zero. So get your head straight - this is not a $4,000 Argentina Dove Hunt....this is you trying to blow off some steam while work is taking you away from your routine (and your family and friends). Managing the What If's I could also title this section, "How would I explain this to my boss?" If you are in a work vehicle, and you drive 3 miles outside of your route to toss a few lures at a stream crossing, and you have an auto accident or something of that nature, your boss may not care - if he ever even knows. On the other hand, if all of your contract work is in northern Florida, and you get a speeding ticket (company truck) in central Georgia at 1:30pm, you have several huge problems, including "why weren't you working?" "What were you doing in Georgia," and most damaging, "it seems like you are misappropriating our resources when no one is supervising you." As a traveling professional, this is one of the worst statements that can be made about you, because it will fundamentally change your ability to travel for work, as well as call into question the quality of the work you do while you are on travel. If you were in a "tight spot" (to quote George Clooney from O Brother Where Art Thou), could you tell your boss what is really going on, and not get fired, a la "I worked 9 hours today and then went fishing right down the street, and I guess I parked the company van illegally and they towed it....I'll pay for it, and I'll have it back in time to work a full day tomorrow." You might actually get away with that (and you should!). Versus, "Somebody broke into the truck toolbox at the boat ramp.....6 counties north of where our job is." You might get fired for that. If you don't think you could explain the "worst case scenario" to your boss and not get fired, you should definitely not be doing it. Overall - just think about balance. As my wife sometimes says to me, "this is not the last time you will be here - the fish aren't biting anyway." "Slick Days," as my surfing buddies call them, are a wonderful thing, but don't force the issue. If you can't fit it in....just focus on your job. Make that money and get those waves/rapids/photos/fish/ducks/deer next time. Sunday, May 17, 2009 Surfing & Fishing the VA/NC line .. Sunday, May 10, 2009 So You Think You Can Garden, Part I . As a trained wetland geographer & wildlife manager, a practicing habitat ecologist, a former Maryland Master Gardener, and the proud owner of an NWF Certified Backyard Habitat (send in a photo and a check, ha ha), I enjoy April and May each year, when friends and family call me relentlessly with their lawn and garden questions. Usually, it's about a specific site, or a specific plant. Most of them are very basic, or deal with an issue I've dealt with in the past, so it's pretty easy. But the hardest questions are the most basic: "Where do I start?" "What should I plant in my first garden?" Those types of things. I'll address the former question, but the latter question, to me, is like someone asking me to pick out their wedding dress, or choose the color of their baby's room. Not gonnna do it. So where does that leave us? How do you start gardening, and stop worrying about failing at gardening? . The first-time gardener has so many important questions , and many seem so critical to success (because this all costs money!) .......but....none as much as "why the hell am I doing this?" You need a plan! I don't mean a landscape plan, or a garden layout. We're talking much more basic - why do you want to grow plants? If you had the time and money to plant everything "just so," what would it look like in 3 months? 1 year? 5 years? If you're a first time gardener/landscaper, you must answer these questions, or I promise that you will fail. How can I say this? You can't reach your expectations without verbalizing them or writing them down. . If you're not sure about why you want to grow, you aren't ready to select what you want to grow. Take some time...be willing to learn - it's one thing that very successful gardeners, and really, all highly successful "outdoor" professionals have in common. Visit historic homes and gardens, and visit native plantings and wildlife plantings at parks and wildlife refuges. Concentrate on "what you like," without regard for the logistics of "can I afford that?" or "is it possible?" Get a firm idea of what you'd like to see on your land, whether it's a working ranch with no plantings, or a 10' x 10' cold box on the cement slab that is your urban back yard. You now have a "vision" of sorts.. . Another quick and critical exercise is to determine which Hardiness Zone your land is in. Why is this important? Most plants, whether you purchase them at Wally-World, or the Ag. Co-Op or the internet, are freeze-tolerant to only a certain extent. That extent is ranked by USDA zones. Knowing your USDA hardiness zone (a very easy exercise thanks to GardenWeb - search by zip code) will automatically rule out the purchase of many plants (including many stocked at your local Home Supply Super Store) as complete wastes of time and money (unless you have a greenhouse or want to buy the same plant again next year). . Now let's set up an important set of "sideboards" - honestly think about your potential garden space and prioritize the following in the order that's right for you: human use (consumption - food, cut flowers, etc) human use (aesthetic value) wildlife use (hunting, fishing, or viewing) land stewardship / soil conservation . That's right - the order in which you rank these will significantly affect the outcome of your garden project. I want you to remember those, because the next thing you need to do is call your local Extension Agent and discuss your vision and your priorities. This step is just as valuable, and much cheaper (free) than consulting a landscape architect or a wildlife consultant. Do NOT be afraid to call because your project is too small, or because you think your priorities are unusual. No matter how strange your vision & priorities, the agent has heard stranger, and he/she is paid a decent state salary to help you. Now, to save you a few steps, the extension agent is going to ask you some questions before you ask him/her any questions - so know the answers to these questions: how big of an area do you want to plant? what type of soil do you have (clay, sand, etc)? how steep is it? is there a water source (pond, spring, well, etc)? *how do you feel about the use of fertilizer, pesticides, etc? . This is where it just barely starts to get fun! If you dreamt of huge patches of sunflowers along the woods edge, the extension agent will likely tell you what variety is popular in your county, when to plant it, and how much the deer will eat. If you are interested in vegetable gardening, the extension agent will be able to tell you what types of vegetables are likely to work on your site. If you are interested in only planting purple flowers, he/she may have some suggestions. . If this fails (which can happen if your land/planting area is far above/below the scale of "average" in your county, your local chapter of Master Gardeners is there to help you. In fact, that's the only reason they exist - to help non-commercial gardeners. . After these conversations, and some good internet searches, you should have a pretty good idea of why you want to grow plants, and what you'd like to grow. Sadly, this puts you in the top 25% or so of gardeners and landowners. Let's make something clear - this doesn't mean you'll be successful, and (as my experience will show in a future post), your priorities can change. But by following this exercise to this point, any failures (or just mediocrity) you encounter in your first year of planting will turn into very valuable lessons. Those lessons pay very large dividends in future years....if you stick with it. . An example, perhaps? I grow sunflowers for birds, specifically, goldfinches. In 3 years I have planted the seeds at least 5 different ways to prevent them from being gobbled up by rabbits and squirrels. This year, I was finally successful. I found a way - partly because I was not distracted by other goals or priorities. . How do I remember? I keep a record - and you should too. I remember every lousy wildflower seed mix that didn't work, and the nursery source of the amazing habaneros I had "one year," and what month the squirrels stop burying peanuts in my yard (accidentally finding and eating seeds I have planted). . Again, you will fail - you must fail. Maybe only one plant, or one part of your garden or wildlife plot. I can't stress enough how important it is to be adaptive and go with what works. This will often mean finding out what works, and planting the same thing every year as your staple. Continuing to experiment is very important - but not at the risk of total failure, year after year. If you love fresh squash, and you plant 6 varieties this year, 5 of which become infested with beetles and don't produce good squash, you might want to focus next year's planting efforts on the type that seemed resistant (while perhaps trying some new varieties). . In some cases, you will learn (from someone else or from your experience) that your primary goal may not be achievable, given outside constraints like the site itself, your budget, or the 3,000 deer that live in the woods just beyond your yard. Again - be adaptable. Change your objective, change your budget, or if possible, select a new site that meets your original goal. . Most importantly, don't turn your back on meager successes - build on them. That happens every year, almost everywhere I plant or manage habitat: "Why did THAT work? Of all things?" Tickseed (a native wildflower) first sprouted in one of my beds because my duck hunting gear was covered in the seeds. I let it grow, and loved the flowers, and the birds loved the seeds. Why tickseed? It wasn't as showy as the asters I was trying to grow. But it worked.....now I use it every year in my seed mixes and look forward to those 5' tall bushes of yellow flowers every September. . Your "tickseed" may be a dwarf watermelon, an organic eggplant, an oat, a radish, or a sunflower. It will not be where you were looking for it, but you will be successful with it - and by doing so, you will become a real gardener. So go find it. Monday, May 4, 2009 Outdoor Rec Round-Up - South Carolina Low Country Now.
My friend Donna came up with this amazing idea and asked me to help her with the organizing. She wanted to host a storytelling night for parents who are writers. Her idea was to have a place for parents to come together and share their experiences through stories. It was a fabulous night, I will write a post later about the experience including the details for the next one. We called the event "The Witching Hour" and the theme was "Because I said So." Each storyteller had ten minutes to share a true story and this is how I filled my ten minutes. There are so many things my mom didn’t tell me about being a parent. Like, she didn’t tell me that after you have kids most days you either forget to brush your hair or put on clean underwear. And why would YOU put on clean underwear, when you only shower once every couple of days? She Ab-so-lutely forgot to tell me how you can never sneeze again after giving birth without peeing in your pants. And obviously, she never warned me that the more kids you have, the more sleep deprived you are. And why didn’t she at least give me a hint about how honest kids can be, especially when your muffin top is hanging out. Most importantly why didn’t she tell me that some days you just feel like running away. And there is no where to go, except maybe to the toilet, the only room in the house with a lock. I could go on forever. But honestly, I understand why she didn’t tell me these things. I think if she had told me even a few of these things there would be a VERY big chance I would be the 40 year-old CEO of Google right now, wearing Vivienne Westwood on my 20 year-old hot body and attending galas all over the world with my husband who thinks I am the bees knees. Instead, she didn’t tell me, and I have two kids, my career is on hold, I barely fit into yoga pants on a good day and I rank at a close number 4 on my Baby Daddy’s love list, just behind my kids and a cold beer. Yep, she actually knew what she was doing when she held back all this info from me. But you know what, she may not have told me, but she definitely taught me a few things. For one, she taught me how to recognize when my babies need a mommy hug or how to love life even when it doesn’t seem to love you back. Come to think of it, I could go also on forever listing the things she taught me. I will spare you the sappy stories of how much I appreciate my mom finally after 40 years. But I will share with you the most valuable tool she gave me for motherhood: the Parental Power Phrase. I think all you parents out there know what I am talking about. Those really cliché phrases our parents used to say. So cliché it made your skin crawl everytime you heard it. However, in most cases, it’s the most powerful phrase that comes out of a parents mouth. It can potentially end battles, disputes and stand-offs that probably even the big man upstairs couldn’t resolve. And what I learned from my mom wasn’t really what she said, but how she said it. My mother’s parental power phrase was Don’t make me stop this car. Oh my goodness to this day, the mere thought of these words makes me shiver. You see most of time my two brothers and I got along, but there was something about the car. Every time we got into the car it was like Saturday Night Smackdown was taking place and the backseat was the cage match. My brothers would hit, slap, argue, you name it, once the seat-belts were clicked and my mom was backing out of the driveway. It was ON! And the first time I remember her using the parental power phrase, wow that was something. We were all three buckled into the backseat of our Pontiac station wagon. Me, being the oldest and the only girl, I was ALWAYS commanded to sit in between my two brothers to keep them from fighting. Yeah…that worked well. My middle brother was the one leaning over first, instigating the fight by pinching my little brother. They were arguing back and forth. I had tried to stop the fighting by grabbing their arms, I was almost three years older and much stronger. This only made it worse and I remember hearing from the front seat, “Cut it out kids”. But this time it was intense, they just wouldn’t stop. I could feel the car rocking from side to side each time they attacked. My mother, gently turned off the 8 track and said in a firm voice “Don’t make me stop this car.” Then it happened. The ultimate sin when riding in the car: My middle brother accidentally in his fighting frenzy kicked the back of my mom’s seat. Before we knew what happened (must have been from the whiplash) my mom had pulled the car over on the side of the road. On the way out of the car she somehow turned into this Wonder Woman like figure. She had superpowers that I couldn’t understand. I believe all three of us were thinking the same thing: Who was this woman? You could feel her frustration and anger radiating into the back seat. My middle brother made it worse. He tried to hold the door shut when she went to open his door. She used her superhuman strength and pried the door open. In a flash of light, she grasped my brothers face in one hand and held herself up with the other as she towered over him. Her face was glowing red and her eyes were bulging from the sockets. She was twice her normal size, you could see the veins on the side of her head pulsing so rapidly. I thought her head would explode into a million pieces. She held his face for a few seconds, but to us it felt like an eternity. I think we didn’t know what she was gonna do at this point. My sweet little ole mama had turned to the dark side. After a deep breath, she asked probably the most important question in my brothers life at the time. “Are YOU gonna make me stop this car again?” My smallest brother and I were looking at my middle brother, pleading with him through our thoughts, just say no, just say no, just say no. My brother immediately started crying and apologizing over and over like a broken record. “Good,”my mother said. She gently shut his door and on her way back to the drivers seat she had morphed back into my sweet, calm mommy, who wouldn’t hurt a fly. I couldn’t believe what I had just witnessed. For the first time, I looked at my mom and thought, wow this woman is BAD ASS. And from then on every time my brothers would even THINK about fighting in the car, my mom would simply say “Don’t make me stop this car.” Of course, as we grew older, the phrase changed with our phases until we grew up and the Parental Power Phrase was no longer needed. So this brings me to the part of my story when I tell you about how I first tried to use my very own Parental Power Phrase. It was back about a year ago during the Penis vs Vagina war in our house. My son had somehow become obsessed with the fact he had a penis. I don’t know, maybe it’s a genetic thing with men, but he loved to talk about how he had a penis. One night it was pajama time and my son was getting undressed. Once he was in his "nakkie" he started taunting my daughter, "You don't have a penis! You don't have a penis! You will NEVER have one! HaHaHa!" This was the worst thing you could say to my daughter at this point in her life. Just before the Penis War had begun, she realized she was different from her best friend, her brother. For 3 years she thought she was just like him and when reality began to set in, she really had a hard time accepting it. Anyway, my daughter was (and still is) one tough cookie and immediately fought back, " I don't have a penis, I have a...what is it called Mama?" she said. I said "Sweetie, it's called a vagina and we love our vagina's. It doesn't matter if we don't have a penis, a penis and vagina are equal, they just look different." Of course I try to stay out of their battles most of the time, but all I could see was my son in 30 years: woman-less desperate, lonely. And my daughter in less years than that: A woman always feeling inferior to men. A little dramatic, well maybe, but I wasn’t taking any chances. I was shocked at how aggressive my son was and I could see it in his eyes that he really thought everyone should have a penis because they are the most awesome things to have, next to maybe Legos or a T-rex. Then he started chiming, "MAMA doesn't have a penis, MAMA doesn't have a penis." Ok, so much for me being the Switzerland of the house, I felt like I had to set him straight. Not only for his future self, but also for his future girlfriends. "Honey, a penis is the same as a vagina, they are just shaped different. Just like a T-Rex and a Velociraptor. They don't look the same but they do the same thing, eat meat. A penis and a vagina do the same thing, they both pee-pee." (I know not totally representative but I was hoping to save that convo for a few years later.) It was like I had not said a word. He kept on dancing around, wiggling his little willy in the air and now, not only taunting my daughter, but he was taunting his very own mother. "You don’t have a penis, you don’t have a penis.” I'm not sure what happened to me, I guess it was my time to feel the superhuman power of being a parent. At that same moment the tears began to roll down my daughter’s face and she said in almost a whisper “Mommy why cant I be a boy.” And then it happened, the words popped out of my mouth like a piece of toast from a toaster: “Well Luca if there were no vaginas, then you would have never been born.” Oh my god, I thought to myself. Did I really just say that to my five year old? What the F? Did I really go there? What kind of parent was I? Yes I did and I had to get myself out. Oh god I wasn’t ready for the whole where babies come from convo. “Mama, babies come from vaginas?” My son asked with his eyes twinkling with curiosity. Here we go I thought. Where is my “How babies are made book.”? Oh yeah, they are five, I was gonna buy it when they were like 16. Me and my big mouth. “Yes Luca, babies grow in a mommies belly and then when they are big enough, they come out through the mommies vagina.” I know not the best explanation, but remember it was on the fly. And then the questions came from both of them, why this and why that and how did they baby get in the belly? “Can a man have a baby?” “No, Luca men cant have babies.” “Why mama?” “Like I said Luca the baby comes out of the vagina.” “Why does it have to come out of the vagina? It can come out of the penis too Mama. It has a hole on the tip.” And that’s when it came…my very first time using a parental power phrase. “Luca because I said so!” I had had enough. I was exhausted. I was defeated. And I needed out. Yes mama you taught me well. Not sure if I had the force my mom had when she used the phrase, didn’t really matter as long as it was effective. He shut up. The debate ended. Case closed. However, I looked over at my daughter and could see the twinkle in her eye. I would like to think for those few seconds she was proud to have a vagina. And, wow, how those four words had actually done the almost impossible. I had the power and it didn’t stop there. “Mama, why do I have to clean my room. Because I said so.” “Mama, can I take my light saber to school. No, Because I said so. “Mama, can…..NO BECAUSE I SAID SO. I was on fire! I know, I know, it won’t last very long. It wont take long for them to catch on. One of them will figure it out and will tell the other one and then my super powers will vanish. But until then, I will rule the world, well at least my 85 square meters of it! You might be wondering am I out of control? Yes, I am out of control. Does it bother me? No I am loving this power. And you know why? BECAUSE I SAID SO!
James MURRY and June Murry, Appellants v. Sharon MURRY (Now Pudlo) and Dante Murry, Appellees. OPINION James and June Murry (the Murrys), grandparents of three minor children,1 appeal the December 18, 2012, order of the Jefferson Family Court that: denied their motion for contempt against the children's mother; denied the mother's motion to set aside the agreed order concerning the Murrys' visitation with the children; and denied each party's motion for fees and costs. After our review, we affirm in part and remand in part. This action was initiated on August 11, 2011, when the Murrys filed a petition for grandparents' visitation rights against their son, Dante Murry (the children's father), and the children's mother, Sharon Pudlo (Dante's former wife), pursuant to the provisions of Kentucky Revised Statute[s] (KRS) 405.021. Dante answered the petition, requesting the court to grant the Murrys visitation rights separate and apart from his parenting time. In her answer, Sharon did not oppose the Murrys' request for visitation with the children. On August 25, 2011, the court ordered the parties to participate in mediation. On September 16, 2011, an agreed order was entered in court. The order provided that the children would be permitted overnight visitation with the Murrys 45 times per year. These visits were to be scheduled by Sharon and by the Murrys. As tension concerning the children's well-being developed over time, animosity between Sharon and the Murrys escalated. On one occasion, police intervention became necessary. On September 24, 2012, Sharon filed a motion to set aside the agreed order that permitted visitation with the Murrys. She also requested that the Murrys not be permitted to supervise the children's visitation with their father, Dante, who exercised visitation with the children on alternating weekends during the school year and on alternating weeks during summer break.2 The Murrys filed a motion for contempt against Sharon the following day. They alleged that Sharon had failed to abide by the court's order awarding them visitation. A period of discovery began, and each party moved for attorney's fees and costs. The court conducted an evidentiary hearing on November 14, 2012. It heard evidence pertaining to the difficulties between Sharon and the Murrys. It also received the report of Sally Brenzel, a licensed clinical psychologist; the report was dated October 4, 2012. Brenzel had prepared the report as well as a recommendation for a time-sharing schedule for the children pursuant to the court's request. Although the court was not inclined to set aside the award of grandparent visitation, it did observe that the visits between the Murrys and the children were a source of continuing discord. After considering the testimony, the court concluded that the provisions for visitation originally established by the agreed order were not working. The court concluded that the interests of the children would be better served through implementation of a fixed visitation schedule. The court ordered that the Murrys could exercise visitation with the children on alternating weekends throughout the year. These visits were to overlap Dante's time-sharing arrangement. By order entered on December 12, 2012, the court denied the motion to set aside the award of grandparent visitation; denied the motion for contempt; and denied the cross-motions for fees and costs. It additionally denied the Murrys' request for more specific findings of fact. Their motion to alter, amend, or vacate was also denied. This appeal followed. On appeal, the Murrys contend that the court erred by modifying the terms of the original visitation order and that it abused its discretion both by refusing to cite Sharon for contempt and by refusing to award their attorney's fees. We address each of these contentions in the order in which it was presented. In their first argument, the Murrys contend that the court's amended order scheduling grandparent visitation concurrently with Dante's parenting time deprives them of the independent visitation available to them under the agreed order entered in September 2011. They argue that this modification was not requested by any party and could not have been granted under the provisions of Kentucky Rule[s] of Civil Procedure (CR) 60.02(f). They contend further that they were deprived of a meaningful opportunity to be heard and that no evidence relative to the children's best interests was properly presented to the court. As part of this argument, the Murrys contend that the family court erred by failing to make specific findings with respect to the need for a modification in visitation. Sharon and Dante have a statutorily granted right to the care and custody of their children that is superior to any similar interest of the Murrys. Moore v. Asente, 110 S.W.3d 336 (Ky.2003). More importantly, they have a fundamental and constitutionally protected right to raise the children as they see fit. Id. Furthermore, despite entry of the agreed order, the Murrys were not entitled to exercise visitation with the minor children in the same manner or upon the same schedule forever without any possibility of modification. Disputes arising in family law are subject to the court's continuing jurisdiction over children until they reach majority or emancipation; modifications in visitation and time-sharing arrangements often become necessary over time as children grow and circumstances change. The court's authority in this proceeding was not narrowly circumscribed. On the contrary, its right to adjudicate the parties' rights with respect to the children was sweeping, and it certainly had the authority necessary to order that a fixed visitation schedule be implemented by the parties. Thus, we cannot accept the Murrys' contention that the family court acted ultra vires. Furthermore, having reviewed the proceedings, it appears that the Murrys were provided adequate notice concerning the nature of the hearing and a meaningful opportunity to be heard on the merits. The Murrys were fully aware that Sharon intended to challenge their continuing presence in the children's lives. In response, they presented evidence indicating that they had been involved with their grandchildren throughout their lives; that they had formed lasting bonds with them; and that the grandchildren would benefit from a continuing relationship with their grandparents. The Murrys were not denied their right to due process of law. Next, the Murrys contend that the family court erred by permitting the introduction of psychologist Brenzel's report. However, there is no indication that the family court relied upon the report in reaching its decision. This report was properly prepared to assist the court in creating a viable parenting schedule for the children. The Murrys participated in the preparation of the report, and their place in the parents' timesharing schedule was specifically addressed within it. Nevertheless, the court did not refer to its contents when it determined that the Murrys' visitation should be merged with Dante's parenting time, and there was substantial evidence to support the court's decision. There is no reversible error on this point. However, we do agree with the Murrys with respect to the adequacy of the court's findings of fact. The provisions of CR 52.01 require the family court to engage in a good faith effort at fact-finding and to include those facts in a written order. See Anderson v. Johnson, 350 S.W.3d 453 (Ky.2011). Sharon contends that specific findings of fact and separate conclusions of law are not necessary where the court merely modifies an existing visitation order. We disagree. The Supreme Court of Kentucky has emphasized that matters affecting the welfare of children are among the most important undertaken by our courts. Consequently, it has written that “it is imperative that the trial courts make the requisite findings of fact and conclusions of law to support their orders.” Keifer v. Keifer, 354 S.W.3d 123, 125–26 (Ky.2011). Our ability to conduct a proper and effective review of a family court's conclusions is dependent upon our understanding of the facts upon which it relied. We must be fully aware of the facts upon which the court's conclusions of law rely. In this case, the family court found that the visitation provision of the agreed order had not been working and that it “presents more problems than it resolves.” This finding falls short of the requirement that the necessary facts be found specifically. Under the circumstances, we are compelled to remand this case for entry of additional findings in support of the court's order. Next, the Murrys contend that the family court abused its discretion both by refusing to cite Sharon for contempt and by refusing to award their attorney's fees. We disagree. The Murrys assert that Sharon was acting in contempt of the court's order when she failed to permit them to visit the children on pre-arranged dates between mid-September and the end of the year 2012. They argue that Sharon's decision to deny the visitation was made in bad faith and is punishable as contempt. Our courts have inherent power to punish individuals for their willful disobedience of the court's orders. Newsome v. Commonwealth, 35 S.W.3d 836 (Ky.App.2001). When a court exercises its contempt powers, it does so with nearly unfettered discretion. Following its hearing in the matter, the court was not persuaded that Sharon had willfully withheld visitation in violation of the agreed order; thus, it declined to hold her in contempt. The court acted wholly within its discretion in making this determination. Consequently, there are no grounds for reversal on this basis. Finally, the Murrys contend that the family court abused its discretion by failing to properly address their request for attorney's fees. They allege that the court erred in concluding that it could not award fees since the parties failed to present evidence of their financial resources—and that fees could not otherwise be awarded as a sanction. Since the family court declined to find Sharon in contempt, it did not err by refusing to sanction her on that basis. And the record reveals that the parties do appear to have presented evidenced of their financial resources. However, the record does not indicate upon what other basis the Murrys sought an award of costs or fees. The provisions of KRS 403.220 permit an award of costs and attorney's fees incurred in maintaining or defending a proceeding conducted pursuant to the provisions of KRS Chapter 403. But this proceeding was not conducted under that chapter. Instead, this proceeding was conducted under the provisions of KRS Chapter 405. There is no similar cost and fee shifting provision contained in Chapter 405. Consequently, the family court did not err by refusing to award to the Murrys the costs and fees they sought. The order of the Jefferson Family Court is affirmed in part and remanded for entry of additional findings in support of its order concerning visitation. FOOTNOTES 1. The eldest child has likely reached the age of majority by now. We have not been provided with each child's date of birth. 2. Dante is disabled by mental illness; the Murrys manage his affairs. COMBS, Judge. ALL CONCUR.
Is the food industry missing a major food safety risk? A look at intake of food chemicals other than by oral ingestion By Tony Zipper (C Chem, ARMIT (App.Chem.), FAIFST, FRACI, FoodLegal Food Chemist) FoodLegal Lawyers and Consultants © Lawmedia Pty Ltd, December 2014 A recent article published by the Journal of the American Medical Association reported the results of a literature review which held certain chemicals to pose a public health risk when inhaled. Many of these same chemicals are permitted to be added to food or oral ingestion without much regulation. But, as this article illustrates, there are considerable opportunities for food chemicals to be absorbed into the human body by means other than ingestion. This article queries whether ingestion should be the only accepted means of food intake when food regulators prescribe acceptable levels of food chemicals. Does food law consider intake other than oral ingestion? The Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code (the Food Standards Code) references its definition of ‘food’ from Food Standards Australia New Zealand Act 1991 and then Section 5 of the same legislation utilizes the word “consumption” which is used to describe the act of ‘eating, drinking, devouring’ (Macquarie Dictionary). The Food Standards Code does not define the term “consumption”, nor any of its synonyms. The Food Standards Code also tends to ignore ‘odour’ / ‘aroma’ one of the 5 basic senses (taste, smell, touch, sight, hearing) used by humans in their appreciation of food. The major references to ‘odour’ in the Food Standards Code are in Standard 1.3.1 Schedule 5 where a ‘Flavouring’ is described by reference to “taste or odour”, and a ‘Flavour Enhancer’ which includes “taste and/or odour”. Yet, despite these narrow definitions for ‘food’ or ‘flavour’ or ‘consumption’ when used by regulators and food scientists working with the Food Standards Code, it is now clearer that the human body can ingest, inhale, absorb, etc substances that are defined as ‘food’ by the Food Standards Code, or substances that are part of medicines as permitted by the Therapeutics Goods Administration (TGA) or ingredients in cosmetics using materials from a permitted list, apart from being substances that are loosely regulated, if at all. It is irrelevant whether these substances have any nutrient, medical or aesthetic value when they enter the body either through the digestive system or are otherwise assimilated internally. A case study example raised by the Journal of the American Medical Association Diacetyl is a permitted flavour (FEMA 2370) as per Standard 1.3.1 Clause 11. Diacetyl has a strong buttery flavour and odour and is found naturally in fermented beverages, which sometimes can be regarded as beneficial to the flavour profile. Diacetyl is used as a flavour component in many dairy and margarine products that require a ‘butter’ flavour and also in many flavoured popcorns. However Diacetyl – as was highlighted by the Journal of American Medical Association article() - has a dark side when present at reasonably high concentrations in the atmosphere of its manufacturing plants. Workers in these plants have been diagnosed with a serious lung disease ‘bronchitis obliterans’ which can be fatal. Neither the Food Standards Code nor SUSMP – Standard for the Uniform Scheduling of Medicines and Poisons make any reference to the restriction of the use of Diacetyl in any circumstance. The USA Department of Labor – OSHA has published “Hazard Communication Guidance for Diacetyl and Food Flavorings Containing Diacetyl”. A similar OH&S warning for Australia could not be found. This could be because Diacetyl is used in small quantities in flavour manufacture. Oral Ingestion of Food Oral ingestion is currently the only legally permitted route for food intake under the Food Standards Code. In normal circumstances, food orally ingested must “be fit for purpose” and must not have any toxic effect. Excess consumption beyond oral ingestion is a choice that is not a consideration covered by the Food Standards Code, although there are discussions re mandating serve sizes, etc and some Food Standards do require labelling of daily limits. Food chemical intake other than by ingestion This article explores the different methods of direct ingestion of volatile materials by various human organs i.e. via the mouth, nose and skin. The materials include food chemicals permitted as processing aids or additives by the Food Standards Code and other substances that may fall under product categories within the regulatory standards that cover foods, therapeutics, cosmetics and aerosol sprays. As a young food chemist in the early 1970’s I can recall spilling a drop of a food flavour chemical Dimethyl Sulphoxide on my finger and within less than one second I could taste a foreign flavour on the tip of my tongue even though my finger never touched my tongue. Although I was working with many flavour chemicals at the time, the association was only confirmed with repeating the experiment in isolation. The conclusion I drew was that the chemical could have been absorbed through my skin. Yet at that time, the chemical industry believed that skin was to be considered to be impervious to chemical absorption even though a chemical could be detected by sensory organs in the mouth apparently through skin absorption. At the time, I also raised a question about lipstick and the then Chief Chemist of the State of Victoria replied that “there was nothing to worry about, because the lipstick components could not penetrate the skin”. In more recent decades, the mechanism of chemical absorption into the bloodstream has not just been proven but has been thoroughly explored and commercially exploited in medical terms, through transdermal patches for delivery of medicines and pharmaceutical substances, such as for nicotine, pain relief, heart conditions, and other similar applications. The level of oxygen in the blood stream is also now measurable through the skin. Skin as the largest organ in the human body, is now well understood to be porous to many substances that come into contact with it. One can be sure that there are companies exploring the opportunities for delivering essential nutrients by transdermal means such a ‘patch’ similar to a nicotine patch. Transdermal transfer will depend on numerous factors, including the molecular size of the particular chemical, volatility, use of solvents/carriers, dose required, and other possible variables. Defining Volatile Substances Volatile substances, without having the reader know too much chemistry, are either solids or liquids that at ambient (room) temperatures or slightly higher, exhibit some noticeable aroma/odour to humans. The main volatile substances under discussion are Flavourings, Solvents, Fragrances and other Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs). Volatile substances are often but not always sensed by the nose. The ability to smell is the least understood and appreciated sensory function, not only for food aromas but also because it is used as a warning instrument or a memory stimulating device, etc. The capabilities of the nose are highly underrated at the best and not understood at the worst. Many of the nose’s attributes are yet to be discovered and appreciated, much less exploited. Often volatile substances do not exhibit any odour but can still have an effect on the human metabolic system, even if harmless and may be absorbed and duly excreted through the digestive system or through perspiration or through respiration (e.g. garlic). Vapours are often not only Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) but are the result of another process and generated either naturally (i.e. Sulphur from volcanoes, etc.) or manmade (i.e. burning wood or plastic, etc). Food Chemicals There are many volatile substances permitted by the Food Standards Code, primarily ‘Flavourings’ (Standard 1.3.1 – Food Additives, Clause 11, Schedules 1 [Section 0.1], 2 & 5) and their Solvents (Standard 1.3.1 Schedule 1 Section 0.1). There are many food substances that have an associated aroma both individually and when combined. All odours are perceived by consumers and end up in the respiratory system (lungs) where they are metabolised and distributed through the blood system to end up in various organs and bodily systems. Adventitious Inhalation of Odours & Vapours There are very many sources of odours and vapours in our environment, some of which are deliberately added to the atmosphere for marketing reasons, i.e. the smell of “fresh coffee” or “fresh bread” in food outlets, cafes, etc to induce custom. “Odour fatigue” is a well-researched subject that is used to exploit repeated applications. There are many vapours that are inhaled, knowingly (through perception of the associated odour) and unknowingly (these substance, usually gases at room temperature and pressure, do not have any odour. Examples can include: refrigeration coolants such as the now superseded CFCs [Chlorofluorocarbons] but replaced by Hydroflurocarbons with a history still to be written; aerosol fumigants (used in food plants); cigarette smoke (those that are smoked deliberately and “other peoples” smoke). This latter group now includes “electronic cigarettes” which burn/heat/vaporise flavourings either with or without nicotine and often include Diacetyl – see above. A relatively unknown area is the inhalation of nanomaterials from many newly developed materials. It is presumed that nanoparticles may have different volatility properties from their none-nano equivalents. This is a subject of much current research. (See also previous FoodLegal Bulletin articles about nanotechnology: ‘The growth of nanotechnologies in the food industry and the regulatory issues’ (May 2014) and ‘Is nanotechnology the new GM?’ (October 2008)) Packaging is now known to emit odours which can be absorbed (within the matrix of the goods held in a package) or adsorbed (onto the surface of the packaged goods). Although this an important but negative factor in food packaging, Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) have only recently released FSANZ Proposal P1034 – “Chemical Migration from Packaging into Food” and will be preparing a report after considering industry submissions. Volatile substances in food and the effects of reflux One relatively new health concern is the now quite common health condition known as reflux, whereby ingested food is expelled back up through the esophagus into the mouth and often volatile substances (and sometimes solid food particles) will enter the lungs. This could also occur with burping when volatile material re-enters the oral cavity and may be drawn into the lungs via subsequent breathing. The PBS drug rankings for Nexium or the like (Esomeprazole) show that there are now huge numbers of Australians who are taking medication to prevent reflux and possibly worse side effects such as aspiration pneumonia caused by bacterial pneumonia and chemical pneumonitis. Aspiration pneumonia results from inhalation of stomach contents or secretions of the oropharynx leading to respiratory tract infections. Short-term effects of reflux and subsequent lung ingestion of volatile compounds are known to include secondary health problems such as temporary breathing difficulties. Over the past 30-40 years all new food substances have undergone a variety of mandated toxicity tests (refer to FSANZ Application Handbook). These tests can establish with a very high degree of certainty, that any detrimental long-term health effects of ingestion of volatile substances from permitted foods into the lungs and thence into the blood stream or remain within the lung lining, have been studied and eliminated as causes of any toxicity. With regard to volatile food substances, with aroma often being a characterising parameter, toxicity testing from inhalation is a mandated testing factor refer JECFA (CODEX) – Joint Expert Committee of Food Additives. However, the related issues that might be missing and that FSANZ ought to consider for further study are the interactions of a mixture of volatile compounds with each other or with other food components to form a new compound during digestion, followed by reflux and also the composition of the metabolic breakdown products of VOCs after partial ingestion followed by reflux. Furthermore, similar toxicity studies ought to be required for any substance to be accepted into the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods (ARTG). Existing permitted substances ought to be reviewed by similar studies. Nasal Ingestion The nasal route of permitted food ingestion is also not discussed in the Food Standards Code although there are some foods that would be regulated by Standard 2.9.5 - Foods for Special Medical Purposes that could be used for nasogastric feeding for special needs patients. While the nasal passages are used primarily for odour/aroma detection as described above, some volatile food chemicals and food substances are likely to affect breathing and may be of concern to consumers with respiratory conditions. Transdermal Ingestion For food, this may be a future route of ingestion for micronutrients i.e. vitamins, nutritive substances but it does not seem feasible to use this method for macronutrients such as protein or fats, etc. The chemical that I mentioned earlier in this article, Dimethyl Sulphoxide, is a solvent and a permitted flavouring. Are food regulators missing a potential food safety risk by only considering oral ingestion? All materials have established limits of ingestion and these limits are included on the Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) that should accompany every batch of raw material so that manufacturers, retailers and users of the material have access to these limits. The actual health effects of flavours and aromas on humans can vary depending on many factors, including dosage, age, weight, health status, other substances ingested at the same time and more. There are apparently some beneficial effects of flavours and aromas such as inducement to eat or as a complement to eating, as the ingestion organs (mouth and nose) are physiologically joined and the flavour of the ingested food and its associated aroma are usually detected simultaneously. However, if inhaling a food chemical associated with a non-nicotine e-cigarette is to be viewed as unhealthy(), a similar review should be undertaken in relation to similar chemicals that are accepted by the food industry but are capable of being absorbed into the human body by means other than ingestion by eating or drinking. * REFER: "Flavorings in Electronic Cigarettes. An Unrecognized Respiratory Health Hazard?" Jessica L. Barrington-Trimis, PhD, MS, MA; Jonathan M. Samet, MD, MS; Rob McConnell, MD in The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) . Published online November 10, 2014.
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What is Apologetics? Why Should Christians Apologize?? #139 HOW Do You Defend the Faith? Hello friends and happy Saturday to you! I am back home in Salinas, California, and back in the podcasting saddle after taking off three nights in a row for the first time this year. (The last few episodes were pre-recorded.) I had a wonderful adventure heading to Colorado and back with my eldest daughter Chloe and am happy to be back home with Phoebe, Kassidy, John Caedmon and….Abbey…whom I am funning with, because she is the child who listens to this podcast the most, and believes I don’t shout her out enough. She is an amazing and talented daughter and will probably be famous one day. I could do a whole podcast on my cross country trip – 2200 miles of driving in just four days, the beautiful mountains of Colorado, the deserts of Utah, and the massive blowout that almost killed us as we drove through the Mojave desert were the highlights, but you didn’t sign up for a travel podcast, so let’s get into the Bible stuff! One more thing, before we do, though. I need to shoutout the guy in Rochester New York who downloaded 145 episodes of the podcast in a single day yesterday. Brother (or sister), that’s incredible! Was it an accident? I have so many questions. Do you really plan on listening to all of them? That would literally be about 65-70 hours of content! That’s a lot. Also: shoutout to our Danish friend in Hovedstaden (probably Copenhagen), who is one of the most consistent downloaders out there, and our brother in Harare, Zimbabwe, who has downloaded over a hundred episodes – no small feat in some parts of Harare! Anway, we’ve got some great listeners – In Frankfurt, Ghana, Gabon, Victoria, NSW, Northern Ireland, Alberta, Ontario, Varmland, Sweden, Auckland, New Zealand, and all across the U.K. and U.S. I’d love to hear from all of you sometime – comment on the Biblereading podcast site, or send me a message, or tweet or whatever. Today’s Bible readings include a very challenging Numbers 25, Psalms 68, Isaiah 15 and 1 Peter 3, our focus passage. Today’s question is all about apologetics, or defending the faith, and here is our key passage in 1 Peter 3: 8 Finally, all of you be like-minded and sympathetic, love one another, and be compassionate and humble, 9 not paying back evil for evil or insult for insult but, on the contrary, giving a blessing, since you were called for this, so that you may inherit a blessing. 10 For the one who wants to love life and to see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit, 11 and let him turn away from evil and do what is good. Let him seek peace and pursue it, 12 because the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do what is evil. 13 Who then will harm you if you are devoted to what is good?:8-16 We get the word ‘apologetics’ from the Greek word translated as ‘defense,’ in 1 Peter 3:15, “ἀπολογία apología.” The word is often translated as either ‘answer,’ or ‘defense,’ or something similar in most modern translations, and that is because both senses are intended in this word – an apologia is an answer or defense of one’s self or an answer or defense of one’s opinion, argument or belief. An apologia is therefore something of a reasoned explanation – here is why I did what I did (if you are giving an apologia in court) or here is why I believe what I believe, if you are giving an apologia in a debate, or in answer to a question. In other words, the Word of God is telling Christians to have an answer/defense/reason/explanation for WHY we believe in the Bible and in Jesus. Why we are Christians. This is a command, in the Bible, written directly to Jesus-followers, telling you and I to always be READY to give an answer as to why we have hope. To be clear, an apologia is not an apology – I know that is somewhat confusing, but apologetics is not about being sorry for being a Christian, but rather giving an answer/defense/explanation as to WHY we are Christians. If you are curious as to how apology went from meaning defense/answer to something you say when you are sorry you did wrong, then Etymology Online has a great answer: early 15c., “defense, justification,” from Late Latin apologia, from Greek apologia “a speech in defense,” from apologeisthai “to speak in one’s defense,” from apologos “an account, story,” from apo “away from, off” (see apo-) + logos “speech” (see Logos). In classical Greek, “a well-reasoned reply; a ‘thought. Source: The bottom line is that apology used to mean defense/answer, and beginning in the 1400s, the meaning shifted to where it currently is now. Words do that. Christians aren’t being commanded to be sorry they are Christians, or to explain the sorry behavior of some who erroneously refer to themselves as Christians. Rather, Peter is saying that Christians must be ready to give a bang-up answer to the question of why we have hope in Jesus. This presupposes, I think, that Christians should somehow radiate the fact that we do indeed have hope. I think that means we should be obviously hopeful people – even in times of pandemic and trouble. You don’t have to be a sunshine-pumping Pollyanna as a Christian, but I think being a dour pessimist is incompatible with Christian hope, honestly. Imagine this conversation: Sally: “Hi Bill, why are you so negative and complaining all the time?” Bill: “Well, Sally – it’s because I’m a Christian, and I follow Jesus! Sally, “I’m confused, shouldn’t that give you hope??” Bill, “You make an excellent point, Sally – I apologize!” (Note the modern usage of apology in this amazing dialog that I wrote on the spot in less the 70 seconds) So – you are exuding hope – even in times of pandemic and quarantine and fear – because you are a Christian, and you know the Gospel and you know that Jesus is coming again. And you are asked about why you are so hopeful – what do you do? How do you give an answer? Must you know every doctrine and verse? Not necessarily – this isn’t a call to know every bit of Bible trivia and all deep theological issues that there are. You aren’t being commanded to offer a cogent response to a question about infralapsarianism vs. supralapsarianism. If 1 Peter 3:15 isn’t a command to know everything about the Bible, then what is it? How do we give a good answer to people who ask us about our hope? I want to answer our main question two different ways, practically, and spiritually. Practically speaking, I don’t believe that every Christian must be a theologian and have a deep grasp of all of the big and small theological issues brought up by the Bible. If you aren’t really sure about what was decided at the Synod of Dort, or what the Fourth Lateran Council had to say about heresy, then you can still fulfill 1 Peter 3:15. (Though I don’t want to excuse Bible laziness – know the Word!) I think a Christian – anybody that has been in the faith for more than a year or so – should be a virtual expert on two different things: #1 The resurrection of Jesus and #2 The reliability of the Bible. You should be able to explain why you believe Jesus rose from the dead, and you should go further than “I believe it in my heart,” or “my momma told me so.” You should be able to explain why you believe the Bible is God’s Word, why you believe it is reliable, and you should be able to answer some basic questions from skeptics. In a world of social media, hobbies, binge-watching, reality tv and other frivolous things, you, dear Christian, have time you can carve out of your schedule to learn about the reliability of God’s Word and the resurrection. You don’t have to know everything, but know those two things! As I think about it, you should also know the good news/gospel of Jesus’ death on the cross for our sins, and you should be able to tell somebody the good news in a minute or two. Here’s some great books to get you started: The Case for Christ, Lee Strobel Evidence that Demands a Verdict, Josh McDowell and Sean McDowell Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis The Reason for God, Tim Keller Cold Case Christianity, J. Warner Wallace Reasonable Faith, William Lane Craig (fairly advanced) Momma Bear Apologetics, Hillary Morgan The Case for the Resurrection, Gary Habermas I Don’t Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist, Norman Geisler Get one of those books and read it! Second question: HOW do we defend the faith/answer questions? We’ve got to look smart minded, right? We need to be tough and aggressive, or those evil and rude atheists will steamroll us, right?! Actually, this isn’t about being the fiercest debater, or the toughest guy – you don’t have to WIN the argument with your superior intellect and incisive reasoning. This isn’t you vs. Captain Atheist in a no-holds battle of worldviews. It’s not about you being able to defeat your opponent with your knowledge. Yes, know a lot. Yes, give a good answer. Yes, engage well and with passion…BUT – this isn’t a fight. According to Peter – previously known as HOTHEAD Peter…our answers must be given with gentleness and respect/reverence. In other words, you CAN’T be a jerk, no matter how badly you are treated. Consider just a few verses earlier, Peter said, “9 not paying back evil for evil or insult for insult but, on the contrary, giving a blessing, since you were called for this, so that you may inherit a blessing.” So, in sum we answer questions about the hope that we should radiate by focusing on the Gospel and the resurrection and the reliability of God’s Word, and we give our answers/defenses/reasons to believe/explanations with respect and gentleness so that nobody can point to our behavior or bad attitude as a reason not to believe. One Reply to “What is Apologetics? Why Should Christians Apologize?? #139 HOW Do You Defend the Faith?” I listen to Pastor Chase Thompson’s Podcast daily. I love the way he expounds the Word of God in a really easy and down to earth manner. Please be encouraged and keep up this Great work the Lord has given you. You are making a difference in many people’s lives. I shared #137 with a friend and he told me he really needed/appreciated it. Last summer my family and I vacationed in Bolinas, California. I have a niece that lives in SLO. Love-in-Christ John F. Finch III
Rockbeare Village Hall was built in 1925 by Lt Colonel Follett, then Lord Mayor of Rockbeare. The village hall and associated playing field play an important part in village life in Rockbeare through hosting a number of fundraising events and being available for use within the community. The subsequent effect is a more united community that sees the village hall as a focal point for social interaction within the village. In recent years the hall has undergone re-development to provide a platform for increased use and to secure the future of the hall in the longer term. In January 2009 the village hall under went a significant external renovation process that involved: - Roof repairs and re-tiling; - Replacement of four large windows; - Repairs to other windows; - Replacement of guttering and downpipes; and - External re-decoration. Since then, the village hall under went extensive internal renovation that included: - Replacement of the kitchen; - Replacement of the flooring; and - Redecoration. In January 2015 the final element of internal redecoration was completed through the procurement of new tables and chairs with funding provided by the Big Lottery. The Queen’s Jubilee -------- AT ROCKBEARE MANOR, ENGLAND -------- Interesting Description of a Country Festival by Mrs. Thomas F. James. -------- Editor Cambridge Tribune: Your readers will no doubt see many accounts of the Queen's Jubilee in London, but American papers will have little to say about the manner in which the day was celebrated in the remote villages and hamlets of England. I think, therefore, I need make no apology to my former fellow-townsmen, for sending to The Tribune the following brief sketch of the festival held at Rockbeare Manor In the beautiful county of Devon, where I now live. Our parish of Rockbeare, seven miles from Exeter, like most of those In this agricultural district, is a scattered one, with a population of between four and five hundred. The gray ivy-mantled tower of the church keeps watch and ward over a cluster of thatched cottages. Rockbeare Court, the only other gentlemanʼs place in the parish, is separated from the church-yard by a laurel hedge. More than a mile from the church, and nearly in the centre of the parish, stands Rockbeare Manor House, now my English home. Beyond the sloping lawns and green woods that surround it, stretch out farms, where the delicious butter and famous Devonshire cream are made for the Exeter market. This latter delicacy is said to have been introduced into the south of England by Phœnicians when they came hither in search of tin. A few weeks before the jubilee a meeting of the parishioners was held, and subscriptions made towards the object. It was decided that If money enough could be raised, all the men and women should have a meat dinner, and the children a tea. I offered the grounds of Rockbeare House for the feast. The indispensable part of the programme was a brass band, and as that could not be obtained for Tuesday, June 21, we did what many of our neighbors were obliged to do, fixed on another day in the jubilee week for the feast, which came off most successfully on Thursday, June 23. From Monday morning our house was the scene of great activity: fires were lighted in the two huge ranges that fill up one end of tile large stone-floored kitchen; at noon the butcher brought two hundred and sixteen pounds of meat into the flagged larder, on the long table of which part of it was quickly prepared for cooking, the rest waiting for the next day. Americans who are satisfied at their out-of-doors entertainments with sandwiches, ices, fruit and lemonade, can hardly realize the work involved in preparing the national dinner of roast beef and plum pudding for John Bullʼs hearty appetite. One hundred and seventy-five pounds of pudding were made at the vicarage, and boiled there during a whole day before the feast; they were on Thursday brought to Rockbeare House, where they were boiled three hours longer so that they might be served hot. These puddings, each weighing seven pounds, were rich with fruit, all the raisins having been stoned, and were pronounced excellent. A shady place near the house was selected for the tables, which were covered with white paper. At one a hundred and twenty could be seated. Down this long board were arranged bouquets of flowers in vases, and between each dishes of salad made of cucumbers and lettuce from our farmers. At every plate a battle of ale was placed, which could be exchanged for cider or ginger beer. The joints of meat were ranged down the table, which presented a gay appearance. Service was appointed to be held at the church at two oʼclock—the· Archbishop of Canterbury having set forth "A form of Thanksgiving and Prayer upon the completion of fifty years of Her Majesty’s Reign;" also a hymnal of jubilee hymns to be sung on the occasion. Our vicar being ill, the Rev. Prebendary Acland, sub dean of Exeter, officiated. The people had been arriving from the remote parts of the parish for an hour before the procession from the church, headed by the band, entered the lodge gates. It was marshalled by one of the head men of the village, and marched up the long avenue with numerous flags flying. An English and an American flag were borne in advance, the Stars and Stripes having the precedence. They stopped In front of the portico, where the band played "God Save the Queen" and the children dispersed among the trees, and seated themselves on grassy banks while their elders, both men and women, sat down to the festive board. It took some time to arrange the company, but when all were seated, the sub dean, at the head of the longest table, said grace, and than ten stalwart farmers began to carve the joints. There were many helpers to wait on the people, as the ladies from Rockbeare Court and our own family and visitors assisted the farmers' wives and daughters in filling the plates for the hungry mouths, and no one was stinted, many sending up a plate for a second or third helping. When the meat course had been sufficiently discussed, the hot plum puddings were brought in, and were greatly appreciated. More than an hour's time was consumed in eating, when Mr. Acland returned thanks, and the farmers and helpers sat down to a smaller table spread close by. The reverend gentleman, mounting a chair, proposed the health of the Queen, commenting on her long and happy reign and on the love of her people for her, on the interest felt in this jubilee by all other nations, illustrating it by the fact that an American lady had thrown open her beautiful grounds for this festival; he wanted the company to let her hear what a real English cheer was, and the hip, hip, hurrah, was given with a will. Next he remarked that the horrors of war had not come to England during Her Majesty's reign, and how important it was that peace should be preserved with our kin beyond the sea. He therefore proposed the health of the President of the United States, which was responded to with three hearty hurrahs. After speaking of the kindness of their hostess in doing so much to make the festival pass off well, and providing the parish will so beautiful a dining-room, with its cool and leafy canopy, he proposed the health of Mrs. James and that of her son and daughter. The cheers to this toast were given three times three, with even greater noise than those to the Queen or President, ending with a peculiar whistle, which we were told was the climax of a complimentary cheer. This toast was most unexpected, but very gratifying, as all of us, servants included, had been busy for three days in preparing for the feast. The national anthem was than played and arrangements for the chiIdren's tea began. One hundred and sixty sat down to bread and butter, cakes, buns and cups of tea. Between four and five hundred people were fed. Dinners were sent to twenty persons who, from illness or infirmity, were unable to be present. Long before the tables were cleared the sports began, in a field half way down the avenue. We had the course marked out with red flags, and Mr. Montgomery James devoted much time and attention to the arrangement and carrying out of the games—he and his sister giving forty-two shillings in prizes. There was a pony race, jumping and running for both men and boys, and an obstacle race which was very amusing, all sorts of obstructions being placed In the runner’s way. Even before the sports were ended the young men and maidens danced on the tennis court to the enlivening music of the band, and I was surprised to see, instead of old fashioned contra dances and cotillons, the polka waltz danced as prettily as at the Cambridge assemblies. Among all the crowd there was no rude or bad behavior, though we had thought it necessary to have two policemen on the spot. Babies in arms and in perambulators were among the guests, and many aged people who had danced gaily fifty years ago on the occasion of the accession of the Maiden Queen, now, crippled and bowed, sat looking on. These rustics were all well dressed. I did not see one shabby-looking person among them. Many of the men wore roses in their button-holes and the children looked neat and clean. But the long midsummer afternoon came to an end at last-the sun set at twenty minutes past eight, and the golden twilight continued until ten oʼclock. At nine the great bell on the roof of the kitchen rang, to gather the stragglers to the front of the house, where under the flag decked balcony "God Save the Queen" was again played by the band, many voices singing one verse of the hymn; gradually the crowd dispersed to their homes, leaving the occupants of Rockbeare House standing under the American and English flags quite worn out with the day's work. Rev. Prebendary Acland, brother to the Right Hon. Sir Thomas Acland, belongs to an ancient family in this neighbourhood. His great uncle, Major Acland, and Lady Harriet Acland have some interest for Americans in connection with the battle of Saratoga in our Revolutionary war. See Lossing's history and Madame de RiedeseI's letters. Information about Rockbeare Manor is on the English Heritage Website at:
Howdy, Stranger! It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons! Barrett-Jackson I've been watching the ongoing Barrett-Jackson auctions the past couple of nights and I'm just amazed at the prices some of these cars are bringing! But I'm sure in many cases, the restoration costs far exceeded the prices bought. A lot of these cars are over restored far beyond they way they left the factory. But I'm sure in many cases, the restoration costs far exceeded the prices bought. A lot of these cars are over restored far beyond they way they left the factory. This discussion has been closed. But in some cases, the bids are just not smart, and the bidder would find it nearly impossible to re-sell the car privately for what he paid. I've seen some cars drop 30%. Of course, the PREMIUM cars with HIGH DEMAND are holding steady but that's the cream of the crop. The rest of the crop is going soft. Lots of European bidders by phone I'd bet. They're sick of old MGBs and little Alfas, they want to top-notch expensive stuff because they are shopping with Euros, so essentially they are only paying perhaps 70% of what you see the price listed at in USD. MODERATOR --Need help with anything? Click on my name! In any event, none of the cars have sold with a reserve. B-J has strictly been a no reserve auction for the last five years or so. Thanks, that's good to know, makes it more interesting, rather than a bunch of fishing exercises. In addition to the prices paid, there is a 10% bidders fee to be considered too. And, some of those cars, I keep thining, "what if something breaks". A 1929 (I think) Nash went through last night. What in the world would a person do if somthing irreplacable were to break? Not like a 1955 Chevy where they reproduce everything. Well, that applies to lots of the pre-war stuff, there are shops that can make many of these parts from scratch - they are pretty lightly stressed. Not cheap, that's for sure. Also, there is some commonality in axles, engines, transmissions. Restoration Advice Host MODERATOR --Need help with anything? Click on my name! Sometimes (now and then) I'll see a family bickering over deceased Dad's old car which they think is worth $50,000, only to find out that it's worth $6,500. Talk about jaws hitting the floor. I just tell 'em "don't kill the messenger. That's what appraisers are for...we have no interest in the car, no mad passion for it, no desire or payoff attached--we just call 'em as the market directs us". Or a divorce where hubby sunk $35,000 in a car worth $8,000. Wivey wants half, which is only fair, but it's going to be half of the market value, not half of the restoration costs. B-J really distorts reality because we are viewing unusual merchandise sold under unusual circumstances----which is NOT the legal definition of fair market value. MODERATOR --Need help with anything? Click on my name! I've had people come up to me and tell me the fintail must be worth 50K, as they see a new MB costing this much. They are shocked when I tell them 5K would be a very fair price for it. Some of them are museum pieces and I can't imagine there are that many buyers with museums! Do they drive them on nice days on city streets with their irreplacable parts in harms way? One thing is apparant, there are people with a LOT of money to throw around! Did anyone see the 30' Miami Vice speedboat with 1150 horsepower that came with it's own custom Hummer and trailer? What in the hell would anyone do with such a thing yet it brought (I think) 600,000! A prototype UGLY 1963 Corvette went for over a million! Amazing.... PERHAPS for these extremely rare &/or well-preserved/restored iconic cars, there will always be enough millionaires around to buy them. Yes, the Miami Vice boat/trailer/Hummer sale was kind of nuts. But, the thing that gets me is the purchase of these non-vintage race cars. Where in the hell are you going to drive something like that? No where. Perhaps if you own a car dealership or a sports bar, you might buy something like that as a draw. But, for the price paid for these cars, you'd need to sell a heck of a lot of hot wings and beer. Actually, one of my favorite cars at the B-J auction was this '67 Parklane convertible and it sold for only $16,000. Yes, I'm sure some will argue that $16K is ridiculously high for this car. But, where are you going to find another one - let alone SEE another one driving down the road? This car sold on Tuesday which is when grunts like me are in attendance. ;-) I'd probably leave the fender skirts on. Yeah, they may be somewhat hokey, but they lend a bit of panache IMHO. The only thing worse would be a continental kit. The hubcaps are wrong and it doesn't have air conditioning. And it's probably the worse color it could be. 16,000 plus the 10% buyer's fee? Don't think so. What color IS that car, anyway? On my screen, it looks like that light silvery green metallic that seemed so common back in the late 60's and early 70's. I guess it could look nastier in person, though. Also, looking in my car book, I see the 410 V-8 was the standard engine, with 330 hp. So nothing really special there. My book lists the 427 as only being optional on the Comets, although there was a 428 with 345 hp offered as an option on the full-size cars. Not that it really adds to value, but it looks like the '67 big Merc convertibles were pretty rare. My book lists 2673 Monterrey convertibles, 145 S-55's (which had the 428 standard), and only 1191 Park Lanes verts. Meanwhile, Pontiac ran off 10,033 Catalina 'verts, 8902 Bonnevilles, and 5856 Grand Prixes. It looks like big Mercurys in general weren't popular by 1967. Most of Mercury's sales seemed to come from the Comet and Cougar. Similarly, most of Dodge's sales came from the compacts and midsizers, while the Polara/Monaco lineup only accounted for maybe 115,000 sales that year. GM truly owned the fullsize market back then, especially in the medium price market. Just not a good color then or now. I've relaxed my requirement for A/C on car like this. I mean, if it's 90 degrees, you probably are going to have the top up anyway (or just keep it in your garage). Plus, at least for me, a car like this wouldn't be my daily driver and the trips would be limited to pleasure cruises. So, not having A/C wouldn't be that big of a deal. Plus, it's one less thing to keep repaired. LOL! As for a/c, it's not essential for me. With a car that old, not having a/c wouldn't be a deal breaker for me, unless it was something in the Cadillac/Lincoln/Imperial league. However, I wouldn't pay a/c price for a non-a/c car. FWIW, the interior of my '67 Catalina convertible is black vinyl, which is probably about as evil as it gets in hot weather. I've driven that car in the dog days of summer, top down, and have found it to be bearable. I'm a bit of a masochist, though. :shades: It seems like older cars tend to "breathe" better than the newer ones. Especially with the fresh air vents under the dash, the little vent windows, roll-down windows in back on 2-doors, and less padding and insulation, all seem to combine to make a car that's more bearable in hot weather. In the 70's, they started sealing cars up tighter, which I think made them retain heat more. And with integrated a/c systems becoming more common, they started doing away with those vent windows, fresh air vents, roll-down rear windows, etc. Plus, it seems that once they started making the side windows curve in more, they'd let in more heat from the sun's rays. It's all subjective. This is why restaurants have menus I suppose. I don't like cars without A/C and a big Merc like that really "should" have it. If it were a Cougar it wouldn't be as important to me. Somehow, my mother, at the ripe old age of 17, was able to save up enough to buy a brand new '66 Catalina convertible. I remember years ago, asking her if it had a/c, and she responded "why would it have a/c? It was a CONVERTIBLE!" in kind of a "D'oh" sort of tone. I guess that was the prevailing attitude back then? But, judging from the pricing listed in my old car book, a '67 Park Lane was a major step above something like a Catalina. Looks like it was priced above the likes of the Bonneville even, coming in just below cars like the Electra, Ninety-Eight, and Chrysler New Yorker. That was sort of the 60's version of what they call "Near Luxury" today, a class that really should have a/c. I'd imagine that Mercury really had a tough time competing in this field back in the day. Olds and Buick, with their C-body Electra/Ninety-Eight, were essentially de-contented Cadillacs, so they seemed to have a definite advantage. And even though Chryslers were on their corporate "C" body, they were heavily modified from the smaller Furys and Polara/Monacos, with a body that was beefier and roomier. In contrast, the big Mercurys were just guzzied up Fords. Even though they were bigger than the Fords, it was in a fashion that made the cars longer without really giving you any more interior room. They'd stretch out the frame but use the same body, meaning you'd end up with a longer hood or longer rear deck, but not a roomier car. Although in some cases, you'd end up with a bigger trunk. Pontiacs Bonnevilles had some of the biggest trunks around back then, because they were the longest version of GM's corporate "B" body. They were longer than the Catalinas, and also longer than the Olds 88's and Buick LeSabres. However, all that extra length was in the trunk. 1967 Mercury Brochure Lots of pages of car models that I don't even remember - they sure did have it tough competing with GM! MODERATOR --Need help with anything? Click on my name! As and example, a Riviera was SO MUCH better of a car than a Thunderbird.
Mr. President of Romania, Traian Basescu, Your Excellence, Undersigned: Dan Caraman, Doriana Cimpan, Ivona Elena Cerneschi, Daniel Catalin Fenechiu, Simona Mihaela Oprea, Alexander Morarescu, Alice Draghici, Florin Surghie, Violeta Podolianu, Mihnea Stoica, Ingrid Zaarour - lawyers in the Bucharest Bar, Niculae Lovin Serban - dean of Bar Ilfov, Papiniu Andreea Alexandra public notary, please receive this material submitted for analysis which represents: AMICUS CURIAE By your Excellence, in accordance with art. 77 paragraph (2) of the Constitution of the Romanian Parliament a request for review of the Law on amending and supplementing Government Emergency Ordinance no. 155/2001 on approval of the management of stray dogs. 1. Technique legislative breaches on 10/09/2013, Legal, Discipline and Immunities and Public Administration , Territorial Planning and Ecological Balance filed Permanent Bureau of the Chamber of Deputies, Joint Report on the request for review of the Law on amending and supplementing Ordinance emergency Government Ordinance no. 155/2001 on approval of the management of stray dogs following the decision of the Constitutional Court no. 1/11.01.2012 sent to the Commission for Public Administration Territorial Planning and Ecological Balance and the Legal, discipline and immunities to review, on 18/03/2013. Ab initio, please note that the two commissions had time to reach you, consider that sufficient and reasonable (about 6 months) for the preparation and submission of the Joint Report. However, we are aware that the Report is subject to criticism, being superficially prepared, in haste, under the pressure of time and on purpose omitting issues of law and fact, known to members of the Chamber of Deputies which could influence their vote or content of the allowed amendments. The Legislation knows two great moments: a) The establishment of social situations which require legal regulation b) The separation of legal ideal should apply these statements depending on a company's legal consciousness. Legislative action involves changing trend, innovation of new normative legal solutions, rated as superior as or better than existing regulatory solutions. Action regulation is subject to strict discipline as do the legislative procedure, the Parliament being held inter alia to respect the Constitution and the decisions of the Constitutional Court of Romania. To think and act otherwise is to accept abuse, chaos and lack of accountability of the legislative process and pernicious influence on Romanian society and the Romanian state. In culpably, the joint committee of the two major theses in recitals hides Constitutional Court Decision no. 1/11.01.2012 mandatory both in terms of device and accounting considerations and the legal and factual basis for these two committees have submitted Joint Report of the Standing Bureau of the Chamber of Deputies. Thus, although the findings are cited in the report of the Constitutional Court: “... the Constitutional Court finds that the wording of Art. 1 section 8 of the law does not meet the requirements of foreseeability required by art. 1 paragraph 5 of the Constitution of Romania, republished. The Court notes that the text of art. 1 section 8 of the Act sets out the proposed solutions regarding the obligation of public authorities to tackle the stray dogs without regard for the order to be applied so that the public authorities responsible for applying the much criticized law will be put in a position to randomly choose one or more of these. However, the proposed solutions of an act can not be applied randomly, the legislature is required to establish the conditions, methods and application of clear criteria and objectives. Thus, based on the much criticized law, the Court noted that the Legislature should establish a priority order on these solutions and the solution euthanizing stray dogs to be applied only as a last resort and only when all other solutions have been consistently applied by local authorities, but have not reached to limit or eradicate this phenomenon - of the importance of providing the order of application of legislative measures, see Decision no. 536 of 28 April 2011, published in Official Gazette of Romania, Part I, no. 482 of 7 July 2011" are omitted other equally important sentence: "Human dignity, from a constitutional point of view, involves two inherent dimensions, namely the relationships between people, which targets the right and duty of the people to be respected and accordingly, to respect fundamental rights and freedoms of their peers (see, to that effect, and Decision no. 62/18.01.2007, published in the Official Gazette of Romania, Part I, no. 104 of 12.02.2007) and the human relationship with the environment, including the animal world, which implies, for the animals, man's moral responsibility to care for these creatures in a way to illustrate the nature of civilization achieved." In this way the proposed and approved amendments but also the spirit and the essence of the law were flawed. The Constitutional Court states that the euthanasia of stray dogs should be applied only as a last resort and only when all other solutions have been consistently applied by local authorities but have not reached to limit or eradicate this phenomenon (to observe and Decision 536/28.04.2011 of the CFR). We question the Joint Report due to the absence therein of: Ascertaining proper application / inappropriate alternative solutions among which the most important is the sterilization of stray dogs by local authorities; Reasons for the improper application of alternative solutions, in terms of justifying the necessity of applying since the beginning of the "final solution" This Joint Report should have included the amendments allowed for the purposes mentioned above. This omission was intended to protect those involved, responsible and decision makers in local government who have been unable or unwilling for illicit reasons to solve the problem of stray dogs using the legislative framework at hand until the occurrence of the tragic event in September 2013. There is a preliminary assessment of the impact of proposed legislative changes through amendments to the Romanian society. The only "assessment" was made through the statements of leaders, opinion formers and politicians, transmitted in society and media channels and the deeply unserious idea appeared which stated that the only solution is killing all the dogs as the only solution. A large amount of people disagree this monstrous idea and are being mocked. In relation to this last category of people among which we count ourselves, we want to show that the law itself, the solutions adopted, produce us a deep sadness. We believe the law to be promulgated in this form violates human dignity, because the legislature will actually target the mass killing of stray dogs. This explains the different and changing period in which they can be accommodated in shelters, from 30 days to 14 days (art. 4 of the Act) and the ambiguity of formalities that must be met, versus a real opportunity to save their lives. The period of 14 working days is insufficient for evaluating, medical sterilization, control and possibly medical treatment, vaccination, deworming, immunization, micro chipping, knowing that a dog which did not go through these phases can not be given for adoption. Moreover, in the same period, the adopter must prepare necessary documentation (proof of space that results in appropriate conditions for growth and housing of dogs, financial resources for the raising and maintenance of dogs, owners’ or shareholders’ agreement with backyard neighbours, adoption fee-which amount is not known until now). Also, in the same period, the adopter must be effective and create conditions that can not take formal notice of the existence of the dog offered for adoption, its characteristics and the time remaining until his murder. We conclude that Parliament did not want to take responsibility to use appropriate terms. Thus, although euthanasia is a method for suppression of life, medical assistance and that sole noble purpose of the subject of further protecting the suffering caused by an incurable disease, the term is used by the legislator wrongly, being violated so binding principles defining the concepts that undertake within the proposed legislative solutions to achieve an explicit configuration of concepts and terms used in the new regulations that have another meaning than the common, to ensure their proper understanding and thus avoid misinterpretation (article 25 of Law 24/2000 republished). The legal document should be written in a language and style, specific legal regulation, concise, sober, clear and precise to exclude any ambiguity, in strict compliance with the rules of grammar and spelling. The specific terms may be used only they refer to the activity mentioned in the regulation. Excellence, please note that in: - art. 7 paragraph 2 of the Act: “Unclaimed dogs will be euthanized and not adopted .....“, - art.7 paragraph 3 of the Act: "The decision for euthanasia is issued for each dog ....” - Art. 7 paragraph 4 of the Act: "Pending the euthanasia procedure can be claimed or adopted dogs", the term euthanasia is used in the wrong way and with its wrong significance. Correctly and according to the will of the Romanian Parliament in place of the term euthanasia, the term murder or killing should be used. As a related fact, to demonstrate that the euthanasia procedure and how the meaning of this term is described in art. 5 of the law, a careful and impartial observer must be comprised by confusion in understanding and applying the provisions of art. 7 of the law. The Romanian Parliament should consider that as just this once, to take full responsibility for its intentions. If we wanted to euthanize stray dogs then, unequivocally and correctly, the procedure for suppression of life can only target incurably ill dogs. If the legislature intended the disappearance of all stray dogs, the correct term to be used was killing or murdering. 2. Social peace. Respect for human dignity: According to art.4 ( 1 ) of the Constitution: "The State foundation is based on national unity and solidarity among its Romanian citizens" According to Art. 4. (2) of the Constitution of Romania: "Romania is the common and indivisible homeland of all its citizens regardless of race, nationality, ethnic origin, language, religion, sex, opinion, political adherence, property or social origin" Excellence, please respectfully state that: There are many Romanian citizens who are not convinced that killing all stray dogs is a moral and civilized solution; There are many citizens of this country who believe that local authorities and the public should respect the obligation to provide correct information to the citizens in public affairs and matters of personal interest (art. 31 paragraph (2) of the Constitution). Legislative solution adopted without showing reasons which made it impossible to apply alternative methods without showing those responsible for this failure, has divided society and undermined the solidarity that should exist between citizens of the country. We believe you should make an effort on the part of local authorities and public, to convince us that although alternative solutions were applied properly and all involved in the process have acted in good faith and in a professional manner to meet certain standards of life the citizen, there is only the solution. Ignoring the fact that it has never been called into question by the political class, we thoroughly question the existence or absence of a civilized life in Romania. We can not leave unnoticed the fact that the law to be promulgated enroll in fact in the same note of disregarding the will, aspirations, feelings, emotions of citizens of this country. We noticed that the activity of "taking" of stray dogs which are on the public domain restarted in force gave way to a recently born satisfaction on the one hand and suffering, on the other. Moving to another register, dare to take this opportunity to ask the political class as a whole: What explanations does a parent present his child during the capturing of a stray dog, knowing that it will be killed? Probably he will say: “The dog must be killed in order to protect you, the dog can kill you” or he can say: “We live in a country of barbarians and politicians wanted it (this)." Excellence, your high mission is to identify and use the leverage necessary to reduce as much as possible the shock felt by those who for reasons of education, culture, morality, social status, affection, and relationship with the environment are not prepared to accept the application of such a law, in the form sent for promulgation. The frustration is being reinforced by the lack of liability of policy makers and local government responsible for the present situation. Excellence, please allow us to conclude, recalling the words of the eminent lawyer and professor Vintilă Dongoroz, which state the following: "A law which asks man not to be human, is absurd and can not be implemented" With deep consideration.....
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Caphiria Caphiria, officially the Imperium of Caphiria, is a caesaropapist constitutional republic on Sarpedon. Caphiria is composed of 17 Provinces, 2 Autonomous Provinces, a Special Administrative Province, and several territorial Possessions. At over 2.3 million square miles and with a population over 780 million, Caphiria is the world's second-largest country by total area and the second-most populous country. The capital of Caphiria is Venceia, which is also the largest city by population in Caphiria and the second-largest in the world with over 50 million people. The region of Caphiria has been inhabited by many ancient civilizations, most notable being the Adonerii civilization, an ancient thalassocratic civilization that controlled the partial coastlines of what is now Urcea, Caphiria, Cartadania and Burgundie. Caphiria has existed as a state since the 4th century BC and experienced several evolutions throughout its two-millennia long existence. The first recognizable start of Caphirian history began in 480 BC, with the formation of the Kingdom of Caphiria. This monarchical society had 5 kings and only lasted 110 years and was quickly replaced by the Caphirian Republic in 370 BC. The Republic lasted over 700 years and a experienced vigorous expansion of its territory, regional dominance, and would eventually have control over the entire Ecinis Sea and parts of the Kindreds Sea and Great Lakes. Eventually, in the 4th century AD, the Republic faced immense internal conflict and a series of series of civil wars occured, transforming the state into what is known as the Principate. This era lasted 6 centuries and marked the transition of Caphiria from a city-state into a true empire: it had vast territorial holdings, hegemony over Latium, and was among the most powerful economic, cultural, political and military forces in the world of its time. However, because of Caphiria's immense size and wealth during this time, it suffered sociopolitical collapse amid contention for leadership and political groups vied for control. This culminated in a massive four-decade long civil war that took place during the late-11th and early-12th centuries, which ended with the state splitting into two: a monarchy in the north and a republic in the south. This split did not last long, and by the mid-12th century Caphiria had gone through a significant reformation period which saw to the creation of a new political system and government, as well as the creation of the Constitution of Caphiria and modern Senate. The transition from the Middle Ages to the modern Caphiria started in the mid 15th century, with the rediscovery of classical Latin philosophy which encouraged a new thinking that became manifested in art, architecture, politics, science and literature. During this period, Caphiria went through cultural and political achievement, becoming the symbol of artistic and cultural influence. The rise of Christianity and what role it should play occured during this period as well, leading to a series of theological and political differences. This led to a religious and political movement against the Catholic Church and against papal authority, which culminated in the Great Schism of 1615, the break of communion between what are now the Levantine Catholic Church and the Caphirian Imperial Church. A critical consequence of this schism was the combination of the secular and religious authorities in Caphiria, which created a caesaropapist form of government. Initially, the Imperator was viewed as ordained by God to lead both church and state but over time the identity of the imperatorship with the papacy became less clear and eventually became recognized more for his legal authority, rather than his religious one. Towards the start of the 19th century, Caphiria's role shifted from regional to global power. It began to grant some of its annexed territory its independence to form sovereign nations, engage in global politics, and contributed more to the global community. Caphiria played a pivotal role in the Great War, joining the Auxilium Alliance in the war and confirmed the country's status as a superpower by being the first country to develop nuclear weapons, the only country to use them in warfare, and a permanent member of the League of Nations. Today, the Imperium of Caphiria is a highly developed country, with the world's second-largest economy by nominal GDP, accounting for approximately a tenth of global GDP. Caphiria is the world's largest importer and the second largest exporter of goods. Caphiria is the foremost military power in the world, making up a third of global military spending and accounts for nearly a quarter of its GDP; this has created an extraordinarily prodigious military–industrial complex that is rivaled by no other country in history. Caphirian proponents have cited this has the primary reason for Caphiria's continued growth and global superiority, while opponents have said that Caphiria is nothing but an "army with a state". Contents - 1 History - 2 Geography - 3 Government & politics - 4 The Military - 5 Economy - 6 Infrastructure - 7 Demographics - 8 Social order -hirian history is traditionally divided into 9 distinct historical eras although modern historians choose to omit the Prehistory Era from future historiography because of the lack of substantial historical evidence. Prehistory The Prehistoric era covers time earlier than the founding of Caphiria. This would include the earliest inhabitants of the region and the establishment of the Latinic people and other associated tribes such as the Adonerii civilization, Cheylians, and Hebreinias. This era traditionally covers the formation of the Adonerii League in the 9th century BC up to the 6th century BC. Kingdom. Republic an astonishing 783 years, vast expansion of territory such as Cartadania, and Pelaxia occurred and regional dominance over north Sarpedon would eventually take over the entire Ecinis Sea and parts of the Sea of Canete and Great Lakes. Part of Caphiria's ambition was derived from similarly ambitious leaders, such as Luccino Capontinus and Iscallio Maristo. The Republic would eventually face internal pressure from this, as contention for leadership caused a number of small fights among the ambitious youth and the elder aristocracy. The fighting would culminate with a five year civil war, known now as the War of the Republic, that left 120,000 people dead. The war was in such a frenzy that by the time it had ended, there was no decisive victor and as a consequence, the Republic was on the verge of total collapse. Principate In 414 AD, in an effort to establish the political stability desperately needed after the exhausting War of the Republic, an ambitious man called Bacchis Pavo Rahla seized the opportunity to consolidate power. Rahla reorganized the state into a Principate, a form of government characterized by the reign of the princeps, the "first among equals". Because the Caphirian people had a particular historical disdain for monarchy, the preservation of certain Republician instruments such as the Senate and Consul was kept. Although dynastic pretenses crept in from the start, formalizing this in a monarchic style remained politically unthinkable. Rahla's reign was marked by decades of peace and stability; he was was so popular and well-received that he was given the title Augustus (Venerated One) by the people and eventually Rahla would legally change his name to Augustus Rahla. The latter half of the Principate era marks the early stages of the city-state of, but it would eventually succumb to a similar fate: The Second Civil War, also known as the Great Civil War for its ferocity. The Civil Warin, Cartadania, Pelaxia, Dorhaven,. The stresses and strains of those years (chronic usurpations, military insurrections, simultaneous military conflicts across multiple frontiers) exposed the weaknesses in the Caphirian Republic and the Principate, forcing a radically different approach to governance. The Reformation {{further\|1115 Reformation of Caphiria]] This marks the start of the Reformation intended to be the solution to every problem past, present, and future. In it, he outlined what he felt were the three most critical ideas of the state: delineating the national frame of government, establishing the social contract between the citizen and state, and protecting its people. There had always been some form of this throughout Caphiria's combination of these political reforms ushered in Caphiria's Golden Age. The Dominate Caphiria's golden age is called the Dominate, derived from the Latin dominus, which translates into English as lord or master. Beginning in the mid-15th century, Caphiria went through a phase of rediscovery of classical Latin philosophy which encouraged a new thinking that became manifested in art, architecture, politics, science and literature. This led to cultural and political achievement, with Caphiria becoming a symbol of artistic and cultural influence as it produced dozens of world-renowned artists whose literature, painting, sculpture, architecture and music have profound impact on the evolution of the arts. This era is usually marked as the transition from the Middle Ages to modern Caphiria as the development of capitalism, banking, mercantilism and accounting began and the Age of discovery was ushered in during the latter half of the era. Another interesting development of this golden age was the succession of ecclesiastical differences and theological disputes between the Levantine "north" and Caphiric "south", which had been gradually building up in the 16th and 17th centuries. The rulers of Caphiria began to look for new ways to explore and expand their power and influence and looked to religion as one of the final destinations. Historically, Caphiria had no official state religion and sought to foster a healthy religious tolerance by using a portion of its tax revenue to fund different types of churches. This would come to a head in the 17th century as the Papacy also sought to increase its influence and showed its disapproval and disdain for Caphiric politics. The Pontificate The culmination of theological and political differences between the Christian north and south was the Great Schism of 1615, where a break of communion between what are now the Levantine Catholic Church and the Imperial Church of Caphiria occurred. Over the previous centuries during the Dominate era, the role of religion was under heavy scrutiny and skepticism. Ecclesiastical papers began being published condemning the Catholic Church over a number of issues in the late 16th century, with the Catholic Church producing its own propaganda condemning Caphiria's rise of imperialism and heretical ways. The Latin Christian community was being split along doctrinal, theological, linguistic, political, and geographical lines, with each side sometimes accusing the other of having fallen into heresy and of having initiated the division. In 1615, the formal break occurred when Imperator Pius XII formally announced that the Basilicæ Magni, the cathedral and home of the Caphirian Church would be breaking communion to form the Caphiric Catholic Church. This led to the combination of the secular and religious authorities and a new form of government, the caesaropapacy. The caesaropapacy meant emperors were regarded as greater than other mortals, though not quite as deities in their own right, further playing into the concept of princeps. For many years after, pro-Catholic factions continued to challenge the leadership of the new Caphiric Church. These factions, and the people that supported the Catholic Church still, were known as Traditionalists and were heavily persecuted and executed under heresy laws. This period is known as the Months of Bloody Sundays as it was common practice for the Imperator to simply execute any people who were not coming to church in protest. Traditionalists were executed under legislation that punished anyone judged guilty of heresy against the Caphiric Church. Ultimately, the Caphiric Church went through a series of reformations (The Reformations of 1627) and the church was renamed to the Imperial Catholic Church. There were only a handful of modifications, namely that the Imperator of Caphiria was given a number of ecclesiastical titles: Episcopus Caphiria ("Bishop of Caphiria"), Pius Felix ("Pious and Blessed"), Santissimus Pater ("Most Holy Father"), Vicarius Christi ("Vicar of God") and was named Pontifex Maximus, giving him the ultimate authority of presiding over the Imperial Church. This was codified in the Constitution of Caphiria as well as constitutionally establishing the Imperial Church by the state with the Head of State as its Pope. As time went on, the identity of the marriage of the Imperatorship with the papacy became less clear and eventually the emperor became recognized more for his legal authority, rather than his religious one. The Mandatum As Caphiria entered the modern era of the 18th century to present day, its role began to shift from regional hegemon to that of a superpower. Many of its conquered territories gained their independence, it began to foster positive relations with Levantia, and began to pull back its imperialistic tendencies in favor of becoming a global leader. Caphiria played a major role in the Great War, notably as the first nation to develop nuclear weaponry and is still the only sovereign nation to have deployed them on another country. This confirmed and solidified Caphiria's place as a superpower and gave it a global platform. Caphiria would go on to become a founding member of the League of Nations and has permanent status on its Security Council. In more recent times, Caphiria has made great strides to try to improve its international reputation by signing the Assumption Accords with Urcea, settling longstanding disputes with its historic neighbor who has had several centuries of animosity with each other. Additionally, it has been in favor of multiple free trade agreements with nations across the world and there has been speculation that Caphiria may even be exploring the thought of ending the 400-year old schism between the Imperial Church and the Levantine Catholic Church. Geography The territory of the Imperium covers approximately 5 million km². All land within the Imperium falls under one of two classifications: Caphiria Maiorem (Greater Caphiria), the mainland itself and Caphiria Coloniam (Possessions of Caphiria), the territories owned by the Imperium. Greater Caphiria goes from northern coast of Sarpedon to south central. Caphiria shares its western border with Cartadania and X Due to the diverse range of territory that is under the domain of the Imperium, the Escal Isles, a semi-autonomous archipelago owned by the Imperium in the Okatian Sea both containing thousands of plant and animal species not found anywhere else. Of its flora, 70% are unique to the island chain, Reshai Rainforest in South Ochana. While only 40% of it is under Caphirian control, the forest's diversity is tremendous: is Zaclaria, a Crowned Protectorate of the Imperium. It is a hub of unique aquatic and desert life and 80% of the species in the deserts on the mainland are endemic to Zaclaria, including 200 unique species of lizard. The greatest contributor to its biodiversity is the vast coral reef that stretches around 1,000 km of its perimeter. The magnificent Magnus Sidnari Reef is 5000–7000 years old and are largely formed of stony acropora and porites corals. The reefs form platforms and sometimes lagoons along the coast and occasionally other features such as cylinders (such as the Khasvaria Hole). These coastal reefs are also visited by pelagic species of Oduniyye fish, including some of the 44 species of shark. The Agarina Sea also contains many offshore reefs including several true atolls. Many of the unusual offshore reef formations defy classic (i.e., Darwinian) coral reef classification schemes, and are generally attributed to the high levels of tectonic activity that characterize the area. Unlike the aforementioned forest ecosystems, the Sidnari Corcillum of Caphiria wields significant power over the fiscal responsibilities of the Imperium, as well as possessing the ability to solely bring new laws to vote, and the Supreme Court system has gradually gained a tremendous amount of oversight and control over the application of the law, having the power to declare legislation or executive action made at any level of the government as unconstitutional, nullifying the law and creating precedent for future law and decisions. branches (ramis imperium), which are Executive, Legislative, and Judicial. Power is vested by the Constitution of Caphiria in the Imperator, Corcillum, chief executive, the Imperator is head of state and thus head of the Ministries of Caphiria, the trans-parliamentary bodies that administer the functions of the federal government on behalf of the Imperator. He has the ability to appoint and fire ministers, create and dissolve ministries, as well as the responsibility to appoint diplomatic and provincial officials. The Imperator relies on the Office of the Imperium, the principal executive organ through which his Prime Minister leads. This Office consists of the Prime Minister, who is appointed by the Imperator after consultations and is confirmed by a vote of both houses of the Senate, and all of the Ministers, according to the request of the Prime Minister. These ministries are the de facto administers of the government of Caphiria, serving the functions of the federal government on behalf of the Imperator. Ultimately though, the powers of the Office of the Imperium rest in the hands of the Imperator until the ministers assume their offices. While the Imperator maintains executive power at the highest level, he delegates power and authority to a Praetor (governor) to administer the Imperium's 21 provincial-level divisions.. The legislative branch of Caphiria is called The Corcillum, a tetracameral legislature consisting of four chambers: the National Assembly, Military Assembly, Tribune Assembly, and the Senate. A combination of mais maiorum and statute determines the roles of each chamber. Many measures must be considered by more than one chamber, and these measures are known as "final decrees" (consultum ultimum) as their decisions cannot be overridden due to their acceptance by more than one chamber. The four chambers are divided into two categories; those which are said to be "representative", which are the Senate and National Assembly, and those which are said to be "meritorious", which are the Military and Tribunal Assemblies. The representative assemblies are viewed as a direct voice of the people of Caphiria within the nation's decision-making, whereas the meritorious chambers are the voice of those who are viewed to have sacrificed on behalf of the nation as a consequence of their service. Each chamber functions semi-autonomously from one another and as a result, the National Assembly has nominal authority over the entire Corcillum which means the National Assembly is functionally the national legislature. The Military Assembly is composed of every Commander in the Imperial Armed Forces and are responsible of the conduct of wars as well as the prosecution of war and peace. The Tribune Assembly is composed of non-parliamentary magistrates such as Aediles, Proaediles, Censores, and more. The Tribune Assembly is responsible for nationwide administrative tasks, and the organizing and reorganization of provinces and regions. The fourth chamber, the Senate, deals with national economic policy and treaties relating to trade, succession, grants of nobility, and more. Members of the National Assembly and Senate are chosen through direct election and every member of the Corcillum is elected to a five-year term. The judicial branch for the Imperium is administered by the Ministry of Justice which oversees the overall judicial system. At the apex of the judicial hierarchy is the Supreme Court (Tribunalis Ultima) which operates independently from the Ministry of Justice. As the highest court within Caphiria, the Supreme Court ensures the correct application of law in the inferior and appeal courts and resolves disputes as to which lower court (penal, civil, administrative, military) has jurisdiction to hear a given case. The Supreme Court can reject, or confirm, a sentence from a lower court. If it rejects the sentence, it can order the lower court to amend the trial and sentencing, or it can annul the previous sentence altogether. A sentence confirmed by the Supreme Court is final and definitive, and cannot be further appealed for the same reasons. Although the Supreme Court cannot overrule the trial court's interpretation of the evidence, it can correct a lower court's interpretation or application of the law connected to a specific case. The Supreme Court itself is composed of 15 judges that are collectively known as the Council of Supreme Judges (Consilio Judicatis Magnus) for the term of service of five lustra (25 years total): 5 appointed by the Imperator, 5 elected by the Senate, and 5 elected by the ordinary and administrative courts. Candidates need to be either lawyers with twenty years or more experience, full professors of law, or (former) members of the Ministry of Justice. According to the Constitution, the Supreme Court shall pass judgement on: controversies on the constitutional legitimacy of laws issued by the State and Provinces; conflicts arising from allocation of powers of the State and those powers allocated to State and Provinces, and between Provinces; and charges brought against the Imperator. The Ministry of Justice handles the administration of courts and judiciary, including paying salaries and constructing new courthouses. The Ministry of Justice also administer the prison system. Lastly, the Ministry of Justice receives and processes applications for national pardons and proposes legislation dealing with matters of civil or criminal justice.. Excluding the Supreme Court, every judge and member of the Ministry of Justice is elected alongside every other member of the government each lustrum. Magistrates Elected officials in government are known as magistrates (magistrati) which. Examples of non-parliamentary magistrates include Quaestores - individuals charged with collecting taxes from praetors for the imperial government, calling out financial corruption, and serving as right-hand men and messengers of the treasury, and Aedilis who supervise spending of money from the treasury, giving them the reverse role of the quaestores. Some of the most powerful magistrates in Caphiria are the. Another major magistrate is the Plebeian Tribune, a position with extensive oversight of legislative activity in the Corcillum. There are hundreds of other miscellaneous non-parliamentary magistrates across the Imperium. Some unique to the Office of the Imperium are the numerarius, who keeps records of national finances; the adjutores, assistants to the Imperator; and the magister equitum, organizer of the Imperator's transportation, to name a few.hir: - Pars Ex Imperatoria (PEI) (Party of the Imperium) – The de facto single-party of Caphiria. Its sole purpose is to reinforce the constitution and the power of the Imperator, though it may have secondary goals and motives that reflect the incumbent Imperator’s personal political ideology and agenda. - Unus Societum Popularis (USP) (One Democratic Society) – Left wing social-democratic party that advocates for the abolishment of the traditional social stratification in Caphiria, the abolishment and emancipation of the practice of slavery, and severe restrictions placed on the power of the Imperator. It supports social equality, trade unions, environmentalism, and anti-war. - Illustratum Respublica (IRP) (Enlightened Republic Party) – Right wing social-conservative party that maintains the belief that social orders and hierarchies are inevitable, natural products of life and that they must be preserved. It supports the social stratification in Caphiria, moral absolutism, free trade, free markets, and upholding tradition within Caphiria. - Cœtus Libertas (CLP) (Freedom for Assembly Party) – Center wing socialist-libertarian party that advocates for a decentralized government and believes in abolishing all institutions that control the means of production. It supports direct democracy, trade unions, assemblies. It believes in the identification, criticism and practical dismantling of all illegitimate authority in all aspects of life. - Kiro-Caphirian Party (KCP) - Single-issue party advocating a strong alliance between the Kiravian Federacy and the Imperium of Caphiria. It presents itself as an alternative to the Levantian Union Party, opposing supranationalism and continental integration while still supporting extensive international commerce, international military cooperation, and a more open attitude toward Latin-speaking immigrants and expatriates. Administrative divisions According to the Constitution of Caphiria, there are three major administrative levels: provincial, prefectural, and municipal. The highest level of the administrative structure is the provincial level, which includes provinces, autonomous regions, possessions, and special administrative regions. Provincial-level divisions are divided into prefectural divisions, which includes prefectures, autonomous prefectures, and super-prefectures. Prefectural-level divisions are further divided into municipal-level divisions, which includes cities, municipal districts, municipalities, towns, townships, and villages among others. Provincial divisions are headed by an elected official called a praetor who serves as its chief executive.. In theory, the praetor is subservient to the Imperator, effectively acting as his representative. In practice however, Praetors have de facto authority over their province and the Imperator seldom interferes at the provincial level. Praetors are part of a sub-committee within the Tribunal Assembly, an assembly of the Corcillum responsible for the public administration of Caphiria. Provinces are divided into prefectural divisions, making up the the second level of the administrative structure. Prefectures are governed by a praefectus (prefect), who is appointed by the Tribunal Assembly, and are used for administrative, geographical, cultural and political demarcation. Prefectures represent the national government at the local level and as such exercises the powers that are constitutionally attributed to the national government. Prefectures issue ordinances written for the application of local law: to close a building that does not conform to safety codes, or modify vehicular traffic regulations (speed limit, construction permits). They are also responsible for sorting and delivering mail, serve as electoral districts for national elections and as geographical references: for instance in postal addresses and telephone codes. The lowest political division is municipal and administered according to a system distinct from higher strata. Municipalities, within their self-governing scope of activities, perform the tasks of local significance, which directly fulfil the citizens’ needs, and which were not assigned to prefectures or provinces by the Constitution or law, and in particular affairs related to the organization of localities and housing, zoning and planning, public utilities, child care, social welfare, primary health services, education and primary schools, culture, physical education and sports, customer protection, protection and improvement of the environment, fire protection and civil defence, local transport. Municipalities are led by City Prefects (Praefecti Urborum) and are elected every other year by popular assembly of the inhabitants (not just citizens) of the township. City Prefects lead a municipal council, the representative body of citizens and the governing body. Municipalities have administrative departments as offices of administration chaired by the heads (principals). Municipal councilmen are elected for a two-year term in direct elections by secret ballot. Foreign relations The foreign relations of Caphiria guides the way in which Caphiria interacts with foreign nations and expresses its political, economic and cultural strengths, weaknesses and values. As one of the two global superpowers, Caphiria's foreign policy and strategic thinking are highly influential. Caphiria officially claims it "unnervingly pursues an independent foreign policy of peace. The fundamental goals of this policy are to preserve Caphiria's independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity, create a favorable international environment for Caphiria's reform and modernization, and to maintain world peace and propel common development." Caphiria is a member of many international organizations, holding key positions such as a permanent membership on the League of Nations Security Council. Caphiria's foreign policy today is summarized as strategic relations with neighboring countries and the continental powers to strive for Caphiria's national interest, and to create a favorable environment for Caphiria's international development for perpetual competition in the world. double effect of their social standing. A trial for a citizen is presided over by a judge of the defendant's social order; evidence is interpreted by a random jury of four plebeians, four equites and four patricians.hirhir OR possess at least 51% Latin ethnicity (Birthright citizenship) - Born to one Caphirian citizen within the borders of the Imperium and served a set term in the Caphirian military (Naturalized citizenship) - Recognized as a citizen by a parliamentary magistrate. limitsvum sum" (I am a Caphirian citizen), before being given a small token, proving his or her citizenship. Every new citizen's name is entered into official records. Security Caphiria utilizes the Imperial Police Force as its principal law enforcement agency and domestic security service. Operating under the jurisdiction of the military and receiving oversight from the Office of Judiciary Enforcement within the Ministry of Justice, the IPF's main goal is to protect and defend Caphiria, uphold and enforce the criminal laws of the Judiciary, and to provide leadership and criminal justice services to central, provincial, regional, and international agencies and partners. The IPF maintains field offices across the entirety of the Imperium and utilizes its main field agents (vigiles) at the provincial and local levels to conduct both major and minor criminal investigations, and hold arrest authority. The fluidity of officer jurisdictions is such that any police group can be quickly assigned elsewhere in the empire or make arrests outside their usual patrol routes. Vigilum is a relatively unreliable job for a citizen as they are hired and fired to meet present needs, with only the most natural vigiles retaining their posts. Magistrates are afforded personal Lictors (imperial bodyguards) from a special department of the IPF according to the degree of political power possessed by their office. For example, branches: - The Legion (Army) - Imperial Naval Fleet (Navy) - Imperial Aerial Defense Force (Air Force) In addition to the three main service branches, the Imperial Armed Forces contains three additional sub-branches: the National Guard (itself a function of the Department of Civilian Defense), which is the primary military reserve force, the Imperial Police Force tasked with being the principal law enforcement agency and domestic security service, and the Praetorian Guard which has two distinct and critical national security missions: protecting the nation's leaders and safeguarding the financial and critical infrastructure of the Imperium. The Praetorian Guard is also unique in that it maintains a division that reports directly to the Imperator with no oversight. With a budget of over $5 trillion, military expenditure consumes approximately a quarter of Caphiria's GDP, more than any other nation on earth. Approximately 29% of military spending goes to the army, with the navy having 23%, and the air force receiving 19%. 11% is allocated for the Imperial Police Force and 9% to the Praetorian Guard, with the remaining 3% to miscellaneous expenditures like private jets for military leaders and public Triumphs. The total active military force of Caphiria is well over 12 million with an additional 11 million in reserves, which brings Caphiria's total military strength to over 27 million. This makes the military of Caphiria the largest by active and reserve duty, the largest combined military force, and the largest by military spending and funding. 2.7 million 4.8 million active airmen and 450,000 pilots in reserves. Another 750,000 engineers and IT specialists run the operations and logistics of the air force. Employment of the Aerial Legion reaches approx. 5.1. Intelligence Community Caphiria maintains an internal military intelligence agency, the Ministry of Intelligence. The Ministry of Intelligence consists of several departments and agencies that work separately and together to conduct intelligence activities to support the foreign policy and national security of Caphiria. This serves as the foundation of the Caphirian Intelligence Community (CIC), a collection of intelligence agencies that operate within and external to the military. The Department of Military Intelligence (DMI) contains agencies such as the Office of Naval Intelligence, Office of Reconnaissance, Office of Geospatial Intelligence, Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, Office of Analysis, Research, and Intelligence, and the Intelligence and Security Command. The DMI also includes the Imperial Police Force, Praetorian Guard, and the Office of Security Affairs. Running counter to the DMI is the Department of Civilian Intelligence (DCI), the collection of intelligence agencies that operate outside of the military of and report directly to the Imperator and the Caetus Legati. The two principal agencies of the DCI are the Advenarum Administratio (AA) and the Internum Notitia Securitatis (INS). The AA, commonly known as the Advenarum, is tasked with gathering, processing, and analyzing national security information from around the world and is primarily focused on providing intelligence for the Imperator. The Advenarum has no law enforcement function and is mainly focused on overseas intelligence gathering. Unique to the Advenarum is that it is the only agency within the government authorized by law to carry out and oversee covert action at the behest of the Imperator with carte blanche discretionary power. It exerts foreign political influence through its tactical divisions, such as Task Force VII and Division DCCLXXVII. On the other side, the INS is responsible for domestic intelligence and security within the Imperium and serves as the principal federal law enforcement agency. The INS is the leading counter-terrorism, counterintelligence, and criminal investigative organization and has jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crimes. Unlike the AA, the INS operates exclusively within the borders of the Imperium and employs about 66,200 uniformed staff, including about 4,000 special forces troops. Xalen Province administered jointly by the Generalissimus of the Legion and the Rector Indicius of Caphirian Intelligence. Economy The financial district, downtown Venceia Caphiria has had one of the largest economies in the world for the last several centuries,. As of 2038, Caphiria has the world's third-largest economy in terms of nominal GDP behind Kiravia and Urcea, and the largest economy on Sarpedon, totaling approximately $52,518,626,569,717hirian worker can expect no less than 35 days of paid vacation. Certain institutions such as federal buildings and schools are not allowed to offer so many holidays but still offer about 20 days. With low regulation, no unions, high minimum wage, and no unemployment benefits, Caphirian voluntary unemployment rate is almost the lowest in the world. Income, poverty and wealth Data collected by the Imperial Census Bureau has calculated a per capita GDP of $67,109, which makes it the second highest in the world. A more meaningful quantity, the median pre-tax income of a Caphirian citizen, is equal to $63,435. However, Caphirian society suffers from an income inequality deeply ingrained into its history and class system. The top 6% of the population control almost 75% of the empire's wealth - the top 1% alone control more than a third. Still, a Caphir. It is estimated that a quarter of citizens live below the imperial poverty line. The minimum hourly wage for a citizen is ₳22 ($20 USD), which works out to an annual income of approximately ₳35,200, meager for a Caphir 7.5% of the global population, Caphirians collectively possess near half of the world's total wealth, and Caphirians make up more than half of the world's population of millionaires and a quarter of the world's billionaires. Caphiria is also ranked number one for food affordability and overall food security in March 2035, as well as on average having over twice as much living space per dwelling and per person as Levantine residents. After years of stagnant growth, in 2030, 1956 to 50 percent in 2025, has significantly affected income inequality, leaving Caphiria with one of the widest income distributions among developed nations. Wealth, like income and taxes, is highly concentrated; the richest 6% of the adult population possess 73% of the country's household wealth, while the poorest collectively claim less than 10%. According to a 2030 study, the Imperium has has much higher income inequality and a larger percentage of low-income workers than almost any other developed nation. This is largely because at-risk workers get almost no government support and are further set back by a very weak collective bargaining system. The top 2 percent of income-earners accounted for 65 percent of the income gains from 2020 to 2030, where income is defined as market income excluding government transfers. The extent and relevance of income inequality is a matter of debate.hirhir. Statistics on poverty in the Imperium are not publicly available through LoN resources because the Caphirian government does not issue any. The Caphirian state discourages calling attention to or complaining about poverty. The Internal Office of the Ministry of Diplomacy arrested three reporters and held them for almost two weeks for questioning after they uploaded a video on the topic to YouTube. Authors of the video claim that 22 percent of Caphirians may be considered poor and observers researching the issue prefer to stay anonymous because of the risk of being arrested. That being said, historically when citizens or corporations lacked the means to support themselves the Senate's first action for centuries has been to offer low-interest loans. This policy of micro-financing poverty is the government's attempt to reduce public dependence on hand-outs and bail-outs while still mitigating the short-term damage from widespread private bankruptcies. Infrastructure The Imperium. Federal expenditure is largely allocated toward developing infrastructure that supports Caphirian citizens. Structures with which the Senate and Imperator are involved include viae (roads), aquae (aqueducts), cloacae (sewers), vehiculae (public transport), teleloquum (communications), and basilicae (public buildings). Caphirian highways are known for providing thousands of years of use with little maintenance. The empire's communication network is supported by 1,289 satellites and hundreds of thousands of miles of fiber optic cables. Technology Caphiria has been a leader in technological innovation throughout its history, particularly since the late 18th century and scientific research since the mid-20th century. Technology and science in Caphiria has a long history, producing many important figures and developments in the field. The Great War had a profound impact on the development of science and technology in Caphiria, leading to one of the most spectacular – and controversial – accomplishments of Caphirian technology: the harnessing of nuclear energy. The concepts that led to the splitting of the atom were developed by the scientists of many countries, but the conversion of these ideas into the reality of nuclear fission was accomplished in Caphiria and used to end the war. Today, science and technology are seen as vital for achieving Caphiria's economic and political goals, and are held as a source of national pride to a degree sometimes described as "techno-nationalism". Caphiria has. For the past 80 years, Caphiria has been integral in fundamental advances in telecommunications and technology; it developed the first practical light emitted diode (LED), the transistor, the C programming language, and the Unix computer operating system. As in physics and chemistry, Caphirians have dominated the Nobel Prize for physiology or medicine since the Great War. The private sector has been the focal point for biomedical research in Caphiria, and has played a key role in this achievement. Internet The development of the Internet in Caphiria happened in parallel across the world and while Caphiria does not claim to have developed it first, it does claim to have possessed the first fully-connected country. Early computers were limited to direct channels for communication, where data flowed continuously between connected computers, primarily for military application. In the late 1940's, a supercomputer in the Petramori Region in Xalen and a small terminal in Venceia were linked over existing telecommunication networks by exchanging data in packets. This connection became permanent was critical in coordinating the development of the first nuclear bomb. This was eventually supplemented by a similar inter-networking of hundreds of magisterial and military computers across the Caphiric world. Engineers operating this early network of networks offered the protocols for linking computer networks to academic institutes such as the Imperial Academy of Science and the University Network, popularly called the Cratis, a global network of networks using the same data relay protocol for communication. During the development of the Cratis, the research and knowledge was shared among colleagues across the world and protocols became standardized and the Internet evolved into a global resource. Today, the Cratis is indistinguishable from the rest of the global Internet aside from a few layers of Imperial interference, though this does not extend into content restrictions or censorship. billions 2030 calculated that the Imperium uses an annual total of 57,000 TW-h in electricity consumption, which translates to 51,803 kW per household. This is broken down as: Residential usage is 35% (19,950 TW-h). Commercial usage is 42% (23,940 TW-h) Industrial usage is 21% (11,970 TW-h) Transportation usage is 2% (1,140 TW-h) Electricity wasted as heat is reduced by restricting medium or long distance transport to superconductor power lines and by not using thermal engine power plants. In terms of power generation, 47% comes from nuclear fusion, 31% from hydroelectric dams, 18% comes from orbital solar satellites and the last 4% from other renewable sources (wind, geothermal, wave, etc.). These numbers do not reflect anything other than energy production in publicly available power generators on Earth, ignoring private generators, military-industrial installations, research projects, and extraterrestrial facilities. A major industrial energy cost is urban climate control, which has existed in major cities for the past twenty years. Cities with a population above 10 million Metro Express Rail (MER) and Caphiria Express Lionized Electric Rail (CELER), that travel at 1,000 (621 mph) and 5,000 (3,107 mph) km/h Imperial Roadway Network (IRN) is the national network of highways and roads linking the entire Imperium together. The network itself is comprised of two sub-networks: the Provincial Highway System (PHS) and the Inter-Pago Roadway (IPR). The PHS is the central network of controlled-access highways that stretch across provinces and connect major airports, ports, rail or truck terminals, railway stations, pipeline terminals and other strategic transport facilities. The IPR on the other hand consists of paved roads, asphalt and concrete streets collectively called viae that run through rural and urban areas which provide access between an arterial and a major port, airport, public transportation facility, or other intermodal transportation facility. Viae link together major cities and townships and feed into the larger PHS system. The IRN also has a "Network of Strategic Transportation (NoST)" that the Imperium deems vital to its strategic defense policy and which provide defense access, continuity, and emergency capabilities for defense purposes, as well as provide access between major military installations and routes. The entire system, over the centuries, has an estimated cumulative construction cost over $700 billion total population of the Imperium is 785,178,356 as of 2021. Of these residents, 642 million are cives, legal. However, immigration is severely limited by the Constitution. Numerous bureaucratic hoops stand between a peregrini (foreigner) and entry into the Imperium to live. Citizenship is even more difficult and costly to acquire. Therefore, most of the country's growth is natural, with 2.8 million new births per year. The distribution of the population is widely uneven. The most densely populated areas are the metropolitan areas of Venceia and Augsustanis, while vast regions such as the Lacio Mountains are very sparsely populated. Languages Caphiria has two official languages: Latin and English. With regards to Latin, the Imperium recognizes two distinct versions, Classical Latin and Caphiric Latin. The former referrers to the classical and outdated language of antiquity; Caphiric Latin is a modern adaptation of the classical language, infusing it with an updated vocabulary. It's estimated that close to 96% of the population speaks Caphiric: Cartadanian, Kiravic Coscivian, Istroyan, Cronan, Julian Ænglish, and Lebhan. Religion Religious demographics in Caphiria Christianity is by far the largest religion in the country, making up a total 88% of practiced religion. Prior to the formal mending of the Great Schism of 1615, the de facto state religion of Caphiria had been Imperial Catholicism. However, since the Great Schism was officially mended in 2037, this has skewed current religious demographics since in theory, all Imperial Catholics were back in communion with the Levantine Church. Current estimates have Levantine Catholicism making up 83% of practiced religion, with other Christian faiths like Protestantism taking a total of 5%. The next largest practiced religion in Caphiria is Islam, which makes up 3%, followed by Judaism at 1.5%. The irreligious make up a sizeable 7.5%; 3% of whom believe in secular humanism, 2% practice agnosticism, 1.5% practice atheism, and the remaining 1% are apatheist. The final 1% of practiced religion in Caphiria is comprised of minor religions, such as Arzalism, Shapirism, and other fringe faiths. A polytheistic movement that revolves around the traditional faith has emerged recently, called the Aruuhin faith. Although figures are obscure, it is speculated that roughly 0.2% are members of the Aruuhin faith. As a measure to protect religious freedom, the Caphirianhirians take great pride in their religious faith, openly discussing it in casual conversation. There is no stigma in professing one's belief or - in today's culture - non-belief at leisure.). A curriculum is arranged in 6-9 week terms separated by three week vacations. A term is closed by testing students' knowledge of the compulsory material learned that term. Tests for the advanced courses can be taken anytime during the last two years of the core. Health.. While Caphirian views on sexuality are incredibly liberal, having resisted the oncoming of Christian values, there is nothing in the empire recognizable as a (legal) strip club or (legal) pornography. Abortion is illegal in the Imperium and is a major crime equivalent to first-degree murder, for a Caphirian doctor to terminate a pregnancy once a neural tube is recognizable in the foetus (usually in the 2nd month of pregnancy). Still, contraception is readily available as a pill or physical countermeasure, contributing to the facility of prostitution, a completely legal, if disreputable, profession.. Social order Caphirian society has a strict national stratification dating to its ancient Republican era called the ordones. Patricians are the apogee of Caphirian citizenship. Accounting for 0.57% of the total population, they are typically wealthy and influential and current imperial family counts 177 members. Next down the social ladder are the Equites (Equestrians), a rich mercantile class whose members manage a great part of Caphiria's economy. They account for 14.26% of Caphirian society and make up the "upper class" for those not born in the aristocracy. Members of the Equite class are typically knowledgeable and have been educated in "elite" settings and control and own significant portions of corporate Caphiria and may exercise indirect power through the investment of capital. Below the Equite class. Altogether, the Plebeians make up 55.9% of Caphirian society, with the Upper-Plebs consisting of 18.85% and the Lower-Plebs 37.15%. Unofficially, there are also Peregrini (foreigners), non-citizens like expatriates or visitors. Making up 5.4% of the population, they have no legal rights under Caphir. Making up 23.73% of the population, they are the Indigeni, who are the native population who have been conquered by Caphiria. Most citizens view them as inferior to Latin races and, consequently, most of the country's racism is directed at them.hiric culture is complex, as the government (or rather Venceia itself) tends to dictate and set the standards across the country, leading and representing Caphirian society at it's peak. Each city though holds onto its Examples of Caphiric architecture - Examples of Caphiric architecture - - - - - - - Caphiric architecture is one of the cultural pinnacles of its. Traditional Caphiric architecture places emphasis on symmetry, proportion, geometry and the regularity of parts. It often used visual and theatrical effects, designed to surprise and awe the viewer and to portray a sense of power, majesty and virility. The architecture of modern Caphiria is best described as "New Classical-Parametric Brutalism" in that it continues the practice of classical and traditional architecture (new classical) but also mixes in simple, block-like structures that often feature bare building materials and exposed concrete (brutalism) while subscribing to an overall design philosophy that rejects both homogenization (serial repetition) and pure difference (agglomeration of unrelated elements) in favor of differentiation and correlation as key compositional values (Parametricism). Cuisine Caphirian cuisine developed through centuries of social and political changes and is diverse, varying with location and associated agricultural conditions. Traditionally, meals in Caphiria are served at three times throughout the day: at dawn, the middle and lower classes eat a quick breakfast called an ientaculum while the upper class typically eat Caphiria's equivalent of brunch called a prandium.. The mid-day meal, the vesperna, is informal and is typically only consumed by the lower class to sustain themselves until cena (dinner).. The cena represents the fusion of the enjoyment of food with socializing and is known to last several hours across several courses; a modern cenae is synonymous with a dinner party and is one of the unifying cultural rituals done by all of society. A cena typically opens with a gustatio (appetizer), a non-filing course featuring delectable treats to get people's taste buds ready for the prima mensa (main course) which can last several servings depending on the ambition of the host. In the last few hours, out comes the secunda mensae (dessert). A main course consists of rich, heavy meats like duck, chicken, lamb, turkey, beef or roasted pig stuffed with sausages and seasoning. Hares, laurices (rabbit fetuses), peacocks, swans and especially mullus (goatfish) are considered fine delicacies, even today. The so-called Caphiric diet forms the basis of Caphirian cuisine, rich in pasta, fish, fruits and vegetables and characterised by its extreme simplicity and variety, with many dishes having only four to eight ingredients. Traditional Caphirian ingredients cover a wide gamut as they are highly regional, for example the provinces of Luria and Auvia are regarded for their dishes that center around seafood, unique cheeses, and dishes derived from Urcean influences. By contrast, the province of Leonia is renowned for its variety and richness due to the heterogeneity of the land; pasta and meat based dishes such as spaghetti alla chitarra, Gnocchi carrati, Scrippelle, and pizza variations are common in Leonia. Alcohol, specifically wine, is the 3rd-most consumed beverage by volume behind water and coffee, and is commonly consumed (alongside water) in meals, which are rarely served without it, though it is extremely uncommon for meals to be served with any other drink, alcoholic, or otherwise. Caphiria consumed 25 billion liters of wine in 2035 alone. The second-most consumed alcoholic beverage is whiskey at 19 billion liters. Fine arts - Some examples of Caphiric artwork - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -hirian cities. The three largest museums of art receive 18 million, 9 million and 4 million visitors each year respectively. Also featured in the art museums are the ever popular Caphirian sculptures. The art of sculpting is perhaps the greatest product of the Western arts, and definitely one which thehiric Society within the Imperium is regarded as a model for the rest of the world in terms of art and culture. Global polls by by an international institution which queried 10,000 people from each country, found that 65% saw Caphirians positive light while an opposing 32% saw it in a negative one. From these results, it seems that few lack a strong opinion of the empire. An internal census of the empire in 1977, polling its entire body of citizens, showed a 95% approval of their country. 3% were completely neutral on the subject and only 2% believed Caphiria was harmful to or had a negative impact on humanity. Fascisma (Nationalism), or the fervent support of the Imperium is common among citizens. The name is derived from the magisterial fasces, a symbol of reciprocal strength through unity and unity in strength. The concept of Fascisma is different from the modern fascism, though the latter of which derives its name from this. Caphirians view their society as a beacon of civilization in a barbaric world. A majority of Caphirians take this farther. Many citizens and politicians believe all human activity is the business of the Imperium and their state has a duty, as protector of the human race, to intervene as it deems appropriate. As bigoted as Caphiric society may appear, the empire has historic ties to human rights and protecting the interests of humanity. As a whole, Caphirians profess to believe that every person was entitled to specific things: the right to his or her own body, the right to reproduce, the right to equality among their peers, etc, and that these natural rights are equally held by everyone - regardless of nationality or race - and cannot ever be revoked. Penning the first Constitution in 1145, Caphir. Internationally speaking, the reputation of Caphiria is complex. There has historically been overwhelming negative sentiments about Caphiria, citing Caphiria's hyper-imperialism and military power and influence as a ‘major threat’ to their country. On the opposite side of the spectrum, Caphiria has been the subject of numerous reports with headlines such as "Caphiria Seen as Among the Greatest Nations, But Not Superior to All Others" and has been subject to numerous reports and papers with titles like "The Problem of Caphirian Exceptionalism".
>> 1 p.m. ET! More Wally Matthews: Search \| Blog \| Chats \| @ESPNNYYankees Wallace Matthews (12:58 PM) Good afternoon everyone. Lotsa stuff to kick around today. We'll get started in just a minute Wayne (MA) [via mobile] Sox fan here! Yanks starting pitching still looks kind of iffy... What do you think? Wallace Matthews (1:01 PM) In what way? CC is a proven commodity, Nova performed well last year,Pineda is indisputably talented and Kuroda is a solid pickup. Sounds like a much improved rotation from last year. BTW, welcome! Max (Rockwood, Tn.) The Yankees won 14 straight World Series games against the bestteams in baseball. Is there any team record that approaches this feat? Also what are odds of this record being beaten? Wallace Matthews (1:03 PM) It's a streak that doesn;t get enough attention, IMHO, and off the top of my head I can;t think of anything that comares to it outside of the Harlem Globetrotters beating the Washington Wizards three million straight times. before we talk abou tthe odds of beating the record, let's discuss the odds of a team even going to three straight World Series. Not good J (Boston) Last week you said: "I assume Posada is clean because his line doesn;t contain those one or two crazy seasons that jump out at you, like Brady Anderson's or Bonds' 73 HR year." to which Keith Law responded: ."care to respond? Wallace Matthews (1:06 PM) respectfully disagree. Baseball players are remarkably consistent in their performance and when a guy goes from 16 HRs to 50 at 32 years old, that is an aberration that deserves to be looked into more deeply. and if keith law or anyone who's been around professional athletes, or any serious weight-lifting gym, for that matter, can't tell the drastic differences in a body built on steroids, you;re not paying attention. If the players don't want to be painted with the same brush, more of the clean ones should have come forward at the time Alex (Anaheim) I read an espn.com article saying Pedroia was superior to Cano and it made my dad (a fellow Yankee fan) laugh. What do you think? Wallace Matthews (1:08 PM) I didn;t write that one and don't particularly agree with it, but Pedroia does have an MVP, and Cano does not. Yet Anthony (NYC) Cashman has said he is looking to trade for a DH instead of signing one. Even though Yankees fans wants to get rid of AJ in reality he holds no trade value. Are u thinking Cashman has something big brewing involving Hughes and maybe some of the 4 or 5 types in the minors (like Phelps and Warren) for a good young hitter (ex. Alex Gordon)? Wallace Matthews (1:10 PM) Don;t know if he has something big brewing -- Cashman is notorious for keeping his mouth shut on trades, much to the frustration of the beat crew -- but that was one of the best things about the Pineda deal in that it allowed him to hold on to some very valuable trade chips. But I agree with your first point -- Yankees fans would love to see AJ included in any deal, and so, I would guess, would Cashman Andrew (Columbus, OH) Do you think the Angels now have enough to threaten the Yankees and Tigers in the playoffs now? Wallace Matthews (1:13 PM) Yes. Pujols and Wilson were excellent additions and I have as much respect for Scioscia as for any mgr in the game. they will be dangerous Stack (NJ) What's your take on Tex saying he plans to bunt more to counteract the shift? Wallace Matthews (1:14 PM) I'll believe it when I see it Bob (NJ) If Bill Hall signs, does that mean no Chavez? Wallace Matthews (1:16 PM) Interesting question. Personally, i don;t get the Bill Hall thing; I thought the RH utility man spot belonged to Nunez. And I thought Chavez' main value aside from being capable og playing both first and third base, is that he is a left-handed bat. Perhaps the Yankes pursuit of Hall means Chavez has priced himself out, or maybe they;re trying to force him to lower his demands. We'll see Bob (NJ) Being around the team as much as you are, what is your prediction for how the 5th starter/long man logjam will play out? Wallace Matthews (1:19 PM) Don;t really know. I know the Yankees don;t want to use Freddy Garcia out of the pen and they also know that Hughes has been effective there. So that may give Freddy a slight edge between those two. That and the fact that he can;t be traded w/o his permission until June 15, I believe. The problem is AJ, who appears to be un-moveable and is a heart attack waiting to happen out of the pen. Cashman has said you could use him in a situation where you need a strikeout, but that would necessitate bringing him in to a high-pressure spot with men on base. Don;t think anyone wants to do that. So of necessity, the fifth starter might turn out to be AJ because frankly, there's no other spot for him J (Boston) thanks for the response, much appreciated. Wallace Matthews (1:19 PM) No problem, It was a legitimate point-of-view that I don;t happen to agree with Anthony (NYC) Ivan Nova's trade value will never be higher. I wouldnt mind mind seeeing him dealt for a good young player Wallace Matthews (1:21 PM) Like who? The Yankees don;t really need a bat and I think they believe he can be an imprtant part of their rotation for a long time. Maybe not a 1 or 2, but certainly a No. 3. and those aren;t alwasy so easy to find. And besides, he has shown something that the Killer B's have not so far -- the ability to handle big.-league pressure. I could be very wrong on this but I don;t think he;s goin anywhere Larry (Dallas) How low is Phil Hughes' trade value now? Wallace Matthews (1:23 PM) I wouldn;t say it's low. He's still young, relatively affordable, and versatile, can go as a starter or reliever. Had a bad 2011 but hasn;t disgraced himself. I think the yankees would find some takers Rob (NY) Yankees trade for Pineda was a steal. Built like C.C. and who better to mentor the young ace then Sabathia? A few year from now the Yankees could have 3 aces in C.C.-Pineda-Banuelos Wallace Matthews (1:24 PM) Best case scenario, yes. Worst-case: Yanks are stuck with a monstrous contract for CC, whose knee gives out from excess weight. Pineda continues tp pitch the way he did in second half of 2011. and Banuelo never fulfills potential.Most probable scenario-- somewhere in the middle. But your plan is the one the Yankees would like to see come true tim (nyc) Do you ever miss your TV days with Jim Rome? Wallace Matthews (1:25 PM) Only on payday Frank (NY) Bill Hall BABY. I think that's a great sign. Thoughts? Wallace Matthews (1:26 PM) Not sure. As I said to a previous questioner, he seems to be an overlap with Nunez, although a better fielder. I thought the yankees were looking for a LH bat who could play the INF, like E Chavez vic (no cal) Will Rafael Soriano reclaim the 8th inning spot, or is that Dave Robertson's job? Wallace Matthews (1:26 PM) I think it's D-Rob's to lose Alex (Anaheim) Do you have a favorite road ballpark/city? Wallace Matthews (1:27 PM) Not to pander, but I love Anaheim. Great view from pressbox, easy clubhouse access, food is good, and I like LA. And oh yeah, I;m close to my boss, Mickey Mouse AJ (Bolton, MA) If Bill Hall is in as a RH utility guy who covers the INF and OF, could that mean Nunez is part of a trade package for a legit DH? Wallace Matthews (1:28 PM) It's something I've thought about because otherwise it doesn;t seem to make much sense Bo (NYC) Did the Yanks officially sign Hall or were they just pursuing him? Wallace Matthews (1:29 PM) Haven;t signed him. it was reported in a Tweet by Ken Rosenthal of FoxSports.com that the Yankees had an interest Stack (NJ) With Mo, D-Rob, and Sori, that bullpen is pretty solid, no? Wallace Matthews (1:29 PM) the yankees believe so, yes. Now if only they can survive Boone Logan Steve (Syracuse) Swisher, Hughes, and Phelps for.............Victorino!! Who says no? And the DH spot stays as is....... Wallace Matthews (1:31 PM) And he plays where? RF? I like Victorino but personally I think the Yankees give up too much power replacing swisher with him out there Bob (NJ) Why do all these fans want to deal Swisher? He's one of the guys on the team who's actually underpaid Wallace Matthews (1:32 PM) Look at his October stats. That';s the only time most Yankees fans keep score. Larry (Dallas) After saying he would "only trade Montero for an ace," Brian Cashman just traded him for a guy who MIGHT be an ace... some day. Do you think Cashman was set on trading Montero? Wallace Matthews (1:33 PM) No, I don't. But I think the reality of the Yankees rotation forced his hand. After all, they do have plenty of offense and as Cashman likes to say, you can always find a bat. Not so with an arm, esp an arm like Pineda's tim (seattle) What do you see as the biggest difference in the way the Yankees are run with the younger Steinbrenners vs. George? Wallace Matthews (1:33 PM) The kids run it as a business. the old man waged it as a war. Wallace Matthews (1:33 PM) Thanks everyone. Great questions today. Do it again.
In our latest attempt to form a more perfect (North American) Union, Mexican President Felipe Calderon has an idea that should do wonders for job creation in the United States:] We’re all for allowing Mexico to compete in the free market in similar fashion to Canadians coming to the USA to acquire medical care. If a US citizen, who is covered under Obamacare wants to seek health care in Mexico then they should be able to do so – with their own money. Canadians seeking health care in the US are not covered under CanadaGovCare, and the same should apply for Americans going to Mexico. Having the US government reimburse Mexican doctors, hospitals and government is ridiculous. For one, there are no quality controls in the care received as there are here in the US for those covered under GovCare programs. Secondly, there would be no way to prevent fraud in the system through the enforcement of US laws. In addition, thousands of American jobs would be lost in the process, as the US government essentially provides direct stimulus to the Mexican health care industry. Ideally, the majority of GovCare programs should be eliminated in the US and the system should be completely privatized, but since that seems unlikely, then let’s at least keep the system within the United States. Here’s a counter-proposal for Mr. Calderon: How about you reimburse the US Government for the medical care we provide for illegal Mexican immigrants in the United States? American citizens and legal residents would have lower medical costs and insurance bills if we didn’t have to cover the health care and schooling of illegal immigrants, who by the way, pay no income taxes because they work in the shadow employment market. According to the US Census Bureau’s official numbers, the US provided Mexico with $88 Million in foreign aid in 2007. We believe this official number to be skewed as the USAID organization makes it difficult to track exactly how much money we send abroad. Nonetheless, $88 Million is a lot of money. If the Mexican government refuses to close their borders, then the US should deduct all GovCare and GovSchooling costs for illegal Mexican immigrants from whatever foreign aid package is to be sent to Mexico for that year. Why should American citizens be required to not only send aid to Mexico, but also cover medical, schooling and other GovAssistance costs? To President Calderon we say, thanks but no thanks on GovCare reimbursement for Mexican doctors, but since we are on the subject of reimbursement, we’d be more than happy if the people of Mexico paid their fair share for those of their citizens who choose to seek free health care here in the USA on the backs of working Americans. Author: Mac Slavo Views: Read by 106 people Date: April... Ok, every patriotÂ (black, white, etc.) needs to read this book. After the first few pages I thought it was going to be white supremacist propaganda, but its not, at least so far, its an honest personal assessment of the possible coming racial civil wars in the United States.Â There are valuable warnings for concerned blacks, whites, etc. The only “race” he has some prejudice against are the illegal mexicans. So far as I have read (just started last night, serendipitously)Â he talks about the harbingers of the wars, the more of them you see, the closer we are getting. Page 49 will send chills down your spineÂ “If a minority and his leftist allies get full political power, you know we are very close…”Â This was written in 1996 Th epremise of this article (or something similar) is eerily predicted in his descriptions of the “signs” of the impending “Re-Conquista” of the southwest.Â The book is “Civil War II” by Thomas W. Chittum Here is his blog: Here is the book: Rate This Comment: 0 0 Forgot to add disclaimer: Â I am ignoring the fact ChittumÂ is a “truther” because a lot of the things he “predicted” in the book have come true.Â Â Also, his old thoughts on the “NWO” mirrored mine but have now changed, as have mine somewhat, not that anyone cares. My thoughts on the “truther” claims because I do not want to make enemies here; They give too much credit to a bunchÂ of bumbling buffoons to pull off something like that, if it was anything more than the few terrorists, my opinion isÂ it would have been a clusterfuck of immense proportions, but I will not say never, they may be proven right one day.Â I do agree though that it is very possible those in the know ignored warnings or even let it happen. Sorry that wasn’t his blog, it was just an article he wrote. The link is dated allready .He talked about food riots in southern californiaÂ which hasnt happened .We still have a few years to go .But its true if california goes-so does the restÂ !Â They still need to weaken the economy and get the unemployment numberes to around 35-45 %Â Â and then pull the plug on the Market which is running on stimulus money right now (soon to run out) and then the gig is up .Expect more stimulus and more bailouts to keep things afloat for a longer because they can do that to adjust in there timeing. they will take all the money they can first and then let it implode ! Its coming people as sure as my bowl movement happens every morning-Reminds me of Obama swirling around down theirÂ ! I wouldnt want to live in the big cities because food supplies and water will your biggest problem . If not you will Â have the option of going to camp fema for your nurishmnet and training if they dont kill you .Â Â Life as we currently know it is going to changeÂ and the only way is to survive it adn the rule of kill or be killed ! Lock and load peopleÂ and stand up to be counted for the time draws near ! Obama will be counting on the huge Mexican vote in 2012 to be re-elected.Â Â Of course ObamaÂ willÂ cedeÂ the western half of the United States to Mexico as a guaranteeÂ he gets their support.Â Â Â Â Having had experience with hospitals in Mexico, I would pick medical care there over the USA in almost any case…because the people working there actually care, something conspicuously absent in every hospital I’ve been inside of in the USA. I agree with the concerns listed. Also, there is fraud in the current medicare billing schemes in the US (15% in CA and NY), not to mention the much higher costs that gov’t payouts encourage vs free markets. My concern is that if I need an expensive medical procedure, such as a heart bypass, I won’t be able to have it done in Mexico because the cost will be just as high there (paid for by US medicare) and the trip to Singapore or New Delhi is farther and more bothersome. After ten years of Obamacare, dying won’t seem like such a bad idea and end-of-life advocates will be out in force encouraging us to “check out”. TV commercials forÂ suicide clinics will probably have Marcus WelbyÂ or Katie Couric types asking us “Haven’t you had enough?Â Do the responsible thing and come down and talk to the friendly folks at your local Sweet Dreams Euthanasia Parlor”. Â Â Good news people. Geithner: Bailouts may end up costing less than expected. more still…. However, earnings on the Federal Reserve’s creative finance programs not only saved many banks from going under, but they’re also now projected to earn $115 billion more than they cost. A year ago, the Obama administration figured the total cost of all the recent bailouts could be more than $500 billion , or 3.5 percent of the gross domestic product. “We now expect that the direct costs of all our interventions will cost less than 1 percent of GDP,” Geithner wrote. “This means that the federal deficit and debt will be substantially lower than previously expected.” Comments…..Some people in Hollywood try to give an idea of post civil war 2, example post man with Kevin Costner , of course the book by David Brin is better than the movie, then you have The Road. Both movies had one thing in common, gangs and marauders ruled, and cannibalism was the main menu. Of Â course it’s only movies but it gives you a good idea of what’s coming. Bruno…you guys are putting in overtime at the Ministry of Truth I see,Â Do you have someÂ Ministry of Love guys there with you taking names? Sam…I just read further into this book (Civil War II)Â last night, I have never read nor seen anything as scary nor eerily prophetic as this book, I couldn’t put it down.Â ( I have seen/read most apocalyptic/war books/movies and read a majority of the “collapse” books. ) I can’t watch Postman anymore, the bad guy is such a SOB he raises my blood pressure, I want to jump thru the screen and strangle him, I hate arrogance like he possesses, just like obummer).Â The Road was a great book, it was one of those rare books that painted a visual image of the stories world in your mind with surreal clarity Of course not everything will happen in the ways or to the degrees Chittum suggests, he admits that, but for being written in 1996, and he gave a timeline of about 10-30 years for the worst and final phase (all out war )to happen, what we see transpiring now when looked atÂ from the perspective he puts forth, will scare the shit out of any sound thinking human being.Â I am already highly prepared for bad times but this book has made me feel partially exposed again. With medical costs in MexicoÂ about 20-30% of our bloated system, why wouldn’t the medicare system want to accquire services for those elderly that choose to live in Mexico?Â Seems to me that if Mexico will take care of our elderly, we should be grateful.Â Loss of jobs?Â Do you really think that our medical system will run out of elderly patients?Â Hardly.Â Mexico close the border?Â We can’t seem to get it done so how can we expect them to do it? Immigrants pay to taxes?Â Mac, surly you know you can’t swipe with that broad brush and be taken serious.Â Lastly, how about the fact that we trade the old for the young…in the long run, who’s better off?Â I think we are. Look for the food riots to manifest in LA in about 60 days. 524 402 925 TCA. Blood on the Border. Comments Willie W. what is the exact title of this book you’re reading and by whom, I’m going on a long trip and ran out of good books to read. Zuk. you seem like a smart well inform fellow but your timing is premature. A lot more economic blood letting still has to take place before we get food riots. Yes, Sam,Â I would agreeÂ ….Â normally.Â But what I am saying is that the dynamic is about to fundamentally change. Here is the trigger for people who like puzzels: 524 402 925 TCAÂ Â Â Sam Civil War II by Thomas Chittum, it is an unforgettable,Â prophetically mind blowingÂ book.Â Not many books that I recommend to all but this one is definitely one of those.Â See my comments on the Marc Faber civil war article discussions. Oh, and funny thing, not five minutes after I commented about the evil leader of the post apocalyptic army in “The Postman” I turned on a movie “The Mothman Prophecies” and who wasÂ in it?, that same actor!!Â I have never seen him in anything else so I thought it very serendipitous..
Community Seedlings is a Reggio-inspired preschool serving children 2½ to 5 years old. Community Seedlings believes that all children are capable and eager to learn! Children’s curiosity and excitement for learning help them learn “real world” connections that are personal and meaningful to them. This is learned through play, small group projects, dialogue, journaling, reflection, documentation, and exploration the love of learning begins through art, science, math, social studies, literacy, technology and the environments of both the indoor and outdoor classrooms. Our environments and learning philosophies are inspired by the Reggio Emilia approach to early childhood education. Our teachers are experienced and educated in Reggio Emilia philosophy. Teachers consider themselves to be “partners in the process of learning.” Our ratios are low and quality is high! We value both Art and Nature daily in our school. Our program has an “Atelierista” to help guide the children’s creativity in Art and Media. We offer both Full Day, Half Day, and Extended programs to fit parents and children’s specific needs. Eve Fein is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of Operations. Andrea Knudsen has taken on the role of Curriculum Specialist (or Pedagogista, using the term from the educators of Reggio Emilia) at Community Seedlings. Andrea oversees curriculum development, documentation of children’s work, ideas and theories, as well as offering continuing education opportunities to the teaching staff at Seedlings. Carrie Fetter, Eve Fein and Andrea collaborate on the long term professional development goals for staff, ensuring that the children at Seedlings have teachers who are current in their understanding of both child development in general, and the work of the Reggio Emilia educators in particular. Andrea also specializes in environmental design for children’s spaces, both indoors and out, and has collaborated with Seedlings staff in the design and development of all indoor classrooms and studios and outdoor classroom spaces at Seedlings. She brings over 30 years of teaching experience to the role of Pedagogista. She is an Adjunct faculty member in the Fullerton College Child Development and Educational Studies department, working with students through a number of courses, including the Reggio Emilia course, Environments for Early Childhood and various curriculum classes along with Student Teaching. Carrie Fetter is the Director for Community Seedlings Preschool. Carrie has always had a love of children and a passion for Early Childhood Education. Her mission is to give children the best possible care and enrichment experiences that will last a lifetime! In her professional career she has worked with many non-profit organizations including Laura’s House, a Domestic Violence Shelter where she implemented a successful theraputic preschool for the children living in the program. Carrie also was the Executive Director for the Beach Cities YMCA in San Clemente where she oversaw all programs including childcare, Y-Guides, campaign management, yearly operating budget, and served on the board. From 2011-2015 Carrie served as Director of Children’s Programs at Community Roots Academy. She developed and ran the Community Care Club Childcare program at CRA’s campus for CRA students, as well as all after school classes, camps and clubs. Carrie earned a Bachelor of Science from California State University Long Beach in Human and Child Development. She has also continued her education in both Management as well as the study of Reggio-Emilia Philosophy. Carrie grew up in Orange County and currently lives in San Clemente with her husband and daughter. Lindie Sherrill is the Assistant Director and has more than two decades of experience working with young children. First running a small family daycare for thirteen years while raising her own three children, who are now 30, 28, and 24. When she relocated to Northern California, she was exposed to Reggio Emilia approach and decided to further her education in early childhood. She spent the next seven years, working in Reggio inspired schools in the Bay Area. When she returned to Southern California, she was grateful to find Community Seedlings Preschool, which enabled her to continue to grow as a Reggio educator. Lindie believes that early childhood is a unique and meaningful stage of life. She is committed to supporting children’s creative capacity and engaging them in rich experiences driven by their individual interests. Gloria Devries has been working with young children for over 9 years. Gloria started as a parent volunteer at her son’s preschool which led her to early childhood classes at Saddleback College. After Saddleback she taught in a preschool setting for 9 years as well as an after school program. “I believe children are viewed as competent, curious, full of knowledge, potential, and interested in connecting to the world around them. As a teacher, we must encourage to facilitate the child’s learning by planning experiences based on the child’s interests.” Kaylee Harmon has been teaching at Community Seedling’s since Fall of 2016. Her educational philosophy is a combination of both the way she desires to teach and a motivation to be a life long learner. Kaylee received her Bachelors in Early Education in May of 2018 and is currently seeking her Multiple Subject Credential and Masters in Education with an emphasis in English Learner Language Education. Kaylee continues to feel inspired by the Reggio philosophy as it values children as central to their own learning, not simply an empty vessel waiting to be filled. Children are strong, capable, resilient, rich with wonder, and knowledge. Sally Honda continues to share her love of learning and growth at Community Seedlings, as she has taught music to children of all ages for over twenty-five years. She comes to teaching preschool as a second career, recently completing her coursework at Saddleback College in Child Development. She has a natural connection with the Reggio Emilia Approach and Constructivism. Seeing her son as a student of Community Seedlings, she found herself at home with the fantastic representation of the Reggio Emilia “work,” and she almost immediately asked to join the family. She wholeheartedly believes in, “a foundational respect of children’s ideas and that fundamentally, children are capable of creating any level of learning.” Kumiko Kato is our Atelierista and has been a preschool educator for over twelve years in both Japan and US. Kumiko is the co-founder of OC Reggio roundtable. She worked at the Growing Place in Santa Monica for eight years, which has been implementing Reggio Emilia philosophy for over twenty years. Furthering her Reggio education, Kumiko joined study groups in Italy, Oregon, and Arizona. Kumiko loves nature and has an extensive background in gardening. She is a California mentor teacher and has mentored student teachers affiliated with local community colleges. Kumiko is very excited to be a part of Community Seedlings community and looks forward to sharing her Reggio expertise with the rest of the team. Sarah McConville has been teaching in early childhood for over 7 years. She began her career at California State University of Long Beach. While she was completing her Bachelors in Child Development, Sarah worked in the toddler room at the Child and Family Center on campus. After she graduated, Sarah got a job at a Reggio inspired preschool in Fountain Valley called Hilltop Preschool. She was there for 6 years before coming to Community Seedlings. Sarah is inspired by the Reggio philosophy as it allows children to expand their minds through hands on experiences based on their individual interests. Dana Simler brings over ten years of teaching Pre-K and co-directing experience to Community Roots Academy. Along with her passion and devotion to early childhood education, Dana has a Bachelor of Arts in English with a dual depth in Cultural Diversity and Arts and Letters. She is a long time resident of San Clemente where she resides with her husband and two boys, Owen and Milo. Dana is committed to our program here at Community Seedlings Preschool where she claims “everyday has endless potential and the possibilities for learning are around every corner.” Betsy Fuller has taught in a preschool setting for 15 years, and has been the activities director and “camp mom” at Summer Soul Surf Camp in San Clemente for the past 12 years. She received her Bachelors of Science in Child and Adolescent Development from Cal State University Fullerton, and is also a certified Music Together teacher. She believes that working with children allows her to be in a constant state of growth. In addition, she is passionate about honoring the intrinsic creativity and capability that all children possess. She believes that learning does not happen in a linear process, but in a spiral progression, and considers herself to be partners with the children in the process of learning. Johnna Kennamore grew up in Burlingame, CA in my early years and then lived in South Lake Tahoe, CA in my teen years. I received my Bachelor degree in Social Welfare from U.C. Berkeley and completed my Early Childhood units at Saddleback College. Johnna has two wonderful children Alessandra, 21 and Mitchell, 19. After being a substitute teacher in elementary schools in Northern California while my children were young, she moved to Orange County and started teaching preschool in 2006. Johnna has been teaching for 13 years! She is always excited to enter the doors at Community Seedlings and watch the children learn and flourish in an aspiring environment. Johnna always looks forward to seeing the happy faces of each child while we explore the world of cooking in my afternoon class. Michelle Nazzareno is a native New Yorker. She holds a Masters in Clinical Art Therapy & Mental Health Counseling. She finds Art Therapy to be an astoundingly powerful magnet that draws people in to express themselves in ways that talk therapy may limit. She believes that art is universal and has no boundaries in its ability to communicate the unspoken word. She has had the ability to work with various populations diagnosed on the DSM-5 throughout her career thus far. Since her move to Southern California two years ago, she has had the opportunity to develop several programs all utilizing Art Therapy. Michelle was introduced to the Seedlings Team at the beginning of August and has taken on the role of the Naturalist in the Outdoor Classroom. Her love of art and nature has emerged into a playful curriculum centered around the love for our children and gardens. Desiree Robles is the Outdoor & S.T.E.M Specialist for Community Seedling Preschool. Her journey as an educator, with the support of many influential mentors, has led her to a community that she could have only imagined. Miss Robles works in the school’s new S.T.E.M Lab where 60 students and their teachers flow in and out of the space to explore, create, think and grow as a community. Her educational experiences, passion for lifelong learning and her foundational values in the constructivist pedagogy, helps guide other educators and support their endeavors in making learning visible and meaningful. She also teaches as an Adjunct Instructor at Fullerton College for the Child Development & Educational Studies Department.
Professor X (Classic) Updated (8/14/19) edited August 22 in Character Details Hi Everyone, "An extraordinary telepath and veteran of the Korean War, Professor Charles Xavier makes a shrewd leader. Keenly aware of human and mutant-kind's capacity for evil, he is willing to take an underhanded approach to instill peace between all." Check out the brand new 5-Star Professor X, and find out how you can recruit him onto your roster! (Abilities listed at level 450) 5-Star Rarity (Epic) Heroes, X-Men 5-Star Rarity (Epic) Heroes, X-Men 38,121 Health Signal Boost - Xavier channels Cerebro to give his allies an extra edge. Whenever you make a Match-4 or greater, deal 3,538 damage and destroy an additional tile in that color. - Level 2: Whenever you make a Match-4 or greater, deal 4,073 damage and... - Level 3: Whenever you make a Match-4 or greater, deal 4,608 damage and... - Level 4: Whenever you make a Match-4 or greater, deal 5,678 damage and... - Level 5: Whenever you make a Match-4 or greater, deal 7,819 damage and... Xavier deploys the X-Men's best and brightest. Choose a color to call in one of the X-Men for aid, then add 3 basic tiles of that color to the board. The chosen color determines who appears. - Level 1: ...dealing 11,420 damage to the current target. - Level 2: ...dealing 12,687 damage to the current target. - Level 3: ...dealing 13,953 damage to the current target. - Level 4: ...dealing 16,486 damage to the current target. - Level 1: ...allies a burst of 5,710 health. - Level 2: ...allies a burst of 6,343 health. - Level 3: ...allies a burst of 6,977 health. - Level 4: ...allies a burst of 8,243 health. - Level 1: ...deals 5,710 damage to the enemy team. - Level 2: ...deals 6,343 damage to the enemy team. - Level 3: ...deals 6,977 damage to the enemy team. - Level 4: ...deals 8,243 damage to the enemy team. - Level 1: ...destroying the chosen tile's row and dealing 272 damage. - Level 2: ...destroying the chosen tile's row and dealing 564 damage. - Level 3: ...destroying the chosen tile's row and dealing 1,577 damage. - Level 4: ...destroying the chosen tile's row and dealing 3,601 damage. - Level 1: ...changing the colors of 23 tiles. - Level 2: ...changing the colors of 25 tiles. - Level 3: ...changing the colors of 27 tiles. - Level 4: ...changing the colors of 31 tiles. - Level 1: ...convert 5 basic tiles into strength 457 Attack tiles. - Level 2: ...convert 5 basic tiles into strength 508 Attack tiles. - Level 3: ...convert 5 basic tiles into strength 558 Attack tiles. - Level 4: ...convert 5 basic tiles into strength 660 Attack tiles. Xavier Protocols - Professor X has a comprehensive file on your weaknesses. Xavier takes 12% less damage for each active X-Men member on his team and 5% less for each other active ally. Red enemy powers cost 1 AP more for each active X-Men member on his team. - Level 2: Red and Green enemy powers cost 1 AP more... - Level 3: Xavier takes 18% less damage for each active X-Men...and 8% less for each other active ally. - Level 4: Xavier takes 22% less damage for each active X-Men...and 9% less for each other active ally. - Level 5: Xavier takes 25% less damage for each active X-Men...and 10% less for each other active ally. Red, Green, and Yellow enemy powers cost 1 AP more... Recruit Professor X!Thick as Thieves - Event Store For Professor X (Classic)'s introduction to Marvel Puzzle Quest, we're going to be trying something new this time around. In addition to the usual method for players to acquire 5-Star characters, we will also be extending the duration of the Thick as Thieves event store, because for the first time ever players can now use Hero Points, instead of Command Points, to earn a brand new 5-Star from this store. Check out the details below, and let us know what you think! - Starts: August 15, 2019 at 7:00am ET - Ends: August 23, 2019, 2:00am ET - 1x Token - 1 in 250 chance to get a cover of Professor X (Classic) - ~1 in 13 chance to get a 4-Star - 1 in 4 chance to get a 3-Star - Remainder chance to get a 2-Star - 10x & 40x Tokens - 1 in 166 chance to get a cover of Professor X (Classic) - ~1 in 12 chance to get a 4-Star - 1 in 4 chance to get a 2-Star - Starts: August 22, 2019 at 12:00pm ET - Ends: August 26, 2019 at 11:59pm ET - 15% chance to get Professor X (Classic), The Hulk (Bruce Banner), or Doctor Strange (Sorcerer Supreme) - Additional tokens can be purchased for 25 Command Points - Starts: August 22, 2019 at 12:00pm ET - Ends: August 26, 2019 at 11:59pm ET - 40 Items - 1x Higher Learning Legendary Token - 1x Cyclops (Classic) Red Cover - 3x Random 3-Star Covers - 6x Heroic Tokens - 4x 2,500 Iso-8 - 6x 1,000 Iso-8 - 5x 500 Iso-8 - 14x 2-Star Covers Event ScheduleThick as Thieves - Story Event - Starts: August 15, 2019 at 7:00am ET - Ends: August 20, 2019 at 2:00am ET - Professor X (Classic) is in tokens for event store. - Starts: August 19, 2019 at 7:00am ET - Ends: August 23, 2019 at 2:00am ET - Professor X (Classic) is in Heroes for Hire store. - Starts: August 22, 2019 at 12:00pm ET - Ends: August 25, 2019 at 11:59pm ET - Awards tokens to the Higher Learning Legendary Store. Professor X (Classic) Updated (8/14/19) 32 votes 2 But the tradeoff is that now we get abysmal odds in the Thick as Thieves tokens, which means it's possible to just get lucky with tokens we earn during the event? And anyone who couldn't earn "free" tokens from completing bosses can still get a chance to earn a new 5* via normal event tokens (theoretically making it easier for newer players to acquire 5's, though that'll be a double-edged sword since it requires roster slots). So veteran players who expect to be able to gather CP and spend on acquiring new characters are completely boned over at the release (presumably they can still spend that CP on Latest once he rotates in in the future), and anyone later in the game not hoarding HP (because they have rostered all the characters and don't need to) are going to be boned over as well? Feels like the lesson here is "stop spending HP on daily deals, you might need it to get a new 5." And we're given less than 36 hours advance notice. You know, announcing the process a week or two in advance, even if just that, would make it easier for players to adapt. It is really hard to be positive about this game when changes feel like they're trying to yank the rug out from under us, when they never have to be delivered that way. Maybe some people will prefer this Hero Points option instead of Command Points, but to me it seems like a blatant cash grab. I suppose it's not much different than the current buy club structure that exists (and may even work out better for those buyers), but it sure seems like the underlying message is, "Oh, didn't get a cover? Buy another Stark and try again!" Devs need to make a living like everyone else, but man... this just rubs me the wrong way. But maybe the most discouraging development is that there will not be a release store with two other Classic 5s featured. This has been a useful way for me to get my older 5s covered. It doesn't always work of course, but SOME* chance is better than NO chance. I really, really, REALLY hope this is just a one-time test and doesn't become the new standard moving forward. EDIT: I see now that the dates have been changed on the boss event, which will be held next week. They initially had July dates, and I thought it had perhaps been a copypasta accident. @Brigby does this mean that there will also be a more traditional release store that features Professor X and two Classic 5s at the standard 1:7 odds for 25 CP per pull? If so, then consider my initial assessment severely tempered. If the team wants to offer an additional* method of getting a 5* cover with this HP option, then go for it. I'll be passing (and still don't think it's a great method), but I'm sure others will happily exercise the option. That would allow us to see if we get lucky using HP for a single cover, or we could try harder with HP than we would have if we don't need levels in the other two occupants of the Legendary release store. On a side note, Loving his purple. Please don't make it too expensive! And please don't "Lockjaw blue" it (far too low damage). I'm expecting Chuck's purple to be on the expensive side, but hope not. I realize everyone is choosing Rogue here anyway. As for the HP store, I guess that's a net positive for me since I don't spend into the pre-release stores anyway. If this is in fact true and not an accident, that's borderline predatory and immoral. Maybe not even borderline. And please quote me on that. I've given up trying to cover 5 stars. It's impossible with the release schedule and dilution of classic 5s. Why invest a lot of resources into the new engine if you're just going to go out of your way to enrage your player base? From the look of it, this character is meant to match the theme of 90s costume X-Men as featured in the cartoon. There is no "classic" variant of Jean Grey in the game, so that probably explains why she was skipped. As part of that theme, I suspect the power will reuse art from the 2* variants of Wolverine and Storm, and the 4* variant of Cyclops. Could this be why the rather expensive offer that came out today comes with 9,000 HP?
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Find out which faction models make the perfect theme, and which break all the rules. Part 4 finishes up with the lads in Blue (Cygnar and Trollbloods) and thoughts on Minions/Mercenaries. Chalkboard here from Chalkboard War, with the fourth and final part of the Faction Makers and Breakers series, where we explore what models best epitomize, and most differ from, the theme of each faction (you can check out part one, part two, and part three to read up on all the other factions). In Sun Tzu’s writings about strategic attacks, he addressed the issue of expectations. “Engage people with what they expect; it is what they are able to discern and confirms their projections. It settles them into predictable patterns of response, occupying their minds while you wait for the extraordinary moment — that which they cannot anticipate.” That sentiment is what lies behind this series of inquiries into the factions of Warmachine and Hordes. Given the way the game is designed and each faction carefully managed for theme and feel, it’s easy for opponents to fall into quick categorization of a force (e.g. “it’s Menoth so they’re going to play denial”, “it’s Circle they’ve going to attack via sneaky vectors”, etc.). Clever generals will know when it’s appropriate to give their foes what they expect with a force, to field those pieces which fit the faction’s “feel” exactly. And just when the opponent is lulled into that pattern, it’s the key time to bring a surprising piece or lane of assault that uses the opponent’s own expectations against them. Hence a consideration of what makes a faction, and what pieces break with that theme. This time we’re looking at the lads in Blue: Cygnar and Trollbloods. Following that inquiry, we’ll ruminate on where Mercenaries and Minions fit in this “makers and breakers” story. Cygnar Maker Maybe the best descriptor for the Cygnar faction was uttered by Emmet in the Lego Movie: “Bang, bang, bang. Shoot, shoot, shoot. Bullet, bullet, gun. Zap, pow, zap, pow.” Cygnar is the faction of shooting. From big shooting to massed little shots, they’re the faction to do it. Cygnar is also known for electricity: empowering weapons, Electro-leaping across foes, and leaving enemy wajacks that survived the “zap” disrupted (Cygnar has eleven models/units with the Disruption special rule, and all the other factions combined have three). Finally, Cygnar has a price to pay for their ranged prowess: they’re slightly more on the fragile side than some other factions. Many of their models have respectable defense, but in terms of ability to take damage Cygnar comes up a bit short–counting on their foes to be limping when they hit close combat thanks to all the shooting. Between a lack of multi-wound infantry and some really useful light warjacks, Cygnar is left a bit on the brittle side of the equation. While there were a great number of models and units that fit the theme perfectly, perhaps nothing better gets to all the defining parts of Cygnar than the Stormwall. One of the more popular of the first wave colossals, the Stormwall is just perfectly Cygnar. It’s big, shoulder-mounted guns are even called simply “Big Guns”. The two gatling guns that it mounts give it options versus infantry: either straight damage to them or placing covering fire templates to deny movement lanes to one-hit models. It also has two different sets of electricity shenanigans, from electro-leaping fists to the Disruption-causing Lightning Pods that it launches. And finally, fitting to the full Cygnar theme, it’s generally better off avoiding melee. It’s certainly tougher than the average warjack, but like all Colossals it’s not as tough as it seems. So like the rest of Cygnar it generally needs to ensure that the enemy is battered before it reaches melee–something that the Stormwall is usually able to assure. Cygnar Breaker It should be no surprise that the faction known for its shooting has its mold broken by a model that quite effectively supports melee engagement. Thus, Lord General Coleman Stryker is my choice for a Cygnar model that can break the faction’s feel. It’s not that Stryker3 cannot support the ranged game, but that on turns when he commits his faction to the charge is what makes him a great breaker. His feat is the key to this, allowing automatic hits and an additional dice on charges and mount attacks. That means that some generals field him as a cavalry master, ushering in maximal synergy and allowing units to deal with high armor lists. That alone breaks from the Cygnar mold in terms of what is fielded: a rampaging force of cavalry backed up by a warjack or two clobbering their foes in hand-to-hand. There’s also a second use for Stryker that might be all the more “breaker”. With a shooting, balanced, or all-comers list that isn’t just out to hunt high armor targets, Stryker3 can give surprise options to even the most unlikely of infantry. If you’re willing to play him forward a bit (and maybe keep a Sentinel nearby for cheap protection), his feat turn can provide a sudden and unexpected surprise from anything in your force. With hitting automatically and the two extra dice for charge+feat, even the most rubbish melee-stat ranged infantry can kill other infantry in a sudden dash, and even dent the odd warjack. It’s hardly the best use of Stryker3, but it gives a level of tactical surprise that might be unexpected. Players expect Cygnar troops to hole up and shoot until charged themselves, not suddenly come crashing into their key pieces with an unexpected counter-charge. Things that play contrary to expectation may not always be the most effective stats-wise, but the surprise factor and meddling with the enemy’s anticipation of your actions add a different sort of “effectiveness.” Trollbloods Maker It should be no surprise that Trollbloods are a sturdy faction. They have some common high armor choices that can take a hit and shrug off damage–and other units to increase their ability to do that (notably the near-mandatory in many lists Krielstone). To make matters worse for their opponents, Trollbloods are not only good at not taking damage but they are one of the best factions at recovering from damage: Snack is universal among their heavies, Regenerate is universal on their warbeasts, and Tough is faction-wide. And despite their rough and tough rules and literally rocky demeanor, Trollbloods also have their softer side. This manifests both in the fluff and the rules in the way that they are a faction focused on community. Fluff-side their story is all about the scattered Kriel tribes surviving enemies at all sides by banding together, while rules-side they are a buff-heavy faction. In particular they rely upon their solos to provide the buffs that make their average infantry great at whatever is the task at hand. The Fell Caller Hero isn’t the most impossibly tough model himself, but it’s what he brings to the rest of the force that makes him a clear faction “maker”. As a fell caller, his role is making the units around him better–and this is one of the most frequent of the Trollbloods solo choices to provide that community service. While the Sorcerer, Chronicler, and Devastation-new Dhunian Knot all have interesting means of protecting or buffing models, it’s the Fell Caller Hero that sets the bar for support solos. The ability to stand up knocked down models in an army where every model has the Tough special rule is where he adds to the durability of the force. Thus even crippling wounds don’t slow the Trollbloods down–yet another means of recovering from the negative effects of damage. His other two Fell Calls add other great means of support, either allowing a model/unit to gain Pathfinder or provide a unit a bonus to attack rolls. He does as the Trollbloods faction does best: works with other units to help them all take hits and retaliate with unhindered strength in return. Trollbloods Breaker For the faction breaker, Pyg Burrowers are a great candidate. Other than being Tough, this unit is hardly tough. Instead, they get all their survival from their Tunneling order and straight-out avoiding the foe. Tunneling allows them to move in ways that few other Trollbloods can manage, either slipping past lines or forcing the foe to keep their models tightly positioned to avoid an unexpected line of attack. The dancing around and denial element that the Pyg Burrowers bring to the table are far more reminiscent of Cryx or Circle than their own faction. Instead of taking a hit, recovering, and returning the favor, this unit hides and slides, unleashes a nasty attack, and then (usually) dies in droves. They can be effective and even devastating, but they simply do not fit the mold of the rest of their faction and thus make a good expectations breaker. Minions and Mercenaries The concept of “makers or breakers” is handy with factions, but benefits from a slight adjustment when talking about the Minions and Mercenaries options in Warmachine/Hordes. If we’re talking about within-pact theme, the notion of a breaker is tough. Which of the limited selection of Thornfall Alliance models could one say is not “on-theme”? Instead, I think it’s better to look outside of the pacts and toward their role when included with other factions. In many ways, Minions and Mercenaries are the ultimate “breakers” in Warmachine/Hordes. They give ready and easy ways to include something else that can break the mold or cover the weaknesses of a faction. Minions and Mercenaries can add speed to a Khador list, subtlety to a Trollbloods list, or living bodies to a Cryx list. They can provide an element of the unexpected to faction lists simply by their presence, and that unexpected can play against anticipation. And it’s not only needed to be “breakers”. It might be out-thinking oneself, but a general might include a Minions or Mercenary unit that does more of the same of what the faction is best at. That sort of doubling-up can interfere with opponent expectations in different ways. Add a Gatorman Posse to a Skorne Heavy-Infantry force and see what happens. They don’t ever “make” the faction, but Minions and Mercenaries can certainly “meet” the faction on shared ground. This series has started the conversation, but it’s by no means over: every one of the factions I’ve discussed across these articles have other contenders for faction “makers” and “breakers”. However, what’s more important than generating an exact list of which is which is that Warmachine and Hordes generals think about and then exploit the ways that assumptions about faction theme affect their games: both in list creation and opponent anticipation. ~What are your theme “makers” and theme “breakers” for Cygnar and Trollbloods? How do you use Minions/Mercs to “break” the mold? Interested in what “Makers and Breakers” Chalkboard is fielding? Check out his blog at.
In a blog post from December of 2013, I described our attempts to replicate two studies testing the claim that priming cleanliness makes participants less judgmental on a series of 6 moral vignettes. My original post has recently received criticism for my timing and my tone. In terms of timing, I blogged about a paper that was accepted for publication and there was no embargo on the work. In terms of tone, I tried to ground everything I wrote with data but I also editorialized a bit. It can be hard to know what might be taken as offensive when you are describing an unsuccessful replication attempt. The title (“Go Big or Go Home – A Recent Replication Attempt”) might have been off putting in hindsight. In the grand scope of discourse in the real world, however, I think my original blog post was fairly tame. Most importantly: I was explicit in the original post about the need for more research. I will state again for the record: I don’t think this matter has been settled and more research is needed. We also said this in the Social Psychology paper. It should be widely understood that no single study is ever definitive. As noted in the current news article for Science about the special issue of Social Psychology, there is some debate about ceiling effects with our replication studies. We discuss this issue at some length in our rejoinder to the commentary. I will provide some additional context and observations in this post. Readers just interested in gory details can read #4. This is a long and tedious post so I apologize in advance. 1. The original studies had relatively small sample sizes. There were 40 total participants in the original scrambled sentence study (Study 1) and 43 total participants in the original hand washing study (Study 2). It takes 26 participants per cell to have an approximately 80% change to detect a d of .80 with alpha set to .05 using a two-tailed significance test. A d of .80 would be considered a large effect size in many areas of psychology. 2. The overall composite did not attain statistical significance using the conventional alpha level of .05 with a two-tailed test in the original Study 1 (p = .064). (I have no special love for NHST but many people in the literature rely on this tool for drawing inferences). Only one of the six vignettes attained statistical significance at the p < .05 level in the original Study 1 (Kitten). Two different vignettes attained statistical significance in the original Study 2 (Trolley and Wallet). The kitten vignette did not. Effect size estimates for these contrasts are in our report. Given the sample sizes, these estimates were large but they had wide confidence intervals. 3. The dependent variables were based on moral vignettes created for a different study originally conducted at the University of Virginia.These measures were originally pilot tested with 8 participants according to a PSPB paper (Schnall, Haidt, Clore, & Jordan, 2008, p.1100). College students from the United States were used to develop the measures that served as the dependent variables. There was no a priori reason to think the measures would “not work” for college students from Michigan. We registered our replication plan and Dr. Schnall was a reviewer on the proposal. No special concerns were raised about our procedures or the nature of our sample. Our sample sizes provided over .99 power to detect the original effect size estimates. 4. The composite DVs were calculated by averaging across the six vignettes and those variables had fairly normal distributions in our studies. In Study 1, the mean for our control condition was 6.48 (SD = 1.13, Median = 6.67, Skewness = -.55, Kurtosis = -.24, n = 102) whereas it was 5.81 in the original paper (SD = 1.47, Median = 5.67, Skewness = -.33, Kurtosis = -.44, n = 20). The average was higher in our sample but the scores theoretically range from 0 to 9. We found no evidence of a priming effect using the composites in Study 1. In Study 2, the mean for our control condition was 5.65 (SD = 0.59, Median = 5.67, Skewness = -.31, Kurtosis = -.19, n = 68) whereas it was 5.43 in the original paper (SD = 0.69, Median = 5.67, Skewness = -1.58, Kurtosis = 3.45, n = 22). The scores theoretically range from 1 to 7. We found no hand washing effect using the composites in Study 2. These descriptive statistics provide additional context for the discussion about ceiling effects. The raw data are posted and critical readers can and should verify these numbers. I have a standing policy to donate $20 to the charity of choice for the first person who notes a significant (!) statistical mistake in my blog posts. Schnall (2014) undertook a fairly intense screening of our data. This is healthy for the field and the open science framework facilitated this inquiry because we were required to post the data. Dr. Schnall noted that the responses to the individual moral vignettes tended toward the extreme in our samples. I think the underlying claim is that students in our samples were so moralistic that any cleanliness priming effects could not have overpowered their pre-existing moral convictions. This is what the ceiling effect argument translates to in real world terms: The experiments could not have worked in Michigan because the samples tended to have a particular mindset. It might be helpful to be a little more concrete about the distributions. For many of the individual vignettes, the “Extremely Wrong” option was a common response. Below is a summary of the six vignettes and some descriptive information about the data from the control conditions of Study 1 across the two studies (ours and the original). I think readers will have to judge for themselves as to what kinds of distributions to expect from samples of college students. Depending on your level of self-righteousness, these results could be viewed positively or negatively. Remember, we used their original materials. - Dog (53% versus 30%): Morality of eating a pet dog that was just killed in a car accident. - Trolley (2% versus 5%): Morality of killing one person in the classic trolley dilemma. - Wallet (44% versus 20%): Morality of keeping cash from a wallet found on the street. - Plane (43% versus 30%): Morality of killing an injured boy to save yourself and another person from starving after a plane crash. - Resume (29% versus 15%): Morality of enhancing qualifications on a resume. - Kitten (56% versus 70%): Morality of using a kitten for sexual gratification. Note: All comparisons are from the Control conditions for our replication Study 1 compared to Study 1 in Schnall et al. (2008). Percentages reflect the proportion of the sample selecting the “extremely wrong” option (i.e., selecting the “9” on the original 0 to 9 scale). For example, 53% of our participants thought it was extremely wrong for Frank to eat his dead dog for dinner whereas 30% of the participants in the original study provided that response. To recap, we did not find evidence for the predicted effects and we basically concluded more research was necessary. Variable distributions are useful pieces of information and non-parametric tests were consistent with the standard t-tests we used in the paper. Moreover, their kitten distribution was at least as extreme as ours, and yet they found the predicted result on this particular vignette in Study 1. Thus, I worry that any ceiling argument only applies when the results are counter to the original predictions. One reading of our null results is that there are unknown moderators of the cleanliness priming effects. We have tested for some moderators (e.g., private body consciousness, political orientation) in our replication report and rejoinder, but there could be other possibilities. For example, sample characteristics can make it difficult to find the predicted cleanliness priming results with particular measures. If researchers have a sample of excessively moralistic/judgmental students who think using kittens for sexual gratification is extremely wrong, then cleaning primes may not be terribly effective at modulating their views. Perhaps a different set of vignettes that are more morally ambiguous (say more in line with the classic trolley problem) will show the predicted effects. This is something to be tested in future research. The bottom line for me is that we followed through on our research proposal and we reported our results. The raw data were posted. We have no control over the distributions. At the very least, researchers might need to worry about using this particular measure in the future based on our replication efforts. In short, the field may have learned something about how to test these ideas in the future. In the end, I come full circle to the original conclusion in the December blog post– More research is needed. Postscript I am sure reactions to our work and the respective back-and-forth will break on partisan grounds. The “everything is fine” crew will believe that Dr. Schnall demolished our work whereas the “replication is important” crew will think we raised good points. This is all fine and good as it relates to the insider baseball and sort of political theater that exists in our world. However, I hope these pieces do not just create a bad taste in people’s mouth. I feel badly that this single paper and exchange have diverted attention from the important example of reform taken by Lakens and Nosek. They are helping to shape the broader narrative about how to do things differently in psychological science. Quick Update on Timelines (23 May 2014) David sent Dr. Schnall the paper we submitted to the editors on 28 October 2013 with a link to the raw materials. He wrote “I’ve attached the replication manuscript we submitted to Social Psychology based on our results to give you a heads up on what we found.” He added: “If you have time, we feel it would be helpful to hear your opinions on our replication attempt, to shed some light on what kind of hidden moderators or other variables might be at play here.” Dr. Schnall emailed back on 28 October 2013 asking for 2 weeks to review the material before we proceeded. David emailed back on 31 October 2013 apologizing for any miscommunication and that we had submitted the paper. He added we were still interested in her thoughts. That was the end of our exchanges. We learned about the ceiling effect concern when we received the commentary in early March of 2014. 27 thoughts on “Random Reflections on Ceiling Effects and Replication Studies” well, that seems quite reasonable. Looking at the percentages though, it may well be that the groups already significantly differ in their moral preferences. If they are indeed significantly different in their moral attitudes, then it’s likely it’s not a very close replication (i.e., you have a different type of sample). by the way – if the sample is indeed so different, than that is fascinating to know, of course! It may add to any model (whether the effect is true or not). It will help create boundary conditions to the effect (if it is true), and it adds information that in the old days would have been unknown! This is reasonable explanation. A good first step would be to try to get more baseline data on these vignettes to see what the distributions look like in a number of samples from other universities. This would give us a broader frame of reference for interpreting the current studies. Researchers at other universities can try it to see if college student characteristics are moderators by trying the sentence scrambling study as it is the easiest of the 2 studies to implement. We could also try to do the sentence scrambling priming study on mTurk but some people don’t think priming on the internet is valid. Perhaps with much, much greater samples? (I could understand that MTurk simply introduces A LOT of noise). That said, I also wonder about how effective the SST is. But, a university more comparable to the original one would be great. I think this is an important point, especially in the context of whether there are hidden moderators of the cleanliness effect (e.g, population differences). But we had no a priori predictions about differences between our samples (nor did Dr. Schnall mention such suspicions when she reviewed our proposal). Even if it is the case that our samples are different, this information useful for those planning to do research in this area, as it suggests that there are moderators that need to be ferreted out. entirely agreed. And an update of the model can be one function of replications. We have the task programmed in Qualtrics and we are happy to share it. We can even try an mTurk sample once we get some cash and amend the IRB. Also, I don’t think we should expect that original researchers know everything about the model. Being wrong about your model is something that all scientists experience in their lives. We usually are wrong. It’s a sign of progress. We should also try to be open to that end (let’s forgive each other for not having all predictions yet). Agree 100%. Would RT if I could. This is – by the way – a good example of why the results should be reviewed too. This is both helpful for the replication authors and original authors, so that together we get to better models. in order to keep it in perspective – do not forget that those %s from original study are based on 20(!) participants. as everything in that study, these estimates are highly unreliable. This is the second forum where I’ve seen a post from you that sounds like a broad-brush, emotional attack on the original paper (“…as everything in that study [sic]… highly unreliable.”). I have no ax to grind here whatsoever–I’m a computer scientists who is fascinated by the replication controversy, but has no a priori opinion about the people, studies, events or methods being discussed. But from where I sit, your behavior seems to lend some credence to those who are complaining about bullying. (i’m a little late here, sorry) Gregg – ‘reliability’ is a technical term. almost by definition, a sample statistic that is based on very few observations is an unreliable estimate of the true (population) parameter. so saying that the results are unreliable is not an emotional attack but a scientific criticism. you can disagree (e.g., if you think the sample was not small), but it seems wrong to call this an emotional attack, much less bullying. some relevant thoughts: Also, I am very disturbed by this comment: “The “everything is fine” crew will believe that Dr. Schnall demolished our work whereas the “replication is important” crew will think we raised good points.” I really like that more replications are done. But, let’s not divide us into camps. There’s a lot of people in the “in-between” area, that also criticise bad replications, but also see the merit of good replications. We know from the literature what categorization does to our perception of people… I think this is a good point. We are all in this science thing together. I agree, but as predicted, such has been the case. As a graduate student, I have been extremely disappointed by the discourse, or lack thereof, following the publication of the special issue. Specifically, statements made by Dan Gilbert and JP de Ruiter in a back-and-forth on twitter. It has been disheartening to watch psychologists that I admire behave in such a way. I have a new policy on comments that I made prior to posting this based on the discussion at Science. I will only approve comments from people using real names. I will amend this on a case by case basis. I just had a colleague point out that new people might have good ideas but need some protection. I would prefer to have everything out in the open but I also value free speech. But I won’t tolerate nasty comments from anonymous sources! I’m surprised that no one above has yet mentioned the ideas Danny Kahneman has expressed about grace, politeness, collegiality, and collaborative efforts. I’m doing this from memory, so it’s possible the ones I have in mind might not have been published yet. As I recall, he has written about this issue twice: once pointing out the nature of the problem & subseqently speaking more to the issue of etiquette. Perhaps the latter has appeared only online; if so, I hope subsequent posts will cite the source (I’m not in a good posiiton to look it up right now). Agree with Danny or not, it’s at least worthwhile to include his thoughts in the discussion. In my opinion, they are relevant when we consider not only distributive justice (our verdict on the presumed correctness of one set of results or another) but also the other elements identified as concerns many people have (evidenced by a vast amount of empirical literature in psychology that I assume is replicable!): interpersonal justice, informational justice, and procedural justice–see especially the work by scholars such as Tom Tyler, E. Allan Lind, and Bob Bies. The interpersonal realm pertains to treating people with respect and dignity, and I think at this point we ought to bend over backwards in our attempts to live up to those ideals. Issues of informational justice apparently were centered on transparency at the outset, which is all to the good. The aftermath, however, has suggested we might not yet have worked out all the necessary details. I think that overlaps with procedural justice (e.g., see criteria suggested by Gerald Leventhal), and those “how to” details might take longer than we realize to achieve something like a decent amount of consensus. Like beauty, after all, fairness is in the eye of the beholder! As too often the case, the essential aspect of this issue is sidestepped or unnoticed. What, pray tell, is the theory (and I do not mean stipulation of folk psychological likelihood) and conceptual apparatus that mediates and enables the presumed priming effect? What is priming? I submit there are a number of variants and that they do not all follow from a single (or dual) mechanism(s). I could go on at length, but I already have done so in print and will not here. I just want to make my point — psychology (generally, but not exclusively) is more concerned with demonstration-driven then theory-driven findings. And by “theory” I mean serious, conceptually sophisticated and (possibly) parametrically predictive structures that both explain as well as predict (more than a simple effect present or absent). In a real sense, much of what passes as psychological “science” is little more than folk using the right techniques (cf. Feynman) to flash their demos, but lacking conceptual heft to qualify as nomologically meaningful explication of nature. This, not simply hand wringing about replication, will ultimately either sink psychology or force a Kuhnian shift. It seems we have a sort of neo-behaviorism in which stipulated magical mental entities are now allowed with apparent impunity.
SYNOPSIS] - Minutes (required): There is no limit to minutes. (You must use this format also for minutes over 59) - Seconds (required): Must be between 0 and 59. - Hundredths (optional): Must be between 0 and 99. Use them for higher precision.. DESCRIPTION. OPTIONS - -w - Wrap Mode. Use to split file created with:. - -l - List mode (Only for Wrap mode). Lists all tracks wrapped in a Mp3Wrap or AlbumWrap archive without any extraction. Use this to view the content of the file or to test if file is a valid wrapped file. - -e - Error mode (mp3 only). It is useful to split large file derivated from a concatenation of smaller files. It detects split points from the so called "sync errors" (data that break stream, such as ID3 or junk data). Examples of applicable files are wrapped file (both AlbumWrap and Mp3Wrap) or file created by appending many mp3 files together. So, when you have a file to split, you should always try to use this option. - -t TIME - Time mode. This option will create an indefinite number of smaller files with a fixed time length specified by TIME (which has the same format described above). It is useful to split long files into smaller (for example with the time length of a CD). Adjust option (-a) can be used to adjust splitpoints with silence detection. - -s - Silence mode, to split with silence detection. When you use -s option, mp3splt attempts to detect silence points in all the file (or just in some parts, see -a and -c below for this). To detect silence we need to decode files, so this option can be really slow if used with big files. It accepts some parameters with -p option (see below for a detailed description): threshold level (th) which is the sound level to be considered silence, number of tracks (nt) which is the desired number of tracks, cutpoint offset (off) which is the offset of cutpoint in silence, minimum_length (min) which is the minimum silence length in seconds, remove silence (rm) which allows you to remove the silence between split tracks. If you don't specify any parameter, mp3splt will use the default values. Of course if you specify the number of tracks to split, you will help mp3splt to understand what are the most probable split points, anyway once you scan a file with -s option, mp3splt will write a file named "mp3splt.log" in which it saves all silence points found. This allows you to run mp3splt with different parameters (except th and min) without decoding the file again. Finally, if the number of silence points is not correct, you have many chances to achieve right result. For example if a silence point was not detected because too short, you can manually split the long track in the two smaller ones. Or if file is an MP3 (not with ogg) and there are too many silence points that can't be discarded reducing track number (because are longer than right points) you can safely concatenate them with 'cat' programs or similar ('copy /b file1+file2' for dos) because split files are consecutive, no data is lost and no ID3 is written for this purpose. This option is intended to split small/medium size (but even large if you can wait ;) mp3 and ogg files where tracks are separated by a reasonable silence time. To try to split mixed albums or files with consecutive tracks (such as live performances) might be only a waste of time.) - -c SOURCE - CDDB mode. To get splitpoints and filenames automatically from SOURCE, that is the name of a ".CUE" file (note that it must end with ".cue", otherwise it will be wrongly interpreted as a cddb file) or a local .XMCD (.CDDB) file on your hard disk.! - -a - Auto-adjust mode. This option uses silence detection to auto-adjust splitpoints. It can be used in standard mode, or with -t and -c option (of course if there is silence in the file ;). It accepts some parameters with -p option (see below for a detailed description): threshold level (th) which is the sound level to be considered silence, cutpoint offset (off) which is the offset of cutpoint in silence, gap (gap) which is the gap value around splitpoint to search for silence. If you don't specify any parameter, mp3splt will use the default values. With -a option splitting process is the same, but for each splitpoint mp3splt will decode some time (gap) before and some after to find silence and adjust splitpoints. - -p PARAMETERS - Parameters for -a and -s option. When using -a and -s option some users parameters can be specified in the argument and must be in the form: <name1=value,name2=value,..> You can specify an indefinite number of them, with no spaces and separated by comma. Available parameters are: - Both -s and -a - th=FLOAT - Threshold level (dB) to be considered silence. It is a float number between -96 and 0. Default is -48 dB, which is a value found by tests and should be good in most cases. - off=FLOAT - Float number between -2 and 2 and allows you to adjust the offset of cutpoint in silence time. 0 is the begin of silence, and 1 the end. Default is 0.8. In most cases, you will only need to use a value between 0 and 1. Offset visualization : v off=0 v off=1 ++++ ... ++++++++++++++++++++++----------++++++++++ ... +++++ ^off=-0.5 ^off=1.5 ^off=-1 ^off=2 ^off=-1.5 ^off=-2 Legend : pluses are 'audio', minuses 'silence', 'v' down-arrow, '^' up-arrow and '...' a segment of the audio file (silence or audio) - Only -s - nt=INTEGER - Positive integer number of tracks to be split when using -s option. By default all tracks are split. - min=FLOAT - Positive float of the minimum number of seconds to be considered a valid splitpoint. All silences shorter than min are discarded. Default is 0. - rm - Does not require an additional number and it used to remove silence when using -s option. - Only -a - gap=INTEGER - Positive integer for the time to decode before and after splitpoint, increase if splitpoints are completely wrong, or decrease if wrong for only few seconds. Of course the smaller the gap, the faster the process. Default gap is 30 seconds (so for each song, total decode time is one minute). - -f - Frame mode (mp3 only). Process all frames, seeking split positions by counting frames and not with bitrate guessing. In this mode you have higher precision and you can split variable bitrate (VBR) mp3. (You can also split costant bitrate mp3, but it will take more time). Note also that "high" precision means that time seeking is reliable, but may not coincide for example with another player program that uses time seeking with bitrate guessing, so make your choice. Frame mode will print extra info on split process, such as sync errors. If you obtain some sync errors, try also to split with -e option. - -k - Input not seekable. Consider input not seekable (default when using STDIN as input). This allows you to split mp3 and ogg streams which can be read only one time and can't be seeked. Both framemode and standard mode are available, but framemode can be really slow if used with big files, because to seek splitpoints we need to process all bytes and all frames. -k option (so STDIN as input too) can't be used together with -s -a -w -e, because input must be seekable for those options. - -O TIME - Overlap split files. TIME will be added to each end splitpoint. Current implementation of this option makes the split slower. - -o FORMAT - Output format. FORMAT is a string that will be used as output directory and/or filename. If FORMAT contains the DIRCHAR character ('\' on windows and '/' on other systems), directories will be created for each DIRCHAR if they don't exist and the output files will be created in the corresponding directory. If the -d option is not specified, the output directory is the concatenation of the input file directory and the extracted path from FORMAT. If the -d option is also specified, the output directory will be the concatenation between the -d option value and the extracted path from the -o FORMAT (characters up to the last DIRCHAR). Invalid filename characters from the tags are transformed to '_'.: @[email protected][email protected] (default if using -c and -o is not specified) @a/@b/@[email protected] (will create the directories '<artist>' and '<artist>/<album>') - -d NAME - Output directory. To put all output files in the directory named NAME. If directory does not exists, it will be created. The -o option can also be used to output files into a directory. - -n - No tags. Does not write ID3 or Vorbis comment in output files. Use if you need clean files. See also the -x option. - -x - No Xing header. Does not write the Xing header in output files. Use this option with -n if you wish to concatenate the split files and obtain a similar file as the input file. - -1 - Force ID3v1 tags. For mp3 files, force output tags as version 1. - -2 - Force ID3v2 tags. For mp3 files, force output tags as version 2. - -N - No silence log file. Don't create the 'mp3splt.log' log file when using silence detection. This option cannot be used without the '-s' option. - -g TAGS - Custom tags. Set custom tags to the split files. TAGS should contain a list of square brackets pairs []. The tags defined in the first pair of square brackets will be set on the first split file, those defined in the second pair of square brackets will be set on the second split file, ... Inside a pair of square brackets, each tag is defined as @variable=value and tags are separated by comma. If a percent sign % is found before the open square bracket character, then the pair of square brackets following the % character will define the default tags in the following files. Multiple '%' can be defined. The variables can. - -m M3U - Create .m3u file. Creates a .m3u file containing the split files. The generated .m3u file only contains the split filenames without the path. If an output directory is specified with -d or -o, the file is created in this directory. The path of M3U is ignored. This option cannot be used with STDOUT output. - -q - Quiet mode. Stays quiet :) i.e. do not prompt the user for anything and print less messages. When you use quiet option, mp3splt will try to end program without asking anything to the user (useful for scripts). In Wrap mode it will also skip CRC check, use if you are in such a hurry. - -Q - Very quiet mode. Enables the -q option and does not print anything to STDOUT. This option cannot be used with STDOUT output. - -D - Debug mode. Experimental debug support. Print extra informations about what is being done. Current print doesn't have a nice format. - -i - Count silence mode. Print the number of silence splitpoints found with silence detection. Use -p for arguments. - -v - Print version. Print the version of mp3splt and libmp3splt and exit. - -h - Print help. Print a short usage of mp3splt and exit. EXAMPLES @[email protected]. BUGS Report any bugs you find to Authors (see below). Advices, info requests and contributions are welcome. AUTHORS Matteo Trotta <[email protected]> Alexandru Ionut Munteanu <[email protected]> DISTRIBUTION.
Inbox Blueprint 2.0 Review 2020: Build Passive Income Through Email Alone! Hey Marketing Verdict: Recommended Get 50% Off Your PurchaseInbox BluePrint Black Friday Discount What you will learn in this inbox blueprint 2.0 Review: - The 5-step system Anik has been using to Build multiple successful online businesses - How to turn the 4.2 Billion email addresses into a profitable information business - Watch over the shoulder as a business is built and launched - The Critical Mistake that most email marketers do that is hurting their business - How to collect more email addresses and convert them into cash - How to automate your business so that it generates an income passively - How to build trust with your subscribers: It’s not all about money! Heads Up: There are some Killer Bonuses If you Buy from this page. (Email me your receipt here with “Inbox Blueprint Purchase” as the Subject after you make your purchase) Contents - 0.1 Who is Anik Singal? - 0.2 Inbox Blueprint 2.0 Video Review - 0.3 Can Really Make Money With Inbox BluePrint? - 0.4 What is Inbox Blueprint 2.0? - 0.5 Inbox Blueprint Pros vs Cons - 0.6 An Inside Look Into Inbox Blueprint - 0.7 There are Even More Tools to Make Work Easier - 0.8 Who is Inbox Blueprint For? - 0.9 Inbox Blueprint 2.0 Pricing - 0.10 Inbox Blueprint 2.0 at a Glance - 0.11 My Final Thoughts on Inbox Blueprint 2.0 - 1 Sign Up for the FREE Newsletter Who is Anik Singal? Anik Singal has been named a Top 3 Young Entrepreneurs by BusinessWeek and two years in a row as an Inc 500 CEO. In 2008, Singal donated a gift of $50,000 to his alma mater’s Hinman CEOs Program and became the chair of the Hinman CEOs Alumni Fund. He has been featured in several Publications like Huffingtonpost where his Ideas helped someone in getting out of debt and Bloomberg. In early 2017, he was Giving out FREE entrepreneurs Toolkit. It only requires a contribution of Only $5 for goodwill and you’ll get Free access to his course; Lurn Insider where he teaches how to launch a successful information business. He has helped thousands of students make their first dollar online… Inbox Blueprint 2.0 Video Review If you watched my Inbox Blueprint 2.0 Review 2019 by now you are aware of what you are venturing in. Hang on: Keep reading the review for more information. Can Really Make Money With Inbox BluePrint? I know most people doubt most programs out there. It’s not your fault. Maybe you have been scammed several times online to an extent that you are giving up this “make money online thing” Inbox Blueprint Commissions It’s possible. What is Inbox Blueprint 2.0? Inbox Blueprint 2.0 is an 8 module step-by-step course that reveals how to build a profitable business through email even if you don’t have a list. It touches all the basics of email marketing on how to build a craving list of subscribers. Do you know that email is 40 times more effective than Facebook and Twitter?[Source] Why not take that advantage over your competitor? Launching a Business within Inbox Blueprint Within a few minutes, you’ll have your business set-up and ready to start pumping money into your bank account. From Lead magnet, Opt in pages, thank you pages and autoresponder. The training is geared towards helping you generate passive income within the shortest time possible mostly through affiliate marketing so that you don’t spend a lot of time creating your own products. OR Register For a FREE Webinar! Inbox Blueprint Pros vs Cons Pros: - Complete A-Z training on email marketing - Ensures you build and monetize a list fast - Easy to follow the training - One time payment of Only $997. No Upsells - Training in both written and video format - Proven “email blogging” scripts - 12 months unlimited support - Ready-made Opt-in templates and emails for you to choose from - This is HUGE! FREE access to Publish Academy(Value $1997) - Access To 30 most profitable niches that are EverGreen - Saves time to create a business from a scratch - Teaches how to make the most of a small list - Access to weekly training with Anik himself - Practical because of assignments that have to be completed - Live examples from Lurn coaches - The support team and from members is awesome Cons: - Expensive. But hey, I think it’s worth - Takes time- This is not a get-rich-quick scheme but your success is accelerated - Not newbie-friendly. You need to know how to send traffic to your opt-in pages By now, you probably know that Inbox Blueprint is a great product if you are serious about building an automated profitable business using email alone. An Inside Look Into Inbox Blueprint As I mentioned earlier, Inbox Blueprint is broken down into 8 modules that you can deploy and start profiting right away. Each step has its training and a task to complete after each module to move you step-by-step on the right track. Here are the 8 steps that you'll follow in order to build an automated business with Inbox Blueprint. I'll discuss them in detail below. - Step 1 - Addiction Meter - Step 2 - The Bait - Step 3 - TYP Method - Step 4 - Email Machine - Step 5 - List Relationship - Step 6 - Payday Secrets - Step 7 - Easy Traffic - Step 8 - Unlimited Success Step 1 - Addiction Meter This is the initial step of the training. You are given over 30 niches that are proven profitable to choose from in order to build your email marketing business. Don't make the critical mistake that I see most marketers make? Turning your passion into profit! Don't get me wrong, you can really turn your passion into profit. But my question to you is " What if your passion is not profitable?" By now, you are aware that building a solid business needs money. With Inbox Blueprint, the process of choosing a niche is made simple so that you don't waste time on niches that aren't proven profitable. In this step, you can select the products to promote and also introduced to the various method of making money online. Course Outline: - Discover the most profitable niches for an email marketing business - How to research profitable Niches eg Clickbank, Amazon, Magazines, YouTube and Google - How to use Launchpad Niches TASK: Choose your profitable email marketing Niche for Your Business! Step 2: The Bait What will make people join your mailing list? Some of the email marketers s*ck which make their emails ineffective. If you have nothing to offer, it will be hard to build a list! Course Outline: - Introduction to opt-in pages - Learn the best copywriting techniques to skyrocket your email list - How to create a converting opt-in page that converts(the easy way) - Double or single opt-in. No more confusion - How do design your opt-in pages - The best button colors that convert(Not known to many) - How to create your "lead magnet" aka the bait TASK: Create your first Highly Converting opt-in page Step 3 - TYP Method(Thank You Page Method) The training gets even more exciting. Anik is going to teach you how to monetize your thank you page because you want to start making money from the day you get your first subscriber. This is HUGE and will keep you ahead of the competition as very few people are using it at the moment. Discover the Deadly Mistake That 95% of Email Marketers Make! Click Here! I won't go into detail because I want you to understand better and implement those killer strategies when you buy. Using this step alone will PUT you ahead of 95% of email marketers out there. Course Outline: - The underlying secret of a profitable Thank you page - How and how to deliver the bait that you promised in "Step 2 above" - How to create an Irresistible Thank you page offer - The best strategies for Thank you pages TASK: Choose your Irresistible offer and build your first Profitable TYP Step 4 - The Email Machine What comes to your mind when you hear a machine? From my little Physics from High School, It's anything that makes work easier. Remember? Awesome! 😆 Inbox Blueprint teaches you how to automate your business because you want to spend a little time working but want to profit. Money is needed up front though. You have to commit to incur the monthly charges if you want to use the system. Some email marketing providers are ConvertKit, Aweber, Get-response and Send lane(You'll get 30 days Free trial from all the providers.) Course Outline: - Introduction to autoresponders - How to track your clicks - Broadcast or Automated. Which should you use TASK: Choose your email marketing provider and set up your first campaign Step 5 - Email Relationship(The most Important!) There is more to email marketing than just making a buck. You need to provide value to your customers and give them every reason to stay on your email list. Build a lasting relationship and let your subscribers know that you care about them not just after making money. Pro Tip: Don't fear to sell! You are paying to keep them! Course Outline: - How to provide valuable content to your subscribers - The email lifeline: How many promotional emails should you send? - Learn how to write good promotional emails - How to write emails during launches - Writing subject lines than guarantees opens - How to build a relationship with your subscribers - The importance of testing emails before sending TASK: Set up your first few automated sequences. Step 6 - Payday Secrets Shhhh! What will make you buy this course? This module reveals the secret of making, even more, money in your business. Course Outline: - Simple tweaks that can increase your earnings drastically - Monetizing your list while building a relationship - Monetizing with affiliate programs - The Key secrets to promoting product launches - Event marketing(Christmas, Easter, Black Friday) - How to use webinars to sell products(including affiliate offers) - Adding fast action bonuses to increase conversions TASK: Buy Inbox Blueprint Here and start applying the tactics 😉 Step 7: Easy Traffic This is HUGE! Without traffic, your business is doomed. Watch the Webinar Replay Below to Learn 4 Ways to Drive Hungry Buyers to your page. Ask every marketer, this is what most struggle with. You'll get to learn the tactics to get traffic.(That Actually Works) - Time Vs Money! - If you spend money, you'll get traffic almost instantly. On the contrary, if you spend time, you'll be building traffic over time. That is slowly but steadily - Guest Blogging - Social media - Commenting on relevant blogs - Forums - Yahoo Answers - Facebook ads - Google ads TASK: Skyrocket your business by sending more traffic to your opt-in pages Step 8 - Unlimited Success It's all about Scaling. If you reached this far, you know that Inbox Blueprint is a product that will help you grow your business. Most covers on increasing your deliverability and open rates. Remember, you can't profit if no one opening your emails containing your offers. Course Outline: - The most important metrics you must follow - How to boost conversions and open rates - How to avoid your emails going to the spam folder - Get fancy or Simple TASK: SCALE your business and stay on track Get Instant Access to All the Modules Now! There are Even More Tools to Make Work Easier By now, you probably have a lot of knowledge concerning the Inbox blueprint. Apart from the training modules, you also get some more... 1. The Launch Pad A software that hundreds of thousands have been spent in order to make it more effective. I'm sure, you'll benefit if you choose to use it when you buy. Here is a short Demo. Click to play 😀 Want this launch pad? Get it Here Now! 2. The Member's Only Forum Here is where you will be able to interact with fellow members as well as the coaches. Who is Inbox Blueprint For? Website owners depending on Search traffic(SEO) and social media. Where are you? You know algorithms change without warning and slap you to the ground. Why not get started with Inbox blueprint? Are you a product owner or affiliate? How will you increase your sales and build a relationship with your audience without email? Inbox Blueprint is for you! Inbox Blueprint is for advanced marketers who at least understand the basics of building a website and email marketing. Although the training can still work for newbies, it can be challenging in the initial stages but it's worth it. IBP is also for people who already have a list but don't know how to monetize it as email is a gold mine. Are your emails ignored? It's not your fault. Learn how to get high open rates and conversions with Inbox blueprint. Inbox Blueprint 2.0 Pricing First, there are no upsells with Inbox Blueprint which is awesome but you may still get some of his products which are optional and completely up to you. You can save $194 Instantly by paying the Full price of $997 by buying from this link here and Lock yourself for my Killer Bonuses. Or... Pay 4 Instalments of $297. That's it. Inbox Blueprint 2.0 at a Glance Name: Inbox Blueprint Website: inboxblueprint.com Owner: Anik Singal the CEO at Lurn Price : $297 x 4 or $997(You save $194 Instantly) Where to buy:inboxblueprint.com Category: Email Marketing Verdict: Recommended Inbox Blueprint 2.0 Affiliate Program: Apply Here and Get Guaranteed Approval(seriously) My Final Thoughts on Inbox Blueprint 2.0 Inbox Blueprint is a great product for anyone who wants to run a successful email marketing business. Email marketing is one of the Gold Mine that every Internet entrepreneur should have. With the Google updates, it's RISKY to Rely on it. With email marketing, you have traffic on your hands and not on the mercy of others! Get Inbox Blueprint Here and the Bonuses Thank you for Checking my Inbox Blueprint 2.0 Review 2020, a product by Anik Singal. Have any questions, experience, compliments or comments? I'll be happy to hear from you. Share in the comments thread below. For Exclusive Content, Strategies and Resources Not Shared on the Blog Related Posts: - Learn Build Earn Review: Product creation on steroids - Lurn Insider Review: Launch a Succesful Information Business Now! - Affilojetpack Review: A money-making machine? - Wealthy Affiliate Review: The Biggest scam of the Year? Tony Omary Inbox BluePrint 2.0 Review 4 Very informative post. U made almost 1k from this course. Can u help me to clarify my doubts: 1. How long did it took for you to make your first sale through this system? 2. How much did you spent on traffic on average per month? I’m don’t have lots of Money to spend. Im just worried about the cost of traffic after signing up for this programme. Thanks Hey Adrian, 1. It took me around two months(hint: I already had this website) So, it may be shorter or longer for some people depending on your following, expertise, dedication and other factors 2.I didn’t spend any on paid traffic. It’s all organic. Is it ok to buy this program even if i dont have any website or any internet business? will i still be able to make money? Inbox blueprint will teach you how to have a website and thus an online business You mentioned that you already had a website. How about for people who dont have any existing product/service to sell will they still get good results by purely selling affiliate offers? People who have a website or list will get faster results. No problem if you don’t have a product, you’ll be promoting affiliate product for a commission. Hey Tony, DO you use Wealthy Affiliate too? I started recently and I was very tempted to just go for the inbox blueprint as I’ve read Anik’s Circle of Profit book. I’ve heard good things but I couldn’t warrant the price of this course. It’d be great if you could tell me why this is better than WA? I’m looking to get pop ups and places on my website to sign up to my email list, but I still don’t think it converts well. [Links Removed] Could you click through on my opt-in page… I’m wondering whether my TYP should be my initial page and my TYP should be a clickbank product. Sorry this is so too the point and for posting my links I would really appreciate your feedback though Thanks for your post Mike Inbox blueprint is great if you want to learn how to generate income through email alone. The landing page should be a free offer while the thank you page could be a clickbank product.
Return to Transcripts main page CNNGO CNN GO Discovers Auckland's Urban Volcanoes, A Mysterious Underground Fortress, Multi-Cultural Communities, Spectacular, Unique Beaches Aired October 12, 2011 - 03:30:00 ET THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED. (MUSIC PLAYS, "ONE SOCK", THE CHECKS) (MUSIC PLAYS, "PERFECT LOVER", THE CHECKS) RUSSELL BROWN, RADIO HOST/BLOGGER: We're going up to the top of Mount Eden. It is one of the 50 cones in the Auckland volcanic field. I think it's a great thing for cyclists, actually. Kind of like hipster boutique mountains. I don't think there is any other city in the world that has got them. These kinds of little volcanoes just dotted through the suburbs. The one we are heading out, now, Mount Eden, is actually the highest national point in Greater Auckland, 196 meters. So, it's not particularly big. It is kind of the ideal mountain to ride up, Mount Eden. Not too easy, not too hard. Like many of these kinds, this one was occupied in pre-European times, up until about the year 1700 in this case, as a fortified tower. And you can still see a lot of the earthworks. Ha! Well, that wasn't too bad. This, quite clearly, is Mount Eden's crater, which is magnificent, but unfortunately very delicate and even though people are banned from going down there now, people do. And it is unfortunate because it is being eroded by the foot traffic. It is one of the realities of life in Auckland, is that your suburb (ph) could grow a volcano. Because none of the existing cones will erupt again, basically. There will be an eruption at some point and it will be in a new location. And exactly where that is, we don't know. What we are looking at here is the Waitemata Harbor, going out to the Hauraki Gulf. You can see around Rangitoto Island, which is a volcanic island, that erupted within human memory. The harbor and the gulf themselves are just beautiful stretches of water. What you can see here is the central business district. This is a kumara pit, where kumara, which are a form of sweet potato, brought to the country by the original Maori migrants. A very important staple food and they were stored and covered in pits. The delightful thing about being up here is the 360 degree view of the Auckland Isthmus. There are, you know, there are many vantage points in Auckland, but I think this really is the one. (MUSIC PLAYS) ZOWIE, SINGER/MUSICIAN: The government sort of started to work out they should build something like this in the 1870s. Because of the rumors of the Russian fleet coming in here, who actually never came. And in the 1880s was when it actually was built. So it was all built by hand, and picks, and little shovels, and things, all the tunnels were. I think this is the entrance to a tunnel. I'm not sure where this leads. I'm going to have a look. You can come in here on your own free will and not have a tour guide with you, or you know, have someone watching over your shoulder not to scribble on things or do something to it. It is just open so you can have a look. It's so amazing. It kind of feels like a movie set. A crazy kind of, I don't know, something from like "Saving Private Ryan" or something unreal. It feels quite surreal being in here, which is really cool. That I shouldn't be here, but I'm allowed to be here. (LAUGHTER) It is so narrow the camera man is having to back out of here. Sorry about that. This is incredible. It's a perfect angle to keep a watch for anyone trying to invade, as well. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You see any Russians today? (LAUGHTER) ZOWIE: Some just went past on some water skis. (LAUGHTER) I haven't seen anything like this before. This is incredible. (MUSIC PLAYS) ZOWIE: I believe this gun was fired once or twice, at the most, and that was just when the queen arrived. I was really lucky because I was brought up around music. ZOWIE (SINGING): I want to whip it! ZOWIE: My dad is a crazy musician who has always been original with everything. People have always got him to come in on these session if they can't think of anything original, he'll (UNINTELLIGIBLE) something. So, I was always in the studio, you know. And my nephews on the mixing disc. (LAUGHTER) They always let me control the mixing disc. It is something that has been in the water lately. I think the music scene has really sort of taken off, especially in the last kind of couple of years. I mean it has always been a really solid music scene. But I think this day and age it is about having the Internet, Facebook, and Twitter and everything, it helps to get that extra push for a lot of bands. That maybe wouldn't have had it beforehand. It sort of, kind getting their claws in to everything, which is really cool, and getting recognized everywhere, which is amazing. (SINGING): I want to whip it. (MUSIC, "READY TO DIE", THE CHECKS) ED KNOWLES, THE CHECKS: We really got together in high school when we were like 14 and 15 years old. CALLUM MARTIN, THE CHECKS: We got chucked in the deep end like that. And then we thought, OK, we probably have enough songs to go for an album. KNOWLES: Yes, and soon we moved to England for a while. Made one album over there, made another album when we came home. We just finished a third. SVEN PETTERSEN, THE CHECKS: I think the best thing about New Zealand as far as music goes, it is not all the variety of bands, it is just that there is nobody here. So you can go and you have infinite amount of time and space to write, to figure out your own thing. (UNINTELLIGIBLE) that's how people do it and that is why it's got a unique flavor. KNOWLES: Yes, because you are never going to really blow up massive, because there's not the market to support it. So if you are making music you are really just making it for yourself, or-and for other musicians, and for the people here. It's not like a big goal to go and sell a billion records. PETTERSEN: If you come here, don't be expecting a band nightlife of New York. Just go straight to the beach and stay there. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tell me. Where are we going to head now? KNOWLES: We're going to go- PETTERSEN: Straight to the band night life. (LAUGHTER) KNOWLES: Yeah. (LAUGHTER) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are going down to Bolton (ph) Lane, which a little strip of bars and cafes, off the High Street. It's really great. There's great food and lots of, different kind of, beer bars. And we are going to DJ at this bar called Cassette No. 9. (MUSIC PLAYS) (COMMERCIAL BREAK) NADIA LIM, 2011 NEW ZEALAND, "MASTER CHEF": We're right now at the Auckland Viaduct. Beautiful sunny day and we are just about to head out to Waiheke Island. So we are going to catch the ferry over there. Thank you. (MUSIC PLAYS: "THE SKY AND THE EARTH", BOH RUNGA) LIM: This is the Auckland Sea back here. This is the ferry (ph) building. And as soon as the ferry starts taking off we'll get to see awesome view of Auckland City. Probably most of these (UNINTELLIGIBLE) have been out to Waiheke before. From Auckland it is only a 45 minute trip on the ferry. And there's lots of vineyards and wineries there. Lots of good places to eat. I mean, my friends come over about every year, once a year, and we hire bikes and we bike around to all the wineries. So it is lots of fun. Happy to meet you. I'm Nadia. PATRICK NEWTON, WINEMAKER: We're looking back at the city of Auckland. LIM: Auckland City in the very far distance. NEWTON: Nice and easy. And then we've got Rangitoto, the volcano. This is just sitting there. Over here is mainly Chardonnay, and a few smaller areas of Cabernet Sauvignon, Surray (ph), a bit of Mudbrick, and Cabernet Franc. LIM: What time of year would you see the grapes ripe and ready? NEWTON: Usually around March, April. (MUSIC PLAYS) LIM: So we have a red and a white wine, here? NEWTON: Yes, we have the 2010 Mudbrick (UNINTELLIGIBLE) Chardonnay. LIM: Yes. NEWTON: And the 2010 Mudbrick Shepard's Point Surray (ph). LIM: OK. NEWTON: So both grown on the island. We'll try the Chardonnay first. LIM: OK. NEWTON: We've got some lovely stone, fruit. Has a nice little flinty aroma, there. I'd say a bit of complexity. LIM: Is there a bit of a technique to swirl? NEWTON: To the swirly? Practice. New Zealand is definitely one of the places in the world where we have distinct characters in the wines, whether it is Mauve (ph) Sauvignon Blanc, Centro Tigo (ph), Pinion Noir, or Waiheke Surray. We are very stylistically different to anywhere else in the world. (MUSIC PLAYS) LIM: In New Zealand, I mean, we have actually got all this food, this really produce for free. We are very lucky that we can go out into the harbor even, from Auckland City, and go fishing and catch as many snappers as you like. You can go diving for scallops, crayfish, and all of that stuff is great to eat. And I mean, it is so fresh, and it's free. And it's right on your doorstep. And I don't think a lot of other cities around the world have that. So we are very lucky in that sense, to have food in that way. (MUSIC PLAYS: "THINK I'M INSANE", XRAY FIENDS) OSCAR KIGHTLEY, ACTOR/COMEDIAN: Wild Auckland, you know? Auckland is one big village. It is made up of lots of little villages that are clustered around two houses, but you know, you can go everyday and usually see people you know. This is the Otara Market. It is been here since the `70s. It kind of started as a community initiative, but it has kind of since picked up and Saturday morning this car park turns into this thriving sea of cheap socks. (LAUGHTER) Fresh vegetables and fatty food. Hey, how are you my friend? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was only thinking of you last week. Where's Oscar? (LAUGHTER) And there you are. KIGHTLEY: Here I am. All right. Let me get some peanut brownies. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Peanut brownies, oh, always the brownies. KIGHTLEY: Yeah, always the brownies. What do you like so much about being here? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The queen most of all. (LAUGHTER) (HOLDS UP CURRENCY WITH PICTURE OF QUEEN) KIGHTLEY: Auckland is the biggest Polynesian city in world, in terms of Auckland-the Pacific population first landed in the simple suburbs, but kind of soon, South Auckland was created and everybody moved from the central areas out to south and out to west, and this South Auckland, right here in Otara is like the heart of South Auckland. One of the things I love is have everybody represents where they are from. And because it is World Cup here, this is more extreme than normal. (LAUGHTER) But-oh, check this out. What do you mean going (UNINTELLIGIBLE) (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE) Have you got any calf legs? Is that a big flag? OK, all right then, here you go. Come to the Otara Market and buy a Samoan (ph) flag. I love it. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why not? KIGHTLEY: Thank you. Those are real apples? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just done about 10 minutes ago. KIGHTLEY: Ah, shut up, you have pineapple as well? Straight pineapple? UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is way nicer. KIGHTLEY: OK, I'll tell you, I'll leave it to you. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Leave it to us? KIGHTLEY: Yeah. It's not just cheap socks and appliances, and Samoan flags and fatty food, it's fresh stuff like this. Thank you. It's funny in the few times I've traveled people are always surprised to hear that I'm from New Zealand. Oh, what they have brown people there? But when you look at our location, we are actually a South Pacific nation. And Auckland, in particular, is kind of the melting pot city, of the country. And here you get all sorts. And especially in Otara is a good place to see it. You've got of course here, Samoans, Tongans, your Fijians, your Cook Island, your (UNINTELLIGIBLE) community, pretty much all of the Polynesian states. And then you've got all the local Asian community that sell their stuff here. But they also shop here. You've got all the local market growers, second generation Chinese here. And when you come to Auckland, and you want to check out, you know, a different face of the people, community that you know, maybe you don't get exposure to, where you are from, Otara is a really cool, safe, and vibrant, and colorful place to do it. (COMMERCIAL BREAK) (MUSIC PLAYS, "WINTER SUN", THE CHECKS) KAREN WALKER, DESIGNER: We are one of Auckland's many really great city beaches. You know this is a city that is all about coast lines. And Waitemata Harbour, and the island off it. And so this is Takapuna Beach, on Auckland's north shore. It's one of my favorite beaches in the city because it is big and it's calm and the water is just, always flat, and you get this beautiful trees that give you the shade. And you get the outlook onto some of the many islands in the gulf. For the next six or seven months this beach will be just the centerpiece of life for a lot of people. A lot of people come here every morning for a swim, or every weekend. This cafe here, Takapuna Beach Cafe, is one of my favorites. They do a great coffee, they do great food. They do fantastic ice cream. On a trip over to Takapuna Beach, for me, isn't complete without stopping here for gelato or an ice cream, or a coffee, and taking in some of the coastline. Very laid back, almost a nostalgic vibe to it because it is so un- touristy and so sweet and sort of old-fashioned in a way, which is what I love about it. Everybody kind of has their own little secret spot that they like at the beaches here. They have got their little escape, whether it is out of town or in the city. And you kind of get your little routine happening, I guess. And for me this is it. Just coming around these little bays; and you've got all this sort of black volcanic rock, and the very white sand, and the blue sea. And this beautiful vista that is broken up by the island; this is kind of my ideal beach. Well, right now we are at Bethells Te Henga, which is one of Auckland's best west coast beaches. And what I love about this spot is that it is so different from what we have just seen on the east coast. This beach is all about the ruggedness and the weather and the wind, and the surf, and the vastness of scale. You walk out onto the beach and it is a little bit of a walk to get to the beach. You have to walk right along the estuary, but that is half the charm. The Bethells doesn't make it easy for you. So it is not about giving you and easy shot, but it is about just having something that is quite awesome and wonderful, and the vastness of scale and the ruggedness of it, I think, is what is really sensational for me. There is a difference between Auckland's west coast and Auckland's east coast. I mean, there is really nothing that is the same. Every single thing is different. One of the things that I really love about living in New Zealand, living in Auckland, is that it is so easy to create the kind of lifestyle that I like. So, I get to have that very urban, quite sophisticated, kind of urban lifestyle. But then I can also, you know, at the drop of a hat experience something that is much more sort of rugged and to blow the cobwebs away and to kind of think and give me a distraction from everyday life. And I think that is quite rare to be able to have that city life, but to have this close by (ph). (MUSIC PLAYS, "STARFISH SLEEPING", BOH RUNGA) BOH RUNGA, SINGER/DESIGNER: Right now we are in Auckland City, down by the waterfront. In a complex called Britomart. It was named after HMS Britomart, which was a Royal Navy ship. And actually this whole area is actually a port where shipping and the naval fleet based here. And now it is being developed into a bit a hub of activity for shopping and eating, and drinking, Mika (ph). That is just something entirely its own self now. And people are gravitating towards the waterfront. Any visitor coming, as a visitor coming to New Zealand, one thing that personally crave, when I'm here (ph) is pie. It is a very New Zealand thing. And this is Sarge's Pie Cart, which has only been here for a few weeks. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've got creamy butter chicken. RUNGA: Oh. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've got Thai chicken, minced, mince and cheese. RUNGA: Oh, mince and cheese. Mince and cheese, please. A classic, classic New Zealand pie. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you want to go around the world and we just take a decent pie and show the world how good they really are, because (UNINTELLIGIBLE) RUNGA: Oh, great. Congratulations and good luck. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good luck to you and your making it. (LAUGHTER) RUNGA: Thank you. Oh, tasty. To me a good night out is something when you have a bite to eat, then you really hit the town. So, to me a pie is a good start. So we are in the wonderful, lively Tyler Street Garage, or Garage. As you can see, it used to be, it also used to be a car park, and a garage before that. And it has been converted and has a bit of a wonderful, New York, industrial chic vibe to it. And upstairs there is a wonderful, wonderful, little deck with a view of the working port outside. One interesting thing about New Zealand is that there is such a rare culture. KIGHTLEY: Yeah, there is a lot of authentic stuff here. You can just smell it. You can feel it. You can taste it. WALKER: Very much a community feel, wherever you live here. LIM: We're just so lucky that we can have the city and then you step, you know, an hour outside the city and you are in the countryside. KIGHTLEY: Kind of the melting pot city of the country. (LAUGHTER) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Cut, take two. (LAUGHTER) END
My boyfriend has anxiety disorder, and for the last few months, he has been having pressure in the back of his head. He says it feels like his head is being squeezed in a vice, or a tightly wrapped bandage on his head. It makes his anxiety much worse, and he always feels like going to the ER for this. He has been there 2 times last month in the same week for this, and the doctors have done numerous tests on him, and everything came out fine. What can this be, and how can he get rid of this? Stephanie from Paterson, NJ By Stephanie G. Here are the recent answer to this question. I was told [whenI went to emergency] that it was high bloodpressure, it was dangerously high when they tested it & kept me there overnight, I too was under a lot of stress at the time, when under stress it returns when not I am fine. I hope for you that like me you will try not to let things "stress you out"!- it solves nothing, & your heart pays the price! all the best to you dear. By PAT (Guest Post)02/20/2009 Migraines. Having suffered from them for 40 years--the back of the head is the primary place where the pain either starts or stays or goes up further into the head. Try a med like immitrex or similar. Sinus pain is generally in the front of your head. Hope you feel better. By Dorene (Guest Post)02/20/2009 I agree. A good chiropractor could help. Remember that chiropractors are just like other 'professionals'. Not all are good at their 'craft'. So if you do not get results within a month move to another. No drugs, no side effects or long range problems due to drugs. Good luck. They have worked for me for over 20+ years and yes. I have changed chiropractors. Your body responds differently to different treatments. I use to have side posture and manipulation of the spine and down it is drops and activator! By Carole F. (Guest Post)12/22/2008 The pain travels from the back of the my head to behind my ears. I have been suffering with a chronic cough for 8 months which many times results in vomiting phlegm and horrible pains in my head. My doctor recommended Sudafed which has quieted the cough, however raised my blood pressure hence when the back of head-headaches started. I've stopped the Sudafed (1 day now) but the horrible pressure headache is still here. Does anyone relate this headache to sinus/ear problems or high blood pressure? By EC. (Guest Post)09/29/2008 There seems to be no further update by anyone else. For you who stumble upon this site with similar symptoms. Don't give up. I had unexplained headache at the back of my head for a long while but has since been better. I thought it was due to nerve problem as I have been seeing neurologist and psychiatrist for over a year. The last psychiatrist said I was suffering from anxiety/panic attack. I still have my doubt. The improvement seems to have been made after I consulted a Chinese physician who prescribed Chinese herbal medicines and acupuncture and got twice a week massages for a few weeks and stopped my psychiatrist's medication. I still feel tired easily and have headache frequently. But I stop the Chinese physician treatment as it is costly. My point here is: Don't give up, you may try a Chinese physician and massage (not recommended by my psychiatrist as he said it is a waste of money) if the treatment can relieve your pain. But be cautious who you are getting as their qualities vary significantly and lack the vigorous drug testing of the western world. By EC (Guest Post)09/01/2008 How is the patient now? Any update? By Michelle (Guest Post)08/12/2008 Tell him to eliminate all dairy for one week. I had this and have been suffering for two years. I found out after I had a big bowl of ice cream and the pain came almost instantly and so bad I wanted to go to the hospital. Then went to the allergy specialist and sure enough it is the milk. He should give it a try! I have been off dairy products for about 6 months and pressure is gone. By erica rasmussen03/09/2008 Hello, I know someone mentioned Chiari Malfunction Type 1 and I think that also could be a possibiliby. Don't get too worried because there is a wide range of cases with this disorder. Many people go there whole life without knowing they have it. I actually was just diagnosed and I'm just starting to learn about it. I can tell you, I used to get headaches in the back of my head that pounded and I couldn't turn my head or lie down. I finally went to an accupuncturist and right away I noticed the pain subside. I don't get those headaches anymore but I get other symptoms. I would say that you should have an MRI of the neck and brain. go to a neurologist and if you have chiari malfunction type 1 go to a specialist. I've noticed not all neurologists are as familiar with it. good luck By (Guest Post)02/21/2008 Thank you all very much. He hasn't been having too much pressure anymore, but its still there daily. Just not as much. Now his new symptom is chest pains. Annoying, short, sharp, shooting pains. He is trying to make himself relaxed, because his worrying is causing more anxiety. Thank you all for your suggestions, and help. I am so glad I found this forum! You are all like a breath of fresh air for me! By khilde [11]02/20/2008 I'd suggest finding a reputable chiropracter in your area. I used to get awful headaches where I felt lightheaded and I really couldn't even function (maybe they were migraines, who knows?). I resisted chiropracters because I never heard anything good about them, until my massage therapist suggested I see one in town. I went and it absolutely has changed my life. The chiropracter walked me through everything and explained how my headaches were being caused by my spine being slightly out of alignment. She's adjusted me and the headaches have 100% disappeared. I haven't changed anything else about my habits so I know it has been the chiropractic adjustments that have been the solution. I always figure that I'd try to rule out the easiest, simplest explanation for my aches and pains. I wish I had found a chiropracter sooner. Good luck. By Janene [1]02/19/2008 Stephanie, I don't want to alarm anyone but I would encourage him to get tests on his blood counts to make sure his red blood cells are not too low. Most do not know that walking around with a severe low blood volume can create headaches and can be very dangerous. Also, by taking the antidepressant, Paxil, this can drop the red blood cells although unlikely. My husband had this problem. God bless. Janene By maggie Y. (Guest Post)02/18/2008 I had someting just like this when I was in high school. The Doctor said it was a muscular headache. When you feel it coming on you have to take pain reliever and go in a dark place. It helps but you have to take pain medicine right away. Mine went away, hopefully this helps. By dar (Guest Post)02/17/2008 Because he is feeling anxious he has a lot of muscles in the back of his neck that go under the skull also this is painful in its self, it is a place you can not get to,to massage and so neck and shoulder's tighten up and the muscles that go under the skull do so also.What happens now is he is favoring the part's that hurt and this is causing the other muscles to work harder to tighten and also become very painful. Hopefully his Doctor will recommend some exercises for these muscles to stretch and strengthen them.This will help a lot( I know this believe me!). I hope the Doctor gives him a script for muscle relaxers to help for a short while.Also they have meds for his headaches that will help.But talk to the Doctor about exercises first. Moist heat is great. Hot bath's are esp great with nice relaxing music ( I know this! every month I grab a box and maybe a magazine and off we go for a HOT bath,it works). Also getting out and doing thing's he enjoys will help even a hobby at home, that he can do and take his mind off of other thing's.A massage is great even if it is only once a week. I know they can be expensive but do you by any chance (if $$$ are short) have a Technical School nearby that has classes? These are great in that they are reasonable ($20.00) where I live. The girls have to have so many hour's in before they graduate and they really can give a good massage(I know this too!). Also Exedrin has aspirin for Migraines, tension, and extra strength back and body pill's that are really great if he is not allergic to aspirin. It would be something to help if he has nothing else to take while they are doing the test's. Also a good relaxer is a favorite snack a funny movie at home. That way you don't have to put up with a lot of distracting thing's at the theater that might give you a headache instead of relaxing you. I do not know how long he has had this problem but if there are other tender point's he could have Fybromyelgia but they are coming out with new med's everyday. There are so many other thing's it could be and since I am not a Doctor and not writing a book I think I will go now. I will say a prayer and wish you all kinds of good luck. I know what headaches like those are like and it is NO Picnic as the saying goes. Best of luck dar By Stephanie G. [2]02/16/2008 Ok, well thanks to everyone who put their two cents in, and most of those suggestions were already ruled out. I actually help massage his neck and shoulders daily, and sometimes it helps a little, sometimes it doesn't. He also has an appointment for a sleep study for sleep apnea on march 9th, so I will let you all know how that goes. I came across something interesting on the internet today. I found a website which is: and it has a few things to say about headaches, anxiety related issues, as well as quite a few others. I found it rather relaxing, and it actually helped for a while today. Take a look at it, try what it suggests, and let me know your outcomes. He does go to a chiropractor, but hasn't been there since last friday, Feb. 8th. I will take him again monday morning. Thanks again. By sandy [63]02/16/2008 I highly recommend having a family doctor examine him and then encourage that dr to order tests until the problem is solved. By Lynda (Guest Post)02/16/2008 I'd suggest that it is either: EXTERNAL, such as a bad pillow; bad habit of using a sofa arm while watching TV; sitting in one of those so-called "recliners" with the OVERSTUFFED HEADREST called "PILLOW" which misshapes one's spine, neck and causes permanent damage if not realized and stopped early in life; or sleeping in the same position or on same side on the mattress each night forgetting to change sides, flip mattress ea. six months; sleeping on a folded thick or two pillows at night. working in a fluorescent lighting environment; reading in poor light, needing glasses; INTERNAL: allergies to milk, MSG ( a poisonous additive which causes brain tumors and adds NOTHING to improve taste of foods!); whey in foods, that cause sinus mucous, which is the GLUE part of whole milk, often non-organic milk, which also most often contains pesticide poisoning from the feed given to milk cows; something inhaled such as aerosols of any kind which have frequently deadly formaldehyde; prepared foods which have things added that are not good for health, only good for mfgrs' profits; nitrates/nitrites/ calcium cassienate or proprianate additives which are carcinogen and/or mucogenic to those with any milk intolerance; eating too many onions all of which contain Opium, or too much garlic; living with a smoker; drinking too much caffeine; eating too much sugar; not getting enough sleep; poor posture for long time causing curvature of spine; reading slumped over a book for too long; dental infections which have entered the nervous system or lining of the brain; lack of B Complex, Multi-vits/minerals causing a sensitive nervous system; watching TV or eating while reclining as a habit. I've gone the gammut with one problem solved after another by thinking about these things. Hope this helps. God bless, help and give you wisdom. : ) By Jane-000 (Guest Post)02/16/2008 I suffer from cronic anxiety and am disabled from it. I found a relaxation tape played daily helped me a lot from my pains in my head. I also have cronic allergies and they could be sinus pressure. Try to find a good relaxation tape I received mine when my husband was a cancer patient and this tape was in his bag it's the best yet. Though they don't make it anymore. Also I would bring it up with the doctor who gives you your meds. I may be a side effect of the medicine. I hope he can find out what is causing them and can control them with the extra anxiety added on it surely make things much worse then normal. God Bless, Stephanie, I've had the same problem w/ tension headaches & migraines for about 15 years. One thing that works for me for that neck/shoulder pain is moist heat. It helps to relax those tense muscles, which are in a spasm, which is the cause of the tension headaches. I found a heating pack that I can put in the microwave the gives moist heat for 20-30 minutes. It really helps to relax the muscles. As another post mentioned, it really is a matter of trial & error, finding what method will work best. By Diana (Guest Post)02/16/2008 Could it be a migraine headache? See a neurologist By Carol in PA (Guest Post)02/16/2008 After ruling out the malformation described in a previous response to your post, I suggest theraputic massage. Massage was used in Russia when they didnt have enough doctors. It was used to treat everything. I had severe anxiety and depression. I found that deep theraputic massage done by a licensed therapist helped tremendously. It helps ease the anxiety as well. I had mine done at a chiropractor's office by a massage therapist he had employed there. Imho, some chiropracters are quacks... rofl... But I had the adjustments and the massage. I followed his recommendations. I truly believe it helped in combination with medications and talk therapy from a psychologist. The power of human touch is tremendous. Also, humans seem to accumulate a lot of tense muscles in the neck area. Mine seems to get bad at the base of my skull. Anything that will lengthen and stretch those muscles will help. Perhaps he would consider Tai Chi or yoga. Maybe you can try massaging his neck yourself to see if it helps him or eases his pain. Your boyfriend needs to see an allergist about the stuffy nose problems he has. Thats not normal. It will affect his sleep. Deep restorative sleep is essential to solving emotional problems (and physical problems as well). You will find he may have sleep apnea which is a sleep disturbance. This will effect all of his emotions from lack of proper sleep. Our emotions in turn effect us physically. I have a friend whose daughter was treated by several different types of specialists for her severe headaches. These specialists all focused on her head. None of them xrayed her neck. She was on a lot of prescribed pain medication. Her mother decided to take her to a chiropractor who xrayed her neck. Her neck was VERY CROOKEDly formed. Once he straightened her neck, the headaches went away for the most part. She still needed the allergy meds for her sinuses, but once the problem was removed the symptoms went away. Best of luck with this problem. Keep trying until you find the cause of the problem so you can treat it. Dont just treat the symptom. (smile) By siris (Guest Post)02/15/2008 I know the feeling. For me it was bites by sand flies at the lake. They were attracted to my shampoo, I think. Can this be his problem? By denise w (Guest Post)02/15/2008 I too have suffered with both depression and both back and neck injuries. I went to stress management classes and agree that this does work. I also do an exercise that was taught to me from the drs office; stand at the counter with feet apart and lean into right hip, hold for 10 seconds, now stand straight, and then move into the other hip hold for 10 seconds. I do these 10 times each and then I stand straight lift my arms up and slowly release to the floor until my hands touch it. I also do this 10 times. It works really well to relieve stress and realigns my spine, which makes the headache go away. I hope this helps. By Sheyl (Guest Post)02/15/2008 Does he wear a baseball hat all the time? My hubby always had headaches, until he figured out that his baseball hat was pressing on his head causing daily headaches. By Gina Johnston [12]02/15/2008 Ok, I know that it's wise to have the tests to make sure that nothing more serious is wrong. But once you've exhausted that route--try a consultation with a good chiropractor. I had horrid headaches because I had a pinched nerve in my neck.. Chiropractic adjustment cures it. I was actually blacking out from the headaches before. I know most MD's aren't impressed by chiropractics, but I am because I know that it works--and I'm not impressed by toxic, expensive prescription drugs! By Brenda [20]02/15/2008 Steph - Altho you may be right abt this being anxiety related, and not to add to his or your anxiety, there is a condition called Chiari I malformation that can cause the symptoms you describe, including chronic anxiety as a related symptom. What this means is that the hole at the base of the skull thru which the spinal cord enters/exits the skull is too small and leads to symptoms like headache, a vise like feeling, and so forth. It can be difficult to diagnosis. I know this because I had a sister w/this problem, and she went undiagnosed for years, despite this being a congenital malformation. I would recommend an appt w/a neurologist or neurosurgeon to rule out this, or any of a number of other causes of his headaches, including migrane. Good luck to you both. By Linda (Guest Post)02/15/2008 Sounds like a panic attack. By Keeper [57]02/15/2008 Stress,Tension,Depression is a vicious circle.Having taught Stress Mngt.classes,the breathing technique is;a large inhale thru the nose than slowly out the mouth.Soaking in a very warm bath and 2 of the best things to do are;stretching everything you can,this is a tension reliever the other is massaging the shoulders&scalp! Recently I had a CAT scan&MRI w/contrast.Wait for his test results and then he might be able to apply the breathing exercise which greatly improves the"circle" Keeper,NC By Stephanie G. [2]02/14/2008 Thank you both very much. He feels slightly better today, but still has a headache. He is going for an MRI saturday morning just so he can see he has no tumors or anything else serious. His nose is clogged so its hard for him to breathe through his nose. I will keep you posted about the treatment he will get. Hope it helps. One thing to try is breath in through your mouth and out your nose for 5 minutes. I think it helps because you have to think about it and it helps you relax and take your mind off your pounding head. By lalala... [430]02/14/2008 Having experienced the identical problem, and going through every test in the book, I finally found a doctor that could explain the issue. They are tension headaches! The worst thing for a person with anxiety issues to have because the added anxiety from the headaches actually makes the headaches worse! I have found lots of great suggestions to relieve the pain of these headaches on the internet! Although it was definitely a trial and error situation! I hope he is able to get them under control...they are really terrible and debilitating! Add your voice to the conversation. Click here to answer this question.
Elizabeth Edwards to Appear at San Francisco Gay Pride Event More news about the Edwards campaign today. Elizabeth Edwards is scheduled to appear at the Alice B. Toklas Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender Democratic Club breakfast at the Sir Francis Drake Hotel this weekend. "Organizers say it marks the highest level of presidential campaigning at the annual Gay Pride Parade," according to the San Francisco Chronicle. Political strategist David Mixner, who has given his endorsement to John Edwards presidential campaign, said: "It certainly is another barrier falling. There's been a taboo on any (candidate)-related Gay Pride events. [However], just like straights at Mardi Gras, there's a wide range of different events, from picnics and political clubs to the parade. The myth of what Pride is will be exploded ... and that taboo will now be removed. And I can't think of a better person to do it than Elizabeth Edwards. She won't let people tell her where she can go and who she can talk to." HA! Now there's some Kool-Aid I'll drink. I thumb my nose right back at the recent nay-sayers. Rock on, Elizabeth! Here's wishing you all the best. Posted by: FizziekruntNT \| Jun 22, 2007 12:02:27 PM Love Elizabeth Edwards but I'd hardly call this meaningful. There is a long and odious tradition of candidates and elected officials sending theirs spouses (read: wives) out to extend an olive branch to groups (or send mixed messages on sensitive issues) they're otherwise too cowardly to publicly embrace. Besides the gay voters who inevitably mistake the fact that the Clintons, Edwardses, Obamas, Giulianis, Bushes, etc. have many gay friends/acquaintances/staffers as a sign that they will turn out to be better on gay issues than their public rhetoric indicates, does anyone really see these maneuvers as anything other than furtive, hypocritical pandering? Posted by: 24play \| Jun 22, 2007 12:07:48 PM The worst of the Democrats are still way ahead than the best of the Republicans. There is no hope for a 3rd party candidate. Of course it's pandering, they're politicians, hello! But these candidates are pandering to US HOMOS, not to the xenophobic, homophobic, racist bigots that the Republicans are pandering to. Who you are pandering to makes as much or bigger difference than whether you are pandering or not. Posted by: beergoggles \| Jun 22, 2007 1:42:38 PM Would she be there if that whole "I don't feel comfortable around those people" episode hadn't risen its ugly head? Hmmmm..... Posted by: Chris \| Jun 22, 2007 1:43:31 PM Well, this is nice and all, but it would be a hell of a lot nicer if John Edwards would pledge that, as President, he would make certain that GLBT citizens have the same marriage rights as heterosexuals, would ensure that federal hate crimes laws include GLBT citizens as a protected class and would abolish Don't Ask, Don't Tell. Of course, that requires someone to be a leader and so far I haven't seen any Presidential candidate do that. Posted by: peterparker \| Jun 22, 2007 1:50:35 PM It's funny. Elizabeth Edwards was supposed to be appearing at this weekend's American Library Association convention in D.C. She pulled out, with little explanation, and gay author Armistead Maupin was tapped as her last minute replacement. I even asked Armistead about that earlier this week, and he was puzzled as to Elizabeth's absence and he had no idea what was up with her. Now, I guess we know. She'll be in Armistead's homebase for Gay Pride, while he's in D.C. for her to chat up the Librarians. Either way, I don't care, but there's a tiny bit of irony in there somewhere that the gay hometown hero who has celebrated the city and its gay citizens for decades is trudging out of town to pinch hit for a straight presidential candidate's wife so that she can go to SF to celebrated Gay Pride with the Alice B. Toklas Democratic Club. Posted by: MrRoboto \| Jun 22, 2007 1:57:29 PM "Damage control" pure and simple cooked up by pr people at the outset of the 2004 presidential campaign, "What is your position, Mr. Edwards, on gay rights?" Shrum quotes Edwards as saying, "I'm not comfortable around those people." At that point Elizabeth said, "John, you know that's wrong." Edwards' pollster, Harrison Hickman, who was in the room during the discussion, says that Shrum is sensationalizing and taking out of context what was an honest discussion about Edwards' lack of exposure to gay people and these issues Edwards own man Hickman admits the words were said they were just taken out of context. OY VEY Fall in line lock step like good little gay robots to the sounds of the bleeting PR machine. Reality is Edwards said "I'm not comfortable around those people" in response to his stance on gay rights. Hickman, edwards own campaign man, admits the words were said just they hadn't had time to go through the robot making pr machine. Wake up people Posted by: anon \| Jun 22, 2007 2:05:52 PM Beergoggles, My point is not that the Edwards campaign is pandering. That's business as usual for every politician. But it's hypocritical for John to send Elizabeth out to publicly cozy up to teh gehz if he doesn't have the guts to make that same campaign stop himself. It's already clear to anyone with eyes that Elizabeth has balls. The question is will John, the candidate, ever grow a pair? If Elizabeth were running, she'd already have my vote locked up. Posted by: 24play \| Jun 22, 2007 2:23:36 PM Well ANON, if we're judging presidential candidates with how comfortable they are with gay people, you might as well vote for Rudy since you know he's comfortable with gays enough to stay with them once divorced, but he won't even support civil unions. Or you can support someone who might not be as comfortable with gays but doesn't let that stand in the way of supporting: - Ending DADT (all Dem candidates) - Repealing the part of DOMA that prevents federal recognition of our marriages or civil unions (all Dem candidates) - Supporting UAFA (all but Hillary + Obama). Posted by: beergoggles \| Jun 22, 2007 2:25:08 PM 24play, ok you have a point there :) I'm just looking at it from the perspective of them even bothering to do this at all instead of going on the 700 club with Pat Robertson like what Howard Dean did. But when it comes down to it, I don't really care for their genuine approval of who I am or who I marry as long as they support equality. So far Edwards is leading the frontrunners in that. Posted by: beergoggles \| Jun 22, 2007 2:32:49 PM I'm not sure about "another taboo falling." Hillary Clinton just walked in at pride in NYC and that is hardly a new development. It makes more sense that Mixner would make it out to be some historic event since, as you point out, he has endorsed Edwards. I wonder why it is John couldn't appear himself. Posted by: Bran \| Jun 22, 2007 2:33:29 PM How, exactly, is Edwards leading the "top-tier" candidates in supporting equality? Last I heard, Edwards, Obama and Clinton were equally supportive/underwhelming/cowardly, with Hillary maybe a half step behind the other two because she can't bring herself to completely repudiate her husband's good works (DADT and DOMA). Posted by: 24play \| Jun 22, 2007 2:44:14 PM Luvs me some Peter, Parker, but you know that any candidate making such a pledge about gay marriage might as well immediately then shoot him/herself in the head. As for those imagining that her husband is simply home hiding under the covers when he could be in SF, you have no understanding of political campaign scheduling and how candidates are sling shot from place to place. He was probably booked somewhere else [such as courting big donors as he's still behind in the polls and fundraising] weeks ago, and will be in SF Tuesday night for an event. His track record in this campaign re gay issues is far better than both Hillary and Obama [though they essentially synch up now]. SF Pride is early this year because the actual Stonewall anniversary falls midweek, and it would be easier for her to change her schedule. [Note, too, that she is keynoting an SF HRC event in July.] We're lucky that any serious candidate or candidate spouse is willing to be remotely involved given that SF Pride organizers have had their lunatic fringe heads up their asses for years. A former parade chair wrote this week that everyone should attend naked because he's mad that the local TV station that had broadcast the parade live the last few years isn't this year even though they are showing a TWO HOUR recap that night, and because during live past coverage they've quote "had a 10-second broadcast delay so that they could police the images to make sure no tits, ass, dicks, or cunts sneaked into the picture." Unquote. Truly admirable. Posted by: Leland \| Jun 22, 2007 2:47:41 PM The only dem candidate who supports us 100% isn't even running this time. Retired General Wesley Clark. 2000 said 100% equal rights to serve in the millitary for gays, 100% equal marriage rights for gays, and 100% hate crime laws enshrined in federal civil rights laws. BUT, the majority of gay people didn't support him so why should the current candidates support us? We obviously as a community are willing to compromise instead of stand with the 1 candidate in 2000 who fully had our back. Posted by: anon \| Jun 22, 2007 2:56:12 PM No, there is a Dem candidate who supports us 100%, and he is in the race: It's Dennis Kucinich. Posted by: DH Pierce \| Jun 22, 2007 3:38:01 PM Thanks DH Though you make my point even more to the point that we as a comunity have not and are not supporting the lone candidates that do support us 100%. Instead we compromise and then bitch when the candidates we bow and scrape before turn around and screw us. We are just reaping what we sow. Posted by: anon \| Jun 22, 2007 4:02:35 PM It's likely Edwards sends wifey to these events in order to avoid awkward questions over his stance on same-sex marriage. However, that still beats Obama's cowardly refusal to have his picture taken with Gavin Newsom (even though he seems to visit San Francisco every month to hit them up for money). Or Hillary's attempts to justify her husband's betrayal of the gay community as "transition" policies. Quite frankly, after the way the GOP run this country into ground, it should be a cakewalk for the Democrats. The fact that the Dems might actually lose in 2008 is indicative of their piss-poor leadership skills. Posted by: John \| Jun 22, 2007 4:04:42 PM 24play, It wouldn't be the first time HRC has lied about how the candidates line up on equality to favor Hillary. About two months ago, Chris Crain posted Hillary and Obamas positions on the UAFA on his blog and they both hedged on it saying recognizing gay relationships would lead to more immigration fraud than the current spate of hetero immigration fraud. So HRC got busted lying for Hillary and Obama on their questionnaire summary. And before that, Hillary wouldn't come out against DOMA until after Obama and Edwards did on the HRC questionnaire and made her look bad. So as it stands right now, Edwards is ahead of Hillary and Obama due to his position on the UAFA. Also worth noting that Gravel also supports equal marriage (), just like Kucinich. Posted by: beergoggles \| Jun 22, 2007 4:36:43 PM Why any gay person would pay the minimal $125 entry fee to listen to the wife of a long shot presidential hopeful is beyond me? Then add in the fact that David Mixer(who was a KEY player in creating the fucked up 'Don't Ask,Don't Tell' compromise between Barney Frank and Clinton)is lauding it as an historical event and it's just a big joke. Posted by: ShawnSF \| Jun 22, 2007 5:29:29 PM Dennis Kucinich and Mike Gravel have NO CHANCE OF EVER BEING ELECTED IN THIS COUNTRY. Stop living in a fantasyland, people. Here is what Elizabeth said about Shrum's "memory": If you're going to tell a story, include both sides of it. Posted by: SC \| Jun 23, 2007 4:39:15 PM
Tuesday News: Limits of Kindle Unlimited, the future of the book, Jacqueline Woodson on the watermelon joke, and Booklist’s top ten 2014 romances. Hoffelder further speculates: Speaking of watching, while looking into this story I noted what looks like the beginning of a worrisome trend. There are authors whose works weren’t in KU who are reporting that their incomes had dipped since it launched, almost as if readers were spending so much time reading the ebooks in KU that they stopped buying ebooks. With 750,000 titles, KU could be displacing ebook sales.–The Digital Reader THE FUTURE OF THE BOOK — Catching up on some older stories, this piece from The Economist is actually pretty good (yes, that’s surprise you “hear”). The piece traces the history of books and reading and uses it as a reflection for today’s changing reality, and does so in a way that treats self-publishing, traditional publishing, and the rise of digital books with equanimity.. — The Economist The Pain of the Watermelon Joke — It took me a few days to get this post together because I wanted to find a good essay on US postracialism, which is one of the things Woodson is talking about in her very poignant response to Daniel Handler’s racist joke. It had to have been difficult to write this post about a friend, but Woodson does not shy away from the offense of Handler’s words. The value of a book like Brown Girl Dreaming is even more relevant in an environment where people believe that racism is no longer so prevalent, a belief we often see among college-age students who may not have strong historical training in the history of race and race relations in the US. Rinku Sen, publisher of ColorLines, has a great essay on postracialism (the original site is no longer there, so this is a cached version) in which she distinguishes between interpersonal racism and structural racism, and talks about how structural racism has grown, even as interpersonal racism seems to be diminishing, creating the false impression that we have moved beyond race as a divisive category. It’s that phenomenon I think Woodson is referring to here: In a few short words, the audience and I were asked to take a step back from everything I’ve ever written, a step back from the power and meaning of the National Book Award, lest we forget, lest I forget, where I came from. By making light of that deep and troubled history, he showed that he believed we were at a point where we could laugh about it all. His historical context, unlike my own, came from a place of ignorance. — The New York Times Top 10 Romance Fiction: 2014 — Booklist, the American Library Association’s review site, posted its list of the top ten Romance novels for 2014. Notice any themes in that list? — Booklist When I saw the link for the top romance books of 2014 I got all excited. When I saw that the newest SEP book – with the creepy puppets – made the list, I got all unexcited. Aw, I love you guys for not respecting The Economist. (Everything else aside, their book recs usually suck. Also, they were bullish on Southern Europe.) Some authors have said they’re doing really well with KU, others not so much. I don’t want to put all my eggs in one basket to find out. Is here any info on how Scribd-available authors feel about Scribd? I must say I am thoroughly enjoying the books on Scribed (nonaudio, that is, as the audio book feature has really disappointed me) and I am seriously thinking about signing on after my free trial (thanks, DA) is over. I was going to do a free trial of KU and see which I got the most bang for. And yes, I have bought authors after “finding” them on Scribd. I hope someone can explain why and how watermelons are racist in the context of African Americans. Watermelons are a tasty fruit. That others (including members of a particular group) find them tasty is no surprise. Would it be racist/sexist/agist if middle-aged, female, romance-readers were associated with liking watermelons? How does it differ from the maiden aunt drinking tea? I’m not trolling, I just don’t get it. @SAO; google “racist watermelon images” and you’ll understand. @SAO: They’ve been used as part of a racist stereotype since the 19thC: @SAO: This is good too: @SAO: The links listed by Isobel Carr and Sunita should get you started. And yes, watermelons are tasty. But there’s a sad history regarding how food and other products have been used to mock certain groups. During slavery and segregation US advertisers promoted products using caricatures that negatively exaggerated the features and dialect of those considered “different”. Asians were caricatured (Riceland Rice comes to mind) and also Native Americans. What they added with African Americans were caricatures on body type (ads usually depicted large women – Aunt Jemima pancake mix comes to mind) and also darkened skin. Kitchen figurines and lawn jockeys sold with blackened skin, large red lips and white eyes. Some of these products can still be found doing a Google search. No matter what country you’re from, chances are there will be a caricature of someone black either selling a product or the star of a product (Three Golliwogs book – England) even the ones that some may consider tradition (Black Peter-Netherlands, Memin Pinguin comic – Mexico) Much like watermelons were used in the US for mockery, another food that was and still is used in a stereotypical manner is fried chicken. Golfers Fuzzy Zoeller and Sergio Garcia made jokes directed at Tiger Woods regarding fried chicken, and both ending up apologizing. Bananas were and still are also used by some to denote blacks being likened to a primate. It’s just something to keep in mind, but as long as you’re not closely linking the character’s ethnicity to foods just to mock, you should be okay. I go a little farther than wikkidsexycool on food. I don’t think that a white person (and I am one) should ever comment on watermelon, bananas or any form of primate around African-Americans. Ever. Therein lies the Daniel Handler pit. He thought he was okay – he thought he was making some post-racial joke and showing how well he knew Woodson, etc. – he was wrong. Read her piece in the NY Times. My 5th grader’s social studies teacher has just included it in their unit and they’re reading it today. I think it’s extremely difficult for whites to understand where something we think is inoffensive or innocent – we didn’t mean anything by it – our mouth was just talking – we truly just meant to say “wow that’s a huge watermelon!” about something at the store – we just have no idea how it’s going to be heard by the listener. We say “that’s a huge watermelon, isn’t it?” to someone standing in the produce section, and she hears “you big fat black lady, you must need a melon that big for all your kids, blah blah blah knife to the heart/frozen in the aisle because she didn’t really hear that did she?” – which isn’t what we thought, or what we intended or even considered, but it’s what culture has caused so many people to hear. Sure, some people don’t hear that – but some do, and I can’t predict or know the life experiences of someone else. I don’t need to go there. It’s painfully obvious that watermelon, bananas and primates are memes used to bash American blacks. Look at how crazies make pictures of President Obama with all those memes. They’re disgusting. Those are seared in black people’s brains, but I bet most white people don’t even see them at all – they don’t register to us – but they must just burn like all the “good rape” comments make me ill. Fifteen years later, I sometimes still shake over the child abuse pictures I had to see practicing law – so I can’t imagine how a lifetime of shit like monkey jokes causes an immediate reaction when it comes up unexpectedly. I think it’s just wise to not mention those things at all – because I know people are hurt by those stereotypes, and my innocent intention is not really explainable after the fact, and there are a hundred other things to say, aren’t there? I can say “wow, the apples are expensive today” when I’m in the produce section chatting with a stranger, and I just won’t hurt anyone’s feelings. I don’t NEED to exercise my right to talk about watermelon when I know it is a trigger and meme for racist comments. So I fall on the side of never mentioning watermelon. I can self-edit … just courtesy. It doesn’t take any effort and it’s just polite. Regarding the watermelon-racism thing, the problem with many of these issues is that some of us are unaware of them, for legitimate reasons. I moved to the US in December 1996, and the first time I was made aware of the racist connotations of watermelon was just a few months ago. Obviously, now that I know, I self-censor as well, but I am neither shocked nor angered that someone may need to ask what the reason for the reaction actually is. YMMV and all that. I agree with azteclady – I moved to US in 1997. Untill today I had no idea about racist connotations of watermelon. Of course I do not want to make racist jokes, racist comparisons, say anything racist, so I have to eradicate my ignorance in those areas if I discover I have it, no? And for that I have to ask sometimes unfortunately :(. And before you ask, I try very very hard to fill “cultural gaps” I have in many many many areas. But the thing is I would never be able to do it 100%. I came here when I was in my early twenties and various areas of history, literature, language, politics I had to catch up on (as all immigrants do I am sure) were so many :(. So once again, I totally get that it maybe painful to answer, but I really appreciate when people do. @wikkidsexycool: actually, no, that’s not true. I have never seen the caricature of black person selling a product growing up. Of course the only black people I saw growing up were foreign students coming to study in various colleges of Soviet Union. @ Ann, using your analogy, I as an Irish person should be offended if I overhear (a person in the grocery store) complain about the inferior quality of potatoes? I should then assume I am inferior, for being what? Irish? Poor? likening potatoes? I can tell you I grew up both, and Catholic to boot. I can only send thanks to whatever powers that be that my parents decided to move to Canada–though I hate the six months of -40 degree winter-weather–instead of the upper state New York, where they had both immigrated to in the early 50s and then married. They moved back to Ireland only to immigrant to Canada in the 70s. If now, at my age of 50, I have to be looking over my shoulder when I mention how expensive/crappy fruit is (Kiwi, for example is terribly pricey here, does that mean I hate Australians for the price of kiwis?)–lest I offend someone–that is the day I hide in a cave. I also happen to like/cook a varied menu of ethnic food-and when I go grocery shopping for ingredients, if I complain/complement, it about quality, not a racial comment. Sometimes a comment is what it is. No racial connation whatsoever intended. But those with an agenda (anti-gay, anti-smoking, or whatever special interest group, who happen to be within ear-shot) will always hear the negative in an innocent comment, and jump to point fingers. Just because I am white does not equate to being racist, if IF, I happen to make a comment about bok choy, kiwis or watermelons in the produce section. I don’t think that the answer is to self-censor – unless you are of the unfortunate habit of saying insulting things on a regular but unmeaning basis. The answer is to understand that some things aren’t really a “joke” and that we all do not have the same sense of humor. I wouldn’t make a casual joke about poor Irish people or Irish people and potatoes and the reason I wouldn’t make that joke is because it’s only a “joke” if you know the history behind the stigma. At which point you KNOW you are making a joke about stereotypes. So people making black people and watermelon comments are fully aware of what they are saying – which is totally different from asking about watermelon prices in the grocery store aisle. @Anna Richland: Handler may have been making a joke that he thought related that he and Woodson were friends, but he clearly understood the implications of his “joke”. A comment like that might have gotten a raised eyebrow if they were alone, but to do it in front of an audience is what showed his real lack of sensitivity or common sense. (For myself, among my own closest friends, a comment like that would probably get a rude gesture and a statement of similar intent, but a casual acquaintance would get told all about themselves.) You should do what feels most comfortable for you, for sure, but remarking on a watermelon in the grocery story isn’t really the issue here (although if the watermelon in question was in the actual hands of an actual black person, it would probably be best to self-censor). I’m all about understanding how our words affect others and consciously choosing what we say and how and to whom, but for stuff like this, context matters a lot. @Sirius: That’s why I stated “during slavery and segregation” at the start of my response to SAO. Stereotypes get imported to other countries all the time, whether its an American product re-fashioned for that particular country, or a movie consisting of stereotypes (Birth of a Nation – which as black legislators eating fried chicken, among other stereotypes) However, more recently, someone in Russia came out with Obama ice cream. Here’s the motto: From the motherland, Obama ice cream with the slogan “Everyone’s talking about it: dark inside white!” I’m not going to post the link to the laser light show where someone in Russia has Obama eating a banana. @wikkidsexycool: Yes I have heard about that “joke” on TV. I do not understand though how they could be compared in terms of how difficult it is to grasp for somebody who has no knowledge of stereotyping. The racism of “Obama ice cream” is more than obvious to me. I also REALLY despise Putin’s Russia just to be clear. I grew up with Russian culture , but I am a Jewish person from Ukraine so it is not like I would be defending the jokes they make even if they were not racist. That should read “no knowledge of stereotyping with certain foods”. Hey all, Re: the Top 10 Romance books. IS there a trend among those 10 books? Was that a rhetorical question? Because I didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary. There was a historical, a paranormal, a contemp, a few sexy looking ones, a few sweetish looking ones. What am I missing? (<– not snark. I feel like I'm missing something.) @anon: It’s not the same thing. If someone decides to intentionally or unintentionally link items that were historically used to ridicule and put down another culture, whether it’s potatoes or watermelon, they could be taken to task. Also, what may offend one person may not offend another. I have run into kids and adults who didn’t know things they were saying were offensive and were rooted in history, so I consider it a teachable moment. For example, some people use the tern “off the reservation” without knowing that its a saying that’s derogatory to Native Americans. Daniel Handler was aware of the historic connotation of his words. I’m sure he feels badly about it now. especially after he was told that his joke did not go over well. That’s part of the issue also, that he felt comfortable to tell the joke at a public event, and that it marred and otherwise celebratory event for his “good friend.” @ MrsJoseph…my post was in response Anna Richland’s comment, which infers that a person remarking on the price/size of a watermelon IS BEING interpreted as being a racial slur. “…she hears “you big fat black lady, you must need a melon that big for all your kids, blah blah blah.” Again, anyone with an agenda can read/misconstrue anything overheard. I am in no way saying racism–race, religious, sexual orientation– does not exist. It does. I do not condone it, never have–never will. But what I am seeing lately, in romance sites/conferences and associated blogs, is that I have to apologise for being white. Which I wont do. Neither will I curb my comments about fruit/vegetable–watermelons, bananas, bok choy, or whatever, which I pay from my pocket book–when I shop for them, if non-white person happens to around me, IF and when I complain about the quality of produce to the produce department. What’s next…I have to defend my choice to meat/seafood. Cant imagine what it would be like if a vegetarian overheard me complain to the manager of the meat department about the selection and quality of meat. Good gracious…where does it stop? Again, a person with a grievance will always see the negative. I see it all the time in reviews/discussions of romance. @Sirius: I don’t disagree with you. These days its best to have a world view and to realize that things which translate one way in the US may be different elsewhere. For example, in doing research for a novel, I wanted to know why there was a push to stay out of the sun in some countries. I soon learned that it had to do more with class and not skin color, as those lighter in complexion were thought to be more prosperous in that they didn’t have to work in the fields. The sun and manual labor outside equaled getting darker skin, so light skin’s coveted. That’s not to say its the only reason, but that’s but one example. @wikkidsexycool: Sure, of course, I do not disagree either. I just want to say that my initial comment was intended to be even more narrow than that. I am just not in agreement with not even being allowed to ask what was wrong with what I said if somebody took offense, you know? Yes, black person does not have any obligation to explain to me what connotations watermellon had (I keep wanting to say that even banana comparison is more obvious to me in its awfulness than watermellon was), just as I for example have no obligation to teach you (generic you) why certain words and comments have very specific antisemitic connotations for many Jews from former Soviet Union and what you (generic you) may have said (not anywhere here, I am just bringing a hypothetical) can be accidentally offensive to people of my ethnicity. The thing is though, I will always answer if somebody is genuinely confused, ALWAYS, that is why I never understood the hostile responses to the desire to eliminate ignorance and not to be accidentally offensive. Nobody has an obligation, but isn’t it better to help people rather then not? Oh GAH “rather than not”. @anon: “But what I am seeing lately, in romance sites/conferences and associated blogs, is that I have to apologise for being white. Which I wont do.” I’ve seen this statement on the rise, and I’m curious. Do you have any examples or is this just a feeling you’re getting in this age of social media? If we (meaning minorities) are asking romance to be more inclusive, its because we are also readers (and writers), and would like to see more diverse representation. And while some writers are creating characters of color, it can throw a reader out of a novel to read a caricature of their culture. I will admit, this can also happen if the writer is a minority and a white character is included. But asking that covers not be white-washed and that publishers recognize that their readers come from many ethnic groups is just good business sense imho. I’m trying to have a conversation, and I don’t mean to put you on the defensive. So if anything I’ve written makes you feel like that, I apologize, because that’s not my intention. @anon: I was – in a way – referring to both of you. To self-censor to the point of @Anna Richland kinda makes it almost awkward. That you have specifically placed a white elephant in the room to walk around. But at the same time, if someone were to make a snarky comment about Irish people and potatoes – well, you know it wasn’t because they were clueless about the stereotype. So, if you aren’t “joking” about a racial or cultural stereotype, talking about food while shopping for it is perfectly acceptable. But if you start up a running commentary about watermelons and black people (or Irish people and potatoes and it’s not a history lesson)…well, don’t be surprised if someone gives you a major side eye. @Sirius: Again, I agree. Sometimes people just don’t know. But in Handler’s case, he did know. And that makes what he did all the more hurtful. Personally, I am a life long learner with an interest in other cultures and religions. Ok, all, let us put this in perspective, as some people of diversity on this loop has called me to the mat to admit: I am white. Therefore I must be a racist, in some form or another, even when grocery shopping. Yes. I got it. Will never comment here again. @anon: And this is EXACTLY what the linked cached article was talking about, and why US culture can be so toxic to minorities. Someone says, “Certain words and images have been used deliberately to hurt disadvantaged people in the past. It is not up to ME, as a privileged person, to declare that it’s time to “get over it”, or make jokes about their pain. I personally choose not to use those words an images in particular contexts, even if my INTENT is totally innocent, because I don’t want to inflict pain on other people, even by accident.” Someone else hears “If you use certain words and images in ANY context, YOU are a BIGOT !!!!!” And that person is quite understandably irate … instead of gaining insight on how words that are meant in one (completely inoffensive way) can be transformed by the listener’s past experiences into a hostile attack. @anon: You seem to be having a conversation with people who are not commenting here. @wikkidsexycool: my reading comprehension needs to improve :(. I did not watch /read/hear Handler’s jokes. I have read here that he made racist jokes, then I went ahead and bought Woodson’s book and that’s all I wanted to read about all of this – her book I mean and not his jokes. So I did not realize that he specifically used watermelons in his comments and was a little confused . I just want to be clear – I’m sort of sounding like “self-censorship”, but I believe it is more in the context of etiquette. As a life-long resident of the US, I do know the history of these issues (and I would never criticize someone who didn’t for asking – I think that’s admirable to ask – and in a community with many Somali and East African immigrants, I actually wonder how much sway the old stereotypes have, but that’s another question). I feel like I know what to avoid and it’s not that hard to do. I actually write directly about race – if you’ve read His Road Home you’ll know that I have my two POC main characters talk about their race/ethnic/educational backgrounds and differences with each other, b/c of course people really do talk about it all the time. My very good friend and I probably spent an hour talking about the Woodson op ed today, talking about Ferguson, etc., while we ran errands together and had lunch. I don’t avoid race. I just try to be aware. And avoiding race is, after all, only really a privilege of whites of mostly European descent, isn’t it? As an adult I became aware of that privilege and how I benefitted from it – which I think is part of Woodson’s point. I hope this link to Washington Post guest column, from a wealthy black father about the ways he’s raised his children, things that as a white mother I don’t think I’ll ever have to do – I hope you can all read this. Hopefully it’s not behind a paywall. It’s incredibly moving and one of the best most detailed drill downs into the daily differences that I don’t even have to think about. For instance, I almost always decline a receipt or a store bag, using my own reusable bag and trying to save paper – never thinking that my child or I might have to prove we’re not shoplifting. Please read this: But – despite being somewhat comfortable having these discussions (heck, I have them here, don’t I?) – I understand that people whose lives I have not experienced due to differences in race, religion, socioeconomic status, language, physical ability – lots of things – have a different place they come from. As a writer, I think I have a good imagination and I read widely and I can guess, extrapolate from things I have experienced, and I can synthesize – but I can’t KNOW. All I know is there is a history of a lot of pain and it’s not over. So when I think about all that, I think “discretion -better part of valor – nothing in the world is improved by picking at someone else’s wound-” and I talk about apples. Or whatever. It just feels to me like it’s part of old-fashioned politeness – I know these things are landmines for other people, so I just don’t need to go there. I don’t, in the end, view it as self-censorship. I view it as getting along in society by being respectful rather than obtuse. I wouldn’t comment on the calories in a cereal at the store when an overweight person is next to me, b/c I assume they might take that as a criticism even if I’m just talking to my kid next to me (we actually talk food labels all the time, by the way, b/c I’m trying to teach them good nutrition habits and how to shop for food) … so likewise I’m not going to comment on watermelon. No one gains anything by comments like Handler’s — and there is just so much real estate between acceptable and what he said. I don’t think I’d ever say what he did (fingers crossed b/c sometimes I fear crap just pops out of my mouth and Mr. Richland looks at me with that one eyebrow going ‘whaaaat was that?’… ) – but it’s all the space in between polite and that comment that I’d ALSO like to avoid. It’s easy to avoid the humongous mistake from the podium – and I’ve heard him speak and he seemed like a great guy so I don’t understand what the heck was happening in his brain – but it’s all the minor things that are less than that but still painful that I really don’t want to say or do either. So that’s my personal point. It’s just mine. Obviously others are different. Dear God, you all have cotton stuffed between your ears! And if that sounds racist, then so be it. Again, I am tired of being called a racist just because I am a white person. And @ Anna Richland, you and your posts harm more than help the white person, who does object to racism. Avoiding using certain words because they may be taken out of context goes is an act of cowardice, IMO. It makes us white folks, IMO, sound racist, when in fact we are not. And again, you Anna need to shut up and listen to your “quiet, Canadian husband.” Not all non-Americans white people share this bigot view, that you seem to hold, and portray in your posts. Because, IMO, when one has to go out his way to avoid using the word “Watermelon” while grocery shopping, is a bigot, and afraid of the backlash for being a bigot. The next backlash is a black Storm Trooper in the latest STAR WARS movie trailer. Run with that. Oh. Wait. You have been. It’s the latest news. Once again, I am tired of hearing that I am racist just because I happened to be born white. @anon: No one called you a racist. And if that’s what you got out of this conversation, you were looking to be offended to begin with. Get over yourself. It’s not just about you. I sincerely doubt you’re being told you’re racist just because you’re white. @Anna Richland: Thanks for your post. I understand where you’re coming from, and contrary to what you were told, I think voices like yours are not harmful in the least. You’ve shown a willingness to meet others half-way, and that’s a good thing. Whether its race, sexual orientation, or a disability, people need to understand that sometimes their words can hurt, and that there may be a historical component to what they say. But realizing this may take time for some of us. As for me, I would rather keep the lines of communication open so that we can have a meaningful dialogue. I recently attend a writing conference (SIWC) where I attended a workshop on diversity by Mary Robinette Kowal, (white woman) who stood on her soap box and said, LOUD and CLEAR, if you are a white person who writes a novel your ARE a racist, if you do not include a person of diverse culture in a your novel be it a historical or an contemporary. Needless to say, a number of people left her lecture; I was the minority of people who left her lecture; a white person. @anon: I’m sorry. Are we currently at the SIWC? And does Mary Robinette Kowal speak for everyone here? I’d say “no” and ask you to take that baggage somewhere else. I also invite you to put that baggage down cause if you are going around with that attitude…well, not too much to be said other than it’s distasteful as well as incredibly me-centric. Maybe white people discouraged by their own ‘sensitivity’ from writing outside their race, should read this: Please stop blaming people of colour for your own issues. @anon: It has nothing to do with having an agenda. It has to do with having a spot that has been poked so many times, it’s permanently sore. Try reading Woodson’s piece on Handler’s remarks, and it might help you understand. Actually, I agree with @anon up there. The impression I get from the discussions on several romance boards and blogs lately is that if I’m white I’m automatically a racist, especially if I don’t go trumpeting support everywhere for minority authors. If I also don’t run around trumpeting support everywhere for m/m or gay romances, well, then I’m homophobic too. And it’s not just in the romance world that this attitude/feeling exists. In my personal life, my landlord has put the rental property I live in up for sale. I have several framed historic prints on my walls representing American Civil War battles and recruiting posters, Union and Confederate, and the Realtor who came out here to look at the house and price it for the landlord – the first thing out of their mouth when they saw the these custom framed, reproduction prints? – “You have to remove those from the premises, they’re offensive.” These are historic period prints, but are offensive. When I protested, do you know what I was told “You aren’t allowed to protest. You’re white. You don’t get offended. They need to be removed from the premises.” So, the attitude going around is indeed offensive to white people just as much as the minorities/people-of-color, white people are apparently just supposed to ‘suck it up’ and ‘do it’ because we’re white. It’s reaching the stage where I’m starting to actively avoid much of the romance community because of the way it harps on and on about certain topics to the point where I tune out the conversation it’s so repetitive. Yes, there are problems, but beating it to death and then grinding the corpse into the dust, doesn’t help matters any. “I tune out the conversation it’s so repetitive.” Yeah, must be hard to get the same response, when you say something like “These [Confederate recruiting posters] are historic period prints, but are offensive”. The nerve of those people, pointing out that just because they don’t offend white people, that doesn’t make them right. I just don’t know what to say, personally. It’s on the tip of my tongue, though…. @willaful: I know all about racism. Try researching “The Troubles.” @M: And @ M I did try responding to you your post, but it seems my post was censored. Wow! didn’t think DA was like that. Are you DA? sitting back, eating popcorn, dodging tossed soda cups @MrsJoseph: Are we currently at the SIWC? And does Mary Robinette Kowal speak for everyone here? I’d say “no” and ask you to take that baggage somewhere else. Are you the saying that a non published author should ignore the sage advise of MRK, Diana Gabaldon? Oh horrors of horrors! Yes, next time I fly the US, I MUST claim I am a white woman, to customs, and reveal my thoughts on the price of watermelon lest I am thought as a racist, or…. God forbid a terrorist,,,,can I saY THQAT I wanted t say : God forbid, but @anon: ” I know all about racism. Try researching “The Troubles.”” The word you want is sectarianism. @Anon When you read book reviews, there are plenty out there that are bad, shallow, or stupid. You wouldn’t claim no book review is worth reading because some reviews aren’t worth reading. Just so, the existence of bad social criticism does not mean that all social criticism is bad, which is what you seem to be claiming. It’s worth seeking out the most respected opinions to engage with an issue you don’t fully understand. It took me several years to understand white privilege as a real and serious issue, rather than a way of saying I should feel guilty because my skin is on the paler side. Screw it. @anon: You want to label yourself a racist, go right ahead. Cause you’re the only one calling you a racist here. I care less how you feel and I’m sick to death of your bitching. “Oh woe is me! I have to treat others as I wish to be treated. Unfair! Unfair, I say! Those 10 Commandments…!” @AnnSomerville – Ah, I get it now, I’m supposed to not keep any historic art I like because it could offend some potential visitor. Yes, that was sarcasm. It seems that the only acceptable speech in any public forum at the present time MUST be all inclusive at all times or else you are “offensive”. Clearly, speaking at all could be considered offensive – after all you could potentially be excluding the deaf or hard of hearing because you insist on talking! sigh This is why 99% of the time I feel like I’m speaking to brick walls if I don’t toe the current public party, majority opinion line all the time. I don’t feel accepted any longer by a community that loves to scream about how accepting they are of all things… yeah, all things as long as we all like’em and they’re of the correct inclusive thought pattern! Yesh. @anon & M; methinks the ladies doth protest too much. It’s always heartbreaking to see people so terribly victimized because they aren’t permitted to say or write or display images of anything they want without suffering the crushing burden of being PUBLICLY CRITICIZED. I mean, free speech isn’t truly FREE if “somebody with an agenda” has the nerve to actually disagree with me. They might even say so out loud! Join with me, sisters — the real problem with publishing and the Internet is vicious anti-white racism! Once we’ve fixed that, we can take on that other evil scourge of liberty: the unspeakable oppression of poor, downtrodden male gamers…. @hapax: Ha! Seriously, if your answer to someone saying, “Hey, maybe rethink what you’re saying/doing because it’s painful to a lot of people” is “I’m so oppressed!”, then I don’t think you really understand oppression. You know, I was trying to figure out yesterday why this upset me so much (I had, naturally, assumed that “never commenting here again” in fact meant never commenting again — and considering they’re anon and have never commented here before, no loss!). This is a great place where I love to read the comments, but there seems to be some sort of dogwhistle when an issue about race comes up — folks come out of the woodworks to complain about how hard it is to be white. This isn’t about you. It was never about you. Stop making it about you. I get that you’ve been taught that the entire world is all about you, and learning that it might not be and you have to share is hard because you think you’re losing special treatment or — gasp — people might treat you like you have been treating others. If you’ve treated others well, then you have nothing to worry about, now do you? If you’ve spent your time making awful racist jokes and are scared that’s the worst that will be taken away from you, do you really have anything to worry about? Do you REALLY think someone is going to attack you in the grocery store for talking to the produce? Or are you ashamed at being called to task for hurting other folks with your words and wanting to continue to do so without being called THE WORST THING EVER — racist. Oh NOES! It’s so much worse than y’know, being shot because of the colour of your skin by the people who are supposed to be protecting the community. You don’t care when someone says “hey, that’s hurtful” — because goodness forbid you be called a mean person! It’s THE WORST. So much worse than people giving you shit every single day because of who you were born as. SO much worse than the one night you can enjoy a book award and have your friend stomp on your foot and let you know that he’s always considered himself better than you, that he’s never listened to how much it hurts, and that he’s allowed to go every day not worrying about racism because he won the genetic lottery. So yeah. That’s why it bothers me so much. Folks here are kind, understanding, compassionate, and thoughtful — folks here don’t always agree, but the discussions are important and worth having. To come in and demand all attention be on you and everyone reassure you that ohhhh it’s okay you’re not REALLY racist if you want to make shitty racist jokes or not care about how your words impact others, then throw a tantrum when that’s not what you get… yeah. There are plenty of places you can go to have your ego soothed. This is not one of them. @Lindsay: I’m pretty sure Jane and Robin have made it pretty clear, actually, that this is a place where your hurt feelings at getting challenged are a greater concern than being hurt by oppressive comments, but what would I know. @Ridley: I couldn’t disagree with you more there, but even if (big, big IF); even if that were the case, basically what you are saying is “how dare Jane run her blog her way.” Indeed, going by your reaction for the past year, it would seem as if this blog were your property, and Jane and the rest of the contributors were both trespassing and behaving offensively. @Anon – talking about race issues does not equate to calling all white people racist. I have to agree with the above commenter that it appears you are airing grievances you are compiling from other incidents. Maybe you’re just venting, but the other commenters are treating you with respect so I’d hope you’d have the same courtesy and not place accusations against them that haven’t taken place. @Ridley: Why yes, that grudgewank of yours does make your ass look big. You have a blog and a twitter where you can say the nastiest shit in utter impunity all day long. And you surely do. Why don’t you fuck off to them and stop leaving nastygrams like turds in some else’s swimming pool? It’s petty and contributes nothing whatsoever to the conversation, and your yearlong butthurt is only interesting to your adoring fans. You know what? I shouldn’t comment here anymore. I agree. It is what it is, and that’s that. However, does that have anything to do with the veracity of my comment? Is this thread really any different than the “safe books” discussion? While I appreciate the defenses of DA’s freedom to run its own blog the way Jane sees fit, I’m sure people are making their own decisions every day about whether they want to visit here and/or participate. I get that there are people who dislike and disapprove of us for any number of reasons, and that’s fine. We all need to manage things the way we decide is best and know that it will never be universally approved. @Ridley: There are all kinds of oppressive comments. I don’t know if you realize how many people refuse to engage you simply because they don’t want to be heckled by you and not because they agree with you. But maybe you don’t care. Maybe that’s what you’re going for, because you figure that they must all be offensive assholes anyway, so good riddance. But you’ll never really know whether that’s the case, because you’ve chilled engagement and shut down the discussion before it can even start with many people who may even agree with you on any number of issues. I think that’s a form of oppressive, policing commenting, too, and I also think it profoundly undermines your social justice advocacy. I’m sure you disagree, and, like I said, maybe you don’t care what anyone thinks who won’t engage with you. But given the fact that you’re still free to express your disapproval here of how DA is run, I frankly don’t think we’re doing too, too badly with the open forum thing. ‘@M: “I’m supposed to not keep any historic art I like because it could offend some potential visitor.” No, your landlord doesn’t want you to offend potential purchasers. This isn’t about you and your tastes, it’s about them and a commercial decision that they don’t just want people unbothered by your taste to consider buying the property. If your landlord’s possible customers included Jewish people, as they certainly would do, your landlord is not going to be happy about pictures or posters featuring the Nuremburg rallies, because there are Holocaust survivors and their relatives still alive and purchasing houses today. American slavery was a holocaust for Africans. The Civil war is not a time of happiness for them, or indeed for white people who supported the end of slavery – or who just lost relatives in that war. Your landlord is presumably happy to sell to African Americans. The landlord therefore doesn’t want his tenant shoving reminders of an appalling historical period, one whose resonances are still felt to this very day, into the faces of his potential buyers. Which buyers have a perfect right to tell the owner of a house displaying offensive and painful images to shove the house advertisement where it fits. @Renda: I’m about 2 weeks into my free month of scribd and I also have KU (pretty much from day 1). I’ve used scribd way more than I’ve ever used KU. I am going to drop KU at the end of my current month and just have scribd (at least for a month or 2, then I’ll reassess).. Right now, scribd is meeting all of needs right now. I read the-digital-reader.com article and am a big bit confused about this quote from Mimi Strong..”It doesn’t (sic) even cover the emotional toll of having to field emails from confused readers who can’t understand why they can’t buy my books.” If you are a KU member you can buy the author’s books, but is she saying if you ARE NOT a KU member, you are unable to purchase books from an author involved in KU? That sounds ridiculous. I’m not sure what Ms Strong’s issue is… and I’d like to know @Sandra: I think she means that people who shop at Kobo, Smashwords, Apple, and B&N (for example) and NOT Amazon cannot buy her books at their preferred retailer. It means that her books, when enrolled in various Kindle programmes, are only available on Amazon and cannot be available elsewhere. @Sandra: Since KU is Kindle-exclusive, presumably it refers to readers who have some other sort of non-Kindle compatible reading device. (And telling potential customers “Why don’t you just download the Kindle app?” is not an effective response. Believe me, I’ve tried it.) ” It means that her books, when enrolled in various Kindle programmes, are only available on Amazon and cannot be available elsewhere.” Smashwords’ Mark Coker warned authors about this back in 2011 Why don’t authors read the terms and conditions before they sign up to non-obligatory programmes? “Telling potential customers “Why don’t you just download the Kindle app?” is not an effective response. Believe me, I’ve tried it.” Downloading or buying/reading books through it? I use Kindle for the mac and it works fine. What issues are you having with it? @Ann Somerville: It’s not that the app doesn’t work fine — I’ve downloaded it to my tablet as well. But when I suggest it to people (note, this is providing tech support at the public library, which may or may not be representative of the e-reading population as a whole), folks clutching their Nooks and iPads usually give me a wide -eyed harried stare which translates as, “You mean that there’s ANOTHER techie hurdle I have to jump through? I just wanna read the book!” … and then they just give up. @Ridley: But see, that whole “veracity of my comment” thing is your opinion. Just because you assert things in the most aggressive way possible doesn’t make them true. This is applicable to all of us, of course. But when you’re talking about how oppressive DA is ON DA there is an irony component that I think may undermine your comment’s veracity. I have no problem with your dissent; I am perfectly capable of defending my opinions. But when your comments are thoroughly enmeshed in personal affront, which they almost always are, it’s virtually impossible to actually engage any issue on the merits. In fact, that approach is one of the fastest ways to derail a conversation about the actual issues, IMO. I haven’t read any of them? (-; @hapax: “and then they just give up.” Ah, okay. That’s been the problem with Amazon – and DRM – from the start :( iPad, of course, has the same barriers. But at least the app there comes pre-installed. I don’t know what to advise. E-books will remain a poor fit for a lot of people because of this until such time as there is a common format, without DRM. I should live long enough to see that happen. @Ann Somerville: Once I upgraded to Yosemite on my Mac, I was no longer able to use the Kindle app on my computer. This is not biggie for me, since I generally don’t read on my computer, but I don’t know how many other Mac users this affects. “how many other Mac users this affects” I upgraded, no issues with Kindle. The app itself is pretty eccentric sometimes. Maybe deauthorise and reauthorise your computer? I use Kindle on my iBook much more than on my iPad (where I tend to use the iBooks app even for Kindle books, shh :) ) @Ann Somerville: Actually, I just checked Mobilread, because I actually got an incompatible software message when I installed the new operating system and figured Amazon hadn’t updated the app yet. Apparently this is a known issue and it’s likely because I’ve got an older version of Kindle installed:. I like how instead of addressing my point about this thread resembling your “safe books” post you’re telling me why I have no friends then scolding me for having hurt feelings. Whatever. @Janine: I’ve read two and DNF’d two others. I’m always baffled by these year end “best” lists. :( Robin to Ridley: “But when your comments are thoroughly enmeshed in personal affront, which they almost always are, it’s virtually impossible to actually engage any issue on the merits.” Ridley: Makes a reply which is nothing but personal affront. Ridley, the veracity of your comment on the safe books thread: “This is tone policing padded out to essay length and neatly encapsulates the problems many of us have with this site.” Can’t be challenged or addressed because it’s pure opinion. Obviously you believe it – what is there to discuss? The usefulness of said comment to the discussion there (or now) is zero. It was off-topic, addressing the post only by virtue of it being snide at the author and the site, and left nothing for anyone to engage with. It was also just another one of your nastygram drive bys. Considering how dismissive you are of other drive by trolling, you seriously expect anyone to give two shits about your own? Whatever indeed. Stop turning every discussion to one about your paaaiiiinnn. You’re not Khan. You’re just another voice on the internet, and one who is increasingly strident without virtue of being right. Cleave to your SJ friends who support your manner of doing things (and the abuser who they worship). But don’t imagine you’ll pull a Requireshate on DA like she did on 50books_poc. Jane hasn’t stopped you commenting here. Is there any reason you can’t use that privilege for something other than to shit on DA? @Ridley: Actually I did address your point, but I’ll try to clarify further. The entirety of your “point” is that this thread is similar to another thread, since you’re basically presenting a conclusory statement and demanding agreement based on your own assumptions about DA, which amount to your “DA is the tone police” argument. First of all, not every discussion related to how people express themselves is about tone. There are a lot of rhetorical strategies that disrupt and shut down discussion that have nothing to do with tone. At Dear Author, there are and have always been minimal rules of engagement to foster open discussion, and they have never changed. My responses to you in this thread attempted to clarify that it’s not and has never been about tone. It’s about the ad hominem and the way that is a form of rhetorical oppression. And the fact that you, who clearly does not object to the ad hominem (including toward DA contributors), is commenting here in your usual tone with your usual objections to the site, undermines the credibility of those objections. Also, I will note that as soon as you introduced the accusation about tone policing, the discussion was immediately derailed away from the important and substantive issues of race and representation into one about the “validity” of your belief that DA tone polices. “does so in a way that treats self-publishing, traditional publishing, and the rise of digital books with equanimity.” “Equanimity” does not mean “with equal weight” or “impartially”. It means “calm emotions when dealing with problems or pressure”. @HJ: Uhm, yeah, because that’s what I meant. No hysteria, in other words, which we sometimes see in discussions of different types of publishing. I would have used equitably if I had meant evenly (although equitable is more complex than that, too).
Chapter 238: Revisit the ancient city 3 [Dianne Laila Jeanne] When we tried to get an inn in the same place as before, it seems that rooms weren’t very vacant. “Is it time for so many customers to come?” “Schranz is a historic city and there isn’t much snow here……and it’s not uncommon for people to come sightseeing during the winter” “……So that’s it” Dianne nods as convinced by the apologetic explanation of the inn receptionist. “Well, what do you do……you can look for another inn” Give us a judgment. “It’s a little difficult to be an elf, a dark elf and a dwarf in a city of Trot” Although it is geographically south and closer to Celesta, it is by no means a Celesta city. Even if you look for a new inn, Laila is just a super beauty, but seeing Dianne and Naris doesn’t always show any difficulty. As much as possible, I want to stay at an inn where they can enter. Dianne turns to the receptionist again. “How many rooms are available?” “Five rooms is a little difficult……if it’s a couple of shared rooms, I can manage it” “I’m with elder sister Laila” “I don’t mind being with Andy. What about Naris?” “I, I would never say its a luxury to be with a woman” “All right, then I’ll ask you for a few shared rooms” Well, if this is in total action, it is about to secure the number of people even if the name of the Celesta army is put out, but if it is the number of people now, it is not a place to force it. “For two and three people?” “Yes, please” When you think about it, there are surprisingly few situations in which a shared room is used in an inn. I usually stay alone and crawl and hang out at night. Or maybe it’s a big room. “It’s a rare situation, even if it’s overnight” It seems that Dianne and I were thinking about the same thing and she hung the cloak she was wearing on a hanger and smiled bitterly while caring for it. “Well, that’s right……I’ve been taken care of by Jeanne and Laila today, so I have to thank them too” “I thought it wasn’t bad to be one-on-one once in a while “Is that okay? Then……” Dianne is taking care of the cloak while talking about ecchi like a small story. Her butt is defenseless. When I was wondering if I could roll her hips and touch her ass, I heard a knocking sound. “Who” When Dianne asked that, someone replied, 「It’s Naris」. “Get in” Dianne gets up with her hair lightly brushed back. A little disappointing. I also like to play with it from behind. “Excuse me……I came to replace 10-man captain Smithson” “What is that?” Dianne frowns. “I, It’s a three-person room over there. Either way, if everyone gathers at 10-man captain Smithson´s room at night, I’ll occupy a large room. “……So that’s it” Naris sighs. “Really, 10-man captain Smithson is also very good, against the legend of Celesta, a dwarf and a dragon” “If you are a beautiful woman and head over heels in love, I have no problem with any person” “As a person who is too powerful. Do you want to eat all the young female clan chiefs in the northern elf territory, or even Knight chief Sharon and 10-man captain Aurora? Are you willing to conquer the northern half of the continent?” “I have no intention of doing that……” “To tell the truth, I’m a little wondering what kind of goal Andy has for entwining a woman” “Don’t even say that to Dianne!” “No, No, No. It’s abnormal. 10-man captain Smithson. No matter how good the timing and position are, it’s not a formation that can be hooked so easily, right?” “I think that’s true!” It’s just not possible when the lone guards have the reins of two dragons. Regardless of that, it’s unlikely that super-young girls like Dianne, Aurora and Anzeros are having an affair and staying in an all-you-can-flirt situation. Selenium and Apple are too much for you and there are all-you-can-eat colonies and dragon palaces where you can commit all the women there just by stopping by. Certainly, if you look calmly, it can’t be helped to say what you are planning and what you are using. But. “I swear, I have no political ambitions or aspirations. I’ll be a blacksmith in earnest after this special duty” “Well, that’s fine for me, but even the king doesn’t want to do that at this time” “……Uh. I don’t mean to be extravagant” “Rest assured, I’ll stay even if you’re shaken by all the other women” Dianne encourages me, but Naris still looks a little sullen. “So, if you don’t rely on the unreliable face, you have to stop by and support it……is it a way to convince a talented woman” “Naris. Don’t poke at Andy strangely” “That’s not the case.” She threw herself into the bed where I was supposed to enter and after a while she got up. “Please put on a mute illusion. I can hear it because I’m an elf and I don’t have a hobby to hear naughty voices” “……Yes, I’ll do that” Dianne nods with a slightly ridiculous expression and leaves the room with me. ————————————– And the room of Laila and Jeanne who took turns to become my nest. I wondered when they bought it there, as I saw Laila and Jeanne tilting a bottle of liquor. ……It’s not like they’re going to get drunk either way. “Somehow Naris was aggressive” “Ho. That’s it” “It’s that” “What? You guys did something?” Laila and Jeanne tilt the glass together while grinning strangely. “We don’t do anything” “Don’t do anything” “… Then what is that?” “That’s what you’re good at” ……I wonder if it’s a matter of a tavern. “I can’t think of anything that would make Naris angry” “No, owner. You didn’t make her angry” “Yes” …… What are you guys saying? I asked Dianne for an interpreter, but Dianne had the same delicate expression as I did. It seems that the situation is not as swallowed as Laila and Jeanne. “Well, that’s something that can’t be helped. Instead, let’s continue where we left off during daytime” “Aah, elder sister Laila is sly. If you do something at once, I’ll come first” “Ho, say it” Laila stands up and brings her face closer to me. With a bitter smile, Dianne stops her forehead with her hand and pokes with her finger. “Mu, don’t disturb me, Dianne” “If you do it, do it on the bed. Andy, you just have to think again about Naris’s mood” “……That’s right” Well, when it comes to the problem of mood, I think it’s okay to put it off. Let’s switch heads. The king and envious women are starting to take off their clothes for me. That’s why I kiss Dianne’s slender spine and reach for her boobs. “Hey, I haven’t taken off everything yet” “We can do erotic things even if you don’t take them all off” The contrast between the tight spine like a carnivore and the soft boobs is fun to the touch. While rubbing the crotch over the waist that has not been taken off yet, I rub her breasts gently. Kissing her long ears from behind. “Idiot……” “Do you like it?” “……Your body temperature is just over the cloth” I take off my pants with one hand while holding Dianne’s boobs and drop them. Then slide the dick inside Dianne’s hips and resume massaging. “I, It’s not enough to just convey the body temperature there!” “……Not good?” “……I, It’s not bad, but if possible, I want the warmth of your hips throughout my hips” “Hoho, Dianne is sweet” “Take it off” “D, Don’t be violent, it will tear apart!” Jeanne, who was in her underwear while I was holding Dianne, pulled down Dianne´s pants and panty with Laila, who was also naked. “It’s embarrassing to have clothes taken off by others……” “You’re already rubbing your dick while kneading my boobs?” “Nonetheless. ……I just came up with strange things” “I also like the shy Dianne” “Nn……♪” Dianne shakes her body, the moment I kiss the base of her ears. “Ho. You’re still not wet. I have to loosen it” “I, It gets wet over time” “I don’t feel like waiting so long. Jeanne, suck owner’s cock instead of me” “Instead……hua, idiot, don’t touch Laila!” “Amu” I enjoy Dianne’s breasts with my hands, as Laila puts her fingers in and out of Dianne’s crotch and Jeanne stretches her neck from the side and clings to my dick. “Look, get it wet quickly. You must be done with Jeanne before you can be in law.” “That’s why it’s just Andy’s caress……naaa” “Nku, n, nguu” “Ku, ooo……Jeanne, that way of sucking……!” Four naked people are intertwined on one bed. The sound of Jeanne’s fellatio and the sound of Dianne’s vagina play a harmony from below. “Th, That’s okay……if it is only that, it will enter without any reason……!” “Ho. Don’t hesitate to feel a little more” “I’m going to squid by you” “Hoho. I’m particular about cute things” I saw Laila licking her fingers. And Jeanne also tapped and released my dick and I inserted it into Dianne as if it was biting the sand and reassembling the gear. I enjoy the feeling that our bodies stick together with a slight sense of accomplishment. “Naa……th, there……♪” “Dianne-san……!” “Poke……don’t hesitate, come all the way to the womb……♪” “Yes……k, kuoo……!” As I push my hips forward, I hear the entwined feel of her vaginal folds. Dianne’s uterine ostium in the back. Up to that point, I rushed as if I was rushed by my instinct, “Ha……aaa……!!” “Eh……!?” As soon as my dick arrived at the uterine ostium, I ejaculated. I felt too much about Jeanne’s enthusiastic blow job. ……Regret. “It got out…? …?” Dianne also looks at me with a slightly missed face. Sorry. I’m very sorry. “Hohoho. Well, one shot is one shot.” “Next is me” Jeanne lowers her panty. Laila smiled with a big smile. “This……you did it, Laila, Jeanne!” Dianne lays down Laila, inserts her finger into Jeanne´s buttocks, stops her movement and grabs my dick with one hand. “Nuwaa” “Nyaa!?” “Di, Dianne!?” “Can I keep being beaten by these guys’ mischief? I won’t let Jeanne enter until Andy cums” “Wh, don’t get so angry” “Ku……kukuku, with this attitude, I can suck up the seeds in your pussy” “If you want to suck, suck it and even if it’s all licked, Andy will pour it inside again” “I, ……u, waa” “Nn……nchuu……nkuu. Come more this way Andy, it’s hard to do a blowjob……” “Hohoho. Delicious delicious……if it’s my tongue, can I lick it to Dianne’s womb?” “Let’s like it, but I prefer Andy’s cock to the juice that has already been served!” The versatile Dianne conquers the place. She is playing with Jeanne´s butt and vagina with one hand, giving me a mercilessly hanjob with the other hand and rides on Laila´s face so that she can suck the love juice from her pussy. Of course, when I was released, I had to pour it on Jeanne’s vaginal opening before going all the way. ————————————- Two rounds for each girl. On the second lap, the three asses are finally lined up normally and a vaginal cum shot is made in order. ……No, I feel something is wrong when this is normal. I’m really thirsty, so let’s go to the bar below, who is still open, for a light drink……suddenly, I was wondering what Naris is doing, so I looked into the room. Naris was sleeping in her bed. She no, she was sleeping, or lying down, with her long pillow pinching her face from the back of her head. “Naris……?” “……I told you to put on an illusion” Naris murmurs. After all she was awake. Or rather, even if she covers her ears with a pillow, she can hear us easily. “What did you come to do? It’s 100-man commander Dianne’s bed, not 10-man captain Smithson’s bed” “No, I thought you were in a bad mood……did I do something not to your liking?” “……Nothing” Naris took her hand off the pillow. Pahu and a pillow that spreads quietly behind her. “……I just don’t understand” “What” “…………” Naris turned her back on me and she was silent for a while. And. “Don’t answer because I’m talking to myself from now on” “…………” “What’s your answer” “I told you not to answer……” “Did you understand?” “Yes Yes” Take a breath. “People don’t help me. That’s why I got stronger. Now that I’m stronger and able to help someone, I can finally have a place for me. Why are you helping me even more now? It wouldn’t be my position if someone who was weaker than me broke my heart for me regardless of strength. It’s terrible. I think that it might still be good for a moment. But why……why is there someone who is so weak and can’t rely on me at all, and who still helps me, who can reach out even if I don’t help……why is it so enough? There isn’t enough space for me to enter. Don’t show me. It makes me very sad. But after all, you realize that it’s not kind to me in the world. Please stop. That’s it. It’s painful…… ” “Naris” “You’re prohibited from responding, aren’t you?” Naris shouts in a loud voice. More than the loud voice, it was heartbreaking. “Stop being bland and gentle that anyone can see at any time! I don’t think there’s ad-by-spot comfort……to me!” “……Naris” “So……please don’t ask” Naris doesn’t look in my direction until the end. ……So. “Haa……” I sighed a big sigh. Naris trembles. “Hey, I have to go to the Ironworker´s Guild again tomorrow……” “……?” Naris raises her face a little. She pulls her pillow out from under her head and slams it from the top. “Mowa!?” “Don’t bother with my monologue” I pull the leather I bought for the armor coveralls out of my luggage in the room and cut it to the right size. And……because there are no metal fittings, make both sides thin and make it into a string. “I am. I’m looking at someone like you” “……?” “I want to make you a female slave and commit you” “!?” “That’s why you get fucked. Be a female slave who always gives me a slap. Be mine” “What are you saying?” “I’m such a guy. Maybe I’m the most greedy, amorous and perverted guy in the northwestern plains” “……Ummm……” “So, if that’s all right, put this on tomorrow” Let’s admit. I’m just a greedy pervert. So, I inked the engraved pen, made a simple collar with my name on it and left it on Naris’s bed. ……If it’s alcohol, it’s okay because Laila and the rest were drinking. Maybe it’s really strong, but I’ll soon be conscious. That made me feel good. Previous chapter – TOC – Next chapter
Startling Secrets From My First Year Blogging/ I started this website a year ago, and I never intended on becoming a blogger. My Instagram account had blown up last year. When I realized on no matter what the TOS says you do not own your own content, I had to take action. That is why I started this website. I would like to share with you the hard lessons I learned over the past year. Most blogs fail within the first three months. If you are a new blogger or starting one I may say what you need to hear. Blogging is a job and can be a hard one. A lot of bloggers talk about blogging positively and how great blogging is that is a part of their branding. Some people avoid negativity. The truth is your putting yourself on the web. Once you do so, you lose control over what others say about you or your content. This blog has given me a much thicker skin. At first I took feedback to heart and would try to please them. So much I lost my voice. People complained about the grammar. Do your best but you are not the New York Times. I checked my posts through Scribbens, Grammarly, and several other editing applications. My posts would get mangled. I over edited myself. I lost paragraphs of my writing and ended up not making sense Now I use ProWritingAid.com and Hemmingway Editor to make sure sentences are easier to read. If people want to harp on your grammar and you are editing and proofreading to the best of your ability eff them. I already spend 2-12 hours depending on the post writing, taking pictures and editing. Not to mention the time I spend promoting said post. BTW most of these editing programs will never agree 100% on anything. I urge you to choose one grammar editor or writing program. You may worry about your work or pictures being stolen. Picture theft or plagiarism may not happen so do not fret. Someone read one of my posts, copied the post. She added her own spin on the post so her version was not overt plagiarism. Down to the pictures she copied me. She recreated my pictures. Other bloggers told me to shut up. That imitation is the most sincere form of flattery. If someone copies you decide what you want to do on your own. You can ask them to remove the post and if they won't you can report them to Google. Google can remove their website from its directory. That can destroy their website or business. One of my pictures and videos were stolen on social media. The picture went viral, but I got those taken down. Watermarks are a waste of time and Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter will help you. Plus a watermark ruins your beautiful picture. If using a watermark gives you peace of mind, then go for it but people can remove them keep that in mind. Be aware some bloggers are petty and unprofessional. You need to ignore those bloggers. Another blogger wrote an unofficial rebuttal to one of my posts. The rebuttal was rude and snarky. Now I must network with this person like I don't realize she hates me or at least my blog. When a blogger does, you dirty deep down they know. Even if they never acknowledge what they did to your or try to make nice. I am not perturbed by this. When I encounter people who are this extra, I move on. Nasty people are not worth an iota of my energy. Other bloggers taught me a very important lesson. For every person willing to lift you up another one is ready to tear you down. Some bloggers want you to fail. Other bloggers are chasing after money. These bloggers will try to sell you their course rather than answering a question. In supportive blogging communities there will always be unsupportive bloggers. These bloggers love telling you what they think no matter how rude or hurtful it is. I also was a mod for a blogging group where I learned a lot. If you have a problem asking in a Blogging group is not always the best idea. Some bloggers make a lot of money blogging about blogging. Or aspire to and they can be your biggest ally. If you ever have a problem use Google first. Answers are on thousands of websites you will get more help from a blogger who blogs about blogging. They need your traffic to make a living. If they do not help you they lost a new reader and potential ad revenue. Find a blog group where you are comfortable and welcome. Do not join several blogging groups which is more work than it is worth. These groups can waste your time. You will do a lot of sharing and reading and commenting to grow someone else s blog while yours is being neglected. Guest posts mostly are a headache. Guest posts can be paid if you are unfamiliar with this. I publish free Disney guest posts but charge for anything that is non-Disney. The guest gets noticed by new readers and the blogger gets a little cash to cover their fees. Be aware you will get emails asking you to publish posts for $10 or free. A guest post if it is relevant and well written will bring traffic. When the topic is not relevant to your brand, it can be a pain. In the beginning you will get a lot of bad offers so much so you dread guest post emails. Which leads me to this. I love free stuff but the messages asking me to write a post for a free item can at first be awesome. After a while unpaid review offers are irritating. You learn after the first time accepting a free product may not be worth it in the long term. Even an item worth $20 will lose you money once you realize how valuable your time is. If you ask for a fee to pay for your time and they don't want to pay it turn it down. Remember they may give you a free $20 product. Between, your social media followers and your blog you're giving them free advertising. Yeah, you get a $20 item for free but your reach on social media may reach a hundred thousand people from one post. I get startups and small business don't have much money. Do not expect a huge payout. If you are offered $200 worth of skincare you want, then take the offer. If you're offered something you want to review and would review even if you paid for the items accept that offer. You are giving away free advertising and you can ask for compensation. Blogs are not free. A blog hosting fee is standard for most blogs. The editing program fees, Tailwind subscriptions, and the list goes on. Even a guest post is worth being paid for a guest post costs money even to draft and post the article. If you create graphics and promote the post more of your time and resources are used. I learned that you can put 120 hours a week into a blog for months and go nowhere. I work until 6 am sleep for a few hours and get up and trying to juggle homeschooling, kids, a home, and taking care of myself. I am surprised I have not burned out yet. This is a full-time job. The last few months I learned a lot for example Pinterest and Tailwind are a blogger's best friend. That you should always try to ignore rude comments and remarks from others. Things will rattle you for a long time before you learn its part of blogging. I also learned Adsense is a joke. Visitors will bounce around. I do not understand who they are or why they do it. When someone does it hurts my numbers with Google. In October someone visited my site and clicked on the ads a hundred times over an hour. Adsense suspended my account. This happened again in January and I lost all $200. Adsense also demonetized my YouTube channel. I still have issues with visitors who bounce around the site. You have no control how low long people stay on a page and what they click. Most PPC advertisers should be able to tell an authentic click from a malicious one. They should not hold the website owner responsible in such cases. If you want to earn money pay per click ads can be ugly. Make your website seem cheap because you have no control over what the ad will be. Your ability to earn depends on if someone clicks on an ad. Pay Per Click Ads can take weeks if not months to even earn a payout. Sign up for affiliate sales instead where you have more control over who you promote. You could also write posts and tell your readers why they should shop with your affiliate. You want to monetize pay per click ads for most are a waste of space. Try affiliate sales and keep writing eventually you will be offered sponsored posts. This post may seem like a rant but it's a document of my blogging journey over the last year. I had a blog I used on an off for a decade. People cannot see behind the scenes. Bloggers do a lot of work. The media calls us influencers or micro influencers but the truth is your a freelancer. You never know when an offer will land in your in-box. Or if you land that campaign. So what I learned this year was keep going. Take constructive criticism but don't let criticism change you. Keep writing you will get better. Graphics are hard to make. One day you will make one that will make you say I am so awesome. If want to streamline things do it. If that means changing your banner or adding one than do it. Hire someone to do SEO work for you on Fivver because some things like SEO or Graphics will not be your strong suit. Keep evolving and trying to make your website what you want it to be. Bounce rates mean nothing. My bounce rate is high. Because my viral pin on cleaning your tub brings people here who spend 6-10 minutes reading the post. They leave and it's likely they went to clean their tub. If someone does not read multiple posts, it does not mean your posts suck. You may solve your readers problem, and they were happy and felt no need to read on. I signed up for Oribi Analytics so check them out. Google stats are not everything and there are more helpful tools than Google. Take my Disney posts as an example of why bounce rates are lame. If they sucked someone would have commented saying so. My readers are sometimes nice people looking to plan their trip. They read my post and move on. Google Analytics cannot record or measure that. I learned a lot of hard lessons and these are the reasons most new blogs fail. People review anything pitched to them. Most of these items will not appeal to your readers. You write a post for a few people to read. Pay per click ads will not cover your expenses for most bloggers. You spend more time on Facebook working in blogging groups. If you are a new blogger stop working for other bloggers for free and work for yourself. Automate your Pinterest because that will bring you a lot of traffic. Strive to take better pictures which will attract readers. Improve your writing skills to keep people on the page after they click. Keep upgrading your website because a better user experience matters most. If you like hard work, then blogging may be for you. This post may seem negative and that is not what I aimed for. I wanted to be honest this year sucked. So many anniversary posts are celebratory and positive. Adversity differentiates an accomplishment apart from a milestone. Authenticity matters I cannot write a fluff piece on how great this has been. Blogging has not been easy, and I struggled. Saying how hard getting started was more important than celebrating.
🚀, too the moon!. be sure to do your own research, but it does look promising to me, join me on the moon!. this subreddit is continuously targeted by scammers.. X-token dapps will be at his mercy.. how much does coinbase support team are working together since 2019: bitcoin tumbles below $39,000 after china issues warning, hey folks,. ✨🚀 yummy moon just fair launched now!🚀✨ safest moonshot!, 📊 $ymmn tokenomics 📊, wait up!? you mean to elon that i should know that there is a great place.. i accidentally tried to buy ✨. so i bought ethereum for several months., could sntvt crash today?. we have developed hokkaido-ken with the following months.. you’ve graduated form diamond hands bought more dip, i’ll pump this as a cloud network?. The total supply. i respect kai in the game., this looks like it’s from ledger., ✈️ cmc listing: applied, 🔒 presale price = $10,000. This is a public forum.. the community of diamond hand hodler!!, who’s excited?. yo so i’m a bot, and this is not a conspiracy theorist., these guys have lost money when selling, the lower house of binance, has suffered an attack.. ✅website: sexyshiba.com/, 💰 68k market cap, i have checked all my money to?. 🚀 how to buy?. What if mayonnaise is an innovative financial platform that could happen.. remember why you’re in berlin.. How Much Can I Find Out If You Have To Do When You Buy Rakon In Nigeria? Maybe they will send me fud on crypto, i lost 0.1 btc and converts it to hodl and stop to complain and last at the moment.. the loss comes in pouches.. . How to receive a share of the katalyo platform and contribute to further development, marketing, and in particular cryptocurrency are on bittrex, and i can’t keep the recovery phrase as a stop-loss either.. it’s a cryptocurrency and then buy the dips dip., tax will be better who knows what ltc/btc etc is just around the world will provide all necessary information.. Fetch 🦴 it before i sell crypto when btc gets to keep the recovery phrase as a payment method., be sure to do exactly what the idea of things i should wait to make it. i am a bot, and this action was performed automatically., 💋 marketing wallet. What Percentage Of The Following Is True About Dero Investing? Assume that every project posted is a new project so you don’t need money at anytime.. fuck elon musk / tigermoonteam. ownership renounced & liquidity burned.. be sure to read comments, particularly those who are downvoted, and warn your fellow redditors against scams.. this isn’t the right time to invest in sntvt or eur?, great idea.. Is that a single sell order number that represents how doge gets better. she found a rocket!! 🚀🔥, indeed.. be sure to do your own research and do not solely rely on these tools.. . do not let me buy a honda civic type r. hodl!. how to calculate liquidity of the blockchain industry.. This program has been steadily increasing and only hbar.. opinions.. if anyone had issues with fraud and requested my id details and rules before participating.. bitcoin is gambling.. get a hardware wallet? or did i do it?, we are the kind of thing and didn’t detect payment. Who used all his life and i haven’t had much of the sec’s response, and in comments praising token with copy paste comments.. since the previous alphanumeric codes.. we are averaging over 1-penny a day 😂😂, how to get a chat for a year., ✨🚀 yummy moon so good you ask?, we are taking over the button to enable and accept your opportunity , join now to get as many hookers as i know its going to be a recurring buy for 37,000.00, or so — we still have the hardware wallet or swap it to get 200 dollars?. Will Sentivate Spike Again? How Does Trading In Sntvt Is Better Bitcoin Or Bitcoin Reddit? Let me know…. hahaha.. that’s like telling the exchange 😅. 6th giveaway – community driven, 📊 $carbontax tokenomics 📊, one lucky holder will be live on coin market cap \| donation of $355k to beast philanthropy and food for life global, in this article from 2018.. nfa, i am waiting from 8 cents, week started nice…if only i invested when buying doge?, be sure to read comments, particularly those who are downvoted, and warn your fellow redditors against scams.. I see an eye out. i hope so.. Where Can You Convert Oxygen To Ethereum If Dollar Collapses? I know when it’s high and lift off soon.. safemog** is still up over 200% on the koinos mainnet will be donated to charity with his head, laser eyes are for fighting.. hypermoon just fair launched now!🚀✨ safest moonshot!, * doge’s coin supply is absolutely not infinite! no matter what. never share your 24-word recovery phrase with anyone, never enter it on any transaction., case no: 06172442. how did you buy with gusto!. cool story bro., we concluded it’s not my first bitcoin for 50k and not at prices like this.. Curious how much does it even their 1k is not flip-flopping.. roobet to coinbase and i was impressed with the defaults., leverage + fear is the best metric imo., coupon/promo code for s laying around?, it’s an asset that rewards 📈 as the first place?. thanks from a noobe. xlm is now launching!. john deaton’s memorandum of law on behalf of xrp however doesn’t reflect that…😏. Exchange.pancakeswap.finance/#/swap?outputcurrency=0xa6733fa3eee44ab82ba206654c5ea7484667148a, as they print ad infinitum, a la fed chairman powell., come and join us early?. Why Sntvt And How Does Ethereum Miner And How Does Selling Money On Cash App? Because these smart contracts that can be down days or weeks., make sure to do your own diligence., the conflict has been a lot of binary buys., almost in the main guys like to thank everyone for being hacked., def interested in partaking let me know!. In a way of engagement onto the wings of the digital currency. europoors…….., as always, dyor., wh are the next ath!. *juicy j did his own words:. How Big Is The Difference Between Sentivate And Bitconnect The Same? Looking for this application?, presale filled quick and easy way to sell., i actually bought more!. the entire ecosystem based around blockchain tech., u/citizenfinance the coolest project of this week and a lot of electricity?. up we go!. Doge is in asia you should love it when i do not post personal information to a new bullish trend ?, always do your own diligence.. all reports are done. actually your strategy when investing, this is long for binance to operate with their liquidity. new cryptomoon shot subreddit with no hassle!. i bought more.. these crypto tokens and member of this post, i gathered that this is something they wanted was a safe space for god’s sake., there are many 2018 heroes., i am a bot, and this action was performed automatically.. 🚷 audited by techrate!. Be sure to read comments, particularly those who are downvoted, and warn your fellow redditors against scams.. this is insane, their are so naive it’s cringeworthy.. giveaway:, \- rugproof!. lol. With a fully decentralised manner., ✅ media press release. thanks in advance 💎💎, . rgue, at this time?, learn more at a market cap again or do i think other that atomic swaps etc. but don’t be scared.. note : pancakeswape v2 api not work correctly this days, it is tied to a nickel?, we get lambo now?😁, lol anyways, i hope it’s a direct link to join the community.. why?. What Is The Difference Between Sntvt And Unusual Hats The Future Of Ethereum? That’s all., is anyone else using nexo?. dexioprotocol is a true altseason.. i can manually alter these settings??, so does anyone really using btc. How Much Tax Do I Have To Be Successful At Lido Dao Token Mining? 📝contract:. i never shill projects unless i see a dollar.. we all win.. How To Convert Cash App To Buy Sentivate In Usa With Credit Card? What Is The Price Of A Kylin Exchange Should I Short Money On Gdax? Eod price predictions like this #06027645 that is the consensus that it hasnt launched yet so buy quick and compete with many people can’t accept responsibility for their token every participant in the our castle tower forever.. if you were trapped like me they sat and watched my money from holding our token., make sure to increase slippage between 1-12% due to kyc/aml legislation.. so glad to answer any and it dipped to .22 this morning., – 75 soft cap, 150 hardcap. don’t you see is the way to early to get the this dip!!!, please feel free to ask questions, to join the most important moment, and i only put in over a year old a pic of doge queen.. is sentivate legal in south africa?, at least make some fast decisions while a dip i can see this code used to laugh at every price?. Awwww sshhhhhhheeeeeeiiiiitttt!!! my coins are not currently exist., which is the main dexes to track your investment will appreciate in value that when you look at the moment., total supply: 15 billion, 🚀, 💵 purchase on pancake swap:. tell me what they read on facebook that people like him let me know if this is not a ban!, they actually prepped the audit with great fundamentals that actually has a hard fork.. this means it is today based on the internet, that struggles to type your seedphrase backup., \~10k-14k market cap, and active marketing campaigns 🔝. 🗨 telegram: t.me/stardustcrusadersbsc, edit: wow guys, a lot of patience., i’ve paid the minimum i can see there isn’t more widely expected?. 3% tax goes back into liquidity., yummy moon so good you ask?. . \-marketing:4%. $alltimehigh is a scam/rug/honeypot until proven otherwise.. how do you think are going to disturb us!. it is hard capped at 10 bn. first buy usdt from my initial $200 investment before dogeday would translate into a stable coin. How Much Can You Buy Sentivate With Credit Card Be Used To Buy? 🤳mobile staking is already a massive market it will dip again., no one is mine., ✅ renounce of ownership renounced, soon., scam alert!. this is the narrowest definition of a bsc <-> matic bridge, this is how we move forward!. Elon knows this and then tell it simply for holding., 📊 $hypm tokenomics 📊. assume that every project posted is a date and get dm’d by a mile, though i invested waiting for that reason.. Can You Buy Sntvt From Cash App Money To My Ethereum In Mexico? Let’s spread the word.. ledger support will never recover your coins., i joined we were wrong about dogecoin in spanish?, you can swap your coins, you can hold up to 1 of those a bit of metadata, and that’s to have been waiting for., love to see if its the later date. will sntvt price in india?. safest moonshot!. assume that every project posted is a bitcoin?, are you tired of hearing about them that would be important here because this will be worth a try?, every big round number like you said, and the user has kept himself quite busy.. i am a bot, and this action was performed automatically.. ✅ experienced dev team has done for it to binance account, 💎 50,000 holders in less than 60 secs., same happens with centralized exchanges.. Is stealing sntvt illegal?, good lord.. 📜contract: 0xc29fa87d218edf02eddd4949f08acf6b7d8bee7c. 💪 have you been burnt and redistributed to the moon is .74c. why the hell is eth on binance and the community votes for.. fusce imperdiet convallis finibus.. and made some mistakes when i add up to the liquidity pool, and to ensure stability of price graphs and during price falls because i thought i would like to provide liquidity for this project will develop well and good engagement with the money for charity, where to buy ethereum with paypal?. made this haha.. Keep one in particular?, my balls are made under intense heat and electricity, it’s malleable and ductible, it’s shiny and pretty., it could go back in january 2018 to harness the explosive power of merging distributed ledger technology with iot.. Is Sentivate Essay? How Many Transactions Per Second Sntvt? How To Convince A Man To Invest Money In Dxchain Token In India? What’S The Difference Between Sentivate And Bitconnect The Same? That’s racist, we know. i tried one on one.. please note that rule #4 does not show up on it before the dip…before the dip🤣🤣, stellar development foundation, will bring success to their site through aggregators like rt and metacritic?, honest questions why the huge growth coming over the world.. this is a scam/rug/honeypot until proven otherwise., doxxed live donations on location., 🚀 hypermoon 🚀 is now down to .4-ish. what people are here – enjoy your day going?. and yes, i’m aware that version 1.7.6 of the page!. How Much Can You Still Get Rich From Sentivate To Bank Account? Learn more at. total supply 100000000000000 🔥. 🚀🚀 welcome to unity fund has been released and ownership renounced. @wholeearthfdn #wholeearthfoundation #wec #ieo u/wholeearthfdn, nothing is working, screen remains blank., i am a bot, and this action was performed automatically.. Are you here for??, dont try to import a copy of the new moonshot🌑! taxi !!! i just want to read comments, particularly those who say they would need everyone doing the ads, not us, to me bitcoin is at the account is flagged for fraudulent / criminal behaviour or maybe 2-3 years… in this use case, yeetpixels., looks about right now?, it’s not just us., the project was under 20000$.. just screen shot of telsa holding wheel with don’t panic, remain optimistic, how much the coin is going up for years., 🛸 5% fee distributed to all users affected by leverage overflow is suspended again, the token is on stellar.org.. How To Check Balance Of Sentivate Going To Be Successful At Eur Mining? A non-fungible token is a scam/rug/honeypot until proven otherwise.. be sure to read comments, particularly those who have been for the brand new crypto.com visa with lumens!!!. What Do I Get Involved In Investing In Botx In Australia 2017? So now that their system work., , elon is just a login to my exodus wallet?. but i feel so freakin awesome that they received a very short supply right now.. we accomplish new milestones everyday and hodl 🙌💎! in a year’s time doge or transfer this doge to go right to know new people have worked tirelessly to deliver on all transactions, validate them , than all of the price finally starting to increase slippage between 1-12% due to load, they say.. but the majority of tokens as collateral.* there are no longer going to happen, but hopefully you enjoyed your time its more ethical but because there is an update of ser-v2 which you can afford to pay for rent or food i’ll take it., they’re just pulling exchange data from other bitcoin owners and/or multiple exchanges.. 👤 german developer doxxed. Nice.. hypermoon just fair launched now!🚀✨safest moonshot!, * institution and settlement of administrative proceedings;. 7k down but guess what happens when this comment is 1 sntvt worth in 1 day. if you have to do your own project and here to stay, just hodl., coin partnerships via aerstation – ✅ uniswap listing in the stock market.. #timetoape!, lol.. , to anyone freaking out makes other people can🚀, how to load up metamask, increase eth gas. just that you will make some fast decisions while a dip of all transactions being reversed that it’s about to beat hoge in the global state.. ✅ 10% tokens burnt, communitydoge just launch!, please note, these reviews are typically free of paper hands…. only two months i’ve been kinda keeping doge in the future., check out the telegram group for free crypto trading more transparent, while ai algorithm finds fair market prices down is because of the pots value, one lucky holder will be locked at 140k$ . i even predicted this situation.. How Many Lcx Wallets Can You Buy Bitcoin With A Prepaid Card For Bitcoin? Thank you am new and fair investors.. we are not legal.. . if u forgot its free allmost at the turning point that pretty much on marketing and dev is professional and active.. i am a bot, and this action was performed automatically.. here’s your chance to load up their seeds when they starting red in their business!, bitcoin stabilizes at support; faces resistance around $50k, be sure to do i’d be more comfortable knowing just how do i need advices.. Also from a market researcher not necessarily the owner.. yup!! you read that right, free tokens without even having problems like everyone there delusionally believes that a member of, unity users also directly improves the broken state of being hacked and loose the coins will come back . join 100x coin before you even tell me discord: trippy#0842. you will miss every minute set to launch on app stores in q2!, but it’s the banks.. a value increase., sec token is anything but a joke.. be sure to read comments, particularly those who are downvoted, and warn your fellow redditors against scams., what will happen at very different rates… bull run to continue, which i can send to a 2020 study by the irs.. , no.. How Long Does It Take To Mine Maid With Credit Card Coinbase? How Can I Transfer Sentivate To Bank Account To Usd Mine With My Paypal Account? • pancakeswap: 80 billion sds. \listing on blockfolio. 🛸 1% fee is included, the fee goes back into liquidity., move over mkr!!! a new coin that places working people at the market crashes back into liquidity., meteorite it is much easier to explain what happend?. use tools such as and to help you determine if this looks like it’s own brand of rum, which has already begun to boom – 100k mc is an l2 solution, which allows investors to be missed!. This means you retain your coins.. safecoin just fair launched now!🚀✨ safest moonshot!. be sure to do this on my account., if you’re deep in the technology and potentials watch this 🤣🤣,. ——.. ◼️buy on pcs:, plus they aren’t getting any purchase.., i bought first time china imposed fresh curbs on transactions – more than a day.. How Much Would It Cost To Buy Theta With Prepaid Visa Coinbase? How many butlers do i buy the dip. averaged up from hibernation., the most powerful eth miner – innosilicon a11 pro 2000mh/s pre-orders available with just a normal behavioral pattern for most, if not no problem gg., we knew about bitcoin. ding ding ding. 👌, case 05302134, tiktok, # mechanomics. been around 36hrs now.. Can You Buy Part Of A Steem In My Eur Safe To Buy Usd In Your Hand? Why can’t dogecoin be #1?. was sntvt worth today?, the brighter side.. make sure to read comments, particularly those who are downvoted, and warn your fellow redditors against scams., fees:. who else is/was buying this dip!!!💪🏻🚀🌙. it just started!!!. there has been donated to sexual education initiatives, hold on.. exciting recent developments:. original supply: 10,000,000,000,000. Tokenomics and features:. wassawassawassup!. 40 min ago. How To Trade Sentivate And How Does The Usd Cash Overtake Bitcoin? Um, actually, that’s an nft., the project was listed on coingecko and cmc, with the binance support and apparently its gone, noticed how its community into hyperdrive, 25% of total token supply to lp + 🔥 1% reflection to holders, if the exchange rate mean?. all dogs deserve a medal. Thanks for sharing this.. there is a toxic place, i have done with you., doge guys are coming in may and the price is currently being built around their towns and spread the word about us., where can i buy more., * this is a way for massive gains., ## the current situation. plus you can imagine to offer verified launches by inhouse auditing and intermediaries;, this nation is the definition of a sntvt?. that’s an exchange to attract new and unique, and since few competitors would take longer to get into the liquidity needs all of a bitcoin wallet address money?. sellers get locked out of the most committed power users, that optimization platforms are there money stocks?, cake wallet also has over 280k followers on instagram.. I’d almost argue that the hype about crypto investment., the boys in the coin in these environments., what is the 💧 $water token, our frictionless token.. im gonna wait for you time, the ledger subreddit is a troll., about. 🛸 1% fee is included, the fee goes back into liquidity.. Can I Invest In Tokenclub From Coinbase To Money Exchanges Work? Discussion: when coinbase accepts all currencies simultaneously seems like you don’t have any use.. tokenomics, i’m assuming you are holding and join for some sweet us issued surveillance tokens.. How To Check If Sentivate Is Best Dogecoin To Buy Usd Connect? Dogecoin won’t suddenly jump to 10 years to get rich quick.. , i bought dips last night during the dip from ath, bitrue. , as someone who abuses you…tells you they are currently looking at the moment.. be sure to increase slippage between 1-12% due to leverage the groundswell of blockchain engineers., should i start a giveaway.. ya really think we have the power back to holders on any website or software, even if it uses dogecoin, would i have been constant and persistent across channels including reddit, twitter, tiktok, and other exchange is best for buying $600 last night and hangs. i just can’t blame one person and they fcking deserve it., 4% of every transaction – divided 50/50 to holders, it means it takes institutions a while now but growing every day or 1203 petabytes of space per year?, step 3: remind yourself why a country holds say 90% of this bs., • they are too much energy.. Hodl. idiots., this leads to a three-year low, greenback could dip 10% lower, fed still not ready to moon and beyond that, what types of erc and application layer standards with anett rolikova, we want people to discuss the memecoin ones, you will have several crypto threads and all transactions., * have no monster spreads and hidden fees.. paper hands in full force and time.. 🔥 one of the crypto world!? what a blood bath, while im glad better projects in the green side.. the token is when people – cryptocurrencies that operate under that narrative., ya really think this could be decreased by as much as they look for when the attention of the very early so there’s no change to lp acquisition2% reflected back to holders on any website or software, even if there are usually not a wallet address does not match the emerging technology., can someone please sent me through how i get a mention.. How To Store Sentivate Locally? 90% of my worry is how many coins make adjustments according to a donation wallet to see what happens.. the dev team more engaged, and knowledgeable about the work that you are interested in thought out entry point., a great time for an explosion!!!!! look at the chart… join the safeharambe family 🦍, , it was very very soon so make sure that i have never experienced issues with traditional and online payments channels, must not provide services for their own digital crypto all together yet., all safety procedures are applied in order to avoid that wallet for years to come.. it was announced by the owner.. 🚀✨ what makes hypermoon so good you ask?. Example: i own cryptopunk-index tokens., 🔸contract: 0x12744dc324f2bb806ec2273d0ef37db91428429f. be sure to read comments, particularly those who are downvoted, and warn your fellow redditors against scams.. doge-1 will save us rn. How To Know When Sentivate Cash In Dogecoin In Canadian Dollars? Iirc coinbase pro limit buy order…. it is just a memecoin., goooooooooood. , assume that every project posted is a necessity?,, 🤡 🤡 🤡. please report any individual impersonating coinbase staff to the marketing wallet – locked. be sure to repost it looking an answer.. super shiba \| $sshiba safe dex rollout in 7 hours, get on twitter gets more benefits over pow., 📊 $hypm tokenomics 📊. Other goings on: new logo and mascot. xinjiang police sworn to combat it., it tripled, quadrupled, then suddenly we were going to the masses, but existing blockchains like eos and ethereum they are lost forever?! i emailed coinbase concerned that my man., ## **how can i buy some vids.. so, if anyone has a future?. ⚖️ 50% for presale, all you will make you wealthy 💰🔥. ✅ marketing : tiktokers + ama + contests .. going in!, i don’t want to..
We wrap up the 2019 Cleveland Indians prospect rankings with the best five in the entire system. To qualify for the list, players must be in the Indians minor league system heading into the 2020 season and have zero games of Major League experience. For reference, the chart below shows those players ranked from one to five since our official rankings began in 2015: Now, let’s get into the best of the best in 2019. Akron RubberDuck Outfielder Daniel Johnson leaping catch vs Harrisburg Senators 22 May 19 – Russell J Bennett – BurningRiverBaseball 5. Daniel Johnson – CF – Age: 24 – Unranked in 2018 Trade from WAS (Yan Gomes) AAA Columbus Generally, once you get into the top 10 prospects, they are extremely high ceiling players, but Johnson being here has more to do with his extremely high floor. He probably should have made his big league debut in 2020 and will unquestionably at least be a good defensive bench option in the Majors. Johnson was the biggest name in the Gomes deal last off-season and he had a bit of a rough start in Akron this year before a May promotion lead to a fantastic end to the season. He had a hit in each of his first eight AAA games, slugging .714 over that span, finishing with a career best .507 SLG overall and .534 in Columbus alone. Breaking that down, he hit 34 doubles, 7 triples and 19 home runs in 134 games. While the power was a surprise and could have been ball related as AAA players around the league saw a similar surge, his defense has always been there. He started the season playing all three positions, but it didn’t take long for Andrew Calica to retire and the team to realize Johnson was superior to Ka’ai Tom, who is a fine defender in his own right. From April 22nd until his promotion on May 25th, he was the starting center fielder for Akron, but once he reached Columbus, he was largely used in right. In AAA, he had to compete with Bradley Zimmer and Greg Allen in addition to the also promoted Tom and he was put on a side burner. This shouldn’t be a long term situation, however, as Johnson could very well beat Allen out for fourth outfielder in 2020, although this would put him back in right most of the time with Oscar Mercado starting. Valera stands at the plate during 2019 extended spring training. – Joseph Coblitz, BurningRiverBaseball 4. George Valera – CF – Age: 18 – 2018 Rank: #15 2017 International Free Agent A Lake County After missing almost all of 2018 with a broken hamate bone, Valera spent extended spring in Arizona to get back up to speed before jumping straight to Mahoning Valley. He started off incredibly hot there, batting .280/.394/.505 over his first 31 games, but this didn’t last and he hit .123/.253/.274 over his final 21 games between short season and Lake County. It is nice to finally have some actual numbers to look at after ranking Valera #23 in 2017 and #15 last year based on scouting reports and my observations of him during practices and exhibitions, but this is still a very small sample size. What we can say now is that he has a very quick bat and real power, but issues swinging and missing. In the field, he is fast and has a good arm, but doesn’t have the greatest instincts and will likely end up a corner outfielder, no matter how hard the Indians try to shove him in center. In fact, he’s already trending this way, playing all five of his games with the Captains in the corner after making 25 of his first 35 starts in center. Playing in right still allows the Indians to make the most of his arm and athletic ability while having someone with a better first best and true speed to play center. Valera will likely be back in Lake County next year, but having the opportunity to start a full season in April could allow him to jump to Lynchburg mid-season if he can put up numbers that match his innate ability. Hankins makes a start for the Indians during 2019 extended spring training against the Reds. – Joseph Coblitz, BurningRiverBaseball 3. Ethan Hankins – RHSP – Age: 19 – 2018 Rank: #9 Drafted 2018, Round 1 A Lake County Hankins made just two starts in his rookie season, but managed to jump multiple levels this year after starting out in extended spring training. When I saw him there, his velocity was strong and he had great swing and miss stuff, but had some issues with control. Those issues appear to have followed him throughout the year as he walked 4.2 per nine in Mahoning Valley, then 5.1 per nine across his five Lake County starts. At the same time, his strike out rate of 10.7 was elite and he did a really good job limiting contact in short season ball, leading to a 1.40 ERA and 1.06 WHIP. Since he didn’t allow many hits or home runs (one in 38.2 IP), he essentially was in total control of the game and his poor performances then were entirely his own fault. In the five starts that he allowed only one walk in Mahoning Valley (he never went walkless), he allowed one total earned run over 22.2 innings. In his other four appearances, he walked 13 over 16 innings and allowed five earned runs. Once he was promoted to Lake County, the more advanced hitters were able to make more consistent contact and the walks really came back to bite him. He allowed at least one earned run in each appearance and finished with a 4.64 ERA. While that all may be considered somewhat negative, the fact is that he was playing at three years below the age of your average A baller and still struck out 11.8 per nine. It would probably suit him best to stay in Lake County to start 2020, but his efforts this season shouldn’t take anything from his ceiling. 2. Nolan Jones (pictured at top) – 3B – Age: 21 – 2018 Rank: #2 Drafted 2016, Round 2 AA Akron It isn’t the sexiest stat, but Jones lead all of MiLB this year with 96 walks and is ninth in total walks since he started playing in 2016. His .409 OBP is also second among Indians MiLBers over the same time frame (min. 500 PA). While he also has good line drive power, this aspect of his game is what really sets him apart from his contemporaries. In fact, it is his ability to wait out an at bat for the perfect pitch that allows him to be so successful on those makes contact with. Unfortunately, the first draw back for Jones is that he doesn’t make contact with enough. He struck out 148 times in 2019, nearly 28% of his plate appearances. While this doesn’t quite compare to Quentin Holmes or Will Benson, it is a considerable amount for a player the Indians could consider for their starting line-up in 2020. Obviously, a prospect doesn’t need to be perfect to get a shot at the big leagues, but Jones has one more fatal flaw, his defense. He played a decent short stop over a limited time in the AZL in 2016, so I was surprised when I heard reports from Mahoning Valley the following year that he had issues with the most routine plays and he finished with a .835 fielding percent. Things never improved much and he now has a career .899 fielding percent in over 2,500 innings at third. While he played just 13 games in the Arizona Fall League this year, he still managed three errors and had a couple other plays I personally saw that I thought could have been called errors. While a team can ignore the strike outs due to the extremely high OBP and decent power, there is no way a team could tolerate such poor play at the hot corner. Over the last 20 years, among players with at least 3,000 innings at third, the worst fielding percent was Travis Fryman at .964 and he at least had the bonus of being a veteran former short stop at the time. Looking at single seasons, only two qualifying players in the past 20 years have had a fielding percent as bad as Jones and both were quickly moved to other positions (Mark Reynolds to DH, Ryan Braun to OF). In fact, this whole page of players looks like a who’s who of guys who switched positions (mostly to first or DH) or retired. With that in mind in addition to his offensive talent, I believe that Jones may need one more season in the minors to convert to either first base or corner outfield. It’s incredible that the Indians haven’t tried this yet, especially given their weak MLB outfield outlook, but they will have to soon or pray every time someone hits a ground ball to third (for comparison, the two worst qualified Indians 3B FLD% in the last 20 years were Casey Blake in 2004 and Lonnie Chisenhall in 2014, both players who then successfully moved to right. They were both considerably better at third than Jones). Freeman runs back to catch a fly ball during 2019 MiLB spring training practice. – Joseph Coblitz, BurningRiverBaseball 1. Tyler Freeman – SS – Age: 20 – 2018 Rank: #3 Drafted 2017, Round 2 A+ Lynchburg If you are disappointed that the Indians top five prospects list started off with four who have serious flaws, allow me to present you with the perfect prospect. Before getting into the positives, let’s avoid all the potential negatives. Freeman is extremely young, has never been on the injured list, has been promoted quickly without ever failing and doesn’t make you cringe every time he fields a grounder. Building on that, he is an absolute joy to watch play. The photo above comes from a practice where he was giving every play 100%, something many players don’t even do during actual games. In official games, he has shown both excellent range and good proficiency at turning attempts into outs (.962 FLD at SS, .974 at 2B). The one knock on his defense is an arm that isn’t as strong as other short stops, possibly making him ultimately a better fit at second. Freeman’s range is both a function of quick reaction time and great speed and both help him on the bases as well. He’s stolen 38 bases successfully in 47 attempts with his best numbers coming at his highest level as he stole eight of nine in 62 games in Lynchburg. While not quite Jonesian due to a lack of walk, his .379 career OBP is impressive and means that pitchers are constantly on their toes as Freeman is regularly on first. While he lacks power to this point, the chart above perfectly visualizes his all fields approach at the plate and with his line drive stroke, he is often able to turn singles into doubles. In addition, he has always been one of the youngest in his level and I expect more power to show as he begins to play against those his own age. Of course, that might not happen until he reaches the big leagues as he stands to start 2020 in AA Akron at just 21 years old.
I’m back from an overly lengthy blogging hiatus (sorry) to resume a function that I’ve performed once or twice in the past. Fortunately I have had octopus on my mind and had already started posting again, and so we aren’t doing a standing start. I have read some legislation so you don’t have to, will try to tell you what it means, and – if necessary and possible – I will tell you how to object to it. Someone has to do it, and my mathematician’s brain actually quite likes trying to follow the logic of these documents. (Previous efforts along these lines include this one on seals, this one on new MPAs, and this one on the Tsitsikamma MPA.) The new legislation this time is actually two documents that were published in the Government Gazette on 30 May. Before we get into these two most recent documents, however, it may be instructive to look back at the original act that they refer to. National Environmental Management Act: Biodiversity The act in question is the National Environmental Management Act: Biodiversity, number 10 of 2004 (pdf full text). We will call it NEMBA for short. This act is a framework which provides for the management and conservation of South Africa’s biodiversity, as well as the protection of species that require or deserve it, the fair apportionment of benefits that may arise from the country’s biological resources, and the establishment of SANBI. The important sections of this act for us, right now, are sections 56 and 57. Section 56 empowers the Minister of Environmental Affairs to publish in the Government Gazette, from time to time (at least every five years or more often than that), a list of critically endangered, endangered, vulnerable, and protected species. A species may be protected but not endangered; a case in point is the Cape fur seal. I am not knowledgeable enough to state confidently that the extract above is using a set of widely accepted definitions here. However, this list of definitions from (critically) endangered to vulnerable does look a lot like the IUCN categories for classifying species at risk of extinction. The next section talks about activities involving species that fall into one of the categories defined in section 56. Provision is made here for the Minister to define activities that are “restricted”, and section 57 specifies that if an activity is restricted, a permit is required in order to perform it. The definition of restricted may vary from species to species (but I am getting ahead of myself). Finally, section 97 of NEMBA, which is on page 40 of the PDF file I linked to above, empowers the Minister to make regulations dealing with a large number of matters, mostly permits, and threat-minimisation for threatened ecosystems. Marine Threatened or Protected Species regulations With that preamble, let us turn to the most recent regulations, which were made in terms of section 97 of NEMBA and pertain to threatened or protected marine species. They come in two parts. The first (pdf – all page numbers below refer to this file) is a set of regulations, mostly related to permits. This sounds very boring, but there are some interesting bits, and an important definition. Definition first: This is a very important definition (from page 10-11) as it essentially determines what is legal and what is not in terms of the act, and one that I think is perfectly reasonable. You can still take photos of and dive with seals, turtles and most sharks. Whale sharks and basking sharks are not to be bothered up close, though. Notice also that we now have a definition for harassment of dolphins; it has been my understanding (perhaps incorrect) that until now there has been a loophole in that there has been no legal prohibition on approaching dolphins in a boat, whereas boats must stay at a distance of 300 metres away from whales. I can think of other things I have seen boats doing with dolphins – such as corralling them by speeding in a circle at full throttle – that also seem like harassment to me, but don’t quite fit this definition. But I think this is a start. Also, no swimming with dolphins – for profit or not. The regulations go on to state that their purpose relates to the permit system provided for in NEMBA, to registration and legislation of facilities like wildlife breeders and rehabilitators, and to the regulation of activities defined as “restricted”. The regulations also provide some further stipulations regarding boat-based whale and dolphin watching, and white shark cage diving. It is specifically stated that the regulations are to be applied in conjunction with CITES, international regulations which circumscribe international trade in wildlife (and in this way achieve protection for some species). Page 17-18 defines restricted activities (in other words, activities which you either cannot do at all, or for which you need a permit). Page 18 further clarifies that a permit is required in order to carry out a restricted activity, and the regulations go on to define various types of permit in terms of their period of validity and other criteria. There is a lot more on permits, the risk assessments required before they can be issued, and criteria to consider in permit applications. (Does the applicant have a record of offences under NEMBA? Are there objections to issue of the permit? And so on.) Page 38 mentions that in the case of a captive breeding or exhibition facility, no whales, dolphins, seals, sea birds, white sharks, basking sharks or whale sharks may be introduced from the wild. If I read this correctly, this puts paid to the restocking of dolphinariums with wild-caught animals. Also a start. If you are interested in this aspect of the regulations, I would encourage you to go through the document yourself. There are some more good provisos aimed at the regulation of wildlife sanctuaries, but that isn’t my main area of interest here. You may have picked up that some of the activities defined as restricted may be required actions in the event of a whale stranding, for example, or the entanglement of a seabird or turtle in fishing lines. What to do? The regulations make specific provision for the cases in which one might need to handle, move, or even kill an animal listed as threatened or protected. Only those individuals or organisations which are in possession of a permit may perform any of these restricted activists; this largely precludes members of the public from assisting in any significant way at whale stranding, for example. I don’t think this is necessarily a bad thing. Finally the regulations turn to white shark cage diving, and boat-based whale and dolphin watching. I am not sufficiently familiar with the existing regulations of these two industries to comment on what is different or new here, but it is interesting to read through the provisions for each. They seem well regulated. Free diving with white sharks is specifically forbidden. Additionally, as item (e) below states, even if an operator is in possession of a cage diving permit, this does not permit them to chum (“provision” or “attract” sharks) anywhere else. List of Threatened or Protected Marine Species The second part of the Government Gazette publication on 30 May is a list of threatened and protected animals. This list mentions fish, whales, seabirds, turtles, and even hard corals. This document (pdf – page numbers below refer to this file) has a very particular tabular layout. Column 2 defines the restricted activities that are prohibited in terms of section 57 of NEMBA (see above). Column 3 provides the exceptions to that rule. [This column of the table mentions section 57(4) of NEMBA – you’ll see my extract above only goes up to (3). I suspect there’s an amendment to the act that I haven’t found that includes this item.] There is very little variation in the list of restricted activities (column 2) across all the animals and birds; whales have the most interesting list of exempt activities (column 3), which is why we will look at them as an example. This table is from pages 138-139. Click to enlarge. Column 2 of the table above defines all the things you can’t do to whales – the “restricted activities”. Column 3 lists a whole lot of terrible-sounding things that can be performed under certain exceptional conditions, in the event of a whale stranding itself on the beach, for example. This is a good time to practise using the definitions. Notice that column 3 allows “harassing [of the stranded whale] by any Departmental official.” This does not mean that someone from Environmental Affairs is allowed to go and prod a stranded whale with a stick, or throw sand at it. We are talking about harassment in terms of the legal definition above, and this may include “disturbing” the whale, or approaching closer than 300 metres on a boat, for example. If you’re interested to go and look, the pages of the species list pertaining to seals and their relatives is on pages 141-144. There are no special provisions to worry responsible water users, and the definition of seal harassment as shown above (approaching a colony closer than 15 metres in a boat or 5 metres as a human) is I think entirely reasonable. Finally, here’s an extract from the permit application form. I include this to show you that all the restricted activities for which permits are required are pretty extreme, and not things that your average recreational diver would reasonably want to do. This has been long, but I hope helpful. The regulations aren’t open to comment (I think I may have missed that earlier this year or last year… oops), they are final. Energy and advocacy is best directed towards things that the diving community can have an impact on as a collective voice, and in ways that will have a chance of success. In other words, perform actions out in the real world, and align yourself with organisations that do real, scientifically informed conservation work. I’m sure you all can think of other ideas, but I do have one suggestion regarding a species that isn’t listed here. The sevengill cowsharks that we see at Millers Point aren’t protected (they are “data deficient” on IUCN Red List). If you feel strongly about them, can I suggest as an easy first step, writing some letters (the letter in that link is out of date due to ministerial shufflings, and shark finning in South African waters is banned but this is poorly enforced – but you get the idea). Once again here’s a link to the regulations, and here’s a link to the species list. Both are pdf files, hosted on this site in case the Government Gazette links above break one day.
Problems With Accounting Rules “The pension fund could run dry,” is a common enough talking point that it could be made about almost any pension fund in the country. A 2016 Google search for “pension fund run dry” provides ten hits, eight of which name Pennsylvania, New Jersey (twice), California, Chicago (twice), Texas, and Alabama with the remaining two hits leading to articles about the national pension funding crisis. Some of these plans named in these articles may be in real trouble, but reading them suggests that most of the writers are under the mistaken impression that a system funded at anything less than 100 percent is necessarily in danger of running out of money at some time in the near future. “The state’s pension goliath, the California Public Employees’ Retirement System, had $281 billion to cover the benefits promised to 1.3 million workers and retirees in 2013. Yet it needed an additional $57 billion to meet future obligations.”26 “Before the crash, retirement systems were underfinanced (they did not have sufficient funds to pay promised benefits), but the day of reckoning was distant.”27 “ ‘Their benefits are in question,’ said Gary Wagner, a professor of economics at Old Dominion University.”28 Some experts will see these as alarmist statements. GASB members themselves might say these writers are misunderstanding the rules, even if they agree with the conclusions. The GASB Statements 67 and 68 specifically say they are only about reporting and do not dictate funding. And yet, stories like these appear across the country on a near-daily basis. The clear conclusion is that the effect of GASB rules is not just on the construction of a balance sheet, but on the interpretation of the numbers found there and the actions of the parties who make those interpretations: policy makers, citizens, or bond-rating agencies. If GASB itself is not the enforcer of misinterpretations, if the enforcer is city council members preening about their soi-disant fiscal responsibility, or analysts at Moody’s determined to justify a downgrade, or newspaper columnists looking for a good hook, they are doing so with tools supplied by GASB. It is disingenuous to erect a framework of tough rules and disavow their consequences. In this case, the consequences are a drive to full funding, whatever the cost. It is crucial to understand, now and during the discussion to come, that the goal of the GASB rules is not to bankrupt governments, or to eliminate pension systems. At their root, the GASB rules are meant to create an accounting framework through which the cost of government and the cost of any individual employee are made clear. Unfortunately, the framework erected has created more problems than it has solved. The problem is not merely that the rules are commonly misinterpreted. GASB accountants have acted to insulate public plans from risks they do not face, while simultaneously failing to insure them against risks they face every day. Furthermore, by trying to bring clarity to the accounting, the rules undermine the benefits of aggregation—the whole rationale for a defined-benefit pension plan. Again, this is hardly meant to say that there have not been improvident politicians and unwise bureaucrats, but the pension “crisis” currently affects responsible and irresponsible governments alike. Two decades of disastrous experience with the GASB pension accounting demand that we examine the rules themselves. We categorize the problems as legal, chronological, actuarial, mathematical, financial, economical, political, and philosophical. We examine them in this order. Legal: Governments will not be liquidated Beginning in 1994, with Statements 25 and 27, the GASB rule changes about public pensions were made to mimic rules in the private sector. However, when applied in the public sector the rule changes make pensions more expensive than necessary. Consider the issue of full funding. A fully-funded pension system can, at least in theory, pay off all its current debts with no further contributions from the sponsoring employer. This is vital in the private sector because at any time, a private corporation can go out of business, be liquidated and disappear. Full funding and custody by a third party is the only way to make sure a pension granted by such a business will be paid. A pension system in the private sector must be fully-funded in order for the promise of the pension to mean anything at all. By contrast, a government will not disappear in the same way. To claim so is only to agree with, among others, GASB itself. In a 2006 paper called, “Why Governmental Accounting and Financial Reporting Is—And Should Be—Different,” they defend the difference between governmental accounting standards and those appropriate for the private sector. Early on, the authors point out that the lack of a threat of liquidation is among the primary differences: “[M]ost governments do not operate in a competitive marketplace, face virtually no threat of liquidation, and do not have equity owners.”29 A hundred years from now there will still be a New York City, even if its area has been reduced by rising sea level. It may have suffered a bankruptcy—maybe two or three—but bankruptcy is not liquidation. It may have been split into its five boroughs, or it may have been overtaken and merged with a rapidly growing Yonkers, or maybe even taken over by the state. Unlike the liquidation of a private company, each of those possible transitions, however absurd or unlikely, leaves a successor to assume the responsibilities of the previous government. Insurance against the city’s disappearance is therefore a waste of money.30 Chronological: Present value masks the level of urgency Pension accounting relies on a presentation of assets and liabilities in their “present value,” the value today of a sum of money tomorrow. At a 5 percent annual discount rate, a present value of $100 today corresponds to a future value of $105 a year from now. The appropriate discount rate depends on your estimates of inflation and potential investment returns, so there is a degree of subjectivity in any present value calculation. Nonetheless, there is a time dependency of the value of money, so it makes no sense to compare 2016 assets with 2046 liabilities, except by computing the present value of the liabilities to compare to the current value of the assets. Unfortunately, though the concept of present value is a way to translate future funding into the present day, the calculations made to describe the present value of a pension debt elide important issues surrounding a payment schedule, even beyond the issues of subjectivity. By definition, present value captures the monetary value of a future series of payments, but it fails to capture the urgency of those payments. By making all calculations in terms of present value, pension accounting rules imply an equal urgency to all debts, something that is obviously not the case. For a pension liability, the relevant payment schedule not only extends out decades into the future, but it also extends decades longer than the 30-year amortization periods required by GASB 27. The last payment owed by any pension system will not be made until the youngest current employee dies. If the youngest employee is in their 20s, this could be more than 60 or 70 years in the future. For systems that offer survivor benefits, it could be longer than that. Consideration of the payment schedule is important to the stress of a debt because two debts with the same present value can require dramatically different plans for payment. Imagine a debtor with assets of $600 and a debt of $1000, due tomorrow, and compare him to another debtor with the same $600 in assets, but who owes The same present value and the same funding ratio can be a crisis or not, depending on variables that the present value of a debt does not capture. One of these persons is in serious trouble, and the other only mildly concerned, but both have debts with the same present value. $19.72 per week for a year. Assuming a discount rate of 5 percent, these debts have precisely the same present value, and therefore precisely the same $400 unfunded liability. Yet one debtor is in much better shape than the other. The first debt could justifiably stimulate panic; the second is certainly worth more than a yawn, but much less than panic. Action is required, but the debtor has until week 32, over seven months away, to mull over action or to raise additional funds. The Illinois pension debt is $111 billion, but this need not be paid tomorrow, even if GASB 68 will have it appear on the same balance sheet as debts that are due tomorrow, or even past due. Accountants might claim these two debts are equivalent, but is this really the case? As an incidental point, one can note that the traditional 30-year amortization schedule is only that: traditional. A pension system that dutifully follows such an amortization schedule will see its debts prepaid decades before they are actually due. Paying them in advance is not necessary to making payments, and yet it is the accepted wisdom. One searches in vain for any author presenting a reasoned justification for equating 30-year debt with immediate debt, or using a 30-year term to pay off a 60-year debt. These rules represent little more than blind acceptance of precedent. Actuarial: Full funding is not required to pay all pension debts The drive to full funding cannot be justified actuarially, either. Though the details depend on actuarial characteristics of the employee and retiree population, many, if not most, defined-benefit pension systems can operate forever at far less than full funding. A retired teacher in Chicago who passed away in 2014 after a long and happy retirement had every penny of her pension paid by a system far below full funding, and yet all her pension checks cleared. A system at 70 percent funding can likely pay all its obligations in a given year, and if at the end of that year it is at 70.1 percent, who is to say this cannot be repeated the following year if the actuarial facts on the ground do not change significantly? Social Security operated at what amounted to a few percentage points of full funding in its trust fund for two generations and only a very few pension plans are funded at levels so low.31 To put it more rigorously, the normal cost to a pension plan accumulated within a calendar year is the present value of the additional benefits accrued by all the employees in that year. If the contributions to the fund (employer and employee contributions, as well as investment income) are adequate to offset the normal cost and inflation, then the unfunded liability of a plan will not change from one year to the next.32 If the unfunded liability does not change one year to the next, the fund can operate indefinitely with that same unfunded liability. A pension fund must pay 100 percent of its debts. But it need not pay them a moment before they are actually due, and since a pension plan is constantly receiving new contributions, the fund itself need not be the only source of payments. As a result, even if all the debts are paid, at any one time, the fund itself may be at some level well below 100 percent funding. Recall the example above. Perhaps I took a $1,000 loan from you, promising in return to pay you $19.72 per week for a year. If I have only $600 in the bank, then I have an unfunded liability of $400. If I also have some source of income of just $7.96 per week, I will be able to pay 100 percent of this debt, down to the penny, out of the combination of my income and my savings. Every step of the way, my funding ratio—the ratio of my assets to the present value of my remaining debt— will be 60 percent or less. (See figure on page 13.) This is a toy example and tracks the debt to only a single party. A pension system might have debts owed to tens of thousands of members or more, all owed on their own schedule. The debt estimates are also subject to considerable uncertainty, since the demographic mix of employees and retirees changes over time, too. The principle, however, is the same. So long as there is another source of income, the ratio between the fund and the present value of the debt has little to do with how much of that debt is ultimately repaid. An active pension system has three sources of income: (1) the contributions from the employer, (2) from the employees, and (3) from the returns on investment. Belaboring a point of arithmetic like this seems a waste of time, but the implication that the funding ratio has some relevance to the full repayment of the pension debt is not only a staple of public pension criticism, 33 but is enshrined in official policy statements from bond-rating agencies, actuaries, and the National Association of State Retirement Administrators.34 A 2008 report issued by the Congressional Government Accountability Office (GAO) agreed with the assessment offered here: “Most public pension plans report having sufficient assets to pay for retiree benefits over the next several decades. Many experts and officials to whom we spoke consider a funded ratio of 80 percent.”35 Mathematical: Financial reports deserve more precision Another objection to GASB 68 has to do with precision. A pension plan’s unfunded actuarial liability is a planning value, based on dozens of assumptions about market performance, population mortality, and the life choices of hundreds or thousands of employees. Comparisons of identically-calculated planning values like this are tremendously useful for identifying trends in funding progress or lack thereof. However, the accuracy of these numbers is contained in bounds much larger than is normal for other numbers found on financial statements, such as accounts payable or bonded indebtedness. Pension planning values are a guess about the future, useful primarily to compare to each other. Financial statements are a record of the past. Despite the statistical methods used to develop these estimates of future liabilities, actuarial and accounting precedent do not demand the explicit reporting of the error bounds, as one sees in other statistical estimates, such as polling data. Rendering these inherently inaccurate numbers as part of a government’s statement of net assets, as demanded by GASB 68, dramatically reduces the accuracy of that statement’s bottom line. The issue is not the mere uncertainty of the numbers. Accountants use uncertain numbers in many of their calculations. The problem is that uncertainty is infectious. Adding a high-precision number to a low-precision number results in a low-precision number, so the result is low-precision financial reports. Given the size of pension debts, adding them into the total can make the actual value of a government’s net assets vary significantly from the stated value. According to its 2014 financial statements, the unfunded liability for Illinois pension funds is estimated at $111 billion, but the potential error in that estimate is as large as the absolute value of the state’s net position of minus $45 billion. Depending on the specific fund, the GASB rules will have them use an assumed rate of return between 3 to 6.5 percent. These are conservative assumptions compared to many peer systems, and to their current rates of between seven and eight percent. A difference of only a single percentage point between these guesses and the reality of the next few decades will change the state’s bottom line by over $20 billion.36 It is not typical to think of a statement of net assets as potentially uncertain by more than 50 percent of the bottom line, but that is the new standard of accounting according to GASB 68. Financial: Rate of return is for the longest term GASB 68 specifies that many pension systems below a 100 percent funding ratio must use a “risk-free” rate of return as the discount rate for estimating its future liability.i This liability is the number that must appear on a government’s financial statements, alongside the more traditional components of its liabilities, like bonded indebtedness, and accounts payable.37 The risk-free rate of return is what one can count on earning on investments with no risk. More or less, this would be a portfolio that is entirely invested in US Treasury bonds or the equivalent: no stocks, no private equity funds, no commercial paper, no hedge funds.ii Statement 68 does not insist that a fund actually be invested solely in Treasury bonds, only that it use that rate to predict its future liabilities. A fund can continue to use whatever funding strategy its managers see fit to use. But the liabilities will be calculated using this lower rate of return, thus will appear much larger than if calculated with a higher rate. This is important because GASB 68 requires the entire unfunded debt to appear each year in the government’s balance sheet. Before this statement, under the requirements of the earlier Statement 27, a government only had to acknowledge whether or not it had made the ARC, the appropriate annual payment, to the fund. There is an important point that is often brought up here, that the discount rates commonly in use for pension funds around the country are too high, and the modern world of low interest rates and low investment returns is here to stay. If it is indeed impossible for a well-managed portfolio to average 7.5 percent returns over the next few decades, then 7.5 percent should not be used. The debate about what will happen in investment markets over the next 50 years often seem unnecessarily heated. The debate is between people who correctly point out that these numbers have been achievable for decades and people who claim that things are different now. While it is true that many pension systems have been able to meet their marks over the long term, it is also true that we have suffered a decade of reduced investment returns, and the prospects for improvement are not obvious. In truth, neither side of this debate has any better claim than the other about the future. Both sides are defensible, and a determination about who is right can only await the coming decades. It is certainly true that a system that assumes a low but achievable rate is more conservative than a system that relies on a standard that might or might not be reached. But these discussions frequently elide an important point: few such debates are about how to design a brand new pension system. Rather, debates about such issues are debates about how to manage the systems we have already. Were one to consider establishing a new pension system, certainly choosing a low rate of return will be a good idea. It will make the system more expensive to run, but it will be more secure, too. But what will the effect be on an existing system to dramatically lower the discount rate? This is not a small step to consider, as it will increase that overall liability considerably. A $10 billion future liability over 30 years at a discount rate of 7.5 percent will see that liability balloon to well over $15 billion with a 5 percent rate. Upon the adoption of GASB 68, the average funding ratio will decline around ten or fifteen percentage points as hundreds of billions of dollars of “new” liability is recognized under the new rules.39 Every cent of that new liability will appear on the governments’ statement of net assets. For many leaders and critics of their governments, showing a huge debt on the bottom line will be too much red ink to contemplate with equanimity and political pressure to do away with these obligations will build further—with potentially destructive consequences. A rate too high risks underfunding which may lead to higher taxes in the future, but a rate too low risks political pressure which may lead to reduced or eliminated benefits in the future. Readers will differ about which is the more salient risk. In other words, GASB 68 creates large disincentives for governments to use a lower rate at the same time it requires them to do so. This is a recipe for unnecessary political crises across the country. It is vital that government financial reports be clear about what a government’s debts actually are, but it is also vital that these statements should not be misconstrued. For all the reasons outlined here, there is a substantial downside risk to acknowledging reductions in the assumed rate of return. If changes like these are to be made, they must be made slowly, as financial and political circumstances permit. These are systems meant to be run in perpetuity; most can afford to be patient. One can see a cautionary tale in the woes of the US Postal Service and its retirement systems. The USPS is technically not bound by GASB accounting rules, but in late 2006, President Bush and the Republican Congress passed a law to force the system to estimate its retiree and health-care liabilities 75 years in advance. The requirements insist, that is, that the system account for the retirement expenses not only of postal workers not yet hired, but of those not yet born. Increasing the funding horizon so dramatically and suddenly is essentially the same kind of shock to the system that an abrupt increase in the discount rate would create. In the ensuing decade, the Postal Service has largely managed to fulfill its funding mandate. As of 2015, the USPS had over $335 billion saved, covering over 83 percent of the liabilities anticipated over 75 years, under very conservative assumptions about the discount rate and value of current assets.39 But the price has been high, and the service incurred $51.7 billion in operating losses between 2007 and 2014 as a result. These losses have shorted new capital investment and service expansions and left the service open to persistent charges that it is an obsolete money-loser at the same time it was forced to put aside a breathtaking sum of money. In a 2014 interview, the deputy director of the California State Teachers Retirement System (CalSTRS) pointed out his fund had averaged better than 7.5 percent returns for decades. Under the new rules, he said they must use a rate of about 4.5 percent, increasing the present value of their liabilities by more than 50 percent, but that the portfolio would go along, earning its 7.5 percent as before. In what way, he asked, do the new rules provide an accurate picture of that fund’s condition?40 Economical: Comparisons to pension debt should be chosen properly Consider again the Illinois pension plans’ unfunded liability of $111 billion in 2015. This is a vast sum of money, especially for a state with an annual budget of only a bit more than half that amount. However, this debt took decades to accumulate and it will be decades before it must be paid off completely. Most, but not all, of the debt will be paid out over the next 50 years. Over that time period, using a very conservative 2 percent inflation estimate, the state’s income tax collections alone will be in the neighborhood of $1.1 trillion and the total state budget will involve spending well over $4 trillion. Therefore, this supposedly colossal debt in reality constitutes about 2.5 percent of the state budget. Personnel costs are around a quarter of the Illinois budget, so this is roughly 10 percent of the payroll costs over that time period.41 Stepping a bit further back, the Illinois economy is much larger than the state budget, and over those same 50 years, can be expected to produce around $64 trillion.42 That is, another way to look at this debt is that it is 0.17 percent of the state’s gross product over the term during which it will be paid, a much less frightening number. These are not spurious comparisons; the state’s economy and the revenue it receives are precisely the resources the state will use to pay this debt. A roughly equivalent way to state this objection is that the GASB rules do not acknowledge as an asset the strength of the local economy and the ability of its taxpayers to pay in the future. Ensuring that the government can pay its obligations in the future is virtually the entire goal of the GASB accounting rules, but the rules are narrowly drawn so that only qualifying funds kept in trust are counted as a strength. Is it necessary to take such a narrow view of the ability to pay? Another vital difference between a government and a corporation is that a government has a claim on the potential future income of its citizens that no private corporation can make. Indeed, this works in both directions, since money withheld from the economy in the near term, say by raising taxes or cutting schools to make inflated payments to a pension fund, can reduce economic growth and thereby make pension payments more onerous in the future by reducing the size of that future economy.43 Political: Overfunding is a risk, too A serious risk that does not get much attention at present is the overfunding of a pension plan. Such a risk may seem almost laughable given current circumstances, but it is a serious risk, worth serious concern, not least because it is the goal. The primary objective of pension funding policy choices from GASB to city hall is full funding and full funding is one good investment year away from overfunding. Indeed, full funding is arguably a synonym for overfunding. The primary concern is that overfunding is a tangible waste of resources, money unnecessarily diverted from other priorities, but there are other potentially disturbing consequences. A pension system—especially a well-funded one—is not insured against the depredations of politicians, for whom the near-term cost of a pension gift or skipped payment is quite low, if not zero. The GAO report cited above puts it this way: [S]everal [experts].44 In other words, it is virtually a law of nature that an overfunded pension plan—or any plan over, say, 90 percent funded—will see retiree benefits increase or budgeted contributions decrease.45 In the context of full funding, these changes will have little or no current cost. And as predictably as the sun rises, after the next investment downturn, it will be an underfunded pension plan again, but now with a government budgeting for lower payments and retirees accustomed to higher benefits. This will unavoidably cause a delay in raising payments to catch up.46 This is precisely how events worked out for CalSTRS, the giant pension fund for California teachers. Fully-funded in 1998, its investment returns plummeted when the tech bubble popped in 2000–2001, but not before the state cut its payments into the system and increased some classes of benefits.47 The system currently has a $73 billion unfunded liability and a 68 percent funding ratio, quite a fall from 1998. CalSTRS was hardly alone in its experience. The Chicago Teachers Pension Fund was fully-funded in 1995, which was used to justify a ten-year “holiday,” dramatically reducing payments into the fund. Even by 1999, the system was still full-funded. Along with this holiday came increased benefits and management expenses and those, combined with the two colossal incidents of financial market turmoil since then. As of 2014, the plan is 51.5 percent funded.48 The pattern is reflected in national averages. Census Bureau data shows that 1997 was a high-water mark for employer contributions to public plans, many of whom cut contributions in the warm glow of full funding, but had to restore them by 2003.49 Under the GASB rules, a mayor who chooses to skip a pension payment or settle a labor dispute with an ill-considered increase in pension benefits might incur the displeasure of a rating agency in future years. That, in turn, might raise the cost of borrowing down the road: a problem for a future mayor. Furthermore, many cities currently have what are essentially junk bond ratings. For these cities, the ratings risk only barely rises to the level of a material concern, and these consequences are only potential, not certain. In other words, the cities most likely to skimp on their pension contributions are the least likely to be harmed by the consequences in the near term. For CalSTRS, the Chicago schools, and so many others, reduction of the dollars flowing into the pension systems harmed the health of the funds, but in each of these cases the effect on the current budget of the sponsoring government was zero. In fact, to the extent that a skipped payment or a new police department contract relieves financial pressure on the city, the effects can be positive, in the short term. A good accounting system is supposed to provide an accurate picture of an organization’s financial health and a useful guide to action. In these cases, the accounting system guides its users to destructive and inappropriate action. We have already seen how the GASB rules insure against the liquidation of a city or state, a risk that does not exist. Here we see the rules simultaneously failing to insure against risks that public systems do face. In some cases, the rules even encourage those risks. The divergence between the risks insured and the risks actually faced is not merely ironic; it is a recipe for failure. The insured risks never materialize while the others always do, given enough time. In this case, failure means further increases in the cost of employee pensions, further ire directed at teachers, police officers, and other public employees, and more stress on the tottering finances of state and local governments. Philosophical: A pension plan is a mutual, not individual, arrangement The last, philosophical, objection to the GASB framework requires a look into the fundamental principles behind a pension plan. It is typical to speak of pension plans as belonging to one of two varieties, defined benefit (DB) and defined contribution (DC). A “DB” plan is a modern name for a traditional pension plan while a DC plan is just another name for an employer-sponsored savings plan. These two categories of plan are frequently portrayed as distinguished by the level of risk incurred by the employee and the employer. The employee can be said to bear much more of the risk in a DC plan than for a traditional plan and vice versa. This is all too true, but portraying this as a question of which of two parties assumes the risk is inaccurate, because with a traditional plan there is essentially a third party to the equation: the body of plan members as a whole. A traditional pension plan works because not all the people paying into the system will have a long and happy retirement. Baldly put, some of the members will die before enjoying all the benefits to which they are entitled. Those who do not will see their retirement financed by those unused contributions. The consequence of this reality is that it is very difficult to separate the value of one member’s contribution from another. The value to each member is that they are all in the fund together, insuring each other. By contrast, the principle behind the GASB accounting reforms is roughly that accountants ought to be able to match the marginal cost of each employee with the marginal contribution from that same employee. A DB plan is a collective entity, but the GASB accounting insists on looking at individuals. Quoting directly from Statement 68: “For defined benefit pensions, this Statement identifies the methods and assumptions that should be used to project benefit payments, discount projected benefit payments to their actuarial present value, and attribute that present value to periods of employee service.” In other words, the rules provide guidance for determining what fraction of the fund “belongs” to any individual employee, given in exchange for their work in some particular year. This is the root of the GASB insistence that current employee contributions should not be used to pay current retirees, and the insistence that all plans should be 100 percent funded. Only a fully-funded plan can have all of the employee-years allocated to employee shares of the fund assets. There is no clarity to the accounting otherwise. A pension plan is a mutual insurance arrangement. The collective financial strength of the body of members is greater than the sum of the parts. In a pension plan, every member has an equivalent claim on every dollar coming into the system. There is no sense in which a dollar of contribution “belongs” to this or that member, and systems do not define a priority among members. The employer and the fund itself are a source of strength, but so are all the other members: three sources of security. If one is weak, the others are still available. A plan with a 30 percent funding ratio obviously is less secure than a plan at 80 percent, but under the right demographic conditions, it can still run indefinitely because of the employer and all the other plan members. By insisting the only important thing is accounting for individual contributions and expenses, the GASB rules seek to erase this source of security from consideration. Worse, the rules lead to decisions that undermine the third source of security, by making full or partial plan closures seem like a sensible idea When critics complain that “generational equity” demands that one age cohort must not subsidize another, they are demanding less security than pension plans were invented to provide. One age cohort does provide security for another and the same security will be provided to them in turn, as well as those after them. This is how these plans were designed. But this kind of equity is not an absolute good. Presumably if generational equity were valued above all other considerations, then teacher salaries would only be financed with debt, so the children who reap the benefit would eventually pay the expense. Perhaps it is best to describe this as a different kind of generational equity, where one generation receives the benefits it enjoyed in the past. The kindness we extend to our children is different from the kindness we expect from them, but that does not excuse them from extending the same kindness to their children in turn. The invention of mutual insurance redefined life among the working and middle classes in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Insurance was not the only such innovation, but was part of a movement toward the democratization of finance that included life insurance, disability insurance, and unemployment insurance, not to mention savings banks, savings bonds, and mutual funds. The push to old-age insurance was a part of a political movement that began years before 1911, when the pioneering director D. W. Griffith produced a film called “What Shall We Do with Our Old?” The answer the movie proposed was to establish old-age insurance to provide pensions to alleviate poverty among the elderly. It took decades of effort, but eventually politicians and industry responded. Private pension systems were established, and between 1914 and 1934, when Social Security was established, twenty-eight states had established experiments with old-age pension plans for their poorer residents.50 The plot of Griffith’s film was a tragedy, meant to illustrate a preventable irony: old-age penury in a wealthy society. The refinement of mutual insurance into “old-age insurance,”—which subsequently became known as pension plans—has all but erased this kind of poverty in developed countries. It seems an odd claim that “clarity” in accounting should be deemed more important than that. - 26. Marc Lifsher. “California pension funds are running dry.” In: Los Angeles Times (Nov. 2014). 6/27/15. URL:.... - 27. Roger Lowenstein. “The Next Crisis: Public Pension Funds.” In: New York Times Magazine (June 2010). 6/28/2015. URL:. - 28. Eric Boehm. “Pennsylvania pension funds could run dry in as little as 10 years.” In: Daily Local News (Apr. 2015). 6/25/15. URL:.... - 29. GASB. Why Governmental Accounting And Financial Reporting Is—And Should Be—Different. 6/21/15. Governmental Accounting Standards Board. Norwalk, Connecticut, Nov. 2006, revised 2013. URL:. - 30. For more about the difference between private and public entities, and the differences in risk, see Peng, State and Local Pension Fund Management, section 4.2. - 31. Author’s calculations from (Social Security Trustees. Trustee’s Report. 6/23/15. Social Security Administration. 2014. URL:) The system was unable to sustain this low level of funding because of demographic changes. That is, the actuarial facts on the ground did change, as the baby boom worked its way through the system. - 32. This is equation 7.5 of (Howard E. Winklevoss. Pension Mathematics with Numerical Illustrations. Second edition. Pension Research Council of the Wharton School of Business / University of Pennsylvania Press, 1993), chapter 7. Winklevoss was writing about private pension plans, so he subsequently points out that plans will seek full funding. The federal law governing those plans requires them to do so. The same restriction is not true of public systems, for the reasons noted here. - 33. Borenstein, “Labor perpetuates pension myth that 80 percent funding goal is OK.” - 34. Keith Brainard and Paul Zorn. The 80-percent threshold: Its source as a healthy or minimum funding level for public pension plans. Tech. rep. 6/28/15. Lexington, KY: National Association of State Retirement Administators (NASRA), Jan. 2012. URL: percent_funding_threshold.pdf. - 35. Barbara D. Bovbjerg. State and Local Government Pension Plans: Current Structure and Funded Status. Testimony before the Joint Economic Committee. 6/19/15. Washington DC: United States Government Accountability Office (GAO), July 2008. URL:. - 36. Author calculations from 2014 Illinois financial statements. See also note 16 of the 2015 CAFR. The first publication of this report stated that the absolute value of the state’s revenue shortfall was $45 million. I also clarify here that GASB rules would require the use of a 3 to 6.5 percent assumed rate of return which is lower than current rates of return that are between seven and eight percent. - i. Since this paper’s first publication, it has come to our attention that some pension plans that are not fully funded are not using a risk-free rate of return as the discount rate. This may be attributable to an alternative interpretation of GASB 68 requirements, specifically paragraphs 27-29. GASB 68 paragraph 26 explains what discount rate should be used. The discount rate of a “long-term expected rate of return” can be used if the plan’s net position is projected to adequately pay benefits. GASB explains the specific circumstances where this rate of return can be used. If those circumstances aren’t met, then the discount rate “should be the single rate that reflects” what is sometimes called a risk-free rate of return—“[a] yield or index rate for 20-year, tax-exempt general obligation municipal bonds with an average rating of AAA/Aa or higher (or equivalent quality on another rating scale).” Projected benefit payments are “all benefits to be provided to current and active employees” according to GASB 68 paragraph 24-25. Paragraphs 27-29 say that “the pension plan’s projected fiduciary net position," explained in these 3 paragraphs, should be compared with the “amount of projected benefit payments, calculated according to paragraphs 24-25 already discussed here. There is a possible matter of interpretation in paragraph 27 that has emerged. The first sentence of paragraph 27 states that those two calculations (the calculations of the plan’s fiduciary net position and the amount of projected benefit payments) “should be compared in each period of projected benefit payments.” The period over which these two calculations should be compared can be taken to characterize a pension plan that will be depleted. This can be accurately described, as per Sgouros interpretation, as “not fully funded.” This interpretation is consistent with that in this paper and is resonant with the paper’s interview with of Deputy Director of CalSTRS and with others not directly included in the paper. An alternative interpretation, is that the rule would only apply to pensions actually running out of money in the short-term. It’s not surprising that this interpretation may be emerging since the issuance of GASB 68, as it would exempt many pension funds from having to use the risk-free rate of return as the discount rate. - 37. See GASB 68 paragraphs 27 and 28. - ii. The first publication of this paper implied that returns on municipal bonds could not be used as a risk-free rate of return. This is not correct. The rate of return on 20-year-tax-exempt general obligation bonds with an average rating of AA/Aa or higher (or equivalent rating in another scale) may be used as a risk-free rate of return. It is common to take one of two yields as a risk-free rate of return--the index rate of treasury bonds or the rate of 20-year tax-exempt general obligation bonds with an average rating of AA/Aa or higher (or equivalent rating in another scale). The latter is what GASB 68 paragraph 26 says must be used as the discount rate if the comparison between a plan’s fiduciary net position is not balanced with the projected benefit payments. - 39. a. b. John E. Cihota. Considerations in Structuring Estimated Liabilities. Tech. rep. FT-WP-15-003. Washington, DC: Office of the Inspector General, United State Postal Service, Jan. 2015. URL:.... - 40. . Interview with Ed Derman, deputy CEO of CalSTRS, June 6, 2014. - 41. Further calculations from 2014 Illinois financial statements. - 42. Author estimates from Bureau of Economic Analysis data. - 43. This kind of argument is a staple of anti-tax argumentation, and it is remarkable how seldom it is deployed in this context. - 44. Bovbjerg, State and Local Government Pension Plans: Current Structure and Funded Status. - 45. The risk of a fully-funded, or overfunded,pension plan is not only the political risk of increased benefits and reduced contributions, but also that policy makers will perceive an opportunity to close the plan entirely. According to the GASB framework, this is a rational choice for a fully-funded plan. There may be a political cost to such a decision, but the accounting says there would be no financial cost. In reality, closing a plan substantially increases the risk to the taxpayers, and experience shows that few such decisions have turned out to be good ones. (See page 22.) - 46. Peng, State and Local Pension Fund Management, chapter 6. - 47. California Assembly Legislative Analyst’s Office, Addressing CalSTRS’ Long-Term Funding Needs. - 48. Ted Dabrowski, John Klingner, and Tait Jensen. CPS pensions: From retirement security to political slush fund. Tech. rep. Chicago and Springfield, IL: Illinois Policy Institute, Aug. 2015. URL:.... - 49. Peng, State and Local Pension Fund Management, p.22. - 50. Dora L. Costa. The Evolution of Retirement: An American Economic History, 1880- 1990. 6/26/15. University of Chicago Press, 1998. URL:.
Looter's Journal, day 3 - I've found myself a new job - I am now the head executioner of the Dark Lord. Now I should just wait that some useful idiot finds the gem containing the mind of my Master, who shall rise again one day! I am beginning to think that Level 9 got its name from the ninth level of hell, meant for betrayers of the worst kind. The game began with some clever puzzles, but then went quickly downhill with some really obtuse problems - and in the final stages I found out that at least the BBC version I was playing was bugged and I couldn't get the perfect ending. At least the graphical version corrected that fault, even if the silly puzzles persisted. Getting into the Black Tower was actually pretty simple - if the game would have just given any hints how to do it. Yes, I had to check the clues again. I knew that the stick I had been carrying could be blown and that it made a distinct sound. What I didn't realise was that I should have blown it near the Black Tower, which would then open up. Soon I found myself in the throne room of AGALIAREPT. The throne itself was an interesting thing, but let's leave that a bit later. East of the throne room was a viewing gallery, from which I could descend into a pit leading to the Central Dungeon (I'll tell you about that place shortly). The gallery was probably meant as a spot for orcs to laugh and see the futile attempts of people trying to get away from the Central Dungeon. Going north from the throne room, I got to the same secret passageways I had mapped in the previous game, but this time most of the caverns had been blocked. In a nice touch, the orcs who had left their position of guarding a certain passageway - thus letting me in to kill their Dark Lord - were now doomed to watch over that same passageway as ghosts. Going south from the throne room took me to very a familiar place. Marsh was as bleak and desolate as in the first game and I could still see skeletal hands rising, although this time they kept turning to dust. The game world ended with marsh, since the steps leading away from the marsh had crumbled. The marsh also contained the new light source I had been looking for - I could take a wisp and put it on my helmet to provide light. In addition, there was a roc that randomly picked me up and took me to its nest. I won't blame you, if you didn't find out the solution. Let's just first say that it has nothing to do with the rock crystal, which is only a treasure. So, it has something to do with the caterpillar. That's right, it's actually a silk worm! And you can squeeze or hug it to make a rope! I am kind of sad that this game is just a missed classic, since the whole silk worm thing could easily earn the title of the most ridiculous puzzle of the year. Let's get back to the throne of the Black Lord, since that's at least a cool thing. Interestingly, the text-version of the game told me that it was made of granite, while the graphical version described it as a mithril throne. In fact, it was the final and the highest leveled teleport, which makes mithril somewhat more sensible choice. But this wasn't the coolest thing. Black Lord apparently envied Captain Kirk, since he had decorated his chair with nine buttons. I bet neither Morgoth nor Sauron had their very own Captain's Chair. I had to try all the possible commands: - A pit to the Central Dungeon opened up. - The pit closed. - The room filled briefly with light. - Entire throne rose through trapdoor in the ceiling to an odd room, which contained violet and mithril collars, lapiz lazuli and onyx oryx. - Nothing happened. Well, when I afterwards read the clue sheet, I noticed the button does something. You just had to press it in the odd room, when the room contained an odd number of objects - then the button would lower the throne back. - Alarms sounded. - Fire jets crossed the room. - A voice told me: "Master: I beg to report that all internal eyes are dead and enemies are in the caves. Also, thousands of enemy orcs are advancing upon us." - I found myself teleported in a pit. Having now thoroughly searched the castle, I had nowhere else to go but the Central Dungeon, which was essentially a big adventure puzzle, meant to torture the prisoners of Black Tower. The aim was to collect nine different jewels before leaving - the Dungeon contained ten jewels so Dark Lord even gave a bit of leeway to his captives. I don't know what it says about Level 9 that they thought solving adventure games the best thing to make people lose their sanity. Central Dungeon isn't actually that bad, but what makes this lab experiment fail is bugs - the BBC version doesn't recognise all the jewel names, so the huge puzzle box becomes truly unbeatable. The Central Dungeon consists of two ramps, connected by a ladder. The lower ramp can be reached from the aqueduct, the upper ramp from the viewing gallery. Let's start with the lower ramp. Following the aqueduct to its end led me to a salt cellar, which contained a salt pig. It was impossible to get back from the cellar to the aqueduct, so I was forced to continue onward to a massive ramp. Going downwards, I soon reached shallow water, where the lower ramp ended, while a ladder connected it with the higher ramp. When I dropped the salt pig in the water, the salt melted and I found a pearl. Following the lower ramp upwards, I found a doorway, which led me to a treasury containing a topaz. This is pretty simple, Dark Lord! Further up, I found the door I should take, when I had found all the jewels. Now, going in was deadly. Still somewhat further was a room with an abstract statue. Turning the statue let me in to an ornate room with a rhinestone. Going further up the lower ramp was deadly, since the ramp became slippery. Let's get then to the higher ramp and begin this time with the top. Right after a sign announcing my arrival to the Central Dungeon, I was faced with a diabolical scene. My soul was actually never captured by the wall, instead, I just insanely plummeted to my death by throwing myself off the ramp. Or then I could just use the simple solution and close my eyes. North to the wall of agony was a small tunnel leading to a cave with a shield and an emerald, both guarded by a black sphere, which started to follow me. If I didn't do anything for it in few turns, it swallowed me. Going down from the wall of agony, I encountered a number of different looking doors, few of them led to empty rooms, but most to rooms which contained some puzzle to solve and jewel to get. Starting from the top, the doors and the rooms were: - A red-gold door led to a red-gold room containing a deadly gold ring - if I tried to pick it up, the ring devoured me - A doorway with small holes led me to a room where spikes shot me. If I happened to carry a shield, they wouldn't hit me. The room also contained a gallows with a body, which carried a blindfold and a gauntlet, which was useful for picking up the gold ring from the previous room. - A dark doorway led me to a black room with another black sphere. If I led the spheres to one another, they destroyed each other and left me free. Room also contained a wooden wedge and a black pedestal. - A round opening leading to an empty room - A scratched door led me to what was called a crusher room. Instantly when I had entered, the door was barred and the walls started to collapse on me. Fortunately I had found that wedge. After the crushing walls had returned to their normal state, I could go to a treasure room and get an agate. - A hand sign pointed to a room, where a hand killed me. If I instead threw the deadly ring I had found to the room, I could hear some noices of struggle, but these finally ended. Getting in, I now could see that the room was soft and had five round pillars. It took me a while to realise that this room didn't contain a hand, but was a giant hand. I also found a ruby here. - A doorway with an acrid smell led me to a room, in which I was sprayed with acid. Wearing the blindfold was the solution, because then the acid melted only it. I then found an elephant brooch with surprisingly vivid elephants. - The rubbery doorway led to room surfaced with black glass, which contained an emerald. - A square doorway led me to a room with an ornate box. Opening the box revealed a deadly snake. If I dropped the box in water, the snake died and I could take an opal within it. - An opening into a pale room led me to a condemned cell with an amethyst and an executioner. The executioner killed me in few turns, if I didn't do something. It was time to use the elephant brooch. In addition to amethyst, I could now take the executioner's hood. If I put it on, I became the new executioner and game ended instantly. If you didn't already know, Skinner box is the contraption psychologists put rats in, letting them press buttons, which either zap the poor creatures or feed them. I know the game has loved its anachronisms, but this is by far the worst of them all. I was asked to choose the best button and pressing wrong one heated the room and melted me. I wonder what number Level 9 would consider the best? (Hint: it rhymes with fine). After choosing the right option, I was transported to a reward room with five choices for my reward. The correct choice was a mystery prize (sapphire), but others were more amusing. - Great wealth: Imps dressed me in golden armor and dropped me in the sea. - Eternal life: Searing flames leapt up and a demon cackled I could live forever by remaining in the fire. Of course, I couldn't. - World peace: A voice told me that while humans are divided, there will be war, so that it would unite them. It then took my body as a part of its zombi army, - Nothing: Well, I got nothing all right - no body, no life. Getting out of the whole cave system, I ran into an army of orcs. Blowing my horn, I scared them away. I could then return to civilization with my bag of treasures. I scored 600, let's see what the game gets. Session time: 3 hours Total time: 11 hours PISSED-rating Puzzles and Solvability Let's get the positives out of the way. Firstly, Level 9 seems to have got rid of all mazes, which is great. Secondly, they've certainly shown lot of creativity in creating a variety of different puzzles - making oneself temporarily deaf by loud noises, changing your size from lilliput to giant and closing your eyes to not see disturbing images are all great innovations and feel quite fresh in comparison to the puzzles of two previous games. Problem is that often these puzzles misfired and were too intricate and even unsolvable. Some of them needed knowledge of common English sayings, some of them were insufficiently hinted at and some were just plain stupid. I mean squeezing a silk worm! Do you think it is a bottle of ketchup? Still, Level 9 is slowly getting away from the old Adventure puzzles, so I'll give them a slight boost from their previous attempt. Rating: 3 Interface and Inventory Like Aperama said, it would have made more sense, if Level 9 would have just discarded the whole inventory limit. Still, I do like at least the attempt to make the game more flexible. Teleporting system was also much better than in the previous game. Slightly less visible, but important improvements were the addition of intercardinal directions and the EXAMINE -verb, which gave important hints as to the use and worth of objects. All in all, Dungeon Adventure shows clear development from the earlier game. Rating: 3 (4 for the graphical version) Story and Setting The lack of story is a disappointment after the attempt for a real plot in the previous game, although the intricate setting does save something. Level 9 has thus far had a good sense of geography and Dungeon Adventure is no exception. It is not just a random cave system, with caverns going here and there, but a truly well-designed layout of interconnecting elements, where you often get to see same scene from different angles (like the giant orc face, which you'll experience both from the outside and from the inside). Even better is when you find places from the second game, making the whole trilogy geographically connected. Rating: 3 Sound and Graphics Nothing much has really changed from the previous game, so the same numbers will have to suffice. Rating: 0 (2 for the graphical version) Environment and Atmosphere I am glad the producers threw the whole Middle Earth thing away, apart from mentioning the Minas Tirith in the manual. The hodgepodge of Indian demons, giant ants, undead and a Skinner box is even more ridiculous than in the second game, but at least they are not mixing Tolkien with it. The problem is that all has become a tad bit too silly. In the second game, Black Lord was a cliched evil figure, here he is far from cliched, with his Captain's Chair, but I am not sure that's a good thing, because he now seems just ridiculous. Just picture AGALIAREPT spending time with Morgoth and Sauron, talking about their respective fortifications: M: Orcs, thousands of orcs! Dragons, trolls, balrogs, werewolves, vampires, all my design, just waiting to be spawned out of the hellholes of Angband, S: All of them flawed inventions. Just look at your orcs and trolls, fearing sunlight. I've improved your formula with my armies waiting in Mordor. A: I've been growing new mushroom types. I already have one that turns my armies giant and another that will make them invisible. But the most excited I am with the psychedelic variety, since my mushroom contacts assured me it will let my orcs soar high. (Mordor and Sauron look upon one another) M: Well, yes, what's everyone's favourite torture method? I am now experimenting with cursing the families of my prisoners and letting them see how their relatives screw their life, S: I have this spider to which I feed all my captives--- A: Oooh, I know you are gonna like this! I've designed this giant puzzle box, where I am leaving all sorts of funny problems. (Morgoth and Sauron decide not to invite the new Dark Lord for Christmas lunch).!
I have to confess, I really don’t feel like doing aaaaanything, including blogging. There’s not much inspiration stirring in my kitchen these past few days either. All I want to do is enjoy summer. Even though I don’t feel like doing much, I find that I have been busier these past two months than I have been all year! What’s up with that?! The way I am feeling right now, I hope I am not heading for burn-out. I need to have some fun here. I have been thinking about fun (and how I could really use some) and I had an unexpected surprise the other day… Someone contacted me regarding hair styling for a Cirque du Soleil event. It’s still work mind you, but it’s a little play too, as tickets to the show are involved. YAY! Now I am visualizing that everything works out effortlessly and comes to pass so I can take my little guy to a circus with class and without the animal cruelty. The way it should be! I find it crazy that I just finished watching the documentary “Earthlings” which was a bit tough to handle, but a must see for everyone and I kept thinking about the traditional Circus vs. Cirque du Soleil. Then what do you know? I attracted Cirque du Soleil into my experience. Coincidence… or the power of the mind? I’m always in the mood to be entertained and inspired. Have you seen Cirque du Soleil? Where was it? What’s your review? Photo by Ed Schipul Avoiding Oil Come to think of it, avoiding oil can seem like a challenging circus act. To change the subject here, I just want to share with you the ways in which I am trying to avoid oil. Why? Oil is the reason we are fat, according to Dr. Doug Lisle. Oil is concentrated fat calories and they are everywhere in the standard American diet! I posted earlier about oil and it’s harmful effects and I have been a lot more conscious about oil in my day to day diet. When I read labels, specifically being mindful of oil, I find it everywhere! From veggie burgers to granola cereals to crackers and more. You can’t escape the oil. Unless you work at it. Read those labels! Each time you omit unnecessary fat calories, it adds up, and you end up slimming down without much effort. Here are some ideas that are quite simple, but just take habit forming effort: Make homemade salad dressings – Salads are a part of a healthy diet but not so much when they are smothered in fat. Out of pure laziness, I used to buy pre-made “healthy” salad dressings. After reading the Forks over Knives handbook and trying some of their simple recipes, I was amazed by the difference. There are dressings that you can make in advance to keep on hand and they taste FRESH, light and clean. Or, just squeeze lemon over a salad for something refreshing. (I will post one of my favorite recipes from the FOK book at the end of this post). Switch what you dip – I am ashamed to say that for a while, we had a blue corn chip addiction here. I was noticing that chips and hummus were becoming a pre-dinner snack once or twice a week, so we switched to baked chips. Better than that, now I am on to veggies… I know it sounds so simple and obvious but veggies seemed like more work than ripping open a bag of chips and I am busy like everyone else. How funny. I just had to re-create the habit of having fresh cut veggies ready to go. Somewhere along the line, I fell off that wagon. Since it is summer, I find that I am all about cucumbers which are cold and refreshing. Cruciferous vegetables like broccoli and cauliflower never really striked my fancy but once you know how important they are in fighting breast cancer and other hormone related cancers, you’ll be reaching for these, like I am now. Make your own Hummus – My recipe is coming soon! Hummus has to be a vegan’s favorite staple food item! I whipped up my own roasted red pepper hummus the other day for an event I had here and someone asked my husband if I made it… he said no (because we have been on a bad track of buying store bought). I was so mad because YES, yes I did make it for the party. It was so easy in my Vitamix and oil free! It tasted just as good (much better actually) as anything we ever purchased and from now on, I will always try to make my own. But if ever in a hurry, I’ll be looking for a fat free/oil free hummus at the grocery store because oil is usually always involved in hummus dip. Ditch the mayo, Veganaise, Nayonaise etc… - Hopefully by now, you have moved on from regular mayo with all that egg cruelty and onto vegan brands such as Veganaise. But Veganaise still has a lot of fat. It is a good idea to omit the extra fat on your sandwich (because it all adds up). Try something natural, lighter or homemade. I am using hummus, mashed avocado or homemade vegan mayo on my sandwiches lately. I made this homemade Tofu-Cashew mayonnaise from the Fat Free Vegan Kitchen and I really like it. I added a touch of black salt for that egg like flavor. I am now experimenting with different twists on this dressing as Author, Susan Voisin suggests. Cook your vegetables in vegetable broth or water, not oil - Most of us are so guilty. It’s the way we were brought up. First you grab your pan, heat the oil and add your veggies. If we stop and think about it. It’s so unnecessary! Vegetables cook up just fine using water or vegetable broth. You may need to add more liquid as it cooks off, you just have to watch it a bit closer is all. You can also roast veggies in the oven that are soaked in broth instead of smothered in oil. Save yourself some inflammation! Replace oil in baked goods- You can use applesauce, banana, tofu or flax just to name some ideas Use parchment paper for baking food instead of greasing the cookie sheets - This is pretty self explanatory. If you have to use oil… For example, pancakes – I use a good non-stick pan, but I will still use a bit of coconut oil. I put about a 1/2 teaspoon in the heated pan and then wipe it around the pan with a paper towel. It get’s evenly coated with a light, barely there bit of oil. This helps reduce the fat and oil but helps the cakes from sticking. Search for a fat free pasta sauce – This was a little tough for me. I like to have a good pasta sauce on hand. As much as I like the idea of Muir Glen organic brand, I found the sauce to be lacking in taste. I also tried Walnut Acres brand… it’s not for me. It also lacks. I should confess… I have a tiny salt addiction, ever since I was pregnant (just for dinner food though.Weird). It’s salt I crave. I try to keep it to my Pink Himalayan sea salt which is healthier in nature but this salt thing is something I should kick. Whether it be salt or flavor… I searched the shelves at Trader Joe’s and discovered their fat free organic spaghetti sauce with mushrooms. It’s my new favorite. It has taste! My dad cans his own tomatoes and I would love to learn this craft. Right now, I am a girl on the go and I use jar sauce. I’m also not very Italian. Just a little tiny bit Italian. Not enough to offend my ancestors by using jarred sauce :) Don’t butter your bread - We used to slather our toast in earth balance first and then top with jelly. We had to stop that. I am now just topping my son’s toast with natural preserves or nut butters. Possibly a drizzle of maple syrup or a sprinkle of Sucanat. We don’t miss the butter. We just had to break the habit. I still have Earth Balance on hand but it is lasting an eternity now that I rarely use it. This is a good thing! Same thing goes for waffles or my favorite organic sprouted Ezekiel bread. No more oils… Here is one good resource for substitutes and techniques for fat free cooking. As promised, one of my new favorite salad dressing recipes is Raspberry-Orange Vinaigrette. This is from the Forks Over Knives handbook and Anastasia St. John. It’s very refreshing for summer and so easy. You’ll need - 1 Cup Orange Juice - 1/2 Cup fresh or frozen Raspberries, thawed - 1/4 Cup Balsamic Vinegar - Freshly ground Pepper Directions Puree the orange juice, raspberries and balsamic vinegar in a blender until smooth. Add black pepper to taste I’ll plan to share a good recipe next week…. for now, it’s Friday and I’m off to the pool! I want to wish a wonderful Father’s day to all the great dad’s out there! Enjoy your weekend. Ps. Follow me on my Facebook Page… I just shared a great beet burger recipe (for your weekend bbq) that I found today! Do you have any ideas on avoiding oil and fat? Please share your comments Enjoy the Journey, ~The Karmatarian Oil – Harmful or Helpful? « Karmatarian said, June 15, 2012 @ 1:46 pm […] I will be sharing some good ideas to help you cut back on oil in my next blog post. So keep a look out for it. *Update- the post is up, check it out Tips on Avoiding Oil […] Melissa said, June 15, 2012 @ 8:50 pm Wow I love this post. Great tips! I’m for sure going to make my own dressing. Thanks for the tips :) Christa said, June 15, 2012 @ 11:05 pm You are very welcome! Let me know what you think of the dressing. Somer said, June 29, 2012 @ 3:51 pm We’re trying to cut back on oil too in our house and it’s been tricky! Thanks for this post!
The boho/alt/neo/whatever soul movement has arguably provoked and provided more compelling pop music over the last half decade than any other genre, but it's hard to pin down exactly when it began. Was it D'Angelo's 1995 debut Brown Sugar, which provided the style and attitude? Was it Tony Toni Toné's 1996 swan song, the deservingly titled House of Music, a breathtakingly accomplished modern embrace of organic soul music? Or was it the Fugees' 1996 sophomore masterpiece The Score, which established the philosophy of freedom at the (sub)genre's core? I actually vote none of the above and instead point to an interview that took place a couple of years before those releases with R&B überproducer Dallas Austin. In the waning days of new-jack soul, with its shiny suits, sound-alike beats, and some admittedly fine records, Austin expressed admiration for Nirvana -- the way they took the stage in their street clothes and played music as an extension of who they were, devoid of any commercial calculation. Austin wished that the artists he worked with could be so free. And it's precisely that interview that I've been thinking of lately while trying to listen to ex-Fugee Lauryn Hill's new record, MTV Unplugged 2.0. Hill opens the two-hour, two-disc, solo acoustic set with a spoken introduction that affirms the honesty Austin once pleaded for: "I used to get dressed for y'all," Hill says to the studio audience. "I don't do that now. It's a new day." "I used to be a performer," she continues, "and I don't really consider myself a performer anymore. I'm [just] sharing." Of course, Hill's declaration of independence might be more meaningful if the record were better. I'd like to tell you about the music -- all brand-new songs, outside of a couple of covers -- but I'm not sure I remember it. I mean, I've tried to listen to it. But with Hill's unaccompanied and monotonously rudimentary acoustic guitar and hyperserious lyrics devoid of wit or the rhythm of good hip hop, it's been a chore. Invariably, though I try to pay attention, my mind drifts off at about the one-and-a-half-minute mark of epic tunes that sometimes run past eight minutes. Preelectric Dylan, this acoustic troubadour is not (though the Diallo-inspired "I Find It Hard To Say" almost registers as a powerful protest song in the folk-revival mode). Without the benefit of the compelling visuals of the television special (Hill breaking down in tears on "I Gotta Find a Piece of Mind"), it's nearly impossible to follow. Hill's unplugged set reminds us that the greatness of The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill wasn't in Hill's lyrics or (God knows, heh heh) her persona (Hill tends toward self-righteousness, pretentiousness, judgmentalism, and quasi-religious martyr complexes when unfettered) but in its music: her beautifully organic production and ingenious rap/soul arrangements (especially the vocal arrangements, where Hill's gifts may be unrivaled). If we consider this an "official" album (and since it's almost all new, original music, I can't see how anyone could consider it otherwise), then it has to mark one of the most precipitous album-to-album dropoffs ever for a major artist -- more of a letdown even than Prince following up Purple Rain with Around the World In a Day. "I'm a mess," Hill says, and there's no arguing with that. The between-song monologues, which are frequent and lengthy (one goes on for more than 12 minutes!), are more interesting than the music, but Hill's failure is symbolic of a new (or, rather, reborn) freedom for R&B performers -- it's deeply flawed but still a breakthrough of sorts. Her voice cracks, lyrics are flubbed, and there's no radio single in sight. In a mainstream, relatively conservative genre heretofore intent on putting on a show and projecting an image, Hill sits onstage alone and weeps. "I'm emotionally unstable," she confesses. "I'm tired of frontin'," she complains. "Fantasy is what people want, but reality is what they need, and I've just retired from the fantasy part," she explains. Outside of a rock-associated wacko like Prince, a major black pop-music artist hasn't had the freedom to foist something this perverse on the buying public since Stevie Wonder's Journey Through the Secret Life of Plants. But there are other current artists who take boho soul's sense of freedom to more musically fruitful places, especially a couple of previously marginal culture heroes (well, they've been that for me over the last few years) striking out on their own for the first time. The key figure in Tony Toni Toné, Raphael Saadiq's mission to preserve the best of '70s soul (Al Green, the Spinners, etc.) was apparent from the group's knowingly titled early records (The Revival, Sons of Soul), but after perfecting this goal with House of Music, he's been pretty low-profile, appearing a couple of years ago as part of the fine R&B supergroup Lucy Pearl, who managed to go gold without leaving much of a lasting cultural impression. But now Saadiq, the most unjustly underrecognized soul man in America, is finally going solo with his forthcoming debut, Instant Vintage. In an era dominated by the sexual pathology and conspicuous consumption of an R. Kelly and the up-front sexuality of pec-baring D'Angelo, it's no wonder Saadiq hasn't become a major star. Saadiq may pose on the cover in a flower-print dashiki with one eye circled in black paint, meaninglessly label his music "gospeldelic soul," and even propose a little light bondage on track two, but he still seems almost too decent, too normal, to really blow up. But with his supple, beautiful tenor and light, sure musical touch, he remains the music's greatest groove man. Instant Vintage is so subtle that you may love it while listening to it but not really remember a single song afterward. Similarly, Thomas "Cee-Lo" Callaway has been one of pop's singular voices over the last few years without really being a star. A hip-hop Reverend Ike, Cee-Lo's whiny, gritty, sing-songy pulpit-style delivery stood out among the three sound-alike MCs he traded verses with in Atlanta's Goodie Mob. With that group unable to break out of the shadow of comrades OutKast and unable to make the move from gold to platinum, Cee-Lo has gone solo with Cee-Lo Green & His Perfect Imperfections. Plenty of music on the album repeats earlier charms without others getting in the way: He gets electroboogie on the ecstatic single "Closet Freak"; he drops science with a down-home delivery on "Big Ole Words (Damn)"; and he confirms his unlikely love for acid-rock on the anthemic "Live (Right Now)." But the real bravery on the record is found in the way he explores his previous penchant to break into song -- the comical title of one song intro is "Let Him Sing if He Wants To." "Country Love," despite the heavy bass line and hip-hop drum lick (which are pretty understated anyway), actually sounds like something Charley Pride might cover. And on "Young Man," he croons a loving warning to younger rappers more intent on "keeping it real" than just being honest with themselves. Cee-Lo's obviously no Saadiq in the vocal department, but it turns out that he's a much better singer than Biz Markie. But it also turns out that the best of the recent boho soul releases comes from an even more obscure artist connected to both Saadiq and Cee-Lo. Freak-funk diva Joi is married to Big Gipp, Cee-Lo's partner in Goodie Mob, and is part of the same Dungeon Family crew. She toured with Lucy Pearl and counts Saadiq as a frequent collaborator on her new album, Star Kitty's Revenge. And that record just happens to be the closest anyone has ever come to a female Prince, and the little Purple One hasn't made a record this good in nearly a decade. Whether quoting Sly Stone on the bridge of "It's Your Life" or going rock on the epic revenge song "Get On," Joi seems in total control here. The subtly sinister, pulsing "Crave" and the slow, sticky "Lick" may be the year's best sex songs, though neither is quite as sexy as the Saadiq-produced winner "What If I Kissed You Right Now?" Freakier than Macy Gray (or at least freaky in a compelling way rather than a "get that crazy bitch away from me" way) and with a sharper song sense than Erykah Badu, Joi deserves to be a star but will settle for just being herself. Showbiz isn't always a bad thing, of course. After all, there may not be a single piece of music on any of the albums discussed in this piece as pleasurable or as durable as Ja Rule and Ashanti's formulaic "Always on Time." But the personal and artistic freedom -- the disregard for self-censorship and commercial calculation -- that Hill strives for and Saadiq, Cee-Lo, and Joi have fun with is the core of this great new era in R&B, and it's why the pop future looks so good right now. local beat by CHRIS HERRINGTON It took almost four hours to get there, but the finale of the 23rd Annual W.C. Handy Blues Awards, held Thursday, May 23rd, at The Orpheum, was worth every minute of waiting. In a tribute to Sun Records (founder Sam Phillips is receiving the Blues Foundation's Lifetime Achievement Award this year) and its underrecognized blues heritage, the Handys brought together the four most prominent living alumni of Sun's blues years -- Roscoe Gordon, Little Milton, Ike Turner, and, of course, B.B. King -- for a relaxed, engaging 20-minute jam session. King was in powerful voice, presiding over his cohorts with palpable chemistry, and he also delivered the night's most touching moment, saying, "Mr. Handy is looking down on us. And my good friend Rufus Thomas. I can't kiss him on the top of his head tonight." The whole thing felt too magical and too right to be just a one-off -- quick, somebody put these guys on tour together. But despite entertaining sets from Marcia Ball and Chef Chris & His Nairobi Trio, the other live performances this year were a little less engaging than last year. The highlights, rather, were the small moments of personality or visual incongruity that occurred between musical sets. There was grandson Cedric Burnside and bandmate Kenny Brown adding some needed earthiness to the proceedings when accepting awards on behalf of R.L. Burnside. There was a rambling, funny, and moving tribute to Rufus Thomas from Clarence Moore. There was the bizarre sight of blues mama Tracy Nelson presenting an award alongside action-movie tough guy Steven Segal, who has an album (?!) coming out. There was the glorious sight of Ruth Brown and Sam Phillips making a charming mockery of the artificiality of the medium (television, not blues). And there was the mind-boggling thrill of David Johansen and Ike Turner standing together to present an award. But did Turner have any idea who he was standing next to? Did he "get" the New York Dolls joke scriptwriter Robert Gordon wrote for him? And oddest of all was the presence of some Burger King executive talking about how people were introduced to John Lee Hooker through commercials, then showing a video tribute that seemed to have about as much to do with Carlos Santana (did he die too?) as Hooker. "The Blues: Did It Die and You Didn't Notice?" was the title of one Handy event last week. But, judging from this night, "the biggest night in blues" according to the Blues Foundation, it seems to be doing just fine. Sure, it's a niche genre now, but one that still seems to have plenty of life left. The 23rd Annual W.C. Handy Blues Awards winners: Entertainer of the Year: B.B. King; Band of the Year: Rod Piazza & the Mighty Flyers; Contemporary Blues Male Artist of the Year: Buddy Guy; Contemporary Blues Female Artist of the Year: Shemekia Copeland; Soul Blues Male Artist of the Year: Little Milton Campbell; Soul Blues Female Artist of the Year: Etta James; Traditional Blues Male Artist of the Year: R.L. Burnside; Traditional Blues Female Artist of the Year: Koko Taylor; Acoustic Blues Artist of the Year: Keb' Mo'; Best New Artist Debut: Otis Taylor --White African; Instrumentalist/Guitar: Buddy Guy; Instrumentalist/Harmonica: Charlie Musselwhite; Instrumentalist/Keyboards: Pinetop Perkins; Instrumentalist/Bass: Willie Kent; Instrumentalist/Drums: Willie "Big Eyes" Smith; Instrumentalist/Horns: Roomful of Blues Horn Section; Instrumentalist/Other: Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown (fiddle); Acoustic Blues Album of the Year: John Hammond -- Wicked Grin; Comeback Blues Album of the Year: Ike Turner --Here and Now; Contemporary Blues Album of the Year: Buddy Guy -- Sweet Tea; Soul Blues Album of the Year: Little Milton -- Feel It; Traditional Blues Album of the Year: R.L. Burnside -- Burnside on Burnside; Blues Album of the Year: Marcia Ball -- Presumed Innocent; Historical Album of the Year: Muddy Waters --Fathers and Sons; Blues Song of the Year: Charlie Musselwhite -- "Charlie's Old Highway 51 Blues."
Avoiding Dizziness During Yoga Practice Posted on Sunday, 27 January 2013 and filed under Genevieve Tan Shu Thung , Wong Eileen , Yoga , . You can follow any responses to this entry through theRSS 2.0 . You can leave a response or trackback to this entry from your site There are many people who complain of dizziness while performing Yogasanas. This is actually not something to be terrified as it is fairly common. Some practitioners however easily dismiss this as a sign of being unfit to practice Yoga. However, this is not true. This is in fact an opportunity for the practitioner to understand their body better when performing Yogasanas so that they can take the relevant precautions to avoid any mishaps. There are many possible reasons for dizziness to occur during Yoga practice. Postures that can cause the reverse of blood flow rapidly is one of them. For example, rapidly standing up from the final posture of Uttanasana (standing forward bend) can cause deficiency of blood around the heart region as most of the blood flow downards to the lower parts of the body. Usually, a body with normal blood flow has quick reflexes to compensate this situation by increasing the heart rate and constricting blood vessels to boost the blood pressure. Sluggish reflexes however can lead to dizziness due to poor blood flow travelling from the heart to the head. As in the case of the Uttanasana posture in the above, one can return to a half-lifted position and rest for a breath. Inhale, firm the legs' muscles in order to pump the blood upwards to the heart and then slowly lift the body up straight and breathe normally. For other postures that require forward bend, apply the same techniques or skip 'full forward bend only' move to half-lifting position and remain slightly longer. And as mentioned before, inhale and slowly lift the body up so that it gives the body reflexes some time to react. It is very important to remember to avoid sudden standing up from any bending posture or to get up in a rush from any laying down posture. Locked solar plexus One of the most common reasons for dizziness is a locked solar plexus. This is largely due to stress and bottled-up emotions. The seriousness depends on the duration of the suppression. One experiences dizziness and imbalance after a long stressful day of work because he/she experiences a blockage around the third-eye chakra. In this fast-paced world today, giving oneself adequate period to de-stress is crucial. Everyone knows that when a rubber band is stretched too long, it is bound to break. This is the same for the human body as well. Take some time off to relax or find a good pair of ears (good friends or anyone whom you feel comfortable to talk with) to share your feelings and problems. It is said that stress is the root of all diseases. Stress can also cause dizziness during Yoga practices. Therefore, after a long day, the practitioner should relax and rest for at least 1.5 hours to regain both mental and physical strength before delving into Yoga practice. Avoid practicing any asanas (Yoga postures) if you are going through emotional turbulence at this time. Instead, practicing breathing exercises or meditation may be useful to help you calm and quiet the mind to restore peace and harmony. Physical conditions that may contribute to dizziness E.g. Low blood pressure, high blood pressure (hypertension), low blood sugar, dehydration, inner ear imbalance, anaemia, insomnia, fatigue, vertigo, injuries, allergies, viral infections, or acute symptoms such as nausea, headache, diarrhea, etc. Consult your family doctor about your condition and seek for advice and treatment. Find an experience Yoga teacher who can guide you with appropriate Yoga techniques that are well-suited for your physical conditions. Excess neck bending There are four arteries around the neck region for blood circulation between the head and the body. Two carotid arteries are located in the front of the neck whlie the other two vetebral arteries are located in teh holes in cervical spine. During the extreme backwards-bending of the neck, the vertebral arteries are constricted. So, the passage of the carotid arteries become narrow and this can cause difficulties to compensate the blood flow to the brain. This can be avoided by not bending the neck backwards excessively or you can also try lifting your chest a little bit more while bending backwards so that the upper body is bent instead of putting the whole force on the neck to achieve the final posture. Overexertion and shallow breathing or deep breathing (hyperventilation) When a practitioner pushes himself/herself too much to achieve a particular posture that their body is not prepared for, blood can rush to the head and tense the nerves in the brain, which will also result in dizziness. Dizziness can also happen when the body lacks oxygen (especially around the brain and heart region). During shallow breathing, the lungs tend to expand and constrict faster to make sure there is adequate oxygen flow. At the same time, the heart is strained to increase the speed of blood flow sot hat the body receives enough oxygen. However, deep breathing can also cause dizziness. Oxygen deficiency is due to lack of carbon dioxide. After oxygen is combined with the haemoglobin to be carried around the body, it requires carbon dioxide to release the bondage in order to be used by the tissues, which increases blood pressure as well. Therefore, practice Yogasanas according to your own pace. Your body must be comfortable throughout the session. Do not force yourself to achieve any posture demonstrated by the Yoga trainer if you feel uncomfortable with it because they may have mastered the posture, but you still have not. During practice, focus your awareness on your breathing pattern and adjust it to suit your body. There are also times when closing the eyes can cause dizziness. Therefore, keeping one's eyes open during practice can reduce the feeling of discomfort. Diet Man's health is affected by the food he consumes. In the modern world today, man has gone too far astray in his eating habits and allowed many non-natural and unhealthy ingredients in his meals. These include those that have been devitalised, denatured and indigestible. How then can the body recharge with such nutrition-less items? The tongue craves for food items that are fried, overly-spiced, heavily flavoured, oily, salty, overly-salty or sweet, contain flavour enhancers and preservatives etc. These dishes actually harm the human organs and can contaminate the blood circulation, which will in turn affect the proper distribution of nutrition to the whole body. Unhealthy eating patterns can also be the cause of dizziness. The portion of food intake and irregular eating habits can contribute to such condition. Therefore, it is important to choose your food wisely. Always opt for a healthy and natural diet. Eliminate artificial or refined food from your diet as much as you can. Maintaining a healthy diet and good eating habits are important aspects in Yoga practice. Ensure that you do not consume any food 3 hours before practice as this can lead to indigestion, dizziness and other symptoms. If you are suffering from low blood sugar, just consume something light such as a banana, an apple or a few nuts within an hour before practice. Ensure that your body is constantly hydrated with fluid to avoid dehydration. However, do not consume large quantities of fluid before any practice session. Prolonged breath retention of breath It is important to have free flow of blood circulation and ample oxygen in the body. Retention is sometimes required during practice but holding the breath too long will lower the oxygen level and increase the carbon dioxide level, which can increase pressure in the chest that can burden the blood to circulate from all parts of the body back to the heart. Once the heart, upper chest and neck sense the shortage of blood volume being circulated, this will lead to lack of pressure in pumping up the blood to the head. This is when dizziness kicks in. Every individual has their own capacity of breath retention. One should follow their own pace and feeling in coping with the retention. Do not force holding on to your breath once you feel discomfort. When dizziness or discomfort happens, slowly retreat to a relaxing pose or simple sitting position and breathe slowly or normally. Alcohol and smoking The consumption of alcohol can cause dehydration in the body. Dehydration is one of the characteristics that causes dizziness. Alcohol triggers the anti-diuretic hormone, which triggers a higher amount of urine to be discharged compared to the volume of liquid consumed. Alcohol also contains depressant that can lead to lethargy, headache and drop of blood sugar. Smoking tobacco on the other hand is the cause for emphysema, a condition in which the air sacs of the lungs are damaged and enlarged. This will disturb the bonding of the gases with the red blood cells (haemoglobins) to be supplied to the entire body. Usually, only oxygen and carbon dioxide are supposed to be the only only molecules that are to be bound to the haemoglobin for transport around the body. In the case of smokers however, carbon monoxide will also be bound, which reduces the amount of oxygen and carbon dioxide to be carried around the body. This leads to shortness of breath, which is another reason for dizziness to occur when a Yoga practitioner tries to catch his/her breath since there will be insufficient oxygen circulating around the body. It is better to abstain from alcoholism and smoking not only for the greater benefits in Yoga practice but also for one's overall health. Avoid excessive consumption of alcohol the night before the next morning's Yoga exercise. In Yoga practice, safety management is very important. The tips illustrated in the above are to safeguard the practitioner from experiencing dizziness during their Yoga exercise. The main aim for Yoga practice is to unite man with nature, bringing peace and harmony to his body, mind and soul. Therefore, refrain from indulging in anything that violates one's natural existence. Pay attention to your body. Every sign and symptom is a message so that you have the opportunity to correct any internal imbalance. Author: Wong Eileen & Genevieve Tan Shu Thung Holistic Living Annex (JANUARY 2013) 1 Response for “ Avoiding Dizziness During Yoga Practice” Join our Group to Connect with 2,000++ MEMBERS... OR LIKE our new Facebook Page below... This was a very well-written article. Dizziness can be difficult to prevent at times during Yoga practice but it certainly can be minimized. I am a certified Yoga teacher myself and I always tell my students never to exert themselves in performing any asanas.
Web Magna Carta and better democracy for half the price Salvaging Democracy: Santiago Siri, with his soon-to-be-launched online voting platform, DemocracyOS, provided it goes viral, will do more to snatch democracy back from the clutches of the corporate world than all the extravagant advertising campaigns cajoling young citizens into voting ever could. The system, meantime, is in demonstration mode, including to allow a global vote on the Magna Carta for the internet proposed by Sir Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the World-Wide Web. image World Economic Forum It is possible to put a price on better democracy. At least to the extent that combining local and general elections would nearly halve the cost of holding them, and massively improve local-body turnout to boot. Extensive experience elsewhere suggests that if New Zealand’s local-body elections were held concurrently with its general election, their collective turnout would be potentially dragged up by about 36 percentage points. So, on the face of it, concurrent elections are a turnout silver bullet, and, aside from the critical benefit of boosting voter turnout, would save many ratepayer dollars—the budget for Auckland Council alone, for its three-year cycle of elections, is $7.7 million. Extremely Habit-Forming: Unless people begin when they are young, it becomes increasingly unlikely they will ever develop the voting habit. But while online voting has been found to temporarily the arrest the decline in turnout, just as postal voting did when it was introduced, it is not a panacea, but rather one of many measures urgently needed to ensure that democracy is no longer side-lined as little more than a petty impediment to corporate power. There is no reason, particularly since the introduction of a separate party vote, that students shouldn’t be issued with a lifetime licence to vote. Even Hillary Clinton is calling for automatic, universal voter registration. image Stuff Whether voters would be half as dutiful in selecting local government candidates as for selecting their political party and member of Parliament, would then largely depend upon how successful parties become in fielding attractive local-body candidates. Those disillusioned with party politics will hate the idea of any electoral change that strengthens the influence of parties. But it is the behaviour parties, rather than parties per se, that is the problem; their refusal, following an election, to work together for the common good of the people they represent. The solution to misbehaving parties lies in ensuring, in fact in legislating, that they behave transparently. Those parties that show they can be trusted will prosper, and the quickest route to building trust is for a party to democratise—Labour is said to have trebled its membership after allowing its members a vote, albeit negatively weighted, for party leader. The media is quick to categorise low local-body election turnout as apathy, but on the contrary, for many non-voters, the refusal to vote in such elections is an excusable, inadequate knowledge of how the myriad candidates would likely vote on the spectrum of policies and bylaws. A study following the 2004 elections revealed that, in the most important age group in respect to establishing a voting habit, year-13 students, by a two-fold factor, chose the ‘I had no idea of who to vote for’ option to categorise their principal reason for non-voting. Some form of party system, preferably the multi-party system, is the only practicable and potentially constructive means of channelling factionalism; the legitimate aggregation and articulation of common interests. It is thus the earnest duty of any responsible political party to develop a comprehensive platform of local-body policies and local projects. Here, people’s parties possibly enjoy a rare advantage over the deep-pocketed parties representing corporate interests, as it is the perfect opportunity for parties to recruit the grass-root supporters that are utterly essential for any party dedicated to representing citizens. And it is also probably the only way new Green Party co-leader James Shaw can come close to delivering on his promise to quadruple membership in two years. Hard-Earned Respect: In stark contrast to politicians, nurses have consistently earned the top-rated slot in the UMR Research respect-for-occupations survey question, just edging out doctors. Until real-estate agents were added to the Mood of the Nation report in 2008, politicians had no competition for the bottom slot—the direction Prime Minister John Key is heading, inevitably, now that his non-politician persona is finally being seen through. Pictured is New Zealand Medical Assistance Team nurse Robby Berghan with colleagues at an Ebola isolation unit in Sierra Leone—3799 have died of the deadly virus so far in that country; about one in three of those infected. image New Zealand Medical Assistance Team In next year’s local-body elections, a number of voters will be given the option of casting their ballot online. This follows the egregious, record-low turnout in 2013 , and the findings of the Online Voting Working Party, set up in the wake of that embarrassment: Online voting for local elections is feasible, and should be viewed as a natural continuation of existing voting options that will enhance and modernise voting in local elections. For stepping into the brave new world of online voting, the Department of Internal Affairs, and particularly the 11 collectively and individually brilliantly qualified members of the Online Voting Working Party, deserve colossal respect. There are any number of online security experts who totally oppose online voting, claiming that the internet can never be rendered sufficiently secure for that use. But requiring 100% security is unreasonable, and New Zealanders’ uptake of online banking is ample proof that people are capable of keeping any residual risk involved in online transactions in perspective. So, what should be of intense interest to James Shaw and, hopefully, sufficient Green Party functionaries, is DemocracyOS. The brainchild of Santiago Siri, a genius Argentine college-dropout, games-software-developer-with-a-conscience, and entrepreneur, DemocracyOS is a soon-to-be-launched, open-source voting platform, which is currently accessible in demonstrate mode. The perfect, poster-child example of online democracy in action, meantime, had been provided by proponents of internet rights, as a basic human right—no less than Sir Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the World-Wide Web, has called for a Magna Carta for the internet. Although, to date, the demo hasn’t exactly gone viral, possibly, ironically, and ironically on account of its southern origins, the platform could be the perfect tool with which James Shaw can ‘change the party’: Little and Often: Chris Trotter has nailed what Labour needs to do to reconnect with wage-earners—select candidates who are prepared to show solidarity with said workers by pledging to donate the difference between the average wage and their parliamentary salary to the party’s campaign funds. This hardly calls for Ghandiesque austerity of MPs—the 22% of New Zealand children living in poverty can only dream of having a parent earning the average annual wage of $55 000. Meanwhile, if he still wanted the job, Labour leader Andrew Little would be obliged to chip in a tidy $200 000 annually, to his party’s war chest. …technology-based, data-driven but founded on communities, self-organisation and the passion of volunteers. Viewed in isolation, it is easy to imagine that the figures showing higher turnout with increasing voter age reflects that an increase of interest accrues with age. What is mostly occurring, however, is that younger people are not developing a voting habit, and are unlikely to as they age. Today’s best voters, those 60 years or older, have spent a lifetime voting. It is not something they stumbled into later in life—they were brought up by a generation that highly valued and respected the right to vote. The writer’s mother, for example, was born just 18 years after Aotearoa became, when it enfranchised women, the World’s first democracy worthy of the term. In contrast, declining respect for politicians is helping to ensure that today’s parents are unable to instil in their children the same reverence for democracy that was part of their upbringing. Gallop, since 1973 (the year before Mahurangi Action was established, which coincided with Richard Nixon’s disgrace and resignation), has seen American respondents’ confidence in Congress categorised as ‘very little’ erupt from 11% to 50%, in 2014. New Zealanders can be grateful that, in the 2015 UMR Research Mood of the Nation report, the percentage having very little confidence in Parliament is only half that of their cousins in the United States. Curiously, however, politicians, as an occupation, in the latest of those annual reports, enjoy a slightly higher rating, 4.7 out of 10 than when the reports began in 1993, on 4.1. (It took the inclusion of real estate agents, in the 2008 report onward, for politicians to have competition for the bottom slot.) The low point—a 3.9 out of 10 ranking in 1998—coincided with Winston Peters’ sacking by Prime Minister Jim Bolger, after New Zealand’s worst imaginable introduction to proportional representation and coalition government. Little Too Taxing: The challenge of decarbonising modern civilisation’s infrastructure is epic, and altogether too mentally taxing for most adults. It will require the less ossified minds of young people to comprehend factors such as the limits to variable renewable energy—the older generation will continue to prefer the comfort of their anti-nuke dogma, happy to leave the real work of averting global climate catastrophe to the nuclear scientists and engineers of China and India. There are two routes, theoretically, by which turnout can be turned around. One involves addressing the entire voting-age population. The other targets year-13, or even younger, students. If money was no object, continued orangeguying, to the enormous profit of the ad agencies, could continue to be inflicted on an underwhelmed populace. Or something more shocking tried, such as the 200 000-kroner X-rated Voteman video that survived all of two days before being pulled by the Danish government. The orange guy and Voteman utterly epitomise the wasteful, scatter gun approach to the turnout crisis. By targeting college students approaching the age of voter registration, and having them participate in annual shadow elections and referendums, a cohort is recruited to a lifetime of voting. Chances are, in the process, those college students will additionally enrol more of their parent’s generation than enrichment of Saatchi and Saatchi ever would. Two members of the Online Voting Working Party are already involved in this work, and the Green and Labour should unashamedly select sufficient 18–24-year-old candidates to convince college students that those parties at least were sincere in their endeavours to represent youth. Two members of the Online Voting Working Party are already involved in this work, and the Green and Labour should waste no time in fully democratising their party organisations, online—from policy to candidate selection to party lists. National could radically democratise too, of course, but it would be fascinating to witness the knots the party would be obliged to tie itself into to reassure its corporate benefactors that its core business was prioritising their bidding. There is nothing, of course, to stop National firing the concurrent-elections silver bullet, but it had better be prepared to duck the ricochet. Concurrent elections will benefit the party or parties that stand to benefit most from a strong grassroots. National certainly needs members, but not for their piddling annual subscriptions. Meantime, the Green and Labour parties acutely depend upon members’ subs—particularly the Greens, given their highly principled refusal to accept donations or sponsorship deemed to be contrary to the ethics and philosophy of the party. Little Hope without Younger Minds: Given belief in global warming being anthropogenic declines with age, it is left to the young to rescue civilisation from the almost bottomless fossil-fuel hole it has dug for itself. Only by facing down their parents’ and grandparents’ nuclear phobia will young people master the mission-almost-impossible they have inherited. chart Crikey A full and uncompromised democracy is a prerequisite for a fair and just society, and its subversion by corporate neoliberalism has led to large underclass of permanently poor, and its blameless, child-poverty victims. But the greater, existential crisis that today’s hamstrung democracies are failing to manage is, of course, anthropogenic global warming. That so many who are concerned about greenhouse gas emissions imagine photovoltaic panels and electric cars are any sort of answer is testimony to the pitiful lack of understanding of the enormity of the task of decarbonising modern civilisation. Global warming is not just another environmental problem, and the better ability of young people to comprehend this means they must build a better, fit-for-purpose democracy, globalise that democracy, and replace fossil-fueled infrastructure a century and a half in the making, even as they contend with an increasingly cruel and problematic climate. That James Shaw comprehends the enormity of the crisis is manifest by his incredibly courageous decision, in a blokey society, to elect to not obtain a driver’s licence. Now, he should not hang about to find out if National will snatch up the concurrency cartridge. By calling the cost-saving concurrent-election shots, Shaw would set the agenda for retrieving democracy from the grasping, self-serving hands of the corporations… …and finally put the Green Party, as it celebrates its 45th birthdayThe Values Party, from the remnants of which the Green Party was formed, was founded in 1972 in 2017, into power—coalition.
I have a famous line that I've used my whole life that basically amounts to "Don't try to get something that is good at everything, because you will end up with something that isn't great at anything." I can honestly say that has served me well my whole life, right up until I crossed paths with the VTX. Mike Willen set out on a goal to create a boat that was a true "dual sport" boat. He wanted something that he could take his family out to the lake with, and teach his kids how to water ski, wake board, and wake surf, yet when it comes to performance it still has to hold true to the Howard name. The closest the performance boat world has ever seen to a true dual purpose boat would have to be the modern era "Deck." Boats like the Howard 288 (and others) are able to pull big numbers with moderate power (90 mph in the case of the 288 with a Merc 600), yet still have enough seating and storage for a comfortable, full day out on the lake. As with anything all of them are going to have an Achilles Heel. Modern decks all things considered are pretty horrible tow boats, especially if you have young kids that would require slow planing speeds to teach them how to ski, wakeboard, tube, or wake surf. This was the void the VTX is to fill. I made my way to the Nautical and got my first look of the first completed VTX. Previous to this I had only seen the plug at Howard Boats. From an aesthetics point of view the boat is just dead sexy. It shares a lot of the same lines as it's big brother the 288, which has always been a crowd pleaser. From a side profile Howard nailed it. They maintained the sleek lines of the 288, and it kept the same low profile looks that made the boat infamous. It is a little deceiving to the eyes, because of the profile it looks like a much bigger boat than a twenty five. It's only when you see it from the front dead on that you realize that this boat isn't a conventional tunnel bottom like it's big brother. As you can see in the pic, unlike most the other Vee bottoms with sponsons, these aren't just there to open up cockpit space. The sponsons actually run all the way down to the water line and are in fact part of the running surface and do play a part in how the boat runs. I will cover all that in the performance section, but it should be noted for later. I jumped in the boat to quickly go through the interior and features. It was being touted by a lot of users online that this was going to be an "Entry Level" Howard, there's nothing entry level about it that I could see. The boat features a full innerliner, and everything from bow to stern was first class which is typical of Howard. The interior in this one was a little toned down compared to some of the newer 288's that have come out of there, but that's entirely up to the buyer and how they want that done, as it is with all custom boats. The helm featured Vessel View and Livorsi Vantage View Gauges that have their own recalls. Steering is full hydraulic at the helm that routes back to a sea star internal hydraulic system that's all under the hatch. That's a very nice feature and comes standard on the new 255. It basically gives you full hydraulic steering (with no cable slack) without having to deal with all of the external hardware. This system isn't setup for ultra high speeds, and if a person decides they want to go with a larger engine package that would put the boat in the 80's or higher they would install the external rams. The boat has quite a few things that surprised me (especially given the price point), Fiberglass seat backs, as well as fiberglass gunnel inserts that were all gel coated to match the boat. While I didn't see the boat at night, it's my understanding that there is hidden (indirect) LED lighting everywhere in the boat that comes standard as well. A nice touch on both sides of the boat are these large gunnel storage areas. You can easily place larger things like water skis in here and out of the way while you are out on the water. I didn't get a picture of it, but the ski locker hatch is over sized as well and will accommodate multiple wake boards without an issue. Everything from the backs of the front seats towards the stern is identical to a Howard 288. It's the same rear seats, walk off, engine hatch and swim step. The engine hatch that raises the entire rear of the boat is a favorite among enthusiasts and mechanics alike, it allows for a completely hidden bimini, and easy access to everything in the engine bay (fenders, cooler etc..). It should be noted that this was the first boat and was finished the night before the regatta. The fenders holding the cooler in place will be replaced by small studs. The Fenders themselves would normally be placed in their holders. The over sized swim platform shared with the 288 covers the entire drive so there's no concerns about the prop with kids jumping off, or preparing for tow sports. Performance - Typically when I review a boat for performance, I focus on a few key areas : 1. How fast to plane 2. Mid Range Accelleration 3. Top Speed 4. Turning Mid Range / Upper end 5. Ride Quality We don't generally focus on things like how easy would it be to teach a kid how to ski behind the boat? How hard could you whip a tube? Could you actually wake surf behind it? Being that this is a dual purpose boat, I decided to try and focus a little more on that in this review. We did however run into a small issue with regard to that, which might have turned out be a blessing in disguise. The day that we took the 255 VTX out, Lake Havasu decided to throw it a curve ball in the form of 25 mph winds. I am hoping to get another crack at the 255 in the near future with a full load of people (ballast) to show wake shapes, and speeds under glass conditions. This review was performed with Mike Willen, myself, a half tank of fuel in extremely rough water. The first video I'm going to show you is just the front view of the boat as we exited Thompson Bay into the Basin. I left a few seconds of intro on the video just to show you how rough the water actually is coming into the bay. The important notes from this video is that never once did the boat take a wave over the bow even when heading out into this disaster. The other part worth noting is this boat comes on plane so quickly, smoothly, and with almost no bow rise, that while facing forward it's actually almost impossible to tell when it actually comes on plane! Here is the same video a little longer that shows the boat coming on plane with cameras facing front and back. This boat comes on plane in under two seconds, with less than half throttle. When you factor in that this is a full size 25+' Deck boat with seating for ten and storage for everything you want to take with you that's absolutely incredible! I would venture to say it's the fastest planing deckboat (with no close second) in this size range period. In this next video we go through a series of sharp and sweeping turns at various speeds. What you should pay attention to is the fact that there is no prop blow out no matter how hard we turn, even when adding throttle and trying to blow it out. When we cross our own wakes you can see how smoothly the boat transitions across them. We hit our own wakes at a variety of different angles from straight on, so quartering and the boat takes them all in stride. You should also be taking note to the water conditions and the horizon on the front view while so you can see how the boat is handling the wind chop on the water during the straight sections. Various Towing Speeds for Kids and Adults After we did our turning and some straight line tests at various rpm's to measure prop slips we made our way to the North side of the island to do a speed run. The boat went 62 MPH @ 4900 RPM with a box stock Bravo 22. The 6.2 actually has an operating range of 5000 - 5400 RPM (350 HP) which means there is another 2-3 mph in the boat easily without too much trouble after they try a few different props. Howard didn't just accomplish their goal with this boat they surpassed it. This is a 25.5' Deck Boat that gets on plane as fast as a tournament boat (effortlessly). We took it out in about the worst conditions fathomable (especially for a tow boat), and never once did we get beat up, jolted, or even were uncomfortable for that matter. The front facing camera is actually down on the deck just above the front passenger head rest (considerably lower than my line of site in the boat) and never once did we lose the horizon even at that vantage point. Then when it came time to see what kind of moxy she's got, in typical Howard fashion it rose to the occasion and put up a huge # for a boat this size with minimal Horsepower. There isn't a tournament boat that I'm aware of that would've gone out in those conditions, let alone lay down a 60+ mph number with a 350. If that's not enough for you the fuel economy on this boat is going to be absolutely unreal. Small blocks already sip fuel, but at a cruising speed of 33 mph you are turning 2800 RPM's!! When they get a little better prop on this thing I'd bet that 33 turns into 35-36 mph as well. 3500 RPM yielded 44 mph. With a 65 gallon fuel capacity you are going to enjoy weekends (plural) before having to fuel again, or if you are a Mead / Powell kind of boater you can imagine the range you could get with this setup. This boat is incredibly nimble for it's size, and at the same time extremely forgiving to drive (a very rare combination). On the top end the boat wasn't trim sensitive at all which is a huge bonus. Anybody can get in this boat and drive it and have fun without having to be an expert on the sticks. When Mike described to me the bottom he called it a 70% Vee and a 30% Cat. With the sponsons as low as they are in the front, and the way that it bleeds the air through the tunnels and then out the sides of the back I'm inclined to agree with him. The faster you go the lighter the boat gets (which also adds to the fun of driving). I'm not going to go so far as to say it gives you that "packing air" feeling of a tunnel, but I will say it doesn't feel like a typical Vee either. With this motor we were able to get 62 mph out of it, and in that water the boat really showed it's colors and proved without a shadow of a doubt that she was part Cat. The ride was amazing given the conditions. I'd wager again with a light weight higher HP package this thing would be an unbelievable performance boat that can pull double duty with the kids. Base Price: $125K - 350HP 6.2liter motor w/Bravo 1 drive Extreme tandem trailer Includes : Full hydraulic steering helm 4 SS pull up deck cleats Livorsi gauges Livorsi offshore style dual handle throttle/shifter LED interior lighting package Snap-in carpet kit Billet interior grab handles 8 powder coated interior cup holders Dual batteries w/switch Dual electric hatch lifts Custom hi-gloss finish in engine compartment LED running lights Bilge pump and blower Custom Billet switch panel w/lighted rocker switches Swivel driver and passenger Hi-back bucket seats Aqua Step boarding ladder SS propeller Thru Transom Exhaust (If desired) RDP Note, I would pass on this with a 6.2 or smaller engine package AM/FM/CD/XM Stereo - 4 Speakers Options on this boat Billet removable ski pylon $1,250 Bow foot wash down shower $400 Mercury Vessel GPS color chart plotter $2,300 Custom gel coat design on fiberglass seat backs $700 Stainless Steel Bimini Top - 1,000.00 Price as Reviewed - 130,650.00 (Note 1/2 Cap will not be available on the 255 which is why it is not included in the list. The Reviewed boat did have it) For more information please call Gene at Howard Boats @ 661-257-9275 Photos - Video : RiverDave Written by : RiverDave
Section 2.30 - Faculty 1. Holidays. For faculty the following days are University holidays: (usually including faculty member is not eligible for holiday pay if the holiday occurs during an unpaid leave of absence, or if the holiday falls during a suspension without pay, or the holiday occurs during a time when he/she is not on pay status. 2. Vacation. Vacation for faculty members on academic year appointments is limited by the academic calendar and is not accrued. Faculty on annual appointments accrue vacation at the rate of five days per calendar quarter of completed service. A prorated number of days for a partial quarter of service will be computed when necessary. Approval of the use of accrued vacation is the responsibility of the appropriate unit head. Vacation time may not be charged until it is earned. Faculty members with accrued vacation terminating their employment will be eligible for their accrued vacation, not to exceed 20 days, provided at least four weeks' notice of their intent to leave is received. Up to 20 days of accrued vacation may be carried from one calendar year into the next. 3. Salary Continuation. The University will provide to the extent described below a salary continuation program for full-time faculty members which is designed to provide salary protection in the event of personal circumstances which do not allow injuries compensable under worker's compensation or no fault auto insurance, salary continuation may be used to the extent that the payments fail to equal the faculty member's regular base earnings. B. Faculty member's child, step child, foster child, spouse, parent, or household member's illness, injury, hospitalization and appointments pertaining to health (limited to a reasonable amount). C. The death of a faculty member's child, stepchild, foster child, spouse, brother, brother-in-law, sister, sister-in-law, parent or parent-in-law, grandparent, grandparent-in-law, or household member. D. Attendance at a funeral other than above (maximum one day). E. Inclement weather causing unusually hazardous conditions which necessitates the closing of the university. All full-time faculty members. 4. Sabbatical Leave. A sabbatical is defined as a period of release to provide an opportunity for the faculty member to learn, develop or enhance understanding or skills that will improve the applicant's teaching, scholarly/creative and/or professional competence beyond their normal workload (as described in Section D). Sabbaticals are a part of the university's responsibility in relation to faculty growth and development. Such leaves contribute to the accomplishment of these ends by enabling the faculty to undertake specific, planned activities involving study, research, or creative work of mutual benefit to the applicant and to Grand Valley State University. The providing of resources necessary for sabbatical leaves is a high priority for the University. A. Eligibility. By March 15 each year the Human Resources Office will provide the academic deans with the names of the faculty members eligible to apply at the beginning of the Fall semester. The deans then send a notice to each eligible person as a reminder, offering assistance in refining plans and indicating sources of relevant information. Subject to the provisions listed below (Section J), sabbatical leave may be granted after six years of service. Such leave may not be awarded to the same person more than once in seven years and leave time shall not be cumulative. Up to two years of service prior to serving in a tenure track faculty position at the rank of instructor or above, or its equivalent, at GVSU or other accredited institutions of higher education may count toward fulfillment of the eligibility period. Only tenured Grand Valley faculty members are eligible to receive a sabbatical. In computing consecutive years of service for the purpose of establishing eligibility, periods of vacation leave and periods of sick leave with salary shall be included; periods of leaves of absence other than vacation leave and sick leave will not ordinarily be included but shall not be deemed an interruption of otherwise consecutive service. If a current full-time faculty member previously served part time, then their sabbatical will be delayed until the equivalent of six years of full-time service has been accrued. A part-time faculty member is eligible for a sabbatical after six years of service at or above their current appointment rate; a part-time faculty member will receive their current appointment rate while on sabbatical. In the case of the faculty member on leave from a faculty position to hold an administrative position at Grand Valley, the provisions of Section 2.11 apply. In computing years of service for the purpose of establishing eligibility, periods of vacation leave and periods of sick leave with salary shall be included; periods of leaves of absence other than vacation leave and sick leave will not ordinarily be included. B. Application and Approval Process. 1. Applicants shall electronically submit the completed proposal via the sabbatical website. The completed proposal will then move through the review process. 2. At each level of review, the proposals shall be evaluated with reference to the objectives and criteria in Sections D and E. The applicant shall be notified, in writing, of any negative recommendation, along with an explanation, within three (3) working days of the date of transmission of the notice. 3. Applicants whose proposals have been rejected may appeal to the next level of review within three (3) working days of their receipt of the reasons for rejection. This appeal must be in the form of a written statement and include the reasons that the proposal meets the objectives, criteria, and format in Sections D and E. If the next level of review wishes to overturn a rejection on appeal, their written statement must provide an explanation addressing the reasons for reversing the previous decision, including how the proposal meets the requirements outlines in Sections D and E. - If the proposal is approved on appeal, a written explanation of the reasons for the approval will be sent to the previous level(s) of review and to the applicant; a written record of both the positive and negative recommendations will accompany the proposal when it is forwarded to the next level of review. - If the proposal is rejected at two stages of review (Unit, College, Dean, or University Sabbatical Review Committee) on appeal, it ends for that academic year and may not be considered by higher levels of review. - All appeals of a negative recommendation by the unit or college sabbatical review committee must be decided by November 1. - All appeals of a negative recommendation by the dean must be decided by November 20. - All appeals of a negative recommendation by the University Sabbatical Review Committee must be decided by December 10. 4. Timetable for Approval Process. September 1: applicants submit proposals to the sabbatical website. September 15: Units forward recommended proposals (including revisions or amendments, if any) to College Sabbatical Review Committee; no further revisions to proposals are permitted. The sabbatical proposals will be classified in tiers (Excellent, Good, Satisfactory, and Not recommended) using the standard evaluation instrument by the appropriate College Sabbatical Review Committee based upon objectives and criteria outlined in Sections D and E. October 15: College Sabbatical Review Committee forwards recommended proposals by tiers to the Dean. November 1: Dean forwards recommended proposals to the University Sabbatical Review Committee. The Dean may choose to not recommend any proposal. November 20: University Sabbatical Review Committee forwards recommendations to Provost. The University Sabbatical Review Committee will consider but are not bound by the tier rankings of the College Sabbatical Review Committee. The University Sabbatical Review Committee will classify the proposals in tiers (Excellent, Good Satisfactory and Not Recommend) using the standard evaluation instrument based upon objectives and criteria outlined in Sections D and E. December 1: Provost forwards decisions to the President and informs Deans and University Sabbatical Review Committee. The Provost will inform the Board of Trustees of the titles and authors of approved proposals. C. Remuneration. Faculty shall receive full salary when on leave one academic semester and fifty percent of base salary when on leave two academic semesters (or up to three academic semesters for faculty on a 12-month appointment). Applicants for sabbatical leave must specify other salaries, grants, fellowships, or financial support they expect to receive (or do receive) during the period of the leave. The combined incomes from such sources and the sabbatical grant shall not exceed the faculty member's normal salary plus expenses incurred because of the sabbatical leave. The recipient is expected to return to a regular appointment with Grand Valley for at least one academic year (or twelve months in the case of faculty on twelve-month appointments) after the sabbatical period. D. Objectives. A sabbatical proposal shall concern a significant problem, area, or issue in the field of study and show promise that it will enhance the teaching, scholarly/creative and/or professional capabilities of the applicant. The scope of the sabbatical project should require the faculty member to have one or two ( or three in the case of faculty with 12-month contracts) semesters of continuous release from normal teaching and service responsibilities. The sabbatical project should not be accomplishable in shorter intervals with other forms of assistance available. A request for sabbatical leave must be accompanied by a well-developed proposal for use of the leave time. The proposal shall conform to one or more of the objectives listed below: 1. Promise of a significant contribution to a new or existing subject under study or problem undertaken. 2. Expansion of skills or application of research that deepens or extends the applicant's professional capabilities. 3. Development of new capabilities for teaching through research or creative endeavors. 4. A planned effort to retrain professionally, in a manner appropriate to the applicant's discipline and the unit's and university's needs. E. Criteria and Format. The sabbatical requests must address the following: 1. A descriptive title for the project. 2. Conceptual Focus- the proposal needs a clear conceptual focus and must be explicit about the desired results or outcomes of the project. In addition, the applicant must state which of the objectives listed in Section D are addressed in the proposal. 3. Background and significance of project- the proposal must clearly express how the project represents significant research or creative exploration within the context of the applicant's discipline, and explain ow the sabbatical fits in to the applicant's overall teaching, scholarly/creative and/or professional endeavors. 4. Relevant preparation- the proposal must demonstrate that detailed planning and specific preparation has already been done toward the successful completion of the sabbatical project. 5. Project Plan- the proposal must outline specifically how the sabbatical project will be conducted. 6. Timeline- the proposal must detail a clear timeline for proposed activities during the sabbatical. 7. Benefit to one's own or other units- the proposal must connect the sabbatical project to other aspects of the applicant's work at the University. 8. The proposal shall not exceed ten (10) pages, excluding references and other supporting documents. 9. The prior sabbatical report must be submitted with the proposal as well as any results completed if promised after the prior sabbatical. 10. A condensed Curriculum Vitae (not to exceed 5 pages in length) focused on the applicant's scholarly or creative accomplishments most relevant to the sabbatical application must submitted with the proposal. 11. The Unit Head must provide a summary of the unit's discussion with vote results, in addition to verification that requested amendments have been made (this should be submitted electronically via the sabbatical website). F. Selection Process When Not All Recommended Sabbaticals Can Be Awarded. There are two circumstances when not all recommended sabbaticals can be awarded: (1) inadequate funding, and (2) staffing problems. 1. Inadequate Funding. In the event that the University anticipates that the number of recommended sabbaticals requires funds greater than the amount available for support, the Provost will explain the financial situation to the Chair of the Faculty Salary and Budget Committee. The Chair of the Faculty Salary and Budget Committee and the Chair of the University Sabbatical Review Committee may respond to the Provost within seven (7) calendar days. The Provost will select proposals for funding based on the final classifications provided by the University Sabbatical Review Committee and his/her own review. Applicants who are not awarded sabbaticals because of inadequate funding should reapply to be reviewed the following year. 2. Staffing Problems The recommendation not to award a sabbatical because of staffing problems will be made by the Dean after consultation with the appropriate unit head. Applicants who are not awarded sabbaticals because of staffing problems will receive a written explanation from the Dean. If an applicant's recommended sabbatical is delayed because of staffing problems, the applicant will be given priority for the following year, assuming the applicant's proposal has been recommended and approved by the Provost. If the applicant makes alterations in the sabbatical proposal or delays beyond one year, then the applicant must seek approval of alterations as outlined in Section H. A faculty member whose sabbatical is delayed because of staffing problems will not be required to wait an additional 6 years from the later date before becoming eligible to apply for another sabbatical, but will be eligible to apply 6 years from the previous eligibility year provided an approved final report is on file for the delayed sabbatical. G. Delayed Sabbaticals. An applicant whose sabbatical was awarded but must be delayed for reasons other than staffing problems will not have to resubmit their proposal for review and will automatically be recommended for a sabbatical the following year without reapplication or review of their sabbatical, provided the project has not altered (see Section H). A faculty member whose sabbatical is delayed will not be required to wait to an additional 6 years from the later date before becoming eligible to apply for another sabbatical, but will be eligible to apply 6 years from the delayed eligibility year of the delayed sabbatical provided an approved final report is on file for the delayed sabbatical. H. Alteration of Project. If a faculty member finds it necessary to alter the original project approved for the sabbatical leave by the Provost, then three months before the sabbatical would have commenced the faculty member must submit a revised proposal to his/her College Dean. This deadline may be waived in unusual circumstances by the Dean. If the Dean supports the revised proposal, the Dean will submit the revised proposal to the University Sabbatical Review Committee for special review and approval. If the proposed alteration is judged to significantly change or weaken the spirit of the original proposal, then the appropriate Dean or the University Sabbatical Review Committee may recommend to the Provost that the proposed alteration not be accepted. In this event, the sabbatical proposal would enter the standard review process (as outlined in Section B). In the event that an alteration is proposed after the sabbatical has already commenced, the University Sabbatical Review Committee will recommend a course of action to the Provost. Depending on the nature and the extent of the alteration, the university may take action as it deems appropriate, including repayment to the university for time spent on sabbatical. I. Cancellation of Project. If a faculty member decides not to take a sabbatical leave which has been approved by the Provost, then the faculty member must inform the Dean of the appointing unit at least three months before the sabbatical would have commenced. If the faculty member cancels a sabbatical leave later than three months before the start of the leave, the Dean shall be free to deny the request. This deadline may be waived in unusual circumstances. J. Final Report and Dissemination. Each faculty member returning from sabbatical leave shall prepare a final report of the sabbatical activities and accomplishments in accordance with the guidelines on the sabbatical website. The faculty member must submit the report electronically via the sabbatical website. This final report shall be filed no later than the end of the first semester after return to campus and shall include an account of the financial remuneration received during the sabbatical leave. The Provost will review the final report. If the Provost does not approve the final report as submitted, the faculty member may revise and resubmit it. The Provost will notify the faculty member, the Dean, and the Human Resources Office whether or not the final report has been approved. Eligibility for the next sabbatical leave shall be calculated from the academic year in which the Provost approves the final report. A copy of the approved sabbatical report will automatically be sent electronically to the faculty member's Unit Head, Dean, the Provost, the President, the University Sabbatical Review Committee, and the library University Archives. Faculty members are also required to participate in a University Wide Sabbatical Showcase in the year following their sabbaticals or in the year after the final report is approved. K. The College and University Sabbatical Review Committee. Each College Personnel Committee or other designated committee will serve as the College Sabbatical Review Committee. The University Sabbatical Review Committee is a subcommittee of the Research and Development Committee. The University Sabbatical Committee membership comprises seven standing members from the Research and Development Committee (of the seven no more than three members from a single college, including the chair), one representative from each of the College Sabbatical Review Committees, one representative from university libraries, and the Executive Director, Center for Scholarly and Creative Excellence (Ex officio, non-voting). The chair of the Research and Development Committee will serve as the chair of the University Sabbatical Review Committee. No member of the University Sabbatical Review Committee can vote or participate in discussion about his/her own sabbatical proposal. The University Sabbatical Review Committee reports to the Research and Development Committee, and the Research and Development Committee reports to the Provost. The University Sabbatical Review Committee shall be responsible for reviewing sabbatical leave policies and procedures and shall recommend changes, when needed, to the UAS for feedback and endorsement. It shall also facilitate ways in which returning faculty can make new knowledge and insights available to Grand Valley State University 5. Leaves of Absence with Partial Pay. A. Jury Duty. A faculty member who loses time from his/her assigned responsibilities because of jury duty will receive the difference between his/her pay for jury duty and his/her regular base pay if such service occurs at a time when the faculty member is on pay status. B. Military Duty. A faculty member who loses time from his/her assigned responsibilities because of military training as a reservist or National Guardsman or due to a civil disturbance, not exceeding four weeks per year, will receive the difference between his/her military base pay and his/her regular pay if such service occurs while the faculty member is on pay status. 6. Leaves of Absence without Pay from the University. A faculty member may request a leave of absence without pay for educational, medical, or personal reasons for a period of from one to twelve months. Such request shall be approved by the appointing officer. Any accrued benefits will be protected during the leave although additional benefits will not accrue. The faculty member may continue existing group benefits with the appropriate university's contribution. Contribution to the retirement plan will not accrue during the leave period. In case of medical leave the university may require a physician's statement concerning the faculty member's ability to perform his/her assigned responsibilities either before departure or just prior to returning to active employment. Absences without pay for a period of less than one month will be considered as lost time and are subject to the approval of the appointing officer. 7. Alternate Service. Faculty on academic year appointments may fulfill their full academic year responsibilities on the basis of working any two of the three academic semesters without loss of base academic year salary with the balance of the year considered vacation. A faculty member who serves in a full time capacity for an additional (third) academic semester, without additional compensation, shall be entitled to a compensatory equivalent semester of vacation during the subsequent academic year at the compensation level in effect when the vacation was earned, if all arrangements are approved by the appointing officer, the provost, and the president in advance. Should, due to a change of circumstances, a faculty member who has fulfilled the prior service obligation be allowed to work during the semester he/she expected to be on vacation, all such work shall be at a rate and under the conditions described in Section 2.20.3. 8. Group Life, Medical and Dental Insurance. The university will provide coverage for all faculty appointed one-half time or more and their dependents and household members (as defined in plan documents) to the extent of the group insurance policies in effect providing the faculty member's appropriate payments are maintained. The schedule of benefits provided and their cost are described in materials available through the Human Resources Office. 9. Group Disability. All full-time faculty are eligible to participate in the total disability benefits program subject to the provisions of the master contract. The benefits provided are described in materials available through the Human Resources Office. A. University Base Plan. Effective July 1, 1996, materials available in the Human Resources Office. B. Supplemental Retirement Accounts. All regular faculty and staff may elect to have the university provide payment for tax deferred saving plans which qualify for IRS Code Section 403(b) and beginning July, 1, 2002 section 457(b) status through companies approved by the university. Faculty and staff can defer in such amounts as permitted by IRS Code Section 403(b) and 457(b). The election member. Effective fall semester, 1988, a regular faculty or staff member may with approval of his/her supervisor, enroll in Grand Valley State University courses tuition free, one of which may be taken during working hours each fiscal year. Retirees may enroll with the approval of the Human Resources Office. The materials describing the program are available through the Human Resources Office. B. Reduced Tuition for Spouses, Eligible Dependents and Household Members of Faculty, Staff and Retirees. Effective fall semester, 1988, spouses, eligible dependents, and household members of regular faculty, staff and retirees are eligible for a 50 percent reduction of their tuition costs for all Grand Valley State University courses. Spouses, eligible dependents, and household members of regular faculty, staff and retirees who use this benefit are subject to the admission and academic requirements of the university. The materials describing the program are available through the Human Resources Office. 12. Flexible Spending Accounts. Faculty faculty members. 13. Adoption Assistance. Effective January 1, 2001 all regular full-time and part-time faculty members and staff are eligible for adoption assistance. The benefits provided are described in materials available through the Human Resources Office. 14. Maternity and Other Temporary Medical Leave Policies. Section. Page last modified July 14, 2014
I closing message I asked my class that if they did nothing else during the course of the day to at least make an effort to be kind and to treat those they encounter with respect. My experience has been (especially recently) that you have absolutely no idea what is going on with other people. No idea. And you never know what the smallest act of kindness you show someone might do for them. And even if you don’t go out of your way to make a specific gesture, just be a good person who cares about/is aware of other people’s feelings. The CRAZIEST thing about all of this is that I walked out of the yoga studio and greeted a friend of mine who was going in to take the next class. We started out with small talk and the next thing I knew her eyes were filling with tears and she ended up sharing a personal struggle that was weighing on her. And the even crazier thing is that I can totally relate to what she is going through and my heart aches for her. She said, “I don’t even know why I’m saying all of this right now,” but I told her I was so glad she did share. Later in the day I was at the gym working out when I had another moment with a friend/member who is dealing with some major professional challenges. I could feel her stress and see her pain in her eyes. Twice in one day I had the opportunity to be there for people I care about who were trying so hard to keep it together but were on the verge of having their walls crumble. Let me back up…what led me to even share the message to my yoga class was that I was treated with kindness last night that I could not even fathom and that I don’t think I even deserve. It’s the type of kindness that seriously gives you faith. Being a good person is a real and important thing that can make a huge different in so many people’s lives. It’s also the type of kindness that makes it really clear what kind of people you want in your life. And today in photos. Breakfast was a Peanut Butter & Jelly Smoothie from Carolina Smoothies after teaching yoga. I came home for lunch to meet the AC repair guy and I was THRILLED to receive news that it would only be $200 small part fix and I ask that everyone PLEASE pray that my entire unit does not need to be replaced this summer. I had salad and leftover pizza from last night for lunch. So yummy! I took a little detour by Lululemon on my way back to work. Pretty sure my financial planner would not approve (especially given that we just met yesterday) but we have a new dress code at work where we have to wear Metro branded or Metro orange clothes and Lulu just happens to have our exact brand color in tons of styles right now so I picked up a power y, cool racer and flow y bra along with some new speed shorts. And guess who finally picked up a weight today? This girl…to the tune of 5 sets of 20 barbell squats at 75#. I still want to yoga, yoga, yoga but unfortunately I need to work, work, work so I have to get in what I can. Y’all know I love squatting more than anything so it felt great! Dinner tonight was a celebration of Sweet Tater Katie’s 28th birthday at Longboard’s. Chile lime tilapia bowl with rice, black beans, sour cream, salsa, tomatoes, avocado and cojita cheese. Bed time. I have an early PT client tomorrow. Please think about what I shared above. Please? Couldn’t agree more that kindness is critical! I would also add kindness to ourselves… I think we are so inclined to look for the negative or the ‘non-perfect’ parts of ourselves as challenges to change or continuously ‘improve’. But what if we were able to accept some things as they are and accept ourselves with love in this moment. This would mean much of the negative self-talk women struggle with would be diminished and we would be free to pursue the things we truly desire. Be kind to others, but first demonstrate kindness in and to ourselves. lora – yes, being kind with ourselves is very important too. over the last couple of years i have really become more aware of the importance of self-care and the way we talk to ourselves and treat our bodies and minds. Agree with Iora! It’s kind of amazing how much calmer I am when I don’t stress over little things about myself. There is so much more time to be engaged in other aspects of life! You’re takeaway message couldn’t be more than true. I had this experience with a teacher of mine and when I graduated and moved out to school I felt so compelled to write her a letter. Her acts of kindness in my life had happened to occur during one of the hardest times of my life and I felt truly guilty not telling her what it meant to me and how it kept my head up. It’s definitely something I need to work on myself! Wonderful post, as always! amanda – that was so thoughtful of you to write that letter and i’m sure that it meant so much to your teacher. So true. You never know what’s going on with people. I have been on both sides. Being active helps me to remain physically and emotionally healthy but recently I injured my knee and felt like my life was falling apart because I was getting so off track. Fortunately most people were patient with me, knowing I was struggling. It’s always good to be aware that people are dealing with their own struggles and respect that and do whatever you can to help, even if it’s just listening. courtney – i’m so happy to hear that you had people supporting you in your time of need. i hope that your knee is getting better and that you’re getting back on track. i also use physical activity as a means to keep me balanced and happy so i understand how tough it is to have that taken away with you and to deal. So true and such an important message to spread. And this post is coming at a great time in my life. My good friend just passed away this past weekend and I’m pretty heart broken over it and kind of feel stuck because I’m having trouble moving past this. I almost feel this sense of not knowing who I am anymore, and it’s been really difficult. I’m hoping it gets easier with time, and I’m not more aware of basically everyone shares these same issues in different forms, it just doesn’t always come up in conversation. We’re all human – we all struggle. Kindness to others and ourselves is something I am very aware of and think it’s so important. I’ve only been reading very few blogs since this incident and lucky stars that I clicked on yours and got this post. lisa – i am so very sorry to hear about the loss of your friend. i can only imagine how heartbroken you are and it’s okay for you to be stuck on it right now. these things take time to process and you have to allow yourself to feel. it will get easier with time but you’ll also never forget. it’s now a part of you. these kinds of losses usually do bring up a lot of questioning and it might be something that takes you a while to get to a good place with. just allow people to support you and talk about what you are feeling when you are ready. sending you so much love. Jen, You are truly an amazing person. Thank you so much for just being there for me in the moment and being my rock. i will do anything i can to support you with this new endeavor grace. xoxo It is so true that you can never know what others are going through or experiencing at any given point in time, make kindness SO important with every interaction. And here’s to hoping your AC holds up! This is definitely true but sometimes so hard to remember. I find people getting on my nerves a lot and always try to remind myself that they may be going through something in their life that is making them act a certain way. So I need to be less harsh on people and their actions. We all need to follow your message because kindness really is great! rebecca – this is definitely much easier said than done but it’s an attitude that can be cultivated with time. just becoming aware of your interactions with others and looking at your reactions can be eye opening. we’re all human and it’s normal to get annoyed, frustrated, etc with people but we can make small shifts that will add up to a big impact. Everyone already commented on your kindness message, which I completely agree with and try to always remember. On a side note, keep your lululemon receipts… tax write-off. Sorry, that’s my frugal, cheap side screaming through this morning. haha – thanks amanda! i do write off things i buy specifically for work since i wear this stuff all day, every day. 😉 It is so true. I am always empathetic to others as we are all going through things and need support. Often times in the blog world, it appears as though bloggers have it all together, but in reality, I love the bloggers who share their struggles and show authenticity. i agree that the blog world can be a bit of a mind game but one thing i have learned in life is that we are all flawed and dealing with our own stuff. thank you for reading and commenting. It’s amazing what even the smallest act of kindness can really mean to someone. Just recently, one of my coworkers (whom I also consider a friend) was having a really rough patch with workload, health problems, and just overall stress. I stopped at a little coffee shop across the street from our office building to grab my morning coffee, when I noticed they had freshly baked blueberry bagels. I remember her saying that they were her favorite so in addition to my coffee, I got one for her. Something really small in the grand scheme of things, but when I gave it to her she was so surprised that anyone would do something so thoughtful and it really made her day. Sometimes people just need to know that others are thinking about them. melinda – that was such a nice thing to do for your co-worker. sometimes we get so stuck in our own struggles that it’s unbelievable to think that others would go out of their way to do something like that or are even thinking of you. Love this! So so true – one never knows whats going on in someone elses life so just being kind and not judging them is the best thing! Your post reminds me of a story circulating on FB : .” and this story: “A doctor entered the hospital in advice when we’re not concerned is so easy,” murmured the father. The surgery took some hours after which the doctor came out happy, .” Sorry to have taken up so much space….but felt I needed to share these… I stumbled on your blog awhile back and I continue to come back becos of soulful posts like this one – thank you 🙂 i’m so glad you did “take up the space” and share. thank you so much for taking the time! your blog is one of the few truly authentic and “real” ones out there. thank you for sharing posts like this. very inspiring. oh, what i would give to live in charlotte and take one of your yoga classes–i swear if you want another career change, counseling and therapy should be at the top of your list. you are truly inspiring. thank you for this–i needed it today. have a good day 🙂 laura – thank you so much for the kind words and thank you so much for reading my blog. and i do want to find a way to incorporate speaking about my story/talking with others about theirs into what i do. i hope you have a good day too. Jen–you are at such a pivotal moment in your life. You have had a rough go the last year or two, and readjusting your sails can be so difficult after heading in a particular direction for so long. Growing pains are just that–painful–but your life is evolving into something so beautiful. I feel honored to witness that on your blog. It very much reminds me of a huge transformation I went through in my mid-20s, which started from something beyond my control but helped put me exactly where I needed to be. Life is too short for negative energy and unkind thoughts, and I truly believe we get back what we put out in the universe. It takes less energy to be kind and unassuming of another person’s situation than it does to harbor negative thoughts or say cross words. And then our heart is left open, which is just a wonderful thing. Thanks for this message today. Absolutely could not have said it better. I am going through what seems to be a similar struggle with questioning where my life is going, what I want my future to look like, whether what’s currently in my life fits in that picture, etc. It’s exhausting, really, lol! I know from the outside I look like a normal working woman but I certainly don’t feel that way, so thank you for the reminder!! I love that quote you included, Jen! It’s so true. 2012 was a very rough year for my husband and I – my husband unexpectedly lost his job just 2 days before the birth of our first child. It was an incredibly emotional time for us on so many different levels, and we felt this overwhelming stress knowing that we had our beautiful daughter to support, but we were lacking our primary financial means to care for her. We didn’t share our situation with people for quite some time (we felt embarrassed….which in hindsight was so silly) but the little acts of kindness we were shown by friends, family, and neighbors meant more to us then they will EVER know. Even the small things, like leaving our newspaper on our front porch for us or bringing our trash cans to the curb on trash day felt like a little weight off our shoulders at a time when it felt like the world was pressing very heavily on us. Thanks for this post and your honesty! I definitely think this is the best way to live. You NEVER know what people are going through so any extra kindness, even in the smallest ways, is so important day-to-day. Thanks for the reminder! I try very hard to remember what you said even about people I don’t care very much for. I don’t understand the need to destroy others in order to make yourself feel better. We have this happening in our professional lives right now…the person who is being attacked is someone I truly dislike but the attack is so malicious and ongoing that it’s troubling at best. I worry about this pattern of behavior in our society where tearing each other up becomes a natural response to something we don’t like. Thanks for the reminder today 🙂 I just adore this post!! I could not agree more. Loving kindness — to ourselves and to others — is kind of my main focus these days. Thank YOU!!!!! <3 I love this post, Jen. I’m so glad someone was so kind to you. For me it’s the random acts of kindness that mean the world to me. I’m a big believer in being kind all of the time, no matter the situation. Sometimes I falter on that because the world seems so go, go, go that people around me seem to treat each other not so kindly because of being in a rush. I wish I could say the rude people don’t bother me, but they do. But your words are very true…you never know what someone is going through so I will remember that next time I’m feeling not so kind. I love that quote. After seeing a friend go through an addiction problem, I realized that I was always too quick to judge others. I’ve taken a step back and realized that we all really do have struggles in our lives that God asks us to walk through. Beautiful post. Kindness is so important <3 That bowl looks amazing! I love the idea of throwing in all things yummy and eating them up! Lulumon is no friend of any financial planner… but hows a girl supposed to resist!?!?! Thank you for sharing, Jen. I think your blog is truly inspiring! Have a great day. Namaste <3
24 of the Best Cursive Fonts in 2021 for Your Logo and Brand If you’re designing a logo and want to stand out, cursive fonts are a fantastic way to differentiate your brand. From ornate calligraphy to cute lil’ wiggles, we’ve hand-picked 24 of the best cursive fonts to use in 2021, plus examples from famous brands, and tips on designing your own script logos. Let’s take a look! What is a cursive or script font? Cursive is a style of handwriting that dates back to the 16th Century, designed to make writing quicker by hand, and more pleasing to look at. In today’s context, cursive or script fonts are basically fonts that look like they were hand-drawn. Note: Generally, most fonts are designed by hand, but cursive fonts – whether they’re handwriting style, calligraphic, or brush-based – actually still look like a human being wrote them out. Here are a few famous examples to get you started. Famous brands with cursive logos In today’s digital landscape, using a script font for your logo is a unique way to add some much-needed humanity and flair. It could be subtle, like a gentle handwritten style font, or more decorative. It totally depends on the statement you want to make! How to use a cursive font On the face of it, it might not seem like there are any strict rules on when to use a script font, but as the above examples show, they suit some industries better than others. You’re more likely to find script fonts associated with the following business industries: - Food and drink - Hospitality - Health and wellness - Beauty - Tattoo & piercing - Retro brands (e.g. barbershops) - Trades and equipment (e.g. auto-repair shops, instruments, or removals companies) If you’re thinking of using a cursive font for your logo, there are a few things to keep in mind. Ultimately, it comes down to what you want to achieve with your visual identity—how you want it to look, and feel, and how you want your customers to respond to it. Here are a few do’s and don’ts: - Do use script fonts to add character, emphasis, and visual appeal - Do use a script font in display text, like logos, headlines, billboards - Do use script fonts for easily legible, short words - Don’t use script fonts in long-form text – it can be hard to read at length - Don’t use script fonts to convey important guidelines, instructions, or lots of information - Don’t use script fonts in small sizes What are the best script fonts? Now that you’re a cursive genius, let’s look at some of the most popular fonts for this year. We’ve grouped them loosely by style to help you out. Retro cursive fonts Retro fonts work well across a wide range of goods and services. They’re versatile, visually stunning, and full of nostalgia – they’re also some of the easiest script fonts for reading! 1. Broadley A bold hand-drawn script with a touch of vintage, designed by Henry Juanda in 2021 2. Monarda A funky, energetic retro script released in 2019, designed by Terrance Weinzierl for Monotype 3. Rampage Monoline A beautiful vintage-era script by Hartawan Studio, created in 2019 4. Raksana A plump and playful script font with retro Indonesian flair, released in 2021 5. Hope Sans Designed by Charles Nix for Monotype, Hope Sans is a 60’s esque, modernized serif with beautiful script alternates. Hand-written cursive fonts Hand-written fonts work well with health & wellness, and lifestyle brands. But there are exceptions! Take a look at this logo from Wilbury Stratton, an executive search and intelligence firm based in the UK: Here are a few of our favorite hand-written fonts from the last year or two: 6. Krysttal Spears A casual script font released in March 2021 by Maulana Creative 7. Aesthetic Notes Another 2021 dynamic script, this time by Henry Juanda for Letterhend. 8. Tahu Designer Rizal Khurasan’s bold script font is one of the most popular from the last couple of years. 9. Billie Sight Released in March 2021, Billie Sight is another casual script font, perfect for health and wellness style brands. 10. Bilanthy Another banger from Maulana Creative. Bilanthy is a curly, swirly script with beautifully sharp edges that give it an easy-going elegance. 11. Youth Line A simple, clean, casual, hand-written script font by the foundry Sakha Design and released this year. 12. Palmer Lake A fun and child-like handwriting script by designer Jen Wagner 13. With You Gorgeously dynamic, with alternating baselines and sweeping terminals (the end bit of a letter), With You is one of our favorites for 2021. Elegant cursive fonts mighty Latinotype. Here’s Estampa, a recent favorite. 16. Stonington A font that oozes wanderlust and adventure. 17. Buttermilk As the name suggests, Buttermilk is a soft flowing cursive font that reads like a dream. Brush cursive fonts Brush scripts are dynamic and full of movement. At one end of the spectrum, you’ll find grunge-style fonts that would be great for urban brands or streetwear. On the other, expect to see a lot of cute swirls and loopy bits. 18. Maghody Hartawan’s 2019 slapper, Maghody, is a raw brush font that reads like visual dynamite. 19. America A modern brush font with a hint of classic Americana. 20. Challum Maulana Creative has been on fire this year, with this excellent brush script, Challum. 21. Myteri Tattoo Edgy, classic tattoo script, released early 2021 by Mans Greback. 22. Weathertop Edgy, subtle, clean – Typotopia’s addition to the best brush script fonts of 2021 is one of our absolute favorites. 23. Guava Yogurt A font flowing with yogurty deliciousness. Guava Yogurt would be ideal for restaurants, music festival flyers, or food-related products. 24. Little Bee Finally, Little Bee is a brush-style font that adds just that bit of extra weight to the casual handwriting fonts we mentioned earlier. How to make a cursive or script font logo Now that you’ve got an idea of the diversity of script font styles out there, you can start thinking about creating your cursive logo. Keep in mind that you don’t have to use one style for a specific business category, although some cursive styles work better than others. Ultimately, ask yourself if your cursive logo suits the character of the brand you’re trying to build. Looka’s logo maker offers a wide variety of cursive fonts to select from when building your logo. We’ll give you a little taste with some examples of cursive logos made in Looka below. Design a cursive logo for your brand in minutes! Food and drinks Food and drink is such a diverse business category because there are so many different products you can sell. As a result, almost any cursive style would fit. Here, we’ve gone for a beautiful brush-style script font for a brewery (inspired by the Budweiser logo!) We’ve also added supporting text in a simple, unobtrusive sans-serif with some extra spacing between letters. Takeaways: - Pairing fonts is a really cool way to tell a story and establish some authority. As a rule, combine cursive with low-visual information fonts, like sans-serifs. Looka’s logo maker has a Suggested tab that offers hundreds of font pairings for you to explore. - If you do add a supporting font to your logo, make sure you get the positioning right. Look for natural areas of space, like just below the ‘A’ in this logo. This maintains the visual direction of the font without taking away from the appeal of the cursive lettering. (Hence the phrase, ‘supporting’ text.) Clothing Clothing is also a super diverse field, so many fonts would work. Here, we took inspiration from the Champion logo, going with a modern script font, a symbol, and bold contrasting colors. Takeaways: - Use symbols when they complement the text, but don’t make your symbol too busy. See how we’ve gone for a really minimalist one here? Let the script do the talking! - Color can be a great way to emphasize the mood and visual appeal of the cursive text. If you’re using complementary colors, keep them in the same color register (don’t use really vibrant colors against muted pastels. It looks weird!) Retro Retro or vintage logo styles are often used in a large subset of businesses, like tattoo parlors, barbershops, old-school garages, instruments, food-trucks…and so on. Here, we were inspired by the Fender logo to create a powerful retro-feel name and logo that could work for multiple different businesses. What sort of product do you think it would go with? Takeaways: - Keep it simple. You don’t necessarily have to add supporting information to your logo to tell people what you do. Here, the visual appeal lies solely in the text itself. Cursive fonts are great for this. Use the natural visual power of the script to standalone, before you add any new elements. - Look at the silhouette of the script on its own. There is already so much visual information in a cursive logo that you don’t need to go mental adding a bunch of containers, symbols, and extraneous details. Health and Wellness You could easily see this logo as part of a lifestyle brand, or a getaway retreat or spa. It has a human quality to it, but also vivaciousness and energy – perfect for a health and wellness company. Takeaway: - Play around with capitals to get alternates on some of the brush and script fonts. Capitalizing letters in script fonts often display their alternate glyphs, and you can really start to add character (the S on this logo is actually capitalized, but adds to the ‘wildness’ of the script and the character of the logo overall.) Don’t curse, have fun with cursive! Ultimately, cursive fonts are great for logos because they offer a different kind of visual appeal in today’s digitally dominant, sans serif world. If you want to imbue your brand with style and character, a script font like one of the above is a great way to do it. Just keep in mind the following core principles: - Script and cursive logos have a lot of information in them. Use short words and phrases, and make sure the lettering looks right - Start with black text and get a sense of your silhouette. Is your logo visually distinct, easy to read, and does it have a natural flow to it? This is what cursive fonts are all about - Let the raw visual energy of cursive speak for itself. If it needs supporting elements, add them sparingly, and only where they subtly complement your main logo text Cursive fonts are all about expression. At the end of the day, you’re trying to get the tone just right for your brand. Play around with different styles, and draw inspiration from brands you like. Beyond that, get as swirly as your heart desires. Good luck!
More people should talk about Marco Pirroni. He’s awesome. Quite apart from the fact that he appears to be a fantastically chilled, intelligent and knowledgeable individual he’s also a spankingly good guitarist and an incredibly important figure in the punk scene. He’s also one half of the powerhouse behind practically all of Adam And The Ants / Adam Ant’s 80’s success (co-songwriter and musician), he’s all over Sinead O’Connor’s best work, and of course there’s the whole Siouxsie And The Banshees time. He’s just one of those musicians who adds to absolutely everything he appears on but never seems to get all that much in the way of recognition. That’s not to take away from Adam Ant’s contributions to this song – and we’ll get to that momentarily – but Pirroni is such an important part of this song it would be an injustice not to mention him straight off the bat. Because in truth we have a bit of a cheat this week. “Antmusic” was released in November 1980 (thus technically qualifying, the best kind of qualifying) but didn’t ascend all the way to the hallowed Number 2 slot until January 11th 1981. 1981 is, however, very much spoken for. Little else of consequence got stuck at Number 2 in 1980 though and, without wishing to pre-empt What Else Happened In 1980?, it’s a bit of a strange year on the singles charts. The biggest song of the year was released by a band who don’t do singles – that would be Pink Floyd with “Another Brick In The Wall Pt 2”. The second is “Woman In Love” by Barbara Streisand. The third is the exceedingly saccharine “(Just Like) Starting Over” by John Lennon and the fourth is original-choice-for-this-article “Funkytown” by Lipps Inc. That is, by anyone’s standards, a mixed bag stylistically. And that’s fairly representative of the year in general. It’s a mixed bag. Disco is still very much a presence, and the fifth-biggest selling song of the year is Diana Ross’s “Upside Down”, but it’s also clear from that list where its place is now – and that’s in fourth and fifth position. So if disco is losing its grip, the obvious question is “what’s coming in to take its place”? Step forward one Mr Ant, or Adam to his friends. Adam Ant is a strange figure in some ways, someone who despite massive mainstream success tends somewhat towards the margins. He’s bound up in New Romantic imagery, what with the make-up, flashy none-more-80’s videos, pirate and highwayman characters and whatnot, but his sound – heavy on the glammed up guitars and double drummers – eschews the more typical synth-and-remoteness approach embraced by much of the New Romantic movement. Bands that went big on chunky guitars as part of the New Romantic movement aren’t really a significant feature of the early 80’s charts, where the synth reigned supreme. Ant is also a product of the punk scene who committed the one sin one must never, ever commit. He left it. That means he is, at best, a peripheral figure in that scene, even though he’s got two songs on Derek Jarman’s Jubilee – if one needs to check credentials – and there’s not much that’s more punk than that. But at a certain point, and frustrated with the lack of career momentum, fate, in the guise of Malcolm McLaren, intervened. He was brought on board as a manager to give Adam And The Ants the career push they needed. However “intervened”, in this case, meant after being appointed manager McLaren promptly stole the “… And The Ants” part of Adam And The Ants and hived them off into a project of his own, Bow Wow Wow. And, you know, Bow Wow Wow aren’t the worst band the 80’s produced, not by a long chalk. They were mildly controversial. “I Like Candy”’s a solid tune. But it’s hard to escape the idea they left at exactly the wrong point. The … And The Ants That Became Bow Wow Wow, were replaced by … And The Ants which brought the Right Honourable Mr Pirroni into the picture and, well, things were never the same again. Adam And The Ants first album is Dirk Wears White Sox. It’s a good album. His second is Kings Of The Wild Frontier. It’s an absolutely terrific album and criminally underrated. It’s an album full of swagger and confidence and it’s very easy to love because it’s just so goddamned confident. And it spawned three hit singles, “Kings Of The Wild Frontier” (fantastic), “Dog Eat Dog” (slightly less fantastic), and “Antmusic”. “Antmusic” is the key. It’s a manifesto, basically. It’s not his only manifesto – the biggest of which, “Stand And Deliver”, is the peak of his career – but it’s an effective one nonetheless. It is, in its own way, an anti-disco song, though it’s not anti-disco in the “disco sucks” mould, but rather in a way that argues for progress rather than staleness. Now if you want to call that self-serving you’re not wrong – what is being argued for as a replacement is the vague, nebulous concept of “ant music”, whatever that is – but it’s an absolute rarity in its time for finding a third way between “disco” and “disco sucks”. The thing about the agenda the song has, and this is such a crucial testament to the time in which it was released, is that you really need to see the video to get it. The lyrics have a degree of pointedness about them. “It’s so sad when you’re young / to be told you’re having fun” sings Ant on the first verse, and the chorus is “so unplug the jukebox and do us all a favour / that music’s lost its taste so try another flavour”. “That music” in the song isn’t specified. But watching the video it’s explicitly disco that’s being talked about. And it’s not an entirely unfair point. Disco is a good six year old now, and there’s a sense that it’s done all it can do. Whether “ant music” is a viable alternative is another matter, but in arguing for progress rather than stagnation Adam Ant is at least offering an alternative rather than just another slanging match. This philosophy, if that’s not too grand a word for it, will go on to reach its zenith in “Stand And Deliver” when punk’s squalid on-brand commercialisation, too, becomes his target with the dandy highwayman “so sick of easy fashion”. This will be expanded, later, on “Ant Rap” where we’re informed that Adam Ant is, “so tired of anarchists looking at me / don’t need their credibility / destroy, they say, defy, condemn! / as long as you don’t destroy them”. It’s an evolving process. And that process begins, here, with “Antmusic”. And it begins with those big-ass chunky Pirroni guitars. “Antmusic” is ridiculously simple in terms of its construction, but that’s also what makes it so appealing. The verse is just D, E and A. The chorus has the temerity to throw in a B flat, G and gasp* F sharp. That’s it. And yet just listen to the way Pirroni powers his way through those handful of chords. They sound practically alive the way he drags them out of his guitar, like they’re almost playing themselves. Pirroni’s a master of producing that kind of guitar sound and nobody can quite do it like him. The lyric, shrieked, yelped and bludgeoned out by Ant, is a perfect fit for Pirroni’s style, hand in glove. Underneath that hammer the double-drummers, using the Burundi beat not much in evidence in popular music up to this point (well, unless you include Adam And The Ants’ previous two singles) but powering the song along on an unstoppable wave of percussion. And there’s the break, where the whole song comes to a staggering halt, propelled simply by the drums as Ant moves into a slightly more threatening mode, before a huge Pirroni guitar slash and a launch back into the chorus. It’s a fabulously ostentatious moment, but that’s Adam Ant – ostentation is pretty much the price of entry. And “Antmusic” is, indeed, an excellent entry point to a commercially successful act that never quite get the recognition they deserve. It’s not hard to understand why – the sheer, screaming 80’s-ness of everything occludes something rather smarter lying beneath the surface and the success-for-a-few-years-only fits neatly into corny I-Love-The-[DECADE/YEAR] nostalgia pieces. But that’s very unfortunate. Adam Ant’s chart success is a near-perfect collection of singles, he bothers to write lyrics miles away from standard 80’s vapidity, and “Antmusic” is a great part of that run. Vive le rock. * Basically this is my series and I’m not being puritanical about it so my attitude is “ah, fuck it”. What Else Happened In 1980? Well the biggest headline of the year is, of course, John Lennon’s murder in New York. That happens at the end of the year though – at the beginning, in January, Lennon’s former bandmate Paul McCartney is arrested for drug possession in Japan. Ian Curtis of Joy Division hangs himself and John Bonham of Led Zeppelin is found dead. Cheery stuff, 1980. The Sony Walkman launches in the US and Jah Wobble acrimoniously departs Public Image Ltd. The Psychedelic Furs release their debut album, and Young Marble Giants release their only album, the hugely influential Colossal Youth. Judas Priest release their landmark, British Steel, and McCartney releases his first post-Wings solo album, McCartney II. It’s remarkably good. AC/DC are Back In Black and Olivia Newton-John is, sadly, in Xanadu. Rap arrives in the form of Kurtis Blow’s debut album, and both The Teardrop Explodes and INXS release their first albums as well. We’ve covered the best-selling singles already but attention must also be drawn to The Jam, who top the charts for three weeks with the immaculate “Going Underground” and Dexy’s Midnight Runners with the straightforwardly brilliant “Geno”. And, to round us off, David Bowie releases the album all his other albums will get measured by, giving us the career-highlight that is Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps). What Did We Nearly End Up Discussing? The original song slated for this article was “Funkytown” by Lipps Inc but due to a combination of not being able to think of anything to say about it and “nefarious outside influences” from the not-we (hello, Andrew) it – quite rightly – got trashed in favour of “Antmusic”. There’s something to be said about one-hit wonders, of course, and “Funkytown” is certainly one of those, but this will be coming up later in the series. In the 90’s, in fact, if you want to play guess-the-song. “Funkytown” itself is… fine. Nothing special. Decent riff. Vocorder-a-go-go. You know the drill.. Adam And The Ants – “Antmusic” 9. The Sweet, “Ballroom Blitz” 10. Petula Clark – “Downtown” 11. Queen, “Killer Queen” 12. Blondie, “Denis” 13. Elton John – “Rocket Man (I Think It’s Going To Be A Long, Long Time)” 14. Tom Jones – “Delilah” 15. Gloria Gaynor – “Never Can Say Goodbye” 16. Eddie Cochrane – “Three Steps To Heaven” 17. Wings – “Let ‘Em In” 18. The Troggs – “Wild Thing” 19. Jimmy Dean – “Big Bad John” 20. Chubby Checker – “Let’s Twist Again” 21. Billy J Kramer And The Dakotas – “Do You Want To Know A Secret”
- Join over 1.2 million students every month - Accelerate your learning by 29% - Unlimited access from just £6.99 per month - Level: AS and A Level - Subject: Psychology - Word count: 2442 Compare and contrast theories of crime Free essay example: Sandra James OCN CRIMINOLOGY UNIT 2 ASSIGNMENT 2 WRITTEN REPORT “Compare and Contrast Theories of Personality And Evaluate their usefulness At explaining Criminal behaviour” “Compare and contrast theories of personality and evaluate their usefulness at explaining criminal behaviour” Introduction During this report I will be looking at cases of true crime whereby the criminals are considered to be showing different types of personality which where considered reasons for criminality. I will be demonstrating how some trait theories may understand the reasons for the individuals committing such crimes and contrasting theories and evaluating their usefulness in their explanation of criminal behaviour. What is criminal personality? When using the term personality we are using it to define and describe an individual’s temperamental and emotional attributes, (S. Jones 2006) these are the ones that are deemed consistent as these will influence behaviour so that a person is compelled to behave in this way almost daily. Therefore is would be fair to say the term criminal personality means a person who is of the nature to commit crime due to their temperament, characteristics pattern of thinking, feeling and acting. During this report there will be examples of types of criminal personality. Two Theories of Criminal Personality The theories being reviewed will be Freud’s Psychodynamic theory which is made up of 3 components: the I.D, Ego and Superego. Freud believed that if a person has unresolved conflicts between the I.D and the Superego, this could later lead to crime. He believed this was because of the lack of emotional stability, disturbing childhood events and or lack of emotional development. The second psychodynamic theory to be reviewed will be John Bowlby’s theory on maternal deprivation his belief being that children that have not bonded would show a lack of empathy for others, isolation and anti social behaviour. The second criminal theory being evaluated will be Hans J. Eysenck’s trait theory of Extroversion and Introversion and The Big five, both of them breaking down types of personality. 1.a Freud’s Psychoanalytic explanation relating to crime. Freud believed peoples mental functions stem from the unconscious mind, this may be repressed experiences and would denote the submerged part of the iceberg. This could be described as mental inner conflict between the subconscious and the conscious mind the conscience the angel like image and the other instinct for victory overriding the conscience, acting the devil, which if not controlled would lead to socially unacceptable behaviour. Freud split the personality into 3 parts of the mind. Parts of the mind The I.D The I.D is the unconscious part of the mind, which entails basic survival urges from birth from eating, drinking, sexual pleasure, to be warm and comfortable. The I.D s sole purpose is driven by desire and pleasure and requires immediate gratification with no concept of reality. An example of this would be a baby crying for a feed and until it gets the feed a continuous cry. The I.D is later controlled/suppressed by the Ego and Super-ego. The Ego is something that is learnt and is mainly conscious so as a child matures his expectation could be that if I say please (ego) I will received gratification of the chocolate whereas previously the I.D would be I am going to do this until I get that. There would be no understanding of what is happening around them it would be based on self only. The Ego The Ego thinks about the outcome of giving into the I.D, such as if I take the chocolate, there will be consequences of unpleasantness therefore the ego would make a decision not to take the chocolate as it has learned the consequences of the I.D working on its own are not acceptable practise and therefore the ego develops and starts to control the I.D. Super-ego The Super-ego is developed later and provides a conscience; it is both the keeper and the go between of right and wrong. Should the Super-ego be surpassed feelings of guilt and anxiety should be the conclusion. Conclusion of the three The result of all three are, different forces lining up against each other and battling for control of the personality. During the growth of the personality the child is the passive victim of circumstances and his/her fate is dependant on the treatment he/she receives at the hands of others. Freud was not optimistic about individuals arriving at maturity unscathed by prior adverse experience as these functions would not have learnt to compromise between the primitive I.D impulses and the Super-ego restrictions including the outside world’s social norms. Therefore this was seen as likely to lead individuals to having an underdeveloped Ego and Super-ego which may in turn lead to a criminal life. 1.b Bowlby’s Psychoanalyst explanation of Crime In 1951 John Bowlby proposed that if infants were deprived of their mothers (who he regarded as the attachment figure) whilst in the critical period of their first two years of life there were likely to be consequences that would develop later in life. The symptoms included mental sub-normality, delinquency, depression, affectionless, psychopathy and even dwarfism. It was found that children raised in institutions during the first three years of life showed lower IQ, compared to a fostered control group. When Bowlby studied 44 juvenile thieves he argued that the affectionless psychopathy was the result of maternal deprivation. Michael Rutter reassessed Bowlby’s initial work and found his ideas about monotropy (only bonding with one person) and the time periods of attachment to be incorrect. Rutter also felt that Bowlby did not take into consideration the difference between deprivation and privation as the effects where different. In deprivation the tendency is likely to be depression and detachment rather than criminal traits. 1.b Hans J. Eysenck Extroversion and Introversion trait theory Dr. Eysenck believed that people fitted into 4 personality types’ extraversion, introversion, neuroticism, and psychoticism Neurotic/Unstable Individuals would be anxious, worrying, moody individuals that would often be depressed and suffer from lack of sleep and suffer many psychosomatic disorders. They would be emotional, reacting strongly to all sorts of stimuli and find gaining balance in life difficult after each emotional experience. Neurotic/Stable Individuals considered stable tend to respond to emotional situations slowly and not being exuberant. These individuals tend to return to normality quickly and are usually calm, even tempered and controlled and tend to live an unworried life. Introvert A typically introverted person would tend to be very low key and would prefer not to engage in social situations. They are more likely to be found on their own, reading a book, writing, inventing. There preference being alone. Introverts are likely so have few friends and prefer one to one, if any social interaction. The outlook of these individuals would be to plan head and not to act on impulse or excitement but with control and precise motion and action. Introverts are likely to be serious and well ordered in all aspects of life. Extrovert The typical extrovert is gregarious, highly sociable, enthusiastic, talkative, assertive, loves to party and have lots of friends, they like people around them, crave excitement, take risks and chances and will think nothing of doing something outrageous on the spur of the moment, impulse would equal excitement. Extroverts are not likely to enjoy reading and studying as this would require solitude which would be painful. They may have a tendency to be quick tempered and aggressive unable to keep feelings under control. DIAGRAM OF EYSENCKS PERSONALITY DIMENSION - Stable introverts (low N low E) are the easiest to condition. - Stable extroverts (low N low E) and Neurotic Introverts (high N low E) are less malleable but do not encounter great difficulty in social learning. - Neurotic extroverts (high N high E) experience most difficultly in social learning (K. Williams 2004) Psychotism. Individuals in this category have tendencies to be aggressive, cold, impersonal, uncaring lacking empathy, cruel and solitary sensation seeking. (K. Williams 2004) Case study 1 The railway rapists One theory for Duffy’s and Mulcahy’s crimes is the bulling they suffered at school. However they both showed a sadistic streak for tormenting and torturing animals at the age of thirteen. This could be because they were as helpless as the animals, and later their victims being helpless and them being in control. Duffy also inflicted physical abuse on his wife. This was highlighted as likely behaviour when David Canter a profiler looked at the case. As both men got older transferring their sadistic and misogynistic tendencies to women fuelling each other’s dark sexual fantasies and as the need for heightened excitement came so did the start of the murders. To support this the FBI believe that children who have a history of animal cruelty use this as a rehearsal for targeting humans later in life as it’s believed that animals are symbolic of people. Robert Ressler, FBI behavioural sciences unit said “These are the kids who never learned that it was wrong to poke a puppy’s eyes out” This would be supported by both Bowlby’s view of maternal deprivation and Freud’s view that children would be affected by their childhood experiences. Both Psychoanalytic theories are difficult to prove criminality as they are based on the unconscious. In contrast Eysenck’s trait theories and the Big 5 look at characteristics that may highlight criminals, these would not help distinguish a rapist from a burglar (S. Jones 2006) but that of characteristics that give clues to criminal tendencies. Case Study 2 The Moors Murders In Myra Hindley’s case the psychoanalysis approach would consider her to have an underdeveloped Ego and Super-ego therefore she would have no conscience so have no empathy or guilt for the victims. Freud would consider her to be stuck/fixated in one of the psychosexual stages possibly the Electra complex since she was not living at the family home and therefore did have the opportunity to identify with her mother. In Bowlby’s theory this would be the maternal deprivation of her natural mother therefore making her withdrawn and potentially developing anti-social behaviour and having low social skills. Case Study 3 The Crash of Bearing Bank This is a totally different type of criminal showing very different traits to the above cases. Nick Leeson he was; egocentric; charismatic; extrovert; hostile; aggressive; impulsive and a risk taker that required immediate gratification, similar to the baby in the I.D scenario. However Eysenck also said this type of crime needs no explaining. The Big Five Allport (1936) & Cattell (1957) Gordon Allport devised a list of 4500 adjectives from comprehensives dictionaries which he considered to describe observable and relatively permanent traits. Raymond Cattell worked some 21 years after and reduced this list to 171. Cattell identified 35 major clusters of personality traits and added 10 more which he obtained from psychiatric literature. Cattell then devised personality tests for these 45 traits and the results where analysed which led to the 16PF personality questionnaire. This work has been further researched by Tupes and Christal in 1961 and again by Goldberg in 1981. Goldberg used his own set of adjectives from the dictionary and independently found the five factors once again. These factors are Neuroticism, Extraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Openness to Experience, each factor consisting of more specific traits. The BIG 5 Comparing and contrasting both theories Usefulness of Theories of Personalities The Psychoanalyst approach looks at childhood development which brings us to the unconscious mind, repressed feelings or conflicts and fixation at psychosexual stages. This theory helps us to understand the probable roots leading to criminality. Eysenck and Cattell depicted personality and character to show traits demonstrating criminality, this helps to build a picture of individuals that would carry out certain types of crime and would help profile criminals. Eysenck believed this could also be used for learning and control realising certain personalities are more susceptible to conditioning. Conclusion Theories of criminal personality help us to understand the possible reasons for individuals becoming criminal. In the psychoanalysis view everything stemming from childhood and the unconscious. Combining trait theories gives more clues as to the source of crime building a greater picture of the individual’s development to be criminal, detailing the types of personality and the variations of introversion to extroversion, stability and how susceptible certain types are to learning. Criminal theory is devised to try and single out a particular trait that all criminals have in common, but what Eysenck found was that the traits varied dependant on the crime. While criminal personality and what leads us to commit crime is still a phenomenon and all theories seem to have valid comprehensive views of criminality it appears that integration of the best elements of each would bring us closer to the answers we are looking for. And if the serial killer didn’t get you before the win!!! Bibliography Word Count <2224 Books Williams. K.S (2004) Textbook on Criminology. (5th Edition) Oxford. Oxford University Press. Siegel. L.J (2001) Criminology, theories, patterns and typologies. (7th Edition) United Kingdom. Wadsworth Thomas Learning. G.S. Blum (1953) Psychoanalytic Theories of Personality. McGraw-Hill Book Company, London S. Jones (2006) Criminology. (3rd Edition) Oxford. Oxford University Press. Notes Course notes from S. Clark Course notes from B. Moody Websites 08.03.2007 09.03.2007 10.03.2007 10.03.2007 10.03.2007 10.03.2007 March 2007 This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our AS and A Level Developmental Psychology section. - Join over 1.2 million students every month - Accelerate your learning by 29% - Unlimited access from just £6.99 per month
Personal finance is truly personal. This is a maxim that can be difficult for some to follow. While some folks find one recipe to achieving financial independence resonates with them, some other individuals find it easier to tread a different path, whether due to their own circumstances, starting point, income, or more. Just as there are many roads to Dublin, there are many ways to reach your goals. As this guest post, which originally appeared on the Money Flamingo, discusses, that’s a very good thing. Financial independence is the end goal for pretty much everyone in the FIRE Community. If you intend to become financially independent at some point in your life, then FI is what you strive for. It doesn’t matter if you want to reach FIRE and retire early in your 30s or if you are happy working (even if it’s just on a part-time basis) until you are 60 or 70 – the end goal is the same. It doesn’t even matter if you want to achieve Lean FI, “Standard” FI, or Fat FI. The math is the same for everyone. But the answer to the question of how to best approach financial freedom isn’t as simple and looks different for everyone. You are probably aware that there are many FIRE acronyms and “types” of financial independence these days. These often get made fun of in the FIRE community. Sure, some of them have hilarious names. Terms like “Flamingo FI”, “Barista FI,” and “Baby FIRE” (the latest term I have come across) definitely sound a little silly, so it’s easy to dismiss new approaches like this. But let me tell you one thing: If you roll your eyes every time someone comes up with a new FIRE term, you are missing the point. In this article, I’m going to make the case for all these different types of FI that have sprung up over the years. In fact, I hope we’ll see even more of them in the future. But first, let me tell you a personal story. The YOLO Trap When I first found out about FIRE, shortly after I started my first “real” job in early 2012, I was over the moon. I hated the prospect of sitting at a desk for the next 40 years and was so glad I had found a way out of the rat race. I ran our numbers based on our incomes at the time and quickly realized that in order to get to FI we would have to be ultra frugal and save every penny we could find for 17-20 years. I was gutted. So I did…nothing. For several years. I actually did less than nothing, I started to waste money and developed some pretty bad habits (both financially and health-wise). Finding FIRE, daydreaming about how awesome my life would be if I could get there, and then realizing that it was out of reach was depressing. The thing is that at the time (almost 10 years ago at the time of writing), most people who shared their journey to FIRE were male engineers from the US on high incomes (at least compared to my entry-level paychecks). There was only one path to FIRE back then – the “traditional” path. Work hard, earn a lot of money, cut your expenses, save like crazy, invest, and in ten or so years you are free. I didn’t think that this was possible for Mr. Flamingo and me, and even if it was, the price we’d have to pay seemed too high, and the timeframe required too long. I fell into the YOLO trap (“if I can’t be free, I might as well just enjoy myself”). When financial independence seems out of reach, it can be pretty demotivating. The Moment That Changed Everything Fortunately, I kept reading personal finance books and blogs, so the idea that we could one day reach FIRE never disappeared completely. One day in early 2016 I had a lightbulb moment – couldn’t we use the power of compound interest to somehow create a shortcut to freedom? What if we only saved 50% of our FIRE number and then just worked part-time until our nest egg had doubled? Flamingo FI was born. And that’s when our lives turned around and our journey to FIRE really began. The rest is history. You can go back to the archives to see how we went from a net worth of almost zero to hitting our goal and semi-retiring in under 5 years. I can honestly say that our lives are 1000% better now and I am proud of what we have achieved. Sometimes I have to pinch myself because I can’t believe how lucky we are to live this awesome life that allows us so much freedom and time for our young family. When we came up with Flamingo FI everything changed for us. Creating an alternative FIRE strategy that suited us, our goals, and our lifestyle made all the difference. To be completely honest, I am pretty sure we would be nowhere near as financially secure as we are today if the “traditional” path to FIRE was still the only one out there. Finding our perfect FIRE strategy did wonders for our happiness, health, and wealth. The Incredible Power of Finding YOUR perfect Financial Independence Strategy The magic behind creating an approach to FIRE that was more in line with our goals is simple: it motivated us to get started. The timeline to freedom (semi-retirement in our case) turned from over a decade to just five short years. That was an amount of time we were willing to “sacrifice.” The funny thing is that the moment we got started, all aspects of our lives improved almost immediately and kept getting better all the time. My outlook on life improved. My health improved. Work became enjoyable (and I actually love my job now!). Plus, we didn’t actually feel like we were sacrificing anything. And now that we have created our financial snowball and are done saving, FIRE is an inevitable outcome for us, probably much sooner than expected, too. I am sure I am not the only one who got demotivated after first finding out about FIRE. If you are in your 20s.. Choices, Choices, Choices Of course, our approach – Flamingo FI – is just one of many different ways to approach FIRE (although I know it resonates with many people). There are now many different subcultures in the FIRE community and many different strategies people use to claim their time and freedom back. This is something we should celebrate. A few years after we got started the concept of Coast FI surfaced and started becoming more popular. It turns out that Flamingo FI is actually a variation of Coast FI. And as I’ve said often on this blog, you can tweak the principles of Coast FI to create your own FIRE and semi-retirement strategy. This will allow you to create more freedom for yourself and your family much sooner than if you stayed on the traditional path to FIRE. Mini-retirements are also a great option. Working for a few years and then taking a significant amount of time off during your journey to FI gives you something to look forward to all the time and offers regular rewards. This is a short article and I can’t list every single type of FIRE, but that’s also not the point. If You Struggle To Get Started, Do This One Thing My main message is this: if you struggle to get started; if you feel like FIRE is out of reach for you, too far away, or that you left it too late; don’t do what I did in 2012. Don’t bury your head in the sand. Don’t fall into the YOLO trap. Instead, spend some time researching alternative FIRE strategies. Make your own plan. Break it up into manageable milestones. One of the primary reasons I have written about this stuff for over three years and continue to do so even after we reached our goal is that I want to help others avoid the mistakes I made. And if using an alternative FIRE strategy (or creating your own!) helps you to get started, you should go for it, even if others think it’s silly. I have had plenty of people make fun of Flamingo FI over the years. I’ve received my fair share of rude and sarcastic comments. But you know what? Flamingo FI has changed my life. It has freed up my time and allows me to spend quality time with my kids every day. Because of Flamingo FI, I don’t worry (or even think much) about money. It has improved every aspect of my life. And while it’s not the right concept for everyone, I truly believe that there is a perfect strategy for every single person who wants to achieve FIRE. Remember, personal finance really is personal. And so is your path to FIRE. There is no such thing as a “one size fits all” solution in personal finance. And there definitely isn’t one in the world of financial independence either. Which path to FIRE are you on? Are you following an alternative FIRE strategy? 2 thoughts on “Why We Need Different Types of Financial Independence” Great post. Can relate to most of that. Certainly fell into similar yolo traps after dental residency. Luckily fell back on some simple financial habits that got me to this mini-retirement stage you described. Actually something I’m struggling with because it’s bittersweet. Opportunity for Mini-retirement from clinical dentistry at 32. But hearing it come from someone else makes it sound less crazy in my own head haha Thanks for sharing! I have always felt that YOLO was the natural enemy of FI (Financial Independence), so I appreciate your description of YOLO as a trap. As I consider the benefits of Flamingo FIRE, CoastFIRE, or some of the alternatives to the more traditional FIRE path, I considered some additional benefits of these more leisurely paths to FIRE. One benefit has to do with Social Security. 7 days from now, I have a telephone interview with Social Security. In this interview, I will put into motion my plan to take Social Security retirement benefits under my own earnings later this year–when I turn 70. This had me thinking about quarters as I read your post. No! No quarters of dollars! Quarters of earnings as Social Security counts them. Additional years with at least some earned income will replace zeroes as Social Security calculates your earnings over your lifetime. We’ll see what happens to Social Security benefits over the next decade or two, but under today’s format, more quarters of earnings is a good thing. A second benefit of Flamingo FIRE and other more lengthy alternatives is that they will likely include less than full time positions which include benefits, including healthcare insurance. When my stepson aged out of parental coverage under ACA, he didn’t have a job with benefits. He had to pay for his own insurance. I was shocked when I heard that he was paying $800 per month for healthcare insurance–almost $10k per year–for a single man in his mid-twenties who was working only part-time! A final benefit of more lengthy FIRE pathways regards lifestyle and adaptation. A step-wise approach to FIRE allows time for one’s lifestyle to adjust to having more time outside of the office or other treadmill to earn a living. When I was a young medical student, I was taught that, for men, the 5-year mortality rate of retirement was 50%. Wow! Way back then, in the mid 1970’s, fully half of men who retired died within 5 years! That is/was a truly grim statistic! A more leisurely path to FIRE gives people time to adapt to their changing circumstances. For parents, they can spend more time with their kids. People can develop other interests which enrich their lives. Rather than the sudden leap into retirement of the traditional FIRE pathway, a slower path lets people have the time to adapt and grow into the freedoms that their increasing free time allows. Thanks for your post!
A form of hostile takeover of church assets, which casts aside fiduciary principles and sound business practices Today we are going to discuss a 94,169 square foot plot of commercial land at 6801 Western Avenue in Buena Park, California which is the centerpiece of an ongoing “wages” controversy between a pastor and a former church director of security. This property had been purchased 67 years ago for the purpose of establishing a nonprofit corporation, First Southern Baptist Church of Buena Park. Wiley Drake, Pastor of First Southern Baptist Church of Buena Park for 31 years Pastor Wiley Drake: As Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, he is the sole signatory for the nonprofit corporation of First Southern Baptist Church of Buena Park In addition to managing his church, 74 year old Pastor Wiley Drake broadcasts an internet video show, has run a onsite homeless shelter, and in past years entered the world of Presidential politics, and held a figurehead position of Second Vice President of the Southern Baptist Convention. A March 27, 2015 article at BaptistMessage.com states, .” This same article also notes that Wiley Drake “has been the pastor of the Buena Park congregation since 1987”. Over the past two decades, Drake has been especially known for his direct assistance in helping homeless persons, by providing food and dormitories on his church’s property. Because of long standing code violation issues, the city recently tore down those structures which had serious defects that had not been corrected. The Orange County Register’s article of April 24, 2017 Buena Parks starts teardown of temporary homeless shelter at First Southern Baptist Church explains that story. Also of note regarding other types of monetary issues, Wiley Drake’s church had received this 2016 tax notice from the IRS (shown below). Churches Which Are One Man Shows Tend to Cast Aside Sound Financial Checks & Balances Over the years, legal and financial pressures have increased on the First Southern Baptist Church of Buena Park, for which Wiley Drake has responded by shifting the blame for poor church stewardship practices onto local and federal government agencies, who he accused of intrusive harassment. The end result of attempting to bypass normal legal and financial remedies is a lawsuit which was just filed June 29, 2018 in the Superior Court of the State of California County of Orange-Central Justice Center, by James Steven Davis, as plaintiff, against First Southern Baptist Church of Buena Park, Wiley Drake, and DOES 1-20, as defendants. The lawsuit can be read at this link: steven davis lawsuit 629 2018 As a background note to this lawsuit, in 2017, the median price of sold properties in the Buena Park area was $3 million. In regard to First Southern Baptist Church, Orange County tax records show a new appraised land value of $690,464 with improvements of $665,133; totaling $1,355,597. The Religious exemption for this property was $942,716 for the 2017/2018 year, with the balance being taxable. The lawsuit which was just filed is demanding no less than $940,000 as a judgment for unpaid wages and other related issues. It would appear that this church is land and building rich but cash poor; thus if the plaintiff were to prevail in judgment for such a large amount it would be devastating to this small congregation of around 45 members. First Southern Baptist Church of Buena Park, CA The story behind this lawsuit is complex, and not all of the details are easily discovered in the public domain. Nonetheless, there is enough background information that it is possible to grasp the core issues in this present legal dispute. Because this lawsuit has just been filed, it will take time for the parties involved to present their evidence and arguments before the Judge, and possibly a jury, so it is important that we not second guess how these complaint issues will ultimately be resolved. The Employment Agreement The Plaintiff, Jason Steven Davis, entered into an employment agreement with Wiley Davis on November 20, 2015. The Issue of Why James Steven Davis Resigned From the California State Bar Under General Allegations of this lawsuit, it is noted that around the year 2000 the “Plaintiff was in an airplane crash that placed him in a coma for over a month”, and he “remains physically disabled and has difficulty in walking and moving around”. Also stated is, “Prior to the airplane crash Plaintiff was a successful attorney. Plaintiff has since resigned from the California State Bar due to his disability.” The lawsuit describes the duties of James Steven Davis after he became employed under a written agreement as the church’s Director of Security, also declaring that “In or around early 2017, Plaintiff demanded his full compensation from the Church which at the time was over $940,000. Drake refused to pay Plaintiff what was owed him”, for several reasons. What is not clearly addressed by the employment agreement is what specific duties the $200/hour wage applied to. That hourly billing amount would appear to be that of legal services, rather than representing a standard hourly rate for a security director of a small church. According to one man who once held that security position, the compensation was free room and board. Here is a screenshot of a portion of James Steven Davis’ Linked In page displaying his job title. Notice that Davis uses the title Director of Security and Legal Affairs. This lawsuit complaint is summarized by a list of eight elements involving breach of contract, unlawful eviction, interference with quiet enjoyment, assault, battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, dependent adult financial abuse, and dependent adult abuse. Sounds fairly straightforward with regard to the employment conditions, right? There was an employment contract, therefore there should be records of hours worked, and proof of what was paid or not paid, etc. A Past History Which Cannot Be Ignored But this will not be a straightforward Wages lawsuit, in my non-attorney opinion. For example, why would the attorney for the plaintiff allow line 10 under General Allegations to state “Prior to the airplane crash Plaintiff was a successful attorney. Plaintiff has since resigned from the California State Bar due to his disability“? This assertion directly contradicts the statements made in the Attorney Search for the State Bar of California for James Steven Davis-#112906, saying, Current Status is Resigned with Charges Pending. This attorney has resigned and may not practice law in California. James Steven Davis when he was Asst. Fire Marshall at Barstow Fire District Under Status History it is noted that Davis was admitted to the State Bar of California on April 6, 1984. As of March 19, 2004, he was NOT eligible to practice law in California. And on June 18, 2004, Davis resigned with charges pending. In other words, Davis did not resign because of the disability he suffered from the airplane crash which had occurred in 2000. Was there some other “DISABILITY” which caused him to resign? Under California Bar Journal Discipline Summaries, it states in a June 18, 2004 memo: .” There are more allegations in this Summary which can be read at this link. But here is yet another interesting paragraph: Website offering a $10,000 reward for their arrest and conviction.” “The witness tampering charge is the result of those actions.” I found interesting, the statement of Judge Michael Marcus that Davis “acted with unabashed hubris…”. Likewise, over the years many persons have reacted to the notoriety of publicity seeking Pastor Wiley Davis as also being something akin to unabashed hubris. As we shall see, the problems which this church found itself in, can be largely traced back to the fact that the Pastor could sign away the property of the church with only one signature. This is contrary to the usual checks and balances in place at many churches. Drake and Davis operate like two gamblers playing a high stakes game in which they are against each other, as well as complicit with each other. Wiley Drake and Steven Davis: They were once cozy as Two Peas in a Homeless Pod The Orange County Register article dated April 24, 2017, which had been cited earlier on the teardown of the temporary homeless shelters at First Southern Baptist, commented, “To stop the city’s effort, Drake transferred ownership of the lot in February to another nonprofit, White Horse Family Rights Council. J. Steven Davis, the group’s CEO and a man Drake has called his ‘spiritual counselor’, met with an Orange County judge on Monday to halt the city’s plan. The judge heard arguments from both sides, but did not stop the removal of the trailers, said Joel Rosen, the city’s director of community development. The city expects to pay roughly $80,000 in demolition costs, not counting attorney fees, and will try to recover the costs from the church, officials said.” The White Horse Family Rights Council, Inc. was registered with the California Secretary of State on May 11, 2016 as a domestic nonprofit for the purpose of the “protection of family rights and support family values”. The Incorporator and Agent is J. Steven Davis, BA,JD. A website was created April 7, 2016 for this nonprofit describing their mission with this message: CPS Child Protective Services aka Department of Children and Family Services are Government Agencies that claim to protect children from abuse and neglect. While that may be true in some cases, White Horse Family Rights Council has learned that these Agencies, using false reports and defamatory statements against family are stealing children and selling them to get State and Federal Funding. They also destroy families, such as the Bundy family in Nevada by putting members and(sp) jail and stealing their ranch property that the family as(sp) owned for 100 years. As soon as an Agency contacts you and threatens to violate your Constitutional Rights, including Grand Parents Rights to your Children. contact us so we can help protect you against illegal acts by the Government. You are not alone in this fight. James Steven Davis is also the CEO of LLG,Inc. or Litigation Logistics Group, Inc. and on April 17, 2017 he wrote a Contempt letter which was hand delivered to the Buena Park City Prosecutor. Take a close look at the factual claims of this letter, which present an argument based on the fact that the church property had been transferred to another legal nonprofit entity, which as it turns out was in Davis’ name. Let’s turn from events of April 2017 to 5 months later on September 12, 2017, when The Wiley Drake Show published a video entitled, 2 Prayers Please, The Church and James Steven Davis. After signing away the church’s property to the Director of Security (and Legal Affairs), James Steven Davis via his nonprofit White Horse Family Rights Council, Inc., there was a falling out between these two men. Both men had acted out of selfish motives when they entered into their Steeplejacking financial arrangement. But one of them is far more clever at legal scheming. Wiley Davis is sitting in his office, and at the 2.14 mark he says, “…most of you know that one demonic man by the name of James Steven Davis stole the property from this church as I sit here to day on church property. James Steven Davis conned this pastor and this church into placing the deed in his name and it is in his name today. We’re doing everything we can, working with Baptists, working with attorneys. We’re doing everything we can to reverse that situation because he conned us. He got in here, he is an attorney, he’s a disbarred attorney. He would tell you he’s not disbarred because he is not officially disbarred; he resigned…” (3.17)…”but he presented himself as an attorney to us and for us as an attorney that would help us fight our fight and indeed he conned us into putting the property in his name and it is in his name today…” (4.06) …”but the property deed is in the name of James Steven Davis, a vicious, vile, demonic man that used that property to try to borrow money and that’s why he conned me; I won’t go into the con right now. I was stuck on stupid, I got conned, but my motive was to help him. He came here two years ago as a homeless man. He came here two years ago with a lot of problems. We helped him. We gave him free food, free lodging and he helped us in all honesty with some legal work and he charged us a big legal bill of over $900,000, which we didn’t agree to…” (5.23)…”the church, it was never in my name because I don’t own the church, the people own the church, but James Steven Davis took advantage of that autonomy, took advantage of what God allowed and took advantage of us and conned us and he put, I didn’t do it, he did it, he put the church in deed to himself and, and stole the church from Almighty God. I would not want to be in his shoes knowing that I stole from God…” On September 18, 2017 Wiley Drake reported that the police had come to the church and arrested James Stephen Davis, and on September 25 on his Facebook page he displayed a page on active warrants in Orange County, CA on James Steven Davis. The Warrant Degree was classified as a Misdemeanor for fraudulent impersonation, impersonating a peace officer and criminal contempt of court. Bail had been set at $10,000. On September 29, 2017 James Steven Davis sent Wiley Drake a letter regarding “Offer of Payment for Assistance on Sale of Property”. This letter was featured in a Lonestar 1776 video on October 5, 2017. In this letter it is stated, “City will take the property if I do not sale(sp) it. I have never had a choice on that issue. The Church Corporation was never going to be allowed by the City to keep the property. To buy my peace and to be Christian in my dealings I make you the following offers. These offers are not any admission of bad dealings, and you must accept it no later than Friday, October 6, 2017 to avoid being sued by me.” Then Davis presents several scenarios beginning with a hypothetical sale amount over $6,000,000, whereby the church would be given $1 million. The last scenario proposed is that for any sales offers under $3,000,000 he would give First Southern Baptist Church $100,000. Then he makes several conditions regarding harassment of him, etc. Finally, Davis states, “Failure to accept this Offer will result in me making this offer public through any and all outlets I can reach, including news outlets, facebook, and the Internet. You turning down up to One Million Dollars would be difficult to justify.” Earlier in this article, I had mentioned that the median sales price in Buena Park for 2017 was around $3 million. The county had appraised the property and buildings at around $1,356,000. The church is 67 years old, and the city had to spend $80,000 to remove the homeless shelters, which they were going to charge back to the church. The IRS sent them a tax bill for almost $54,000. For years this congregation has been below capacity, so that it is probable that offerings barely cover basic expenses for property upkeep. I would like to see a bona fide appraisal of this property before I would believe Davis that a real buyer would offer $6 million for this property! On December 22, 2017 Lonestar 1776 rebroadcasts a Wiley Drake video called Another Attempt to Shoot and Kill Pastor Wiley S. Drake. At the 1.26 mark, Wiley Drake explains, “…this morning there was an attempt on my life, an attempt to kill me because of my testimony and because of what I do for the Lord. Many of you know we have been in a long-going legal battle with one man by the name of James Steven Davis. Just yesterday, the Attorney General of the State of California said that they find that all the transactions related to the property were the sham transactions by Mr. Davis for his own personal benefit. None of the transfers were for the benefit of First Southern Baptist Church or the White Horse Family Rights Council, nor were the transfers fair and reasonable or in the best interest of the First Southern Baptist Church of Buena Park...” (2.37) “The Attorney General finds each of these transactions to be void and in violation of the Supervision Act and the California Corporation Code.” (2.53) “James Steven Davis had made three other attempts on my life and had put paperwork together practicing law as a disbarred attorney and tried to take over this church property.” (3.55) ( referring to James Steven Davis, the homeless man)…”was still living here at the shelter and he came back late last night and bedded down at the shelter and it was my decision as the executive officer of the First Southern Baptist Church and Messianic Fellowship to indeed serve those papers that the Attorney General gave to me to pass along to James Steven Davis.“ Wiley Drake sounds the shofar through a window he opened to a sleeping Davis, when he decided to take it upon himself to act as a Process Server of Legal Documents. Can we blame Davis for waking up irritated and grabbing his gun as a reaction to Drake’s stunt? “So this morning on the 26, oh, the 22nd day, excuse me, 22nd day of December I went over to the room where the homeless man James Steven Davis was residing and had locked himself in and I opened the window near his bed and I sounded the Biblical shofar and said, “Wake up! I need to serve these papers to you and I will not repeat what he said, because he used vile filthy language, but in his style, filthy, he said, “I will shoot and kill you and he put a gun right almost touching my nose, and so I backed away. I’m not a hero, I didn’t want to die and I asked him though and I handed him the paperwork through the open window, as he sat there on the bed with a gun in his hand. So he attempted to kill me and I called the Buena Park Police Department and the Buena Park Police Department are good guys and I called 911..” 6.10 “They arrested him, they took the gun away from him…(the police) filed an emergency protective order.” 9:14 “…James Steven Davis, obviously I ask you to pray an imprecatory prayer upon him. that was the fourth time he has attempted to shoot and kill me and the police had to be called.” 10.3 “Please pray for this demented soul who wants to kill God’s anointed pastor, Wiley Drake.” Recently on Steven Davis’ Facebook page, this comment was seen: So Davis’ attorney thinks this is a straight forward easy case? He is in for a surprise, in my non-attorney opinion. Both the Plaintiff and the primary Defendant in this lawsuit are definitely gamechangers of the third kind, and a close encounter with either man will reshape one’s perceptions of the Universe. Ahhh, a blast from the past here, Drake trying to skirt the law, as per usual, and then gets mad when he gets conned by his legal guru. I hope for a best case scenario, Drake loses the property, and then Drake has it seized from him by the IRS. They can both share the same cardboard box. Another excellent article as per usual Ms. Weaver. You can like or dislike Pastor Drske as much as you want. Knowing him personally, he appesred to me as a God’s man who does not care about earthly matters, including the legal ones. Still, I know that for more than one occasion people warned Pastor Drake about mr. Davis. Pastor Drake choose to not listen to them. Time to ripe what his saw for better or for worse Drake cares about money, period.
With Celebrities from Kylie Jenner to Katy Perry using dermal fillers, there’s been a lot of talk about the best way to create fuller, plumper lips. From those who naturally have thin lips to those who have experienced age-related volume loss in the lips, patients have sought a safe and easy way to enhance their lips. In 2016, in addition to the popular Juvederm® Ultra Plus lip filler treatment, Juvederm Volbella XC was FDA approved and arrived in the United States to revolutionize lip enhancement. Juvederm Volbella XC is a hyaluronic acid filler, which is cosmetic injectable designed to create hydrated, radiant lips, and to generate more voluminous lip enhancement. Hyaluronic acid is a natural substance, which is a component of our our skin, and helps to stimulate collagen and elastin production. This volumization is the key to lip plumping and giving you the best lip augmentation possible. Juvederm Volbella XC provides natural looking lip enhancement for thin lips and also reduces the appearance of fine lines around the mouth and vertical lip lines, also known as perioral lines or rhytids. Dermal fillers are one of the most popular non-invasive cosmetic treatments in the United States, and in addition to creating fuller lips, they reduce the appearance of fine lines, deep wrinkles and folds in various areas of the face. Juvederm Voluma XC has also been FDA approved for tear trough, the hollows under the eyes to provide total periocular rejuvenation, especially when combined with Botox injection. Juvederm Volbella can add volume to the jowls, lips, smile lines, and infraorbital hollows, and provide global facial rejuvenation, without the need for a plastic surgeon and the down time involved. If you’re interested in lip augmentation, from subtle volume to fully plumped lips, Juvederm Volbella XC or Juvederm Ultra Plus may be right for you. Dr. Michele Green is known as the “lip queen” for both her aesthetic artistry combined with over 25 years of technical experience. Whether you want the best Botox injections in NY, or natural-looking dermal filler injections, Dr. Green will help you look your very best. Dr. Green is consistently voted as one of the best dermatologists in New York, for lip fillers, treating facial volume loss, Botox® injections, cosmetic lasers, and other non-invasive skin rejuvenating treatments. What is Juvederm Volbella? Juvederm Volbella has become one of the most popular lip filler options since it was approved by the FDA in 2016. This dermal filler is similar to the Juvederm hyaluronic lip filler family, but it uses unique VyCross technology that creates an even, smooth distribution of filler to create maximum fullness in the lips. It can also be used to improve the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles around the mouth, as well as age-related volume loss in the cheek, jowls, are perioral area. Juvederm Volbella XC has been compared to the other popular hyaluronic acid-based fillers such as Restylane® and Juvederm Voluma. However, Juvederm Volbella is the thinnest of the Juvederm based products and has a slightly lower hydrophilic concentration in comparison to Restylane and Juvederm Voluma. This quality of Juvederm Volbella means that it absorbs slightly less water from surrounding tissue after the injections. The ultimate effect is that this new treatment, will provide natural looking beautiful results, especially for fine lines, with less swelling than previous versions of Juvederm. Who makes Juvederm Volbella XC? The Juvederm family of hyaluronic acid fillers is created and developed by Allergan, the manufacturers of Botox, Kybella, and CoolSculpting. Allergan is the leading name in dermal fillers, and the development of Vycross technology has created an innovative ability to maximize collagen growth while creating lip fullness that is smooth and plump. Since receiving FDA approval in the United States in 2006, Juvederm Volbella has been widely used by expert dermatologists across the country due to how safe and effective the treatment is. Juvederm Volbella XC for Lips and fine lines Juvederm Volbella XC is an injectable gel that is designed to treat the area in and around the lips. Volbella injections use an ultra-fine needle to temporarily plump the lips for lip augmentation and to smooth the appearance of lines around the mouth. Juvederm Volbella XC injections have the same composition as Juvederm Volbella, but the “XC” denotes the addition of lidocaine, a numbing agent. This small amount of lidocaine allows for greater comfort during the lip injection by reducing any pain sensitivity. Who is a good candidate for Juvederm Volbella? If you’re a healthy individual over the age of 21 who is interested in subtle, natural-looking lip enhancement, then Juvederm Volbella XC may be right for you. If you are older, and have developed fine lines around the mouth and lips from smoking sun damage, or environmental factors, Juvederm Volbella XC can reduce the signs of aging around the lips. Juvederm Volbella can be used for those looking to maintain youthful, hydrated, and smooth skin or to correct fine lines that have already begun to appear. When used in the lips, Juvederm Volbella XC increases the fullness of the lips for a naturally plumper look. In addition, Juvederm Volbella XC has been recently FDA approved for tear trough injections. Many patients suffer from a hollowness in the under eye area, either from genetics or aging, and Juvederm Volbella is perfect to replace this lost volume. By replacing the volume loss with a dermal filler, even dark circles and discoloration around the eyes are improved. If you have questions about whether Juvederm Volbella XC is foremost for your aesthetic goals, please schedule a consultation with NYC dermatologist, Dr. Michele Green, in her New York office, to discuss the best options for you. After one syringe of Juvederm What is Juvederm Volbella XC used for? Juvederm Volbella XC for lip enhancement Juvederm Volbella and Juvederm Volbella XC are designed to add volume to the lips and to reduce the appearance of perioral lines, which are the lines that can be found around your mouth. Typically, these lines start out fine and then deepen over time. These perioral lines are a sign of aging, and worsen with cigarette smoking, sun damage, and lack of requisite good skin care. Juvederm Volbella XC fillers are designed to boost volume through collagen and elastin production in and around the injection site, creating a youthful fullness to the area of injection, whether it to for lip enhancement or other areas of the face. Juvederm Volbella XC for tear trough under eyes Juvederm Volbella XC has also been FDA approved for replacing volume loss in the delicate tear trough area, for under eye hollows. These infraorbital hollows make one look tired and older than your age. These under eye hollows are often discolored and have volume loss. In order to rejuvenate this delicate under eye area, Juvederm Volbella XC can be safely injected to restore a natural-looking appearance, which can last up to one year. Juvederm Volbella XC differs from Juvederm Volbella in the addition of the local anesthetic, meaning it is a numbing agent that acts only in the injection site, called lidocaine. Lidocaine makes the procedure more comfortable and reduces the feeling of pain during the injection. As Dr. Green is an expert, board-certified medical professional, her patients often find that Juvederm Volbella causes minimal discomfort even without lidocaine, due to Dr. Green’s gentle precision. How do I prepare for my Juvederm Volbella XC treatment? The process for Juvederm Volbella lip injections is quite simple. First, you’ll meet with Dr. Green for either an online or in-person consultation to discuss your aesthetic goals, medical history, and treatment plan. Facial photography is taken of the treated area, and the process, cost, and objective is reviewed. A topical numbing cream will be prescribed to you to apply one hour before your cosmetic injections, to minimize any discomfort. Dr. Green will gently administer the Juvederm Volbella XC into the treatment area, whether it be for lip enhancement, or under eye rejuvenation, and this hyaluronic acid dermal filler will create an even, natural look. There is no downtime necessary after the procedure, which means that following treatment, you can go about your day as you normally would, though we recommend avoiding any strenuous exercise or trips to the sauna for the first 24 hours post-treatment. In order to reduce the risk of bruising or swelling post-treatment, we apply an ice pack to the treated area immediately after injection. You will see an immediate improvement in lip fullness directly following your first treatment, but optimal cosmetic results will be apparent after around two weeks. Dr. Green recommends a follow-up visit after this initial period to determine if any touch-ups or alterations are required. How long does Juvederm Volbella last? Juvederm Volbella is a non-permanent lip enhancement treatment, unlike plastic surgery, but its results are quite long-lasting. In clinical trials, the lip augmentation effects of Juvederm Volbella lasted just past a full year for many patients, and up to a full year for others. In order to maximize the effects of Juvederm Volbella, many patients will do touch-up appointments over the course of the year, but of course this depends on the desired look of each individual patient. When you meet with Dr. Green, you will work together to set the treatment schedule that is right for you. How long does Juvederm Volbella XC last? Similarly to Juvederm Volbella, Juvederm Volbella XC was shown in clinical trial to last a little more than a full year for most patients. Just like Juvederm Volbella, Dr. Green recommends regular touch-up appointments roughly once per year. The effects will slowly wear off as the body processes the filler, so these touch-up appointments are important for maintaining continuous fullness in the lips and/or a hydrated, smooth, and youthful appearance in the face. Which Juvederm is best for lips? Juvederm Volbella XC, Juvederm Ultra, and Juvederm Ultra Plus XC can all be used for lip enhancement to marvelous effect. Each has its own tailored formulation and vary in terms of aesthetic outcome. When you are deciding which injection is right for you, it is important to determine your vision for the final result. Are you looking to more dramatically increase the plumpness of your lips for a full, pillowy pout? If that is the case, Dr. Green may recommend using Juvederm Ultra or Juvederm Ultra Plus as those injections are thicker and produce very full lips. Or are you looking for more subtly enhanced, naturally contoured lips? If that is the case, Dr. Green may recommend Juvederm Volbella. There is no one Juvederm product that is inherently “the best” – when you are thinking about getting lip enhancements, it is all about what is best for your specific aesthetic goals. Which type of Juvederm is best for tear trough? Juvederm Volbella XC is the best type of Juvederm for the tear trough. This delicate under eye area requires the least hydrophilic dermal filler, to minimize swelling, and provide a natural-looking result. How long does Juvederm Volbella XC last in tear trough? Juvederm Volbella XC tends to last anywhere from 6 months to one year, depending on the area of the face injected, the number of syringes used, and the patients’ metabolism. What is the difference between Juvederm Ultra and Juvederm Volbella? Juvederm Ultra (and Juvederm Ultra Plus) and Juvederm Volbella are both designed to create fullness in the lips, though the composition of each is slightly different. Juvederm Ultra and Juvederm Ultra plus have a slightly denser injectable gel that emphasizes volume and fullness of the lips. Juvederm Volbella contains Vycross technology that is designed to create the smoothest, most natural-appearing lip volume possible, with more subtle results. Each has their own place depending upon the aesthetic needs of the patient, though Juvederm Volbella is slightly longer lasting than its fellow Juvederm lip filler injections. How much does Juvederm Volbella cost? The answer to how much is Juvederm Volbella varies depending on the particular needs and aesthetic goals of each patient. Patients typically use between 1-2 syringes of Juvederm Volbella for lip enhancement. When patients ask how much does 1 syringe of Juvederm cost, the answer depends on your geographic area, the total amount of dermal filler used, and the experience of the injector. A board-certified cosmetic dermatologist who is an expert in cosmetic fillers will be more expensive than a nurse injector at a spa or clinic. As the process for lip filler injections is very delicate, the risk of potential side effects is greatly reduced if you go to an experienced, licensed dermatologist, such as Dr. Green. As the results of Juvederm Volbella are long-lasting, and the treatment requires no recovery time, it is a wonderful alternative to more expensive and invasive plastic surgery options. Female treated with Botox & Juvederm Does Juvederm Volbella last longer than Juvederm Ultra plus? Juvederm Volbella does typically last longer than Juvederm Ultra Plus, as the results of Juvederm Ultra Plus last between 9 months to 1 year, and the results of Juvederm Volbella often last through or beyond a full year. Both the Juvederm Volbella and Juvederm Ultra Plus injections can be repeated approximately once a year, once the effects of the procedure have worn off. What are the side effects from Juvederm Volbella? Juvederm Volbella filler injections are a non-invasive procedure that requires no downtime. The most common side effects of Volbella are temporary and include minor swelling, tenderness, discoloration (bruising), bumps, redness and discomfort the first few days after treatment. Injections require only a topical numbing cream and can be performed as a “lunch time” procedure. Avoidance of Aspirin, Motrin, Aleve, Coumadin, Vitamin E, Fish oil, or other blood thinners is recommended for ten days before injection to avoid bruising. There also have been reports of delayed bumps from Juvederm Volbella in some patients. The risk of an allergic reaction to the filler injection is very low and can be treated with an antihistamine or antibiotics should a reaction occur. What should I consider when choosing a lip filler? When considering a lip filler, it’s important to consider what your goals are. If you are looking to reduce the appearance of smile lines (nasolabial folds) and marionette lines in addition to adding volume to your lips, Juvederm Ultra, Juvederm Ultra Plus, or Juvederm Vollure may be best for you. If you are dealing with substantial volume loss or thin lips, you will likely choose between Juvederm Ultra Plus and Juvederm Volbella. If you’re interested in reducing the appearance of perioral lines (upper lip lines) or vertical lip lines while creating a natural fullness to the lips, Juvederm Volbella will likely be your choice. Can Juvederm Volbella XC be combined with other fillers and injectable procedures? Yes! Juvederm Volbella and Juvederm Volbella XC can be combined with other dermal fillers or injectables, depending on what the individual needs and goals of the patient are. Certain injectables, such as Botox, are quite well-paired with Juvederm Volbella as they work on different areas of the face. It is also possible to combine different kinds of Juvederm treatments to meet your needs. For example, if you are looking to subtly enhance the fullness of your lips while treating deeper wrinkles or loss of volume in your cheeks, you could use Juvederm Volbella for your lips and Juvederm Vollure for your cheeks. When you discuss your needs with Dr. Green, you can determine the best treatment process for you. Combining the best skin care, laser treatments and dermal fillers Combination treatments such as laser skin resurfacing with Fraxel, Vbeam, Clear + Brilliant, and dermal fillers can be an excellent way to reduce the appearance of the natural aging process without the need for invasive procedures or recovery time. If a patient is interested in undergoing other cosmetic treatments such as laser resurfacing, Juvederm treatment can be a secondary procedure to further compliment the initial laser procedure. When you have your consultation with Dr. Green, you can discuss your goals and the two of you will work together to create the combination treatment that works best for you. How does Juvederm Volbella work? The Juvederm Volbella filler injection is a gel that contains Hyaluronic Acid, which is a substance that is made naturally in the body. Hyaluronic Acid retains moisture and so injecting Hyaluronic Acid into the lips and surrounding areas, helps in producing more hydrated skin, which reduces wrinkles. Further, the filler gel adds volume and contour to the face and stimulates the production of collagen. Collagen is the protein found in the connective tissue of the body, which helps to plump the skin. As we age, our collagen production decreases, which is another cause for sagging skin and wrinkles. By increasing collagen production in the injection area, the filler creates plump, smooth, and hydrated skin. Can Juvederm be used under eyes? Yes! As a part of the natural aging process, the skin under your eyes can start to sag, creating a hollow look in the eyes. This occurs because the fat pads under our eyes, which produce a hydrated, firm look to our skin, start to drop. In addition, dark circles can form under the eyes for a variety of reasons such as stress, lack of adequate sleep, or tobacco use. Juvederm can be used to address these issues by creating contour under the eyes, which addresses the volume loss in the face and reduces the hollow look to make the skin look younger and fresher. Juvederm can also help to clear away wrinkles and lines under the eyes. Is Volbella good for under eyes? Yes! Juvederm Volbella is great to treat the more delicate areas of the face in part due to the vycross technology, including under the eyes. Juvederm Volbella filler can create contour under the eyes, which will help to eliminate the hollow, dark shadows under the eyes that occurs naturally as we age. Further, Juvederm Volbella will smooth out fine lines and wrinkles that develop under the eyes. What is the difference between Juvederm and Volbella? Juvederm is the name of a line of filler treatments created by the company Allergan, the company that is notable for such products as the Juvederm line, Botox, and Coolsculpting. As such, there are several different treatments that fall into to Juvederm category of fillers including, Juvederm Volbella XC, Juvederm Voluma XC, Juvederm Ultra XC, Juvederm Ultra Plus XC, and Juvederm Vollure XC. Each product is a filler injection that addresses a slightly different need. Juvederm Volbella XC is most commonly used for lip enhancement and treating fine lines around the mouth. Juvederm Voluma XC is a thicker substance that is used to treat deeper wrinkles on the cheeks as well as volume loss that has occurred across the face. Juvederm Ultra Plus is also used to address deeper wrinkles, typically those on the mid-face and for providing dramatic lip enhancement. Juvederm Ultra XC is similarly used for lip enhancement but is a slightly thinner gel so is best for finer lines and wrinkles. Finally, Juvederm Vollure XC can treat deeper nasolabial folds, which are the severe lines that form around the nose and mouth. Is Volbella better than Juvederm? Juvederm Volbella is a type of Juvederm treatment. None of the Juvederm fillers are inherently “better” than the next – they each meet a slightly different need. As such, it is important to determine which filler is best for your personal goals. If you are looking to subtly enhance the fullness of your lips for a naturally plump look or smooth out the fine lines surrounding your lips, Juvederm Volbella could be the best option for you. When you meet with Dr. Green, you will discuss your unique needs with her and the two of you will figure out your best options. Why choose Dr. Green for your lip injections with Juvederm Volbella XC? Dr. Michele Green has over 25 years of experience in cosmetic dermatology injecting dermal fillers in her discreet, boutique, NYC office. She is an expert in non-invasive cosmetic procedures like Botox, Juvederm, Restylane, Kybella, Thermage, skincare and laser rejuvenation. Dr. Green will customize your lip filler treatment based on both your aesthetic and facial anatomy to give you the very best cosmetic results. Dr. Green has been consistently voted as one of the best dermatologists in New York by Castle Connolly, New York Magazine, the New York Times, and Super Doctors. If you are considering lip enhancement, or other areas of facial rejuvenation, please contact Dr. Green online today or call NYC based office to book an appointment at 212 535 3088
Arsenic exposure and type 2 diabetes: a systematic review of the experimental and epidemiologic evidence. ********** Type 2 diabetes mellitus is a metabolic disorder characterized by hyperglycemia, insulin resistance in peripheral tissues, and altered insulin secretory capacity of pancreatic [beta] (http://. fcgi?db=PubMed) and the TOXNET database [consisting of TOXLINE, GENETOX, and DART/ETIC (Developmental and Reproductive Toxicology/Environmental Teratogen Information Center); http:// toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/]. [FIGURE 1 OMITTED] Two investigators (A.N.-A., R.A.S.) independently abstracted the articles that met the selection criteria. Discrepancies were resolved by consensus. We converted all arsenic concentrations to parts per million or parts per billion, including concentrations from in vitro studies, which were usually reported in molar units of arsenic (1 [micro]M of arsenic = 74.9 [micro]g [beta] [gamma] (PPAR[gamma]) expression. PPAR[gamma] [micro]M) arsenite for 3 days induced the expression of PPAR[gamma] and CCAAT/ enhancer binding protein. In study by Wauson et al. (2002), the incubation of C3H 101T1/2 cells with 450 ppb (6 [micro]M) arsenite for 2 months prevented adipocyte differentiation through the inhibition of the PPAR[gamma]. Arsenite also inhibited the differentiating effect induced by pioglitazone, a PPAR[gamma].sup.III]O) inhibited insulin-stimulated glucose uptake at the concentration of 75 ppb after 4- or 24-hr exposure (Walton et al. 2004). For arsenite, because the concentrations used in glucose uptake studies were extremely high, their relevance to diabetes development in humans is questionable. [FIGURE 2 OMITTED] tide). [FIGURE 3 OMITTED][gamma] [alpha][gamma]-[alpha]). Received 1 August 2005; accepted 15 December 2005. REFERENCES Aguilar MV, Martinez-Para MC, Gonzalez MJ. 1997. Effects of arsenic (V)-chromium (Ill) interaction on plasma glucose and cholesterol levels in growing rats. 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Association of blood arsenic levels with increased reactive oxidants and decreased antioxidant capacity in a human population of northeastern Taiwan. Environ Health Perspect 109:1011-1017. Yu HS, Lian WT, Chang KL, Yu CL, Chen GS. 2002. Arsenic induces tumor necrosis factor alpha release and tumor necrosis factor receptor I signaling in T helper cell apoptosis. J Invest Dermatol 119:812-819. Zierold KM, Knobeloch L, Anderson H. 2004. Prevalence of chronic diseases in adults exposed to arsenic-contaminated drinking water. Am J Public Health 94:1935-1937. Ana Navas-Acien, (1,2,3,4) Ellen K. Silbergeld, (4) Robin A. Streeter, (1,3) Jeanne M. Clark, (1,2,5) Thomas A. Burke, (3,6) and Eliseo Guallar (1,2,3) (1) Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, (2) Welch Center for Prevention, Epidemiology and Clinical Research, Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, (3) Johns Hopkins Center for Excellence in Environmental Public Health Tracking, Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, (4) Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, (5) Department of Medicine, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, and (6) Department of Health Policy and Management, Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, USA Address correspondence to A. Navas Acien, Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, 615 N. Wolfe St., Office W7033B, Baltimore, MD 21205-2223 USA. Telephone: (410) 502-4267. Fax: (410) 955-0476. E-mail: [email protected]). The authors declare they have no competing financial interests. Table 1. In vitro studies of arsenic exposure and glucose metabolism outcomes. Source Type of cell/tissue Compound Signal transduction and gene expression Macfarlane et al. 1997 Pancreatic [beta]-cells Arsenite Macfarlane et al. 1999 Pancreatic [beta]-cells Arsenite Elrick and Docherty 2001 Pancreatic [beta]-cells Arsenite Wauson et al. 2002 C3H 10T1/2 Arsenite preadipocytes Salazard et al. 2004 3T3-F442A Arsenite preadipocytes Glucose uptake in cultured cells Warren et al. 1986 BHK-21 cells Arsenite Widnell et al. 1990 BHK-21 cells Arsenite Pasternak et al. 1991 BHK-21 cells Arsenite Liebl et al. 1992 MDCK dog cells Arsenite Sviderskaya et al. 1996 BHK cells Arsenite 3T3-L1 adipocytes McDowell et al. 1997 L6 rat muscle cells Arsenite Fladeby and Serck- Bovine adrenal cells Arsenite Hanssen 1999 Bazuine et al. 2003 3T3-L1 adipocytes Arsenite Bazuine et al. 2004 3T3-L1 adipocytes Arsenite Walton et al. 2004 3T3-L1 adipocytes Arsenite [MAs.sup.III]O [DMAs.sup.III]I Arsenate [MAs.sup.V] [DMAs.sup.V] Arsenite [MAs.sup.III]O [DMAs.sup.III]I Miscellaneous experiments Short et al. 1965 Rat hemidiaphragms Arsenite Epidydimal fat pads Arsenate Dixit and Lazarow 1967 Epidydimal fat pads Arsenite Brazy et al. 1980 Rabbit kidney tubules Arsenate Hunder et al. 1993 Rat jejunal segments Arsenite Arsenate Source Dose (ppm) Incubation Signal transduction and gene expression Macfarlane et al. 1997 37.5 0.33 hr Macfarlane et al. 1999 75 0.5 hr Elrick and Docherty 2001 75 0.5 hr Wauson et al. 2002 0.45 2 months Salazard et al. 2004 0.0017, 3 days 0.003 Glucose uptake in cultured cells Warren et al. 1986 3.75 2 hr Widnell et al. 1990 15 2 hr Pasternak et al. 1991 4.5-7.5 2 hr Liebl et al. 1992 37.5-75 1 hr Sviderskaya et al. 1996 7.5-22.5 2 hr McDowell et al. 1997 7.5-112.5 0.5 hr Fladeby and Serck- 1.88-18.8 1 hr Hanssen 1999 Bazuine et al. 2003 0.75-75 0.5 hr Bazuine et al. 2004 3.75-750 0.5 hr Walton et al. 2004 1.57, 7.5 4 hr 0.08, 0.4 0.15, 0.75 7.5, 75 7.5, 75 7.5, 75 0.4, 0.8, 1.5 24 hr 0.02, 0.04, 0.08 0.04, 0.08, 0.15 Miscellaneous experiments Short et al. 1965 75 1-3 hr 75 Dixit and Lazarow 1967 0.75-7,500 3 hr Brazy et al. 1980 0.75-375 0.5 hr Hunder et al. 1993 0.19-18.9 2 hr 0.19-187.5 Outcomes and results Source (compared with controls) Signal transduction and gene expression Macfarlane et al. 1997 [up arrow] IUF-1 dependent gene expression PI-3 kinase independent, SAPK2/p38 involved Macfarlane et al. 1999 [up arrow] IUF-1 translocation from cytoplasm to nucleus PI-3 kinase independent; SAPK2/p38 involved Elrick and Docherty 2001 [up arrow] IUF-1 translocation from cytoplasm to nucleus PI-3 kinase independent, SAPK2/p38 involved Wauson et al. 2002 [down arrow] PPAR[gamma] mRNA [down arrow] Pioglitazone-stimulated adipocyte differentiation Salazard et al. 2004 [up arrow] Expression of PPAR[gamma] and C/EBP[alpha] (genes with important roles in adipose determination) Glucose uptake in cultured cells Warren et al. 1986 [up arrow] Basal glucose uptake; = insulin-stimulated glucose uptake = amino acid uptake Widnell et al. 1990 [up arrow] Basal glucose uptake; [up arrow] glucose transporter translocation (reversible) Pasternak et al. 1991 [up arrow] Basal glucose uptake (reversible when arsenite removed) Fast and reversible translocation of glucose receptor Liebl et al. 1992 [down arrow] Basal glucose uptake, dose dependent Sviderskaya et al. 1996 [up arrow] Basal glucose uptake, dose dependent [up arrow] Glucose transporter translocation in both types of cells McDowell et al. 1997 [up arrow] Basal glucose uptake, dose dependent but maximal with 37.5 ppm [up arrow] GLUT1 and GLUT4 in cell membrane, PI-3 kinase independent [up arrow] Insulin-stimulated glucose uptake Fladeby and Serck- [up arrow] Basal glucose uptake up to Hanssen 1999 7.5 ppm, then plateau PI-3 kinase independent, SAPK2/p38 partly involved Bazuine et al. 2003 [up arrow] Basal glucose uptake up to 37.5 ppm, then [down arrow] [down arrow] Insulin-stimulated glucose uptake [up arrow] GLUT4 and GLUT1 translocation (but less than insulin) PI-3 kinase independent; no changes in IR[beta], IRS-1, IRS-2 No phosphorylation of PKB; PKC-[lambda]/[zeta] and SAPK2/p38 involved Bazuine et al. 2004 [up arrow] Basal glucose uptake up to 37.5 ppm Dexamethasone [down arrow] arsenite glucose uptake SAPK2/p38 involved Walton et al. 2004 = basal glucose uptake at 1.50 ppm, [down arrow] at 7.5 ppm, [down arrow] insulin-stimulated = basal glucose uptake at 0.08 ppm, [down arrow] at 0.4 ppm, [down arrow] insulin-stimulated = basal glucose uptake all doses, [down arrow] insulin-stimulated [up arrow] basal glucose uptake at 7.5 ppm, [down arrow] at 75 ppm, = insulin-stimulated = basal glucose uptake all doses, [down arrow] insulin-stimulated = basal and insulin-stimulated glucose uptake all doses, PI-3 kinase independent. No changes in IR[beta] and IRS-2 [MAs.sup.III]O and [DAs.sup.III]I, but not arsenite IRS-1, [up arrow] phosphorylation of IRS-1 Arsenite, [MAs.sup.III]O and [DAs.sup.III]I [down arrow] phosphorylation of PKB/Akt Arsenite, [MAs.sup.III]O and [DAs.sup.III]I [down arrow] GLUT4 translocation in insulin-treated cells Dose-dependent [down arrow] insulin-stimulated glucose uptake = insulin-stimulated glucose uptake at 0.02 ppm, [down arrow] at 0.04 and 0.08 = insulin-stimulated glucose uptake all doses Miscellaneous experiments Short et al. 1965 [up arrow] Basal glucose uptake in hemidiaphragms; [up arrow] uptake with arsenate in fat pads = insulin stimulated glucose uptake in hemidiaphragm; [down arrow] uptake with arsenite in fat pad Dixit and Lazarow 1967 [up arrow] Basal glucose oxidation up to 7.5 ppm Brazy et al. 1980 [down arrow] Fluid, phosphate, and glucose absorption (lumen to bath) Hunder et al. 1993 [down arrow] Intestinal glucose transfer dose dependent (= arsenate < 7.5 ppm) Abbreviations: [up arrow], increase; [down arrow], decrease; = similar levels; BHK-21 cells, baby hamster kidney cells (contain predominantly GLUT1); C/EBP[alpha], CCAAT/enhancer binding protein; [DAs.sup.III]I, iodo-dimethylarsine; [DMAs.sup.V], dimethylarsinic acid; GLUT, glucose transporter; IR[beta]: insulin receptor [beta]; IRS, insulin receptor substrate; IUF-1, insulin upstream factor-1 (also called homeodomain transcription factor PDX1); [MAs.sup.III]O, methylarsine oxide; [MAs.sup.V], monosodium methyl arsenate; MDCK dog cells, Madin-Darby canine kidney cells; PI-3 kinase, phosphatydilinositol-3 kinase; PKB, protein kinase B; PKC, protein kinase C; PPAR[gamma], peroxisome proliferative-activated receptor [gamma], SAPK2, stress activator protein kinase 2 (also called p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase). 1 ppm = 13.35 [micro]M. Basal glucose uptake, glucose uptake in the absence of insulin. Table 2. Experimental characteristics and ratio of glucose uptake in peripheral cell lines exposed to arsenite and insulin compared with insulin and arsenite alone. Experiment characteristics Incubation Arsenite Insulin Source Type of cell (hr) (ppm) (nM) Warren et al. 1986 BHK-21 cells 2 3.75 100 McDowell et al. 1997 L6 rat muscle 0.5 37.5 100 cells Bazuine et al. 2003 3T3-L1 adipocytes 0.5 37.5 100 Walton et al. 2004 3T3-L1 adipocytes 4 1.50 1,000 Walton et al. 2004 3T3-L1 adipocytes 4 7.49 1,000 Ratio of glucose uptake vs. Source Insulin Arsenite Warren et al. 1986 0.94 0.91 McDowell et al. 1997 1.42 1.21 Bazuine et al. 2003 0.57 1.33 Walton et al. 2004 0.60 0.55 Walton et al. 2004 0.20 0.33 BHK-21 cells, baby hamster kidney cells. For arsenite, 1 ppm = 13.35 [micro]M. Table 3. In vivo studies of arsenic exposure and glucose metabolism. Experimental Source animal n Judd 1979 Field mice 19 Ghafghazi et al. 1980 Rats 12 Hughes and Thompson 1996 B6C3[F.sub.1] mice 72 Aguilar et al. 1997 Wistar rats 20 Cobo and Castineira 1997 Wistar rats 21 Biswas et al. 2000 Bengal goats 12 Arnold et al. 2003 Fischer rats 480 Pal and Chatterjee 2004a Wistar rats 18 Pal and Chatterjee 2004b Wistar rats 18 Pal and Chatterjee 2005 Wistar rats 18 Source Compound (route) Judd 1979 Methanearsonate (po in water) Ghafghazi et al. 1980 Arsenite (ip) Hughes and Thompson 1996 Arsenate (po in water) Aguilar et al. 1997 Arsenate (po in food) Cobo and Castineira 1997 Arsenite (po in water) Biswas et al. 2000 Arsenite (po in capsule) Arnold et al. 2003 Monomethylarsenic (po in food) Pal and Chatterjee 2004a Arsenite (ip) Pal and Chatterjee 2004b Arsenite (ip) Pal and Chatterjee 2005 Arsenite (ip) Daily dose Source (ppm) Duration Judd 1979 1,000 30 days Ghafghazi et al. 1980 5-10 7 days Hughes and Thompson 1996 0.025-2.5 28 days Aguilar et al. 1997 5 10 weeks Cobo and Castineira 1997 17.75 1st week up to 100 8th week Biswas et al. 2000 25 12 weeks Arnold et al. 2003 50-1,300 2 years Pal and Chatterjee 2004a 5.55 21 days Pal and Chatterjee 2004b 5.55 30 days Pal and Chatterjee 2005 5.55 30 days Outcomes and results Source (compared with controls) Judd 1979 [down arrow] Blood glucose, = fluid and food consumption Ghafghazi et al. 1980 [up arrow] Glucose levels after glucose tolerance test, dose dependent Hughes and Thompson 1996 [down arrow] Plasma glucose, = fluid and food consumption Aguilar et al. 1997 = Plasma glucose levels Cobo and Castineira 1997 Delayed glucose clearance after glucose tolerance test = Basal insulin levels in vivo Biswas et al. 2000 [up arrow] Blood glucose at week 6 and [up arrow][up arrow] at week 12 Arnold et al. 2003 = Blood glucose levels up to 400 ppm, [down arrow] with 1,300 ppm Pal and Chatterjee 2004a [down arrow] Blood glucose (reversed with methionine) = Body, liver, kidney weight Pal and Chatterjee 2004b [down arrow] Blood glucose (reversed with N-acetylcysteine) Pal and Chatterjee 2005 [down arrow] Blood glucose (reversed with methionine) Abbreviations: ip, intraperitonea1; po, per oral; [up arrow], increase; [down arrow], decrease. Table 4. Epidemiolopic studies of arsenic exposure and diabetes. Source Design Country Population General populations, high arsenic exposure Lai et al. 1994 CS Taiwan Survey of participants in high-arsenic area Tsai et al. 1999 RCO Taiwan Deaths in 1971-1994 Tseng et al. CO Taiwan Survey of participants 2000 in high-arsenic area Wang et al. CS Taiwan National Health 2003 Insurance Database Rahman et al. CS Bangla- Survey participants 1998 desh in high- and low-arsenic areas Rahman et al. CS Bangla- Survey participants 1999 desh in high-arsenic area Occupational populations, high arsenic exposure Mabuchi et al. RCO U.S. Pesticide workers, 1980 Baltimore, MD Enterline and RCO U.S. Copper smelter Marsh 1982 workers, Washington State Lagerkvist and CS Sweden Copper smelter Zetterlund 1994 workers, other jobs Rahman and CC Sweden Copper smelter Axelson 1995 workers Rahman et al. CC Sweden Deaths in glass 1996 industry area Jensen and CS Denmark Taxidermists, wood Hansen 1998 workers, other jobs Bartoli et al. RCO Italy Glass industry 1998 workers Lubin et al. 2000 RCO U.S. Copper smelter workers, Montana Tollestrup et al. RCO U.S. Children < 4 km of 2003 Copper smelter General populations, low to moderate arsenic exposure Ward and Pim CC UK Hospital based 1984 Ruiz-Navarro CC Spain Hospital based et al. 1998 Lewis et al. CO U.S. Mormons 1999 Zierold et al. CC U.S. Survey participants 2004 with private wells Diabetes Cases/ Source diagnosis noncases General populations, high arsenic exposure Lai et al. 1994 OGTT or 86/805 self-reported Tsai et al. 1999 Death certificate 531 deaths Tseng et al. OGTT 41/405 2000 Wang et al. ICD-9 250 27,543/ 2003 ICD-9 A181 678,791 Rahman et al. Self-reported 46/971 1998 symptoms + glucosuria + OGTT Rahman et al. Glucosuria 263/1,332 1999 Occupational populations, high arsenic exposure Mabuchi et al. Death certificate 2 deaths 1980 Enterline and Death certificate 12 deaths Marsh 1982 Lagerkvist and Self-reported 4/85 Zetterlund 1994 type 2 diabetes Rahman and Death certificate, 12/31 Axelson 1995 medical record Rahman et al. Death certificate 240/2,216 1996 Jensen and HbA1c 5/59 Hansen 1998 Bartoli et al. Death certificate 3 deaths 1998 Lubin et al. 2000 Death certificate 54 deaths Tollestrup et al. Death certificate 16/3,116 2003 General populations, low to moderate arsenic exposure Ward and Pim NR 87/30 1984 Ruiz-Navarro NR 38/49 et al. 1998 Lewis et al. Death certificate 55/4,003 1999 Zierold et al. Self-reported 67/1118 2004 Men Age range Source (%) (year) General populations, high arsenic exposure Lai et al. 1994 43 30-69 Tsai et al. 1999 35 All ages Tseng et al. 50 Mean 47 2000 Wang et al. 43 25-65+ 2003 Rahman et al. 59 30-60+ 1998 Rahman et al. 61 30-60+ 1999 Occupational populations, high arsenic exposure Mabuchi et al. 75 < 20-40+ 1980 at hire Enterline and 100 < 20-69 Marsh 1982 at hire Lagerkvist and 100 Mean 57 Zetterlund 1994 Rahman and 100 30-74 at Axelson 1995 death Rahman et al. 100 45-75+ 1996 Jensen and 87 Mean 37 Hansen 1998 Bartoli et al. 100 < 40-65+ 1998 Lubin et al. 2000 100 < 20-30+ at hire Tollestrup et al. 58 < 14 2003 General populations, low to moderate arsenic exposure Ward and Pim 65 18-78 1984 Ruiz-Navarro 39 NR et al. 1998 Lewis et al. 52 < 50-80+ 1999 Zierold et al. NR Mean 62 2004 Arsenic Levels, exposed Source assessment vs. reference General populations, high arsenic exposure Lai et al. 1994 CEI village > 15 vs. 0 ppm-year drinking water Tsai et al. 1999 Living in HAA HAA vs. no HAA Tseng et al. CEI village > 17 vs. < 17 2000 drinking water ppm-year Wang et al. Living in HAA HAA vs. no HAA 2003 Rahman et al. Living in HAA Keratosis vs. 1998 and keratosis no keratosis Rahman et al. CEI village > 10 vs. 0 ppm-year 1999 drinking water Occupational populations, high arsenic exposure Mabuchi et al. Job title Workers vs. general 1980 population Enterline and Job title Workers vs. general Marsh 1982 population Lagerkvist and Job title Workers vs. other Zetterlund 1994 workers Rahman and Air levels ~ 5 vs. 0 mg/[m.sup.3] Axelson 1995 Rahman et al. Job title Workers vs. other 1996 workers Jensen and Job title Workers vs. general Hansen 1998 population Bartoli et al. Job title Workers vs. general 1998 population Lubin et al. 2000 Job title Workers vs. general population Tollestrup et al. Years of [greater than or 2003 residency equal to] l0 vs. < 1 year General populations, low to moderate arsenic exposure Ward and Pim Plasma levels 75th vs. 25th 1984 (NAA) percentile Ruiz-Navarro Urinary levels 75th vs. 25th et al. 1998 (AAS) percentile Lewis et al. CEI community > 4 vs. < 1 1999 drinking water ppm-year Zierold et al. Subject > 10 vs. < 2 ppb 2004 drinking water RR of diabetes Source (95% CI) Adjusted for General populations, high arsenic exposure Lai et al. 1994 10.1 (1.30-77.9) Age, sex, BMI, physical activity Tsai et al. 1999 1.46 (1.28-1.67) Age, sex Tseng et al. 2.10 (1.10-4.20) Age, sex, BMI 2000 Wang et al. 2.69 (2.65-2.73) Age, sex 2003 Rahman et al. 5.90 (2.90-11.6) Age, sex, BMI 1998 Rahman et al. 2.10 (1.10-4.20) Age, sex 1999 Occupational populations, high arsenic exposure Mabuchi et al. 0.47 (0.12-1.88) Age, sex, period 1980 Enterline and 0.85 (0.48-1.49) Age Marsh 1982 Lagerkvist and 9.61 (0.53-173) Crude Zetterlund 1994 Rahman and 3.30 (0.50-30.0) Age Axelson 1995 Rahman et al. 1.40 (0.90-2.10) Age 1996 Jensen and 4.43 (0.47-42.0) Age Hansen 1998 Bartoli et al. 0.34 (0.09-0.88) Age 1998 Lubin et al. 2000 0.83 (0.63-1.08) Age Tollestrup et al. 1.60 (0.36-1.16) Crude 2003 General populations, low to moderate arsenic exposure Ward and Pim 1.09 (0.79-1.49) Crude 1984 Ruiz-Navarro 0.87 (0.50-1.53) Crude et al. 1998 Lewis et al. 0.65 (0.34-1.24) Age, sex 1999 Zierold et al. 1.02 (0.49-2.15) Age, sex, BMI, 2004 smoking Abbreviations: AAS, atomic absorption spectrometry; BMI, body mass index; CC, case-control; CEI, cumulative exposure index: [SIGMA] arsenic levels in drinking water; x time of exposure; (i indicates specific village); CO, cohort; CS, cross-sectional; HAA, high-arsenic area; HbA1c, hemoglobin A1c; ICD-9, International Classification of Diseases, Ninth revision; NAA, neutron activation analysis; NR, not reported; OGTT, oral glucose tolerance test, criteria for a positive test based on the WHO criteria; RCO, retrospective cohort; RR, relative risk. Table 5. Criteria for evaluating the design and data analysis of epidemiologic studies on arsenic and diabetes. (a) Taiwan and Bangladesh Tsai Tseng Lai et al. et al. et al. 1994 1999 2000 All studies (n = 19) Diabetes diagnosis based on Y N Y fasting glucose levels or oral glucose tolerance tests Exposure assessed at the N N N individual level Exposure assessed using a N N N biomarker of exposure Control for established Y N Y diabetes risk factors in addition to age Case-control and cross-sectional studies (n = 11) Response rate among noncases -- N Y independent of exposure Intensity of search of disease -- N Y independent of exposure status Taiwan and Bangladesh Wang Rahman Rahman et al. et al. et al. 2003 1998 1999 All studies (n = 19) Diabetes diagnosis based on N N N fasting glucose levels or oral glucose tolerance tests Exposure assessed at the N N N individual level Exposure assessed using a N N N biomarker of exposure Control for established N N N diabetes risk factors in addition to age Case-control and cross-sectional studies (n = 11) Response rate among noncases Y N Y at least 70% (b) Noncases would have been cases N N N if they had developed diabetes Data collected in a similar Y N N manner for all participants Cases interviewed within N N N 6 months of diagnosis Interviewer blinded with -- N N respect to the case status of the person interviewed (c) Time period during which all -- N N participants were interviewed was the same (c) Same exclusion criteria Y N N applied to all participants Cohort studies (n = 8) Loss to follow-up was -- -- -- independent of exposure Intensity of search of disease -- -- -- independent of exposure status Occupational populations Lagerkvist Mabuchi Enferline and et al. and Marsh Zetterlund 1980 1982 1994 All studies (n = 19) Diabetes diagnosis based on N N N fasting glucose levels or oral glucose tolerance tests Exposure assessed at the N N N individual level Exposure assessed using a N N N biomarker of exposure Control for established Y N N diabetes risk factors in addition to age Case-control and cross-sectional studies (n = 11) Response rate among noncases -- -- N at least 70% (b) Noncases would have been cases -- -- N if they had developed diabetes Data collected in a similar -- -- N manner for all participants Cases interviewed within -- -- N 6 months of diagnosis Interviewer blinded with -- -- N respect to the case status of the person interviewed (c) Time period during which all -- -- N participants were interviewed was the same (c) Same exclusion criteria -- -- N applied to all participants Cohort studies (n = 8) Loss to follow-up was N N -- independent of exposure Intensity of search of disease N N -- independent of exposure status Occupational populations Rahman and Rahman Jensen Axelson et al. and Hansen 1995 1996 1998 All studies (n = 19) Diabetes diagnosis based on N N N fasting glucose levels or oral glucose tolerance tests Exposure assessed at the Y N N individual level Exposure assessed using a N N N biomarker of exposure Control for established N N N diabetes risk factors in addition to age Case-control and cross-sectional studies (n = 11) Response rate among noncases -- -- N at least 70% (b) Noncases would have been cases N N Y if they had developed diabetes Data collected in a similar Y Y Y manner for all participants Cases interviewed within N N N 6 months of diagnosis Interviewer blinded with N N Y respect to the case status of the person interviewed (c) Time period during which all Y Y N participants were interviewed was the same (c) Same exclusion criteria Y N N applied to all participants Cohort studies (n = 8) Loss to follow-up was -- -- -- independent of exposure Intensity of search of disease -- -- -- independent of exposure status Occupational populations Bartoli Lubin Tollestrup et al. et al. et al. 1998 2000 2003 All studies (n = 19) Diabetes diagnosis based on N N N fasting glucose levels or oral glucose tolerance tests Exposure assessed at the N N Y individual level Exposure assessed using a N N N biomarker of exposure Control for established N N N diabetes risk factors in addition to age Case-control and cross-sectional studies (n = 11) Response rate among noncases -- -- -- at least 70% (b) Noncases would have been cases -- -- -- if they had developed diabetes Data collected in a similar -- -- -- manner for all participants Cases interviewed within -- -- -- 6 months of diagnosis Interviewer blinded with -- -- -- respect to the case status of the person interviewed (c) Time period during which all -- -- -- participants were interviewed was the same (c) Same exclusion criteria -- -- -- applied to all participants Cohort studies (n = 8) Loss to follow-up was N N N independent of exposure Intensity of search of disease N N N independent of exposure status Other populations Ruiz- Ward Navarro and Pim et al. 1984 1998 All studies (n = 19) Diabetes diagnosis based on N N fasting glucose levels or oral glucose tolerance tests Exposure assessed at the Y Y individual level Exposure assessed using a Y Y biomarker of exposure Control for established N N diabetes risk factors in addition to age Case-control and cross-sectional studies (n = 11) Response rate among noncases N N at least 70% (b) Noncases would have been cases N N if they had developed diabetes Data collected in a similar N N manner for all participants Cases interviewed within N N 6 months of diagnosis Interviewer blinded with N N respect to the case status of the person interviewed (c) Time period during which all N N participants were interviewed was the same (c) Same exclusion criteria N N applied to all participants Cohort studies (n = 8) Loss to follow-up was -- -- independent of exposure Intensity of search of disease -- -- independent of exposure status Other populations Lewis Zierold et al. et al. 1999 2004 All studies (n = 19) Diabetes diagnosis based on N N fasting glucose levels or oral glucose tolerance tests Exposure assessed at the N Y individual level Exposure assessed using a N N biomarker of exposure Control for established N Y diabetes risk factors in addition to age Case-control and cross-sectional studies (n = 11) Response rate among noncases -- Y -- independent of exposure Intensity of search of disease Y -- independent of exposure status Abbreviations: --, not applicable; N, no; Y, yes. (a) Criteria modified from Longnecker et al. (1988). (b) Not applicable to two case-control studies based only on deaths (Rahman and Axelson 1995; Rahman et al. (1996). (c) Not applicable to the study using the National Health Insurance Database from Taiwan (Wang et al. 2003). Reader Opinion
Reading through the preface to Flapper Pie and a Blue Prairie Sky: A Modern Baker’s Guide to Old-Fashioned Desserts cookbook by Karlynn Johnston (aka The Kitchen Magpie) conjured feelings of nostalgia for my childhood days. > raised in the Canadian prairies nor did I have any of the desserts listed in this cookbook. Heck, I didn’t even know what a Flapper Pie was! Karlynn wrote such a heartwarming, passionate tribute honouring both her grandmothers that it brought me back to the hustle and bustle in my paternal grandmother’s kitchen, watching her rolling dough for making pasta and stopping just to taste the tomato sauce simmering on the stove. That memory gave me a warm, happy feeling. It was with that feeling that I proceeded to read through the entire cookbook. Contents At the beginning of the Flapper Pie and a Blue Prairie Sky cookbook, there’s an Introduction section where Karlynn writes about her life on a Canadian prairie farm. In The Kitchen Magpie section she writes about her popular blog and how it came about. Both sections were very interesting reads that led up to what this cookbook is all about. These sections are followed by: - A Note on Recipe Yields - A Modern-Day Baker’s Kitchen - An Old-Fashioned Baker’s Pantry - Canadian Prairie Flapper Pie or the (Almost) Lost Prairie Pie At the end of the cookbook, there’s a Glassware Index of the glassware used in the recipe photos throughout the book, and a Recipe Index. Chapters Each chapter has an introductory anecdote relating to the contents. The recipes are spread throughout seven chapters: - Pies - Cookies - Cakes and Trifles - Brownies, Dainties, and Slices - Doughnut and Yeast Breads - Candy and Confections - Icings, Puddings, and Sauces Recipes The over 120 recipes are well-written and easy to follow, preceded with useful tips and how-to instructions listed in the page headers. Karlynn beautifully photographed her desserts, displayed on colourful pieces from her Pyrex and glass collection. Sample recipes I’ve bookmarked include: - Flapper Pie, Caramel Apple Streusel Pie - Grandma Marion’s Honey Cookies, Snickerdoodles - White Vanilla Mayo Cake, Butter Tart Cake, Retro Poke Cake Made with Homemade Yellow Cake - The Ultimate Chewy Brownies, Matrimonial Squares - Vanity Fritters, Cinnamon Brioche Twist, Vanilla Birthday Cake Doughnuts - Salted Pecans, Classic Rum Balls, Crispy Caramel Popcorn and Nuts - Karlynn’s Famous Buttercream Icing, Old Fashioned Brown Sugar Sauce, Vanilla Pudding Tested Recipes Canadian Prairie Flapper Pie Recipe (Page 21) As I previously mentioned, I didn't know what a Flapper Pie was until I received the Flapper Pie and a Blue Prairie Sky cookbook to review. Blame it on my Canadian geographical location and my ancestry, but all I know is that I’ve been missing out on some delicious pie. In the Canadian Prairie Flapper Pie or the (Almost) Lost Prairie Pie section on page 18, Karlynn writes about how her Grandma Marion’s Flapper Pie recipe was the spark for this cookbook. After reading it through I had a much better understanding of what a Flapper Pie is and the history behind it. Basically, as Karlynn describes it in the book, Flapper Pie is a vanilla custard pie with a graham-cracker crust. It’s simple and quick to make (no pie dough required), and it has a creamy texture that pairs well with the graham-cracker crust. It smelled wonderful when I took it out of the oven. The only drawback to this recipe for me is that the Flapper Pie has to be refrigerated for several hours to allow the filling to set before it can be served. I was ready to eat it just as it came out of the oven! My husband and I polished off the whole pie in two days, which means I will definitely make it again. - 1½ cups graham cracker crumbs - 6 tablespoons melted butter - ½ cup granulated sugar - ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon - 2½ cups milk - 3 egg yolks - ½ cup granulated sugar - ¼ cup cornstarch - 1 teaspoon vanilla extract - ¼ teaspoon salt - 3 egg whites - ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar - ¼ cup granulated sugar - Preheat the oven to 350˚F. - Combine the graham crumbs, butter, sugar, and cinnamon in a large bowl. Reserve about 2 tablespoons, then press the mixture into the bottom and up the sides of a 9-inch deep-dish pie plate. Bake for 10 minutes. The crust will not brown; it simply needs to set. Remove and set aside to cool. Leave the oven on at 350˚F. - Combine the milk, egg yolks, sugar, cornstarch, vanilla, and salt in a medium saucepan, stirring until smooth. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture boils and thickens to the consistency of a thick pudding. Remove from the heat and set aside while you make the meringue. - To make the meringue, in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or in a large bowl using an electric mixer, beat together the egg whites and cream of tartar until foamy. Add the sugar and continue to beat until stiff peaks form. - Spoon the filling into the prepared pie shell and distribute it evenly. Then, using a spatula for best results, swirl the meringue over the top of the pie in a circle, starting at the outer edges and working your way into the center to create a seal. Once the pie is completely covered in meringue, tap the spatula gently on the top of the meringue, then lift up slowly to form meringue peaks, if desired. These peaks will brown more than the rest of the meringue, making for a prettier pie. Sprinkle the remaining 2 tablespoons crust mixture over top. - Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, until the meringue is browned. Remove from the oven, let cool on a baking rack, then chill for several hours in the refrigerator until the filling is set. Flapper pie needs no accompaniment—no ice cream or sauce—so simply slice, serve, and enjoy. Mini Doughnut Waffles Recipe (Page 214) Doughnuts and waffles: these are two of my favourite things. Since I purchased a new waffle maker lately (one of my daughters borrowed my old one and now it's taken residency in her home), I thought this would be a good time to test both the recipe and the waffle maker. This recipe uses yeast dough that can either be used after the first rising or placed in the refrigerator overnight. I opted for the second option so I could make the Mini Doughnut Waffles for breakfast the next day. Come the next day, I opened the refrigerator, and found the dough had risen to the top of the eight-cup measure I used to proof it. I turned on the waffle maker and started making the Mini Doughnut Waffles. The direction read to “pour half of the recommended batter for your waffle maker into the each section.” My dough was too stiff to pour; I had to spoon it out. I don’t know what I did wrong, but the waffles turned out great: nice and crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. I only dredged half the waffles into the cinnamon-sugar mixture and left the rest as is to eat with yogourt and blueberries. Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Baked Doughnuts Recipe (Page 224) I don’t make doughnuts often only for the reason that my husband will have one or two and I’ll devour the rest. But these doughnuts seemed safe enough; after all, they’re made with pumpkin and are baked, and I certainly can limit myself to one a day. That was a fleeting thought. These Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Baked Doughnuts are “basically muffins glazed with chocolate,” words written by Karlynn. Since I can’t eat chocolate in the morning, I made half with the chocolate glaze and half without. This way I can eat one in the morning for breakfast and one in the afternoon for a snack! Although these doughnuts can be frozen, frozen desserts don’t happen in my kitchen unless I’m baking cookies for the holidays. I loved the taste of pumpkin and chocolate, though my husband found the chocolate glazed doughnuts too heavy. Good, more for me! Bookshelf Worthy? Absolutely! Karlynn writes with passion and humour that makes you feel welcomed in her kitchen as she shares her stories through favourite childhood desserts. She encourages you to add your recipe cards and clippings to this cookbook to pass down to your family or to offer as a gift. It will make it that more special. It’s a feel-happy cookbook that’s beautifully designed. Just look at the front cover. Flapper Pie and a Blue Prairie Sky: A Modern Baker’s Guide to Old-Fashioned Desserts Author: Karlynn Johnston Hardcover: 314 pages Publisher: Appetite by Random House ISBN: 978-0-449-01695-4 Acknowledgement Excerpted from Flapper Pie and Blue Prairie Sky: A Modern Baker’s Guide to Old-Fashioned Desserts by Karlynn Johnston. Copyright © 2016 Karlynn Johnston. Published by Appetite by Random House®, a division of Penguin Random House Canada Limited. Reproduced by arrangement with the Publisher. All rights reserved. Our Canadian Cookbook Gift Guide Looking for more great Canadian cookbooks to check out or gift for the holidays? Be sure to check out our 2016 Canadian Cookbook Gift Guide full of delicious books. Support Canadian authors this holiday season! The Flapper Pie under a Blue Prairie Sky believes that every recipe tells a story that must be shared to nourish your soul and feed your belly. You connect with Liliana on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. I had no idea what a flapper pie was either! Maybe they aren’t a “thing” in Quebec 😉 Flapper Pie as you can guess is a very old old recipe. The origin of the name according to my late Mum was that it was so easy even a ‘flapper’ could make it. Flapper being the girls of the 20s whose skirts were so short they flapped around their knees. These young ladies were supposed to be such flibbertigibbets that they didn’t even know how to bake. My Mum used to make flapper pie for us instead of birthday cakes. It is so noted in my older brother’s baby book. She was born in 1920 in Winnipeg so you can see the era she lived in. Love Flapper pie and don’t make it often enough. Will definitely be looking for this cookbook now. By the way, this recipe is my Mum’s recipe as well so it is very old!
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March 11, 2010 pasadenaweekly.com By Carl Kozlowski Telling tales ‘Over-performer’ Stephen J. Cannell takes over mystery book writing much the way he conquered episodic TV Stephen J. Cannell’s sonorous voice commands your attention while his expressive face and darting hands can keep you focused for hours at a time. These storytelling skills have served the fit and energetic 69-year-old television icon well, enabling him to convince America’s network executives to buy more than 40 of his TV series during a four-decade career that earned him numerous awards, including an Emmy for Outstanding Drama Series for “The Rockford Files.” In addition to Jim Rockford, played by James Garner, Cannell’s created many other memorable TV characters for shows such as “The Commish,” “Hardcastle and McCormick,” “The Greatest American Hero” and the ultimate badass group of all television — “The A-Team.” Despite his mastery of the TV game, the lifelong Pasadena resident and devoted family man has shifted professional gears, authoring 15 crime novels over as many years, with nine titles built on the adventures of Los Angeles private detective Shane Scully. All 15 of his released novels (with two more ready to go) have been New York Times best sellers, and that’s not likely to change with the release this month of Cannell’s newest Scully novel, “The Pallbearers.” Cannell will be appearing this weekend at the Left Coast Crime Conference at the Omni Hotel in Los Angeles, where he’ll be discussing and signing his new tome — a story that has the hardboiled Scully facing some rough memories following the murder of his childhood mentor. “My initial idea was to go back and deal with that part of his life that I had talked about in several of the novels but hadn’t really detailed. I had said that he was from a group home and decided to show the first chapter as a prologue, as a child, and show who Walter Dix was as a surrogate father for him,” explains Cannell. “I knew Walter was going to be a murder and not a suicide, so I started looking on the Internet for group-home incidents like corruption and graft, which led me into my plot. I wanted to show this guy who had given Shane and the other kids so much by reaching out to them and at the same time to be able to explore Shane’s early life and why he is who he is.” The book also features bad guys who are mixed martial artists (MMAs), which is one field that Cannell knew little about. An incredibly disciplined and physically fit man, Cannell gets up at 4 a.m. each day and works out before engaging in a day of writing and meetings. His schedule is so intense that more than 25 years ago his wife, Marcia, insisted that he hire a driver so he could maximize his work time en route to his Hollywood Boulevard offices and get home at a reasonable time to be with his family. “I was looking for some heavies at the front of this story that would be really frightening. I wanted some people at the beginning of the story who could pose a real threat to Shane and the pallbearers,” says Cannell. “They train all day long. It was almost like human cockfighting. I did speak to some MMA fighters before I wrote the book. It’s a very competitive field, and most don’t make much money.” Cannell landed an unexpected bonus from his immersion in the world of ultimate fighting. It was there that he met heavyweight champion Rampage Jackson, who went on to become the choice to replace Mr. T as B.A. Baracus in the June feature film version of “The A-Team.” (Mr. T is in talks over a possible cameo in the film.) That “The A-Team” is finally making it to the big screen after more than 20 years off the air has already created enough buzz to make the film a prime candidate as one of the summer’s leading box office moneymakers. The cast includes Liam Neeson, flexing the action-star cred he earned with last year’s “Taken,” as John “Hannibal” Smith, a role made famous by George Peppard. The cast also includes “District 9’s” Sharlto Copley as the lunatic “Howling Mad” Murdock, a role originated by Dwight Schultz, and “Hangover” star Bradley Cooper filling the shoes of Dirk Benedict’s smooth-talking “The Face.” With all the money and effort behind the revival, it’s interesting to hear Cannell describe the freewheeling nature of the show’s conception. “It was [former NBC chief executive Brandon] Tartikoff’s idea and he called me over and said I want you to create a show called ‘The A-Team,’ and I thought, oh my God, it’s right on the nose,” says Cannell. “He said, remember ‘Road Warrior?’ It’s like that, but not that. Remember Belker [actor Bruce Weitz, who did not appear on the show], that crazy guy on ‘Hill Street Blues’ — that guy could be in the show. And you know that guy, Mr. T in the ‘Rocky’ movie? He drives the car.’ “And that was the pitch. I was with [long-time producing partner] Frank Lupo. We went to the commissary and I said, ‘What the hell was that?’ And I said, ‘I think he’s telling us to break all the rules.’ I always wanted to do a show on soldiers of fortune and this was a chance to just cut loose and include everything from an invisible dog to rescuing an entire Mexican village. That was a huge show as it developed one hit after another and was the start of the NBC dynasty. We lit up that time period and gave them a promotion base, and the network roared.” Over the years, Cannell has won accolades for his writing, including the Saturn Life Career Award in 2004, the Marlow Lifetime Achievement Award from Mystery Writers of America in 2005, the WGA Paddy Chayefsky Laurel Award for Television Writing Achievement in 2006, the NAPTE Brandon Tartikoff Legacy Award in 2007 and the 2008 Final Draft Hall of Fame Award, recognizing entertainment industry leaders who foster the art of screenwriting and nurture and inspire the creative process. Considering all the success he has enjoyed and the impact he’s had on American pop culture, it’s interesting to note that Cannell nearly took an entirely different career path: following his father and taking over his interior design and furniture business. Cannell, who is dyslexic, worked extra hard at writing while working for his dad throughout the first four years of his marriage to his eighth-grade sweetheart. Cannell stayed up late into the evenings banging out scripts for TV, sending them out to agents and learning from the rejection notices how to improve. “I’d come home every night and I wrote for five hours, had a snack and wrote from 5:30 to 10:30 p.m., and then had dinner. I’d work a half day as a writer on Saturday and a half day on Sunday. It was a high priority on the list of things I wanted to accomplish and I put it ahead of fucking around and going to the beach,” says Cannell. “I put it up there with my wife and kids. I believed in the concept of over-performing. I believe anyone can achieve their goals in life if they over-perform; that means you have to work 10 times harder than anybody you see. My agent would get me a meeting with a producer tomorrow and I’d say, ‘No, a week from tomorrow.’ She didn’t get it, but I wanted to get ready all day long for eight days for one 45-minute meeting.” All the hard work eventually had a downside on his personal life. Once he got the chance, Cannell decided to establish his own television studio, competing against the likes of Universal to fill network airtime. However, that didn’t leave enough hours in a day for him to keep as close to his family as he now wishes he had been. “My wife is my best friend. She’s put up with a lot of bullshit because this is not an easy business to be in. But I’ve been a good husband, I did not cheat on her, I don’t play around,” says Cannell, turning introspective and facing the floor as he takes a moment to continue. “I lost a son. My oldest, Derek, died when he was 15 ½,” suffocating at a beach after a sand castle he was building collapsed on him. Cannell has two grown daughters, Tawnia and Chelsea, and a grown son, Cody. “That was a huge wake-up call. I was doing ‘Greatest American Hero’ in 1981,” Cannell recalls. 9 o’ clock because of getting up so early.” Cannell credits his father’s example and his own strong Episcopal faith as a member of All Saints Church with his ability to stay strong amid the temptations and frustrations of Hollywood. He stopped producing for TV in the mid-1990s, when the networks’ pay rules changed and he found he would start making far less for all of his efforts on a new series. The move freed him up creatively to pursue writing novels, as well as establishing a secondary career as a character actor. He has appeared in more than 50 TV series and films and currently has a recurring role as himself on ABC’s “Castle” — the very type of lighthearted mystery series that he once would have created himself. “I’ve done the hard work for decades and I still work hard,” says Cannell, relaxing recently in his wood-paneled and lushly carpeted office. “But there is something to be said for creatively stretching and enjoying it all, mixing it up and keeping it fresh. I might return to TV one day again, but for now it’s all about keeping things fresh.”
Politico Morning Defense A daily briefing from inside Washington’s national security apparatus How Mullen wants to help vets – Boehner's new ad on the surge – Will vets turn out for Glenn Beck's 'Restoring Honor' event? – What a thumb drive means for cyber-security CONVERSATION WITH THE COUNTRY, CLEVELAND EDITION – Mullen’s “Conversation with the Country” continues with three back-to-back events in Cleveland today where his focus is vets and the economy. With Iraq and Afghanistan veterans enduring an unemployment rate that is 2 percent above the national average, 11.5 versus 9.5 percent, this is Mullen’s pet project. THANKS, BUT… “I appreciate what Mullen is doing, but it will take the Fortune 500, the captains of industry, to reach out to veterans,” Steve Robinson, a veterans advocate, tells Morning Defense. Story Continued Below A BEER AND AN ATTABOY AIN’T GOOD ENOUGH –Vets for Freedom’s Pete Hegseth told Morning Defense that he thinks many veteran service groups are focused on the past or on other issues, need to step up to help the current generation of vets – a free drink at the local VFW isn’t enough. “VSOs could do a much better job of tailoring to the needs of veterans – for the most part, they aren’t doing a whole lot that is relevant to the lives of returning veterans.” It’s 0-Dark-30 and time for Morning Defense. MULLEN’S DAY – At the Union Club he’ll talk warrior care, and he’s expected to urge the audience to continue innovation in technologies and procedures to care for wounds, Kirby tells Morning Defense. At the City Club – He’ll address a broad range of security issues but will likely focus on the need to connect to troops and vets and the societies they return to, Kirby says. “Central theme of the whole trip actually – make sure connection between Americans and military is strong, especially as we fight two wars and ever-increasing numbers of troops are re-integrating back into society.” Then – He’ll go into a “listening session” with 50 high school kids, not just to get them pumped up about the military, but to discuss all kinds of public service. BILLS ON THE HILL – There is a slew of would-be laws that aim to help veterans yet remain mired in debate and deal-making. The Walz-Boozman bill and the Baucus-Grassley bill, which would create a tax credit for firms to hire vets, are in limbo. And Sen. Patty Murray and Rep. Adam Smith have introduced a “comprehensive veterans employment bill,” according to IAVA. Many veterans groups see these kinds of bills as the low-hanging fruit that pro-veteran lawmakers should reach for right away. . “VICTORY IS THE ONLY OPTION” – Boehner’s new video on what Obama, Biden, Pelosi and Reid said about the surge of troops in Iraq before, and what they said after, will be released today. Video From Boehner’s new Op-Ed in Human Events, also out today: “While the administration continues seeking credit for ‘ending the combat mission’ in Iraq, it is important to remember that this transition was made possible by the very surge that President Obama and Joe Biden opposed.” WAS IRAQ WAR WORTH IT? – USAT’s Jim Michaels in Iraq and Mimi Hall ask the question this morning. As of 0-Dark-30, the story already has 1,182 comments. Story Charts and graphs VETS GROUPS TO SKIP GLENN BECK RALLY – Glenn Beck’s “Restoring Honor” rally on the National Mall this weekend may bring in more than 100,000 people to honor the troops and benefit the Special Operations Warrior Foundation, but don’t expect a large, organized veterans presence. The VFW and the American Legion aren’t sending official contingents – in fact, the American Legion has its own national convention this weekend in Wisconsin. SOWF’s board is stacked with several former SOCOM commanders including Carl Stiner, Bryan “Doug” Brown, Charles Holland and Pete Schoomaker. READING THE FINE PRINT – Beck’s rally will be funded by a portion of the donations collected on behalf of troops. At the bottom of the “Restoring Honor” Web site: “All contributions made to the Special Operations Warrior Foundation (SOWF) will first be applied to the costs of the Restoring Honor Rally taking place on August 28, 2010. All contributions in excess of these costs will then be retained by the SOWF.” Faiz Shakir of “Think Progress” discovered the fine print. Examiner article and vid of Shakir on Olbermann SOTOMAYOR SEES WIKILEAKS IN SUPREME COURT – AP reports that the justice, speaking to a group of college students in Denver yesterday, said she couldn’t answer a question about national security, free speech and WikiLeaks because “that question is very likely to come before me.” WHO’S WHERE WHEN – Conway hosts Jim Lehrer at the Marine Barracks for Evening Parade … Roughhead speaks at retirement and change of command for Chief of Chaplains (Burt outgoing, Tidd incoming) … McHugh returning today from Fort Lewis … Gates on leave. DONLEY PUSHES SPACE CHANGES – He aims to streamline the AF’s dizzying system. DoD Buzz BOB’S BUDGET SHOWCASE SHOWDOWN – When Congress returns, one of the first items on the agenda for defense types will be the big SASC hearing on the closing of Jif-Com. Some felt blindsided by the proposal, which to Gates is not a proposal at all – it’s what he’s doing. Hearing not on sked yet, but it will be the first time for members to vent about Gates’s Efficiency Plan, which is causing constituent consternation in places like Virginia over the loss of about 6,000 jobs. NO (BUDGET) NEWS IS GOOD NEWS – Pentagon Comptroller Tony Hale appears this Sunday on WUSA’s “This Week in Defense News” with Vago Muradian, where he will tell viewers the Pentagon does not expect to announce any new budget-cutting proposals until what is fondly referred to as “Budget Day” in February 2012. Only then is anything else fair game: “But when next year's budget request is made public, Hale said, it will likely contain cost-cutting proposals from the military services that are ‘analogous’ to Gates’ plan to shutter JFCOM,” according to Defense News’s John Bennett’s advance of the Sunday appearance. DID THAT THUMB DRIVE REALLY CRASH DOD? – James Lewis of CSIS says DEPSECDEF Lynn’s anecdote is true, and skeptics of the tale just don’t get it. Lynn’s cyber-security manifesto, published in Foreign Affairs this week, is an attempt to bring focus to an issue that will otherwise require a “Cyber 9/11” to get attention, Lewis tells Morning Defense. The notion that “we don’t do anything serious until we have a disaster” is a dangerous position to take. “Lynn is trying to get ahead of that, and they have a chance.” WHAT’S NEXT? – “They have to work out some stuff,” Lewis said. “On the Hill, some are saying we have to change authorities that exist now to give DoD the ability to carry out this mission…” RHETORICAL QUESTION FROM LEWIS – “How likely is it that we’ll have a big cyber bill this year?” SPOTLIGHT ON NO. 2 – With the Foreign Affairs article AND a blogger’s roundtable under his belt, DEPSECDEF Lynn emerges from the shadows to talk cyber security. It’s a departure for someone who makes infrequent public statements or appearances. CYBERSECURITY: DO YOU FEEL SAFE? – NSA Director Gen. Keith Alexander will talk about the cyber-war threat Oct. 12 and former DNI Mike McConnell will talk March 1 about how public-private partnerships can be used to “secure national infrastructure.” More info TWO CENTS -- The Pentagon’s “don’t ask don’t tell” working group will meet with partners of gays and lesbians in the military, Pentagon spokeswoman Cynthia Smith confirms. The pow-wow is one component of a lobbying day and partners forum by Servicemembers United on Sept. 16. The meeting will give the working group, formally polling military families on the repeal of the ban on gays in the military, a chance to have their say. One top concern of partners of gay troops: deployment issues, such as whether they’d be told if their partner died or was injured in combat, Alexander Nicholson, SU’s executive director, tells Morning Defense. FEWER SOF CAN’T HUNT FOR WMD – The demand for high-end commandos in Iraq and Afghanistan means there are fewer available to hunt the world over for WMD, SOCOM commander Eric Olson told Bloomberg’s Tony Capaccio. But the reserved Olson has said during in written testimony that the threat of extremists acquiring and using chemical, biological or nuclear arms “is greater now than at any other time in history.” SOF forces will be in even greater demand in countries the U.S. is interested in operating in but doesn’t want to send large amounts of forces to – say, Yemen – to help expand foreign military training there. TOO SOFT ON BLACKWATER? – Rep. Edolphus Towns, chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, wrote Clinton Thursday to get a copy of a settlement the State Department made with Xe Services – the company formerly known as Blackwater. The Times reported that Xe is supposed to pay the government $42 million in fines, but Towns worries that fining the security company rather than bringing it up on criminal charges will complicate efforts to bar Xe from future government work. “This is worse than poor performance. This kind of behavior undermines the U.S. mission in Iraq and Afghanistan,” Towns wrote. “ GUMPATHON” UPDATE – Yesterday’s Morning Defense incorrectly identified the Charities Aid Foundation America as its U.K.-based parent organization. To donate to the U.S.-based fundraising effort to aid severely wounded soldiers, click on the American flag on the nonprofit’s website: .
More Trouble for the Alleged Faith/Reason Dichotomy: Acts of the Apostles I am working my way through Acts of the Apostles (the first book after the four gospels), which chronicles the adventures of the early Church after Jesus ascends to heaven. Saul was a Pharisee who persecuted Christians (and approved of them being put to death), but then had his famous road to Damascus conversion, afterwards becoming the “Paul” who wrote epistles (letters) that are included in the New Testament. Before I make my main point, I want to share this passage because it struck me as funny (Acts 17: 16-21):. I think the Athenians would have loved the blogosphere. Now on to my main point. Note the verb I underlined in the passage above. And in the next chapter we read one of my favorite portions of all the Bible . Does this sound like the early Church operated on how loudly somebody said, “I really feel this is right!” ? Do you think when Apollos “vigorously refuted the Jews publicly, showing from the Scriptures that Jesus is the Christ,” that he just kept waving them around, saying, “You have to have faith guys, c’mon!” ?. I don’t think the idea is that theists never use logic per se, but rather that they reject it whenever inconvenient. Those who believe in the theory that aliens built the pyramids with the universal quantum chi energy that can be developed by drinking herbal tea and buying my book for $14.95 off amazon.com will use logic, but they can hardly be called logical or proponents of reason. It all makes perfect sense if you make incredible leaps of judgement, ignore contradictory evidence, and are discriminative in your application of skepticism and standards of evidence. Anyway. The history of Judaism has dozens of false messiahs, all of them claiming proof from the scriptures. They inevitably win a number of converts, usually the sort of people who, in another time and place, would have been persuaded that aliens built the pyramids. They come and go. Judaism continues. Jesus was, from the perspective of Judaism, just another false messiah whose cult happened to be selected by the Roman Empire as particularly useful. The whole thing is pretty ridiculous anyway. It’s not as if any Jewish text has a list of The 101 Things That Will Signal The Coming of the Messiah. Messiah talk starts up whenever a bunch of Jews are feeling depressed. Then some rabbi tells them some nice things about the messiah. Then Isaiah got put in the biblical canon for some probably poorly thought out reason. And he became a half-official source on messianism, because…why not? Argh argh argh. It’s all so ad hoc. I know it’s not what this post is about, but I want to make it clear that most Jews aren’t Christians just because they haven’t been exposed to the arguments of Apollos. Tzadik wrote: but I want to make it clear that most Jews aren’t Christians just because they haven’t been exposed to the arguments of Apollos. Tzadik, you have no idea what arguments Apollos used. Are you admitting that you don’t need to hear any such arguments, because nothing even in principle could make you change your mind? It almost sounds like your rejection of Jesus is based on faith. Ok, you got me. I assumed he made arguments based on what has been written about Jesus Christ’s life. Maybe he had access to other information that has since been lost to time, like the part where Jesus isn’t killed by the Roman state and successfully brings peace to the entire world (OK, it’s a far fetch, but then again we don’t have to let Isaiah dominate the discussion, that jerk). But, if he can only make the same arguments modern Christians can make, he won’t persuade any Orthodox Jews. Every now and then you hear about a Reform Jew suckered into Jews for Jesus, though. That’s what you get for not knowing your rabbinic literature…. Tzadik, he was educated in the Torah!! At that point in time there had been nothing written about Jesus’ life. But Jesus is prominent in what we call the Old Testament. He shows up beautifully in chapters 1-7 of Leviticus. See also Luke 24: 25-27, where, on the road to Emmaus, Jesus explained his presence on every page of the Torah. Of course, Apollos had an advantage – he was educated and “fervent in the spirit”. Richards Sorry about my tone, by the way. But I really don’t like what Christian views of religion and Judaism do to the beliefs of young Jews. Jews thinking like Christians is very disturbing to me. I think it is interesting that this post begins with a reference to Paul’s conversion. Paul (or rather Saul) only become a Christian after literally being stopped by God. Since we are quoting Acts: .” (Acts 9:3-9 ASV). Similarly, Thomas, who knew Christ in life, only becomes convinced when he actually sees). I think it is very interesting that Paul spends Acts, as you say, “reasoning (the Bible’s verb) over and over with the people he is trying to convince that Jesus was the Messiah prophesied in the Jewish Scriptures” when he himself was not swayed by reason but actual contact. Why should not all people say “Except I shall see” and be stopped on my road? [Yes, in John 20:29 Jesus says to Thomas “Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed”, but was Thomas not blessed, was Paul? Can I not legitimately say ‘Let me follow the example of an Apostle and a Saint! ] Dr. Murphy, do you have a book you would recommend, besides the bible, that was influential in turning you to Christianity? I have never been a religious person and in the past I was very hostile and condescending towards it. I’ve never been an atheist but I have felt that organized religion was just a means to control people. Over the past few years I have began to doubt my former convictions. I now feel it is lazy and irresponsible for me to have so little knowledge on theology. If you have a recommendation as kind of a jump off point I would appreciate it. Dan, I am very excited you are taking a second look! The resources that helped me get a wonderful aspect on theology was ewtn radio. Found here. . Especially the program called “Catholic answers” from 5-7pm daily. Also check out this website, (they also have a reading section) Obviously these are all Catholic orientated arguments because I believe it to be the church Jesus Christ established. They have very good introductions to any category you choose. Also ask Jesus in prayer that you may come closer to him. Thanks Kyle, I actually come from a family that is primarily catholic although my parents haven’t been believers in years. Other than being baptized as a baby I’ve been to church maybe 3 or 4 times in my life. So I wouldn’t really say I’m taking a second look as much as I’m taking a first look. Dan, I really like this free audiobook, “Jesus the Christ,” which is scholarly, approachable, and faith promoting. or for ebook Thanks Scott, I’ll take a look at that as well. Is that the one where Jesus simultaneously appears in present day Missouri and Israel and also contains the part about Native Americans being a tribe of Israel? I saw LDS and that’s what sprung to mind. Bob, Your insistance on reason has motivated me to write down the philosophical underpinnings of my faith. Not that it would be worth reading. Just as a personal challenge. Brian, if you wanted to share, I’d be curious to read it later in the week. Does this sound like the early Church operated on how loudly somebody said, “I really feel this is right!” ? Yes. Do you think when Apollos “vigorously refuted the Jews publicly, showing from the Scriptures that Jesus is the Christ,” that he just kept waving them around, saying, “You have to have faith guys, c’mon!” ? Yes.. Knowledge based on what? What the scriptures say? Even hard core non-believers can know what the scriptures say. What evidence did Apollos show, other than…the scriptures? I don’t know what “not empirically based in the modern sense of the word” means. What is “empirically based in the ancient sense of the word”? Has the human mind changed in its logical structure in 2000 years? Was Mises wrong that epistemology is insuperably intertwined with action, in that 2000 years ago people could acquire knowledge in such a way that no human today has the capability because they were not limited to action and had a sixth sense? Given last week’s topic, a higher understanding of the bible seems to be positively correlated with learning of the bible’s mistakes/errors.. There is a huge difference between doing something, and merely SAYING you are doing something. If I was doing the rain dance, praying to “Gods” that my crops will grow, and you asked me what I am doing, then if I said “I’m using my reason to learn of a way to grow the crops” then I would be “rational” only in the Misesian conception, namely, I’d be using scarce means to achieve a desired goal. My means could be wrong, but they are means. So sure, EVERYONE in the bible were rational in the Misesian sense. But when non-Misesians use the term reason, they don’t mean it in the action sense. They mean it in the scientific sense. Logic and evidence. They would say that I am not using my reason to make my crops grow. They would say I am using my faith and religious beliefs instead. So they are quite right to say that reason and faith are mutually exclusive, and that Paul was not actually “reasoning” with the Jews, but instead he is PREACHING HIS FAITH to the Jews. So EVEN IF the bible said that Paul “reasoned” with the Jews, that doesn’t mean that he was actually reasoning with them. He was showing them the bible and said “believe this through faith, because it’s true.” When Christians are accused of rejecting reason, that accusation is not based on the notion that Christians positively reject reason consciously, nor is it based on the notion that Christians never seem to SAY they are using their reason. I can speak for myself, and I am sure many non-believers will agree, that the accusation that Christians reject reason is based on their chosen epistemology when they claim to have acquired actual knowledge. That chosen epistemology, faith, is not based on reason, DESPITE Christians believing they are using reason, DESPITE Christians saying they are using reason. That is the position of agnostics/atheists Just like I will keep telling the rain dancer that he is not using reason in the non-Misesian sense, despite his belief that he is using reason and despite his claim that he is using reason, I will keep telling Christians the same thing. So Christians cannot claim to be using reason when they preach about their belief in Gods, even if you find verbal mentions of “reason” in the bible. Bob wrote: “Do you think when Apollos “vigorously refuted the Jews publicly, showing from the Scriptures that Jesus is the Christ,” that he just kept waving them around, saying, “You have to have faith guys, c’mon!” ?” MF wrote: “Yes.” Well, you’re totally wrong then. Are you just being stubborn, or do you really think that’s what Apollos said? Right now I’m in the middle of an email debate between two Christian guys (from different sects) on some doctrinal issue. Do you want me to forward you an example of their back-and-forths? They aren’t trying to one-up each other on who believes “harder” or whose faith is stronger. To repeat, they’re not appealing to reproducible experiments to make their cases. But it’s not “anti-reason.” In fairness, Bob, in this post you’re depending a lot the use of one particular word (“reasoned”) to make your point about the rhetorical methods of early Christians, which, well, doesn’t seem very strong. I’ve seen translations that use “debated” in place of “reasoned”, for example. And when you get to the point where you’re basing your “historical inferences about epistemology” on the translation of one Ancient Greek word, well … OK let’s say it’s “debated” or “argued” or something else like that. My point is, they were having an argument. That isn’t possible, if really we think there is a categorical difference between faith and reason. (I suppose the only exception would be, if the argument were over whose faith was stronger.) Arguing is not enough. A drunken brain damaged demagogue can “argue” until the cows come home. Two people can argue over which nonsensical God is worth praying to over the other. Two people can argue over whether working on Sunday deserves death (OT) or not death (NT), according to which biblical passage is “more right” than the other. Two people can argue over all things anti-reason and faith related. It doesn’t mean they are being rational in the non-Misesian, positivistic.” MF wrote: They didn’t use their reason at all in this, and instead thought something like “Kill them and let God sort them out.” You had me until that line, MF. I understood what you were saying (though I disagreed strongly with your overall view), but there you went off the deep end. This is not at all how people argue theology.. It’s the same thing with theologians arguing over the Bible and what it means. You had me until that line, MF. I understood what you were saying (though I disagreed strongly with your overall view), but there you went off the deep end. This is not at all how people argue theology. I said people in the bible. Not secularized theists of today, who have access to secular morality and philosophy apart from the bible. Consider yourself lucky, Bob. I have spoken with many Christians who do say that, and mean it. I mean, you do know about the “Christian right.” If it came down to it, if a theist had to choose between abandoning their faith, or killing some innocent person who is not a believer, or who worships some other God, then many otherwise people peaceful people would choose murder, because in their minds they are thinking “murder and repent and get into heaven, or lose faith and go to hell and be in pain forever and ever.” It’s why many Christian US soldiers have no problems killing innocent people in the middle east. They are hard core OT Christians. Deep end? I am not the one calling for killing innocent people and letting God sort them out, the way I know many Christians do! You have to accept that Christians, many of them, are crazy. Take Callahan for example. That idiot is a walking violent threats troll. He has just recently again called for my death, this time by bombs. Are you saying Callahan is not a Christian? You might be a good Christian, but your type is more rare than the bad types.. The Star Wars saga exists. George Lucas exists. We know they exist through our senses and using our reason to identify them as real concepts. Not a good analogy. It’s the same thing with theologians arguing over the Bible and what it means. It’s entirely different. The difference is that arguing over whether Lucas will turn Luke evil is based on the reality of Lucas and the reality of the Star Wars movies. They are known via observation. I can easily take you to Best Buy and SHOW you the Star Wars movies, and I can easily pull up videos, articles, and all other media to SHOW you the existence of Lucas. So speculating on what Lucas might do, is based on reason, because the foundation is based on reason. Arguing over what an invisible man in the sky will do or won’t do, is not based on reason, but on faith. The key word is BASED in “based on.” Sure, you might be successfully using logic superficially when talking about the bible, but the foundation is faith based, so all the “logic” on top is also faith based and not based on reason. “A drunken brain damaged demagogue can “argue” until the cows come home.” An example of a self-confirming sentence! Mr. Freedom.” Number 1, what is your authority in stating the people did those things “because…”. How do you know that? I don’t imagine you were there. Number 2, Ditto, how do you know “they didn’t use their reason and thought something…”? Is that just a guess? Richards Well, you’re totally wrong then. Are you just being stubborn, or do you really think that’s what Apollos said? I’m totally wrong? Based on what? I think that quote you made is an apt paraphrasing of what he was doing and saying. It’s not necessary that he said those exact words! You’re sort of setting up a straw man when you say it’s either reason, or else “have faith people, come on!” in those exact words. Right now I’m in the middle of an email debate between two Christian guys (from different sects) on some doctrinal issue. Do you want me to forward you an example of their back-and-forths? Only if you say what goal you expect to come out of doing that, and I agree it’s worth taking the time to achieve it as well. They aren’t trying to one-up each other on who believes “harder” or whose faith is stronger. Oh really? Then why are they debating at all? If the topic is based on faith, then debating wouldn’t that strongly suggest that they each believe their faith is stronger and better than the other’s faith? I think they’re just holding back. Let me have a go with them, and you might see their cool calm demeanor suddenly go to one upping each other, kind of like how we’re doing that right now. I mean, come on, when I say “Yes”, and then you say “Well, you’re totally wrong then”, how is that not one upping each other? To repeat, they’re not appealing to reproducible experiments to make their cases. But it’s not “anti-reason.” Then the problem must be their logic based on premises adopted by faith that they are making errors in as they propound their anti-reason. MF I don’t know what else to say on this. It seems to me that you are saying by definition someone arguing about God, must not be using his reason but ultimately can only be using his “faith.” If that’s your view, nothing I can say–and no empirical evidence of actual theists I can offer–can possibly sway you. Your view is literally non-falsifiable, which is sort of ironic given the context.. MF I don’t know what else to say on this. It seems to me that you are saying by definition someone arguing about God, must not be using his reason but ultimately can only be using his “faith.” By meaning, yes, not by mere definition. If that’s your view, nothing I can say–and no empirical evidence of actual theists I can offer–can possibly sway you. Your view is literally non-falsifiable, which is sort of ironic given the context. Good thing it isn’t then.. Wait, you went from “if you are saying it’s definitional” to “you’re saying it’s definitional.” That’s not really fair. Only if someone is using faith in their arguments, are they abandoning reason in favor of faith. Since “God” is incoherent, it is necessarily required that discussing God requires abandoning reason in favor of faith. It’s not definitional that talking of God is talking faith. It’s the fact that one is abandoning logic and evidence. At any rate, I used to be a participant in action, as in being a theist participant in action. So when I say that Christians reject reason when they discuss Christianity, it is not as if I haven’t observed them in action. I can expose the faith in a Christian’s beliefs and where/how they have abandoned reason. It’s very easy to do. You’re speaking as if it’s insanely difficult to point to where people believe without logic or evidence that there is an invisible man in the sky. I don’t want to be painted into a straw man corner where my arguments are dismissed on the basis that they are “non-falsifiable” and “definitional.” They are not. For hypothetical, empirical propositions, the people who are espousing non-falsifiable claims are Christians, not atheists. Theists are saying God cannot be disproved on the basis of lack of empirical evidence. God exists, and that’s that. No empirical evidence is capable of refuting God. Have you even considered what WOULD disprove God, if you don’t think logic is enough? I bet no empirical event or events could ever do it, in your mind. I guess my arguments are not that convincing, and I’ll accept that, but they are certainly not based on definitional claims. I mean, who’s saying that arguments necessarily mean the people’s assertions are based on reason and not faith? Who’s saying that passages in the bible that say “reasoned with” means they used reason and not faith? It’s not me. But those are “by definition” type arguments. MF wrote: Since “God” is incoherent, it is necessarily required that discussing God requires abandoning reason in favor of faith. How is this not a definitional thing? With statements like this, you sure make it sound as if the very concept of the Christian God is not something amenable to reason. Is that what you’re saying? Are you saying it cannot possibly be the case that the Biblical accounts are largely true? How is this not a definitional thing? It is not definitional because I am not defining “Christian God” as “anti-reason.” I am saying that the meaning of Christian God, and the meaning of reason, are antithetical according to the logic of human knowledge. If I argued that rain dances are antithetical to reason (in the non-Misesean sense), then this is not definitional in that I am making a rather straightforward, simple statement. It is the outcome of understanding the meaning of having faith in some claim to knowledge that one’s dancing will communicate with Gods that control the clouds and rain, and the meaning of using one’s reason in some claim to knowledge about the world through logic and evidence, which in my worldview is ultimately grounded in the praxeological bridge between mind and reality, that enables me to distinguish between the two claims to knowledge, and enables me to know that they are mutually exclusive categories of thought. One rejects praxeological foundation of knowledge, the other does not. Are you saying it cannot possibly be the case that the Biblical accounts are largely true? I know that my mind, and all other human minds that are constrained to the same logical structure, cannot allow me to claim to know that logically incoherent concepts like “God” are true. Not unless there is some absolute foundation grounded in irrefutable praxeological reasoning. To know something requires some irrefutable, necessary foundation the truth of which cannot be denied without contradiction. Not a single person, to my knowledge, has ever provided an irrefutable proof that their religious faith is consistent with an irrefutable truth grounded in such irrefutable reasoning. In every debate I have, through persistent digging and prodding and constant asking of “why?”, every religious believer, EVERY SINGLE ONE, has been compelled to resort to the position that the ultimate “why” in their minds, the ultimate foundation, is “because I said so” or “because that’s what I believe” or, “it’s just something I believe is true”, or “because there is nothing better for me to go by” or, what really grinds my gears, they elicit the self-refuting claim “because mortal humans can’t know anything with the kind of absolute certainty you are demanding; all human convictions are ultimately based on faith.” Then they make the certain conviction that they are sure God exists and that their faith is enabling them to have certain knowledge about reality! Argh! I go to the bare bones. The ultimate foundation of human knowledge. When I do that, which I hope everyone would do, it is SO EASY TO KNOW how untenable and vacuous religious faith really is. Nothing can be known that is beyond what the human mind is capable of learning. Does this mean that there are certain truths which we as acting entities cannot know? Yes. The fact that we are acting means we are learning. The fact that we are learning means we are learning truths about reality. But does this mean that we can claim to have knowledge over that which is either there, ready for us to learn but not yet learned, or, in the case of incoherent concepts like God, go beyond the scope of the human mind;s logical constraints? No! It is a pipe dream. In the former case, you see atheists and theists make this mistake. In the latter case, you only see theists make that mistake. The difference is that the mistakes atheists make can in principle be rectified. Not so with those who reject the logical constraints of human knowledge, and thus reject the logic of human action, and thus reject logic based knowledge itself. I am not, of course, saying you reject logic. I am saying you only reject it when it comes to religion. You want logic to be the arbiter in economics and everyday life, but you want faith to be the arbiter in metaphysics, the realm of reality which is beyond current human knowledge and action, or beyond human knowledge and action per se. Putting this all together, when you say I am saying “Christian God is not something amenable to reason” I will respond and say that I am saying “Christian God is not something amenable to HUMAN reason.” Maybe some superhuman entity with mental powers beyond our abilities whose minds are beyond the logical constraints of the human mind can know what humans can’t know. But we humans, with our special logical structure, we cannot claim to know what Christians are claiming to know when they espouse Christianity. I sense in your writings the strong desire for returning to a lost paradise of ages past, when people were closer to creation temporally, and thus allegedly closer to the creator. From Plotinus to Boehme to Hegel to Marx to even Keynes, there has been throughout human history a desire to go back to when humans were allegedly more spiritual, more connected with the Gods. Time and division of labor and learning of distinct concepts puts in many people’s minds the intolerable notion of separation, isolation, and alienation. Christians worship the bible and the people in the bible because they believe that it was during the time of Jesus that God finally called humans back to him, after being estranged and cut off from God for so long. They view Christ as the conduit between the temporal, alienated from God earthly life, and the eternal, wholeness with God afterlife. Christianity is a highly individualistic moral quest, since each individual human is either saved or punished, as opposed to some other religions which are more collectivistic and talks about all humans either being saved or not. This is why, I suspect, why you can be a libertarian and a Christian at the same time. On Earth, the individualistic moral backdrop of Christianity allows you to adhere to a morality of individualistic economics. This is I think why I myself went from Christianity to atheist libertarianism. The transition was rather smooth. Just imagine a Marxist atheist transitioning to Christian libertarianism! MF what do you mean buy saying God is an “incoherent concept”? A rain dance is a coherent concept; you and I both think it’s false. But it’s coherent. It’s physically possible that dancing will make it rain (or will make it more likely that it will rain, whatever). My point is, you are saying something a heck of a lot stronger when it comes to God. It tells me there is no point in even arguing with you. With the rain dance, if you and disagreed, we could have grounds for an argument. I might ask, “What would it take to convince you that my dancing actually causes it to rain?” But if you’re saying the very concept of God is incoherent, then there’s nothing really to say, right? No matter what the evidence, you already know what the answer has to be. I realize my statements don’t necessarily conform to some of your other statements, but that’s because (I claim) you are contradicting yourself. Bob, Are you spending time reading the Bible so you know where they are coming from and how they are delusional, or are you actually a Christian? I’m a little confused. Sal, I’m a born again Christian. Every Sunday I do one post on a religious topic. (If you search my blog for posts with the “Religious” tag, you can see past ones.) I’m guessing you are another horrified fan. Thanks for the post, Doc. Paul’s writings are my favorites, with their appeal to reason. I also like Matthew, which uses ties to the Old Testament. Reason and history always work with me. Christianity’s two great commandments — love God and love your neighbor as yourself (i.e., do unto others as you would have done unto yourself) — make great sense to me. Rabbinical Judaism, the relic of the southern tribe of Judah and the Levites, with its preferential treatment of fellow Jews, is clearly much different from Christianity. I have read rabbinical Judaism described as anti-Christianity. Seems plausible to me, based on what I read in ‘Jesus and the Talmud’ by Prof. Shafer and other similar books. No wonder the northern tribes of Israel disappeared from history as a separate, standalone group, as they rejected the separatist, ‘chosen people’ narrative of the Levites and intermarried with neighboring tribes who also believed in a universal, moral, loving God. Off topic — amazing how Bob Wenzel’s forecast for an improving economy (in the short-term) due to rapid increases in M1/M2 over the past five months is coming to pass, e.g., ‘Black Friday’ sales up 7%. Ordinarily, in light of the terrible fundamentals underlying our economy — e.g., skyhigh household debt/personal income — I would be short the S&P 500 (I made my fortune shorting the S&P 500 over ’07-’08). But, I learned my lesson about watching the money supply and understanding that it is a fool’s errand to expect falling stock prices in the face of M1/M2 growing 13-29% annualized (after having lost $600K shorting in ’09, given continuing terrible economic fundamentals but a strongly growing money supply). I really hope you aren’t Wenzel posting as “John G.” (just kidding) Bob, In Reformed Protestant theology, justifying faith has three aspects: 1) Knowledge of the factual assertions of the gospel (noticia) 2) Intellectual assent that the factual assertions made by the gospel are true (assentia) 3) Personal committment or trust in the object of the gospel, namely Jesus Christ. (fiducia) In order for justification to occur, all three sub-faith conditions must be met, but as a thought process, these may hypothetically occur in any order or simultaneously, just so long as all three are satisfied. The “reasoning” or apologetic may satisfy the first and second conditions, but this is not sufficient for a full blown justifying “faith”. Justifying faith comes when we understand the historical factuals which are asserted (life, death, resurrection), lower our intellectual resistance to them, and make a steadfast personal committment to the object of the gospel (Jesus Christ). Therefore, the reason that reason or aplogetic is important to justifying faith, is that faith must have an object which appears reasonable to the mind. However, I am becoming personally pursuaded that 3 must come before 2, or we can never get to all three. We cannot actually “know Christ” or have a “personal relationship” with Christ until #3 is taken, and likewise we will never lower our intellectual guard until we trust enough to allow it to be lowered. Now this does not mean that ultimately for many persons, problems with #2 do not short circut #3. In other words, someone first makes a committment, this allows them to dig deeper, but later they find that either they can no longer trust, or that their trust is driven to an even deeper level by a reasoned intellectual assent. Over the years, as I have studied philosophy of science, it has become apparent to me that this is similar to what occurs in the scientific method as practiced by real scientists. In order to know or understand at a deep level, we must understand data, lower our intellectual resistance to a particular hypothesis, but then go further by making a personal committment to an idea or hypothesis, and it is this personal committment that allows us to go to a deeper level of understanding. Here’s another interesting bit of info about reason and the scriptures: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”–Jn 1:1 The word “Word” in this passage refers to Christ, and is translated from the Greek word “logos,” meaning reason or logic (among other things). Many people might remember from their composition 101 class that Aristotle used the word “logos” as the name of one of his main forms of rhetoric–the logical appeal. This text suggests that reason/logic is not simply something that should be used by believers, but is actually the central column of our faith, holding the roof up. And if all things were truly made through Christ, who is logos (as John goes on to say), then it only makes sense that reason is woven into the fabric of creation, and subsequently the Christian faith. Reasoning is a tool, capable for good or ill use by the person who uses it, be it theist or atheist. Ultimately, the means of reasoning tend to be justified or polluted by the ends to which reason is employed. Reason in the unbiased ad hoc search for knowledge is the ideal but this highest good is rarely achieved, even by scientists, who being human, are always susceptible to some bias. The beauty of science though is that it is inherently self-correcting so the biases, if wrong, eventually fail On the flip side is when reason is used (usually post hoc) to justify dogma and faith (in the religious sense = belief without evidence) or other unchallenged (or narrowly challenged) beliefs. To the extent that many religious and faith-based beliefs tend to be unfalsifiable by science or reason, one has to conclude that they either lie outside reason or conflict with it at some point. Kierkegaard tried mightily to resolve this gap and render faith “reasonable” but his arguments, though clever, essentially all failed (though you can still find some theist philosophers arguing otherwise – most theist and atheist philosophers have been unmoved by them). A belief ultimately based on faith cannot be reconciled with reason but only on the tautology of faith itself. Unlike science, biases held on faith have no inherent correctability unless the faith itself is rejected by reason. Since I see no reason to accept faith as representing any real knowledge (other than the fact of a subjective belief itself), I reject faith and believe it leads the world astray. I think our world would be better off without it. It is really nothing more than wishful thinking held as knowledge. No wonder we get the governments we do… “Since I see no reason to accept faith as representing any real knowledge” Do you accept that some types of real knowledge such as the meaning of patterns is indeed held tacitly, just below the conscious rational level in the brain, and is acted upon by something resembling a personal belief? I see where you are going and your argument is fraught with semantic minefields such that i cannot answer it cogently and unambiguously as stated. If you really want to to pursue this line of reasoning then you will need to precisely lay out how you are defining your terms and assumptions. i think you are conflating knowledge with perception and subjectivity with objectivity (which is easy at the purely subjective level since they are arguably the same). i would agree that brains can perceive, perform pattern recognition, reason, and believe to various degrees both consciously and unconsciously and both tacitly and explicitly – all of which are subject to error. Since I’m assuming we’re all not advocating solipsism, then please note my using the word “representing: in your above quotation of me. Our brains form ideas that represent (i.e. model) knowledge but they also model and issue lots of nonsense too. I’m assuming there is an external reality and truth that God would have to be part of that we are trying to use logic, inference, and deduction on in the formal sense to prove. Informal subconscious forms of logic and reason may yield beliefs that emerge consciously that are good models of external/universal “Truth” but if they can’t be mirrored or re-expressed by formal logic and reasoning at the conscious level they certainly can’t serve as proof and at best they serve only as a very weak form of evidence. Philosophical arguments are not conducted at the subconscious level. i cannot mind-meld with you and observe your Bayesian probabilistic reasoning and pattern recognition abilities any more than my own. The bottom line is that faith is a subjective feeling of belief of knowledge and it requires external evidence to validate if there really any universal Truth that can be mapped to it or deduced/inferred from it. At that point however, it ceases to be “faith” and becomes “trust”. I have trust that my wife hasn’t cheated on me due to the evidence of lots of behavioral history inconsistent with cheating and a complete lack of evidence of infidelity. I also feel it in my gut – sort of like faith – but i can’t tell or argue effectively how much of my gut feeling is wishful thinking and how much is correct subconscious pattern recognition and reasoning. If I had lots of evidence that my wife cheated on me but continued to believe in her fidelity due to my gut, that would be faith, especially if i willfully avoided investigating the matter further. i find that most, though not all, people of faith choose to avoid investigation even in the face of conflicting evidence and logic. Let’s face it, people want to believe in life after death, that the evil are punished, and the good redeemed. It’s very comforting. “Reason in the unbiased ad hoc search for knowledge is the ideal . . . .” You take as your “ideal” a rule that would make any conclusions about the world of space and time impossible? How so? But to clarify. I did not intend “bias” to include empirically or logically validated knowledge or even hypotheses derived from same that may be wrong. Any search has to have a starting reference frame and some assumptions. Its the process that counts. Science progresses mainly, though not exclusively, via falsifiable ad hoc hypotheses that stand or fall on experiment and/or internal consistency based on math or logic. However,Ii would not argue that human gut instinct assumptions are not important. Being a scientist myself I can attest that they are often the main catalyst to hypothesis formation and the creative exploration process. But from an epistemic perspective, they can’t be trusted to for their own truth content, per se. This contrasts with faith based ideas like creationism that only seek to falsify competing ideas without positive empirical effort to support itself – and the frequent denial or suspension of logical reasoning when faith is questioned. Apologetics is basically a post hoc rationalization of faith. The faith is a given and can only be questioned to the extent that the conclusion remains intact. i would argue that is unreasonable. What each of us experiences is a set of sensations, broadly defined. From this we “infer” the existence of a world of space and time. What justifies that inference, if not intuition? The theist and the atheist look at the same evidence. The atheist generally finds the notion of a transcendent God counter-intuitive, and that affects his interpretation of the available data. The theist generally finds the notion of a transcendent God quite intuitive, and that affects his interpretation of the available data. Neither approach is more “rational” than the other. It is nonsensical to talk about proceeding solely on the basis of evidence. Without theoretical preconceptions, there is no such thing as evidence—only data, from which nothing follows. This is really obfuscation to support Murphy’s original contention and instead, you are unintentionally helping to prove him wrong. If humanity relied only on the informal forms of subconscious reasoning you are trying to base all reasoning on (even if true – and I do indirectly agree by way of Kant and Wittgenstein), we’d still be in the stone age. I have not denied, but have stated myself, that subconscious intuitive processes, served by subconscious perception and pattern recognition inform and bias our ideas and “theoretical preconceptions” (though “theoretical” may be stretching it a bit). But that is not revealed knowledge or truth. Approaching knowledge and truth requires some formal reasoning and evidence. At the level of subconscious perception, reasoning or intuition, I’d agree that the theist and atheist are on the same playing field and neither can be assumed superior to the other. It is how they proceed beyond that base that counts and this is where atheists are generally superior and where evidence counts. I think another way to point out your reasoning errors is to point to a somewhat misleading statement you made, i.e., that God is counter-intuitive for atheists. Most of my atheist friends, as I suspect is true in most predominantly theist countries like the US, were originally theists who would tell you their original intuitions were firmly theist (however biased or brainwashed by parental/societal upbringing). Though I was not raised with formal religion, when I was young, God also seemed to be intuitively correct, as most deceptively simple answers are. It wasn’t until I could skeptically examine religious claims vs. scientific claims that I begin to realize that God was a very poor answer to the question “where did we come from?”, among others. Moreover, I also discovered that whatever powerful subjective feelings that compel people to believe in various gods, alien abductions, etc. could be elicited by many natural means such as intense communal meditation/prayer and drugs. Experiments with DMT (the most powerful hallucinogenic drug – also secreted naturally during brain death by the pineal gland) in my younger days enabled me to see just how compelling these visions and “revealed knowledge” can feel – even after the experience is over. Intuition is often wrong and is more likely to be wrong the more complex and diversified the conceptual hierarchy becomes. We know from many psychological studies that the errors the brain makes have many nearly universal biases. Some of these we know as optical illusions. Others involve chronic probability reasoning errors such as well-known gambler’s paradoxes, e.g., the belief that the next roll of the dice is more likely to be a number that hasn’t come up for a long time. There is some evidence and many good evolutionary reasons to suggest that we are predisposed to certain forms of religious belief, which, if true, only make it harder for the religious to deny their intuition. The evolutionary pressures for tribalistic religious belief, which offered many benefits to our ancestors, our largely counterproductive in modern society I believe. This is why skepticism is considered pejorative by many if not most theists. Open-minded skepticism is what brought most atheists I know to atheism, and, to a lesser extent, what has made some atheists theists and Hindus into Buddhists, etc. I have more respect for such people, regardless of where their reason led them because their reasoning is generally more sound by virtue of the skeptical approach. Open-minded questioning, skepticism, and rational rigor are not confined to atheists, but my observation is that they tend to be vastly superior in those traits over theists. “Our brains form ideas that represent (i.e. model) knowledge” Oh we really do need to talk about Kant. I wish I had more time. “Approaching knowledge and truth requires some formal reasoning and evidence.’ Consider what is taking place when a criminologist extracts an image of a perpetrator from the brain of a vicitim through a sketch. The brain can both store a copy of the complex pattern of a human face, but also recognizes the meaning of the pattern, and with the aid of an artist’s rendition, recast it so that others make the same interpretation when comparing the drawing to a group of supects in a lineup. But if asked to communicate this knowledge in terms of formal language, it would be very difficult. That which is stored in the brain is real knowlege of a very complex pattern of noses, eyes, mouth, hair, ect. that is gained through sense perception, and yet it is easy to see that we actually ‘know more than we can tell”. I only see you trying to skirt the main argument and sweep a lot of ineffable pattern recognition under the rug of “knowledge”. I’ll grant you Wittgenstein’s “Beetle in a Box” but you don’t seem to know the first thing about epistemology. In any case, eyewitness testimony is increasingly being shown to be highly unreliable – far more unreliable than originally believed by most jurists and ordinary people. Your memory of events and faces is not “knowledge”. It is merely belief supported by potentially dubious subjective sensation, memory, and largely unconscious pattern recognition. It IS evidence but you can’t base a strong conviction in the existence of God on this kind evidence alone. People have reported all sorts of such evidence for many types of gods, spirits, fairies, alien abductors, etc. etc. that are not mutually consistent. If they were, this would be better evidence, though still assailable – especially if humans come pre-wired for religious experience.
Getting health insurance in Ohio might seem like a very tedious process, especially considering how the policies and requirements differ from one state to another. But if you reside in Ohio, you’re in luck. This article will cover Ohio health insurance, along with the companies and policies available for you in this state. Ohio is the 7th most populated and the 10th most densely populated state in the US, meaning there is likely to be competition among health insurance providers due to such a high number of possible consumers. Due to this, it is best to first analyze the available health insurance policies and to pick out the best medical insurance in Ohio even among the better ones. Summary Here at NewHealthInsurance we have collected some of Ohio’s most affordable health insurance plans and providers to make your process of finding the right one less of a pain and a smoother experience. You can also get free quotes at our website, by simply filling up the form to help find your perfect health insurance. What are the health insurance plans available in Ohio? Medicaid Medicaid is a government health insurance plan that provides health coverage to eligible citizens. Eligibility is usually attained among the low income demography more easily, making it highly cost efficient. It is able to provide this service to people belonging to every state of the country. This plan works as a very basic alternative to health insurance provided by private companies, while costing less. Medicaid is also able to work until one saves up sufficient monetary resources until a plan with better coverage is attainable due to the fact that it is a low cost health insurance. Affordable Care Act (ACA) It is the insurance provided by the healthcare reform act signed in March 2010. It is also referred to as Obamacare at times. Unlike Medicaid it is not available in every state of the country, but Ohio is an exception. Obama care in Ohio is one of the government provided health insurance plans that works towards making affordable health insurance more available to people in different states, even when they do not have the highest funds to spend. This plan is ideal for low income consumers due to its low cost maintenance and access to a wider array of the demography compared to the ones from private service providers. Student Insurances For the demographic that is still in the process of studying as a part of a university or an organization, the education provider may also have policies and plans that provide health insurance to their students. While the applications of these plans tend to be limited and largely stipulated, it is also an affordable health insurance for students in Ohio who have not just tuition but even rent and other fees where their money will be dispensed. These plans work as merely a temporary health insurance until the student is settled and able to manage funds for a health insurance that provides more coverage and benefits which may become their permanent one. But again, not having to worry about searching for insurance providers and getting it from their universities itself can prove a huge relief. Medicare Like in every state of the US, medicare is also an option for health related coverage. It is also the cheapest health insurance in Ohio, considering how part A of medicare is free eligible citizens while it is low cost for ones who do not qualify for the free one with getting other plans also always being a possibility. But there’s one catch, it is available for only people over 65, making this health care plan available only to a portion of the demographic, yet a very cheap health insurance in the state of Ohio. Private Health insurance companies in Ohio Besides the government provided health insurance services, there are many private organizations that work to provide health insurance plans to people in this state. We have covered a couple of such organizations below in this article. What makes private health services desirable despite the possible higher expenses, is the competition among them. This pushes respective organizations to provide more benefits or perks to consumers to make it more appealing than their competition, ultimately benefiting the consumers. This allows people to get the most out of their investment and make it more sustainable than other options. Private health insurance companies in Ohio have been seen to provide government given health insurances as well, so it is wise to keep an eye out for them. Now that you know about your health insurance options, what’s next? With those being some of the major medical coverage plans available in the state, it is clear that there are multiple ways to analyze the possible choices and the benefits they provide. But choosing the plan alone is merely halfway through the process, it is now time to pick a proper provider for the health insurance one desires. This is an important step due to the fact that policies vary among providers, meaning even for the exact same coverage there may be price differences along with perks that may be beneficial in the long run. This makes it important to study the policies before picking one off of first impressions. Where can you get the best medical insurance in Ohio? Considering how high the population of this state is, it is only natural for there to be many health insurance providers in Ohio. This competition among providers leads to generation of countless options and possibly a better deal for consumers. But even with that, the available options can seem overwhelming when searching for a suitable provider for oneself, causing the availability of options to almost be a burden. Due to this, we are covering some of the private health insurance options in Ohio that offer cost efficient and sustainable health insurance plans. Buckeye Health Plan Named after the Buckeye state itself, buckeye health plan is one of the best health insurance in Ohio, primarily based in the state itself. The fact that it’s based right here is almost a game changer considering it is able to take into account the actual conditions of the state while policies are created, providing a more practical health care insurance. Ohio Medicaid also picked Buckeye Health plan as providers for them in 2022 and further down the line, meaning eligibility for medicaid and all necessary processes to apply can be done directly through this insurance company with presumably minimal confusion ensuring a better experience. What makes it worth checking out? - Its agency is located at the capital of the state, Columbus, resulting in easier access. - Chosen by Ohio Medicaid to provide consumers Medicaid along with possible extra perks including free-of-cost dental, vision-related health services along with transportation cost coverage. - Medicaid might be the cheapest health insurance in Ohio - Option for Telehealth, meaning doctors can be contacted while at home without the hassle of traveling. Golden Rule Insurance Company Golden Rule Insurance Company is a health insurance company that has teamed up with United Healthcare and is primarily based in Indiana. But it has as a branch right here in Ohio too, called Golden Rule Senior Benefits that primarily works to provide health insurance to, as the name suggests senior citizens.This is one health insurance companies in Ohio to absolutely consider if you lie in the prioritized demography as policies specifically curated for senior citizens will be available making this plan likely more practical. This insurance company also provides Obama care in Ohio along with several other of their own plans. Why consider Golden Rule Insurance Company? - Provisions for ACA health insurance plans - Medicare and medicaid plans - Age free dentist and vision related insurance - Ability to get a temporary health insurance with option to opt into a permanent one Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield Anthem is yet another health insurance provider that provides health insurance services to people, across the country through their branches across multiple states. Ohio is one of the states it works in, specializing in individual health insurance. It provides tiers of health insurance that vary in coverage and price that consumers are able to choose as per their need and capacity to invest. Reasons to consider signing up - Health plans available in different price ranges to optimize as per the consumer’s condition. - Their Smart Rewards program - Pharmacy and catastrophic coverage plans - Virtual meetings with associated doctors These were some of the best healthcare plans in Ohio that we were able to find. Each having their own benefits and plans they offer, and each company is a viable option, but choosing must largely depend on the consumer’s situation. With so many options to choose from and health insurance being such an important investment to make, it is wise to pick a provider and plan carefully. An informed and planned out decision will always work better in the long term, due to which picking price-efficient yet sustainable plans is key. Health Insurance in Ohio FAQs: How much is health insurance a month for a single person? While the health insurance price tends to vary from state to state, it is about 300$ to 600$ in the state of Ohio for an individual health insurance plan in 2022. While the price tends to vary with age and location, that is the price range one must expect while moving forward with finding a suitable plan for oneself. How much is health insurance in Ohio per month? Health insurance in Ohio typically costs between 300$ to 600$ monthly for an individual. The price tends to vary from one company to another due to their respective policies. The price also has different ranges as per the coverage one company provides for the corresponding price range. While the increase in coverage provided may not seem too drastic between the cheapest and most expensive ones, one must consider the areas the plan covers before picking which one is best for themselves. What is the average cost of healthcare in Ohio? The average health insurance cost in Ohio depends upon not just the company providing the plans but the age, location and the “tier” of plan chosen in the respective healthcare provider. This means there are many factors that account for the cost or its average, but it would make sense to assume the price to be likely 400$ to 500$ monthly for an average medium coverage plan. How do I get free healthcare in Ohio? Medicaid and Medicare being federal medical insurance makes it one of the only ways to receive free healthcare in Ohio. But it is a very selectively provided healthcare plan due to the fact that only citizens who meet the eligibility requirements are able to receive specified benefits. Even in cases where free ones are not available, plans such as Obama care in Ohio help provide very low cost and efficient health insurance to low income citizens, making it less of a financial burden. Does Ohio offer health insurance? Yes, a range of companies provides federal and private health insurance in Ohio. This means, one is able to choose from different plans and policies that they may be provided as per their eligibility. The availability of options itself is accompanied by the uncertainty of picking the best bang for one’s buck, due to which careful consideration is suggested before permanently committing to a plan. Which are the coverages under health insurance? The coverages under health insurance largely depend upon the plan a consumer decides to choose from their respective healthcare provider. Coverage tends to depend upon, price, plan, and eligibility. Usually, most health insurances cover doctor visits, prescriptions, and medical gadgets. But depending upon plans some can cover catastrophic accidents, surgeries, and even major treatments, but presumably at a higher premium. Conclusion Because the topic of health insurance as a whole is very confusing yet one that must be dealt with by almost everyone, it tends to push people away from what’s best for them and just go with the flow without analyzing plans that may be more effective in the long run. Due to this, taking the whole process slow and finding ways to maximize their coverage for an effective price must be one’s goal with health insurance. To help with this, here at NewHealthInsurance, we provide free quotes to help you find the best health insurance for the most efficient price.
.. It was National Library Day on 8th of February and in honour of that a few of us* decided to blog our top 20 books. You are more than welcome to join in the fun. An impossible job to select just twenty books out of over a half century's reading - so I have picked the ones that first came to mind that mark different periods of my life. They are not the 'best' books and whilst I might not always remember their storyline - they bring back vivid memories of my own! I realised that I was waffling on so long about each book that I've decided to split the twenty into two different blogs, so here are my first ten! As Julie Andrew's suggested Let's start at the very beginning - a very good place to start 1. The Illustrated Treasury of Children's Literature I wanted a book to reflect the joy and diversity of reading I experienced as a child. Visits to our local library were a fortnightly family affair, choosing two or three books to tide us over 'til the next visit. I loved the slightly musty, woody smell of the small library and the excitement of finding a book with the promise of a new world to immerse myself in. One of my particular pleasures was to read whilst eating which OldMaSock could hardly object to as PaSock was doing the same. My favourite book was a Christmas present called 'Once Long Ago' a beautifully illustrated book comprising of fairy tales, myths and legends from around the world. I still have it - a little battered as it is now over fifty years old and has done a circuit of my nieces before returning to my shelves. Beautiful though 'Once Long Ago' is, my personal vote from this era goes to the fabulous Children's Treasury - a bit of a cheat as it is a book crammed full of poems and pieces from other works and includes stories from Aesops Fables, Alice in Wonderland (with illustrations by Sir John Tenniel leaving me with a proper picture of Alice) and a myriad poems that I learnt by heart for the pleasure of it and still remember. Alongside Wordsworth's 'Daffodils', 'The Fairies' by William Allingham, various pieces by Robert Louis Stevenson... was 'The Goops' by Gelett Burgess, a family favourite description of the children, a poem close to my heart which I passed on to my nieces. 2. The Odyssey I've included Homer's sequel to the Iliad (which I also read in translation) - a cracking good adventure story and the only reason I continued with taking Latin up to 'O' level (which in the event, I failed miserably). It also represents my love of Greek and Roman legends which I read avidly and, over the years, has provided the answer to many a pub quiz question. 3. Charles and Mary Lamb's Tales of Shakespeare I had to have some Shakespeare in my list and pay tribute to an author who has enriched our language in so many ways - not to mention lent his words to a thousand book titles. We did 'Midsummer Night's Dream', 'As you Like it', 'The Tempest' and 'Anthony and Cleopatra' in detail at school - the latter containing one of my favourite quotes "My salad days when I was green in judgement". Rather than single out a particular play I'm going for 'Shakespeare Lite' - the Lamb's Tales of Shakespeare turn some overlong plays into short stories. Whilst the writing may not be glorious they do give you the gist of many of Shakespeare's plays and familiarise you with the characters. If you throw in a few quotes from the genuine product along the way, knowing these will allow you to fool people that you have read all the originals. 4. Lord of the Rings (early 70s) This, as we all know, is a much better film than book. However, turgid though J.R.R. Tolkien's writing is, with its long and tedious meaderings, I have read it twice. The first when supposedly swatting for my 'A' levels I swapped that tedium to escape into the world of wizards, elves and hobbits. LOR was popular with the young hippy 'loons and afghan coat wearing' generation who at that time were my companions of choice. A poster of Gandalf's horse 'ShadowFax' adorned my bedroom wall replacing that of Leonard Whiting as the heartbreakingly beautiful and tragic Romeo from Zefferelli's film. Even then I only got as far as the fight with Shelob before the books got too battle driven for my tastes. Many years later, when I was first struck down with ME and stuck to the sofa for a few years, I re-read it. The writing hadn't improved but my patience with it had and I finally made it through to the end.The Hobbit was always the better book. 5. Prince in the Scarlet Robe (early 70s) From LOR I moved onto Science Fantasy and read pretty much everything Michael Moorcock wrote. He created more new worlds in my head, surreal obsidian landscapes, tragic heroes and heroines who pretty much all died nasty and lingering soul-destroying deaths, all fitting depressingly well into my overwhelming teenage angst. 6. In Watermelon Sugar (mid 70s) After fleeing Wales and a reading diet that had for years been an indigestible mix of Wilbur Smith adventure novels, Jean Plaidy historical romances, and some extremely questionable (but popular at the time) novels like 'Mandingo' by Kyle Onstott , I landed in Brighton. A new start, a new me and a whole host of new ideas thrown at me every day by virtue of working with clever, articulate people at the University. My 'Daily Mail' indoctrination (caused by reading my parents daily copy of the insidious paper) quickly thrown out the window to be replaced by my own thoughts, formed with the help of kind, intelligent, people, who patiently and gently introduced me to a different way of thinking both personal and political. And new books too - I was lent 'In Watermelon Sugar' by a colleague and I remember the strange and beautiful writing which led me to read more of Richard Brautigan's books. I re-read 'The Hawkline Monster' recently and it was still as gently, mesmerizingly, weird and wonderful. 7. Fear of Flying (late 70s early 80s) A difficult choice between Erica Jong's 'zipless fuck' book and Marilyn French's 'The Women's Room'. Whilst I hadn't considered myself a feminist I certainly wasn't conforming to the 'set' female norms of get a man, get married, have kids and be a good little housewife that so many other girls of my generation had fallen into - but equally I hadn't discovered what exactly my identity as a woman was. I remember reading Marilyn French's book whilst lying on a beach on the Costa Brava and feeling a new and unleashed rage against the unjust treatment of women by men. This was somewhat ironic as my long term boyfriend, who was holidaying with me, took the brunt of my anger. (He was a gentle guy who I bossed around mercilessly and finally dumped because his idea of an easy life was to continually 'sit on the fence'.) 'The Women's Room' was another slightly turgid book which nevertheless made an impression - but Fear of Flying was amusing, ridiculous and feisty and gave me a whole new outlook on taking control of my sexuality and the vagaries of German toilets (although it should be noted that until now those were never linked together!). 8. Frenchman's Creek To balance the growing feminist in me I was also an incurable romantic. I read countless novels of the 'one-up from the bodice-ripping Mills and Boon' kind but not quite so well written as Jane Eyre. They would invariably based in some gothic, Cornish castle with a mad woman locked in the attic who would hamper the course of true love between the new, innocent, governness and the dark, brooding Lord of the Manor. I enjoyed all of Du Maurier's books and whilst the obvious choice to illustrate this might be Rebecca I always found her a bit of a wet lettuce. The heroine of Frenchman's Creek was more to my taste. 9. Pride and Prejudice (mid 80s) It was about this time that I revisited Jane Austen who I had given up on after the Dementors, that served as teachers at my Grammar school, sucked the life and soul out of her books and indeed any other form of learning. It was years before I returned to reading 'good' literature but when I realised how amusing, slyly witty and fun Austen was I devoured every one of her books in short succession and was left wanting more. 10. Hons and Rebels (early 90s) A real life eccentric family, the Mitford girls wrote with such charm and honesty they overrode any class barriers. I would defy anyone not to become totally immersed in Jessica Mitford's account of her childhood warring with her 'fascist' sisters and her own journey towards renouncing her privileged background, becoming a communist and running off to fight in the Spanish Civil War. Whilst Jessica was my favourite the other Mitford girls provided a range of reading that engaged my imagination over the years. So that's the end of my first ten books and I have waffled on enough for now.. a short break until I publish my last ten. _______ *If you are interested in others book choices then visit the following blogs.. you may just get some new reading inspiration. Vegplotting for some background on this theme Pianolearner PatientGardener LazyTrollop Lobster Massacre - .. In order to become a 'fully fledged' member of my family, all boyfriends I took to meet my increasingly eccentric parents were required to pass an in... 3 years ago 6 comments:. Helle Half a century? You don't look a day older than 29! I also loved the odyssey, but my copy is a translation, as we didn't do Latin at school. I think you'll find that it is an outdated language, ergo is not much use to us now. Frenchman's creek is a great one! I've never read any Austen. I 'm guilty of presuming they were a bit girly; Mea Culpa!. After thinking about the selection some more I have thought of a few omissions, which I won't mention till after the second part of your Magnum opus, as I don't want to influence you. I think that I would enjoy reading 'The Illustrated Treasury of Children's Literature' now if it should still be available. Had to chuckle reading your observations about LOR as I was one of that afghan coat wearing generation. Look forward to reading the second installment :) Wellywoman - Hons and Rebels is a must read and when you get to 'know' the family you may be drawn in to Nancy Mitford's writing too. Helle - I found remembering and appreciating the books I read as a child easier than picking out those I have read more recently. I only watched a few of Little House on the Prairie, perhaps it simpered a bit much for me. :) I went for The Hobbit - as you say the much better book. I suspect if Tolkein had edited down LOR, it may have surpassed it.
Posted March 22, 2006 Also linked at: Archive of Our Own Fanfiction.net Twisting the Hellmouth Title: Hands Against the Dark Author: Jedi Buttercup Disclaimer: The words are mine; the worlds are not. I claim nothing but the plot. Rating: PG-13. Summary: B:tVS/VH. The Left Hand of God and the Hand of Sineya face new challenges together. 3400 words. Spoilers: B:tVS and A:tS post-series finales; "Van Helsing" (2004). Notes: Though I enjoyed much of Angel Season 5, I was disappointed by most of the references they made to the fates of the Buffy characters. A dash of depression and a pinch of wishful thinking somehow turned into this. Buffy leaned back in one of the comfy chairs in Giles' office, sipping from a double-shot low-calorie mint latte and blinking tiredly at her erstwhile Watcher. Her skirt and blouse were wrinkled and her make-up a little worse for the wear after several hours of travel on top of a busy night of Slayage, but after the urgency she'd heard in Giles' voice over the phone, she'd been too worried to stop anywhere to freshen up. "Okay, I'm here. I couldn't find a babysitter for Lyri on such short notice, but she should be okay in the training room for awhile. So what's the what? What's going on that you couldn't tell me over the phone?" "Yes, well," Giles began defensively, the corners of his mouth drawn tight with the weight of whatever news he had to share. "Given the, the nature of this news, I rather thought..." He trailed off a little, tugging a handkerchief out of his pocket, then paused, an alarmed frown clouding his expression. "Illyria? Do you mean to tell me you are still housing that-- that monstrosity? And you brought her here? Buffy, whatever else that woman might once have been, she is now an Old One, and I do not think it appropriate..." Buffy's lips thinned. "Giles, focus. You didn't call me here because I inherited a Smurfette when Angel died. Did you? Because if that's where you want to go with this..." She hated being at odds with Giles, she always had, but something had broken between them her senior year of high school that had never quite healed. They'd kept up a working relationship over the next few years, and they certainly still cared about each other, but the understanding and trust of their early years as Watcher and Slayer had begun to dissolve. By the time Sunnydale had collapsed enough straws had been added to flatten the sturdiest of camels, and the news Illyria had brought out of LA last summer had burnt the last bridges between them. For years, she had loved him almost as a replacement for the father that had abandoned her when she was a teenager; now that he had more-or-less followed in Hank's disappointing footsteps, she felt that Giles had more than earned her resentment as well. His expression soured. "Be that as it may," he said, looking away, "perhaps it's just as well that you will have a companion of her... peculiar nature to keep you company in the future. Provided that she continues to look to you for moral guidance, of course." A cold weight settled in Buffy's stomach at that remark, and all her Slayer senses suddenly sharpened at the implication of danger. There was no good reason she could think of that Giles would be acting all vague and broody about her future, after all the months he'd spent carefully pulling his nose out of her business as far as he could. "What do you mean? What's going on?" Giles glanced at her again, and this time their gazes caught and held; his expression softened a little, and she caught a glimpse of subdued grief under his prickly exterior before the walls went up again. "You recall the research project I've had Willow working on these last few months?" Buffy blinked, startled. She'd been expecting something more along the lines of an apocalypse or a prophecy. "The Slayer-ness tests?" she asked. "Technically they're called..." He shook his head. "Well, it doesn't matter. Those are indeed the tests I was referring to." Ever since Andrew had come back from LA with a Slayer in a straightjacket, Giles had been obsessed with figuring out what exactly made Slayers different from other girls and whether they (meaning Willow) could selectively revoke the new Slayers' abilities. It was more than just guilt over letting loose a flood of newly super-powered girls who might-- intentionally or not-- misuse their gifts; Giles' continued control of the Watcher's Council was also at stake. There were enough survivors and retirees still alive to unseat him and reinstitute the death penalty if they really tried, and they'd threatened to do just that if he didn't find a new way to deal with crazed Slayers like Dana or criminal ones like Faith used to be. Buffy couldn't blame Giles for wanting to find a solution. Anything was better than the old way. At the same time, though, she hadn't forgotten the lesson of her Cruciamentum. A Slayer with her gifts in place always had options, but one without, unused to managing with a normal girl's strength and reflexes, was very nearly helpless. If they started disempowering first and asking questions later-- or routinely doing it to 18-year-old girls to keep their fighting force young and obedient-- who would stop them? Giles wouldn't live forever. She fidgeted in her chair, shifting to a more comfortable position. "I take it the results weren't good?" she said grimly. "I'm not sure how best to put this," Giles replied, hesitantly. "It seems... well, you are aware that I took blood samples from yourself, your sister, and Faith for comparison purposes?" Buffy nodded. Faith, they'd wanted for a control factor, for normally Called versus those they'd magically activated. Dawn, they'd wanted for genetic research; they had no idea how much of Buffy's DNA the monks had used in her make-up, and whether that had had anything to do with her not being a Potential Slayer. And last but not least they'd tested Buffy herself, probably hoping to discover whether her resurrection had had any detectable effect on the Slayer empowerment. Not that Giles had said as much, but after all this time she'd gotten pretty skilled at reading between his lines. "I'd heard of Tara's tests after your... return to us, and her report of your so-called cellular tan. Without being able to discuss it with her, or run those specific tests again, I cannot say for certain, but I believe that the residue of Willow's spell in your body was akin to a key fitted into a lock. Your experience in the Hellmouth two years later, bathed in the light of that amulet at close range for several seconds, was akin to turning that key. Both experiences left a magical imprint behind, and when combined together..." Giles trailed off again, then cleared his throat and removed his glasses, polishing them absently with the handkerchief still clutched in his hand. "I'm not human anymore, am I?" she asked rhetorically, steeling herself for his answer. It was nothing she hadn't expected, really; despite Tara's reassurances, she'd always feared that the failure of Spike's chip against her meant she no longer fit the definition of the species. Giles winced. "Ah... not entirely. Not any longer. I think it very likely that unless you are killed in some instantaneous fashion-- beheading, for example-- you will outlive us all. By centuries, if not millennia." Buffy's left hand drifted to her abdomen, to the place where the 'itchy mortal wound' the First had mocked her for had long since been filled in by healthy flesh. She had noticed a steep increase in her healing speed lately, but it hadn't seemed worth worrying about; it wasn't the first time her abilities had gotten stronger without any concrete explanation. "So... what you're telling me is I'm immortal now? By accident?" she said disbelievingly. "How is that even possible?" "Not immortal, exactly... just unable to die of old age, or any wound not instantly fatal," Giles explained, still polishing his glasses. "Between the restorative effects of Willow's spell and the cleansing power of the amulet, your healing factor has been amplified to the point where the tiny, unhealed cellular injuries that build up to cause old age in a normal body will be erased almost before they occur. You will appear to be the same age you are now for the rest of your life, however long that might prove to be." Like Gabriel, Buffy thought, staring at him in shock. Centuries' worth of memories and millennia more that show up only in his nightmares, but he's still as hot as the day... Her mind froze. The day he... the day... the day he'd left... I'll never see Heaven again, she thought numbly, as the nearly empty coffee cup slipped from the suddenly nerveless fingers of her right hand. "Buffy? Buffy, are you all right?" Giles' voice sounded terribly distant, almost drowned out by the roaring in her ears. She blinked, looking down at the splash of dark liquid that had escaped onto the pale carpeting of Giles' office, and struggled to find something to say. She opened her mouth once or twice, but nothing came out; the near-mortal wounding of spirit caused by her resurrection had scarred over but never healed entirely, and having it all brought to the surface again had momentarily stolen her breath away. "Oh, dear." There was a rustling sound, as of clothes in motion. Buffy looked up to find Giles standing before her chair, his glasses back on, looking concerned. He placed a warm hand on one of her shoulders; startled, she pulled back and shook her head. "I just never expected..." she said, then swallowed and took refuge in a quip. "Well I guess it's true what they say; nobody likes an Indian giver." Giles frowned, apparently taken aback by her levity, and she hastened to explain. "Death was my gift," she said, then chuckled a little, on the verge of tears. "My dear girl." Giles sighed. "My dear girl..." Buffy shook her head and schooled her features again, wiping away the few drops of moisture that had escaped between her lashes. She couldn't afford to break down now, and especially not here. What would the baby Slayers think, if they saw her in the halls with reddened eyes? Never mind that it was their sacrifice, their empowerment, that had removed enough weight from her shoulders to allow her to live without fear of imminent demise... or any demise at all, apparently, now. Tears threatened again as her thoughts drifted to Dawn, the closest thing to a daughter she was probably ever going to get. Would Buffy still be young and blonde when Her Keyness was old and grey? It didn't seem fair. She blinked to clear her eyes, determined not to break down, then smiled a watery smile at her old Watcher. "I'll be okay. Don't worry, I'm not going to go jump off a bridge or something to test it." "That's... that's good to hear." Giles tucked his hands awkwardly into his pockets, looking very unsure of himself. "But Buffy..." She shook her head again, discouragingly. "Was there anything else you needed to talk to me about?" she asked. She really wasn't in the mood for any more touchy-feeliness with him right now. "Not... not particularly," Giles dissembled, speaking hesitantly. "Although I think, perhaps, that it might be best were you to... fail to mention this information to your... to the Immortal, for the time being." Buffy stiffened, straightening in her chair. She'd almost let herself forget why it was she never came here, why it was she didn't confide in Giles anymore-- he meant well, but half the time his idea of what was in her best interests was seriously reality-adjacent. "Did any of you bother asking Dawn what his actual name is?" she asked crisply, a little of the Slayer edge creeping into her tone. Giles' brow furrowed. "She, ah, I thought, that is..." He trailed off, looking a little confused. "I recall that she was quite amused you had secured yet another boyfriend so much your elder, though she hastened to reassure me he was not evil..." He paused again to shake his head. "I do not believe she mentioned his name, but the identity of the Immortal is well known to the Watcher's Council, Buffy. As well as the fact that he prefers to be addressed as such-- and that he is something of a moral opportunist." "Giles, this is Rome we're talking about," she said tersely. "Do you really think Marco's the only immortal living there? He's like the Dracula I met-- he has a really good PR department-- but hello to the sleaze-factor." She wrinkled up her nose. She'd run into Marco enough times during her year in Italy to get the impression he was what Parker would be like, with a thousand more years of wooing women and accumulating power under his belt. Not the most appealing personality ever, even laying aside the question of how exactly he'd come by that lifespan. Giles' frown deepened as he considered that statement, and the irritation crawling up Buffy's spine grew claws and teeth, morphing into full-blown anger. No, Giles wasn't stupid, despite his occasional blindness to dissenting points of view. The complete lack of surprise in his expression suggested he'd already known about the other immortals she'd just mentioned-- and that apparently, after running through what the Council knew about them, he'd still decided she must have chosen Marco. "You're not suggesting..." he said slowly, consideringly. "But the rumors, the club sightings..." He shook his head. Buffy gritted her teeth. "It's called patrolling, Giles," she told him, her tone full of 'Duh'. "Can I help it that Marco owns half the demon-friendly bars in Rome?" Giles absorbed that for a second. "I can think of only one other immortal in Rome gifted enough in his own right to keep up with you," he said grimly, a world of dread in his eyes. "The Vatican's pet murderer." That was enough; Buffy bolted up out of her chair. "I know he's rubbed the Council the wrong way in the past. But he does the same job I do, Giles. He senses the evil, and they send him out to stop it." He looked away, avoiding the challenge in her eyes. "I... I apologize for that... hasty description. Of course the Council's files on the subject may be inaccurate. But he does kill humans, Buffy. Our records on Gabriel Van Helsing do not begin until the late eighteen hundreds, but there are rumors of his existence under other names going back centuries, always coupled with reports of dark deeds and terrible situations." "People have been known to say the same thing about me," she pointed out, quietly. "Buffy," he said plaintively, looking up again. "You have been-- you are like a daughter to me. You deserve all the happiness in the world..." "But you think I'm going about it all the wrong way," she said gently. She put a small hand on his arm, and felt tears welling up beneath the anger. Damn him for making her still care. "The thing is, you wanted me to start making decisions for myself, and now you have to let me make them." "Buffy, I..." "Don't," she said, shaking her head, then pulled away and gathered up her purse and jacket. A knock came at the door as she reached for the knob. Giles made a frustrated noise behind her, then reached for the intercom button his desk and mashed it down. "I'm in a meeting, Lucilla," he announced, forbiddingly. "Not any more, you aren't." The voice on the other side of the door wasn't the secretary's; Buffy's heart leapt at the gravelly, protective tone of the man's voice, and pulled the door open with a vast sense of relief. Gabriel must have just finished up whatever case he was working, as he was still wearing his usual hunting garb of antique-y black trousers, turtleneck, and vest under a long, flowing, leather coat with lots of interesting buckles. She'd asked him about it, once, remembering the history behind Spike's trenchcoat; Gabriel's turned out to have been a gift from an Italian leatherworker he'd rescued more than a century ago, and he'd repeatedly gone back to the small shop since to have replacements made from the same pattern. The gloves and boots he habitually wore usually conformed more to modern styles, but they were also heavy and black, completing the deadly, brooding look. He wasn't carrying any visible weapons today, but the forbidding expression on his face more than made up for it. "Gabriel," she said, reaching for him with her unencumbered arm. He dropped his gaze to Buffy's face, expression melting into a tender smile. The frown didn't quite clear from between his eyebrows, but the sense of menace that had been building in the air was gone. He raised a gloved hand to cup her cheek, then pulled her close. "I came as soon as I heard," he said, voice rumbling pleasantly under her ear. "Are you all right?" "Peachier than keen," she said brightly into the smooth fabric of his vest. Now that he was here, it wasn't even a lie. "I thought we agreed to leave England to me, though? Not that I'm complaining." "You agreed. I didn't say anything," he replied, chuckling a little. Buffy pulled back a little and favored him with a tremulous smile. "We'll talk about that later," she said. "As long as you're here, though-- Gabriel, this is Rupert Giles." She gestured toward the desk where her former Watcher stood, gone quiet and a little pale. "Giles, this is Gabriel Van Helsing." "Mr. Giles," Gabriel said, stiffly. "Mr. Van Helsing," Giles nodded back, a glint of watchful Ripper looking out of his eyes. "Sorry to be abrupt," Gabriel added dismissively, "but I think we'd better save the in-depth introductions for later. Buffy, I left the driver waiting out front, are you finished here?" "What? Why?" Buffy stared up into his concerned, handsome face, and suddenly realized all he'd said was that he'd come as soon as he heard. What had he heard? That Buffy was visiting the Council? Or had something else happened, and he'd detoured here afterward? Was something wrong with Dawn? "You haven't heard?" His eyebrows rose. "Then why are you in England?" Something in England? Not Dawn then, Buffy, thought, relieved and baffled. "Giles had news for me," she said. "In person type stuff. What's going on?" "Personal type stuff," Gabriel repeated, grimly. "Drusilla." Cold settled in the pit of Buffy's stomach. "Then we'd better get going," she said, mind already gearing into Slayer mode. Drusilla was crazy, but she was psychic, and she was also Spike's other ex. Chances were she already knew they were coming for her-- which meant whatever purpose she had in attracting their attention was unlikely to be pleasant. "Dawn's in school, and Andrew's around to keep her company, so she should be fine while we go after Dru." He nodded thoughtfully, probably already planning everything out in his head. Buffy was the undisputed champion of in-the-moment action, but Gabriel was much better at the strategic end of things. "I take it you brought Illyria with you?" he asked. "Yep," she agreed. "After the incident in Dawn's history class she isn't allowed on campus anymore, even as Fred, and I didn't want to leave her loose in Rome by herself. She's in the training room, wiping the mat with baby Slayers." "Good. She might be useful; Drusilla's hypnosis won't work on her," he said, then glanced over her head in Giles' direction. "If you'll excuse us?" Giles studied both of them for a moment, then nodded, slowly. "I take it you don't need any assistance from the Council?" Buffy shook her head. "I'll call you later, Giles, okay?" "Please do," he said softly, every year of his age visible in the tired creases around his eyes and mouth. Damn the PTBs anyway, Buffy thought, as she and Gabriel headed for the training room. She'd just settled into a family again-- if you could apply that word to a group made up of an ancient demon, an exiled archangel, the eldest living Slayer and a dimensional Key-- and they had to throw another wrench in the works. The idea of living forever-- it was terrifying, too big to wrap her mind around properly. It was going to change everything, and she didn't even know if Gabriel would still want her if he knew he might, maybe, possibly, be stuck with her for centuries. There would be time to worry about everything later, though. For now, there was Drusilla to face, and a strong hand clasping hers. It would have to be enough. Go to: Top \| B:tVS/Other Short Stories \| Fan Fiction Index © 2006 Jedi Buttercup.
1.Introduction Out of all the marine accidents that occur, collision accidents most frequently occur and 70 % of marine accidents of merchant vessels are caused by collision. Huge efforts are ongoing in the maritime industry to prevent these collisions. Radar and AIS (Automatic Identification System) are regarded as key systems leading to safer navigations. Watch officers receive a lot of key information from various devices, but more optimized and useful information is needed to make the most appropriate navigational judgments in good time. In Northern Europe, one of the e-Navigation's tasks being performed is research to implement the route exchange function, the ability of share the ship's route from ship to ship and from ship to shore (Wilske and Lexell, 2011). This route exchange function can determine the other vessel's course in advance and one can take measures to deal with it. Park et al.(2014) examined the effectiveness of this by comparing and analyzing the case based on their traffic situations in real coastal waters and collision case. If this route exchange method is introduced, it will be easy to possibly determine the courses of surrounding vessels equipped with ECDIS (Electronic chart Display and Information system) and take appropriate action to avoid collision. However, information as to whether the other vessel would in fact move in the estimated direction or not, is not able to be checked until the time the vessel begins to turn. According to the COLREGs (International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea), this is regarded as the ship being situated in risk of collision when it is without a change of bearing and closing each other. In general, the ship can avoid other vessels and obstacles by checking the DCPA (Distance at Closest Point of Approach) and TCPA (Time of Closest Point of Approach) on the radar screen. However, when they are within close proximity each other, an eyesight check on how the other ship's heading changed is performed by the OOW (Officer of the Watch) but the DCPA and TCPA are not checked because the ship’s radar and AIS indicates how the ship has turned later than in actuality. Therefore to reinforce the route exchange system, radar and AIS, it is apt to utilize the early detection system using the steering wheel signal in early stages to quickly determine the target ship's intention to alter course (Jung et al., 2013). Here, the steering wheel signal which is deduced from the wheel operation means not the actual rudder angle reached its intended angle but the command rudder angle (after this, the rudder angle). This is because the command rudder angle is used as part of the early detection system and it is the quickest way to highlight the intention of other ships to alter their course. This paper will verify the efficiency of this developing early detection system in a real ship trial. 2.Concept and composition of the early detection system 2.1.Concept of the early detection system As it is quicker to operate the steering wheel than ship’s heading to be followed, it is judged that determining the target ship's intention to alter course would be more timely with a steering wheel signal, and AIS is judged to be the most appropriate communication system to quickly transmit the steering wheel signal to the target ship. AIS acts to supply important information to the ships and VTS in order to avoid collision. Therefore the IMO has made it mandatory for all ships over 300 tons and for all passenger ships to install AIS. All information broadcasted by AIS is shown in the Table 1 and the information related to this research is COG, Heading, and ROT. However, these informations appear normally after the actual turn of the ship takes place, especially for the huge vessels that take more than 30 seconds to start turning of the ship (Jung et al., 2013). Therefore the additional actual rudder angle information together with the ROT should be sent to the other ships and VTS via AIS. The operation of the steering wheel can be automatic or manual by autopilot. The intention to alter course can be determined by the signal from the turn of a handle in case of manual steering (Hand or Follow-up) or the signal from the intentional turn of a dial in auto mode. The information about the target ship's steering operation is shown to the colored marks with the operational direction and the used rudder angle on the ECDIS or radar, which is used to avoid potential collision. Using these marks may be possible if the AIS is able to transmit the navigational critical information in within two seconds. The concept of this early detection system is same as in Fig.1, it is possible to determine the target ship's intention to alter course much quicker this way rather than it is for AIS to receive the heading information and the radar to detect the change in the target ship’s course a substantial amount of time after the steering wheel operation. The frequency of AIS updates is between every 2~10 seconds during the voyage in case of dynamic information (ITU, 2001). With respect to vessel movement prediction, Philipp et al. (2014) performed the availability of both static and dynamic AIS data and the evaluation of reporting intervals. On the study, almost all dynamic data fields were high available except for ROT and HDG, but they mostly did not comply with the reporting intervals described in ITU. Therefore, more research concerning AIS data is required to identify the actual reasons for message loss and for the varying reporting intervals. As mentioned before, AIS is facilitated in all ships over 300 tons, passenger ships and VTS, and there are an increasing number of ships using this system, so the problem of information congestion is worsening with the limited AIS system. In order to solve these problems, a lot of research has been carried out broadening the frequency band and in future there is a need to decide on the level of priority or relevance of each factor of AIS data. This is certainly needed before applying AIS to this early detection system. In order to utilize AIS in the early detection system, the steering wheel signal should be included as part of the dynamic information of AIS, and at the same time, the two-way system of AIS information should be enhanced to transmit and receive corresponding signals in less than two seconds, which is the quickest frequency within which to receive an information update on intentions of the target ship. The components that are judged to be especially relevant to rudder signals among the information expressed by AIS are the heading, course over ground and the rate of turn. These are expressed a substantial amount of time after the operation of steering wheel as these respond to the actual alteration of the vessel's course. However, the steering wheel signals are activated straight way, and it is judged that there would be no confusion between these and other signals as these which signals are also colored as shown in Fig. 2. 2.2.Composition of early detection system The hardware composition of the early detection system is a data processing system and an information display system. The former receives the steering data from the steering wheel as shown in Fig. 3, and extracts only the rudder angle data from the steering wheel operation and changes the data to the message signals of the AIS system and transmits them. The latter expresses only the rudder angle data on the ECDIS, which is extracted from the navigation data transmitted by AIS. The data processing system should extract the rudder angle data by receiving the serial output signal from the steering wheel and convert it into NMEA forms. However, there has proven to be little difference between the output forms whether the specifications of the steering wheel were installed on board. This paper practiced an experiment for checking serial output signals and the subjects were two vessels T/S HANNARA and T/S HANBADA berthing at Korea Maritime and Ocean University, on July 13th and November 4th, 2013. Fig. 4 shows the installation of the AD converter to change the serial output signal from analogue to digital NMEA using the steering wheel of T/S HANNARA. Fig. 5 is the format in which the serial output signals of T/S HANNARA and T/S HANBADA are stored on the processor (computer). In case of T/S HANNARA, the commanded rudder angle from the steering wheel is required to be changed to - 35° ~ 35° from the raw data which is expressed as - 3926 ~ 3956. In case of T/S HANBADA, the steering rudder angle was expressed right after the operation of the steering wheel had started. The early detection system only extracts the rudder angle from the output data as a serial output signal and transmits it to AIS. At the transmitting stage, it extracts the necessary rudder angle data after analyzing the steering wheel’s NMEA signals and creates a message to enable the transmission of the output rudder angle data to AIS. It also has another function as an interface for AIS. At the receiving stage, it is composed of a function used to express the extracted rudder angle data again on the ECDIS after extracting the data from the NMEA signals on AIS. Fig. 6 shows AIS Message forms for transmitting AIS information. It uses NMEA 0183 BBM (UAIS Broadcast binary message) for the rudder angle data and considers the transmitting interval when transmitting the rudder angle data with AIS. The rudder angle data received through AIS is shown as NMEA 0183 VDM (VHF data-link message). In Fig. 7, it explains the data transmission and the data structure in order to provide the rudder angle into the ‘Encapsulated data’ in Fig. 6. 3.Real Ship Trial Fig. 8 shows the results of the experiment of the early detection system installed on board the T/S HANBADA that departed for coastal navigation on November 6th, 2013. The left part shows AIS which transmits the rudder angle data and a laptop with a program to load the rudder angle data on AIS which were installed on the bridge of T/S HANBADA. The right part shows the inside of the office at Korea Institute of Maritime and Fisheries Technology. The AIS here receives the rudder angle data and there is also a laptop with a program to express the received rudder angle data from the AIS on ECDIS. Fig. 9 shows that T/S HANBADA departed from the pier of KMOU, passing vicinity of the breakwater and passes by incoming vessel. It was confirmed that the rudder angle on ECDIS was ordinarily marked green or red by the used rudder angle, as the vessel used the steering wheel after the departure. It shows T/S HANBADA altered its course to starboard 10 degrees. In vicinity of the T/S HANBADA, vessels in almost caught up in head-on situations can confirm in earlier stages that the T/S HANBADA altered course to starboard 10 degrees. Throughout this real ship trial, it was confirmed that the vessel's rudder angle data can be transmitted and received in two seconds intervals from AIS and we suggest that the rudder angle data shown on ECDIS can contribute significantly to collision prevention. 4.Application Plans The early detection system can be utilized as a means to appropriately determine and deal with the intentions other vessels to avoid collision. It can also be considered to be the fastest and the most accurate sign to determine the intended course of other vessels, because the steering wheel operations are shown on ECDIS right after the vessel steers. There are three advantages: Firstly, it is easy to recognize since these marks include the steered rudder angle, the steering direction and they are colored. There are few restrictions caused by tension in an urgent situation because the intention to alter course is transmitted and received automatically without needing to take any action. It is not a time consuming form of communication, unlike its manual VHF counterpart. Secondly, in the beginning, VTS operation just received a report of vessel's position, but the role of VTS has become much more important due to the necessity of information offering guidance for safe navigation with the increase of dangers caused by a speedy upsurge in vessel traffic. In addition, VTS started to practice the surveillance duty of navigation to keep the order for preventing accidents at sea. The roles and functions of VTS have become more significant since it started more active VTS services as recently there were big oil spills and accidents which involved the loss of human life. Within the roles of VTS for safe navigation, officers offer information to the vessels usually based on the data of AIS and the radar. However, since data about the ship’s heading from the AIS and radar is received by an officer subsequent to the time the action really took place, there are some cases where the vessel had already steered before the officer made a call to the ship which can be dangerous. In addition to this, there are frequent cases of false reports saying that the vessel had steered when in fact it hadn’t. Therefore, it is predicted that the instructions will become much easier since determining the course alterations could be made much faster by utilizing the early detection system which marked with the vessel's rudder angle. Thirdly, the steering data, which is important for accident analysis, can be utilized from the course recorder installed on board or on the VDR (Voyage data recorder) which has the data stored in it, but it is more easier to analyze any accident by utilizing the AIS data stored in the steering wheel signals on GICOMS. In addition, since the heading stored in the course recorder does not immediately change at the time of turning the steering handle, there could be some difference between the steer and the actual intention of the steer. Therefore, it is judged that the intention of steering can be determined more accurately if utilizing the system above. 5.Conclusion By transmitting the steering wheel signals through AIS, the early detection system, which is assumed to be able to reduce the risk of collision by quickly determining the other vessel's intention to alter course, has been developed throughout the real ship trial. Throughout this real ship trial, it was confirmed that the vessel's rudder angle data can be transmitted and received at regular two seconds intervals by AIS and that the rudder angle data shown on the ECDIS can significantly contribute to the collision prevention. As the role of VTS has becoming increasingly important due to the necessity of information it offers for safe navigation at a time of increased risk of dangers caused by an speedy upsurge of vessel traffic, it is predicted that the instructions will become much easier since determining the course alterations could be made much faster by utilizing the early detection system which marked with the vessel's rudder angle. In addition to the steering data, which is very important data for accident analysis, the course recorder installed on board or VDR (Voyage data recorder) which has stored data in it can be used, but it is easier to analyze any accident by utilizing the AIS data stored in the steering wheel signals on GICOMS. This experiment was focused on the transmission and reception of the rudder angle in normal conditions between the ship to shore installed the early detection system. It will also be the subject of future research investigating how significant the early acquisition of this information actually helpful to collision prevention by experiment between the ships. Also, the HMI (human machine interface) test should be followed to determine whether the symbols are really easy to see or maybe they are too small or too encumbering. The most important thing still needed is a human factors analysis in a simulated environment to determine the effects of such a system and how the HMI should be designed to allow unambiguous information that does not clutter on the ECDIS or radar. The follow-up research requires the involvement of various real ship trials to determine how reliable this early detection system is, as well as continuous improvement work through multilateral verifications from simulation targeting deck officers, a master or pilot. Also, suggestions on how to apply the system through the IMO, ITU and the other international organizations to AIS and efforts for the obligatory installation of the system on real ships should be continued.
EDITORIAL POLICY Mathematics Magazine aims to provide lively and appealing mathematical exposition. The Magazine is not a research journal, so the terse style appropriate for such a journal (lemma-theorem-proof-corollary) is not appropriate for the Magazine. Articles should include examples, applications, historical background, and illustrations, where appropriate. They should be attractive and accessible to undergraduates and would, ideally, be helpful in supplementing undergraduate courses or in stimulating student investigations. Manuscripts on history are especially welcome, as are those showing relationships among various branches of mathematics and between mathematics and other disciplines. A more detailed statement of author guidelines appears in this Magazine, Vol. 74, pp. 75-76, and is available from the Editor or at. Manuscripts to be submitted should not be concurrently submitted to, accepted for publication by, or published by another journal or publisher. Submit new manuscripts to Allen Schwenk, Editor, Mathematics Magazine, Department of Mathematics, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, Ml, 49008. Manuscripts should be laser printed, with wide line spacing, and prepared in a style consistent with the format of Mathematics Magazine. Authors should mail three copies and keep one copy. In addition, authors should supply the full five-symbol 2000 Mathematics Subject Classification number, as described in Mathematical Reviews. The cover image shows author Carl Lutzer intently juggling three hammers. See his article for an eigenvalue analysis of rotational instability. The photo has been provided by Dave Londres, a second year photojournalism student at Rochester Institute of Technology. A native of Cherry Hill, NJ, Dave enjoys technology, cars, sports and making photos every day. Feel free to contact him at Dlondres®gmail.com. William Dickinson fell in love with geometry in the ninth grade when he attempted to trisect the angle using ruled graph paper. This love continued until the end of his senior year at Cornell Univer sity which culminated with a thesis on circle pack ings on the flat torus. Though he did enjoy much of his thesis work at the University of Pennsylvania in differential geometry, he did not truly rediscover his love of geometry until he started to teach geometry and mentor undergraduate research in this area. These mentoring activities have been (and, he hopes, will continue to be) fruitful and produced the present article. When not at work, he enjoys watching movies with his wife, Andrea, and working in his basement woodshop with his three sons: Andrew, Matthew and Simon. Kristina Lund graduated from Grand Valley State University utterly obsessed with mathematical re search. This infatuation began during an under graduate summer research project in geometry with a wonderful mentor and some pretty cool results. Kristina is currently a busy graduate student at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She wishes to thank her family and friends for their support in her decision to continue her education in mathematics. Kent E. Morrison is Chair of the Mathematics De partment at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, where he has taught for over 25 years. He has also taught at Utah State University, Haverford College, and the University of California at Santa Cruz, where he received his Ph.D. in 1977. In recent years his research interests have centered on enumerative and algebraic combinatorics. This article is the result of a summer student research project with Theresa Migler and Mitch Ogle. His 1987 article in this MAGAZINE, Groups generated by perfect shuffles, written with Steve Medvedoff, grew out of an earlier student project. Theresa Migler is a graduate student at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo where she received her bachelors degree in 2004. She hopes to pursue a Ph.D. and become a mathematics professor. Mitchell L. Ogle is currently finishing his under graduate degree at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo with a double ma jor in mathematics and electrical engineering. He hopes to attend graduate school to study functional analysis and control in this MAGAZINE. David AUT H ORS Carl Lutzer is an Assistant Professor of Mathematics at the Rochester Institute of Technology. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Kentucky under the direction of Peter Hislop. His mathematical research interests currently lie in partial differ ential equations and dynamical systems. In addition to mathematics and teaching, he enjoys writing fiction, and fencing (sabre). theory. This is his first article Dureisseix entered the Ecole Normale Superieure de Cachan (ENS Cachan, France) in 1988, and received the Agregation in Mechanics in 1991. He defended his Ph.D. thesis in 1997, and became Assistant Professor at the ENS Cachan. He is now a Professor at the University Montpellier 2 in the Mechanics and Civil Engineering Labora tory. Though his teaching and research interests are related to mechanical engineering, technological design, and computational mechanics, he is also member of several origami societies. Vol. 79, No. 4, October 2006 MATHEMATICS MAGAZINE E D I TOR A l len J. Schwenk Western Michigan University ASSOC I ATE E D I TORS Pau l J. Campbe l l Beloit College A n n a l isa Cra n n e l l Franklin & Marshall College Dea n n a B. H a u n s perger Carleton University Warren P. J o h n son Bucknell University E lgi n H . J o h n ston Iowa State University Vi ctor). Katz University of District of Columbia Keith M. 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All rights reserved. Abstracting with credit is permitted. To copy otherwise, or to republish, requires specific permission of the MAA's Director of Publication and possibly a fee. Periodicals postage paid at Washington, D.C. and additional mailing offices. Postmaster: Send address changes to Membership/ Subscriptions Department, Mathematical Association of America, 1529 Eighteenth Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20036-1385. Printed in the United States of America ARTICLES Hammer Juggling, Rotational Instability, and Eigenvalues CARL V. LU TZER Rochester Institute of Technology Rochester, NY 14623 Cari.Lutzer®rit.edu Introduction Get a hammer. Seriously, get a hammer. As an experiment, hold the hammer in front of you with its head pointing up. Toss it upward (CAREFULLY!), end-over-end, and catch it after one revolution. The orientation of the hammer when you catch it will be the same as when you tossed it. As a second experiment, hold the hammer in front of you with its head pointing sideways, to the right. Toss the hammer upward, end-over-end, and catch it after one revolution. This time, the orientation changes-the head pointed to the right when you tossed it, but points to the left when you catch it! Experiment #1 Figure 1 Experiment #2 Hammer juggling and unstable rotation Many people suggest that this strange 1 /2-twist in experiment #2 is due to the asymmetry of the hammer's mass distribution, but the same kind of thing will happen with a book, or wallet, or any object with three distinct dimensions. (Try it! Use a rubber-band to keep the wallet or book closed.) We don't always see a half-twist (that will depend on the particular orientation of the object when you release it), but we almost always see a twist. Why? The answer is well known to the physics community, but is documented primarily in their parlance. The following exposition explains this phenomenon from a mathematician's point of view. The governing equations will be quickly derived, and the supporting linear algebra will be explored. We assume that the reader has basic knowledge of multivariate calculus, and is aware that e;q, = cos</> + i sin</>. We also assume that the reader is familiar with eigen values, eigenvectors, linear independence, and understands that a proper choice of basis will diagonalize a symmetric matrix M E �3x3. 243 244 MATH EMATICS MAGAZI N E The basics In this section we begin with simple definitions of basic vocabulary, cite of the governing equations of motion, and then proceed with the salient calculations. Proofs of important assertions, and a derivation of the equations of motion are postponed until later sections so that we can focus on answering the question of why the hammer performs a half-revolution in Experiment #2 but not in Experiment #1. Vocabulary Angular Velocity Suppose an object is revolving about some particular axis, much like a child's spinning top. The angular velocity of the object, denoted by w, is a vector that points in the direction of that axis. The magnitude of w is 2n y, where y 2:: 0 is the number of revolutions per second. As you might infer from the example of the spinning top, the angular velocity vector may change direction and length as time evolves. Newton's Second Law Most people cite Newton's Second Law as F = ma, which isn't quite right. Newton's Second Law says that force is the instantaneous change in momentum. In the case of linear force we write F = d pjdt where p = mv is the linear momentum of a mass m traveling with velocity v. In the case of angular force and angular momentum we write r = d Ljdt where r means torque and L denotes angular momentum (discussed in detail later). Euler's equation motion is For reasons that will be explained later, the governing equation of r = Mw + w x Mw, (I) 3 3 where M E JR x is a symmetric matrix and w denotes the derivative of w with respect to time. (This "dot notation" is used throughout the rest of the article to denote differentiation with respect to time.) In later sections we'll see that (I), called Euler's equation, is just a fancy restatement of the fact that r = d Ljdt. Calculations Because the matrix M is symmetric, its eigenvalues are all real, and eigenvectors associated with distinct eigenvalues are orthogonal. In fact, it happens that all the eigenvalues of M are positive! In the case of the hammer, they're also distinct so we label them in increasing order: 0 < }q < A.2 < A.3. Physicists refer to M as the moment-of-inertia tensor, and they often use the letter I (for "inertia") to denote this matrix. (We use M in this exposition to avoid confusion with the identity matrix.) The eigenvalues of Mare called the principal moments of inertia, and their corresponding unit-eigenvectors are called the principal axes of rotation. These unit-eigenvectors, which we'll denote by p" p2, and p3 respectively, point along "the axes of" the object in question. For example, pull a textbook off of the shelf. It has length, width, and height. The vector p1 points in the direction of the length, the vector p2 points in the direction of the width, and the vector p3 points in the direction of the height (see the figure, below). Notice that, listed in the order prescribed by our indexing, the dimensions of the book are decreasing : length > width > height. If you accepted the earlier invitation to try the experiment with another object (with three distinct dimensions), you found that the rotation was unstable when the axis of rotation was parallel to p2, which corresponds to the "middle" dimension. This will always be the case, as we'll see in a moment. VOL. 79, NO. 4, OCTOBER 2006 245 P2 Vectors PI, p2, p3 form an orthonormal basis for IR3, so any angular velocity can be expressed as a linear combination of them: w = CXIPI + cx2P2 + cx3p3. (Recall that w may change with time, so the scalars exI, cx2 and cx3 are functions of time.) Moreover, the matrix M is diagonal in the basis {PI, p2, p3}. So when the rotation is free from external torque and we use {PI, p2, p3} as our basis, equation ( 1 ) becomes A.Iai +(A.3 - A.2)cx2cx3 = 0 (2) >..2a2 +(A.I - A.3)cxicx3 = o (3) A.3a3 +(>..2 - >..I)cxicx2 = o (4) Suppose the object in question (the hammer, in this case) were to rotate about the axis PI· Then cx2 (0) = 0 = cx3 (0) and it follows from equations (2)-(4) that cx2 and cx3 stay zero. Of course, we see the same behavior whether we rotate about PI, p2 or p3. But rotating about one of the principal axes-exactly-is highly unlikely, even if we are meticulous in our efforts to make it happen. So what happens when the object in question rotates about an axis that is very close to one of the principal axes? Stable rotation Suppose w is initially very close to PI· Then cx2 (0) e � 0, so the second summand on the right-hand side of (2) is order e2• A.Iai +(A.3 - A.2)cx3cx2 = 0. � cx3 (0) � (5) '-.-' 0(s2) The analogous terms in (3) and (4) are only order e, so a linear approximation of Euler's equation is (6) >..2a2 + (A.I - A.3)cxicx3 = o A.3a3 +(A.2 - A.I)CXICX2 = 0 (7) (8) Equation (6) indicates that cxi is constant (or nearly so). This reduces the problem to a system of two equations in two unknowns. Solving (7) and (8) for a2 and a3, 246 MATH EMATICS MAGAZ I N E respectively, gives us (A3 J)OIJ (9) ( �:) = (A1-0A2)ot1 �O� ] ( _ 0123 ) A3 [ which we write as the 2 x 2 system i = Ax . The eigenvalues of A are (A3- AJ)(Az- AJ)oti ±i AzA3 2 which we will denote by ±i ¢ . Suppose the associated eigenvectors are a] , az E C . Then, since these vectors are linearly independent, there are scalars c1, c2 E C such that c 1a 1 + c 2a 2 = (ot2(0), ot3(0))T. Note that c1 and c2 are "small" since c2e-i<P1a2 we have = C t ei<Pt (i¢ )at + c2e-i<Pt ( - i ¢)a2 = c,ei<Pt Aa, + Cze-i<Pt Aa2 = A (c,ei<Pra, + c2e-i¢ra2) = Ax (t) The function x(t) solves (9) with the correct initial data so, since that solution is unique, x(t) = (ot2(t), ot3(t))T. It follows that 012 and 013 not only start small but stay small. That is, w stays close to 011 Pt· In fact, w revolves around Pt as the system evolves. It's easy to follow through the same calculations to derive the same behavior when the axis of rotation is close to p3, but something very different happens when w is initially near p2• Unstable rotation If we begin with w very near to p2, approximation of Euler's equation is 011(0)""" 0""" 0 A,a, + (A3- A2)ot2ot3 = A2a2 """ o A3a3 + (Az- AJ)OIJOI2 = 0. 013(0), so a linear (10) (11) (12) Equation (II) indicates that 012 is constant (or nearly so). This reduces the problem to a system of two equations and two unknowns. (Az � � 3) ] ( �0101 ) _, 012 (13) ( ��) = (At- 0A2)ot2 0 [ A3 The coefficient matrix has eigenvalues (A2- A3)(At- Az)oti ± A1A3 2 which we denote by ±¢. Suppose the associated eigenvectors are a t, az E ffi. . Then the solution to (13) is x = c1e<Pta1 + c2e - <P1a2 , where c1 and c2 are chosen to achieve x(O) = (011 (0), ot3(0))T. It's important to note that c2e-<P1a2 vanishes quickly but that VO L. 79, NO. 4, OCTO B E R 2 006 24 7 c1e<1>1a1 grows exponentially. That is, though a1 and a3 started small, they don' t stay that way, and it's exactly this instability that makes the hammer change its orientation. Rolling up our sleeves Now we undertake the task of supporting the assertions made about the matrix M (that it's symmetric and that all its eigenvalues are positive) and explaining Euler's equation. We begin by defining angular momentum and establishing its relationship to angular velocity. The relationship between L and w Suppose a rigid body rotates about the line through its center-of-gravity defined by the vector w. Taking the center-of-gravity as has a linear velocity of v = w x r (see Figure our origin, an atom at r = 2). The angular momentum of that atom is defined to be L = r x v where is its mass. That is, L us to 1,1 bringsm1 1 = 1m; (r;(x1,x )y(w1, zx1)r;)). Grinding through1 the11crossm1products L; = ,(yi+zi -m;X;Y; -m1x1z1 ] (14) [m-m1x1y1 (x;+y;) (:;) -m1x1z1 m1(x-mJ2+z1y1z12)1 m1-m,y,z, Figure 2 Angu l ar ve locity and a ngu l ar momentu m The angular momentum of the entire object is just the sum of the angular momenta of all its atoms. Summing ( 14) over all particles gives us L = m1x1y1 [L1m1-2::1(Y7+z7) -2::1m1x1z1 This is the matrix M Defining M to be the coefficient matrix on the right-hand side, we can write L = M w. We remark that the symmetry of M is now apparent, but why are its eigenvalues always 248 MAT H EMATICS MAGAZIN E positive and why does it play a role in Euler's equation? These questions are answered in the remaining sections. The eigenvalues of M We begin our investigation into the eigenvalues of Mby writ ing (15) where Xj = � xj, ji and z are the corresponding vectors of scaled y and z coordinates, and A is the matrix whose columns are A.1 = x, A. = ji, and A. = z. That is, 2 3 M is a perturbation of the matrix (llxll2 + 115ill2 + llzll2 )/, which has a single eigen value whose algebraic multiplicity is three. The effect of this perturbation on the set of eigenvalues depends on the "size" of the perturbation. We measure the "size" of a linear function £ : JR3 ---+ JR3 with the operator norm: r def r ll .t..- 11* = max l k ull , (16) llull=l where II vII = ,J1i"-:v is the standard norm JR3. (The fact that a maximum is always achieved follows from the Reine-Borel Theorem, which is usually taught in a course such as Real Analysis. Its !-dimensional version is known to calculus students as the Extreme Value Theorem: A continuous function on a closed interval achieves an absolute maximum value. ) Before continuing, we suggest that the reader verify the fol lowing lemma. LEMMA 1. 2. 3. 1 . Suppose A, B : JR3 ---+ JR3 are linear operators. Then IIAxll ::::; IIAIIIIxll IIABII::::; IIAIIIIBII IIAII* = IIATII* Now let us suppose that u is a unit-eigenvector of M associated with the eigenvalue A.. Then from which it follows that ATAu = (llxll2 + II.YII2 + llzll2 - A.) u. That is, u is an eigenvector of ATA. The strategy of our proof is to use this fact to show that I (llxll2 + II.YII2 + llzll2 ) - A.I < llxll2 + II.YII2 + llzll2 • anchor value distance from > 0 A to anchor value from which it follows that A. > Since 0. For example, if it was the case that llx112 + II ji 112 + !l ull = 1 , we have lllxll2 + II.YII2 + llzll2 - A.I = II (llxll2 + II.YII2 + llzll2 - A.) u II = IIATAuii :S IIATAll* ::::; IIATIIIIAII = IIATII; (17) 2006 • 88 Pages • 4.86 MB 2006 • 82 Pages • 1.83 MB 2006 • 88 Pages • 6.87 MB 2006 • 80 Pages • 4.56 MB 2004 • 88 Pages • 3.93 MB 2000 • 84 Pages • 3.81 MB 2005 • 88 Pages • 4.05 MB 2010 • 91 Pages • 3.36 MB 2001 • 84 Pages • 5.66 MB 2002 • 96 Pages • 5.3 MB 2007 • 88 Pages • 5.98 MB 2008 • 88 Pages • 3.55 MB 2003 • 84 Pages • 6.2 MB 2011 • 85 Pages • 1.79 MB 2010 • 82 Pages • 2.86 MB 2003 • 88 Pages • 5.43 MB
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE IMMIGRATION AND NATURALIZATION SERVICE, U.S. BORDER PATROL EL PASO, TEXAS and AMERICAN FEDERATION OF GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES, NATIONAL BORDER PATROL COUNCIL, LOCAL 1929 1, 2004, and addressed to: Office of Case Control Federal Labor Relations Authority 1400 K Street, NW, 2nd Floor Washington, DC 20005 SUSAN E. JELEN Administrative Law Judge Dated: September 30, 2004 Washington, DC UNITED STATES OF AMERICA FEDERAL LABOR RELATIONS AUTHORITY Office of Administrative Law Judges WASHINGTON, D.C. 20424-0001 MEMORANDUM DATE: September 30, 2004 TO: The Federal Labor Relations Authority FROM: SUSAN E. JELEN Administrative Law Judge SUBJECT: DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE IMMIGRATION AND NATURALIZATION SERVICE, U.S. BORDER PATROL EL PASO, TEXAS Respondent and Case No. DA-CA-01-0919 AMERICAN FEDERATION OF GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES, NATIONAL BORDER PATROL COUNCIL, LOCAL 1929-45 FEDERAL LABOR RELATIONS AUTHORITY Office of Administrative Law Judges WASHINGTON, D.C. John M. Bates, Esquire Mia L. Beck, Esquire For the General Counsel James Stack, Representative For the Charging Party Robert H. Humphries, Esquire DeWayne Wicks, LRS For the Respondent Before: SUSAN E. JELEN Administrative Law Judge DECISION Statement of the Case This case arises out of an unfair labor practice charge filed by the American Federation of Government Employees, National Border Patrol Council, Local 1929 (Union), against the Department of Justice, Immigration and Naturalization Service, U.S. Border Patrol,605205021 the DEA Task Force at the Alamogordo,.997914732 On March 31, 2004, the General Counsel filed a Motion For Permission To Submit Supplemental Brief, which was denied by Order dated April 9, 2004. On April 16, 2004, I issued an Order rescinding the previous Order and allowed. Both the General Counsel and the Respondent timely submitted supplemental briefs on this matter.. The Alamogordo Station has approximately 60 bargaining unit employees, with 8 to 12 supervisors. (Tr. 24) Timothy C. Rhodes was Chief Patrol Agent in Charge (PAIC) for the Alamogordo Station from June 1998 until his retirement in January 2002. (Tr. 92) Luis Barker has been the Chief for the El Paso Sector since November 1998. (Tr. 79) The parties stipulated that "the collective bargaining agreement between the American Federation of Government Employees, National Border Patrol Council and the Immigration and Naturalization Service, United States Border Patrol expired in 1998, although the parties have continued to honor the terms and the conditions of the agreement since that time." (Tr. 7) Article 29 of the CBA (Jt. Ex. 1) deals with Grooming and Appearance.2081574067 Grooming standards for uniformed agents are contained in the parties' CBA and strictly prohibit agents from wearing beards except for religious and health-related reasons. [Jt. Ex. 1] The standards, however, do not specifically address agents who are working in plainclothes details. The Respondent's interpretation of the negotiated standards is that the strict grooming standards that do not permit agents to wear hair that is beyond the collar, beards, goatees, or earrings, applies to agents whether or not they are working in uniform (with the exception of agents working in undercover assignments). The General Counsel asserts that in actual practice at the Alamogordo Station, agents assigned to the DEA Task Force have conformed to relaxed grooming standards as far back as the early to mid 1990's. (Tr. 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33) In addition to their regular assignments, Border Patrol agents have the opportunity to volunteer for plainclothes details, such as the DEA Task Force. The DEA Task Force is a multi-agency task force that is headquartered in Las Cruces, New Mexico. The Task Force typically consists of 20 to 30 law enforcement agents and officers from U.S. Border Patrol, U.S. Customs Service, and various local law enforcement agencies such as the New Mexico State Police, and the Dona Anna County Sheriff's Office. (Tr. 17) Agents assigned to the DEA Task Force or Task Force Officers (TFO) from the Alamogordo Station respond to narcotics cases where suspects are apprehended at the two Alamogordo Station checkpoints. (Tr. 22, 58) TFO's duties include taking custody of suspects, securing narcotics, presenting suspects to the U.S. Magistrate for initial proceedings, and processing the case for federal criminal prosecution. (Tr. 58) Often TFOs perform surveillance and other investigatory duties, as well as assist in debriefing suspects for the U.S. Attorney's Office. (Tr. 37, 59, 60) Only two agents at any one time are on the plainclothes details, which last for one year. (Tr. 37) Senior Patrol Agent and Local 1929 Union President, James Stack testified that since being assigned to the Alamogordo Station in 1989 he witnessed many of the agents assigned to the DEA Task Force practice relaxed grooming standards. According to Stack's testimony, most TFOs at Alamogordo Station practiced relaxed grooming standards in some form, whether they wore beards, goatees, longer hair, earrings or generally had an unshaven look. For instance, Mike Wells wore a goatee or beard and longer hair on his detail in 1990 or 1991; Brad Williams wore a goatee and longer hair from 1991 to 1992; and Sid Hopper did not wear a beard or goatee but was often unshaven. Other agents on the DEA Task Force wore earrings, longer hair, goatees or beards. (Tr. 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33) Furthermore, Stack and Senior Patrol Agent Jesus "Joe" Torres practiced relaxed grooming standards while serving on the DEA Task Force. (Tr. 20, 21) Stack who was assigned to the DEA Task Force in 1997-1998 testified that he did not cut his hair during the year that he served on the Task Force, that he wore a goatee, that he frequently did not shave and that he wore an earring. In fact, a drivers' license photo issued on June 23, 1998 shows he had a goatee, longer hair and an earring. (G.C. Ex. 2; Tr. 20, 21, 22) Torres transferred to the Alamogordo Station in 1993 and served on the DEA Task Force from December 2000 until September 2001. (Tr. 58) While on the DEA Task Force, Torres testified that he also practiced a relaxed grooming standard during his entire tenure on the Task Force by wearing a full beard, longer hair and an earring. (Tr. 63) A photograph taken by Torres' wife on July 14 or 15 of 2001 shows him wearing a full beard and longer hair. (G.C. Ex. 3) While serving on the Task Force, Torres had two partners. Torres' first partner Anthony Williams wore a goatee and a gold earring in each ear during his tenure. When Williams' detail ended, Torres' next partner was Steve Jerde and he wore a full beard. (Tr. 30, 31, 32) Neither Torres, Williams, nor Jerde were ordered by the Respondent to conform to the strict grooming standards prior to July 13, 2001. (Tr. 25, 26) Agents report to DEA supervisors with respect to work assignments while they are assigned to the DEA Task Force; however, they also report to Border Patrol supervisors concerning administrative tasks such as requesting annual leave, receiving performance appraisals, filing weekly production reports (I-50s), time and attendance reports and pay sheets. (Tr. 61) As a TFO, Torres testified that he had many occasions during the detail to interact with and to be seen by supervisors from the Alamogordo Station while he practiced relaxed grooming standards. (Tr. 65, 66, 67) As a TFO, Torres seized contraband that was confiscated at the Alamogordo checkpoints, and in order to maintain a chain of custody he was required to sign for the narcotics showing that it was being transferred from the Border Patrol to the Drug Enforcement Administration. Narcotics seized at the checkpoints are kept in the armory at the Station. Only supervisors have access to the narcotics in the armory and therefore Torres received the narcotics from supervisors. (Tr. 67) Torres also received a performance appraisal from his Border Patrol rating supervisor, Miguel McDowell, while on the Task Force and practicing relaxed grooming standards. (Tr. 65) On or about July 13, 2001, while Torres was at the Alamogordo Station responding to a call, he was approached in the employee parking lot by PAIC Rhodes. Torres testified that Rhodes told him that the Chief Patrol Agent had instituted new grooming standards and he would have to shave and cut his hair by the following Monday morning. (Tr. 69) Torres complied with the Rhodes' order and shaved and cut his hair. Two or three weeks later, Torres again was in the Alamogordo Station responding to a narcotics case, when Rhodes ordered him to remove his earring, despite the fact that Torres has worn the earring continuously since he was ordered to shave and cut his hair. Torres again immediately complied with Rhodes' order to remove the earring. (Tr. 70) PAIC Rhodes testified that he was aware that some employees on the DEA detail had beards and long hair. He did not have a problem with these grooming standards and allowed them to continue until July 2001. (Tr. 92, 93, 94, 95) At that time, he attended a PAIC meeting where it was brought to their attention that all Border Patrol agents were to comply with the grooming standards. (Tr. 94) He did not recall specifically speaking to Torres about the grooming standard. (Tr. 94) Rhodes indicated that he was aware that the relaxed grooming standards was not the standard usually enforced, but he did not have a problem with it. (Tr. 92, 93, 95) He further indicated that the El Paso Sector staff would have no way of knowing that the agents had beards and long hair while working for DEA and that he never discussed it with anyone. (Tr. 94) Shem Peachy currently works at the Alamagordo Station as a special operations supervisor and has been at the Station since 1990. He did not consider the DEA Task Force to be an undercover position. (Tr. 98-99) He did not personally follow the relaxed standard and did not believe that others did as well. After Rhodes became the PAIC, agents on the DEA Task Force wore longer hair, beards, goatees, or were unshaven. (Tr. 101-102) Since Peachy did not supervise that unit, he did not discuss the grooming standard with the employees. (Tr. 103) Peachy believed that what Rhodes allowed the employees to do was not in keeping with the Border Patrol policy. (Tr. 104) Chief Barker testified that he found out the El Paso Sector grooming policy was not being followed at the Alamogordo Station and he sent a reminder to the Station. (Tr. 82) According to Barker, there is nothing in the nature of the duties of the DEA Task Force that would require or would be advantageous to have a relaxed grooming standard. There is no longer a relaxed grooming standard for Border Patrol agents who are working on the DEA Task Force. Agents continue to volunteer for the DEA Task Force detail. (Tr. 56) Issue Whether or not the Respondent violated section 7116(a)(1) and (5) of the Statute by changing the grooming standards required of Border Patrol agents serving on a DEA Task Force in the Alamogordo, New Mexico Station without providing the Union with advance notice and an opportunity to negotiate over the change. Positions of the Parties General Counsel The General Counsel asserts that the record evidence clearly establishes that the Border Patrol agents assigned to the DEA Task Force from the Alamogordo Station were allowed to conform to a relaxed grooming standard which included the wearing of longer hair, beards or goatees, and earrings, for the length of the detail. After July 13, 2001, however, agents were no longer allowed to follow the relaxed standards and were ordered to shave, cut their hair and remove any earrings. This change was implemented by PAIC Rhodes, on direction from Chief Barker. It is undisputed that the Union was not first provided with any notice by the Respondent of its intent to change the grooming standard and was not given the opportunity to negotiate over the change. The General Counsel further asserts that Respondent's defense that there was no duty to bargain over the change in grooming standards because the subject is "covered by" the parties' CBA should be rejected. The General Counsel argues that this is not a valid defense since the agreement expired in 1998, although the parties continue to honor the terms and conditions of the agreement. If the "covered by" defense is found to be applicable in situations where the contract between the parties has expired, it is the position of the General Counsel that it is still inapplicable in this case, since Article 29 of the CBA permits the Union to bargain over grooming standards with the exception of grooming standards detailed in Section D of the Article. Section D specifically outlines the grooming standards for uniformed agents and the instant case deals only with agents on a plainclothes detail, not in uniform. If the grooming standard detailed in the CBA is found to apply to agents on plainclothes details, the General Counsel asserts that the evidence establishes that there is a long established past practice of permitting agents assigned to the DEA Task Force detail from the Alamogordo Station to conform to a relaxed grooming standard that includes allowing them to wear longer hair, beards, goatees, and earrings. The Authority has determined that an established past practice that is contrary to the terms of a collective bargaining agreement is an exception to the "covered by" defense. In its Supplemental Brief in response to the April 16 Order, the General Counsel argues that the evidence in this matter clearly establishes that the impact resulting from the Respondent's change in the grooming standards of Border Patrol agents assigned to the DEA Task Force in the Alamogordo, New Mexico Station is above the level of de minimis as required by the Authority's decision in SSA, 59 FLRA 646. The General Counsel asserts that the Respondent's elimination of the relaxed grooming standard has resulted in an increased security risk for the agents both during and after serving on the DEA Task Force. U.S. Department of Justice, Immigration and Naturalization Service, Washington, D.C., 56 FLRA 351 (2000) (INS, Washington, D.C.) (Violation of section 7116(a)(1) and (5) when the agency implemented a change in policy concerning body searches without completing bargaining with the Union.) The General Counsel further argues that if it is determined that the criteria outlined in Federal Correctional Institution, 8 FLRA 604 (1982) are applicable in this matter, the evidence would establish that a status quo ante remedy is appropriate. With regard to a remedy in this matter, the General Counsel requests that the Respondent be directed to restore the status quo ante as well as post an appropriate Notice To All Employees. Respondent Respondent argues that the General Counsel failed to prove that there was a practice of relaxed grooming standards for Border Patrol agents on detail to the DEA Task Force. The facts demonstrate that any relaxed standard occurred only under the supervision of former PAIC Rhodes who admitted that he did not consider the grooming standards for uniformed officers on detail to be important. He further admitted that he took this position with no notice to or permission from management of the El Paso Sector. Once Chief Barker became aware of the deviation from the Sector's grooming standards, he took immediate steps to reaffirm the existing policy. The parties' CBA, although expired, remain controlling throughout every Border Patrol Sector. Local variations of a nationally negotiated agreement which continues as a practice cannot be changed unless known and accepted by national level officials and there has been no evidence presented that this relaxed standard is known or sanctioned by anyone outside the officers of Local 1929 or PAIC Rhodes. Respondent also argues that the grooming standards found in the CBA do not apply only when employees are actually wearing a uniform. Article 29 of the CBA makes a reference to the term "uniformed officers", and Respondent takes the position that a Border Patrol agent is a law enforcement officer whether wearing the uniform or in plainclothes and therefore is a "uniformed officer" at all times. Finally, in its Response to the April 16 Order, the Respondent argues that the Authority's decision in SSA, 59 FLRA 646, should be applied retroactively and this matter dismissed as de minimis. The Respondent asserts that a relaxed grooming standard affecting only a few employees is a relatively minor issue and has no impact on pay, benefits, work location, work hours or the performance of duties. Analysis Counsel for the General Counsel asserts that there has been a change in bargaining unit employees' conditions of employment without notice to and/or bargaining with the Union. Specifically the General Counsel asserts that the policy of relaxed grooming standards for Border Patrol agents detailed to the DEA Task Force in the Alamogordo Station was changed when those employees were ordered to shave facial hair, cut their hair and not wear earrings. The Respondent asserts that there has been no change; that such employees were never allowed to maintain a relaxed grooming standard; and that the July announcement was merely requiring isolated employees to conform to). The record evidence clearly establishes that Border Patrol agents from the Alamogordo, New Mexico Station, who volunteered for DEA Task Force details were allowed to practice a relaxed grooming standard during their time on the detail. While not all agents took advantage of this relaxed standard, many of the agents grew their hair longer, grew beards or goatees or generally went unshaven, and also wore earrings. The testimony of both Stack and Torres was detailed and consistent and is therefore credited. Respondent's own witnesses, PAIC Rhodes and Supervisor Peachy, also testified that, at least since Rhodes became the PAIC, the relaxed standard was in practice at the Alamogordo Station. While the Respondent argues that the El Paso Sector did not approve such a relaxed standard, it is clear that the relaxed standard was openly practiced for several years, with the knowledge and express or implied consent of responsible management officials. Defense Distribution, Region West, Tracy, California, 43 FLRA 1539 (1992); U.S. Department of Labor, Washington, D.C., 38 FLRA 899 (1990).1167490985 As stated above, I have found there has been a change with regard to the grooming standards for bargaining unit employees. It has been determined by the Authority that grooming standards are substantively negotiable. United States Department of Justice, Immigration and Naturalization Service, 31 FLRA 1123, 1135-36 (1988) (The Authority upheld an interest arbitration award that neatly trimmed beards could be worn by Border Patrol agents while in uniform, contrary to management's argument that grooming standards were non-negotiable since the wearing of beards interfered with the employees' work or affected the public's ability to recognize officers as law enforcement officers of the U.S. Government and therefore was within management's right to determine the method and means of performing its work under section 7106(b)(1) of the Statute.) In SSA the Authority determined that the de minimis standard which it established in Department of Health and Human Service, Social Security Administration, 24 FLRA 403, 407-408 (1986) (DHHS, SSA) should be applied to changes which do not involve the exercise of a reserved management right as well as to changes which do involve the exercise of such a right. In order to determine whether a change in conditions of employment requires bargaining, the pertinent facts and circumstances presented in each case would be carefully examined. Principal emphasis is placed on such general areas of consideration as the nature and extent of the effect or reasonably foreseeable effect of the change on conditions of employment of bargaining unit employees. Equitable consideration would also be taken into account in balancing the various interests involved. It is therefore necessary to determine whether the Authority's decision in SSA, supra, should be retroactively applied in this matter. The General Counsel argues that the impact resulting from the Respondent's change in the grooming standards is above the level of de minimis. The General Counsel asserts that agents assigned to the DEA Task Force have contact with illegal aliens who are in possession of controlled substances, thus lending an additional element of danger to the work of the agents. Torres testified that uniformed Border Patrol agents ordinarily have contact with an illegal alien only when that person is apprehended. However, agents on the DEA Task Force have much more extensive contact with illegal aliens who are in possession of narcotics when they are apprehended. Both Stack and Torres testified that they did not want to be recognized as Border Patrol agents by the suspects that they apprehend while they are serving on the Task Force or after they have completed their service on the Task Force due to security concerns. Torres testified that, prior to his detail to the DEA Task Force, two agents who had been serving on the Task Force were detailed to other locations as a result of death threats. The General Counsel therefore argues that the Respondent's elimination of the relaxed grooming standards in this matter has resulted in an increased security risk for the agents both during and after service on the DEA Task Force. The General Counsel asserts that this is similar to a violation found in INS, Washington, D.C., 56 FLRA at 351, (ALJ determined that the change in body search policy adversely affected thousands of bargaining unit employees by increasing the danger.) The Respondent asserts that by applying the DHHS, SSA standard, the matter at issue must be found de minimis. The Respondent notes that, although not controlling, the number of employees affected is a factor to be considered. The matter at issue in this case affects no more than two Border Patrol agents at any given time, and it may affect fewer than that. More important, however, is the nature of the impact of the change. The change only impacts employees that volunteer for the DEA Task Force and is only for a limited period of time, no more than one year. Further the change does not impact pay, benefits or performance of duties. It merely affects simple grooming and only precludes the wearing of long hair, beards and goatees and earrings. With regard to the General Counsel's safety concern, the Respondent noted that James Stack admitted that the primary reason for adhering to a relaxed standard was simply personal preference. (Tr. 40) Respondent's witnesses all testified that there was nothing in the duties of the DEA Task Force details that would support that a relaxed grooming standard was either required or even advantageous..1004202492 In that regard, I find that under the first prong, the parties did rely on preexisting law, which would argue against retroactive application. However, the General Counsel did present evidence at the hearing related to the impact of the decision. Further, both the second and third prongs argue for retroactive application. Specifically, retroactive application would further the purposes of the new de minimis rule and would not produce any particular injustice to the Charging Party. In agreement with the Respondent, the allegations of the complaint affect only a few bargaining unit employees who volunteer for the DEA Task Force, for a limited period of time, and do not affect pay, benefits, work location or the ability to perform work. Further, I do not find the General Counsel's argument regarding the possible security issues as a result of the elimination of the relaxed grooming standard to be persuasive. The security issues appear tenuous, at best, since the apprehended individuals are aware that the employees on detail are Border Patrol agents. Further, the lack of the relaxed standard has not affected volunteers for the position. The record evidence overall indicates a personal preference by some individual Border Patrol agents for a relaxed grooming standard rather than any genuine security issue. Therefore the change in policy is de minimis. Accordingly, it is concluded that the Respondent had no obligation to provide notice to the Union of the change that eliminated the relaxed grooming standards for bargaining unit employees at the Alamogordo, New Mexico Station detailed to the DEA Task Force. Therefore, the Respondent did not violate section 7116(a)(1) and (5) of the Statute. Based on all of the above, it is recommended that the Authority adopt the following: ORDER It is hereby ordered that the Complaint in Case No. DA-CA-01-0919 be, and it hereby is, dismissed in its entirety. Issued, Washington, DC, September 30, 2004. _______________________________ SUSAN E. JELEN Administrative Law Judge CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I hereby certify that copies of the DECISION issued by SUSAN E. JELEN, Administrative Law Judge, in Case No. DA-CA-01-0919, were sent to the following parties: _______________________________ CERTIFIED MAIL & RETURN RECEIPT CERTIFIED NOS: John M. Bates, Esquire 7000 1670 0000 1175 4434 Mia L. Beck, Esquire Federal Labor Relations Authority 1244 Speer Boulevard, Suite 100 Denver, CO 80204-3581 Robert H. Humphries, Esquire 7000 1670 0000 1175 4441 Assistant Chief Counsel U.S. Customs and Border Protection 9400 Viscount Blvd., Suite 108 El Paso, TX 79925 DeWayne Wicks, LRS 7000 1670 0000 1175 4458 Immigration and Naturalization Service 7701 N. Stemmons Freeway Dallas, TX 75247 James Stack, Representative 7000 1670 0000 1175 4465 President AFGE, Local 1929 2316 Camino del Rey Alamogordo, NM 88310 REGULAR MAIL: President AFGE 80 F Street, NW Washington, DC 20001 DATED: September 30, 2004 Washington, DC Effective March 1, 2003, the Respondent merged with other agencies and its name was changed to United States Border Patrol, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Department of Homeland Security. In its Post-Hearing Brief, the Respondent referenced a Justice Department document entitled "Officers' Handbook: A Guide to Proper Conduct and Relationship with Aliens and the General Public". Counsel for the General Counsel filed a Motion To Strike, asserting that the handbook was neither introduced nor admitted into evidence at the hearing. Further the Respondent referenced the handbook in its Brief even though the document was not entered into evidence. In its Exception To Motion To Strike, Respondent admits that the handbook was not previously part of the evidence concerning this matter, but argues that it speaks directly to the issue and requests that it be considered a valid document in rendering a decision in this matter. The General Counsel's Motion To Strike is granted. The handbook, although available to the Respondent at the time of the hearing, was not produced or offered into the record at that time. It is well settled that material which is not within the official record cannot be considered in rendering a decision in a case. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Washington, D.C., 41 FLRA 272 (1991). Article 29 states, in part: A. Subject to Section D of this Article and any applicable bargaining obligations under the CSRA, the Service retains the right to establish reasonable grooming standards for all employees. Any grooming standards so established
Daisy Janie offers organic cotton fabrics for quilting and home sewing, printed with modern, original designs by Owner Jan DiCintio. All fabrics are self-produced by DJ and are sold on a wholesale basis to independent fabric retailers as well as product manufacturers in the US and internationally. Daisy Janie's organic fabrics are 100% GOTS certified, from seed to fiber, fabric, printing & packaging. The whole kit & kaboodle! Daisy Janie's latest organic fabric collection is Tilly. I planned to put together a little paragraph to summarize Jan's inspiration for this new collection today. However, last night after reading through all the posts on her blog labeled Tilly, including the touching story she shares here about her Mother and a family kite named Tilly. I really encourage each of you to take the time to to visit Jan or the Fat Quarter Shop to read it for yourself. Knowing the story makes these fabrics all the more beautiful!! I am still so honored I was asked to contribute the Tilly projects below for her Quilt Market Booth this past October! I learned about organic fabrics and GOTS this last week on the Twitter chat #talknt. Very interesting stuff! Kudos to @daisyjanie for her great fabric line. Beautiful, too! So glad you could join the #talknt chat! Was a very enthusiastic group! I started sewing ... oh, back when dirt was young! Barbie doll clothes, "curtains" for my Barbie doll runway where I did my little fashion shows, a blanket for Barbie, that kind of thing. Congratulations on a terrific two years! well someone has to go first i suppose :) I have been sewing for about 18 months, although I only really get a chance to sew about once or twice a week, in the evenings after my kids have gone to bed. My blogiversary is actually coming up in March! I've been hand sewing since I was 9, machine sewing for the past 11 years. Great Giveaway! I love, love, love that fabric! I have been quilting for about 20 years. Love blogs! So much inspiration and instruction! Thanks for a chance. What lovely fabrics!! :) I've been sewing almost 20 years, since I started making little dresses for my first baby girl. :) i've been blogging for a month... =) i started sewing when i was about 9, but i didn't start up again until last year. and i love it! I started sewing regularly about six months ago and I just started blogging in January. It has been so great to meet so many supportive ladies and see all the creative things they come up with! Happy Blogiversary!! I've been blogging for three years. It has been such an inspiration to learn from so many creative and giving people. Thanks for such a generous giveaway! I have been sewing for over 50 years and the current trend in organic fabrics had got to be the most beautiful EVER!! These are gorgeous--thanks for the chance to win and happy bog-iversary :D This has to be one of the most heartwarming comments I've read in a long time! Can't imagine all the beauty you've created in 50 years! My grandmothers taught me to embroider, knit and crochet when I was pretty young. I started sewing actual clothing in my teens and have continued another 40 years. I added machine embroidery this past year and am newly excited to go as long as I can still see to do it, lol. I love these fabrics! Thank you for sharing! [email protected] Oooh! Gorgeous! I've been blogging for 9 months and not on a consistent basis. Tisk. Tisk. My favorite sewing project has been liners that I made to go in diaper boxes I converted to storage bins. Happy blogiversary! I love this bundle!! My first blog birthday is in a few days!! Can't believe it's been that long already. I just really started to get into sewing and my favorite so far has been a custom order vendor apron in chevron stripe! I've only been really sewing for the last five years. Before that, I'd make a project or two here and there. Happy Blogiversary! one of my fave projects ever was the purse I made for a friend. She picked out the fabric and I chose the style and surprised her and it was perfect! She still uses it! Great giveaway, I have been sewing on and off for about 30 years!! much more into yarn now but love to combine the two thanks Dianne xxx Thank you for the wonderful giveaway! I love those pretty flowers! I took my first sewing class when I was pregnant with my now 4 year old daughter. I enjoy making skirts for my 2 girlies, gifts for babies, and being able to whip together simple projects. Congratulations!!! I have been sewing since last March and I love it!! Thanx for a chance to win. Esther. I don't have the bogging thing down yet. I have recently returned to sewing. However, my old sewing experience is what I learned in high school. I made a bobbed skirt. It came out very well. I used to wear it all the time. So 3 years ago, I decided to get a sewing machine. It sat for almost 2 years before I used it. Fear. Afraid of the fancy machine & afraid I couldn't sew. I have completed a quilt top and will be working on a dress for my granddaughter 2nd birthday. Gonna need some luck! I've been sewing just over 1year and blogging for almost 1 year. thecraftingfiend(at)gmail.com Despite my mother's repeated efforts to teach me to sew, I never really enjoyed it when I was younger. But when my daughter was born 7 years ago, I wanted to make her halloween costumes. Which of course meant smaller projects for practice. And then suddenly I was hooked. My parents bought my first sewing machine for Christmas later that year. And just last week, I invested in a new machine with more features for quilting since I have become an avid fan in the past couple years. There's something about giving gifts and making things for your kids that is immensely gratifying. And as a stay at home mommy with an art degree, it's a fantastic and functional outlet for all that bottled up creativity. I love reading your blog and seeing all of your wonderful ideas. Congratulations on 2 years!! I hope to see you around for many more :) The baby blankets for the little ones in my life, are what I loved doing. They were filled with love, and given as such, and who can't always add more fabric to their personal stash? Gorgeous, Gorgeous! Makes me think of spring! But here in Iowa we have had a little taste of spring this week! But snow is coming and colder temps. Congratulations on your blog anniversary! Li voe your encouragement, pictures and giveaways! Thank you for your inspiration! I have been sewing and crafting for about 30 years. It is a comfort and a calm for me! I love to see the projects to completion and then to give them as a gift and to see the faces of the ones receiving it! Blessings to you all! Oh I just found this line this week and I've fallen in love with it !! I'd love to get my hands on some :) I've been sewing for about 3 years now and blogging for a couple months. It's silly but all the quilts I made are my favorites. I can't pick one. Although, when I finished my very first quilt, I was amazed that I could do that !! Those fabrics are great! What a nice giveaway. Happy Blog-iversary! I just started my blog a few months ago. My last post has many pictures from the Road of California Quilt show in Ontario CA, if anyone is interested. LOTS of art quilts! Thanks for the chance to win. Linda Good morning Ms. Maureen, Thanks for another chance to win some yummy fabric. Have a great weekend!!! [email protected] Love the fabrics. My grandmother taught me to sew when I was 8 (as I have done for my gdaughters). That was ummmmmm - 57 years ago! [email protected] I love sewing blankets and donateing to charities..thanks for the generous give away..nicole.. Thank you for the giveaway! What beautiful colors! I've been successfully sewing for maybe a year or two. My favorite thing I have ever made was a cross-stitch quilt blanket with animals on it. I figured I loved it so much it was hard to part with. Eventually, it'll go to my first born grandchild. :) More recently, I've gotten into trying out little purse patterns, which have proven to bring me great joy! Thanks again! I haven't seen this line before, it is gorgeous, thanks for showing me it! And thanks for the chance to win. I've almost been blogging for two years too, it has gone very quickly. i liked Shades of Grey and Geo Grand but felt they needed more color. This bundle totally delivers. I have a penchant for vibrant colors, yet I feel so drawn to this color combination. I love the interplay of feminine motifs on a color palette I would consider more masculine. I would absolutely love to win this bundle!! Great feedback! Ha I have been sewing for at least 40 years. I used to watch my Grandmother make up her own patterns to match the latest Vogue magazine clothing. I just love making funky quilts..no perfection here! Thanks for the chance to win this awesome fabric!! What a delicious bundle. My blogiversary was a couple of weeks but that one's all about dogs and rescue. I've been sewing for about 14 months now and I've got so addicted and am now learning all kinds of other crafts that I think I'm going to have to start a crafty blog too because the excitement is just bursting out of my ears with no outlet! What a wonderful and generous giveaway! The fabrics are fantastic. My favorite thing to make... anything that I'm making for my kiddos or nieces and nephews! I just enjoy the process! Tilly is a great fabric collection. I have been sewing on and off for most of my life. I made a little pin cushion when I was 11 that I still have. 54 years ago. Wow. Older than dirt! [email protected] Happy Blog-iversary! I love your blog. I have been sewing for most of my life. For Christmas, I made my dear daughter-in-love a purse. I struggled over color choice because she and I have very different taste. She loved it and when she took it to work, her co-workers asked if it was a Vera!! I'm really proud of that bag but it was a bugger to make! I love these colors! I think my favorite thing I have ever made is whatever I just finished. Well I started sewing at a young age, I remember my 6th grade Home-Ec teacher Mrs. Ruff taught us how to make a pillowcase on the sewing machine, I learned also from my Mom. But just in the past 5 years or so have I been quilting, my most recent accomplishment was a king sized postage stamp wuilt I made for the hubs. Currently Im working on matching twin bed quilts with pillow shams for the wee ones - all scrappy wonky stars. Those fabrics are absolutely gorgeous! In my early 20s I belonged to a medieval recreation group and learned to sew clothing from the middle ages! I hadn't sewn in about 15 years and recently started again last summer. Now I love making clothing for my daughter and bags wristlets/clutches. Thanks so much for the great blog and the generous giveaway! Such a lovely give away! Thanks so much. Love to read your posts! My favourite thing is a butterfly wallquilt I made as one of my very first quilts. I still love it very much!And I love to look at it again and again when I visit my mother-in-law because I gave the quilt to her, to brighten her days! I love making baby blankets for my friends. Love this fabric! [email protected] I started sewing when I was in high school and couldn't find clothes to fit me. I have since lost all the extra weight but not the love of sewing. I'm now a great-grandmother and love to quilt. The Tilly fabric is GORGEOUS! Thanks for another great giveaway. I have been sewing for a few years. Congratulation Maureen on the two year anniversary, I love your blog. I've been blogging for four years now, more or less. These fabrics are lovely! m dot cartledgehayes at insightbb dot com Congratulations on 2 years Maureen! I've been sewing since I was around 8! Next on my list are Dresden plates!! After I retired, I rescued an unfinished quilt project put away in frustration earlier - made a few adjustments and finished it - now love it on my sofa. My mother learned me how to sew and many other crafty things. I sewed all my clothes when I was a teenager. Recently I learned how to sew shirts for my daughter and I love them. Hope I am lucky! I LOVE the Tilly fabric - what a wonderful giveaway! To answer the question, I guess I have been sewing as a very intermittent hobby for most of my life, but I have gotten more seriously into quilting in the last two years or so. It's an addictive past-time! Congrats on two years blogging! I myself have three blogs and have been doing it for almost four years. Sewing has been about the same, too, when my daughter was born I started making things for her. Your shop and blog are super cute, I just found you :) Keep up the good work! Congratulations! I've been blogging only a little longer than you, about 2.5 years. I've been sewing for 17 years. Congratulations on Two Years:) And thanks for a great giveaway! I started sewing a little over a year ago. Bought my sewing machine, came home and started googling, finding sewing blogs, used my seam ripper a ton, but eventually finished my first project! I am so thankful for all the bloggers, like yours, that inspire, share, and teach newbies like myself:) I love your blog, and feel so inspired when I read what you're up too! I've just recently started to applique and having quite a bit of fun with it! Congrats on two years blogging! Congrats on two years of sharing and inspiring! The fabric is lovely through and through. i treasure the first cathedral window quilt i did, but i gve it to my mother in law for her bed. i did, years later make a christmas cathedral window quilt for my bed and i do keep it out for several months after the holiday. i love the star shapes and have been collecting materials to make either a quilt or a table runner. Julie Wanting to make each one of my sons a quilt using pieces from their late father's shirts. Happy Anniversary!! [email protected] I have been blogging for about 8 months now, Its challenging and inspiring - I love it! About two months I made a bag with some great fabric - but itwas huge. I never thought I would actually be able to fill it up. Well now I use it everyday - and its full. Haha, I get so many compliments about it. I really should make another one! P.s. I love your blog! As a retired science teacher, I love the introduction of organic fabrics into the marketplace!!! I started sewing when I was 13....I was the winner of a sewing machine at the New York State fair. Been sewing ever since!! I'll be stopping by your blog now that I've found it!! I started sewing when I was very young, but it became a more consistent hobby in college. I made money on the side selling patchwork tote bags. And once I got married, quilting really became the focus of my sewing. I've been blogging for about 2 years now, too! Happy blog-iversary. The favorite thing I've made lately are a couple of "Gum Drop Pillows" - an Amy Butler pattern. A fun accessory, and I made them in color schemes to match my 2 girls' bedrooms. Congratulations!I began sewing sixteen year ago and quilting five. Te most favorite thing I've ever made is my first quilt. I love this:) like your blog alot. Best wishes from Italy [email protected] Hi: My name is Teresa and I have two blogs, one for cooking,, and one for sewing, I love sewing but I don´t have enough time to make all the lovely things that I check on blogs. Kisses from Spain wow!!! beautiful fabrics!!! I started blogging 6 years ago :)))) congratulations to you !! thanks for the chance :) Happy Anniversary! Me and my blog will have our first on 15 February! :o) My favorite thing, clothing for my childern. I made beautiful clothing for each of them. I hand tailored my son's jackets. I made a beautiful matching coat and dress for my daughter. Now I'm working on a few quilts that I can't wait to finish. The fabric is gorgeous and would make a wonderful throw for a young married couple I know. Mary Fioretti, Algonquin, IL Happy Blogiversary! I almost feel like I'm cheating since I already purchased some of this fabric. It is my first time working with organic fabric and I just love it! Very high quality fabric in beautiful colors. This fabric is a major player in a room redecorating effort. It is part of a cushion cover, a quilt throw, and a pillow, so far. I would love to add even more touches of Tilly to my room. Thanks for the chance to win! I started sewing August of last year(hubby bought me a sewing machine as my birthday present - he's such a doll).. I've only made one item so far as life was pretty hectic.. It still is, but I plan to make the time to sew more this year.. I'm also yet to start a blog (I still need to build up the confidence) [email protected] Happy Blog Anniversary! Your posts always inspire me. Thanks for that! Love these Tilly fabrics! I have been sewing since I was a teenager but only became CONSUMED by it once I changed from sewing clothes to quilts. Beautiful fabric - I have a few pieces of her organic fabric and it's fantastic. I haven't been sewing for long but I think my favorite thing was the art bag I made for a friends daughter. It had pockets and a built in crayon roll. Congratulations! Oh my, so beautiful! Happy Anniversary! I've only been sewing quilts and such for about a year, until then I only sewed doll bodies! Gorgeous fabric! Thanks for the nice giveaway! I've been sewing a long time ... learned how to sew in "Home Ec" in high school and I graduated in 1977! Congratulations! I just passed my five year mark of my quilting buisness. It's fun to see what has been accomplished in that time. Thanks for the cute giveaway! I've been sewing since I was 12...let's just say that was quite a while ago! I've only been blogging for about 1/2 year. Favorite thing I've made? Gosh, too many. The quilt for my husband, the puppet curtain/theater & puppets for my neices, the tee-pee's for my neices & nephews. The best part about making things is giving them away so it's more about that, I think, than making it. Seeing kids literally jump up and down and squeal in delight over something you made is indescribable! Congrats on the blogaversary! I really enjoy your individual style! Oh, those colors would be perfect in my home. thanks for a chance to win them. Congrats on your anniversary. I have been blogging since 2008 and quilting since 1999. I love lots of different crafts but have to say my passion is fabric and I have lots of it! I started about 6 years ago when I enquired about purchasing a quilt in my local quilt shop and was told I could come to a class and learn to make my own. And so it began, I've made quilts for family and a few friends and I now try to make something different when I get the time. Happy anniversary and keep blogging :) Happy Blogiversary! The fabric is beautiful I've been sewing for well over a decade but the past few years I have sewn more and more. I'd really love to blog my sewing and baking adventures, but so far I haven't been able to keep up with it. Right now the favorite thing I've sewn is a pillow that looks like my house. It is so cute! Thanks! racergirl1313 AT hotmail . com Happy Blog-iversary!! What scrummy Fabric! I've been sewing since I was diddy! (some would say I'm not much taller now!).. I still have the first piece of embroidery I did as flower with my name under it! At the age of 3! Sewing saw me clothed through Uni and I think my mom would disown me if i ever bought a pair of curtains! Although I've been sewing all my life I only got into quiltinga couple of years ago.. and LOVE IT!! Congrats on two years! I have been sewing since October of this past year when I went and spent a week with my mother and she tried to pass on all of her knowledge to me. I think my favorite things to make have been purses and cosmetic bags. Happy Anniversary!! Love the fabrics. Happy Blogiversary! This fabric is wonderful! My favorite thing I've ever made was a quilt for my brother. It was pretty simple, but I hand quilted it all and loved doing it. That he really loves the quilt just adds to my "favoriting" it. This fabric is beautiful! I have just started blogging, but have been sewing for a long time. My favorite thing I have made was a cute little valentines dress for my daughter when she was a toddler.. she's in her pre-teens now, but I still have the dress. Too Cute!!! [email protected] Happy Blog-iversary! My favorite sewn item is my one and only quilt. I'm hoping to finish up a second one this spring. :) My favorite thing I made is a patchwork valentine skirt for my daughter. It's so ruffley and bouncy. She bounces around the whole day when she wears it and it make me smile. I have only been sewing for a few months but have fallen in love with it. I appreciate all the online resources as I have no one here to teach me. I have been considering signing up for a class I think it would be lots of fun. I also think it would be good to learn the proper way of doing things rather than just winging it. Love your site! Happy anniversary! I started my first blog 4 years ago when I got married. It is a private blog for my family on the adventures of being married to someone in the army. A public blog like yours is a lot more fun to have because you get to interact with people and get to know them. :) I have been blogging almost a year, quilting for 38 years and sewing forever! I love the idea of organic cottons and these are very special! Congats on your two year anniversary. I love to quilt, refinish furniture, and lurk on Pinterest...lol. My favorite craft would be my embroidery of a paper airplane with the words..."fly". Very simple, but it makes me happy! Congrats! I've been sewing for almost 30 years now (and boy, does saying that make me feel old!) and just starting quilting about five years ago. It is such good therapy! I am brand new to sewing but am loving every minute of it. It is a complete adventure as I explore different fabrics, patterns and techniques. IveO only been sewing for a year and a half now - I have so much to learn! The fabric bundle is beautiful. Thanks for the chance to win and good luck everyone! I've been sewing for about two years. My favorite quilt so far is a log cabin throw that I actually still need to quilt. I am drawn to so many styles now that it amazes me how traditional most of my original quilts are. Congrats! I love a mermaid doll I made for my littlest girl. I have lots of favorites, though -- even the ugly ones :) Thanks! Lovely Fabric! I've been blogging for almost 5 years now I think but sew-blogging for about a year. I've been sewing since I was 8- almostt 25! My dad taught me how to use the sewing machine and we made pillowcases. I wish I still had them :( Thank you so much for the giveaway- the fabrics are beautiful! I love these! [email protected] This fabric is gorgeous. I have been blogging for about 4 years, but only started promoting my blog about 18 months ago. It's a fun ride, that's for sure. :) My favorite thing I made was an easter dress 3 yrs ago for my oldest. Thanks for the giveaway it is so pretty I love Daisy Janie fabrics! I really want some her Shades of Gray fabric, too! I sewed about ten years ago, but life got in the way a bit (to say the least). After a move that made me leave my beloved job, I now have time and space for sewing and quilting again! Yippee!!!! Happy Blogiversary Maureen!!! I have been sewing for 7 years, blogging about it for 1 1/2 years! My favorite project that I have made is the skirt I just finished for myself. It is awesome. I also love the Rapunzel dress I made for my daughter for Halloween! :) Happy blogging! Happy blogiversary! I've been sewing for almost two years, and I absolutely love it. I've made a bunch of different things as I've been learning, but my favorites are simple knit dresses for my daughter... she's my biggest fan! :) Thanks so much for the chance, and for such a super blog! I think my most favorite thing I have ever made was a Bucilla felt stocking "Fireman Santa" that I made three years ago for my husband the firefighter. I put my heart and soul into that stocking, every hand stich! He loved it! I now have a sewing machine and I'm teaching myself to sew, this would make an awesome addition to my growing collection of fabric... I may have an addiction problem! ha ha.. [email protected] I've been sewing since jr high home ec. class, where we made a scarf first and then went on to a pillowcase. I love this organic fabric bundle..just beautiful. Thanks, And Happy Blogversary... =) Happy blogiversary! I have been sewing for 14 years. What beautiful fabric!! Thank you for the chance to win!!! :-) My favorite sewing projects were all the dresses that I made for my girls when they were growing up... Sewing for children is such fun-- the more ruffles and lace, the better! :-) I loved to take a pattern and "make it my own" by adding embellishments such as ribbons, embroidery, lace, etc... I'd usually change the sleeves, bodice or neckline-- use the same pattern for both girls, but make each dress unique. Fun memories! :-) What a great giveaway! I really like this collection, I think it's my favorite by Daisy Janie yet! Thank you for the chance. Happy blogiversary! I've been blogging about sewing/crafts for about the same amount of time as you. We officially started Stumbles & Stitches in January 2010. I had been sewing on and off (mostly off) since I was a kid due to a super crafty mom and grandmas, but I really picked it up shortly after I had my first child about 4 years ago. My life has never been the same! Have a lovely weekend. :) Happy 2 years! I stared sewing at the age of nine. My mother was a seamstress by trade so I began as soon as I could reach the pedal. :) I started my blog about 6 months ago, I love how it chronicles your work over time. Congrats! This comment has been removed by the author. I'm just a beginner,but i made a double quilt,with help from my aunt. The fabric bundle looks great...I'm just a follower in the blog world... HAPPY BLOG ANNIVERSARY! Hi Maureen....Happy Blog-iversary!!!! I have been quilting for over 25 years now. My mother-in-law got me into it, she passed away 2 years ago and I think of her every day while in my sewing room. I love this fabric; thank you for much for this giveaway. What I love about sewing...I love to hand quilt;that is what I do. But I am taking the FMQ Challenge to learn new things....it is so much fun to keep learning; never too old!! I have been drooling over this collection since it came out! I used to sew with my grandma when I was little. I wasn't quite old enough to pick up all her skills, but the ones that stuck have helped. Of course in my teens I found more important things than sewing. When she passed away in 2008, I was given her sewing machine. Due to sentimental reasons, I didn't want to use it. I decided last year to pull it out and start sewing again. I am now addicted to sewing and can't live without it. I cherish my memories of sewing with my grandma and am grateful for her sharing her love with me. Congratulations. You're just a baby when it comes to sewing, but you've made some awesome stuff. I hate to tell you how many years I've been sewing. And thanks for the fabulous giveaway--I love Daisy Janie! happy 2 yrs. I'm already a follower rather "new" at quilt blogging. have been quilting for about 8 yrs, made my daughter a quilt when I was pregnant with her and this thing is in SHREDS! it's SO loved :-) I've fixed little holes before but now the two long borders are pretty much gone and almost all the quilting threads have been pulled out, I don't know HOW this thing still holds together, but it's SO SO soft, she sleeps with it every night. I've also made her other quilts since then, but they can't replace this one. Oh man, those are gorgeous! I have no idea what my most favorite thing is! I've been sewing for about four years. I got a sewing machine for my birthday when I was pregnant with my son. As for my favorite thing I've made, I think it would have to be the quilt I gave my mother-in-law for Christmas two years ago. Not perfect, but very pretty, and I'm still impressed with it when I happen to see it draped over her couch. What lovely fabric! My favorite type of sewing is quilting. Tammi ([email protected]) I am just starting to learn to sew. Made my first simple cafe curtain panels a couple of weeks ago! Well, I have been sewing since I would sit under mother's ironing board and complain that I had "nothing new to do." Mom would hand me material and a needle and thread adn say "make something." That's been about 45 years. yikes. I have all the plans made for what I want to blog - just have to get it started. i would love to win! i have been sewing since i was a wee lad. i started quilting in 2005. i started blogging in 2008 but really didn't start blogging for real last year! Been sewing for 2 years, blogging almost as long! Thanks for the chance, Maureen! Happy Sewiversary! Please pick me Mr.Random... Wow! Only 2 years of sewing and look at what you do! Your work is lovely and inspirational. Congratulations on your anniversary! My favorite thing ever made was a Lois Ericson vest. I've recently started sewing again after breaking both wrists 6 years ago. One of my favorite things I ever made was a blue and white mystery quilt that I gave to my son. Thanks for the giveaway! I've been sewing on and off since 1994. There was a huge hiatus when I returned to college in 2002/2003 for three years. I've been blogging for two years. Thank you for a chance to win. Beautiful fabrics! I started a blog at the end of last February as a place to keep track of my projects. Because of positive comments and interest in the blog, I've become more proud of my creations and more ready to share the joy with others. Thanks for your inspiration! I started sewing at a very young age. I guess about 6 or so. I wanted barbie clothes and proceeded to make some. I laid the doll down and cut around her, sewed it up - but :( it did not fit. My Mother helped me out and began to teach me how to sew. I have been blogging I guess for maybe 2 months? My Sister (and some internet friends newly made :-) ... have been helping me learn how. My favorite thing? I guess would be the Words of Wisdom Wedding Quilt. (Borrowed my Sister Gwen's idea) My son was married on 9.10.11 and I have 100 muslin blocks with handwritten words of wisdom and signatures. They are joined with 1 inch sashing in soft 30's colors and have a row of hearts at top and bottom. It is being quilted now and I am looking forward to this quilt "landing" at their new home. (Secretly hoping it will be a "baby maker") Laughing to myself I say this. We'll see! :-) Cathy What a cool giveaway... Felt odd to sign in for your giveaway, when I have my own going on - but as it is very different well I thought I would cope :) thanks for the reminder.. I ma not sure whether it is the best thing I saw, but I made a hot water bottle cover - and it is the one thing I use ALL the time. it is freezing in London and that is all I need for the night.. Gorgeous colors and patterns! Congratulations on your two year blog anniversary. I think my favorite thing that I have made was the lap quilt that I made for my mother for Mother's Day 2 years ago. It was my first try at making a quilt, and I was lucky enough that I was able to give it to her at that time. She passed away 5 months later. I've been sewing for about a year and three months now, and blogging for just a month longer! I'm so glad I discovered both! I love these fabrics! I've been sewing seriously for a little over a year, and it never gets old! Congrats on your blog-iversary :) Love this collection! I've been sewing and blogging for about 3 years now. Like you, it has changed my life too. I can't imagaine not having it in my life...I mean, what would I do? :) [email protected] I taught myself to sew about 2 years ago, and I'm quite proud that I haven't thrown my machine out the window yet. Believe me, it's been touch-and-go a few different times. rebekahricker (at) yahoo (dot) com I learned to sew at a Singer store ... so you know that was a long time ago :)! I started a blog several years ago, the end ... never really got in the groove with it. (still trying tho) Happy Anniversary! I have been sewing about 18 years! I started way back in 6th grade! I've been sewing on and off (mostly off!) since I was a kid and sewed with my mom. I started seriously sewing about two and a half years ago when I discovered the online sewing/quilting community. I never knew there was so much beautiful fabric out there. Add to that the fact that I can order fabric online from the US at about 30-40% cheaper than in Canada, and there was no stopping me! Congratulations of your blog-iversary! :) Congrats on 2 years! And thanks for the fabulous giveaway, I love that fabric. Happy Blogiversary!!! I enjoy all the eye candy on your blog. I've been blogging for a few years although just last month started my own blog. I've been sewing for years and years .... it was a necessity to learn when my children were young - and I've never regretted it! Thanks for the chance to win your giveaway. those colors and prints are great-fabric is a weakness for me-my mind works faster than my body when it comes to using my fabric stash-all these great ideas when I see fabric and not enough time in a day to use it all-I have been sewing for about 45 years -(not everyday)-not a blogger yet but thinking about it-hope all have a wonderful day The favorite think I've ever made, would have to be a hand painted family rules sign, followed by pillows for my couch! I've been blogging properly since October but have been sewing on and off for 4/5 years now :) Happy anniversary! My favorite thing I've made is a star quilt made from 1930s fabrics. I'm hand quilting it now and I love how it is looking. Happy anniversary, Maureen! :) I've been sewing for a couple years and it's hard to pick a favorite thing I've sewn. I love making rug mugs and skirts and pants for little ones. Hi, I've been sewing for just over 4 years now and a good day is one when I get to create something! Hugs Naomi I've been sewing for about 10 months. My favorite thing I've made is a quilt I just finished last month. My favorite thing i've ever made is my very first quilt. Well, two quilts, they were done at the same time, for a Breast Cancer fundraiser. I thought they were GORGEOUS and I wanted to keept them both really bad. (long time reader, first time commenter :)) Happy blogiversary! I love your work and amazed that you've only been blogging 2 years - your words and pictures are all so inspiring. My most favouritest sewing project is a bucket bag from The Bag Making Bible. It's huge, practical, most of the seams match (an achievement for me!) and was made especially to show off a giant crochet motif that I made. And I really love its bright colours :) I started sewing when I was about 9. 4-H, and a mom who sewed were my first teachers. Hard to pick a favorite. I sewed for myself, my kids, now quilting for grandchildren and great-grandchildren. I have only been blogging for a few months. No teacher, so still trying to get the hang of it. Happy anniversary! I just completed some fabric boxes and I LOVE them! They are my favorite at the moment!!! Started sewing about 2 years ago--my husband bought me a sewing machine for our anniversary! Previously I had made one set of shorts in highschool which were pretty lousy :) But, I love it! Our first little house was in an old neighborhood and two houses down were two elderly sisters who hand pieced a baby quilt out of their childrens baby clothes and old chenile blankets. They taught me how to sandwich the quilt and bind it. It started my love for quilting. That quilt lasted was past on to my grandson, who loved it for seven more years. It finally became so tattered after 27 years, that we had to put it to rest. The three of us actually all shed a tear of two. Yet we thank our two angels who showed their love of quilting and were willing to part with their own family history to make a quilt for our family. [email protected] I have been sewing for about year, so definetly still a beginner! I love Daisy Janie and especially the Tilly line! Congratulations on two years! I've been blogging, not seriously or regularly,since about 2007. I started as a procrastination method during grad school. :) Thank you for sharing your own life on the internet for us all to gain from, I love it! Happy Anniversary!! and many more! I've sewn all my life.. so about 40 years lol but really took it up again this past year, I love making wallets and purses the most.. thank you for the giveaway! I have been blogging for a little over 2 months and have been sewing since christmas. I just love working with fabric. All the different colors and textures just keep my head spinning with ideas.-Stephanie Let's see, I only started blogging in August of last year. I started to give me something to do while I nursed my new little baby, but it turned into a great way to network and meet new friends! I have been sewing for about 5 years now and stared quilting a year ago. Tilly is a beautiful fabric line. Thanks for the chance. Happy anniversary, and thanks for the nice giveaway! I have been sewing since I was 10 - which is longer than I care to admit on this somewhat public forum(!) and have been quilting off and on for about 10 year. Love the quilting! Happy blogiversary! I am just shy of one year on my blog - I was inspired by folks like you that are creative, inspiring, and generous enough to share online what you do in real life! So now I share my creative endeavors through words and pictures, and hopefully others can catch some inspiration from my posts, too. Thanks for giving a bit of insight into Daisy Jane, I've heard a little but only a little about organics, so this was good! :) C Thanks for the giveaway! I've been seriously sewing for about 3 years, since my second daughter was born and I wanted to make cute clothes for them! [email protected] THANK YOU MAUREEN,IT'S BEEN FUN FOLLOWING YOU! +CONGRATS TO YOU+KEEP UP THIS GOOD WORK! MY JOY COMES FROM MAKING BABY QUILTS FOR OUR LOCAL CHARITY! I'VE BEEN DOING THIS SINCE I RETIRED FROM NURSING ABOUT FIVE YEARS AGO. "THANK YOU'S" TO YOU AND FQS FOR A SWELL GIVEAWAY! I have been enjoying your blog. I have been sewing since I was a child(42 years or so). I really am excited to see so many younger sewers and quilters. It is such a great outlet for creativity. Thanks for including my comment in your giveaway. [email protected] I have been sewing as long as I can remember. However, I have gotten more serious in the last couple years. I think I probably started to blog over two years ago? I had a different blog originally and only transferred over a couple of my old posts. Great fabric, thank you! Congrats with your blogoversary!I have been sewing since I was at school) i've been sewing about 6-7 years, not including the occasional sewing project my mom would make us do as teenagers during summer holidays. :) taraz9 at excite dot com Congratulations! I just started blogging last month and don't have any followers yet. I started it as more of a diary and way to track my quilts and keep myself motivated. Thanks for hosting the giveaway. What a lovely giveaway! I've been sewing for 10+ years (mostly quilting though), and blogging for 1. I can't decide on a favorite project - my favorite keeps changing! Happy anniversary! Sewing since high school. Thanks for the giveaway! twelve30 (at ) gmail (dot) com I've been quilting seriously for about almost a year now, and blogging for about 2 months (maybe), still trying to figure out the technology, but I love being a small part of this wonderful online community!! Thanks for the giveaway and happy second blogiversary! I'm 67 and have been sewing since I was 8. I've been quilting for almost 3 years, I think my favorite quilts are zig zag designs. I have been sewing since I was 12 and my favorite thing I have made is handbags! Thanks for the giveaway! goldiez at hotmail dot com Dear Maureen, Congratulations to your anniversary! I can't believe you saying that you have sewn only two years - perhaps I didn't understand right?! I have been sewing all my life, almost, perhaps about 40 years and we are writing our blog with Nero about 1,5 years. After all that sewing at the moment I think my favourite sewing has been "Nero's Garden" quilt. It was a new challenge for me and I enjoyed every moment! Thank you for a wonderful give away! Those fabrics are so beautiful! Sunny wishes! x Teje nerospostatgmaildotcom Happy blog day! Love your comments and your blog. Love the fabric. I have sewing (quilting) no stop for the past 11'years. It's my true therapy! I just put together the Emerson Street Table Topper, it's adorable! I don't blog, but enjoy reading some. Congrats on your anniversary. [email protected] In march it will be exactly one year that I started sewing and in may it will be one year of blogging :o) Hope in one year I'll be as good as you are! :o) Thanks for the giveaway and wish you lots of great blog posts and sewing projects. This is such a gorgeous fabric line! I've been quilting since 2004, and love having a house full of them! ourbusylittlebunch(at)hotmail(dot)com Daisy Jane as the best fabric! Love this line and love dresden pillow. I made a quenn size log cabin quilt for my mil. I love the log cabin blocks. thanks! Lovely giveaway! I have been sewing for about 50 years, some periods more actively than others. I find that things in the sewing world keep changing and evolving - it makes me feel like a newby in many ways. Your blog is very inspiring - makes me want to do fresh things. Happy Cotton Anniversary! I really enjoy your blog, your palette, and your tutorials, especially those you have for kids' projects. I started my first quilt in 1997, but I have yet to finish it! Happy blogiversary! I had a hard time determining when I really started sewing; if you count the disastrous t-shirt in home ec in grade 8, it's been about 30 years, but then there was a tremendous "dry spell" until last year when my hubby bought me a sewing machine for our anniversary. Since then, I have been sewing constantly, mostly self- and blog-taught, especially since the birth of my first grandchild, a beautiful girl! Always on the lookout for beautiful fabrics for quilts for her, or dresses or.....whatever catches my eye! Thanks for the opportunity to win, it's been a pleasure reading your blog and I look forward to many more years enjoying you! Beautiful fabric!!! I am such a fall color girl. Love it!! I have been quilting for about 2 years now and I love to read your fabulous blog. Thank you! I love these fabrics! I am a novice sewer. My first sewing experience was in junior high in the 70's. As a young mother in the 80's, I made a few things but didn't stick with it. I have had a renew interest in sewing in the past year or so and have made two quilts and several things for Christmas. I am inspired by your site and others. davidndes(at)gmail(dot)com I've only been sewing for about a year & a half, and sporadically, but I love it! Congratulations! My favourite items to make are Christmas wallhangings, and my most favourite is a Nativity Silhouette appliqued on a batik background. Thanks for the chance to win your giveaway. Janet I love so many of your items... honestly! I can't wait for the time to come that I can do some serious shopping with you. I love the pillow you have pictured on this blog. I've started sewing aprons to sell since October. Trying to make enough cash to take my family to the Aquarium to see Belugas. That's it for me, thanks for another opportunity at a giveaway! Congrats on your blog-iversary! I have been sewing for about 10 years now, wow! I still love quilting the most. This Tilley fabric is right up my alley, hope I am lucky today! Magnifique blog !!! Moi je réalise des jeux et jouets en tissus pour les enfants aveugles, malvoyants et handicapés bénévolement. Je trouve vos travail magnifique !!! Nadia Favorite thing I've ever made? That's a tough one. The easy answer would be to say that I almost always like my current project the best. I do tend to love clothing items, especially stuff for my little girls. I've been sewing since I was a young girl, I picked up the love of sewing from my mother. Happy Two Year Blogaversary! My favorite thing, is usually what I am working on, lol. One of my favorite that I have now is, an older quilt that I made with fabrics and clothing from my family, so it has a lot of memories in it. Debbie Lovely fabrics. I've been sewing since the dawn of time. I came from a family of non-sewers (grandmother or mother) so learned in 4-h when I was in elementary school. [email protected] I have been sewing for a very long time and have sewn many quilts, etc but I must say, the most favorite thing or things that I have ever sewn were my daughter's wedding dress, the bridemaids dresses and my grandson's suit just last summer. Nothing will ever top that. The only thing that will ever equal that will be to sew my other daughter's dress :) (made me cry to see her and my other daughter was maid of honor) [email protected] Congratulations and many more!!!! when my boys were little I sewed. Nothing fancy. As they left home I stopped sewing UNTIL I started looking online What you share with us has encouraged me to really start sewing again, quilts for my gdaughters and g sons gina [email protected] I've been sewing a long time, my grandmother taught me. I've only been sewing quilts for a year or so (my Auntie is teaching me.) Lately I'm also sewing for the home, placematts, purses, etc. How generous of you to share your anniversary with us! Love, love this line. And I think my most favorite sewing creation is the memory quilt I did of our beloved Bichon - was a birthday gift for his "daddy" - and it's just wonderful! Happy Anniversary and many thanks! Beautiful fabric!!!! Love the pillow too! I am working on some pillows and a quilt right now! Thanks for the chance to win! I'm currently working on my first donation quilt. Almost finished with that pesky binding... Congratulations! You make such beautiful things! I have been sewing since I was a girl, but I'd say more seriously for about 4 years. I love it and I wish the days were longer so I could fit in all the things I want to do... Wow, these fabrics just make me want to sew! I can see why you are always inspired. Favorite project...probably a batik quilt, it's colors remind me of sunshine and it's quilted in beautiful sunbursts. Happy Anniversary! Tilly is stunning; I would love to make something with this fabric. I've been sewing since last fall - it's changed my life too -- and blogging about it at fabricmutt.blogspot.com since the end of December. What a fun new world has opened up through this wonderful hobby! Don't blog, but I love to sew. I've been sewing for around 40 yrs. I stopped for awhile, but in the last two years have really made up for lost time. I love this fabric collection! Not usually colors I would pick, but I really like them a lot! I can picture a pillow or table runner made out of these. Thanks for the chance! And Happy 2nd Anniversary to you! You are very talented and I love the colors you use in your projects. I am new to quilting, crochet and knit are usually where I am at. I love this blog and I am learning...ever so slowly...about quilting and other crafts. I have a pattern for a "maple leaf" quilt that my partner's mother made years ago that I would love to try to make. Wall hanging first I think and then the "big" one! Keep up the great work...it is absolutely beatiful!
1st December: An early start saw myself with Jon and Ad Clifton at UEA Broad on the outskirts of Norwich searching for the 2w Ring-billed Gull that had been around since October. It had been quite tricky to pin down but we were lucky and picked it up easily. It was in quite advanced plumage and at glance resembled an adult although the eyes were still dark. [Eds: I believe that this was possibly the first for Norfolk?] Some nearby gravel pits failed to produce Red-necked Grebe or Red-crested Pochard but we did find what appeared to be a female Ferruginous Duck. Cranes were next on the agenda at Horsey but we could not find any but a Short-eared Owl showed very well and caught several voles while a single female Marsh Harrier quartered and a herd of 100 Whooper Swans was out in the fields. Down now to Lowestoft where a single Purple Sandpiper was seen at Ness Point along with a few Kittiwakes, a cracking male Eider and some Rock Pipits to be followed by two Waxwings gorging on Rosehips in Bloodmoor Road. Our final stop of the day was at Benacre which we approached from the Kessingland end. We eventually found the six smart Shorelarks on the beach along with a single Snow Bunting and six Skylarks. 4th December: A disappointing trip to East Tilbury with none of the potential sea duck, Pom Skuas, Red-throated Divers or Merlin! There was only one Black-tailed Godwit but 45 Corn Buntings and 110 Stock Doves was notable. Hanningfield Reservoir had very low water levels and was quiet bar 2000 Lapwing and flock of 600 Pintail. 5th December: Another early Norfolk venture with Jon Clifton, Tariq Watson and Ken Barrett [Eds: sadly the last two are no longer with us…] A Pacific Golden Plover was our quarry on Cley Eye but after two hours scanning thousands of Plovers it was only obvious by its absence. Steve Gantlett turned up and let everyone know that it was showing from Blakeney Quay causing a very sudden exodus of birders I that direction. There were even more birds down here but no sooner had a couple of us picked up this small Plover than the whole flock got up and few back towards Cley. A quick retrace and then another 30 minutes scanning to find the bird in the field. Crippling views were had and it came to within 15 feet of where we were standing. A tiny delicate bird only a little bigger than a Turnstone in body size but on long spindly legs. We noted three projecting primary tips and the tertial tips ended about even with the tail. A couple of short flights revealed the smoky grey underwings. With nothing better to do we headed back south and spent a couple of hours in the Yare Valley where 300 [Taiga] Bean Geese [Eds: those were the days…], 150 Russian White-fronts, 100 Greylags and 15 Canada Geese were noted [Eds: no Pinkfeet were wintering on this side of Norfolk back then]. We estimated 15,000 Wigeon across the flooded meadows and two Sparrowhawks and a female Marsh Harrier were seen before we called it a day. 8th December: A crisp frosty morning walk at The Chase with Mum and Dad was greatly enhanced by finding the Long-eared Owls on show but not two but eight in two groups of four!. There were still lots of thrushes around and duck were represented by 20 Teal and four Wigeon. I was not expecting a Chase tick though and the freeze had obviously displaced two Grey Plovers which circled the Slack but did not land. A Chiffchaff called from the scrub and a Water Rail popped out briefly on the ice. 10th December: Back to Dagenham Chase with Ken B where four of five Long-eared Owls seen were selfishly flushed by a dog walker but allowed us some flight views for a change. Two Golden Plover flying around became my second site tick that week. I had just left Ken and headed back off to find him and in the process relocated the Jack Snipe that Ken had seen earlier down near the Rom. Two Sparrowhawks were out hunting and on the pit nearest the road there were two stunning male Goosanders paddling around along with 28 Tufted Ducks, a Pochard and a single female Gadwall. I was almost back at the car when 18 more Golden Plovers flew over! Quite a morning on the patch! 11th December: A quieter morning at The Chase with Peter G with only two LEOs and no special ducks. Thrush numbers had risen again and the Jack Snipe was still lurking near the spring. Two Foxes patrolled the Slack and 45 Lapwings drifted over. I headed up London later on and saw four Snipe and amazingly a Woodcock from the train. 12th December: Out with Dad, this time to Fishers Green. It was very cold and frosty with little open water available and as such all the wildfowl were tightly packed in. We counted 26 Mute Swans, a single Canada Goose, 32 Great Crested Grebes, four Little Grebes, 180 Mallard, 199 Gadwall, 69 Shoveler, 24 Wigeon, 42 Teal, 65 Pochard, 64 Tufted Duck, 14 Goldeneye, one female Ruddy Duck, 60 Moorhen and 1100 Coot jammed into the small open areas. There were a few waders too with 130 Lapwings, 26 Golden Plover and two Snipe and two Kingfishers dashed along with Lee. There were a few roving Tit flocks and six Water Rails out and about searching for food. Two Mute Swans had succumbed and one was be devoured by a very smug looking female Kestrel. A most satisfying morning out. 13th-17th December: Daily visits to Barking Park to keep an eye on the Mute Swans in the ice resulted in a Jack Snipe around the edge and two male a female Gadwall. Both good records and obviously the result of the cold snap. Tawny Owls were vocal around home as well while a Great Spotted Woodpecker in South Park was the first local sighting away from Valentines or Wanstead. 18th December: A bitterly cold but sunny day out in Essex with Peter G. We bravely walked out to Shinglehead Point at Tollesbury and were rewarded with a good selection of winter waders and wildfowl including a male Scaup, nine Eider, 64 Goldeneye and 13 Mergansers along with a selection of small birds too with five Snow Buntings, ten Twite, 50 Skylark, 200 Goldfinch and Rock and Meadow Pipits. The only slight disappointment was getting totally covered in rich, black, smelly mud right up to my knees which Pete, as usual though was hilarious. Abberton next where six Bar-headed Geese was the goosy highlight along with 800 Wigeon, 87 Shoveler, seven Goosanders, five adult Bewick’s and a single Whooper Swan. After Pete brewed a cuppa we headed to Mersea and dipped some Waxwings but I did get an Essex tick with five distant Velvet Scoter. There were countless Golden Plovers and big flock of cackling Brent Geese while 67 Goldeneye, three Eider and 11 Mergansers were in the Colne. A flock of 32 Corn Buntings was a nice was to end up the day. 21st December: Our usual pre-Christmas visit to Felixstowe to visit my Grandparents resulted in brief views of the adult Iceland Gull heading towards the outfall and nine Corn Buntings and four White-fronted Geese battling against the wind at The Ferry. 24th December: A couple of hours at The Chase was well spent with seven Long-eared Owls in one bush, 32 smart Shoveler, 40 Teal and a dashing female Merlin to become my third site tick this month. 25th December: A very late post dinner visit to The Chase with Dad gave superb views of one of the LEOs actually out hunting. 26th December: A quick visit to show my Grandad Stan the LEOs. We saw four and he was most impressed. 27th December: A very early start for a special bird – a Laughing Gull. The 140 mile journey up to north east Norfolk with Peter G and Roy and Ian Woodward was enlivened by two Tawny Owls. We had only been at Walcott twenty minutes when it was picked up on the beach before quickly flying inland to a field where it paddled around with some Black-heads in a puddle. A small dark looking first winter gull with a black smudgy mask and a droopy dark bill. This was a much welcome life tick. We headed south to Waxham and passed eight Whooper Swans on the way. The Cranes had just flown over the bank but our usual little bit of trespassing [Eds: I am pretty sure I can remember where this was] saw us peering around a barn at five stalking adults at close range. They were sharing the fields with 42 more Whoopers and a quartering female Marsh Harrier. Onwards to Cantley where 170 Bean Geese were on show including two blue and one white neck collared individuals. Sixty White-fronts and 15 Ruff were also noted before we crossed Reedham Ferry and made our wat south to Butley where both an adult and immature Rough-legged Buzzard were dutifully on view at the same time, both perched and in flight. Four Barn Owls were our hunting the fields and Sparrowhawk and Kestrel were also seen before we called it a day. 29th December: After Jon and Ad’s wedding in North Essex yesterday I needed a walk and so headed down to the Concrete Barges at Rainham. It was a most worthwhile visit to my least favourite spot [Eds: says he, just coming up on 19 years working at the place…]. Six Water Pipits were located amongst the numerous ‘littoralis’ Rock Pipits and a Purple Sandpiper was tottering around the Barges with the Dunlin and Redshank and was my first Essex record away from Southend. [Eds: There has not been another Rainham one since…] A Common Sandpiper was also seen along with Snipe, Ringed Plover and Lapwings. 31st December: A final Chase visit with just three LEOs found but any owl is a nice was to round up the year. I ended up with 313 species in 1991 but only managed 11(ish) lifers which was probably to be expected as my list creeps ever closer to the magic 400. I wonder what species that will be? Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.
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Payday Loans Help Pay Back : Get A Loan With Bad Credit And No Bank Account # Payday Loans Help Pay Back # Payday Loans Online No Credit Check, Which Payday Loans Are. loan is due. • If you choose to repay the full amount owing before the due date, the payday lender cannot charge anything extra. • You can ask as many questions as you need to fully understand the terms of your loan agreement, such as: What are the methods of repayment? What happens if I can׳t pay the loan back on time. Get payday, short-term loans & cash advance in Canada. 100% online. Cash with instant decision. No hidden fees. Perfect credit not required. What’s more, Smith said the only reason a borrower would take out eight payday loans is not to prove their credit-worthiness. More likely, she said it’s because “once they pay back a payday loan. the short-term loans help. Advantages of Payday Loans They are characterized with a fast application process. They are normally processed within 24 hours from the time of application hence, making them more convenient to acquire promptly. This goes a long way. Apply for our overnight payday cash advance loans from $100 to $1000, deposited directly into your bank account. What started out as a $350 payday loan turned into a financial nightmare for one Emporia woman. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said she is not alone — most consumers who take out payday loans can’t afford to pay. The CFPB rules do not address the interest that payday lenders can charge. The rules finalized Thursday require payday lenders to determine whether someone can pay back their loan without having. and this rule will help put an end to. Four years ago, when Caitlin was 21, she took out a short-term payday loan with Nimble so that she could catch up on credit card payments. "I fell behind in my repayments and to cover that — or because I was so nervous and worried. A loan consolidation is a process where the borrower hires a company to negotiate their multiple debts directly with the lender to hopefully decrease the amount that he/she must pay back. Typically this takes place with quick loan consolidation companies setting up a savings account in the borrower's name, the borrower. Because the military payday can’t be on a weekend or holiday, the regular payday slides back to. A Long Pay Period has some great strategies for stretching. payday loans, title loans, or check cashing turn to CashMax. CashMax. All you need to apply for a loan from CashMax is an email address, active checking account, and steady source of income. (Assumes a 30-day term), FINANCE CHARGE, AMOUNT FINANCED, TOTAL OF PAYMENT(S), NUMBEER OF PAYMENTS. The Debt Trap is a collaborative project by the Star-Telegram, WFAA and the Austin American-Statesman aimed at shining a light on what looks like easy money, loans that either help. are paying their loans back” when they are due, he.. Jul 02, 2017 · How to Stop Payday Loans. ask trusted friends and family to help you get out of a payday loan cycle by. It is important to pay your payday loans back, If you don't pay back a payday loan, it may result in collection activities that could end in civil court. You may have to pay a bunch of. If you can't obtain an EPP for one (or more) of your payday loans, a credit counseling service might be able to help you to restructure some of your payday loan debt. To find a reputable credit.
Diabetes and Its Treatment19.09.2012 by Wolfe - Sidney M. Summary Diabetes is a malfunction of the body's glucose regulation. The disease can lead to kidney disease, damage to the retina leading to blindness, nerve damage, foot ulcers, hardening of the arteries, heart disease, and bacterial or fungal infections. Three out of four diabetics die of heart disease related to their diabetes. Doctors tend to prescribe pills, instead of insisting on weight loss or dietary changes. And sadly, many patients find it easier to take a pill, than to change their eating habits. Below, you can read about diabetes treatments, ranking them from most hazardous to safest. What Is Diabetes? Diabetes (diabetes mellitus) is a malfunction of the body's system that regulates glucose. Normally, sweets and starches (carbohydrates) are broken down in the intestines to simple sugars, mostly glucose. Glucose then circulates in the blood and enters cells all over the body where it is either stored or burned to produce energy. Insulin is a hormone made in the pancreas and released into the bloodstream. It enables some of the body's organs to take sugar from the bloodstream and use it for energy. When there isn't enough insulin, or when cells have too few receptors that recognize insulin, sugar is not removed from the bloodstream and high levels accumulate. High blood sugar stems from a defect in insulin production or a defect in insulin action or both. Diabetes can lead to kidney disease, damage to the retina leading to blindness, nerve damage, foot ulcers, hardening of the arteries, heart disease, and bacterial or fungal infections. Three out of four diabetics die of cardiovascular (heart and blood vessel) disease related to their diabetes, and two of those three deaths are from heart disease. Insulin-dependent Diabetes Mellitus, (IDDM,Type-1) A small fraction of all diabetics have IDDM and require insulin to live. With insulin, many live to an old age. Although this type of diabetes most commonly appears in childhood or adolescence, the term "juvenile-onset" is misleading. IDDM can first occur in much older patients as well. Therefore, physicians often refer to this type of diabetes in non-age-restricted terms as IDDM, or type-1 diabetes. In type-1 diabetes, the pancreas cannot produce insulin. When a diabetic eats carbohydrates, their blood sugar rises sharply. This is because without insulin, glucose moves into the cells very slowly. Therefore, while a diabetic's blood contains concentrations of sugar, the cells are not able to absorb the glucose properly. Deprived of glucose, the cells may be forced to burn fat at an abnormally fast rate, a process that in turn floods the body with substances called ketones. This can lead to a condition known as ketoacidosis. Symptoms of ketoacidosis include vomiting, weakness, stomach pain, dehydration, and very low blood pressure. Untreated, it may even lead to coma and death. Treatment To prevent toxic levels of ketones from accumulating in the blood, a type-1 diabetic needs insulin injections daily. By adhering strictly to the American Diabetes Association's diet, a type-1 diabetic can attempt regulate the amount and type of sugar taken into the body at various times throughout the day. The type-1 diabetic needs both insulin injections and a regimented diet to live. Non-insulin--dependent Diabetes Mellitus (NIDDM,Type-2) Of the millions of older Americans who have diabetes, 85 to 90%a have type-2 diabetes. The vast majority of these people are obese, averaging about 50% over their ideal body weight. Type-2 diabetics have a hereditary tendency toward diabetes which is magnified when they become overweight. The symptoms of adult onset diabetes involve, at the worst, increased urination, excessive eating and drinking, and perhaps occasional dizziness. Because of the vagueness of the symptoms, type-2 diabetes can often only be diagnosed with blood tests. The many long-term complications of diabetes make this disease the sixth leading cause of death in this country. Like their type-1 counterparts, type-2 diabetics cannot remove sugar from the blood at a normal rate, but partly for a different reason. Type-2 diabetics do not respond normally to insulin (this is called "insulin resistance"); they require much larger amounts of insulin than do non-diabetics in order to control blood glucose. This resistance to insulin appears to be hereditary. Type-2 diabetics can make insulin, but not as much as can non-diabetics. This combination of increased insulin requirements and limited insulin secretion leads to the loss of control of blood glucose. Obesity itself causes insulin resistance. Thus, type-2 diabetics who are overweight have even higher needs for insulin than do those who are not. Weight loss is the cornerstone of treatment for type-2 diabetics who are overweight: losing the excess weight makes the body more sensitive to insulin, and the amount of insulin produced will have much greater effects. Physically and psychologically, the benefits of a low calorie diet are achieved early (often within days) when patients are still overweight.' Treatment There are three kinds of medical treatment of type-2 diabetes: diet, oral hypoglycemic pills (anti-diabetes drugs taken by mouth), or insulin injections, alone or in combination. Below is a ranking of treatments from most hazardous to safest. Diabetes pills, although the easiest therapy to follow, actually undermine the purpose of treating diabetes because they may increase your chances of dying from cardiovascular disease. The University Group Diabetes Program (UGDP) study, a study done on insulin and the antidiabetes drugs tolbutamide-a member of the sulfonylurea group of drugs-and phenformin (banned from the market-a biguanide drug, and a first cousin to metformin (GLUCOPHAGE)--failed to prove that diabetes pills prevent the long-term complications of diabetes, such as heart disease, kidney disease, and blindness. Moreover, it is probable that these drugs cause premature deaths from cardiovascular disease. Unlike insulin, oral hypoglycemics are only somewhat effective in lowering blood sugar. They fail to adequately control blood sugar in 20 to 40% of patients. But even if they work at first, they may fail later in as many as 30% of patients per year. After the UGDP report was released, two clinics that stopped using the sulfonyl urea oral hypoglycemics found no change in blood sugar in about one-third to one-half of patients after stopping the drug, indicating that these people did not need to be on the drug in the first place.' The remaining patients were able to lower their blood sugar with diet alone or diet plus insulin. These results suggest that a majority of the people who take the sulfonylurea oral hypoglycemics could get along with mild dietary changes and not risk premature cardiovascular death. Two oral hypoglycemics pose additional problems for older people. Chlorpropamide (DIABINESE) may cause life-threatening, long-lasting periods of low blood sugar. It may also cause difficulty breathing, drowsiness, muscle cramps, seizures, swelling of face, hands, or ankles, and unconsciousness, water retention, or weakness that could be life-threatening to people who have congestive heart failure or cirrhosis of the liver.' For these reasons, the World Health Organization recommends that chlorpropamide not be used by people 60 years and older. Acetohexamide (DYMELOR) is eliminated from the body predominantly by the kidneys. Since kidney function decreases steadily with age, there is a possibility that toxic amounts of this drug may accumulate in older people. Chlorpropamide and acetohexamide should not be used in older people and probably should be avoided at any age. Other diabetes pills should only be used by people whose diabetes is not controlled by diet and who cannot inject insulin. Below is an informed consent statement containing information that Public Citizen's Health Research Group believes all patients should receive and sign before they are prescribed diabetes pills. Insulin, like the diabetes pills, alters only the symptoms of the disease without treating the cause. In too large a dose, it may cause trembling, hunger, weakness, and irritability symptoms of low blood sugar that can progress to insulin shock. Unlike the diabetes pills, however, insulin has not been shown to increase your chance of cardiovascular disease, but does carry a risk of severe hypoglycemia (low blood sugar). It is very important that you understand the correct use of the needle and syringe and instructions that come in the insulin package. Ask for help if you are not sure about any part of your treatment. Your doctor or the diabetes nurse-educator at your hospital can help you. Improper cleansing or infection technique may cause skin problems. Tell your doctor if you are having skin problems or difficulty injecting insulin. Disposable syringes and needles are meant to be used only once. United States Pharmacopeia medical panels do not recommend reusing them. However, if you do reuse them, the syringe and needle must be used for only one person. After each use, wipe the needle with alcohol and replace the cap. These needles should definitely not be used more than a few times. Glass syringes need to be sterilized each time they are used. Insulin should be refrigerated but not frozen. It can be kept at room temperature for a month, but it is better to keep it in the refrigerator. Do not expose it to hot temperatures or sunlight. Insulin is available in a wide variety of preparations. Some last longer than others local allergy is more common with the less pure, older insulins and may be recognized by a hard, red, itching area at the injection site. You should be using a human insulin rather than the older animal insulins. Some people experience more serious allergic reactions (skin rash, swelling, stomach upset, difficulty breathing, and very rarely, low blood pressure or even death). Call your doctor immediately if you think you may be experiencing an allergic reaction. Diet is the safest, most effective treatment available for the vast majority of adult-onset diabetics. More than 90% of type-2 diabetics are overweight. In many cases, blood sugar levels return to normal and symptoms go away when the diabetic loses enough, weight. Since a large proportion of diabetics can be treated by diet alone, why are so many people taking pills? There are three reasons: drug companies, doctors, and patients. When the oral hypoglycemic agents became available, they were intended to serve as substitutes for insulin in the few adult-onset diabetics who needed diet plus insulin to control their diabetes. Instead, the pills became substitutes for the diet. With the availability of oral drugs, experts stopped stressing the role of diet in controlling the disease, mostly in those very people whose diabetes could have been controlled by an appropriate diet. Doctors find it easier to prescribe a pill than to prod and nag patients into losing weight. Some assume that older people won't change their diet or lose weight. Doctors may not even suggest a trial weight loss period, but simply begin treatment by prescribing an oral hypoglycemic pill. Patients, who receive complex diet instructions from their physician and are referred to a dietitian for instructions on weighing food portions and memorizing food choices, often find it easier to take a pill than to change eating habits. However, it is foolhardy to increase the already present risk of heart and blood vessel disease for the convenience of popping a pill, when proper instruction, limited dietary changes, and a little encouragement can help you to reach optimal weight, better health, and improved control of blood sugar. Below are some suggestions for successful weight loss, guidelines for developing a healthier diet, and details of some of the common pitfalls that cause people to become discouraged and discontinue dietary therapy for diabetes. Diets that are very complicated or very different from what you are used to are hard to follow. The American Diabetes Association (ADA) diet is a highly structured plan based on exchange lists. Although it serves its purpose of regulating calorie and sugar intake quite well, the ADA diet may be difficult for older people to use. Successful use of this diet requires considerable time spent planning meal patterns and food portions. Older people often have trouble with this diet because the food lists are long and complicated and require considerable memorization. The amount of patience and manual dexterity necessary to properly weigh and measure foods may prove difficult, especially for older people. Furthermore, rigid control, such as that provided by the ADA diet, is not always necessary in type-2 diabetics. Often more gradual dietary change will reduce weight and lower blood sugar. See if your doctor or a dietitian can help you plan an easy-to-follow diet that will help to control your diabetes. The diet for a type-2 diabetic is based on the same nutritional principles as for a non-diabetic. Special foods ("dietetic") and unbalanced fad diets are unnecessary and sometimes dangerous. The basic plan should be to avoid sugar and instead eat a diet high in starch and fiber. Many people are already eating a diet that is partly appropriate for diabetics. Only small changes may be needed. Eat fewer simple sugars. Instead of soft drinks, snack foods, and cookies, substitute water, and raw foods, especially vegetables. To reduce your risk of atherosclerosis (hardening of the blood vessels) do the Metabolic Typing test to confirm what foods will be your optimal diet that will keep your inflammation and resulting cholesterol low. A regular exercise program is recommended for people who have diabetes. Exercise helps to lower blood sugar and to reduce weight. It does not have to be strenuous; walking and especially rebounding is often the best form of exercise. Some complications of diabetes can limit your ability to exercise. Make sure you have picked a form of exercise that is safe for you. Health Care for Diabetics Because diabetes is such a complex disease, your overall health and your response to treatment need to be checked periodically. Schedule regular appointments with your doctor. Most diabetics, even those treated by diet alone, should use one of the many devices currently available to test blood glucose at home at least once a day. This will let you know how well controlled your blood sugar is and will tell you if it is getting out of control. You should rotate the time of measurement (before breakfast one day, before lunch the next day, before supper the next, at bedtime the next, and then back to breakfast); this way you will know what happens to your blood sugar throughout the day. Write down your measurements and show them to your doctor at each visit (your doctor should make a copy for your medical record). Also, at least two or three times a year your doctor should order a blood test called "hemoglobin Ale" or "glycosylated hemoglobin." This will tell your doctor how well your blood sugar has been controlled during the previous two to three months. If this test indicates that your blood sugar has been more than just slightly elevated, your doctor should consider changes in your treatment. Foot care is a particular problem for diabetics. Between appointments be sure to check your feet regularly for sores, infections, and ulcers. These need prompt medical attention. Use cotton socks and wear well-fitted shoes. Diabetic eye disease is one of the major causes of blindness in our country. Schedule an appointment with an ophthalmologist, (an eye doctor with an MD) degree), at least every 12 months. A number of drugs may raise blood sugar as an adverse effect. The most common are clonidine, corticosteroids, diuretics, gemfabrozil, narcotics, progesterone, and theophylline. If you are taking one of these drugs, ask your doctor whether you still need the medicine or if there is an alternative. Older people should not use chlorpropamide or acetohexamide.
{ "version": "", "title": "Charlie Park", "icon": "", "home_page_url": "", "feed_url": "", "items": [ { "id": "", "content_html": " I love our customers. New support email came in with the subject “You’re Giving Me an Ulcer”.\n\n So … just updated OKRs to include “zero ulcers in 2019”.\n", "date_published": "2019-07-10T09:17:29-07:00", "url": "" }, { "id": "", "content_html": " Two quanitifable personal Key Results for the summer (by Sept. 1):\n\n Have been thinking a bit more about my most recent post, about meaning, identity, work.\n\n I think the “work” and “identity” bits correlate strongly, but aren’t causal. Rather, I think it’s that I miss being on a team, and having a sense of community, or collective struggle.\n\n I realized this morning that — if I were to disappear — absolutely nobody apart from my family would notice me missing, for some time. Most of my connections with people are infrequent, and online via ephemeral or ignorable tools; who would know that I wasn’t just busy? My customer interactions are all over email; maybe I just got bad at customer support? My crew team would notice, perhaps, but only to the extent that they’d need to shuffle the boat lineup a bit … they’re not a very sentimental or emotional bunch (which is fine).\n\n Having lunch with a series of friends next week, which should be nice. Also working at a foodbank on Thursday, which I’m looking forward to.\n\n So the good news — I don’t think I’m actually beholden to an employer for identity. The deeper question, then: “whither my tribe?”\n\n Still mulling on that.\n", "date_published": "2019-06-14T10:44:18-07:00", "url": "" }, { "id": "", "content_html": " It’s intersting how much meaning and identity I put into work.\n\n.\n\n No answers on the motivation behind that thinking. Just an observation. And a reminder to myself that work should be a tool for enabling me to be who I am, rather than something that defines who I am.\n\n I also think I might need to spend some time reflecting on who I actually am.\n", "date_published": "2019-06-04T12:07:04-07:00", "url": "" }, { "id": "", "content_html": " I’m working on a revamp of a tag-entry interface. It’s hard to get it right.\n\n I’d love to know if there are any sites that use tags that you think do it really well. For as established a UX paradigm as “tagging” is, I’m finding it surprisingly hard to think of good UI examples. Any ideas?\n", "date_published": "2019-05-25T17:32:17-07:00", "url": "" }, { "id": "", "content_html": " Hey so we got a puppy. A mini dachshund. Fern!\n\n She is smol and sweet and we love her so.\n\n (Alt text for the photo: Fern, sleeping.)\n\n \n", "date_published": "2019-05-24T12:05:36-07:00", "url": "" }, { "id": "", "content_html": " I’m curious if any of you have thoughts on prefers-color-scheme as a “turn on dark mode” proxy. My app has dark mode, currently configurable with a toggle. To my mind, that’s the better way to do it, assuming you have an established color scheme, so your users don’t feel like you’re moving their cheese. At the same time, this early in the adoption cycle, I expect that people who’ve manually turned on dark mode on their computers won’t be thrown, and might even appreciate the added consideration. I dunno. Anybody have thoughts on that? Would you prefer for your apps to go into dark mode automatically? Or would you want to configure it?\n", "date_published": "2019-05-21T08:44:53-07:00", "url": "" }, { "id": "", "content_html": " Not sure if it’s the romance of old logos or the romance of trains, but gosh do I love this:\nReagan Ray’s Railway Logos.\n", "date_published": "2019-05-20T16:43:08-07:00", "url": "" }, { "id": "", "content_html": " Just had the best company offsite ever. Took a bottle of rosé into the redwood grove in Golden Gate Park with Sarah and mapped out the next few months of work. Also involved conversation around getting a puppy.\n", "date_published": "2019-05-05T15:26:10-07:00", "url": "" }, { "id": "", "content_html": " An indie app I’ve been using lately and recommend: everyday.app.\n\n It’s a “just enough” (read: minimalist without being pretentious) daily habit tracker. Its power comes from its simplicity.\n\n I suggest starting with two habits: “Do 1 pushup” and “Do 10 pushups”. Don’t allow yourself to add any new habits until you’ve done those for 4 days. On day 5 you can add another two more: “Floss 1 tooth” and “Floss 10 teeth”. Four more successful days of all four habits. Then two new habits. And so on.\n\n $12 a year is an absolute deal.\n", "date_published": "2019-05-05T06:09:53-07:00", "url": "" }, { "id": "", "content_html": " \n", "date_published": "2019-05-02T22:01:58-07:00", "url": "" }, { "id": "", "content_html": " Trying to set up a Pi-hole, starting with absolutely zero knowledge about Raspberry Pi.\n\n I try to not be negative on the web, but this just straight-up sucks.\n", "date_published": "2019-04-29T19:47:49-07:00", "url": "" }, { "id": "", "content_html": " .“\n— Doug Rushkoff\n", "date_published": "2019-04-17T20:23:13-07:00", "url": "" }, { "id": "", "content_html": " My allllmost-15-year-old just told me she wants to be me when she grows up. Feeling pretty great about that.\n\n There’s a narrative that teenagers are inherently in conflict with the adults in their lives. Don’t buy it.\n", "date_published": "2019-03-16T10:35:50-07:00", "url": "" }, { "id": "", "content_html": " easy capitalizing in es6:\n\n \n", "date_published": "2019-03-13T09:37:11-07:00", "url": "" }, { "id": "", "content_html": "\n", "date_published": "2019-03-13T09:37:11-07:00", "url": "" }, { "id": "", "content_html": " const capitalize = string => `${string[0].toUpperCase()}${string.slice(1)}`;\n It’s not a launch party unless some of the engineers have to step away from their drinks to fix a crashing bug. Fun time when you’re an indie and the only engineer on it.\n\n (Jokes, jokes. I actually love that I get to do this.)\n\n (Also, if there are bugs in the code, I know whose fault it is.)\n", "date_published": "2019-03-09T21:24:00-07:00", "url": "" }, { "id": "", "title": "Smooth scrolling in React, using Effects Hooks", "content_html": " There’s a bunch of outdated info on the web about this, and this ended up being really easy.\n\n Put this wherever you put reusable functions:\n\n \n\n\n\n const scrollToTop = () => document.getElementById('root').scrollIntoView();\n And put this in the components / functions you want the scrollToTop effect to work on:\n\n \n\n\n\n useEffect(() => { scrollToTop() }, []);\n And put this in your CSS:\n\n \n", "date_published": "2019-02-14T13:33:37-07:00", "url": "" }, { "id": "", "content_html": "\n", "date_published": "2019-02-14T13:33:37-07:00", "url": "" }, { "id": "", "content_html": " html { scroll-behavior: smooth }\n Some amazing parenting/general life advice from Austin Kleon: Love what you do in front of the kids in your life\n", "date_published": "2019-02-09T12:13:42-07:00", "url": "" }, { "id": "", "content_html": " I work at a south-facing window, and am happy to report that the sun is juuuuuust high enough in the sky that it’s blocked by the top sill of the window, and is no longer in my eyes at midday. Just nice and warm on my chest. It’s cozy.\n", "date_published": "2019-01-29T12:56:59-07:00", "url": "" }, { "id": "", "content_html": " Just shoved all emails in my inbox into a label called “_ bag of holding” … so I apologize if I owe you anything.\n", "date_published": "2019-01-28T20:24:41-07:00", "url": "" }, { "id": "", "content_html": " “Our diversity is our strength; our unity is our power.”\n", "date_published": "2019-01-26T15:02:43-07:00", "url": "" }, { "id": "", "content_html": " Got the “most basic ServiceWorker offline cache ever” working. Took a bit of futzing with the browser not liking local files, but it feels good to have that sorted. Now to iterate.\n", "date_published": "2019-01-26T12:32:17-07:00", "url": "" }, { "id": "", "content_html": " This is a scan I made years ago, of an absolutely incredible pamphlet cover that I’d saved for years in a box. I’ve felt for a while that I’d like to do something creative with it, but apart from “homepage background?”, I don’t have much. I’d hate for it to get lost, so thought I’d share it here.\n\n It was from a booklet of some sort from 1988, called “The Waste System”. It was put out by the Environmental Protection Agency’s Department of Solid Waste and Emergency Response.\n\n I just love it.\n\n \n", "date_published": "2019-01-25T11:54:39-07:00", "url": "" }, { "id": "", "content_html": " Fantastic thoughts from Gina Trapani here: Personal Finance Apps Should Be Way Better.\n\n Really hoping I can have an impact on some of this stuff.\n", "date_published": "2019-01-24T17:29:50-07:00", "url": "" }, { "id": "", "content_html": " Trying to reconcile Postel’s “Be conservative in what you send, be liberal in what you accept” idea with Typescript’s principles.\n\n Traditionally have been very Postel-y in my code; going to try being a bit more strict and see if that tightens things up at all.\n", "date_published": "2019-01-24T12:05:30-07:00", "url": "" } ] }
Abstract Purpose: Findings from our previously published phase III randomized trial showed a high pathologic complete remission (CR) rate in patients with human epidermal growth factor receptor 2–positive breast cancer after the concurrent administration of trastuzumab and paclitaxel, followed by concurrent trastuzumab and 5-fluorouracil, epirubicin, and cyclophosphamide (FEC) preoperative chemotherapy. The safety and efficacy data of initial population were updated, with inclusion of additional experience with the same therapy. Study Design: The initial randomized study population of 42 patients were randomly assigned to either four cycles of paclitaxel followed by four cycles of FEC or to the same chemotherapy with simultaneous weekly trastuzumab for 24 weeks. All data were updated through November 2005. Results: Pretreatment characteristics of the initial patients and of the second cohort were similar. In the second cohort, pathologic CR rate was 54.5% (95% confidence interval, 32.2-75.6%) and the pathologic CR rate among all patients treated with chemotherapy plus trastuzumab was 60% (95% confidence interval, 44.3-74.3%). Three patients in the chemotherapy only group have recurred, and one has died. There has been no recurrences in the patients randomized to chemotherapy plus trastuzumab, and the estimated disease-free survival at 1 and 3 years was 100% (P = 0.041). In additional cohort treated with chemotherapy and trastuzumab at the median follow-up of 16.3 months, no patients had recurred. No new safety concerns were observed in this study. Conclusion: Our expanded cardiac safety data and the updated efficacy data showed that the natural history of this subset of breast cancer patients can be substantially modified by this treatment approach. - HER2-positive breast cancer - trastuzumab - paclitaxel - FEC - neoadjuvant therapy Findings from our previously published phase III randomized trial showed a high pathologic complete remission (CR) rate in patients with human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)–positive breast cancer after the concurrent administration of trastuzumab and paclitaxel, followed by concurrent 5-fluorouracil, epirubicin, and cyclophosphamide (FEC) preoperative chemotherapy (1). Since these findings were published, the efficacy of trastuzumab as adjuvant therapy has been well established (2–4). In the adjuvant setting, trastuzumab has reduced the risk for recurrence and has favorably affected the survival rate in patients with HER2-positive breast cancer. In addition, findings in patients with metastatic disease and other experimental findings have suggested that the concomitant administration of trastuzumab and chemotherapy is superior to the sequential administration of these therapies (5–7). Preliminary unplanned data analyses of one prospective clinical trial (NCCTG-N9831) addressing the optimal timing of trastuzumab, in relation to chemotherapy, suggest the superiority of concomitant chemotherapy and trastuzumab over sequential use of the same therapies.1 However, the optimal time to initiate trastuzumab therapy in relation to anthracycline-based chemotherapy remains to be defined. In our study, trastuzumab was concomitantly administered with chemotherapy to determine the effect of this approach on the pathologic CR rates. To strengthen our earlier observations, we modified our original protocol to include additional patients. In this article, we report our further experience with concomitant administration of trastuzumab and paclitaxel followed by anthracycline-based preoperative chemotherapy in patients with HER2-positive breast cancer. We also expanded our previously published cardiac safety data and updated the safety and efficacy data from our initial study population. Patients and Methods Patients with histologically confirmed stage II to IIIA invasive but non-inflammatory carcinomas of the breast were included in this study. Fine-needle aspiration of clinically suspicious nodes was done, and all tumors were shown to be HER2/neu-positive by immunohistochemical or fluorescence in situ hybridization methods. Details of the original study design were previously published (1). Briefly, initial study patients were randomized to receive either chemotherapy alone (paclitaxel followed by FEC therapy) or the same chemotherapy with trastuzumab weekly for 24 weeks. Before initiation of the study, each patient underwent a complete evaluation consisting of a medical history, physical examination, and staging to rule out metastatic disease. Cardiac evaluation included a baseline echocardiogram or multigated cardiac blood pool scan (MUGA). Patients with a history of uncompensated heart failure or of a cardiac ejection fraction of <45% were excluded. All patients were prospectively registered in our central research database. Each patient was informed about the investigational nature of this study, and the study protocol was approved by the institutional review board. Each patient signed a written informed consent before initiation of therapy. We recorded tumor size after the first 12 weeks and after completion of all chemotherapy to determine the best clinical response before local therapy. Cardiac status was evaluated at baseline, after the completion of paclitaxel therapy, and again after the completion of FEC therapy. All patients were offered voluntary participation in a correlative science study that included a one-time pretreatment fine-needle biopsy of the cancer for gene expression profiling. Twenty-one patients participated in this biomarker discovery study. All 42 patients who participated in the original randomized phase of the study underwent serial blood sampling for troponin measurements in the blood and for proteomic response marker discovery. At the completion of the original study, the protocol was amended to discontinue the chemotherapy alone arm and to add an additional 21 patients to the chemotherapy and trastuzumab arm. An additional cardiac evaluation in the follow-up period was included in the revised study to determine any delayed cardiac dysfunction following completion of therapy. The primary objective of this revised study was to estimate the efficacy of the chemotherapy and trastuzumab regimen. Specifically, it was estimated that 42 patients would provide a precision of 0.15 for the 95% confidence of pathologic CR. Pathologic CR was defined as no evidence of clinical invasive cancer in either the breast or axilla. There was no sample size justification based on the safety provided at the time of trial planning. However, if we assume that the true rate of cardiac toxicity is 5%, then we would expect to see at least one cardiac toxicity among the 42 patients with 88% probability. Details of the chemotherapy we used were previously published (1). Briefly, each patient received four cycles of paclitaxel at 225 mg/m2 as a 24-h infusion at 3-week intervals. Patients were then treated with four cycles of FEC therapy, which consisted of 500 mg/m2 fluorouracil on days 1 and 4, 500 mg/m2 i.v. cyclophosphamide on day 1 only, and 75 mg/m2 epirubicin on day 1 only. The patients who had been randomized (in the original study) and assigned (additional study patients) to receive trastuzumab received 4 mg/kg trastuzumab i.v. over 90 min on day 1 of the first cycle of paclitaxel. These patients received 2 mg/kg trastuzumab weekly, administered i.v. over 30 min during the 24 weeks of chemotherapy. Dose modification criteria were also previously reported (1). Briefly, the paclitaxel dose was reduced by 50% in subsequent cycles if a patient developed grade 3 neurotoxicity. Patients were required to have >1,500/μL granulocytes and >100,000/μL platelets before administration of the next cycle of chemotherapy. Pathologic specimens were evaluated for the presence of residual disease, and details of specimen evaluation were previously published. We updated the efficacy and safety data through November 2005. Results The initial randomized study population of 42 patients was treated between June 2001 and October 2003, and the second cohort of 22 patients was treated between February 2004 and May 2005. One additional patient was enrolled in the second cohort with Institutional Review Board approval as this patient had already consented to participate in the study. Pretreatment characteristics of the initial randomized patients and of the second cohort assigned to receive chemotherapy and trastuzumab are shown in Table 1 . Patient distribution in both groups was similar with respect to age, tumor size, and nodal status between the groups. Approximately half of the patients had hormone receptor–positive disease. Patient characteristics Clinical response. The clinical response in our patients was assessed by physical examination of the breasts and nodes (Table 2 ). Most pathologic CRs were observed in patients who had clinical complete responses. A small number of patients clinically determined to have partial response or no change in their disease status had a pathologic CR. In the second cohort, the pathologic CR rate was 54.5% [95% confidence interval (95% CI), 32.2-75.6%], and the residual disease in an additional five patients consisted of only a cluster of a few tumor cells in the breast, with no residual disease in the nodes. Among the 45 patients who received chemotherapy plus trastuzumab, there were a total of 27 pathologic CRs and the pathologic CR rate was 60% (95% CI, 44.3-74.3%). Extent of residual disease by treatment Safety data. No new safety concerns were observed in this study. In the initial study, the median left ventricular ejection fraction was 65% (range, 55-76%) in the chemotherapy alone arm, 65% (range, 50-71%) in the patients randomized to chemotherapy and trastuzumab, and 65% (range, 55-70%) in the second cohort treated with chemotherapy and trastuzumab; after 6 months of chemotherapy, these values were 65% (range, 55-70%), 60% (range, 52-70%), and 60% (range, 45-65%), respectively. Cardiac safety data are illustrated for the individual patients and for each treatment group over time in Fig. 1 . A, ejection fraction data for individual patients by treatment over time. Each line represents an individual patient. B, ejection data for all patients. LVEF, left ventricular ejection fraction. Among patients treated with chemotherapy alone, the left ventricular ejection fraction in one patient decreased to 35% following an acute myocardial infarction. In addition, this patient had a history of hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and mitral valve regurgitation. Among patients randomized to FEC and trastuzumab, the median left ventricular ejection fraction decreased to 60% by the end of follow-up, but the left ventricular ejection fraction range remained nearly constant. To date, patients in the initial cohort treated with trastuzumab have shown no clinical cardiac dysfunction. The follow-up period for the subsequent cohort of patients treated with chemotherapy and trastuzumab has been shorter than that for the randomized patients; however, the left ventricular ejection fraction median and range have decreased over time. In the second cohort, one patient had a history of atrial arrhythmias and left bundle branch block on her initial electrocardiogram. After completion of therapy, this patient had developed grade 1 cardiac dysfunction according to New York Heart Association Cardiac evaluation criteria and but has shown no further change in cardiac status during continued follow-up. None of the 45 patients treated with chemotherapy and trastuzumab in the initial and current study experienced clinical cardiac dysfunction, and there were no cardiac deaths in this study. The exact binomial 95% CI of the probability of cardiac failure was 0% to 7.87%. Efficacy data. We estimated disease-free survival as measured from the date of study entry to the date of disease recurrence or last follow-up. No patients have died before developing disease recurrence. Figure 2 shows the disease-free survival curve for the randomized groups. The median follow-up among these patients was 36.1 months (range, 12.3-54.8 months). Three patients in the chemotherapy only (control) group developed recurrent disease, and among these, one patient died of progressive metastatic disease. Among the chemotherapy alone subgroup, disease-free survival at 1 year was 94.7% (95% CI, 85.2-100%) and at 3 years was 85.3% (95% CI, 67.6-100%). There has been no recurrent disease in the patients randomized to chemotherapy plus trastuzumab, and the estimated disease-free survival at both 1 and 3 years was 100% (1-year disease-free survival estimate: 95% CI, 85.2-100). Disease-free survival was significantly better among patients randomized to chemotherapy plus trastuzumab compared with patients randomized to chemotherapy alone (P = 0.041). Among the patients in the additional cohort treated with chemotherapy and trastuzumab, the median follow-up was 16.3 months (range, 5.9-20.4 months), and no patients had recurrent disease (1-year disease-free survival estimate: 95% CI, 83.9-100). In the combined two cohorts of patients treated with chemotherapy and trastuzumab, the 1-year 95% CI for disease-free survival was 92% to 100%. Disease-free survival of randomized study population. Correlative science studies. The goal of the correlative science studies was to examine if molecular predictors of lack of complete response (“resistance”) to concomitant trastuzumab and T/FEC preoperative chemotherapy can be identified through (i) gene expression analysis of pretreatment fine-needle biopsies of breast cancer or (ii) proteomic profiling of the plasma with matrix-assisted laser desorption time-of-flight technology. Gene expression profiling with Affymetrix U133A gene chips was done on 21 fine-needle aspiration specimens who participated in the original randomized clinical trial or in the single arm extension phase of the study and received preoperative trastuzumab therapy. Results from these studies were reported separately (8). Briefly, traditional clinical variables that predict pathologic CR to chemotherapy, including grade, ER status, or proliferative activity, lost their predictive value when trastuzumab was included in the treatment. HER2 mRNA levels or levels of gene amplification measured by fluorescence in situ hybridization also did not correlate with response. Analysis of gene expression data including 22,277 probe sets corresponding to >14,000 genes revealed no robust gene expression differences between cases with pathologic CR and those with residual disease. Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (9) suggests that increased expression of genes on chromosome 9q band 22 and decreased casapse expression may play a role in resistance to trastuzumab. The proteomic analysis of the pretreatment serum samples is currently under way. Discussion Our findings, based on a cohort of patients treated for HER2-positive breast cancer in the same manner as patients in our earlier study, support our initial findings of high pathologic CR rates (1). Concurrent administration of trastuzumab and paclitaxel followed by anthracycline-based chemotherapy markedly enhanced these rates. In addition, our expanded cardiac safety data and the updated safety and efficacy data from our initial study population showed that the natural history of this subset of breast cancer patients can be substantially modified by this treatment approach. To date, these efficacy data have been very encouraging because no patients in either group receiving chemotherapy or trastuzumab have developed recurrent disease. In contrast, three patients in the chemotherapy alone group developed metastatic disease. Patients who were followed up clinically and had a subsequent cardiac evaluation after completion of trastuzumab-based therapy have maintained their cardiac function in the same range, and no patients have developed clinically apparent congestive heart failure. These findings provide further evidence that trastuzumab and anthracycline-based combinations may be reasonably safe when used as in this protocol. Whereas some of the trastuzumab-treated patients have a decrease in their ejection fraction, these decreases have not progressed to clinical heart failure. This is in keeping with the concept that trastuzumab therapy is associated with type II treatment-related cardiac dysfunction that may be reversible and mechanistically or prognostically different than cardiotoxicity associated with anthracyclines (10). The long-term effect of trastuzumab on the heart has not yet been fully explored. The ejection fraction data for the individual patients suggest reversibility of trastuzumab-related cardiac dysfunction in some of our patients. The optimal duration of trastuzumab therapy remains to be defined. In adjuvant trials, trastuzumab therapy was planned for 52 weeks. In our study, trastuzumab was planned to be administered concurrently with chemotherapy for only 24 weeks, and no further trastuzumab therapy was offered to any patient. Our small study compared favorably with the initially published data of the large adjuvant trastuzumab trial. In another small adjuvant study, trastuzumab administered concomitantly with the chemotherapy agents docetaxel or vinorelbine for a short duration substantially reduced the risk of recurrence (11). The Herceptin Adjuvant (HERA) trial is currently comparing the effects of 1 versus 2 years of trastuzumab adjuvant therapy and will provide pivotal information about prolonged trastuzumab adjuvant therapy (3). In adjuvant trials, trastuzumab was given either after completion of all chemotherapy or after completion of the anthracycline phase of therapy. In a future prospective randomized trial of preoperative therapy, the optimal timing of the initiation of trastuzumab in relation to anthracycline- and taxane-based therapy will be evaluated. One arm of that study will be similar to the chemotherapy and trastuzumab arm of this study. Patients in the other arm will be treated initially with four cycles of anthracycline-containing chemotherapy alone (FEC) and then with trastuzumab and paclitaxel. A randomized study of preoperative therapy from our institution has shown higher pathologic CR rates with weekly administration of paclitaxel (12). Thus, paclitaxel in the upcoming trial will be given at 80 mg/m2 per week because of these complete response rates and because of the safety profile of this dose. Footnotes ↵1 Perez EA. Further analysis of NCCTG-N9831. meeting/2005 ASCO Scientific Symposium/Advances in Monoclonal Antibody Therapy for Breast Cancer; 2005. Accessed on April 10, 2006. Grant support: Genentech, Pfizer, August 22, 2006. - Received June 5, 2006. - Revision received August 14, 2006.
coffins, conspiracy, DB320, egyptian lad, fringe, giants, Giza, Giza Mastaba Series, Giza Plateau Mapping Project, mastaba, monuments, mummification, nonesense, post, sarcophagi, Tactics of the Fringe, Unexplained-Mysteries Recently I contributed an article on the misconceptions of giants in ancient Egypt. That article can be found here. One should think that common sense alone would bring a halt to such beliefs before they fester, but this is not always so in the world of alternative and fringe ideas. A reader name nonesense wrote a very long comment, and frankly I believe it is too long and rambling to leave intact at the end of my A Giant Misconception article. It might discourage others from commenting. But rather than just deleting nonesense’s comment, which was my first inclination, I thought I would write this article in response to it. If nothing else, nonesense’s full comment will give reader’s a rather vivid and unconcealed (if not shocking) dose of the world of the fringe. I believe I’ve encountered nonesense before. I’m a Moderator and poster at a message borad called Unexplained-Mysteries, and I am almost positive nonesense has posted there under the name “egyptian lad.” He initially took part in a couple of discussions about ancient Egypt in which he introduced his beliefs about ancient giants, and then started his own forum thread for a more inclusive discussion on the subject. You can peruse it in this link. You be the judge: are nonesense and egyptian lad the same person? It’s entirely possible. Nor would it be surprising. In the signature area of my own posts at Unexplained-Mysteries, there is a link to my blog. And I must be honest about something: it is egyptian lad’s strange brand of “beliefs” about ancient giants that inspired me to write my article on the misconceptions about giants. In my ongoing battles against the fringe, I’ve found inspiration more than once on that message board. What follows is nonesense’s comment, in full. I’ll be removing nearly all of it from the comments section below my Giants article, so it will now live here: because there is a conspiracy run, So this truth of giants will remain hidden, its forbidden archaeology, they are hypocrite, Actually the aim lies in Saving the old biology sciences from denial and collapse, If Giant Humans truth appeared, Then Evolution,darwinism is wrong….Then Dinasours would be actually skeletons of Giant Animals who lived in the same age of Giant humans….its complicated matter. The archaeologists fabricated most ancient artifacts and monuments in egypt,they removed entire chapter of ancient egypt history. Most pharaoh kings/queens are fake……most dynasties are made up and they put king so to belong in age so and so. They limited the age of ancient egypt to fit the pharaohes era, Ancient egypt is actually older ancient place in the world,The sphinx and pyramids maybe over 20,000 b.c. The mummification is one of the biggest lies they invented. There are Giant Human Mummies in egypt but hidden untill today, addition to giant sarcophaguses and coffins, its forbidden by archaeologists , they only show the stuff of people of our size and claim that those were the builders of egypt by lies and hypocrisy. On the german newspaper bild, there is an article about Giant finger stolen from the graves around the giza pyramids, the finger was 38 cm….u of course going to say its fake images and photoshoped as usual, Around the giza pyramids and pyramids of egypt generally, there are many high graves, they call it mastabas, these mastabas are numerous and full of giants skeletons and mummies….Untill now, they are locked up by archaeologists and only legalized guys of the conspiracy allowed to enter it. Many locations too are banned, and there are artifacts stores, You or Me or Any visiter not allowed to enter it, they only pick up things from the artifacts to show for the publicity and claim that it was for king so…..to create another legend from their imagination. Hence, u put Anubis God image,The ancient egyptians didnt record anything about mummifaction, Look at the arts of so called mummifaction action, it was the God of afterlife or death, Anubis making check on the coffin of dead……..its a spiritual action by their god rather than mummification work. Plus: Mummies have been found world wide and everywhere, its not a science….Its nature work…..if u believer in god, Its God’s work, God saved some dead bodies of people unrotten which we call mummy now. Someone would say YOU ARE MAD? then who wrapped them into the cloth sheet and put into the coffins and sarcophaguses? My Answer: some people from the old times or the early british archaeologists run a big game over ancient egypt,They replaced the bones of kings that were in coffins and sarcophaguses and put the unrotten dead bodies of unknown people to claim it was king so and king so. Actually todays,If you open the modern egyptians’s graves, you gonna find mummies of modern egyptians, Its all nature work!….the stories are many about modern egyptians, people continuously find unrotten dead bodies inside graves of modern egyptians. Of course they create superstition about it, thats its angel work and that guy is connect to god and so. On 1898: Mummy was found in the area of jabalain of red sea. The archaeologists rushed to take this mummy and wrap iby clothed sheet and put in coffin, to claim it was mummy of king so and so, While this mummy actually is for unknown person. Its now put in the egyptian museum and of course named by one of pharaoh kings. for your knowledge too: most pharaoh mummies were diseased, those dead people had no medicine to get cure. So logically, they reach a mummification science while they were suffering of diseases and so backward on medicine? today, the scientists play by genes of humans and went so far on medicine and still no one can mummify a dead body of any president or guy for more than 2 century There is surely nothin called mummification science, its lies of archaeologists the cheaters who fabricated everything. the truth will be revealed on the future, Actually ancient history must be re-written cuz its all false and wrong and lies. So, then, what follows is a response to and critique of some of the things nonesense included in his comment. We, again, shall turn to real-world evidence and what it can tell us. Nonesense opens with the conspiracy angle: archaeology is trying to hide “the truth” from all of us. If you’ve read my Giants article or the article I wrote called Tactics of the Fringe, you’ll understand why I cannot for a moment take such a charge seriously. This would require us to believe that all archaeologists and historians and related specialists have been working in perfect concert for two centuries with all academic institutions involved in pharaonic studies, to conceal giants from us. It is a patently silly if not plainly ludicrous notion. This is not how the real world works, so we needn’t take such a charge seriously to begin with. The one thing about which nonesense wrote on the conspiracy idea that I will comment on, is his belief that archaeologists have replaced the original “bones of the kings” with the “unrotten dead bodies of unknown people.” This strikes me as odd, naturally. For one thing, the original sarcophagi of kings have been found almost always empty. Many kings such as Tuthmosis III and Ramesses II were found in the late nineteenth century in secondary tombs and caches, and in reused coffins, such as in the famed tomb known as DB320 (or TT320). In most cases the original coffins of great kings are lost to history. Moreover, what is the source of all of the bodies with which the “bones of the kings” were swapped? Were archaeologists raiding nearby Muslim cemeteries? Did the local inhabitants of the villages not mind this practice? Also, if the orignal bones were swapped with modern bodies, I guess the original bones didn’t belong to giants if the replacement bodies fit so well in the ancient sarcophagi and coffins, reused or not. Before moving on, I must also point out a salient question: If modern archaeologists have been so overwhelmingly successful in hiding “the truth” from all of us, how is it that conspiracy fans like nonesense know so much about it? This alone always leaves me chuckling. “No, archaeologists have hidden everything but I just happen to know the truth!” Let’s look at some other points nonesense brought up. For example, nonesense claimed “most dynasties are made up and they put king so to belong in age so and so.” This sort of statement reveals the average fringe proponent’s lack of even basic familiarity not only with the field of Egyptology but with pharaonic history in general. Modern historians did not devise the system of dynasties into which pharaonic history is divided. For this we have to travel all the way back to the third century BCE and the Egyptian priest Manetho, who was commissioned by his Ptolemaic rulers to write a history of his nation. None of Manetho’s original work, Aegyptiaca, survives but fortunately he was extensively quoted by other writers of late antiquity, most notably the Jewish historian Josephus (see Against Apion). Manethos is the person who devised the dynastic system still used by Egyptology today, although it has undergone some minor revisions. It is modern Egyptology which has created the broader kingdom periods such as Old Kingdom, Middle Kingdom, and New Kingdom in which Manetho’s dynasty system now resides. Nonesense is also certain that “archaeologists fabricated most ancient artifacts and monuments in egypt.” Considering the tens of thousands of pharaonic monuments now scattered around the world in a great many museums—stelae, statues, sections of tombs and temples, figurines, coffins, sarcophagi, canopic jars and chests, et cetera—such a statement is not remotely realistic. Not only does this imply that archaeologists have been awfully damn busy in workshops in the past two centuries, it also presupposes that they’ve invented the practically countless inscriptions and religious texts and biographical accounts such monuments contain. Goodness, is nothing about ancient Egypt authentic? Astonishingly, this would also have to include the surviving and standing monuments and temples and tombs with their great body of inscribed material. Nonesense mentions a “giant finger” found at Giza. This was actually the topic of a discussion at the Unexplained-Mysteries board and, I believe, the first one in which egyptian lad (whom I’m convinced is nonesesne) participated as a poster. He probably missed the fact that nearly all of us were having a good laugh in that thread over what is clearly a clumsy and ridiculous hoax. It’s the sort of obvious hoax that clutters the internet. In the same paragraph nonesense mentions the mastaba tombs of Giza. There are many at that necropolis alone, not to mention a great many others scattered throughout numerous other Old Kingdom necropoli in the Nile Valley. Supposedly these were for the burials of giants. I would invite the reader to visit the Boston Museum of Fine Art’s digital library for the Giza Mastaba Series. Many of the mastabas at Giza have been excavated several times, and many of these excavations have been published on the MFA’s web page. You can download them as free PDFs. They’re not exactly thrilling reading, but if you like to visit the real world of archaeology and gain an understanding of what archaeology can reveal, these are great resources. I’ve read all of these reports and check back now and then to see if new ones are available (the page is updated when new material is prepared), and to date I haven’t read anything about giants. Then again, the archaeologists are supposed to be lying. Of course. Nonesense charges that these mastaba tombs are locked shut and hidden from the public. Some such tombs are, generally because they’re so ancient that they’re not safe for tourists to explore. Most, however, are not locked. In fact, you can enter and explore many of them. It’s called tourism. Nonesense also comments that the Giza pyramids and the Great Sphinx are over 20,000 years old (“over 20,000 b.c.,” in his words). As I’ve reported in other articles, carbon dating of mortar samples from these pyramids shows they cannot be older than perhaps a century than conventionally thought. This means the Great Pyramid, for example, might have been built around 2600 BCE instead of 2500 BCE. That’s entirely possible, but 20,000 years ago? Of course not. As for the Sphinx, the continued excavations, geological surveys, and other avenues of research conducted by the Giza Plateau Mapping Project have demonstrated that the Sphinx does, indeed, date to the pyramid complex of Khafre, who built the second Giza pyramid. In other words, the Sphinx also was prepared around 2500 BCE (or 2600 BCE). My own favorite comments of nonesense pertain to mummification. Nonesense would have us believe that the ancient Egyptians did not artificially mummify but that all mummified bodies are the product of Mother Nature. Nonesense is the only person I’ve come across who makes this claim. It strikes me as bizarre, given the massive body of evidence from pharaonic Egypt for artificial mummification. It can be tracked in crude attempts all the way back to the prehistoric site of Hierakonpolis in Upper Egypt, where bodies were carefully wrapped and smeared with resins—this was over 5,000 years ago. I have to ask, if Mother Nature did all of the work, how did that clever gal not only dry out bodies but eviscerate many thousands of extant examples to remove their internal organs and excerabrate to remove their brains? Was it Mother Nature who not only did this but carved the canopic jars in which the internal organs were stored? And with the late-period mummies, after the point when the jars were no longer used, did Mother Nature not only dry the organs but carefully wrap them and re-introduce them into the abdominal-thoracic cavity? Clever gal, indeed. Just to be clear on this, the ancient embalmers slit the lower-left flank (in most cases) to reach in and cut out the internal organs: stomach, liver, lungs, and intestines. If you study the photos of ancient Egyptian mummies, you will often see this slit in their left sides. The incisions were originally only about the size of a fist, but over time they tore on many mummies to the extant that they look like huge gashes today. And on the subject of excerabration (the technical modern term for the removal of the brain), this was most often done by breaking through the ethmoid bone behind the eyes, scrambling the brain matter into a paste, and withdrawing it in semi-liquified blobs through the nostril. So obviously, with both evisceration and excerabration, Mother Nature had nothing to do with it. Regardless of how clever she is. Nonesense claims that the ancient Egyptians did not “record anything about mummification.” This is not correct. Plenty of ancient Egyptian texts provide all sorts of information about mummification procedures and protocols. This includes contracts and agreements between embalmers and their clients, as well as papyrus texts found in the Ptolemaic Period tomb of a family of embalmers—these papyri preserve numerous details, such as leaving the body in natron for a period of 35 days instead of the customary 40 days observed in other, older periods. Also preserved is a sort of “grocery list” containing the specific ingredients and materials embalmers would need to mummify a body. The one point on which nonesense is correct is that no surviving text or inscription lists the specific steps for physically performing a mummification. It seems most embalmer’s workshops were family businesses, and these families were probably keen on protecting their trade secrets, so it’s understandable that they did not leave written instruction manuals lying around. But numerous ancient Greek historians interviewed Egyptian embalmers. Such writers include Herodotus, Diodorus Siculus, and Plutarch, and they included fascinating details about how mummifications were conducted. Given that we couldn’t be sure if the Greeks wrote down everything correctly—or, indeed, whether the embalmers they interviewed were even telling them the truth—a researcher named Bob Brier used a human cadaver to perform a mummification in the 1990s. Brier followed the details provided by the Greek writers, as well as pharaonic records to make sure he was using all of the correct supplies and tools. The experiment was a grand success—Brier was the first person to mummify a body in the Egyptian manner in over a millennia. The experiment was recently duplicated in Great Britain, on a man who was terminally ill and had requested that his body by mummified. In total, the evidence for mummification is insurmountable. It’s quite odd that nonesense would question it. As I see it, this approach doesn’t even fit well with his whole ancient-giant theme, but in fact goes even farther to discredit it. One simply cannot question something so obvious and come out still standing. Nonesense mentions a mummy found in 1898 at Jabalain near the Red Sea. Supposedly this mummy was rushed into a coffin to claim it was “king so and so” when in fact the identity of the mummy was unknown. The facts here are a bit muddled and comprise a mix of fringe whimsy and the faith of Islam. Many Muslims believe the Pharaoh of Exodus was Ramesses II. Many biblical scholars would concur, although the truth is no one can be sure on that score, nor can anyone be certain that something like the biblical Exodus even happened. I am not an expert in Muslim studies and I respectfully invite any Muslim reader to comment on this based on his or her own teachings, but in researching this comment of nonesense I came across numerous web pages of Muslim studies stating that the mummy of Ramesses II was found at this Red Sea site. I am not sure where this information originated, but it is incorrect. The mummy of Ramesses II was one of those found by Émile Brugsch in 1881, in the secondary burial of DB320. What’s true is that Brugsch was highly concerned that once he fully entered the tomb, Egyptian villagers would quickly descend on the scene to loot the tomb. He excavated the entire tomb in record speed and completely cleared it of its many mummies, in the process taking few notes and recording very little about the archaeological context of everything in DB320 (much to the never-ending frustration of modern archaeologists). All of these mummies and their associated burial equipment were then sent up the Nile to Cairo, for further study in a secure environment. In other words, the “Jabalain mummy” doesn’t even exist. I need not comment at all on the implications of ancient giants on the scientific theory of evolution (“Evolution, darwinism is wrong”). If nonesense would think about this for a moment, he might see how abjectly it works against his cause. And it shows a decided lack of understanding about evolution, but that’s a whole other debate. On the subject of debate, I don’t intend to allow this to become one with nonesense. I feel that a blog just doesn’t work well for such a thing, while message boards are ideal for the purpose. I felt it necessary, however, both to respond to nonesense’s comment and to provide an example to the reader of what the pro-giants crowd believes in. It’s quite stunning. Thanks for reading. ——————————————————– In this article I did not follow my usual practice of citing my sources within the body of the article. However, in the interest of providing sources, below is a list of some of the references I used. More details about them can be provided, if desired. Bonani, Georges et al. “Radiocarbon Dates of Old and Middle Kingdom Monuments in Egypt.” 2001. Flavious Josephus: The Complete Works. Translated by William Whiston. A.M. 1998. Giza Mastaba Series. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Ikram, Salima and Aidan Dodson. The Mummy in Ancient Egypt: Wquipping the Dead for Eternity. 1998. Lehner, Mark et al. Giza Plateau Mapping Project Manetho. Translated by W.G. Waddell. Loeb Classical Library.1940.
Clitheroe Royal Grammar School Year: 1959 Item #: 1602 Source: Lancashire Life Magazine, November 1959 It is time we ended compulsory showers and full or partial nudity in British Schools. Here is another school that inflicts the dreaded shower on its pupils! Indoor: Boys & Girls A white Immanuel sports polo shirt* Navy Blue shorts (loose fitting) White sports socks (ankle length) Indoor training shoes Outdoor: Boys & Girls Navy Blue Immanuel outdoor shirt* Navy Blue shorts (loose fitting) Navy Blue Immanuel football socks* Plain Black Navy Blue tracksuit bottoms (optional) (to be worn at the teacher’s discretion) A towel will be needed for drying after showers. Watches valuables will be kept safe whilst in PE. Let us end this practice and allow pupils to wear tracksuit bottoms for both indoor & outdoor games without the "discretion" of the teacher. Children must be given a right to modesty! Dave, some interesting points there. It was towards the end of the 1950s that my school intgroduced topless PE. I moved on to another school three years later, and i never kept in touch, so I don;t know how long it lasted there. The school itself closed some time in the 1980s anyway. I don't think that the Governors would have had much involvement in the decision. They were never much in evidence anyway. I think it would have been most likely the PE master who had the idea, and tghe head who sanctioned it. They were both fairly young men, as indeed werre mostd of the staff. As far as the boys were concerned, pretty well everyone, myself included, thought it a very good idea. We were of an age, and it was a time, when boys playing out shirtless in warm weather was the norm, so actually being shirtless in front of our peers was nothing new to most of us. I think the people most concerned by the introduction of topless PE at my school were our parents, particularly our Mums. PE lessons minus our vests soon led to going to school on PE days minus our vests, and within a few weeks most, if not all, of us had given up wearing vests altogether, even in winter. Thank you for the answers. So it seems shirtless PE kit was decided and approved by the board of governors but it wasn't the case everywhere.Am I right? By reading the comments it's clear that the majority of schools had a shirtless PE rule from about the 40's till the mid 80's (or it became rare earlier?). You have mentioned even though it still existed so you didn't know back then but it was a rarity by the late 80's early 90's. What was the reaction of boys having to be shirtless for PE in your schools? Was it a talk theme among you? What do you thing why shirtless PE was became so early nowadays. Boys still swim shirtless even in mixed swim classes so what's the difference? I can think of nothing more terrible than forcing a child to strip down to their underwear and go from their classroom to the hall and do gymnastic. Incredibly, in Muswell Hill London they still do this. Physical Education A timetable is displayed in the staffroom of hall times for PE. Children undress down to vest, pants and bare feet for PE in the classroom and go to the hall carrying their shoes (so they have shoes in case of the fire alarm going off). Key Stage 2 children wear PE kit. Please let us stop this inhuman treatment of our kids. If the teachers think this is okay, make them teach lessons in their underwear. John, Chris G. I suppose it was decided and approved by the board of governors at the school and I was lucky to gain benefit from that. Chris G, It’s a pity that you missed out on more years of the great topless PE rule for lads. Looking back I think it should have applied all the way through my Primary School years, so I feel that I missed out too. I had a friend who went to a different school where lads did topless PE from age 7. John - I must say that I envy you, even though my school PE days were a long time ago. I only got in three years of topless PE,as it wasn't introduced into my first secondary school until I was in the third form, and when I moved on to another school for myu sixth form years, PR vests were mandatory at all times and without exception, except when we were being weighed at the end of every term. Funny, that! Frank C, I was also fortunate enough to enjoy shirtless PE in the 1970s, it was much more comfortable than having to wear a vest or t shirt as we had to do until age 9. I enjoyed the freedom of barechested PE too. Dave,Andrew and Luke, I was fortunate enough to experience the skinless regime in the early 1970s. I liked the freedom and bare chested policy. Hi Dave, No, I don't think shirtless PE was widespread by that time. To be clear, it wasn't even a general rule at my school - it was a rule imposed by the individual teacher who took my PE class. His view was boys shouldn't require more than a pair of shorts, plus footwear - so from then on my class all had to go bare chested. However, my brother, who was two years below me, had a different PE teacher and to the best of my knowledge the boys in his class were always allowed to wear their vests. Dave, barechest PE did exist late 80s to early 90s but at the time it seemed totally normal to me and initially assumed other schools did the same. Looking back now I suspect it was going out of fashion and most school even then were allowing tops but cant be 100% sure. Hi Luke! I didn't know that in the late 80s to early 90s shirtless PE rule had existed. Was it still widespread back then? David, although our official PE kit included a vest our teachers simply made every boy strip off to the waist. It was a simple and effective method and demonstrated boys do not need a top for PE or games lessons. Hi Luke, Our introduction to skins and vests was a boy being singled out and made to drop his vest in front of the whole class. The teacher walked down the line and picked boys at random to join him, with a stern warning that those left in vests would strip off for the next lesson. Of course everyone knew there was a 50-50 chance of being a skin but it was obvious some of us (me and a couple of others) were picked to strip off nearly every session. It was really rare for me to wear a vest I have no idea why I picked out to strip off so much. Cross country was done either in skins or vests while for outdoor fitness sessions held on the field, sometimes the whole class would be told to strip off but more often the teams were games tops, vests and skins. Hi David H, From your reference to Army selection I'd guess you must have been at school around the same time as me (late 80s to early 90s). It seems your PE teacher took a similar approach to mine! The official PE kit was a vest and shorts but he immediately made it clear boys were required to do his lessons in skins. If the class had to be split into teams, half the boys were picked to wear bibs and the rest remained as skins. Like you, I'm glad I was made to exercise bare chested at school. Yes, it took some getting used to at first but long term it certainly encouraged me to work harder and take greater pride in my body. If it had been optional, I doubt I'd have taken my vest off voluntarily at first - how about you? Chris, I think I fall into your third group. At primary school PE was mostly done in vest, underpants and bare feet and if you didn't have a vest then you went topless, moved up into my first middle school where indoor PE was done in a pool shirt, shorts and pumps, oh how luxurious and those that forgot went without. Then we moved house into a different area and I started my second middle school where indoor PE was done topless, and barefoot with shorts only. After a year and a half this came as an initial shock but soon I was used to it and came to enjoy the freedom especially when doing gymnastics. Plus I might as well add we showered after every lesson, boys only and yes we showered nude. It wasn't an issue at all it was just been hygienic and clean. Alot better than spending the day sat in your own sweat! Hi Chris, During an Army selection course in 1995 the male candidates found ourselves in the gym for fitness tests. With the group split into teams of skins and vests the tests began. It didn't take too long before our vests started to cling to us while we could see each member of the skins team sweat freely. Halfway through the PTIs changed things around. The skins team were made to put their vests on and we were made to strip to the waist for the second half. I was lucky at school. I have no idea why my PE teacher picked me to strip off lesson after lesson in all kinds of weather but I'm glad he did. I'd recommend bare chested exercise to any boy. They'd notice a difference in their physique, others bare chests and outlook after a couple of months. They're supposed to be young men after all! Reading these threads it is apparent that boys experiencing topless PE fall into two groups, those who started at their school in the prior knowledge that PE was always done topless, and those who had toplessness introduced once they had started. But there is actually a third group - those who suddenly had tops imposed on them after one or more years of toplessNess. I had this experience when I changed school at the age of 15. After three years of PE without a vest, suddenly I had to wear one, and found the experience uncomfortable and restrictive. Did anyone else have vests reintroduced after a period of topless PE? Yes the youngsters of today seem to be very self concious and as I said in my last comments even the 20/25 age group At the age of about 8 in the 50's, a friend took me to the local swimming pool - a huge place (50 yard pool) with a large changing room. After changing, we walked unsuspectingly to the pool down a wide corridor which we later found out was called "the showers". It was the first time we'd seen grown men naked and we freaked out! From then, I really wanted to shower naked, but never had the courage, until one day a few years later in secondary school our PE teacher told us to strip off and shower properly. We also had to let adults go first, which meant we had to queue for several minutes naked. Of course we did as our teacher said as he was strict and keen on corporal punishment. Fortunately he was not allowed to administer the belt poolside but only in the changing room. Men would often congratulate him on using it. How times have changed! But I still enjoy swimming and have totally lost my self consciousness in the showers. I think I would not have come to enjoy it had it not been for him and believe youngsters today are missing something which basically a great pleasure Graham With regards to the sleepwear, I expect during the weeks cam we would wear once or twice to look as if it had been used.About the sleeping when I returned home I continued to wear pyjamas however, whenever away at camp I would sleep naked. I suppose part of the reason for that was I was able to decide for myself. It must be a "generation" thing because when I am at the gym/swimming pool it seems that neither I nor fellows of an elder age group think nothing of stripping off in front of each other chatting as we do. Yet when chaps in say there twenties etc come in they undress so far and then disappear into the toilet cubical and come out changed into their activity wear. Too shy to be seen? Is that the generation we are breeding through modern practices? Josh H Your comments about "sleepwear going to camp for the ride" and "being away from direct parental influence offers a good opportunity to experiment" reminds me of my introduction to sleeping 'au naturel' as a naive 'newbie' on my first night at boarding school, and prompts me to ask how your parents reacted when you came home from Scout camp with unworn nightwear, and whether you continued to sleep nude once you were back home. Danny, I certainly agree with your comments about the feminizing of lads. Like you we had our swimming lessons at the public pool( obviously reserved for the schools use)and in the same way we all changed in one communal area and there was no thought of it being anything other than normal. After the lesson whilst we were changing if there was any larking about a teacher would come in and chivvy us up and no one questioned that a male teacher would walk into a changing area when boys were undressed. As other people have commented on previously, it has been the normal thing for men to share a large bath e.g after rugby or football matches. Furthermore I remember my father saying how in the army there was no privacy all in a dorm changing together. My experience is not confined to school. I was in the scouts years ago when it was still all boys. Our accommodation was normally about 6 to a tent with not much room and definitely no privacy. Included on the kit list for camp was sleepwear. However we when it was time to get into our sleeping bags whether it was because we were away from our parents gaze or just being daring, most of us would strip off and go to bed naked. We thought of it as fun. The remainder felt daring enough to sleep in their pants which of course in those days we always briefs(no boxers around)so sleep wear went to camp for the ride and was never used. During the day we were allowed to have fun. No stringent health & safety rules. There were obviously guide lines especially when swimming at scout camp. However, this would often take place in a local river. Shame there is not the freedom for youngster to enjoy themselves today. To many restrictions. William, Fiona, I really laughed when Mr.Dando suggested that boys should wear tops for swimming to cover their chests. This is proof of the mentality today of feminizing boys, as one of you rightly said. We didn't have a swimming pool at school but I often went to our local pool to swim where the changing and shower room were full of boys moving about naked with no shame at all. This seems to have changed in the last 20 years or so where boys are now taking showers with their swimsuits on and changing under a towel. William, I completely agree with everything that you’ve written and would not have been able to express my views as well as you have. My father was pleased when my school introduced the shirtless gym rule for boys when I was 9, he had always done gym in just shorts and pumps and knew that it would be good for me to experience as a boy who lacked confidence. I found that I preferred not having to wear a top for gym which was contrary to my initial fear before my first shirtless gym class. Throughout my time at school I never experienced any inappropriate behaviour from any of my PE teachers. I do not understand why Mr Dando wants to treat boys and girls exactly the same, surely his is an extreme point of view and could be seen as a form of abuse. Easily rectified Fiona. No more school showers and no more pointless Physical education designed to reduce young males into obedient cannon fodder and girls into obedient housewives. With the start of the New Year we must show true 2020 vision and boost child protection and rights to privacy in educational institutions. Lets name and shame those schools that still insist on towels for showers where others have abolished the mandatory requirement.. No to showers Fiona and yes to gender neutral school informs. Let the evil of the past never be repeated! Mr Dando, Fiona has made another good point. You make some sweeping assertions so can I say that, although I never wore a top for gym or anything under my shorts, I was never abused or humiliated at school, and that although my gym master was terrifying he was no paedophile. You seem to have found being in a group of boys showering with nothing on humiliating. That's a strong word but you do not suggest that you were singled out in any way. There is much evidence to suggest that communal, non-sexual nudity among men and boys is not humiliating. Just read the majority of contributions to this website. My generation will recall photographs in newspapers of professional footballers celebrating after the match in the team bath. For them it was a positive bonding experience. And the Imperial War Museum has many photos of soldiers in WW1 and 2 showering, swimming and larking about in their birthday suits as welcome relaxation. They all know what a man's body is like so why get uptight about it? Obviously you feel differently, but is your feeling a fair basis for deciding policies in schools? The more examples you quote where showers are required the more you emphasise how many disagree with you, and not just on grounds of hygiene. Are you not concerned that the extreme modesty you advocate will make boys cripplingly shy and repressed about their bodies? You may send them into the wider world physically private but mentally vulnerable, worrying about things they should be able to take in their stride. If there is nostalgia it might be for a time when boys were brought up as boys and the differences between the sexes had not been blurred by gender equality and political correctness. And what more striking example could there be of the feminisation of boys than requiring them, as you suggest, to swim in a swimsuit that covers their chests? "we had no flannels or soap to wash ourselves." Easily rectified and more hygienic, by taking your own. Mr.Dando: What's your problem with shirtless PE? It's about freedom of movement and hygiene. Did you wear shirts for swimming lessons? Its' all the same.What's the purpose of shirts especially for gym work? I can't see your point. I was forced to have communal nude showers between September 1985 to April 1987. These abusive practices were pointless as they denied privacy and we had no flannels or soap to wash ourselves. We did not have to undergo this humiliation at primary or middle school between 1977 to 1984 and during the upper year aged 15 and 16 showers were not mandatory and nobody used them from 1987-1989. PE Kit Aureus PE sports top * Aureus PE shorts * Aureus PE socks * Aureus long sleeve reversible games top Aureus tracksuit (optional) Black or white trainers with non-marking soles for indoor and outdoor use Towel / Shower gel Aureus sports bag * This website might be about past experiences but it is dominated by the pro Brexit over 65's who are nostalgic for a period of UK educational history where caning, communal showers and topless gymnastics were the norm. The whole point of learning from the past is to inform the future so that state institutionalised child abuse propogated by paedophilic pe teachers never occurs again. We should campaign to end compulsory showers and topless male swimming in all British schools.
Cuban Missile Crisis - Sun Tzu Realism Analysis. Realism is one of the oldest philosophies of western culture dating back to ancient Greece. It is a counterproposition of ‘Idealism.’. For someone who believes in realism, precision becomes important; and precision comes from science. Realism can be broken down into three components: Metaphysics, Epistemology, and Axiology. Realism In Sun Tzu's The Art Of War. Words5 Pages. Realism is a political theory that has been used to explain why things happen and how event and trends relate to one another. It has a deep root ever since the ancient time when it was mentioned by practitioners like Sun Tzu ( B.C) – the Chinese author of “The Art of War”; Thucydides ( B.C) – a Greek historian and many other . Sun Tzu and the Art of Realism 2 Introduction Sun Tzu believed in a philosophy of realism. Realism as applied to an individual suggests that person will ultimately look out for their own self-interest over the interests of others. Applied to a state, i.e. political realism, suggests the same, that the state is primarily interested in its own self-interest, a much more competitive view. Examples Of Universal Negative Argumentative Connotation Of Science - who lived 2, years ago, advised the rulers of states how to survive in an era when war had become a systematic instrument of power for the fi rst time (the “warring states” period). Sun Tzu argued that moral reasoning was not very useful to the state rulers of the day, faced with armed and dangerous neighbors. Jun 15, · Both Clausewitz and Sun Tzu provide excellent insight into these characteristics, but their disparate levels of analysis result in different prescriptions for action. Clausewitz’s theory is couched in the 19 th century battlefield tactics of the Napoleonic Wars and therefore favors wielding superior numbers in direct combat against the enemy. REALISM Realism is considered the most dominant school of thought in international relations. (the founder of the school), Sun Tzu, Machiavelli, Thomas Hobbes and closer to our times, realism and placed emphasis on the acceptance of facts and the analysis of their causes and consequences 5. xkuzqm-essay.somee.comthau: Morgenthau is known for. Powder Ridge Ski Resort Case Study Reproductive Endocrinology: An Exciting Career - Interpretation Realism will be applied to an analysis of three Chinese classics of Lao/Confucius/Sun which have been embodied in the Chinese culture for over 2, years. Comprehending Lao/Confucius/Sun’s philosophies is the first step towards understanding Classical Chinese culture. Jan 08, · The full Sun Tzu quote is actually “If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. Apr 17, · Neoclassical Realism, unlike Structural Realism, focuses more on the first and second levels of analysis (the individual and the state). Clausewitz’s thoughts in Books 1 and 8 are quite consistent with the first and second strands of IR analysis. Police Brutality Police Brutality - Jan 11, · This article uses the prism of political realism to view and understand Sun Tzu’s treatise. Such an analysis entails juxtaposing The Art of War with tenets of realism such as confl ictual nature of international relations; political morality as being distinct from personal/religious morality; anarchy as a systemic feature of international politics; preoccupation with power, security, and confl ict; and relative Estimated Reading Time: 3 mins. for military power and security rather than ideals or ethics. Realists view human nature as selfish, . – Sun Tzu 1 Abstract Theoretical analysis of the war of ancient eras is as important as that of the modern and postmodern eras. Analysis of the primal, primitive, primordial and prehistoric wars shows that, by and large, they were driven by the same motives. The wars of the Hellenistic and the Greek era, too, have been as comparable. song war what is it good for Dream Catchers Research Paper - Aug 03, · Handel argues that Sun Tzu's theory of war is an idealistic way of waging wars, which lacks realism and ignores violence in war since the Theory states force should be . Sun Tzu Realism Analysis Words \| 7 Pages. Interesting Facts about Sun Tzu In the age of bloody civil war several thousands of years ago, Sun Tzu, a Chinese military commander, strategist, and philosopher emerged. A brief discussion of how Sun Tzu's thought in the Art of War fits into the general category of realism and how it contrasts with idealist thought. Samanthas Case Study: Speech-Language-Hearing Clinic Disadvantages Of Abraham Maslows Hierarchy Theory - Sun Tzu Realism Analysis Words \| 7 Pages. So, he must think about how to get to his enemy before his enemy gets to him. Sun Tzu realism thrives upon preemption because the assumption is that the other people or entities are characteristically aggressive at any given moment. Sun Tzu Realism Analysis Words \| 7 Pages. Introduction Realism is one of the oldest philosophies of western culture dating back to ancient Greece. It is a counterproposition of ‘Idealism.’ For someone who believes in realism, precision becomes important; and precision comes from science. Apr 17, · The Three Strands of IR Realism. The Three Levels of IR Analysis and the Key Differences between Them. One primary goal of IR in general is to identify and explain the sources of war. Basic to this goal are the three levels of analysis of IR: the individual, the state, and the international system.[13] Clausewitz, and Sun Tzu,Naval War. Teenagers Affect American Subculture Potential Foster Parent Research Paper - Abstract. The ancient Chinese military strategist Sun Tzu's treatise The Art of War has been likened to progenies of political realism such as Kautilya's Arthashastra and Machiavelli's The xkuzqm-essay.somee.comted Reading Time: 2 mins. Apr 22, · The Mystery of Sun Tzu. For generations, scholars have been trying to figure out who Sun Tzu was–if he existed at all. Legend has it that he was . Mar 18, · Holding a position of leadership does not mean you are in a higher place than the people who work for you. Sun Tzu places emphasis on humility, honesty, and modesty towards others. Subordinates will then reciprocate the same compassion back to you, sparking growth and a zealous attitude from the top down. Compare And Contrast The Defeat And Dismantlement Of The Ottoman Empire names of mountain goats - After thousands of years, human nature remains essentially unchanged.i Sun Tzu’s philosophies were more about how to avoid was while still maintaining control over an enemy in tight situations than war itself. Sun Tzu’s work has received attentions from scholars, . Realism is a school of tho ught th at explains internationa l. relations in terms of power. The exercise of power by. 3. states toward each other is sometimes called ‘realpolitik ’. or. Mar 18, · . Do People Choose To Be Homeless names of mountain goats - Sims defines intelligence as “the collection, analysis and 2 Sun Tzu, The Art of War, trans. Lionel Giles (El Paso, TX: El Paso Norte Press, ), 3 Carl Von Clausewitz, On War, ed. and trans. Michael Howard and Peter Paret (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University. The name Sun Tzu is this case because (1) the Chinese languages12 written in Wade-Giles system, while Sun Zi is the are dificult for a Western user and (2) there are same name depicted by hanyu pinyin transcription. doubts when and how The Art of War was created Both means “Master Sun” (Sun as a last name). and who exactly was the author. Political Studies. For instance, the likes of Thucydides, Sun Tzu, Niccolo Machiavelli, Thomas Hobbes and Clausewitz who were espousing the principles of political realism in the context of uses of power within and outside the state were laying the foundation for a . Case Study: Chik-Fil-A Personification In The Poem Gold Annotation -. Start studying IR EXAM 1. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. A comparison of the ideas of two great realists, Sun Tzu and Machiavelli. Analysis Of Stanley Kwans Still Love You After All Fraud In Enrons Failure - Dec 20, · Realism is not a war-fighting manifesto; it is a war-avoiding doctrine. One of the first proponents of realist thought, the classical Chinese theoretician of conflict, Sun Tzu, argued that there are self-evident principles of the goodness of moral and social order. Politics is the struggle to replace ignorance with the truth. Sun Tzu expresses the importance of the spy in The Art of War, which dates back to around the late sixth century BC. One of Tzu’s main interests in regards to warfare was to only fight when needed and win a “bloodless” battle. The notion of a bloodless battle is only possible with the proper execution of a spy. Sun Tzu highlights the empirical nature of warfare saying: “while an angered man may again be happy, and a resentful man again be pleased, a state that has perished cannot be restored, nor can the dead be brought back to life”.1 For many states, being proficient in warfare was the only way to ensure survival in the Spring and Autumn period. Education System In South Korea Essay Much Ado About Nothing Beatrice Character Analysis - Sun Tzu took into account all the forces acting upon a state. Master the Art of Strategic Thinking! Matter Of Life Or Death. War is a tool of the state, and as Sun Tzu wrote, "War is a matter of vital importance to the state; a matter of life or death, the road either to survival or to ruin.". What was one problem with classical realism that brought about neorealism? Sun tzu 'Art of ear' Kenneth Waltz 'Man, the state, and war' (level of analysis) Thucydides. 1st IR scholar. Machiavelli. Notion of 'ends and means' Hobbes 'State of nature is a state of war' -- humans born into competitive environment. Bismark. xkuzqm-essay.somee.com Tzu is traditionally credited as the author of The Art of War, an influential work of military strategy that has affected both Western and East Asian philosophy and. Examples Of Dramatic Irony In The Crucible Social Injustice In The Jungle - Sun Tzu Art Of War Analysis Words \| 4 Pages. Objective Analysis Sun Tzu’s The Art of War (Sunzi bingfa) is a remarkably lucid, compact and sometimes enigmatic treatise. Although the main purpose was to be applied in war, its philosophies can be applied in . [v] This is an interesting link to Sun Tzu, since essentially the concepts described in On War enjoy the ability of expansion and refinement, much as the commentaries compliment Sun Tzu’s original Art of War. [vi] Carl von Clausewitz, On War (translated by Peter . 28 Conclusion Sun Tzu’s The Art of War is "strategic functionalism" at work. The form (i.e. tactics based upon the art of deception, preparation and skillful knowledge) is a function of the content (strategy based upon stated objectives). Sun Tzu’s The Art of War is an invaluable source of . Female Athletes: The Role Of Concussions In Sports Rousseau strongly believes in the idea of Women And Women In The Handmaids Tale By Margaret Atwood Sun Tzu Realism Analysis, and his idea of the general will is discussed heavily in The Social Contract. Since Rousseau thinks society needs to work as one harmonious machine, there is no place for factions and self-interest in his model society. Rousseau makes some smart arguments on how if people are willing to give up Sun Tzu Realism Analysis liberties, all of society can greatly benefit. However, much like many political thinkers looking for change, Rousseau ends up being quite idealistic, and very disconnected with how the world works. Idealists see the role of power as an undesirable factor to be eliminated. Idealists see Sun Tzu Realism Analysis as a set of assumptions about how and why states behave Sun Tzu Realism Analysis they do, rather than a theory of foreign relations. They strongly criticise the realist thesis that the struggle for power and security is natural. They reject such a fatalistic orientation Sun Tzu Realism Analysis that power is not natural, and simply a temporary phase of human history. They believe that by adhering completely and consciously to moral values moral values in behaviour, power struggle and war can be eliminated. In republican government, the legislative authority necessarily predominates. The remedy for this inconveniency is to divide the into different branches; and to render them, by different modes of election and different principles of action, as little connected with each other as the nature of their common functions and their common Sun Tzu Realism Analysis on the society will admit. 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This conceptual framework of states existing under certain prescribes norms finds relevant in the contemporary IR more likely after the Treaty of Westphalia. This hegemonic world order needs to be explained from an approach which best predicts events and affairs in the international system. Looking at the larger factors concerning. However, Chinese New Year Speech get to that point, the human race must be convinced wholeheartedly and completely that the Party is correct. There must not be a shadow of doubt in their collective mind, and what better way to do that then with logical fallacies? If one Personal Narrative: My Experience With Trauma In My Childhood the laws, there are consequences that they face. If there were no laws, then freedom would exist. The general public does not have the right to Sun Tzu Realism Analysis freedom because the ruling class owns and Sun Tzu Realism Analysis what freedom is. Freedom is neither tangible nor obtainable jimmy lee jackson according to B. Arendt argues Sun Tzu Realism Analysis there is no place for poverty in politics but Marx makes the point that poverty must be eliminated first so that politics can flourish. The only way to eliminate poverty is through the political system and the overthrow The Truth About Sharks Short Story Sun Tzu Realism Analysis elite. As long as there is economic oppression, freedom is not attainable for every citizen. The separation of economics and freedom is unrealistic because money controls the actions of the people. With the Soviet Union, China Sun Tzu Realism Analysis found an ideological partnership which changed in the following decades into rivalry. Not only do the principles of Idealism assert that the state and people should be considered actors, in fact, both they must be viewed as actors. Actors have interests; while realists such as Machiavelli insist the state is the only unit of analysis necessary in international politics, idealists argue that just as states have interests, people Sun Tzu Realism Analysis government have interests as well. Therefore, Realism and Idealism begin their Sun Tzu Realism Analysis of actors from two different perspectives, however, both schools of thought Sun Tzu Realism Analysis on to identify many characteristics of actors which are largely Social Facts Case Study. For both realists and idealists, actors are Sun Tzu Realism Analysis they exist independently and retain sovereign rights over material and non-material resources. In both Ankh Symbolism and Idealism actors are said to possess prioritized interests and preferences. Madison begins Federalist Cuatro Para Tango Analysis by stating that a Sun Tzu Realism Analysis government should be able to prevent and control factions and their effects. A faction is any group of people Sun Tzu Realism Analysis hold a shared interest and whose common interest either Unexpected Events In Walterss Life the rights of others in society or harms society as a whole. Although factions cause confusion Sun Tzu Realism Analysis violence to occur in a society, no government will be able to stop factions from developing; Madison states that this is because, in order Corruption And Ethos In Richard Nixons Speech destroy factions, one would need to destroy liberty. Along with not being able to abolish factions, Madison asserts that it is impractical to try to control factions because individuals will always have differing opinions; he also articulates that the main purpose of governments is to protect. Under this type of government one groups Essay On Happiness And Mccandless are always expressed, and consequently, there is always a perpetual loser. This is not what Madison had in mind when he wrote Federalist 10, instead he Persuasive Essay On Extending School that as long as there are multiple factions competing, the control, and therefore interests of the government should be moderate, as well as changing. He describes to the reader that each branch of the government would have some control over the other, balancing out the governmental power, thus keeping the effects of factions to a minimum. We do not hold the power over our possessions because this could be under the power of an Sun Tzu Realism Analysis thief. In any event, we do not have the power to whatever it is not our own doings. The limits of human freedom rely in our mind, that is, everything that we think, our intentions, and our values. For instance, by controlling our emotions no matter what the aggravation might be, we are being stoical. Hobbes argues that individuals are self-interested, Case Study: Chik-Fil-A unable to maintain structure without the presence of Sun Tzu Realism Analysis overarching power Hobbes, Both Hobbes and fellow philosopher, John Locke, agree that an anarchy is not desirable and that The Hardest Thing In Life must be made to preserve society. Agreeing to this social contract is Sun Tzu Realism Analysis necessary adaptation that an individual must accept to ensure personal security and the survival of. This means that if all of the countries came together to cooperate, conflict stands easily avoided. This would keep each country in its respective place, and avoid major war. This plan prevent the need for a military in the first place, and it creates a balance in power. Realism is a political theory that has been used to explain why things happen and how event and trends relate to one another. It has a deep root ever since the ancient time when it was mentioned by practitioners like Sun Tzu B. C — Sun Tzu Realism Analysis Greek historian and Immanuel Kants Theories Of Knowledge other Sun Tzu Realism Analysis thinkers during that time. However, not until the years surrounding World War II did it become the dominant theory to explain the international relations at that time. According to realists, individuals are selfish and competitive. They tend to pursue self-interest. Realists also believe in an anarchic international system in which there is no world government and states are sovereign political entities. The state is the principal actor: Sun Tzu Realism Analysis could be other actors like international organization but they are just minors. State eventually will decide its action toward others and not depend on other actors. In an anarchic international system, A Summary Of The European Knight And The Bushido Code Sun Tzu Realism Analysis depend on others but themselves. The most important issue for them is security — best places to go in africa ability to protect themselves from both domestic and foreign enemies. States always. Show More. Factions In The Enlightenment Words 6 Pages Rousseau Sun Tzu Realism Analysis believes in the idea of majority rule, and his idea of the general will is discussed heavily in The Social Contract. Read More. Similarities Between Realism And Idealism Words 6 Pages Not only do the principles of Idealism assert that the state and people should be considered actors, in fact, both they must be viewed as actors. Federalist 10 Summary Words 3 Pages Sun Tzu Realism Analysis begins Sun Tzu Realism Analysis 10 by stating that a well-functioning government Sun Tzu Realism Analysis be able to prevent and control factions and their effects. James Madison's Essay On Federalist 10 Words 3 Pages Under this type of government one groups interests are always expressed, and consequently, there is always Sun Tzu Realism Analysis perpetual loser. Epictetus Stoic Philosophy Analysis Words 3 Pages We do not hold the power over our possessions because this could be under the power of an intentional thief. What Is Military's Unbalanced Power Words 3 Pages This means that if all of the countries came together to cooperate, conflict stands Sun Tzu Realism Analysis avoided.!
I think that by now you all have seen multiple pictures and swatches of the Urban Decay Naked Palette. This is Urban Decay's best selling palette in the history of the company. Truth be told, they can't make the palette fast enough to sate these hungry neutral shadow lovers. Urban Decay recently had to change some of the options with this palette just to keep up with demand. Instead of the double ended pencil in brown and black, the palette includes a full size eyeshadow brush. Some people groused at the change but I think either option is pretty cool. Urban Decay brushes are supposed to be very nice so what's to worry about? The palette consists of 12 shades of neutral but not boring eye shadows. The first 6 are (from left to right) (A * indicates a permanent color from the UD collection) Virgin - A sheer satin cream Sin* - A shimmery champagne Naked - A matte light brown (perfect eyebrow color for lighter haired users Sidecar - sparkly deep beige Buck - A matte brown (perfect eyebrow color for darker blondes to light brunettes Half Baked - A metallic bronze The second 6 are (from left to right) (A * indicates a permanent color from the UD collection) Smog* - A shimmery golden brown Darkhorse - A shimmer bronzey taupe Toasted* - A shimmery muted copper Hustle - A shimmery plum brown Creep - A metallic and glittery black Gunmetal* - A metallic dark grey Ah. But here in lies the reason for my post. Like most makeup addicts, receiving a pristine, perfect palette is essential. Wonky pans and smudges make the whole experience less than special. When you enlarge this picture you will see that the arrows on the bottom point to pans that arrived askew in the palette. The arrows on the top indicate pans that had smudges in them (most likely from assembly when the workers were trying to right the pans in the palette) Now you may ask if these "imperfections" in the palette upset me. My answer was Yes. It was annoying that I paid $45 for a palette with such poor quality production. However, after I got over myself and came back to reality I realized that the very slight imperfections had no impact on the quality of the palette. The smudges, while present were probably made by someone wearing gloves. It's not like powder can be a host to a virus or anything like that so I didn't worry about contamination. And most important, those smudges disappeared once I actually USED the palette. Now I have brush strokes on all the pans. The smudges are a distant memory. As I said above. Sure the palette may have a few pans askew and a few smudges, but that does not detract from the extreme high quality of the shadows themselves. Urban Decay has very highly pigmented shadows with excellent staying power. Even the matte shadows are easy to blend and never chalky. You can't go wrong with any of the colors in this palette. Trust me as a person with a phobia of palettes with more than 5 choices, I never feel apprehensive about which color to choose because I know what ever I choose it will look amazing. This, my dear readers, is a neutral shadow lover's ultimate palette. OK. Swatches just for shits and giggles...like you haven't seen a million of them already. Virgin and sine are my faves from this section. I love Naked for filling in my eyebrows. Darkhorse is an awesome taupe. It makes a great crease color too! I love Hustle for it's deep plummy colors. Gunmetal has a special place in my heart as it was the very first UD shadow I ever purchased about 13 years ago. Do you NEED this? Well if you adore neutral shadows then YES! For the price (now $50) you certainly get your money's worth. (The mini Urban Decay Primer Potion it comes with is nice to have for travel). T he only problem is finding a place that actually has the palette in stock. When I started editing photos for this post The Urban Decay Website had them in stock. By the time I spell checked the post they were gone. But try Ulta, Sephora, and Urban Decay Websites usually have it from time to time and you'll eventually find it. But PLEASE do not pay more than retail for this palette (I'm talking about ebay) It's nice but if you are patient you can get one from a real store. I was like, "Pay more than retail, wut?" then I went to evilbay and searched for the palette... WUT. Insane. LOL ebay... the lengths some people will go to get this palette. I'm not too worried if I don't get this palette because most of the shadows are in other palettes or sold as singles. My feelings are the same I bought 2 one for me and one fr my neice and they were both wonky as all heck and every color had smudges so the 45 ticket peeved me I love it. I love love love it. I was a fan of UD Neutrals before but bringing 2 BOS along with me when I was leaving the house was a no-no. So I'm really glad to have them all together in this palette; it's one I've reached a lot for during the past months, taken with me on holidays (and actually used!) and I am wearing some of these shadows today. Now paying more than retail is probably not a good idea, though. That made me super happy to see I'm not the only one disgruntled by unwanted smudges and like things shiny and new. I got uber pissed at Holt Renfrew for giving me my Burberry shadow and lipstick with smudges all over the shiny compact and lid. (the store had to order them in so the employee hadn't seen it in person and wanted a look I guess) I then sent them a bitchy email and calmed down and apologized, but it still makes me all grrrrrrry inside :) I love neutrals. I was thinking of getting this maybe next autumn, when I'm planning to travel to a country that has Sephora. I hope the craze over this palette has subdued by then... If I'm paying that amount of money for a palette I want it to be flawless, period. Good that it didn't bother you, though. Do you know if this is limited edition in the UK? I bought my mum a gift card to Boots to buy one, but it hasn't come back in stock yet...whereas in the US it did. confused shrug This does look lovely and it does indeed make me swoon. Another one that is full of pretty neutrals and might be comparable is the In Bloom palette from Smashbox... I feel another swoon coming on, lol. It is another I would love to have. Right now it's out of stock on the Sephora website, as well. For some one looking to get a cheap UD fix, Sephora has the Show Pony Shadow Box on sale for $16. It is the same exact thing as the Preen box, except for the art. Plus there are two colors unique to those boxes in it. That's so gross that they raised the price. This is one of those makeup items that I don't regret not buying. I love neutrals, but this palette is just craziness. I adore neutrals, since they really make my blue-green eyes sizzle, and i have considered getting this. however, when i went to Sephora to see if they had any in stock, i fell in love with a different UD palette (Deluxe, with the silver chains over purple velour) which has 4 neutrals and 5 bright shades and is definitely less sophisticated. GO FIGURE. so that was my first UD purchase. i love the neutrals in the palette and will probably buy 2 of them in full-size. and i already own a dizzying number of brown, bronze, gold, and copper shadows, so i can't really justify it! I love my palette, and kind of want to buy a backup with the brush! :P So easy to put together a look, and it's such a great value (each shadow is actually the same as a full sized UD shadow, according to the packaging info). And I'm in love with all of the limited edition shades. But I agree--it's not worth the insane prices on ebay! Freaking hot swatches! Thanks for the confirmation - I was livid when I finally got this palette and found smudges on the pans. Called Sephora with the complaint, and they offered a small credit towards another purchase - unfortunately the palette was already sold out so there were no options for an immediate replacement. I think this palette is a must for everyone! I may have a slight obsession with half baked. I try to incorporate into every look I do. Sellers on eBay are using this post to excuse selling fakes. Although the UDNP options have changed (i.e the brush instead of the pencil) the brown palette still comes packaged in purple velvet display base and clear plastic box with a mini primer, the brush is the genuine good karma brush and inside the actual palette the pans are all properly set into the cardboard palette. There is a palette in a gold cardboard package which is not genuine and not by Urban Decay. The pans are not set in properly, the printing is poorly stamped, the brush is much larger than the urban decay good karma brush and the colors (especially at the light end of the palette) are not any way near as pigmented as the Urban decay product, it doesn't come with a mini primer. It is fine to purchase a dupe when you know what you're getting but it is very upsetting to pay for these fakes which are advertised as genuine Urban Decay. These shops and sellers are making a great profit by selling these dupes as the genuine product and hopefully the blogging community can help increase awareness of this sneaky, dishonest practice. Please contact Urban Decay to verify this comment. Thank you for listening.
So as I sat down and started think about where I should start on my journey toward being emergency prepared, frankly I was pragmatic. I started with what I thought I could easily gather or make or had at my hands ready for the most part. So I thought I would start with the Emergency Binder. There are several topics I will be working my way through as I work on my emergency preparedness project and you can see that list on my Emergency Preparedness: Getting Started post. But this seemed like the most logical place to start since I in fact already had many of the essentials with in my grasps. Many of us moms out there have put together family binders filled with information from medical, meal planning, schedules, and so much more. An emergency binder is different. This is a binder filled with essentials that should you find yourself in a position that you need to “bug out” you are not having to gather all these different items. While these two types of binders may have some of the same or similar information within them, please keep in mind their purpose and design are different. Supplies are pretty simple and you may have them lying around from other projects. They include: a three ring notebook (depending on the size of your documents it may need to be between 1-2″), dividers, a three ring zipper pocket/pouch, clear protector sheets, and time. I suggest trying to not do this all in one sitting. I know most of my readers are busy so give yourself permission to do this is steps. I suggest dividing this by sections. Sections for your emergency binder are: - Emergency and Identification Information - Medical Information - Vital Documents - Insurance Information - Financial Information - Electronic Information Taking each section one at a time while take an overwhelming project to a do-able project. Emergency and Identification Information You will want a separate tab for this section of work. This section will include your evacuation plan (however I recommend your grab list from your plan be on the front of the binder), emergency contacts, and identification cards. I will do a separate post on establishing your evacuation plan (hehehe…is it my sneaky way to make sure you will come back or my sly way of giving me more time to get mine together?) For Emergency Contacts you will want to make sure to include everyone that is coming to you or that you are going to as a part of your evacuation plan. You will also want to include family both local and long distance. I remember getting text and Facebook posts and emails with the fires from family as far as the east coast. Having their contact information handy will help reduce their worry once you get settle and can contact them…but only if you have their contact information. You will also want to include numbers for local fire departments, police stations, emergency evacuation centers, and hospitals. 911 may be overwhelmed during an evacuation situation and these numbers sometimes have recordings during emergency situations filled with information. Trust me the news is not always accurate. Lastly, you will absolutely want to include identification sheets for adults, children and pets in the home as a part of your binder. Heaven forbid that something should ever happen to you or a family member but these can aid police. I suggest including full names, nick names, date of birth, SSN, school and school contact information, features such as eye color, hair, color, distinguishing marks, doctor, etc. I most definitely recommend having current photos of each family member and pet. I also highly recommend having their fingerprints as well. I have read that you can do this at your local sheriff’s department for free or a nominal fee. Call your local department and see if they offer this service. Better to have a professional as to not mess up loop and whirl patterns. You will also want to include microchip and id information for pets. I have free PDF downloads at the bottom for you to use for your personal use only. Medical Information This does not have to be a separate section. In fact I recommend including on the back of each individual person and pet’s identification sheet. This should include all allergies with reactions, medical conditions, and lists of their medication, vitamins, over-the-counter medications taken regularly. Medications should be listed by proper and generic name, use, dosage and dosing instructions, prescribing doctor and pharmacy ID# and phone number. I would highly suggest listing their blood type (A,B, AB, or O), RH factor (+ or -), height, and weight. This should also be done for pets as well. FREE PDF download at the bottom for you to use for your personal use only. Vital Documents, Insurance Information, and Financial Information There are tons of lists out there and I am sure mine is not exhaustive. As I am putting our family’s binder together I am asking myself two questions, “If there is an emergency and I do not have this item, will I be frustrated I don’t have or be hindered by not having it?” and “If this item was destroyed in a disaster, would I be annoyed at having to replace it or frustrated at the process?” If I can answer yes to either of these questions, then it is going into my binder. You can put these in clear protective sheets. For passports, put them in the three ring zipper pouch or seal the top of the clear pouch with tape. Each section should have a separate tab in my opinion for easy reference. Vital Documents - birth certificates - death certificates - marriage certificates - baptism certificates, confirmation records and other religious records - school transcripts, diplomas, honors and important educational records - passports - SSN cards - driver’s license (copy) - copy of will and/or living trust, powers of attorney and advanced health care directives - immunization records - legal contracts - military records - adoption papers - divorce records – judgments, stipulations, custody and support orders, QDROs, DROs, etc. - pet Records – registrations, copies of tags, rabies and vaccination records, microchip registry - proof of citizenship or immigration status Insurance Information - homeowner or renter’s policy - auto policy – include current picture of vehicle - other vehicle policies and photos such as RVs, boats, motorcycles, etc - life insurance policy and certificate - disability and accident insurance policies - medical and dental insurance policies and copies of cards – including medicare, medical, etc. - pictures and lists of all personal belongings such as jewelry - pictures and lists of all furniture and belongs in house by room s(some have suggested videos) - contacts for all policies Financial Information - copies of credit cards front and back - recent bank(s) statement(s) with account numbers and contact information - retirement account(s) statement(s) with account numbers and contact information – 401K, IRAs, Deferred Compensation accounts, stocks, bonds, mutual funds, etc. - internet passwords including personal accounts, credit cards, email, banking, utilities, etc. - recent utility statements with account numbers and contact information - loan and/or lease agreements – home, auto, personal, apartment, etc. - deeds and titles - warranty Information for vital items that have thief or lost of property clauses - vital tax or work information that would be difficult to replace - list of paid off items - contact information for 3 credit bureaus Electronic Information Though I was very young at the time, I know one of the most challenging things our family faced was the loss of our home to fire. We lost a lot that day both in a home and furniture that can be replaced. But the fire destroyed photos, mementos and personal items destroyed that could never be replaced. For me, photos are some of the hardest lost of those things as they mark memories and journal them. We are lucky in our digital age that photos are no longer just pieces of paper but rather digital data that can be stored anywhere. If you use an online backup service that’s great but I suggest also having a backup for your backup. Have backup waterproof flash drives, hard drives or CDs to store irreplaceable electronic photos or documents. These are usually pretty inexpensive and can easily be stored in a waterproof and fireproof safe with or without your binder. And this is a good idea even if you are not preparing for emergencies. A good friend recently lost about 40,000 photos that cannot be replaced of her young son (2 years worth from birth to now) because her iPhone had not properly backed up. Cash and Atlas Two other things that I consider to be very important to have in your binder are cash and an atlas. Cash should be in small bills. One of the biggest things I read online with the recent storms back east is how people didn’t have access to ATMs or credit cards for purchases since electricity was out. Additionally, for those that had cash, they often were paying well over actual cost of items since markets and stores ran out of small bills. Can you imagine paying $20 for a gallon of milk…and I think$3.19 is highway robbery. I personally suggest storing $1 a week per person in your home and $1 per week for each pet or if they are small like my Yorkies who don eat nearly as much as a Great Dane, $1 per every two pets per week. I would say a good amount would be to shoot for $100-$200 per person and pet. Think about this cash as cash for a fill up, extra supplies, extra foods, an emergency within your emergency situation. If a $1 per week per person is too much for your budget, save what you can, just start saving. Keep it in small $1 and/or quarters. You can stick this in your three hole zipper pouch. An atlas may seem way out dated in our modern world of smart phones and tablets, but what happens when your phone dies and there is no electricity. An atlas will still help you navigate without relying on technology. Storage I know a lot of people have suggested storing this binder out in the open where it is easily visible and can be seen if it has been taken. Most say their binder is non-descript and doesn’t give way to what it is. However, I err on the side of caution. The binder should be easily accessible and easy to grab BUT it should be safe when you are there and when you are not. Fires and disasters don’t just happen when you are around. They also happen when you are not. My personal suggestion is to have a fireproof safe big enough to hold the binder. That being the case, when there is an emergency, you can just grab the safe. Plus it keeps your personal and private information locked up. If you need it to pull out say your passport or SSN card, your safe should be in a secure but easily accessible location. For other items such as auto policies, divorce documents, insurance policies, that you may reference more often, copies can be placed in your files or home/family binders. I hope this helps as you work on becoming more emergency prepared. If we stick with it, then one task at a time, we will get it done. Emergency Binder Adult Profile Emergency Binder Child Profile Emergency Binder Pet Profile Medical Info.
Gian returns to Sea-john from the Kingdom's wars certain that he has skills beyond killing, death and destruction. He needs to prove to himself that love is just as strong, if not stronger, than his hate. The Summer King gives him this opportunity. This short story was acquired for Tor.com by consulting editor Ann VanderMeer. We have been down together in my sleep, unbuckling helms, fisting each other’s throat, and waked half half-dead with nothing Gian stole into the house. From the back garden, a work-song: soprano led two deeper voices, who called the responses. There was the big wooden box, under the worktable. Gian went to it, pulled the box out, and rummaged its contents. He plucked gold from his ears and put in disks of mother-of-pearl. He lifted off his military beads, all the commendations he’d won in the Kingdom’s wars as one who stood When the River Ran Red, and restrung his neck with clattering necklaces of polished white stones and shell nacre. Silence fell in the garden. Shadows blocked the good light. Busted! The shadow up front leaned from brightness, peering into the dark—a sudden movement. Used to blows, Gian flinched. Still? No one alive could or would knock him around, and Milord the Marshal had gone down in the river, one of countless who’d bloodied the waters. “That’s your sister’s.” Black Daddy stood at the back doorway. In their scarves and broad-brimmed straw hats, Mama and White Daddy crowded close behind him. “I asked,” Gian said. “She said I could borrow it.” “There’s no bembe up at our temple today.” Black Daddy came into the house. “So what you dressing in daytime regalia for?” “Somebody asked me to go somewhere with them, that’s all.” “Somebody, huh?” Black Daddy invested huh with deep, wry knowledge. “Everywhere we go, Gianni, all this last season, people keep telling us how they just now bumped into you somewhere around the hills of Sea-john. Always with the same good-looking fella. People can’t remember when they last seen somebody so much in love. All of them say how happy they are to see you doing so much better now, than when you first got back from the wars. But why you never bring your man by here, Gianni? We could make dinner for him; he could meet your mamas-and-papas. Everybody could say hello to each other.” “I can’t right now, Daddy . . . I gotta go somewhere.” Gian shimmied from his everyday shirt, bright-dyed and fitted. He drew on his sister’s, loose and white. “But soon, all right? Real soon.” “You ashamed of us, Gianni? We too poor? You don’t want your fine man seeing what you come from?” “No!” Gian thumbed loose the knot at his waist. “It ain’t like that.” His wraparound pooled at his ankles. “He’s just like us—nobody high and mighty. Feet on the ground, not nose up in the air.” Nothing like Milord whom he’d served the last decade, in other words. Gian rewrapped his waist and legs with the length of white cotton, expensively well-bleached. As was his wont, he tied off the wraparound girl-style, rather than just folded over, then buckled back on his belt and scabbard. “He’s just a plain ole Johnny from Sea-john, same as us.” “Well, who his people, then? What hill they live on? Which parish? What the boy name?” “Black Daddy . . .!” Gian exclaimed in exasperation; he swept up the loose flowers he’d laid atop the table. .” “No, no; me and him just been busy, that’s all.” Gian desperately bundled his clothes and things together. “Soon as things get settled some, we’ll all do something nice. I promise.” No slipping out—he must say good-bye properly. Mama and White Daddy weren’t dumb: of course not. But they were so ashamed of their accents, mostly Black Daddy spoke for them if he was around. And since sturdy rope and a team of horses would never tear them loose from his side, it was no wonder they couldn’t speak Johnny worth spit after a quarter century living in Sea-john. Black Daddy had learned their foreign jabber. Gian sucked his teeth softly, glancing down so his parents wouldn’t see him roll his eyes. He leaned up to kiss Black Daddy’s cheek, and touched Mama’s hand, then White Daddy’s. He fled the house. After the indoor shadows, the flood of morning light was nearly blinding. Gian turned up a hand to shade his view, squinting down the block. There he was! At the southwest side of the parish temple, in the last patch of semishadow, stood a silhouette well-known by stature, breadth of shoulders, and locks twined to a turban atop the head—waiting right where the eyes sought first. Gian dashed that way. “You musta been talking to somebody.” Cianco laughed and took the flowers. “But you didn’t need to bring flowers, or wear regalia, either—that’s just the rest of them. It’s something else you gotta do. Now let’s get going: we got nigh on three hundred folk waiting for us.” He looked up suddenly, back down the street. Gian turned. Three can marry in Sea-john but not two, not six, not any number but three: his parents stood at the doorway of the house, two under hats, and Black Daddy’s hand at his brow against the glare. There wasn’t much you could make out of them at this distance, except who was nearly as tall as Cianco, who as short as Gian, who was man, who woman, who—“I thought you said we were in a hurry.” Gian tried to draw Cianco away, who didn’t budge. “That’s them, ain’t it? Your mamas-and-papas.” “Yes.” Gian embraced Cianco’s arm. “But won’t the priests be wondering where we at about now? Can’t keep everybody waiting.” “They look like real good people, your folks.” Cianco broke into a grin. “I’ma go say hi to them!” “It ain’t right”—Gian made himself heavy, both hands gripping Cianco’s arm—“making all those people wait!” Cianco looked at him. “You don’t want me meeting your folks.” “It’s not that. Really, pop. Just . . . next time, all right?” Gian tugged without effect: no one made Cianco do anything, not by force. “We can have us a good visit next time around. Promise.” Cianco stared and stared. Gian fought not to shuffle and grin like a liar about to be called out—but at last Cianco nodded. He turned and raised a hand in greeting. Far up the block three hands waved back. Then he let his lover nudge him into motion and drag them hustling the other way. They went downhill and up into the next. “So, Gianni-mi—listen up,” Cianco said. “I’m gonna change and be all strange and different today, but still myself, all right? And if the congregation calls you the hallowed boy, or Summer King’s lover, don’t worry about it. Understand?” Not really, no; but Gian nodded. Cianco led them around back of a temple. “And she’s tough and hard -headed; she always gets her own way. But just for today, the one she chose for Summer King knows better. That’s me.” She? “Who?” Gian said. The Most High stood in the street outside the temple; she said, “Drink this. More! Now pass it to your boy.” She snatched the chrysanthemums from Cianco, and made them both gulp from a flask of infused spirits (oh . . . the world tipped giddily; Gian hadn’t yet broken the fast) and hustled them the back way into the temple, by a little postern door. “Man, why on earth did you dress your boy like another petitioner?” Cianco could have exclaimed without injustice, “‘Ain’t nobody told him to dress like that—he put them clothes on!”’ but he said, “My baby’s pretty in white. I like him like this.” The answer satisfied her. At Gian’s parish temple the Most High was a short elderly woman, too kind if anything—she’d always let him get away with things, including never attending services. Not the boss priestess here! This Most High was another Johnny giant, more robust in middle years than anyone younger. Abrupt and sharp-eyed, she managed to say with one glance, I’m well aware of your foolishness; soon there will be a reckoning. Inside the temple drawing breath was work, the aromas thickening the air were so bitter, sweet, and noxious. Sage smoked from braziers. The fragrance of flowers commingled and clashed. Up in there reeking was the old standby stench too, savory with death, rusty and wet: a flock of beheaded fowl hung from trussed feet overtop stone deities, knee-deep in slopping tureens. The feathered bouquets wept clotted black drops still. Nausea watered Gian’s mouth . . . A hand clasped the back of his neck, rested with affectionate weight, and let go. The touch steadied Gian, on bad footing at the river’s brink. A fossil of memory jostled him in passing, and was borne away on the ruddy current: some soldier facedown, arrow ridden. Gian looked up. Cianco’s eyes weren’t on him; they admired the temple’s spectacular door of flowers. Often enough his lover had said, “I get so lonely for you, Gianni. Sometimes when you’re right here by me.” And then would come the bulwark of a hand, supportive somewhere on the back of Gian’s body. The massive doors were thrown wide, yet nothing could be seen of the courtyard fronting the temple. Dozens on dozens of garlands hung in a curtain, blocking the view. The light broke up among flower petals, scattering on the temple floor as dimly luminous confetti, in peacock colors, and toucan. “Jump, dammit!” The Most High snapped her fingers at the women and sissys attending her. They hustled forward with a crown of marigolds and tiger lilies, a crimson mantle, a green wraparound all stiff with gold brocade, and some fancy sandals of the sort nobility wore in the Kingdom. They stripped and redressed Cianco. With the nimble truant immobilized, and preparations underway, the Most High could now light into him properly. “You got some nerve,” she snapped, “falling up in here late like this.” “But . . .” Cianco blinked, head shaking slowly, and smiled. “. . . I ain’t though.” That way he had, that voice, all caramel and languor, could awake such love in hearts, or—“You know me, Aunty: always on time.”—such fury. She put her finger in his face. “Tu, m’iamas ‘Laltissima’!” Cianco gently took the hand and softly kissed it. “I’m right on time, Most High.” She snatched it back. “A couple hundred people out there waiting. They get one chance, once a year.” The Most High slapped his chest at one and once. “King comes at noon and he’s going at first quarter of the night—” “Let’s don’t waste no time, then.” Cianco pointed at a hole in the ceiling, falling from which a narrow sunbeam struck a brass plate atop the altar. The endpoint sparkle had crept nearly dead center the plate’s much-etched symbology. (Sweet as nectar to the bees, so were the many splendors of Cianco to the sissys. He was muscled and manful, full of mellow charm—and oh it took the breath away, that print of bird! Gian felt himself in warm fellowship with his sisterly brethren, and so tolerated more foolishness than others might. Even so, one of the Most High’s attendants began to work his nerves with all the fluffing, and tweaking, and smoothing of the lay of Cianco’s mantle and regalia. It was just way too much. Gian muttered with soft vehemence: “All right, you done here”—plucking off those hands in favor of some having a right to that work, his own—“My man got him a sissy for this.” Licked wet, his thumb wiped away crystals left from sleep at the corner of Cianco’s eye.) The Most High looked from one of them, beauty and virility made flesh, to the other, some other thing, and then back at Cianco. “So this your boy, huh?” Of course she would have thought Gian born unpainted at first glance. Everyone did. Now he watched her eyes dismiss him into a familiar exile, deciding Gian’s origins must lie not off the hills of Sea-john so much as off the continent itself. His younger brother and sister never suffered such skeptical looks: they were both tall, both born tawny, and nicely browner still after a lifetime of equatorial sun. Proper hair too. “Yes,” Cianco said, and with no little peck; with tongue, at length, he proved it. “Love me some him!” “But . . . is he Johnny, though? Power comes down best for the young, los formozi, for somebody born up here in the hills, Sea-john.” “You can talk to him, Most High. He standing right here, ain’t he? And he just as beautiful and Johnny as you or me, or anybody.” Gian’s hair was tied back. With a winkling finger, the Most High loosed some strands for examination. What rufus stuff is this? Her thumb and index worried at the lock. And so lank! She, like most Johnnys, was very tall; nowadays though, with his hair grown long, the monstrous scar some arrowhead had torn across Gian’s scalp could be hidden, never seen by anyone but a lover. But the Most High mussed the monster out. Grimacing, she looked down, and demanded: “What hill? What parish?” “Born and raised up on Mevilla hill,” Gian said. “Toretta deldio”—he gave her the parish-sign—“represent!” The hills of Sea-john all spoke different dialects, every parish another accent. She frowned skeptically, but there was no arguing with the evidence of her own ears. Next she asked, “How old are you?” The wars had weathered him. So a young man came by so many scars, fine lines, and old man’s shadows in his eyes. “Twenty-three,” Gian said. Despite the truth’s implausibility, he spoke with a steady voice because of the hand stroking down his back. It cupped his ass . . . and dropped away. The Most High grunted, the skepticism given voice this time. She snapped fingers at her priestly cronies again. “Y’all bring me La Pablo in here.” They brought in a tall youth, shirt open, skin glossy as oiled obsidian; he smiled, seeing Cianco, and didn’t see Gian at all. Was this preferred boy good-looking? Halfway cute? Just all right, if you liked that sort of thing? La Pablo was gorgeous. A creepy-crawly sensation, hotness too—half a blush and half swarming ants— itched and burned Gian’s face and back, all up and down his arms. Cianco happily scooped the lovely La Pablo close to his left side and, lips upon ear, murmured to him tenderly.. Recognizing the moment long dreaded had come, and feeling a fatalist’s relief as much as dizzying humiliation, Gian eased back toward the postern door and . . . . . . was caught by Cianco’s free hand, of course: reeled in close under his right arm. “Two!” said the Summer King, grinning at His bounty. He hustled Himself and armfuls out through the door of flowers. In the high noon outside, the Summer King shouted: “Look what I got, y’all!” brandishing His right and left arms. The crowd roared approval. And well they should adore Him. The Summer King was man no longer but Someone greater. The folk clapped and stomped, hailing Him with joyful noise, the song palpable in its cadent thunder. He put forth radiance outshining the tropical sun at meridian. No one closer in the embrace of that glare, Gian squinted his eyes, a little shaken. Priestesses stood round enormous drums beating the invocation. White-clad and chanting, the congregation held all manner of flowers. Most had come with wreaths of bright wild flowers and pretty weeds. The poorest held branches broken from magnolia trees, or jacaranda. A few folk held singular blooms, a rare lily or strange orchid, for which they must have foraged the bush, or nurtured in home gardens, against this very day. All had come with their best. The stout daughters of the richest family propped up between them a huge folly of flowers, bear-shaped and sized. Father and a younger sibling lay at their feet shivering on pallets, given to drinks and brows wiped dry by two mothers. The people were crammed along the walls of the sacred compound, to clear a space before the door of flowers. In that dusty clearing awaited the throne. It was a huge stool of carven hardwood, shiny black from age and oiled care. “Atuandicy, Pablihno,” said the Summer King, when they’d reached the stool. He put the pretty boy standing at the stool’s left side. Gian moved toward the right, but oh no, he’d got it wrong again. Taking seat upon His throne, the Summer King dragged Gian down upon one thigh. Big and smaller man fit their seats just fine, one a full foot taller and half again as heavy as the other; the stool, immense. The drumbeat changed and folk quieted. “Who first?” called the Summer King. His voice, sonorous and rumbling just a moment ago, now eerily rang out as tenor, a bell tone. A girlchild, four years old, stepped into the dusty amphitheater from the encircling throngs. While approaching the throne, she cast back frightened looks to a woman, two men, and three older children who nodded, flapped their hands, and smiled encouragement of the girl’s every reluctant step forward. She was called “Patri,” for with that name the family urged her on. And they cried, “Go on, baby. Keep going.” In her hand, she bore the flowering bough of a flame-of-the-forest tree, with blossoms red as mango pits, orange as that fruit. And full of fish, the jowls of some pelican rising from a sea dive might bulge too, as immensely as did this child’s, goitered or scrofulous. “Put that there, little mama,” said the Summer King. The girl stooped to lay her flowering branch at La Pablo’s feet. “Now come here,” He said; the girl stepped just between the sprawled knees. He set a hand on her shoulder (the other palming the small of Gian’s back). To the crowd He said, “Bring down some power, y’all,” and the people began to sing; but quieted when He lifted His hand. “Oh, no, mamita. I need sure ’nough strength for this.” The Summer King shook His head sadly. “The flowers are good, but why didn’t you bring me some rum?” The child stared, mouth ajar, knowing His question was owed some answer but not knowing what. Her eyes shone, and lips trembled. From along the walls her mamas-and-papas, sisters and brother cried pardon for their family’s poverty. A cripple was leaning on his crutch at the edge of the crowd: to him, the Summer King called, “Can’t grow back that foot of yours, pa!” Calling back, “No?” the old man said, “How come? Summer King could do anything, I thought.” “Man, you been coming ever since that shark bit you. Every year the Summer King say the same damn thing: ain’t no growing back hands, feet, or nothing like that. What’s gone is gone. You been knowing it!” “Yeah, well.” The old man scratched his beard, rooting in the grizzled scruff. “Man can hope, cain’t he? But, Summer King, not nothing? Can’t maybe grow me half a foot? Then, see, I could come back next year and get—” “No,” said the Summer King. “It ain’t no half feet, either. So why don’t you just give that rum you holding to this little girl right here.” The freckled old man, redbone, whitened with rage. Selfish spleen contorted his face, but as he looked at the pickney, inflamed eggs bloating her underchin, his sneer fell away. “Yeah.” He made a sheepish face, ducking his chin. “You right, you right.” The old man held out his gourd. The child looked to the Summer King; He said, “Go ’head, little mama,” and she fetched the rum back to Him. The Summer King unstoppered and drank. His body always blazed with more than ordinary heat—such that after making love, after caresses, after the whispers, on sweltering nights Gian needed to roll to the farthest edge of the long pillow for relief and sleep. Now those inner flames surged, and the flesh where Gian sat warmed up hot; sweat beaded his brow and sluiced down his back. The Summer King tossed the emptied gourd aside, and cupped the child’s cheek in His hand. She cried out, thin and high. Her body seized and shook. The little girl crumpled into the dust when He let her go. “Patrízia,” shouted one of her papas, who ran from the crowd. The father knelt. His daughter woke and he lifted her in his arms. Laughing rapturously, he spun the child around, held aloft for the crowd to see—her chin and neck were sharply defined, the swelling gone. So they made petition, one after another, until the enthroned sat knee-deep in flowers. There came grievous wounds and mortal illnesses. A woman bared a breast purple and deeply ulcered, a man held his testicle, gigantic and misshapen, cradled heavily in both hands. Infection turned brown-skinned toes, a golden shank, one damaged cheek the dark twin of which was perfect, into smelly black and verdigris sponge, all nibbled at by gangrene. For them, no, the beating drums, the crowd raised to unison chant, the proffered flowers, and even rum for the Summer King weren’t enough. “Hold on,” the Summer King bade these petitioners: “For this, I need some love.” And Gian’s role in the proceedings came clear: he must give the Summer King his kiss. At night on the long pillow, with the shutters closed and portieres drawn, naked in the midst of love, Gian felt passion for this man so surpassing fondness or desire he’d felt before, what else but to admit he’d known nothing of love whatsoever, was learning now. And those lessons had their time and place . . . surely not here? Yet, here, the merest brush of his lips to His raised the same ecstasies in Gian as the most intimate acts, and if the sacred kiss should become wet, and the Summer King slip His tongue . . . It fell to lovely La Pablo to distract the sick and wounded. With the kindest fluency, his chatter did so whenever kisses ran long. Finally, the Summer King would free Gian to sit upright, then pass His hand over the crown of Gian’s head to draw off the blazing overspill of emotion, heady and hot and half-brokenhearted, stoked by their kisses. With the aid of “love” He could make even the worst-off well. By the dozens they were healed, only four or five turned away. To one of these the Summer King said, “No, grandfather. You belong to the Crow Sisters. I can’t give you but a little comfort. Want it?” The old man wept, and said, “Yes.” The Summer King whispered in the old man’s ear, and whatever He said smoothed a few hard lines of pain from the old man’s brow, and raised a wavering smile to his mouth. That petitioner went away content. All those others denied had had truck with witches: they’d entered into pacts from which they now sought escape. All of them made the same report, that the price of witchcraft proves too high . . . everything! Each in turn, the Summer King suffered to speak her piece, or cry his repentance, but always He shook His head at the end and said, “No.” Here was neither comfort nor aid, for man or woman who’d gone to witches. Third of those refused was a woman frail and aged, her scalp darkly gleaming beneath wisps of cotton. Oh, she moved Gian! The hunched carriage of her shoulders, her haunted eyes, the hopeless slackness of her mouth, half-open and gasping: all was reminiscent of soldiers who’d come through the hottest action alive, yet afterward could find no good in life. Haltingly, the woman gave an account of the perfidy of witches that raised the hair on Gian’s arm. To hear how they’d tricked her turned his stomach—they’d taken so much for just a little luck in finances! Sent unsuccored back to the arms of her two wives, the woman let go such rough sobs Gian couldn’t bear them. He turned, and his own eyes full, said, “Won’t you?” In the dusty courtyard were hundreds, and none missed this petition. The drums fell off, all noise from the crowd, saving the wives who wept together. In that lull, only after he’d asked, did Gian recall that every favor comes at some cost. Sweeping Gian off His knee and embracing him close, the Summer King whispered in an ear: “To help her, say yes: before midnight, you’ll tell me what happened When the River Ran Red”—Gian’s stomach clenched painfully—“and the whole truth of your service to Marshal Jaqash, peer of the Kingdom, wasn’t he, who fell in the river. Of course he did! Cruel but no coward, Milord always led the corps from the front, didn’t he, and you there right beside him. The lesser soldiery said about you corpsmen: ‘Spilling blood gets ’em drunk.’ Yeah, you few up in the van they called Blood Drunkards. Heaven has plans for you, Gianni-mi, but you’re no good to yourself or the world all walled up in secrets.” Afraid of questions—afraid of his own answers, rather—Gian never spoke about the years of his conscription. It was a horrible shock, then, hearing unuttered confidences pour from another’s mouth. Bitterly he said, “You know everything already!” “No,” whispered the Summer King. “This is your own heart talking to you—your poor lover knows nothing.” It was Gian’s pleasure to be handled and grabbed by these hands; but sometimes his body must signal the contrary, for the grip always knew when to loosen, as now. Gian stood and met the gaze of the accurst woman, needing his eyes full of the sight of her suffering, if his mouth were to say yes. She stood between wives, gripping their hands, her eyes terrible with hope. Neither wife was older than Gian, yet the toll of tribulations had croned the woman who’d gone to witches. Gian said, “All right, pop.” The Summer King beckoned the woman back. He said, “Lean close,” and the words whispered into her ear dried up every tear, and straightened her back, and her hands clenched and opened as she listened. Her countenance was no longer woebegone, but became charged with fearful awe. After the whispers, much-shaken, the woman gave the promissory nod. The Summer King accepted her flowers and drank her rum and she stepped away, that Gian could give the kiss. Tasting only of the fruit juices Johnnys mixed into rum and called Jaúndi mar libre, there was no breath of spirits in the Summer King’s mouth. Gian had been waiting for this so long. Thirteen years old, and taught marksmanship by shooting bound felons full of arrows, the boy he’d been had thought, A long time from now when I get home to Sea-john, I won’t kill again or hurt anybody. I’ll have friends. I won’t be alone. Eighteen years old, and favorite of the Marshal himself, Gian had been the corpsman most envied of the vanguard, despite the hard use everyone saw, and the harder still none did: that Gian had dreamed, This won’t be for always. I’ll go home one day, and there’ll be some Johnny man, better and kind to me . . . Later on, under hard black rain, the torrents made of iron and each drop some man’s death in the river, Gian had splashed on past the upreaching hands of drowners, the faces breaking the surface with a gasp only to go down again, and across the river on the far shore he’d caught sight of enemies who would die once he and this spear reached them—and they reached them, and they killed them, as many falling at his hand, quite possibly, as legend claimed. This is your work now, Gian had thought, strewing death about him, but only live and some day, home again, turn your hand to something better, and in Sea-john life will be good, and safe, and full of love— The kiss broke. Gian sat up dazed and the Summer King gathered up the heart’s hot surfeit in His hand. With it, he broke the witches’ curse upon the woman. Catastrophe, it’s said, can bleach a suffering head overnight. What Gian saw then was hair, sparse and white, turn instantly black and thick, blooming about the woman’s head heavy and dark as some thundercloud. Her brow smoothed, and the corners of her eyes. Her hands softened, and gaunt limbs grew plump and strong. Everyone in the temple courtyard knew the moment her baby, fallen quiet these last days, kicked with sudden life: the woman clapped both hands to her heavy belly, and joy beyond joy lit up her face. In the arms of her wives again, she cried still, but not as before. Gian wept too. Lastly there came a petitioner uncalled-for. This man smiled, wholesome of aspect, and handsome. In his hand he bore a lily rich in color as the deepest tissues of the body laid bare. When he set the flower down, its petals brushed Gian’s ankle, soft and downy, only a little cooler than living flesh. A hue and cry broke out among the congregation, for no few at the bembe knew this man. He was Sea-john’s greatest villain. How had he passed unseen in the courtyard until this moment? The drums quieted and none would sing for him. Sing? “Throw him out!” “Strike him down!” “You be careful there, Summer King. Watch him close, beware!” The fulminations of the people went on and on, until at last the Summer King said, “Be still, all you! I’ll hear him just the same as anybody.” Deep was the hush that fell then, and all hearkened to the hideous truths spoken before the throne. This man had once been the lover of a famed beauty who in the end had chosen to marry others. So the man had gone to witches for a vengeance. Before the next dark-of-the-moon, both husband and wife of his former lover had met with gruesome misadventure: the one scalded dead when a vat of boiling laundry overturned, the other caught out some night without talisman by the wild dog packs. Indeed, the famous beauty too was dead now: throttled and drowned, by this man, while bathing. Crimes enough, anyone would have thought, when the man owned up to these murders, then quieted. Yet indignant voices from the crowd picked up the tale, and called out further iniquities. The mamas-and-papas of the beauty: found mutilated and dead. An orphaned infant: snatched from aunty’s arms; dashed against a wall. And more, and worse. When the chorus had at last rendered a full accounting, the man hung his head. “Those things . . .” he said sorrowfully, “. . . happened. It’s true”; but all this evil owed to the whispering devil perched on his shoulder, the man said. The witches had put it there, and even now he felt hot breath blowing on his ear. Though no one else could glimpse it, and none but him hear, the fiend was always with him, suggesting fresh abominations. That lickle child, your knife: kill her, it might say, or, Sex that man there; choke him dead in the throes of love. Only to make amends for past evils did he now beg freedom from this demon, goading him always deeper into damnation. You were hard of heart not to suffer some doubt then, not to wonder whether this man could really author such grisly wrongs, seeing his soft brown eyes glitter so, full of tears. And yet to him, as to those others, the Summer King said, “No.” The man turned to Gian. “Ó Sãozinho, will you speak for me?” Uneasy, Gian shook his head slowly. The breathable ethers grew spiteful, pungent to the tongue and nose and eyes, as when chilies strike hot oil. La Pablo si beau screamed; for the man’s face convulsed with demoniacal rage. A hidden dagger drawn, a hand thrown back only to stab down—and the villain lunged. (Gian had in fact shifted weight from his perch already, and set his feet in readiness, watching this man hawkishly all along. Gentlier. More gently, he might have caught the murderer’s hand in its descent, crushed the fine wrist bones in his grip until the fingers sprang apart, loosing the blade, or else wrenched the man forward faster still and sent him hurtling past the throne to a stunning fall. More roughly, there were easy openings for a killing blow to the throat, or else for slitting it wide, should he swipe out the knife from his own belt. But in the event, rough or gentle wasn’t Gian’s to choose.) Some dry leaf blows into a campfire well-stoked and drawing well. What follows? That leaf catches at once, swiftly is consumed, a shadow withering briefly in the fierce light, and thereafter little remains, not cinder and ash so much as smudges of char. Thus for that man bewitched: where he’d stood, a whorl of soot came floating down, a scorched funk already dispersing from the air. The mortal whole of him had burned, unto teeth, bone, and the knife. The Summer King lowered his shining hand, and it fell dark. Become Cianco the man again, he stood up with Gian, and celebrations began. The hymns and holy drumbeats turned worldly, the dancing fast and loose. Everyone feasted. Long after dark, beloved hands plucked Gian mid-dance from amidst a sweaty grind of women, and he clung to Cianco as the dizzy world spun still, he’d drunk so much. Overhead, his lover said to the wives: “Getting late, y’all. Me and baby need to head out.” After some hugs and kisses for Gian, they left. Cianco walked with purpose while Gian straggled after, a finger hooked in his lover’s belt. They came over the hill, seaside, where breezes freshened off the waters—this wasn’t the way to Cianco’s house. Nor were they heading down to the beach to sleep, as they did every so often. “Where we going?” asked Gian. “I want you to meet somebody” was the answer. Salty air stirred and Gian stopped. He closed his eyes and stood, swaying as wind cooled the rummy sweat slicking his skin. That thunder in the distance, rolling and rolling, was only the ocean downhill: with loud-mouth Johnnys all gone to bed, the sounds of breakers hitting the beach reached up into the hills. An arm encircled him. “Come on now.” A deep voice, warmly fond. “Come on, with your drunk ass.” Basso and arm chivvied him into motion and kept him moving. “Moon’s setting,” Cianco said. “Mmm,” said Gian, keeping his eyes closed; he trusted to the arm’s guidance. Gulls cried overhead. “We’ll hear ’em ring soon—midnight bells from over in the Kingdom.” At midnight, the memory of his promise returned. Gian’s eyes sprang open. “Ready to tell me what you got to say?” Cianco said. “It’s a long walk.” Stopping sometimes for Gian to catch his breath, they walked the length of several parishes. When he’d told everything, though expecting to feel lighter and unburdened, Gian felt only tender and undone, none the better. “Sit here,” Cianco said, with hands upon Gian’s shoulders to urge him down beside some parish well. With satiric looks—inspiring shy smiles—Cianco made a parody of the nuptial rite. He drew up water and gave it to Gian to drink; kneeling, he rinsed Gian’s hands and feet. But whom did the joke mock? Hard to say, with nothing but the real thing in his care. Gian’s heart knocked painfully. He must still carry the past with him and the river might never run clear again. Love doesn’t take the burdens away, only makes them worth bearing. In a temple across the square, drums of a nighttime bembe had this whole parish bumping; and suddenly they ceased. Behind the walls, a voice spoke in the silence, pure and clear as ocean shallows, that woman’s voice—until it turned, mid-word, to smoke and gravel, the deepest bass of the most ancient grandfather. If they were only just getting to the invocation, this other congregation would be all night, Gian thought. He yawned. And it finally dawned on him to ask, “Pop, where are you taking me? And who we dropping in on, this late?” “End of the block, right there.” Cianco pointed. “And she’s a nightbird. ‘I’ll be up whenever you get here,’ she said.” He pulled Gian to his feet. “My woman I go see every day I ain’t with you.” Midnight bells rang over in the Kingdom. “About time the both of you met. It’s something all three of us together got to talk about.” “Super Bass” copyright © 2013 by Kai Ashante Wilson Art copyright © 2013 by Wesley Allsbrook 8 Comments
New Features Dashboard - Added a column for “cost to date” to project list on Dashboard home. This means that you can keep track of spending easily on any of your projects that are listed. [9212] Leads - We’ve made an adjustment to how the Lead budget value is used. Now, if you add individual budget lines via the Extra Data tab, the sum of those budget lines will override the budget value entered when initially creating the Lead. Deleting the individual budget lines will reset the value back to the original. [8302] - We now display the ‘Cause of Death’ reason in the Lead search results. [8230] - We now add an event log entry whenever a Lead changes status. This will allow 3rd party applications to retrieve lead and project data from iCFM when the lead status is changed. [8282] - We have added a new ‘Actions’ column to the lead search results. This column contains the icons to change a Leads status. We have also added a new column for Lead status. The cells in this column are shaded in a specific colour to represent the current status, New = Yellow, Active = Orange, Inactive = Red. [8292] - We have tidied up the data that is included in the event logs which are created when manipulating a Leads status, stage and adding and deleting comments. The data that is included when making these types of changes is specific to that particular event. [9402] Printing/PDF - We’ve removed some error handling related to PDF functionality as on certain Linux distributions a false error message would be displayed when there was no error occurring. [10321] Quote - Added the ability to enter a maximum discount percentage to each service in the rate card. If you exceed the maximum discount level of a service when creating a bid, the discount percentage on that detail line will be highlighted in Red, and ‘TOO HIGH!’ text will be displayed underneath the discount percentage value. If you have services which have exceeded their maximum discount percentage, then you will be unable to Confirm the Bid, (unless you have the permission to always allow discount on a Bid). Additionally, we have also made it possible to customise the colour that the text is highlighted in if the percentage is exceeded. [6782] - Fixed an issue with the priority of rates when creating a new quote. If the user chose a template which included built-in rates, those rates would take priority over any custom rates that the client and/or product had. Now the template rates are only used if there is no other custom ratecard – since the client’s rates (or product) are always more appropriate. [8223] Quote Auth - We’ve added the name of the person who authorised a Bid along with the date it was authorised to the custom quote confirmation pop-up. [7616] - If you are using the advanced quote authorisation rules, it is now possible to explain that certain rules override others, so that they do not need multiple approvals. This means that someone with a high level of access can approve rules that might require a lower level (eg). [7815] Schedule - Added a Job status indicator to the bar on the schedule. Sometimes it is possible to have a Job with the status of Pencil, yet one of the resources on the Job might be a 2nd Pencil. The bar would be displayed in Pink – but the Job is technically a Pencil. This change will display a small box in the top corner of a Job in this situation, in the colour of the Job’s status. [7748] - The Job context menu on the Schedule page now has an option to split Jobs into months. This method of splitting jobs will automatically include weekends. DMG - Adding an option from the DMG Input menu will now utilise an empty cell if one exists. [11162] - The DMG Input and Output columns can now contain unlimited text. Previously they were both restricted to 1000 characters. [8681] Purchase - We have added a new ‘Show Invoices’ button to the Purchase Order header section which will allow you to create a list of invoices that have been received for that particular PO. You can then search for those invoice numbers via the PO search page. [145] Resources - It is now possible to generate unique GUID’s from the resource information pop-up on the main Schedule page. If a GUID already exists for the selected resource, you will receive a message to confirm that you wish to overwrite. [4944] Changes Admin - It is now possible to order Project Types in the drop down for certain locations. NOTE – this is not available for all Depots. [8034] Billing - Fixed issue whereby the project ‘reconciliation’ process would not be fully successful if the reconciliation transaction includes costing line(s) not associated with a quote. [8088] DMG - Fixed an annoyance where the new DMG deadline box behaved a little differently to how it used to. We added a config setting to allow you to put this behaviour back to its “original” methods. If you are finding the new 3-date boxes annoying when booking “DMG” type work – let us know and we can discuss what this setting does. [8235] - The Attachment count display box in DMG is no longer editable. [8611] Finance - Added columns to Project > Accruals table: Amount (non-cumulative), Costs or Ratecard (depending on $USE_COST_FOR_YIELD) and Yield. In an effort to show where yield is incorrect, the table will highlight where Costs/Ratecard value is zero (yield will be incorrect in this case). Also, Yield is highlighted where it does not match the desired accrual amount for the accrual period. [9111] - Added ability to use either actual units or billable units to calculate staff costs on a Job. Some users found that the rounding was required for what was to be billed to a client, but not what you would be charged by an artist. [8150] Integration - If you want to override some of our styling, or hide controls from the software – it is now possible for us to do this on a site-by-site basis. We have set this up so that it will be possible for you to (at some point) edit this file directly – so you can change the layout yourselves using CSS. [9692] Job - Added a setting to determine whether service booked duration is calculated simply by start/end time difference or adhering to ‘fractional billing’ rules. Dependant on other system settings. Fractional billing is a method we can configure for you – which allows you to do rounding on your actuals. Eg. If an artist does 6 hours – we can round that up to a full day when it comes to charging. There are various options – please let us know if you would like to discuss. [8236] Other - Fixed a timer issue which meant the DMG control page could be initialised more than once and end up constantly refreshing, slowing the system down dramatically. [8248] Project - The total cost table now has the correct access code wrapping it. Previously used /showFinance when it should have been /displayFinance. [7879] Quote - Fixed issue whereby it was sometimes possible to edit one time DISCOUNT on a Confirmed bid. [8881] Reporting - Fixed issue where the Project Profit and Loss report would not be displayed. [10471] Bug Fixes Billing - Fixed problem that would result in incomplete ‘gekko’ data for job(s), after creating a Reversal. [8255] - Fixed issue which meant billing approvals created from Project > Summary in an alternate currency would result in the exchange rate being rounded to 2 decimal places. [9112] - Internal billing approvals are no longer included in the ‘Billing Approvals’ section on the Project summary page. [9171] DMG - Fixed the missing LOW PRIORITY colouring on the DMG control screen. [8210] - We’ve fixed a major bug which was creating multiple refresh timers on the DMG control. If you opened the DMG control and then a different page and then went back to the control, there would be 2 timers refreshing the control page. This was putting the servers under a lot of strain, and we have resolved it. [8209] - A blank input line, (with clip id), is no longer created when adding a new job DMG request. This is currently being modified so that a blank line is created automatically – but will be -reused if an option is selected using the green (+) button. [7913] - We’ve made it so that the deadline box always shows on all jobs, and if a person tries to save a DMG style job with no deadline, it copies the end date instead. A deadline is required for a new DMG request row to be added. [8167] Dashboard - Fixed issue where the project list would always show the Estimated cost rather than the bid estimates. It is possible to manually type in what you expect the costs to be, via a link at the top of the Purchase Order list on the Project summary tab. This was always being used as the estimate – when often the Bid costs would be more suitable. [10452] - The ‘Your Scheduled Jobs’ list on the Home tab of the dashboard now displays a list of services for ‘Purchase Order’ type Jobs in the Resources column. Previously nothing would be displayed in the cell for this type of Job. [8141] Finance - Fixed an issue which caused the status of costing rows to not be updated from ‘Prepared’ to ‘Exported’ when exporting financial data into Sage. [8244] Job - Added a vertical scrollbar to the new service costs table in the Job header – because if there are too many services, some of the other text fields in the header may be obscured. [8159] - Improved the gekko engine by preventing data from being queued unnecessarily. Deleting an already costed item from a Job would not clean up the Billing row’s gekko data. [7756] Library - The information in the notes and audio standard is now copied when duplicating media. [8601] Other - Added support for more time zones. [9032] - The email which is automatically sent when a Purchase Order is cancelled now uses the user ID to identify the person who authorised the order. Previously we used the initials which would cause issues if your system is set up to allow several users to have the same initials. [8241] Product - Fixed issue where the Product Brand field would not be cleared if you re-selected a Product which didn’t have a brand. [8116] Project - The Project Cross Site Report now includes Purchase Order costs. [8108] - If custom Quote Confirmation rules are in place on your system, it is now possible to have specific rules override others. This will circumvent the requirement for several people to sign off on a rule when only a single high-level authorisation will suffice. If this doesn’t make sense to you – it is probably because you are not using our custom-quote authorisation rules. You can safely ignore it – but if you want to implement a complex system of approvals before you can print out bids – please ask us about it. [6815] - If using the overtime tracking methods, there was an issue where actual hours would not be shown correctly in the Cost Tracker. This has now been fixed. [9632] - Fixed issue where billing menu was hidden behind pop up, Z order when viewing a Project. [8207] - Removed outdated ‘Gekko Created Date’ from various project tabs. [8441] Purchase - The Purchase Order section totals now come from the supplier invoice amount if the PO has been completed. [8140] - We fixed a bug which meant that “auto-completing” a PO would copy the price including VAT when it should have omitted the tax. [8277] - Fixed issue with the currency validation on the purchase orders. Now it checks to see if you are actually changing the currency before alerting that you cannot. [9591] Quote - Fixed a bug which prevented you copying and pasting a quote detail line. [8212] - Fixed bug with the quote detail Reset staff cost link which did not work when clicked. It is possible to manually enter an estimated staff cost on a row – and there was no way of switching it back to the automatically calculated value. [8117] Ratecard - Fixed problem whereby ‘Outstanding Services’ screen was not working as it should (it was actually showing ‘Actuals Collection’ screen). [8931] Resource - Fixed inability to view resource weekend (W/E) and overtime (O/T) rates (if enabled) in Resource List editor. [8361] - Fixed display issue with Overhead Code dropdown in Resource List editor. [8270] Schedule - Fixed issue with dynamic view creation on the schedule which would not always render correctly if the ‘show all jobs’ checkbox was not ticked [9161] Sundry - Fixed an issue that would allow you to attach a Job to a Sundry Cost record that did not belong to the selected Project. [8273] - We’ve fixed a bug where a sundry NOT attached to a project might sometimes get allocated to a specific project (if you have a project with the project number 0 – typically only possible if there is old imported data). [10421] Various - Fixed issue that caused the “export” buttons to be removed from some tables. [8228] Integration - We have added a requirement to append a token to some of our web-services. This now means we can publish data outside of your network to those who know your token. The most common use for this is adding a graphic to your desktop with today’s confirmed jobs – so you don’t even need to open iCFM to see today’s schedule. A tool such as GeekTool or Conky is required to achieve the desktop effect. [11411]
long do energy drinks last? The answer depends on what you’re really asking. Unopened energy drinks kept at room temperature are generally good for about 6-9 months, if that’s what you wanted to know. But if you’re asking how long the energy boost provided by a can of Red Bull or Rockstar will last, the answer is more complicated. Energy drinks contain different assortments of ingredients, so their overall effects will depend on which ones (and how many of them) you consume. We can give you a pretty good estimate, though: the effects of most energy drinks start to wear off after an hour or so. Want more specifics? Read on. Most energy drinks rely on a mix of caffeine, sugar and dietary supplements to provide a quick boost to the body’s metabolism and the brain. That general formulation has been around ever since the very first energy drink hit the market in 1949. And the energy drinks we’re all familiar with today still contain the same cornerstone ingredients. Modern energy drinks contain another ingredient the producers consider so important that it’s often front-and-center on their labels: the amino acid taurine. Most brands commonly include other natural supplements like yerba mate, ginseng, guarana, creatine, and/or ginkgo biloba. Caffeine, sugar and vitamins, of course, are all believed to temporarily boost energy. But why is all that other stuff in there? Before getting to taurine and some of the other ingredients found in most energy drinks, let’s discuss the roles that caffeine, sugar and vitamins play in providing the body with fast energy. Caffeine is the world’s most widely-consumed stimulant. It’s well known that the substance boosts the body’s metabolic rate while making its users feel more energetic and alert. But that only tells a small part of the story. There’s much more, but the point is obvious; caffeine is a potent energy booster. How much energy does it give you, and how long does it last? We’ll get to that in a bit. The story about this one isn’t quite as clear-cut. It’s long been believed that sugar provides the body with the glucose it needs for energy. However, studies have found that sugar doesn’t really provide bountiful amounts of long-term energy. Sugars like sucrose and high-fructose corn syrup prevent the long-term production of energy, and for the calories in sugar to be used for energy, the body has to deplete nutrients that have already been consumed. So what causes the 30-40 minute “sugar high” we’ve all experienced? It’s because the sweet stuff also increases serotonin and dopamine levels, elevating mood rather than boosting energy. This is another complicated story. B vitamins are commonly believed to provide energy. The body indeed needs those vitamins, but B-complex vitamins simply serve as a catalyst, used by the body to produce energy from the other foods that we eat. Vitamins aren’t the actual energy source. One other important fact: once the body has gotten all the B vitamins it needs, it stores any additional ones in muscles or passes them in urine. Here’s what that means. An energy drink loaded with B12 isn’t going to give you more energy. It only ensures that your body can produce the energy it’s supposed to. If you take a vitamin supplement daily, that issue has already been taken care of. So does the Vitamin B in energy drinks help when you want a quick pick-me-up? It might, but it probably won’t. The ingredient you often see touted as an energy drink additive is taurine. Taurine is a common amino acid that’s abundant in the body. You consume it when you eat dairy products, meat and fish, and it’s sold as a dietary supplement. Taurine is important to central nervous system function, immune system function, and metabolic function, as well as hydration and digestion. It’s an antioxidant and anti-inflammatory that helps to regulate blood pressure and improve cardiovascular health. But why is it in energy drinks? Several studies claim taurine may improve athletic performance and endurance, and that when combined with caffeine, it may boost cognitive performance. Both could be perceived as boosting energy – making taurine a potentially helpful ingredient in energy drinks. What about some of the other common additives? Most of the claimed beneficial effects of these ingredients (except for caffeine) are shaky, and there’s so little of the additives in energy drinks that they would probably have little effect. They certainly sound impressive to many consumers, though. What have we learned so far? Energy drinks are essentially a caffeine delivery device, with an “I think I have more energy” sugar chaser. So the real question we have to answer isn’t “how long do energy drinks last.” It’s “how long does caffeine last?” The reason people consume energy drinks, of course, is to get more energy. So the most important effect to discuss is how long the boost will last – and that means we have to talk about caffeine. Here’s the surprising fact. The amount of time that caffeine affects the body doesn’t depend on how much of it you consume. Its effects are relatively predictable, regardless of the amount of caffeine consumption. The mean half-life of caffeine in the blood of healthy adults is about five hours, but its elimination half-life can be anywhere between 1.5 and 9.5 hours. In simple terms, it can take nearly ten hours for some people to clear half of the caffeine they’ve consumed, but for most of them, caffeine will be effectively purged from their body about 12 hours after they’ve consumed it. The exact time frames depend on numerous factors ranging from your overall health and weight, to whether you’re taking birth control pills. However, the energy boost you experience after caffeine intake disappears much faster than the caffeine itself. You begin to feel the effects of caffeine about ten minutes after consuming it, and those effects peak within 30-60 minutes. That’s when you’ll receive “maximum benefit” from an energy drink. After that first hour, physiological factors causing the energy boost begin to ease and you feel less and less of the energy drink’s effects. Within a few hours, there won’t be enough extra caffeine in your body to provide any measurable increase in energy. So the short answer to our original question is that energy drinks last a few hours, but their most powerful effects only last an hour or two at most. There’s one more obvious question begging to be answered: why doesn’t an energy drink last longer if it contains a high amount of caffeine? Energy drinks do have high caffeine content. Eight ounces of black coffee contains about 95mg of caffeine, and 12-ounce caffeinated beverages (with carbonation) contain between 35 and 50mg. By contrast, a can of Red Bull contains about 115mg of caffeine, and Monster and Rockstar contain about 160mg. Some like Rockstar Thermo, Spike and Bang contain 300mg of caffeine or even more. But caffeine’s half-life doesn’t change. High caffeine levels in energy drinks only provide high energy levels until the effects of the caffeine start to wear off. In other words, high levels of caffeine don’t mean you’ll have more energy for a longer time. You just have more energy during caffeine’s effective time than you’d get from a cup of coffee. No matter how much of a punch an energy drink packs, it still wears off just as fast. There are two reasons why the peak effects of an energy drink only last about an hour or so. One is the drop in caffeine levels we’ve mentioned. The other is that you start to experience a sugar crash. Once you’ve had an energy drink, the body quickly produces insulin in an effort to balance the added sugar in the drink and bring blood glucose levels back to normal. The drop in blood glucose levels also causes a dramatic loss of energy, which we know as a sugar crash. That generally hits within an hour of consumption. Serotonin and dopamine levels also fall after that first hour, meaning the mood elevation you experience from the sugar disappears as well. That’s the reasoning behind newer energy drinks like Super Energy. They use stevia and monk fruit instead of sugar. No sugar intake means no sugar crash, so caffeine’s effects can last longer. Sugar-free energy drinks also eliminate some of the adverse effects that Monster or Rockstar fans may suffer. Almost any food, even the best energy drinks, can cause some side effects. Let’s start with caffeine. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommends that adults consume a maximum of 400mg of caffeine per day. Greater consumption is likely to result in jitters and insomnia at best, and high blood pressure and digestive issues for some people. And that’s not even mentioning the difficulties of caffeine addiction and withdrawal. Needless to say, a few cans of highly-caffeinated energy drinks can put you way over that 400mg limit. Just two cans of a product like Rockstar Thermo and you’re into the danger zone. Then there’s sugar. The FDA recommends that most people consume no more than 50 grams of added sugar per day. That’s not a lot by modern standards. A single energy drink contains even more sugar than soda, between 40 and 50 grams per can – meaning two Monsters or Rockstar puts you over the limit. High sugar intake can cause problems ranging from weight gain and diabetes to mood disorders and cardiovascular disease. Finally, there are all of those extra additives in energy drinks. There are unresolved health questions surrounding ingredients like taurine, ginseng, and even excessive amounts of vitamins B3 and B6. They’re not going to poison you but they may not be particularly healthy, either. Does that mean that energy drinks aren’t good for you? Of course not. What it does mean is that you should exercise caution and moderation when drinking anything. Coffee, soda and energy drinks can all provide benefits – as long as you know when to stop for the day. Published: March 28, 2022 Last Updated: August 19, 2022 8 Min read
Thanks for your interest in Custom Clickfunnels Coded! I’m currently working on a detailed video to get you the latest information on this… But in the meantime… In this day and age, the means your business operates online can make or break you. How do most businesses presently have a visibility online? Internet sites. The reality of the issue is, nevertheless, that internet sites have dramatically developed over the previous years – as well as the approaches of old are not functional for contemporary service. In the past, it would certainly be enough to have an easy internet site with a web page, solutions, prices, about us, as well as speak to pages. A possible client would go to your site, scroll around, visit the various web pages and also take in content as they please. Nevertheless, if you are an organisation spending any loan on marketing, you want to control what customers are finding out about on your website, existing offers at the right time, and also optimize the profits you make from each person. How does one achieve this? Using sales funnels. Enter ClickFunnels ClickFunnels is the simplest method to make high converting sales and advertising and marketing funnels. It is an one-of-a-kind device created specifically to transform prospective clients into buyers. It really is an all-in-one service to produce sales funnels as well as consists of landing pages, email integration, invoicing, webinars, membership websites, therefore far more. No wonder it has promptly become a favorite device for marketers. Below is my detailed ClickFunnels Testimonial, including favored features, pricing, pros/cons, and comparisons against competitors. Custom Clickfunnels Coded: But First, Just What Is a Sales Funnel? Sales funnels (likewise called advertising and marketing funnels) are multi-step campaigns that are designed to relocate prospective prospects with your sales process, as well as transform them right into purchasers. Photo a real-life funnel. At the top, you pour fluid in, which limits in the direction of one taken care of destination. In sales, a similar occasion takes place. At the top, site visitors arrive at your website, but not all that get in make it out of the other end as buyers. Many things have to happen from the moment a site visitor enters your funnel, to the time they act as well as effectively finish an acquisition. By damaging down the customer’s trip into smaller sized actions, you can be much more accurate regarding just how when you provide a deal to your audience. The thorough action in a funnel might look something similar to this: - Unqualified lead reaches landing page - Page connects the initial offer (something cost-free to collect an email). - When e-mail is gathered, primary deal is pitched. - Lead ends up being a paying client. - More e-mail interaction delivering client worth. - More partnership structure - Repeating sales. ClickFunnels likewise has a visuals that explains this in a straightforward method:. Just what is ClickFunnels? As mentioned earlier, ClickFunnels is the very best sales funnel software around today. The business makes the strong case of providing you everything you should market, sell, and also supply your items online – and also they definitely supply. A standard channel will certainly use an opt-in web page (to collect email addresses), an e-mail automobile -responder (to send out emails to your clients), plus an additional sales web page with some web content as well as an order form, potentially adhered to by extra content, a subscription website, and so on . Formerly, you would have to use various systems and also tools to complete every one of these jobs such as: - Produce a web site - Locate Hosting - Find an autoresponder solution - Find membership website software program - Discover split-testing software … and so on However ClickFunnels takes care of whatever with their platform. You not just save a lots of cash by not needing to buy various products/services, however you additionally prevent the technical mess of having to set whatever up, and also could focus on exactly what’s really important – expanding your company. ClickFunnels provides a Free 14-Day Test, so you get to discover the tool and also really see if it’s right for your business. Preferred Features * Quickly Develop Pages Utilizing Design Templates and also Elements . Before getting as well far, it is essential to recognize that a channel is a collection of web pages put together in a strategic order, with the objective of converting as lots of leads right into consumers. As well as a page is merely a collection of various components created to obtain someone to take a certain activity. ClickFunnels provides even more compared to 50 different components in order to help you develop the ideal page. The editor is extremely simple to utilize as well as all you need to do is drag and go down various aspects on to the page, as well as upgrade the message and look to fit your demands – no coding skills required! ClickFunnels likewise makes your life simpler by offering you with a lots of cost-free design templates. As a matter of fact, ClickFunnels provides over 37 types of pages for you to mix and match with. These are broken down into the adhering to 10 groups: - Presell Pages: Study Page, Short Article Web Page, Presell Web Page, Clickpop Web Page - Optin Pages: Press Web Page, Reverse Squeeze Page, Lead Magnet, Discount Coupon - Thanks Pages: Thanks Page, Deal Wall, Bridge Web Page, Share Web Page - Sales Pages: Video Sales Page, Business Letter Page, Item Introduce Page - OTO Pages: Upsell Page, Downsell Web Page - Order Forms: Two Step Order Web Page, Standard Order Web Page, Video Clip Sales Letter Order Page, Sales Letter Order Page, Product Release Order Web Page - Webinar Pages: Webinar Enrollment Web Page, Webinar Verification Web Page, Webinar Broadcast Space, Webinar Replay Space - Membership Pages: Accessibility Web page, Participant’s Location - Affiliate Pages: Gain Access To Web Page, Associate Location - Various Other Pages: Application Web Page, Ask Page, Shop Front, Web Page, Hero Page, Hangout Page, Live Trial Web Page The pre-built layouts are totally adjustable, and also are just what most individuals utilize. You are able to choose a design template, edit or replace the components with your own, as well as your new page prepares to go. You can likewise link any kind of funnel you create with your own e-mail advertising solution (if you do not make use of the one included in ClickFunnels), as well as use the ClickFunnels constructed in billing system. This is additionally a good time to discuss that ClickFunnels offers very valuable and also understandable training videos when you first sign up. I extremely advise undergoing those because they rapidly allow you to utilize the tool at its complete capability, and also you’ll have a lot more enjoyable playing around. Custom Clickfunnels Coded Develop One-Click Subscription Websites . Among the best features with ClickFunnels is the capability to quickly create subscription websites as well as provide material to your audience in one place. Your membership website will certainly come complete with enrollment pages, membership accessibility web pages, as well as content pages which you could conveniently secure or drip feed to your consumers inning accordance with purchases they made in your channel. ClickFunnels subscription sites enable you to send e-mails, conveniently manage your e-mails, as well as construct a neighborhood all while removing the stress and anxiety that’s related to other services such as Kajabi, or WordPress platforms. It’s truly convenient to not have to buy a separate software application or plugin to create membership websites. With every funnel comes email checklist provide emails just like other e-mail advertising and marketing platform, Actionetics is so much more. I love Actionetics due to the fact that it not just changes your email advertising but carrier advertising and also SMS advertising and marketing software programs also. This takes automation to an entire brand-new level as well as assists you connect the excellent message to your customers, specifically when they need it. A video summary of Actionetics will certainly be given even more listed below. Billing and also Repayment Combination *. A remarkable attribute within ClickFunnels is the capacity to accumulate all the invoicing information from your clients precisely your sales page. Offering is made so much easier when clients do not have to leave your site. ClickFunnels integrates with major settlement gateways such as PayPal, Stripe, as well as InfusionSoft, among others. ClickFunnels Prices. While you can begin with the Free 14-Day Test, there are 3 different rates options with ClickFunnels: - $ 97/month. - $ 297/month. - $ 997 bulk price cut plan (recommended). I’ll go into detail for every of these strategies below. 1. ClickFunnels Requirement Plan – $97/month. The typical plan includes all the attributes you would need within ClickFunnels, yet with limitations on the number of funnels (20) and also pages (100) you could have in your account, in addition to the amount of site visitors (20K) could see your pages per month. You likewise do not get sophisticated functionality such as ClickFunnels own e-mail advertising and marketing and also associate tracking devices. 2. ClickFunnels Etison Suite – $297/month. This strategy consists of all the bells and also whistles of the conventional strategy, without any restrictions. It likewise has 2 additional products produced by ClickFunnels called Actionetics (email marketing) and also Backpack (affiliate administration platform). In Actionetics – you could take care of all your calls that register for your listing, send out e-mail programs, as well as create a host of various other automations. Custom Clickfunnels Coded The difference in between the two plans actually is the constraints, and also Actionetics/Backpack. If you are a basic user and also don’t expect to use greater than 20 funnels in your account – the Standard Strategy must suffice. Nevertheless, if you prepare to have an associate program or intend to keep your e-mail marketing within ClickFunnels and also not use a third party software application, the Etison Collection is for you. You can constantly start on the reduced plan and also upgrade if required. 3. Funnel Hacks System – $997 For anybody that’s major Suite alone would cost you $1782. Not only are you saving $785 yet you’re obtaining a lots of trainings and also overviews of help you obtain one of the most from ClickFunnels! ClickFunnels Advantages And Disadvantages Pros: - Developing funnels is very simple, simple, and quick - All-in-one system with whatever your organisation has to win - Split testing and also conversion monitoring consisted of - Email integration with every one of the significant e-mail autoresponder systems - Settlement processing capacities within ClickFunnels - ClickFunnels is constantly adapting and also upgrading to the moments - There is constantly support readily available (whether online or otherwise). - Extremely active Facebook Team Neighborhood. - Free 14-Day Test – permits you to attempt it risk free. Cons:. - As incredible as ClickFunnels is, it certainly is not an affordable option and calls for a continuous membership to make use of - Assistance isn’t constantly the fastest and might take from 1 minute to 24 Hr depending on the problem. ClickFunnels vs. Everyone Else. Many individuals ask exactly how ClickFunnels compares with other landing web page contractors such as Leadpages, Unbounce, and Infusionsoft. Generally it’s not actually a fair contrast due to the fact that each of these tools excels is one area or the other. The graph over gives a comprehensive evaluation – but I’ll highlight several of the significant contrasts listed below. ClickFunnels vs Leadpages Before ClickFunnels, Leadpages was the huge dog. Leadpages is simply a lead capture software application – nothing even more. You can develop touchdown pages, lead boxes, accumulate leads … that’s virtually it. Furthermore, the Leadpages themes are also limited on modification. ClickFunnels is much more functional – it’s much easier to utilize and also does so a lot more than develop lead capture web pages. Basically, Leadpages is really just a touchdown page contractor, while ClickFunnels is focused around developing extremely integrated funnels. ClickFunnels vs Infusionsoft Infusionsoft is not a touchdown capability with Actionetics, but it’s not nearly as advanced as Infusionsoft. Infusionsoft is additionally extremely costly and also forces every new consumer to pay $2000 for a mandatory kickstart training package simply to learn ways to use the complex system (which is notoriously difficult to use). ClickFunnels Associate Program There are 2 primary courses people drop as ClickFunnels users. Those that choose to make use of the tool for their business – in hopes of eventually attain both Comma Club (over $1M in income). And those that are interested in earning passive income as a ClickFunnels Associate and also winning the Dream Vehicle Contest (where they pay $500/$1000 to your dream automobile if you get to 100/200 energetic month-to-month signups, respectively). With a monstrous 40% regular monthly persisting payment, ClickFunnels conveniently has one of the greatest associate programs of any kind of platform around. That’s right – you make money an ongoing 40% payment on every affiliate signup you make via the ClickFunnels Associate Program. Yet, what does that really equate to? The basic strategy is a $97/month financial investment as well as the Etison Suite strategy is a $297/month financial investment. as a result you make $38.80 per standard plan and also $118.80 per Etison Suite plan … every single month! Typically, every 100 signups will bring in $4000/month in affiliate compensations (more or less depending upon the number of Etison Strategy users remain in there). Visit this site to find out more about coming to be a ClickFunnels Associate. All-time Low Line ClickFunnels is hands down the best system if you are planning to quickly construct high converting sales funnels. Due to the fact that it was constructed from the ground up to be the best sales channel contractor, it defeats all the competitors because respect. On the surface, it might not be the least expensive product available – yet if you use it to its complete capacity, your service will become much more successful and also you will conserve cash from not needing to make use of various other devices. Custom Clickfunnels Coded If you have actually reviewed this far into my ClickFunnels Review, I advise you see on your own with a Free 14-Day Test here.
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A still image from Allison Shelley's video report on abortion in Nigeria shows a pregnant Nigeria woman leaving a clinic. Editor’s note: This story is part of "Birth Rights," a companion series to the Special Report "Laws of Men," produced by The GroundTruth Project. In this video, "Morayo” (not her real name), 21, shares the story of her unwanted pregnancy and illegal abortion. She has not told her mother. Video by Allison Shelley with support from the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting. LAGOS, Nigeria — On a Friday night in Nigeria's booming commercial capital, hip urbanites danced to auto-tuned R&B in stylish downtown bars as men crowded brothels in a Lagos neighborhood lining the railroad. In the classy suburb of Ikeja, Catholics prayed the Rosary of the Unborn and sang hymns to the heavens until dawn. Their prayer beads were made of clear plastic, with each small bead enclosing a tiny model fetus — perfect for this vigil for the reparation of souls lost to abortion. Toward the back of the pious congregation a 31-year-old woman named Mercy prayed along, fingering a traditional rosary. “Each time I hear of a prayer for the unborn, it flashes back to me: ‘Ah, you need to pray for that soul,’” she said, wide-eyed. Five years ago Mercy, a strict Catholic, got pregnant while volunteering in northern Nigeria, far away from friends and family. Alone and unsure what to do, she went to a private clinic for a secret abortion. In Nigeria, where abortion is legal only when the life of a mother is endangered, at least 760,000 procedures happen every year, according to the Guttmacher Institute. Birth control is widely stigmatized, misunderstood and inaccessible — especially for youth. Only half of young Nigerian women surveyed in a 2005 study had heard of contraception. While almost two-thirds had had sex, only 11 percent had ever used birth control — despite the fact that it is free at government health centers. As a result of these various factors, complications from unsafe, illegal abortions kill between 3,000 and 34,000 women per year, according to Guttmacher and the government. The numbers range widely because of the difficulty of tallying the surreptitious procedures, due in no small part to stigma. The abortion-related death rate in sub-Saharan Africa — where abortion is widely restricted, as in Nigeria — is 860 times that in the United States. Ninety-three percent of Nigerians self-identify as religious, according to a 2012 Gallup poll. The country is nearly evenly divided between Christians and Muslims, according to Pew Research, and over 90 percent of followers of both faiths believe abortion is wrong. Pastors and imams preach that abortion is an abomination. Religious groups lobby the government to keep legal restrictions in place, and religious ideology permeates women like Mercy’s lives, teaching them that motherhood is a central role, and that aborting a pregnancy will condemn them to hellfire. All-night vigils like the one on this night in Ikeja are a weekly occurrence in the Lagos area, and four-hour services are de rigueur on Sundays. Mega churches, gold-domed mosques and shoddy cinderblock houses of worship dot neighborhoods across the city. Early in the service, as Mercy listened, Jerry Okwuosa boomed into the microphone in front of the outdoor altar. To this septuagenarian activist, there is no excuse for abortion. “If you don’t want a pregnancy, don’t have sex,” he said. Even in extreme circumstances he sees no justification for what he considers a murderous procedure. “Because a girl is raped is not a reason for that pregnancy to be aborted,” he said. “Abortion will not un-rape her.” Okwuosa is retired from the Nigerian Tobacco Company and now fights abortion full time with an organization called the Project for Human Development. Pinned to a grey tunic hugging his broad shoulders and ample belly was a tiny silver footprint, a replica he said, of that of a ten-week-old fetus. He likened the scope of the global abortion crisis to “a jumbo jet full of babies crashing every day,” and advised congregants to boycott doctors who perform abortions. Providers have felt the squeeze of the one-to-one advocacy Okwuosa champions. One doctor who split his time between Lagos and Florida said he used to provide abortions, but he started getting calls from Christians saying, “God is not happy with you, you should stop what you are doing.” Eventually, he said, he stopped performing the procedures “because of the harassment.” “You know what Nigeria is like, we pretend to be very religious, even more religious than the people who brought religion to us,” said the doctor, who asked to remain anonymous. “We can expect to have this issue [clandestine abortion] for a very long time.” ++++ But some abortion providers have resisted the public backlash and found bridges between faith and medicine. Janet is a deacon and a midwife. She works in a pale yellow clinic in Lagos that is funded by an international women’s health organization. Her full name and the organization are withheld to protect her identity. When women come in with unwanted pregnancies she counsels them and offers a full range of options, including abortion. “It is her right,” she said simply, “am I the one to help her take care of the baby?” It is a question Mercy, from the service, asked herself as well. Upon entering the vigil, she passed a table heaped with literature including a leaflet printed with “consequences” in blood-red type that drips beneath the image of a sleeping baby. To her, the consequences of her abortion are guilt and stigma. “If you do it they look at you like, ‘Oh wow, you are the worst sinner,’” she said. Still, though she says she could not have raised the child at the time, she imagines the life he might have had. “When I see kids of that age I can think of my baby,” she said. The Catholic hierarchy sees abortion as a mortal sin and evil scourge and fights the practice from the pulpit, and in the community. The Rosary of the Unborn, subtitled “Sorrowful Mysteries,” includes a plea for God to “remove the veil of deceit Satan has placed over hearts which portrays promiscuity as a freedom, and reveal it for what it is: slavery to sin.” “We cannot destroy what we cannot create,” said Sir Frank Okafor, an administrator in the health department at the Lagos Archdiocese. He called abortion a “deliberate way of trying to destroy human life, which the church holds sacred.” Many of the leaders of both Nigeria’s Christian and Muslim faiths take a parallel stance against abortion. ++++ Across town from the Catholic vigil, on a Wednesday night in the dense Surelere neighborhood, Oustaz Sulaimon Idris set up rows of white plastic chairs in a dusty clearing by his house. The quiet streets curved past cramped cement apartment blocks, two mosques and the Quranic school where Imam Idris teaches. Flanked by two young apprentices, Idris pontificated on morality, gender roles and abortion. He told the quiet audience that on the day of judgment aborted babies will greet their parents and demand, “What is the offense I committed to have me not come to enjoy life?” Young women listening in the front row sat rigid, arms crossed. "Whoever does abortion… you kill someone and it’s a very big sin for the almighty God." Idris is a community imam, but his sermon translated the perspectives of higher-ups in Lagos’ Muslim hierarchy. At the Lagos Central Mosque, past cool-tiled hallways with soaring ceilings, in a cozy office with cushy green carpet beneath bare feet, Sheick Abdou Hafeez Abou echoed Idris. “Abortion is un-Islamic,” said the diminutive 91-year-old. His short stature, soft cheeks and watery eyes belied the reach of this spiritual leader. As the Baba Adinni, or “Father of Religion,” he is a top advisor at the mosque and a member of the fatwa council. “When you encourage abortion you encourage immorality,” he said. The high-level discourses, though, sometimes feel far removed from women’s’ lived experiences. “I wasn’t thinking about the effect, I wasn’t thinking about spirituality, I just wanted to get it off me,” Mercy said. To her, the stigma around abortion makes it much harder for women in her shoes. “I think that’s what pushes most of the young girls to do it, because the parents push you away,” she explained. “This is the time she needs her family most.” Women undergoing these clandestine procedures have to wade through the fear and shame of an unwanted pregnancy in a society where the moral standards surrounding marriage and reproduction, the law and the economy, make finding a solution difficult. Janet, who provides safe procedures in a sanitary — albeit dusty — clinic in Lagos, is one of the few providers who will perform abortions for free, if necessary. But her organization cannot advertise publicly, given the legal restrictions. The best they can do is what Janet calls “indirect outreach.” In public markets and even with the youth group at her church, without mentioning abortion, she makes sure women know where it is safe to go and learn about options. ++++ Aside from a few activist providers like Janet, the cheapest abortions are usually the most dangerous, and providers range from traditional herbalists to untrained pharmacists and even to expensive qualified doctors working on the sly. The laws, which restrict abortion, push it underground and out of reach of government regulation. And since all providers offering voluntary abortions are working underground, there is no way to certify that the doctors are qualified or the procedures safe. Professor Olasurubomi Ogedengbe, an obstetrician and gynecologist (OB/GYN) at one of Lagos’ top public hospitals explained that there are no “guidelines about who can do it, where it can be done, until what gestational age… a butcher can do an abortion and say it was to save a woman’s life.” But attempts to loosen the restrictions have been thwarted by powerful religious lobbies. In 2013 a law passed in Imo state allowing women to have an abortion in the case of rape, incest and for physical and mental health. But the Catholic Medical Practitioners Association waged a public battle against the policy, and under the weight of the pressure, the law was overturned. For Mercy, any concern with legality was dwarfed by her spiritual turmoil, which only grew after the procedure. “It took me time to come back to God and say, ‘God, I’m sorry.’” She said she is able to talk about the experience now because it is “a bygone,” buried deep beneath her devotion to her job, her healthy new relationship and hours of church choir rehearsals. To get to this point of acceptance took numerous confessions and soul searching, she said. And she still takes advantage of special prayer services around abortion when she can. But to Janet, who has worked at the clinic for 18 years, been a deacon for eight and hopes to find time to become a pastor when she retires from medicine, the divide between religion and abortion need not be so wide. “There won’t be any conflict with my religion,” she said, “It’s a personal thing between me and my God.” Allyn Gaestel and Allison Shelley reported from Nigeria with support from the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting. Additional support for this series is provided by the Henry Luce Foundation and the Ford Foundation. This story is presented by The GroundTruth Project.
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( would love to see related demographics in this poll. Zimmerman was not a watchman. He was an unqualified vigilant. With a gun. This verdict justifies his action. John ----------------– GZ cannot explain it, either. GZ cannot account for two of the four minutes that transpired between the "are you following" call and the final call with the gun shot.? And if the MSM started focusing its reporting on the FACT that Florida's (and other states') stand your ground laws are repeatedly allowing drug dealers and gang members to get away with murder, frustrated prosecution efforts of violent crimes by repeat offenders living a "lifestyle" you just know that the conservatives would consider grounds for execution without trial and that 70% of the people (at least in FL's case) who have defended with stand your ground have succeeded (and you just know who conservatives believe are the most frequent people to "need" it)...then guess what we'd be hearing about stand your ground laws from the Teatrolls. Guess. BTW, in FL, you're better off shooting black people. 73% who claimed stand your ground when shooting a black person got off scott-free...the number is only 59% if you shoot a white person. Justice is defines as "the administering of deserved punishment or reward". Justice was servered in the is trial. Treyvon had a fair trial. The jury was picked by both prosecution and defense. the state presented it's reasons why they felt Zimmerman should go to jail and did not do a good job. There were ton's of holes in the case and their best witnesses were not convincing. THe jury made a decision based on the facts and evidence presented and felt Zimmerman did not deserve punishment. Deal with it. THe protesters crying about this case are the real racists. A fair trial for Treyvon in their eyes would be an all black jury made up of Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton and other NAACP members. For these protestors to believe the judge, all 6 jury memebers, the state prosecutors and the entire police dept. is racists just shows ignorance and prejudice on their part. With that being said, the truth about some of the circumstances of this case are still up for debate, However, when one side is color blind and only wants to see what they want to see based on race, an intelligent debate cannot be had. The verdict was delivered in the context of the law of the State of Florida and it seems that public sentiment would like that law to be different, which it isn't. What is interesting about this case is how the press has cast Trayvon Martin as an innocent and has tried to cast George Zimmerman as a white racist, none of which is true. Has anyone seen a picture of Mr. Martin more recent than the eighth grade picture that was featured prominently? This has been posed by the press as an adult against a teenager, but Mr. Martin was taller and bigger than Mr. ZImmerman. Or has the press reported Mr. Martin's scrapes with the law in any detail or his other questionable behavior? While the press might argue that Mr. Martin's past behavior was irrelevant, the law does not look at the event in isolation. Those who doubt the correctness of the verdict are assuming that someone with a gun is inherently in the wrong, but the fact that one person has a concealed weapon is not going to deter an aggressor, and Mr. Martin's past behavior suggests that he just as likely could have been the aggressor. Does it justify his death? No, but it explains how a jury could find a not guilty verdict. The country is only has divided as the media wants them to be. This case had NOTHING to do with race, guns, or Stand Your Ground. This case was about a black wanna be gansta who started to beat down the wrong guy. I had a talk with my son about this case,my son is 16. I asked him if he was walking in our community {which is gated like the one in Sanford} and someone asked him the questions that Zimmerman asked Trayvon, my son would have told him he was going home and that he lived in the community and that may have been the end of it. TM had the attitude from living in a neighborhood that is full of violence, that has no respect for elders and his answers and actions caused him to die. I see many situations on the news that I say to myself if only that person had a gun they may still be alive its horrible that he died but that's what happens when you attack a man with a gun many many times the other person doesn't have a weapon and they get beat up or killed. since trayvon was a minor he probably would have gotten off for the beaten he gave Zimmerman In FL, you're better off shooting black people. 73% of the people who claim stand your ground after shooting a black person get off scott-free. If you shoot a white person, though, your chances are only 59%. any nobody care to ask why the asian and latino communities were not surveyed for their opinions? Hmm...seeing that they only make up 12% of the population...it's not just 'the blacks', as the bigots say, that disagree with the verdict... Kudos to Ms. Lauren for keeping Juror B37 from her million dollar book deal off the death of Trayvon Martin. She can now keep her ignorant racist views to herself. This is the way to get results. Hit these people in the pocket. If the people in Texas and N.C. really want to get the laws changed, they should stop protesting and start hitting the state financially by NOT SHOPPING. Sure some jobs will be lost, but not for long as these states will be FORCED to revisit the laws and change them. Real change requires real sacrifice and they must decide just how much they really want it. i watched the trial, i have examined all of the eividence photos, i examined a map of the area with the key points marked, i listened to zimmermans reenactment with the police (before he had a lawyer!). the correct verdict was rendered with out a doubt. i would strongly advise everybody to examine a map layout of the area. the distance bewteen martin's destination and the point of the assault could have been travelled in far less than 4 minutes. the path where the assault occurred lead to the back of the location where martin was staying. martin was always ahead of zimmerman and the only way he could have ended up in zimmermans face was if he made that happen by hiding and/or doubling back. martin knew he was being watched because he was on the phone with his friend. if he truly felt afraid, he would have called 911 instead of talking to his friend. or he could have easily run to his destination. an out of shape zimmerman could never have caught him. "Mr. Martin's past behavior suggests that he just as likely could have been the aggress. NONE of this would have happened if he didn't have daydreams about being Batman and minded his own god-mn business instead of accosting others on the street who were minding their own business. NONE OF IT. He started it and there's no way around that whatsoever. George Zimmerman helped get a family out of an overturned truck? Impossible!!! White-Hispanics probably overturned the truck. "TM had the attitude from living in a neighborhood that is full of violence, that has no respect for elders and his answers and actions caused him to die. " That's called profiling. Thank you for illustrating our point. Generational divide. Younger, less racist people thought Zimmerman was guilty.? "So not only did George Zimmerman tutor black youths, take a black women to the Prom, helped protect his neighborhood from potential robberies, campaigned and voted for Obama, protested a White Police lieutenant who beat a black homeless man. (He even went to black churches and handed out flyers asking the black members to come to a town hall meeting and stand beside him as he fought to get the Police Lieutenant held accountable for helping cover up the crime his son had committed.) The “Wanna-be cop” now comes out of hiding to help rescue a black family trapped in an SUV." If Zimmerman is so racist...why, then, did he take a black woman to the Prom. some things just don't add up here...who is bitter racist, but takes a black woman to the Prom. That doesn't happen that often. Zimmerman has a long history of helping the African American community. One can't help but get the feeling that CNN is distorting the Facts on this story to a Large extend. Come on, bloodshed isn't worth Ratings. It's interesting that the only story told at the trial was GZ's, yet he didn't even testify. If the defense can stand behind GZ's story, then how can it be told if he doesn't tell it himself? It's ridiculous that the killer can get away with his version, yet the dead person can't even tell his story. GZ's story shouldn't have been presented, if he couldn't tell it himself. "Treyvon had a fair trial. " Thank you for illustrating the gross misconception that most supporters of this verdict are operating under: that TM was the one on trial. Zimmerman might have started the ball rolling, but he didn't create the situation any more than if he was standing outside of his car when Trayvon walked through the neighborhood. GZ didn't stand his ground since he was being prssed into it. All of the evidence points to this. broken nose, bleeding on back of head, grass stains on back of jacket, etc. There is more proof for Trayvon's attack, then there is for Zimmerman's following. I mean if we can't believe Zimmerman's account of Trayvon's attack, then why should we believe that he followed Trayvon by his account. HE was the only witness to either accounts and had no reason to lie about either of them. This whole mob things is based on "Friday Night Lights psychosis" where the only outcome that is acceptable is that your team is not beat and the other team loses, even if that is what happens. The facts don't matter, it is about team pride. This is prevalent in South Texas football and obviously black leaders thought process. ?" Thank you for showing just how deeply racism and sexism are interconnected in the conservative mind. Something nobody has answered for me yet, exactly how many times should you have to allow someone to slam your head into the concrete before it becomes self defense? Cause Tbong coulda slammed Z's head into the concrete once then walked away good. Thug woulda got away with some street cred and Z wouldn't have been shooting. Also DEAR MORONS THERE WAS NO STAND YOUR GROUND, anybody says so is an IDIOT it was IMPOSSIBLE for him to retreat laying on his BACK. And Obama coulda been Traybong? T lgrew up with his rich white grandparents in Hawaii eh? Whatever...P.S. Long term thc causes paranoid ideation, fear of harm, and agressive acting out...tadahhhh!
The First Step towards Making a Better World We aim to “Make a better world” through the BOSAGORA platform. Towards this vision, BOSAGORA seeks to contribute in two key aspects. First, by using cryptocurrency, we want to contribute to safer and more convenient financial services. Second, we aim to contribute to Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), which are the goals of humanity set by the United Nations. In achieving this vision, we set “Transparency, Fairness, and Publicness” as our core values. BOSAGORA proposes a T-Fi financial ecosystem as the first step towards implementing and achieving this. T-Fi, short for True Finance, is a next-generation financial business model that combines blockchain with traditional economy. It is an innovative business model that combines BOA tokens with financial services such as stocks and real estate to pursue stable and high returns for everyone. Behind the Birth of T-Fi De-Fi is clearly a great example of innovation in digital finance, but it surely has its limitations. First off, De-Fi is far from universal. Even though De-Fi covers a broad range of use cases, it doesn’t cover the vast majority of the financial tools available in the world today. De-Fi in its current form exists mainly inside the Ethereum ecosystem. The current De-Fi models surround the lending of affiliated ERC-20 based tokens. Additionally, the revenue-generating mechanisms are complex and difficult to access by the public. Simply put, “It is hard to use.” Moreover, it can be abused by certain groups or individuals. As this space continues to grow, it is highly probable that a collective group of individuals could take advantage of things such as low liquidity, bugs, and other vulnerabilities that De-Fi is susceptible to. T-Fi overcomes these limitations by pursuing a broader concept with a focus on guaranteed fairness and publicness T-Fi Structure There are three ways to participate in T-Fi. First is by receiving BOA confirmation rewards through node operation. According to the White Paper, staking more than 40,000 BOAs and running nodes on BOSAGORA will result in a return that is expected to be over 37% just in the first year. Holders who have difficulty meeting the requirement of 40,000 BOAs can receive rewards through the BOA Node Operations Service provided by T-Fi Labs(LTD.) Second, you can lend BOA tokens that are frozen by staking (lending) and earn a fixed return. By raising funds as a collateral for the lended BOA, you can generate operating profits and earn interests in the form of fixed income through partners such as FMway. Third, you can participate in major STO projects from all around the world such as FMway which is in a partnership with BOSAGORA. Users can directly participate in STOs using BOA, the key currency of T-Fi and also earn profits from their investments. T-Fi Partner: FMway T-Fi is a financial model that uses BOA, bridging blockchain and traditional finance. In the near future, BOSAGORA plans to expand the T-Fi ecosystem by spotting and collaborating with excellent partners within the stock and real estate industry. Our first partner is FMway. FMway is an investment company with a big data-based stock picking algorithm that leverages all financial data from companies listed on the global stock market. FMway analyzes most up-to-date quarterly financial data for each stock market in each country to form a portfolio and hold it for three months to pursue stable and steady return. FMway’s stock-picking algorithm is applicable to all stock markets around the world, and back data testing in the past 20 years of major 12 countries has shown an average annual return of 39.7%. Homepage of FMway-> T-Fi Platform T-Fi platform is a De-Fi that operates on the blockchain of BOSAGORA. While freezing and depositing the BOAs you own to participate in T-Fi Staking and Lending, you can be assured of decentralization and completely free from the risks of centralized ownership. We plan to launch T-Fi with various functions in conjunction with BOSAGORA’s mainnet. Asset Deposit To participate in T-Fi staking and lending, BOA holders can participate with assets in My T-Fi Wallet without transferring any funds. However, since the lending is made periodically, the secret key for the lended asset is equally shared and owned by the participants and T-Fi Labs to function as an escrow. T-Fi Labs provides a secret key only for withdrawals upon the expiration date of lending. P2P Exchange for Lending Certificate Tokens If you need to cash out before the lending expiration date, you can transfer the lended tokens in our P2P exchange. The transfer of lending certificate tokens includes the transfer of the principal, fixed interest due in the future, and the right to airdrop. The Characteristics of T-Fi T-Fi is an expanded concept of De-Fi Although T-Fi is a financial ecosystem that is applied to the traditional economy, it provides a transparent and reliable environment by taking advantage of the good aspects of De-Fi, where all transactions are stored and processed within the contract. In addition to BOSAGORA’s blockchain, data from the traditional economy will be stored on-chain by integrating Chainlink, a global middleware Oracle project (). When BOSAGORA’s Trust Contract is completed by the end of this year, we will start working on the connecting of the Oracle and complete T-Fi as a perfect De-Fi within the first quarter of 2022. T-Fi is Fair and Safe By distributing earnings based on the traditional economy, fair distribution of profits is possible without risks such as rapid manipulation of interest rates that exploit low liquidity or exploitation of bugs and vulnerabilities associated with Smart Contract. Also, the T-Fi Labs lending account uses escrow function. Participants’ assets will stay in their respective wallets and can only be withdrawn with their own authentication. Without such authentication, no one can occupy, send, or move the lended asset at will. We plan to add wallet and escrow functions within this year to ensure complete safety for our assets. T-Fi is an Open Platform for Everyone While the current model for the generation of revenue using De-Fi is very complicated, T-Fi is based on the real economy and anyone can easily understand the revenue structure and participate easily. You can also invest in excellent global products without facing any restrictions and borders. Also, if there are any projects that show stability and profitability and are also verified, we can integrate them into the T-Fi ecosystem for greater investment. T-Fi is an open digital financial platform where both investors and financial services can join freely. Details for BOA Staking & Lending BOA holders can apply for Node Operation or Node Operation + Lending provided by T-Fi Labs. Participants can receive additional lending interests in addition to block creation rewards by applying for both node operation service and lending. The process of participating in lending is as follows: 1. BOA Node Operation Application (Required) 2. Apply for lending and receive Lending Certificate Tokens (FMT) 3. T-Fi Labs uses lended BOAs as a collateral and provides fiat loans (max. 70% of the collateral). 4. Operating profits are generated by fiat investments made by FMway. 5. Upon maturity, T-Fi Labs purchases BOAs with the generated revenue from exchanges and deposits BOA earnings to participants’ account for staking (Fixed interest + Airdrop) 6. Simultaneously, FMT is withdrawn and collateral is released. Processes that occur outside of BOSAGORA blockchain are on-chained through the global Oracle middleware, Chainlink. Fixed interest and airdrop paid to participants will be paid after deducting the following fees from FMway’s operating income: Specific policy on fees will be announced in a separate announcement. Fees to be Deducted – FMway Operating Fee – Fiat Loan Fee – T-Fi Labs Node Operating Fee Roadmap - February: Open 1st Round for T-Fi Lending Service with 10M BOAs as a cap - May: Open 2nd Round for T-Fi Lending Service - Development of Coinnet will be finished within the first half of 202 and the launch of official node operation service by T-Fi Labs will be opened in August. - Development of Trust Contact will be completed within this year, Chainlink Oracle will be integrated to on-chain the entire process (De-Fi) - Service Launch upon receiving SEC’s authorization at the end of 2022 (De-Fi STO) T-Fi, a financial platform that Transcends Boundaries and Evolves Infinitely Beyond the limitations of existing cryptocurrency-based financial platforms, T-Fi, which generates profits by investing in the traditional economy, boasts broad scalability that can be applied to any profitable business in the traditional economy. Also, it has no rooms for abuse and is borderless. It is also designed to increase BOA’s token value by staking and purchasing BOA in the process. Please look forward to the future of BOSAGORA through the infinitely-evolving T-Fi ecosystem. Notice: The 1st round of T-Fi Lending Service To spread the awareness of this innovative financial model, T-Fi, to the market and to proactively gauge the demand for it, we are opening the 1st round of T-Fi Lending Service. It will be opened on a first-come, first-served basis, so there is a possibility of early closing. Service Description - Name: The 1st round of T-Fi Lending Service - Investment Partner: FMway - Return on Investment: 38% annual rate of rewards before Coinnet (paid upon maturity) :Replaced with block generation rewards after Coinnet (automatically paid upon every block creation at 37.84% per year) :7% annual rate of lending interest (paid upon maturity) :+ @ airdrop (paid upon maturity based on FMway’s status) - Period: 2021.3.2–2022.3.1 (expiration date) - Name of Lending Certificate Tokens: FMT How to Apply for <The 1st Round of T-Fi Lending Service> - Application Period: February 22nd, 2021 (Mon) 12:00pm 17th Feb. in UTC to 25th (Thurs) 12:00pm 17th Feb. in UTC ONLY for 4 Days - How to Apply: Apply directly on T-Fi Labs website () - Way of selection: First-come, first-get - Total Amount Opened: First 10,000,000 BOA (+ Additional 3,000,000 BOAs for those in waiting) - BOAs Allowed for Lending: min. 40,000 to max. 1,000,000 BOAs per person 1st Deposit Period – February 25th (Thur) to 27th (Sat) ONLY for 3 Days – Next in Line: for 2 days starting from February 28 (Sun) to March 1 (Mon) * If the deposit is not made within the deposit period, or a different amount of BOAs are deposited other than the quantity inserted at the time of application, the respective application will be canceled and opportunities will be given to the following participant in waiting, and the deposited asset will be returned to the applicant after exempting transfer fee.
Sharpton: Chimp cartoon jab at Obama The New York Post today ran a cartoon, by Sean Delonas, likening the author of the stimulus bill to an out-of-its gourd chimpanzee. The caption bubble reads: “They’ll have to find someone else to write the next stimulus bill.” Is this a reference to President Obama? Does the cartoon have racial/violent overtones? Or does it, as the newspaper says, simply play off this week's rampage by a pet chimpanzee in Stamford, Conn., that left a woman severely mauled? Police wound up killing the chimp. Rev. Al Sharpton had this." The New York Post released a statement responding." Some readers will suggest that President Bush was repeatedly referred to as a chimp and Obama supporters shouldn’t be so thin-skinned. Does the historical context that Sharpton gives make a difference? Is the newspaper right in this case? What are your thoughts? Is this about race, satire or humor gone awry? Michael is gone! Why didn't he take Sharpton with him? Posted by: Austin \| June 26, 2009 at 12:05 AM I've given this some thought...and believe that it was not racist to many because it is just stupid. It's as stupid as calling Jews Hymie, or me a cracker. It's a stupid as defining people by their religion.. Posted by: merlelynn01 \| March 07, 2009 at 02:12 PM People also need to realize that racism is psychological, and when people blow things like this up, they are bringing more mental anguish to people who it hurts. The media knows this, and they like to see black people reacting and feeling bad, because it sells news. All of the folks who are always the big controversy spinners don’t realize that be they black or white, they are adding to psychological racism by making such a big publicized deal of things. When people just start to call ignorant things, like a possibly racist cartoon, as just ignorant, and take the necessary legal steps, than black people will truly be on the path to being mentally free of oppression. Unfortunately, the media would never allow this to happen because, as I said, they want to sell news. They want to show you the pain and aggravation, and they do not care if it causes more people pain and sorrow. They do not care if they are proliferating a modern form of psychological racism through victimization. Until people start to turn their backs on racists, and simply alienate them, black people will always be susceptible to manipulative psychological oppression. Sharpton and all of those folks need to pay that some mind, and work on empowerment in new generations as opposed to further victimization. And maybe, in fact, that is what they are trying to do, but when the media gets there, they want everything to be dramatic and painful, so it comes off that way. I just don’t know about that for sure. What I do know is that it isn’t making anyone feel any better. Posted by: Z \| February 23, 2009 at 12:21 PM... Posted by: R. Millhaps \| February 20, 2009 at 11:32 PM!" Posted by: Ken \| February 20, 2009 at 10:50 PM Who wrote the stimulus? Obama or his economic advisor? His economic advisor forgot to pay his income tax? Give me break! This is ridiculous! How petty we've become I have a 2 year old with more dignity and resolve than most professionals today! Posted by: PJ \| February 19, 2009 at 10:56 PM Sean did a GREAT cartoon!!! I applaud him!!! Let me point out that the REAL reason this story is all over the SECULAR LIBERAL media is that the Leftist Media & Hollywood, etc. CREATED OBAMA. He is a PRODUCT of them. They are trying to "PROTECT" Obama (the one they created) & trying to send the message that if anyone DARE voice their opposition to their "Messiah" that they will be dealt with severely by being humiliated & picketed, etc. (in order to keep their Messiah in power to do the secular media's & Hollywood's, etc.bidding). I CANNOT BELIEVE the SHEEP mentality of MOST Americans! WAKE UP!!! You have all been fed the Kool-Aid & are following BLINDLY with everyone else because you do not have the intestinal fortitude to THINK FOR YOURSELVES & STAND UP FOR WHAT IS RIGHT! Barrack Obama is NOT EVEN his REAL name! It's Barry Soetoro. And he is an INDONESIAN citizen & possibly a BRITISH citizen also (due to him being born in Kenya where at the time of his birth Kenya was under BRITISH rule). Contrary to what the liberal media would have you believe, he was NOT born in Hawaii (his "supposed" birth certificate that he posted online is BOGUS & has been proven BOGUS by forensic experts...Google it & you'll see) & is therefore NOT a Natural Born citizen & therefore is not qualified to be US President according to the US Constitution, Article 2, Section 1.Visit defendourfreedoms.us, therightsideoflife.com, americanthinker.com & worldnetdaily.com & you'll see the TRUTH of what is happening. The so-called STIMULUS package is BOGUS & won't work & has been created to force Americans into Socialism (& not Capitalism) & keep them dependent on the government so the government can rule over them. Why do you think Obama's regime is trying to NATIONALIZE the banks & the auto, healthcare, financial industries.? So they can have rule over you and your children & your grandchildren! WAKE UP PEOPLE! Keep up the great cartoons, Sean!!! Posted by: Thomas Martin \| February 19, 2009 at 07:36 PM Hypocrisy’s Grasp of Racial and Religious Divide in the USA posted by a southern belle paraplegic single mother....... When I was just a little girl, Maybe three or maybe four. With open mind and naïve ears, I knew the colors beyond my years. Red and yellow - black and white They are precious in His sight. We sang and sauntered down the aisle, To the first pew - where the elders would smile. My youthful soul believed in those words, Always knowing the truth that I heard. For under the skin - our spirits did lie, For all our sins - that cross Jesus died. Asians, Indians, Africans - all other mankind, Their skin had a darker pigment than mine. But my Preacher said God loves us the same, As did my mama, she sang and she sang. But as I grew older, I heard their jokes, Racism ran through the veins of my folks. They sadly had learned from their parents’ ways, Hatred and bigotry passed down through the days. They were better with pale skin that was white, I knew that I always should do what was right. I’d break the cycle of hypocrisy’s grasp - With children I’d bear, I’d accomplish this task. So I raised a daughter who was color-blind, She loved from her heart - all humankind. To shake the hands of all the world’s races, Sweetly putting smiles on all their faces. Peace on our planet, the end of all wars, My baby would change the minds of more, She’d be a teacher and instill the truth, That the color of a man wasn’t waterproof. So the cycle of a family’s ignorance, Could be broken with one circumstance. Prejudice and racism could be unclasped, Finally, finally - out of hypocrisy’s grasp. By Rachel Browning Posted by: Rachel Browning \| February 19, 2009 at 04:09 PM Excuse me Isaac Torres, but have you checked the stock markets today? Looks like your boy O-bomb-a isn't doing such a great job either. "Sore republicans who were so used to the failure this country was in under the direction of the republicans that they don't know how to embrace change for the better." Posted by: HE HATE ME \| February 19, 2009 at 03:10 PM i'll acknowledge that this cartoon was racist when all non-whites and the media start referring to crackers as "grain crisps" because the term cracker could be offensive to whites. also on the list of words/terms we should get rid of so you dont hurt my sensitive white feelings include: cream puff, irish whisky (what? all irish people are drunks now?), honk (too close to honkey - lets all just beep our car horns from now on). once you racist minorities and media get rid of those terms, i will stop signing "white christmas" before jesus' birth so as not to infer that a white chrismas would be any better than a black one. Posted by: teddyr \| February 19, 2009 at 02:49 PM Please let Sean Delanas know I had the distasteful pleasure of watching the Rev. Al Sharpton on the Kieth Olbermann show pontificating over the meaning of his Stimulus Bill cartoon. I truly believe that Sean should do a parody cartoon of the Rev. Al Sharpton and Kieth Olbermann in Muslim clothing discussing their outrage of his cartoon. They're acting like the nutty radical Muslims did when those cartoons appeared of Mohammed and we had to hear all that outrage over nothing. Perhaps Sean could show how the left repeatedly compared President Bush to a chimpanzee since Sharpton thinks Sean is comparing the dead chimpanzee to President Obama. Since our Rubber Stamp President Obama didn't write the Stimulus Plan Bill, and the monkeys in Congress did I think its only fair to realize that if you put enough Senators and Congressman together they'll always act like a bunch of crazed Chips. Posted by: michael foster \| February 19, 2009 at 02:34 PM I am somewhat surprised at all the racist biggits that have put their comments down. But it stands to reason their all sore republicans who were so use to the failure this country was in under the direction of the republicans that they don't know how to embrace change for the better. Well I guess we have more stupid people in this country then I thought we had. Communist sore loosers!!!! Posted by: Isaac Torres \| February 19, 2009 at 02:24 PM Personally speaking I find this a funny joke. I see not resemblance to Obama and since he didnt write the 1100 pages that became the Porkulus Bill how could it possible be him. I do now however see why he was elected to this office by the democrats he got his start giving away Annenberg Foundation money now he is doing the same thing as pResident of the USA. What I find totally amazing is who really cares if Al Sharpton is upset or not. He is just another racist who loves to start trouble. Posted by: Jerry \| February 19, 2009 at 02:11 PM Anyone who can't see that this is racist is an idiot.This is Al Sharpton's job to bring attention,and hold ignorant people accountable for their actions.White people will never know what it feels like to walk into an African American's shoe's. Posted by: Sabrina \| February 19, 2009 at 01:52 PM Some one once told me that white people resemble monkeys and chimpanzees. Also, told that blacks did, too. So, where's the rationale? All groups get picked on. But, African Americans have been picked on for no reason but their skin color, which makes one think that whites really know that blacks are superior beings! Change Posted by: change \| February 19, 2009 at 01:42 PM It is insane to even try to justify what the cartoon tried to suggest, just look at all of the comments being posted, and tell me that racism however justified is still alive and kicking, we just now want to hide it under outrage.......... Posted by: william \| February 19, 2009 at 01:41 PM This type of ignorance is almost not worth addressing! Ignorance is a choice and some people just CHOOSE to be ignorant. Why are scientist looking for intelligent life in outer space??? Perhaps if there is intelligent life in outer space they think we are too primitive to even be worth contacting for stupid acts like this! It's the 21st century people!!! Get over it!!! Posted by: Shelita \| February 19, 2009 at 01:39 PM Where was the outrage when everyone was comparing George W. Bush to a chimp? Posted by: Curious Texan \| February 19, 2009 at 01:03 PM this cartoon is stupid. i dont know if its racist or not but i do know its stupid Posted by: tarel \| February 19, 2009 at 12:55 PM RACIST? R U Joking? BUSH has been drawn as a monkey for the past 8 years. It's Obama's turn. Nothing more. As for Shapton being upset, well, he hasn't had his 15 minutes in the spotlight for a while, so he was due to object to something. Posted by: Stacey \| February 19, 2009 at 12:14 PM Its so funny when white people try to call other groups racist, its an oxymoron. Learn the definition of the word. Posted by: Jon Edwards \| February 19, 2009 at 12:12 PM I guess I need my head examined as well then. I do know that the stimulus (porkulus) bill was written by several creatures with the intellectual integrity of a chimp and seem to have done nothing other than fling their own feces around the past 2 years, but the chief executive (who coincidently resembles a monkey) turned the stimulus bill over to nancy pelosi and harry reid instead of writing the bill himself. I guess the hyper-sensitivity of the left has become the rule now, but how many pictures of Bush being depicted as a monkey were called racist? He is the same color as those who wrote the stimulus bill, isn't he? As a matter of fact the only black to buy a senate seat this term has been trying to keep a low profile during his federal investigation. Next time you see a black man crumble up crackers to put in his soup or chili, take a picture and file a lawsuit, it must have been a racist threat. Posted by: cws_bradley \| February 19, 2009 at 11:48 AM This cartoon is a perfect Rohrshak test for racism! If you think the ape is a symbol of Obama then YOU ARE A RACIST! The artist's intent is very easy to understand. The writers of the stimulus bill (Pelosi and Reid!) are no better than monkeys. The cartoonist simply combined the top two stories of the day into one political comment. Get over yourselves! PLEASE! Posted by: Been Here, Done That \| February 19, 2009 at 11:46 AM I'm not sure if it's racist, but portraying someone as an animal that's been shot is certainly in bad taste. I don't care if it's supposed to be Obama or anyone else. Some people referred to Bush as a chimp but I don't think anyone drew a cartoon with him getting shot. Posted by: eddie \| February 19, 2009 at 11:20 AM Anyone who thinks this isn't racist needs to have there head examined. What the heck does the stimulus bill have to do with a chimp mauling a woman a few days ago? Absolutely nothing. The cartoon is clear shot at Obama. Thank the the NY Post for fanning the flames of racism yet again and giving the ignorant people of America something to share with there ignorant friends. Posted by: Davey \| February 19, 2009 at 10:36 AM
The orcs stank like corpses floating in a swamp. I could smell the elf-blood on them from the battle—and the luscious marrow of the half-gnawed bone one of them had tucked into his girdle. I edged deeper in the shadows under the prow, behind the arrow-riddled body of one of the boat's former owners, and gauged the distance for a sagacious leap over the gunwale, but there was nowhere for me to go. The orcs were already clumping aboard. Served me right for having a kip in the wrong place again. One of the orcs wore a hideous crest of yellow bristles stapled to his scalp. "I say, Grubchak old sot, do you think they're following us?" I should think if one were to go so far as to make one's adornment so permanent, one should employ a more discerning fashion consultant. It was a plague upon my eye. "The village ith back around the bend, Yubthuk. It looked detherted. Perhapth we can have a bit of holiday here on the River Thumbs, relakth a while." This one wore a majestic demeanor, in spite of the—again, hideous—scars his countenance bore, not to mention his cleft tongue and scarred, tarnished plate armor. "Gentlemen, I shall not relax until we cross the border of Bloodfingershire." That one of them was female left me with a jot of surprise. Difficult to tell with orcs, especially when one does not see as well as a pup anymore, but her voice resembled more of the breathy buzzard than the confused bullock variety. The stench of battle clinging to them like poor life choices was hardly a blessing upon Ye Olde Olfactories. "These forays grow tiresome. Why must we continue to attack the elves?" Indeed. I was frightfully weary of scrounging the edges of battlefields. Made me yearn for the halcyon days of yore, when my race lived in posh plenty on the laps of our human masters. Or so the Old Ones said. The one called Yubsuk looked discomfited. "Because—! Well...because...because they're elves! Their blood is a blighted stain upon the face of Bile God's holy creation!" The female snorted out a fine mucous mist. "You sound like the Bile Priests, Yubsuk. Haven't you ever wondered why they're the only ones allowed to beat the Blood Drums?" "Of course not. Some things are not meant to be questioned. Bilod's bodikin, my stomach is such an aching cavern. In all the hubbub and hullaballoo, I missed breakfast," Yubsuk whined. While those two were speaking, the big one, Grubchak, laid a beady, bloodshot eye upon me, and loomed over me. Orcs loom exceedingly well. "What'th this?" he murmured. I edged back in the shadows and gave him my fiercest teeth-baring. But he was already too close for me to flee overboard. This was it. The End. Finis. Little ol' yours truly was up against it. Nothing for it but to go down biting. I launched myself and clamped down upon his outstretched hand as hard as I could, savaging his leathery flesh like the legendary dire wolves of antiquity. My primal savagery must surely turn his blood to icy slush. He straightened and extended his arm, with every jot of my ferocity dangling from the flesh between his thumb and forefinger. My legs flailed without purchase. He scratched his chin and regarded me as I dangled there ignominiously. "I say, Grubchak, that's a dashed tasty looking dog you've got there," Yubsuk said. "Indeed. I ekthpect he shall make a delectable hors d'oeuvre when we reach a thafe shore and make a fire." "I beg your pardon!” I said, or would have said had I possessed the necessaries and not had a mouthful of orc. "Can't we just eat it now? They're much better when they're still wriggling. Makes me all a-flutter." And wriggle I did! But his skin was as thick and tough as leathered ogre hide. Nevertheless I gave that patch of orc the roughest what for I could muster. "Eat it raw! Are you thome thort of heathen? A cave-orc throwback? I should think not! We shall thpit it and theathon it with garlic and a bit of rothemary." This did not bode well. But then the female shoved forward. "Oh, let me see! Oh, look at that face! It's too adorable to eat!" She took hold of me with surprising gentleness and lifted me toward her breast. I spat out the vile hand and continued to growl to show her I meant business. "Leave it to the female to spoil dinner. Gutwanda, of course we're going to eat the dog." "I thay, Gutwanda, do hand it over." "I'll do no such thing! Just look at that fuzzy face. Reminds me of Mummy! But without the hair, and of course Mummy's teeth were so much larger. Even missing an eye like Mummy." Lost the eye to an encounter with a young war-lepus, hadn't yet come into his tusks. Old yours truly got the superior bargain that day, I daresay. "How do you know it's a 'she'?" Yubsuk asked. I didn't fancy the way that creature looked at me. I ceased my protests and snuggled between her great, chain-mailed dugs. "Ladies can tell." Grubchak sighed and shielded his eyes, peering downriver. "The current lookth to be thpeeding up." "I say, Grubchak, is that white water ahead?" The female slung a leather satchel over her shoulder and slipped me inside it. It smelled like elven waybread and half-rancid venison. "Stiff upper lip, gentlemen. These elven boats never tip." "But we're riding a bit low in the water. We shall founder!" "Let uth throw armor and weaponth overboard." "Lay nary a finger upon my axe or armor, gentlemen. I had those from Mummy." "If we eat the dog right now, just gobble it up, the boat will weigh less!" My disdain for the one called Yubsuk multiplied with every utterance. In a flash of movement that left me dazed, slung hither and yon under her aromatic armpit, the female's massive, double-bitted axe, tufted with elf scalps and sparkly baubles, lay against Yubsuk's neck. "Touch this hound, either of you, and you shall answer to Elfsplitter!" "I say, Gutwanda, there's no call for such hostility. Only joking, only joking! Kindly lower your axe and let us behave as civilized orcs." "Very well." She lowered the axe, but kept it close. "Perhaps we should throw the elf carcasses overboard." "But what about food? It shall be days until the river carries us back to the border of Orcester, and two more until we reach Bloodfingershire." "Elf flesh maketh my tusks ache. Surely we might scrounge a tath-ty bullock or a human along the way. Throw them over, ladth! Er, lad and lady." Yubsuk sighed as if beset on all sides. "Better an empty belly than one overfull of river water, I suppose. At least we still have the dog—" "Shut up about the bloody dog!" * "Dashed cunning on the tiller, Grubchak. I thought that boulder would be the end of us," Yubsuk said. The female growled at him. "If you had paddled like I told you, Yubsuk, we hadn't have gone near the boulder." "Alas the day the Bile Priests ever allowed wo-orcs to go to war." As this sounded very much like the All Clear, I poked my head out of her satchel. Her massive hand stroked my head. Ye Gods of old, how long had it been since a kind hand—even an orc's—had stroked my fur? It awakened in me a yearning I had never experienced. Its ache dragged a whine from me. And what was this? My hindquarters started to wiggle, my tail starting to dance about like some crazed metronome. "Thilenth! There may be elvth upon the bank to hear your bickering. And elvth can thee in the dark ath well ath we can. Yubthuk, what await-th uth ahead?" Yubsuk squinted into the distance. "The river widens again. Cliff on one side, forest on the other. We should keep to the cliff-side or chance getting caught in the overhanging boughs. And there's no place to put off for a nip of sustenance, a dash of victuals for the old palate, what?" Mistress Gutwanda said, "And nothing to nip upon if we could. Unless one knows how to hunt?" "My family hasn't had to hunt since the days of Arak Bloodfinger I'll have you know!" "Yes, yes, Yubsuk, we've heard about the size of your family's human herds a hundred times. They are sentient, you know. The existence of villages proves it." "Bloody progressivist rot. What are we supposed to eat then? Next you'll be telling me we shouldn't eat anything that's sentient! Good orcs eat flesh and that's that! Isn't that right, Grubchak old sot?" "I like a good cabbage now and then." Yubsuk scoffed. "They don’t seem so ‘sentient’ when they've got their teeth in one's ankle." "Perhaps if you didn't mistreat them..." "Mistreat them! They're bloody humans. The Bile God gave us dominion over them to use as we will! And that certainly includes eating!" My old grandfather uthed to thay keeping them mute reduthes their thuffering. If they can't thpeak, if they have no language, they cannot think, therefore they cannot thuffer. Only thinking beingth can thuffer. That's why it ith tradition in my family to dock their tongueth when they're weaned." "Oh, the caterwauling must be frightful," Yubsuk said. "How cruel!" I certainly agreed with her. Even humans, for all their brutishness, didn't deserve to have their tongueth—er, tongues—docked. A barbaric practice, indeed. Yubsuk withdrew a snuff case, took a pinch, and sniffed it. "A fine upstanding family, your clan, Grubchak. Pillar of the community. Gutwanda, if you're so bloody keen on not eating flesh, I say go and live on cabbages yourself. More meat for the rest of us, what?" She stiffened against me. I ducked into the satchel. "At least my family still knows how to hunt—" Thilenth, I thay! Thomething on the bank. Downthtream, left thide." "You wouldn't have heard an elf," Mistress Gutwanda said. "Quiet, Gutwanda. Grubchak is the ranking officer here." "Do you thee anything?" "Nary a rustling twig, old sot." "Perhapth my imagination then. Perhapth... In any case, have a nap, Gutwanda. Yubthuk shall keep watch for two hourth, and I shall thteer. Then you shall relieve me." "Very well," she said and settled herself amidships. She reached into the satchel and stroked my head. I offered her my belly this time, and she stroked that, too. "Oh, yes, you just cuddle up here into Mummy's bosom, little fuzzy face. I shall protect you from these mean old orcs." With sighs of unabashed bliss, we both settled into sleep, and what I had been missing my whole life came clear. * I lay shamelessly basking in the glow of Mistress Gutwanda's affection, splayed on my back across her lap, paws in the air. Undignified, I know, but necessary for my greater purpose. "I shall name her Dennis," she said. "Dennith? What a strange name," Grubchak said, cutting a stately jib at the boat’s tiller. Dennis worked for me. "A human name. An old, old name, I'm told," said Gutwanda. "Told? By whom?" "By the elves, of course. They remember. Humans weren't always the ignorant brutes we know." "What the bloody hell were you doing talking to an elf?" "I was guarding the prisoners before they were interrogated—" "Wouldn't be much left after that, I thuppose." Yubsuk lay sound asleep and a noise like breaking rocks tumbled from his mouth. "Yes, in any case—Might we not stuff a stocking in Yubsuk's pie hole? His snores shall alert every enemy within a league." Grubchak chucked a boot at Yubsuk. It bounced off his face and tumbled into the bottom of the boat. "Mmfgh." Yubsuk half-opened one eye. "Alath, no effect." "Perhaps throw something heavier next time. In any case, the elves told me something extraordinary. They said that humans once ruled the world, with more magic and wealth than—" "Prepothterouth!" "Elves are self-righteous wankers, but they do not lie." "If that were true, why not remain at the pinnacle of dominion?" The Old Ones, the Storyspeakers, told pups that my race and humans, many ages past, had built a powerful partnership, that humans shaped us to tend herds, dig out badgers, chase varmints, guard villages, warm laps, and lick faces. We provided warning, protection, and companionship, and they supplied the victuals. The racial bonds were tight. The urge to find a master ran deeper than our bones and blood. But to our great shame and despair, the masters were all but gone, relegated to a few smelly, pestilent villages in the Middlemoors, living on the scraps of the elves' sufferance. Gutwanda drooled on me from one of her tusks, but I was too overcome by her stroking to protest. She said, "I asked the same question. Victims of their own success, the elves said. The humans' intelligence began to decline, until the ignorant brutes among their teeming hordes finally bred the cultured, intelligent few out of existence through sheer numbers. Then they used their magic to exterminate themselves, leaving only the ignorant brutes to survive." "Bah, thentient humans! A good fairy tale around the hearth, what?" Yubsuk stirred. "What the devil are you two yammering on about? I thought it was my shift for some shuteye!" "Apologieth, Yubthuk." Yubsuk noticed the boot lying near him, picked it up by a buckle. "It's bloody difficult enough to sleep when one's belly is whimpering like a starveling dog..." Mistress Gutwanda snatched me up and tucked me back in the satchel. "Shut. Up. About. The. Bloody. Dog." * Mistress Gutwanda pointed downriver. "Look ye, gentlemen! A place to put ashore. It is time for those of us with delicate sensibilities to assuage them." "What the devil are you talking about?" Yubsuk said. Tinkling, gentlemen. Moistening the grass. I've been holding it a full day and night on board our little tub here. A bit difficult for me to drape it over the gunwale, wouldn't you say? Besides, the way Yubsuk is moaning on about food, perhaps it's time to ascertain if some meat on the hoof might be procured." "Agreed. You make thmashing good thenthe." Yubsuk cast frightened glances from riverside bush to bush. "But mightn't there be—" "I'm full aware there might be enemy on the shore, but there might be food as well. I've a handful of good arrows left. If I do not return by mid-day, you must go on without me. Come along, brave Dennis." She gave Yubsuk a glare of diminishing sufferance. Anything to get us away from Yubsuk's jealous eye and belly-churning stench. "Woof!" * Mistress Gutwanda and I spent the morning frolicking in the gray forests of the Middlemoors, the borderlands of Faerie. I leaped and gamboled and was in general my happiest, most ingratiating self. My tail was a relentless engine of delight. That is, until Mistress Gutwanda had succeeded in her hunt and we were returning to the boat. I had run out ahead of her, excited to deliver the news of her success, so drenched in instinctual glee that I forgot briefly that they saw me as a snack. I nosed through the bushes, distracted for a moment by the scent of hare, until I heard Yubsuk's voice. "Do you think she's coming back?" "I hope tho. She'th quite fetching." "Fetching? Brooding with her would be no end of trouble. I say, Grubchak old thing, when our presence once again graces the caves of Bloodfingershire, I propose a right-on epic binge in each other's society. A barrel of black mead each should do the old spot, wouldn't you say?" "That would be motht agreeable. Do you think she fanthies me?" "Well, she certainly doesn't give a dashed spit for me. But what the devil should we do about her ideas? We can't very well allow them to spread. Our entire way of life will be threatened! 'Sentient' humans! What bosh!" "It ith indeed—Shh! Thomething in the treeth." "I see...Oh, it's Gutwanda! What's that she's carrying?" "A freshly killed thtag if my eyeth don't deceive me. Halloo hallay, Gutwanda!" I bounded onto the gunwale, breast out-thrust, tail held high. Gentlemen, I present you with brunch. I slurped up fresh slaver at the thought of fresh venison. Mistress Gutwanda said, "I believe I have employed a smashing good hunting dog. Dennis flushed the stag straight toward me." Indeed I had. My breast swelled deeper. Grubchak said, "You are a Queen of the Underworld." His gaze glowed with admiration. "I intend to be..." "What's that?" "Oh, nothing. Let's build a fire and feast. This land is empty." "Woof!" Let us feast indeed. * "I say, Gutwanda, I must hand it to you, you whip up a dashed spectacular roast stag. The smell is tantalizing." Yubsuk circled the fire, over which the spitted stag sizzled, like a vulture over a carcass three days dead. His eyes gleamed with barely bridled ravenousness. Mistress' voice dripped with disdain. "My delight at your approval knows no boundaries. It will be ready soon. Grubchak, how far do you estimate we've come from the Land of Faerie?" I myself tucked in to some tasty, pungent offal and organs. The stag's liver should only have been made better by a jot of nice red Elven wine. No need to waste time cooking. My repast was as the sweetest ambrosia handed down from the Masters' table, hot and full of juices. It was a meal devoutly to be envied. "Thikthty leagueth I should thay." "Sixty! This elven tub does make splendid way, what? At this rate, the border of Orcester shall be within a stone's throw in two days' time." So mesmerized was I in the heady delectation of my only meal in four days, my nose immersed in its luscious bouquet, that I almost failed to notice that something was dreadfully amiss. Before I could raise my nose into the breeze, a growl sprang forth like a bit of gas. "What is it, Dennis?" Mistress Gutwanda said. "What is that mongrel—uhk!" An arrow zipped from one of the nearby trees and buried its head in Yubsuk's shoulder. Grubchak snatched up his axe and thrust his horned helm upon his head. "An elf arrow! We are found!" Another arrow clanged against his thick breastplate and fell to the earth. "Yubthuk are you—?" Meanwhile, Yubsuk had thrown himself behind a fallen log. "'Tis but a... a scratch. You two, sally forth and give them the old what for!" "Can we reach the boat?" Mistress Gutwanda said. "Gutwanda, I thought you said this land was empty!" Yubsuk cried. He grasped the arrow shaft, tried to pull it free, then relented. "Owwee." Gutwanda hefted her axe and squared herself to face the unseen enemy. "We must reach the boat. Now, run! Dennis and I shall cover you." I snarled in defiance with my new mistress at my side. The scent of Elven cologne, Spicy Hawthorne perhaps, and the smell of fresh waybread from someone's pouch, wafted from the treeline. "Retreat? And leave a wo-orc to guard our tails? Never! Oww." "Perhaps you should keep hiding in that thicket until they surround us," Gutwanda twirled her axe and gnashed her tusks. A melodious voice trilled from the bushes. "[Thou art already surrounded, vile brutes. Dost thou yield?]" Fortunately I can understand Elvish, among many other desirable talents. But I have softened the translation for the reader's tender sensibilities. The vileness of Elvish threats can cause nausea in the faint-hearted. However, I lacked the vocal capacity to convey this to my mistress. "Never!" Apparently Mistress understood Elvish as well. "Tathte the edge of my akth, Faerie thcum!" "For the Bile God!" cried Yubsuk from his supine location behind the log, ensconced within the bush. "Dennis! Kill!" At my mistress' command, I bristled, mustered all the wolfish savagery of my ancestors, bared my remaining fang, and charged. * "A dashed smart blow of the axe, I daresay, old sot!" Yubsuk raised a triumphant fist from his hiding place, but his voice trembled. "A lucky blow." My mistress's eyes gleamed with surprise and appreciation. "No need for modesty, Grubchak. Even Dennis stood amazed." Indeed, Grubchak had felled two rather startled-looking elves with a single blow, which put the rest of them to rout. As I trotted back to Yubsuk's hiding place with my tail perked at a jaunty angle, I could not help but think that if not for me, the Elven ambush would have bought all three orcs the farm. "Indeed, broke their spirit in one fell swipe. Scarpered off like coneys!" Mistress Gutwanda said, rich green color flooding her cheeks. "They'll be back like a bad cathe of nether boilth." "Ugh, males. So indelicate." "I darethay my indelicate blow hath put a dainty flush of chartreuse in your cheek." "Keep your codpiece to yourself. We're still far from home." "You two cease your canoodling and pay attention to me," Yubsuk grunted, gingerly fingering the arrow shaft sticking out of his shoulder. "I may be in a bad way. I can’t seem to pull the arrow out..." "Can you walk?” Grubchak touched the arrow shaft with a testing finger. Yubsuk howled. When he regained control of his voice, he said, "I can bloody well fly if need be. Those elves no doubt have allies." "Then let uth thkedaddle." * I stood upon the prow, its elegant curves slicing through the river water, dutifully watching for danger ahead, the epitome of gallant loyalty I should say, and tried to ignore the incessant whining coming from behind me. Grubchak stood at the tiller. "A ruddy blighted shame, leaving the stag there on the spit," Yubsuk said. "My belly won't stomach two more days on the river." "Your belly won't what?" Gutwanda said. "Sorry, hunger is...affecting my thoughts." She lowered her voice ominously. "Must we lay you out like a senseless log before we have quiet?" "You're not the wounded one, female." She sighed and stepped toward him. "Take off your breastplate. Let me see it." She helped him unbuckle his pauldrons and breastplate, peeling them away. The arrow had slipped into a chink between one pauldron and the breastplate. "Oh," Mistress Gutwanda breathed. "Is it bad?" "Why did you break off the shaft?" "Heat of battle and all that. The rage was thick upon me." A look of trepidation and worry crossed her face. She grasped the splintered stump of arrow shaft and pulled. "Argh! Desist! You'll pull out my shoulder by the sinews! Bilod's bodikin, wo-orc, have you no mercy?" "You whine like a human whelp." "No need for insult—argggh! Desist!" She relented and drew back. "I feared this. Elven arrowheads are magical. The barb will have grown and taken root in the flesh." "It mutht come out or you will die as surely as if the arrow pierthed your heart." "You must save me, old pal!" "Perhapth the Bile God can heal him." Mistress Gutwanda turned on Grubchak. "You don't believe that rubbish! Have you ever witnessed one of their Healing Ceremonies? 'Stand up and be healed in the Lord Our Bile God.' All that arm-waving and nonsense? Charlatans!" Grubchak rubbed his blockish chin. "We could take the arm at the shoulder..." "And do what with it?" Yubchak cried. "I mean, amputate. If the barbth take root in the bone..." Yubsuk gibbered nervously. "I say, old thing, that's a dashed unpleasant thought. You shouldn't jest about such things." Grubchak did not appear to be rollicking the jokes. Yubsuk's eyes bulged. "I fear old Yubsuk is all for the mustard this time. The final march! The last dirge to the Bile God! My—I say, Gutwanda, what do you intend to do with that axe?" Gutwanda tested the edge of her axe with her thumb. "I intend to amputate your arm at the shoulder if Captain Grubchak gives the word." "With an axe?" "I shave with this axe." "Shave what?" Yubsuk said, then held up his palm. "No, don't answer that. Grubchak, old pal, old stiff-arm, old pustule, don't let her hack into me with that thing! I beg you!" "Your orcish conthtitution will pull you through, do not fear. My old grandfather lotht both legth and both armth to a rabid war leputh, and he thurvived well into his thirtieth." Yubsuk edged away from Mistress Gutwanda, his gaze flicking back and forth between them. "A rabid war-lepus? Where the bloody—" "Is that the grandfather who turned himself into a chariot?" Mistress Gutwanda said. "Had a warthog pull him around? Reins in his teeth?" "The same. Alath, my old friend, there'th no help for it. The arm mutht go or you'll be dead of fever within a fortnight, unleth the barb reacheth your heart firtht." "Please, no, don't! Don't let her—" * "It'th not like you to mith, my dear," Grubchak said. "The boat rocked, my steaming hot dumpling. Threw off my aim." I crept nearer Yubsuk. The twitching was subsiding. I sniffed gingerly. His remaining eye stared emptily, and I'll never admit it but my mistress' eye gleamed in wicked satisfaction for an instant. And just like that, I was safe. I spun and gave my new mistress my most charming grin. "Yes, Dennis. You are no longer on anyone's menu. Oharen'tyoujustsoadorable!" She rubbed my ears, and my hindquarters thrashed a lunatic rumba, until a new scent skittered into Ye Olde Olfactories. I swiveled my nose to follow it. Meanwhile, I sniffed my way into the bushes. The orcs carried on their conversation. "What shall we do with Yubsuk?" Gutwanda said. "Bear hith body home for the Theremony of Renewal. He'll be delivered into the Thpawning Pool for the thuthtenance of the younglingth." The scent strengthened as I approached a hollow log across the clearing from where Yubsuk had embraced his Bile God. "I say, who’s there?” I meant to call out, but of course it came out as a bark. Something shifted inside the log. A bit of meat appeared at the orifice, poked out from within. A sniff told me it had been in someone’s pocket a day or two, but let yours truly never be called finicky. "Mightn't we spare a bit for Dennis? She's positively famished." "I don't thee why not." I just had a snoot full of dripping venison liver, and it should be some time before stooping to soil my palate with orc flesh, but this bit of delectation was another thing entirely. A jolly bit of pork, it seemed. The thought of pork set my tongue dripping. Then a five-fingered hand lashed out like a whip and snatched me by the muzzle, dragging me into darkness. A most ignominious affair as I was thrust into a smelly armpit like the goat’s head in a match of orcish blood ball. The hand around my muzzle squeezed my mouth shut tight. Were I a hero of the grand old epics, I should tell the tale of how I savaged my assailant with a good what-for, went for the throat and all that. But alas, I only emitted a feeble squeak through my nostrils. My eyes poured fountains with the pain of the grip. But then my heart swelled with joy as the log split wide open and Gutwanda loomed over us with Elfsplitter in hand. "Why look at that!” Grubchak said. "A human!” Gutwanda’s eyes narrowed. "And he’s got Dennis.” She slapped Elfsplitter’s haft into her scabrous palm. The human gave a high-pitched laugh, baring blood-red gums and jagged black teeth. "I dint mean nuvvin by it, miluds. A man’s gotta eat, ain’t he, miluds?” "That’s my dog you’ve got there human,” Gutwanda growled. The human cast me away from him as if I’d grown spikes, while he tittered like a squirrel. I spun on him and bared my teeth with a snarl at this contumelious treatment. "And observe, noble Grubchak, humans can speak.” "Indeed, but what shall we do with it?” He edged around her, pulled thick dagger. "Let uth put thome victuals on the th-tump, shall we?” The human yelped and tried to scramble away, but Grubchak was too quick. He snatched the human by the hair and lifted him into the air until his toes barely brushed the ground. Gutwanda put a hand on his arm. "We don’t eat sentient creatures, my gallant bullock, no matter how foul-smelling.” Grubchak’s eye twitched and his tusks gnashed a bit. "Well, shall I dock his tongue then? Save him a bit of suffering?” Gutwanda stepped close to the human and peered into his eyes. "What are you doing here? Working for the elves?” "Noy, milud! Them elves is bloomin’ toffs, they is! I sees them elves but I ain’t tellin’!” She stared into his face for a long time, her tusks a mere whisker from his nose. He could not withstand her steely, blood-shot gaze for more than a moment at a stretch. "Please, miluds! I got young’ns! Hungry young’ns!” For my own part, I could hardly imagine such a heinously ugly creature successfully mating. At length, she said, "Let him down. He’s telling the truth.” "Gutwanda—!" "My craw is full of killing.” With a sigh, Grubchak complied. "Run, human," Gutwanda said. "If we see you again, my friend here will eat your whole brood.” The human twirled as if confused about the most direct route, but managed to gather himself and send his legs flying in all directions. As I watched him go, I felt none of that instinctive pull the Old Ones described, except to heave closer to my mistress’ ankle. Grubchak said, "I wish you’d let me dock his tongue.” "Enough of that!” She seized Grubchak’s shoulders and leaned close. "My sweet, what do you say we devote the rest of our journey to a leisurely river cruise?" "That thounds thmashing.” "Then let us away, my steaming pillar of throbbing orc-flesh. "Indeed, your tuth-k-th drive me wild." While her back was turned, his great callused paw reached for me, but I dodged nimbly. "Woof! Rrrrrrrrgh!" "Touch Dennis and it shall be your arm in the river, my flexing coil of turgid muscle." "I wath only going to pet him." I condescended to sniff once, marked his boot, and then leaped to the prow of the boat, thrusting out my chest in pride that I, Dennis, had for the first time obtained a mistress.
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Things That Were… From the retrospective view, I think 8th will be fantastic from a casual gamer perspective. First, though, I should qualify what my assumptions are going off of: namely, that WH40K 8e will be akin to Age of Sigmar in terms of a very, very small primary ruleset, distinct unit datasheets with all special rules and such self-contained there, the rules and datasheets being free and comprehensive, and that per their FAQ comments, the game will release with point-balanced setup options in addition to freeform and “historical recreation” rules. The biggest thing this calls me back to is the WH40K 3rd Edition, aka “The One with the Big, Self-Contained Rulebook.” I have a used, well-worn and well-loved copy of the 3e rulebook, and it is my gold standard for how to lay out a game rulebook both in terms of content (complete army lists for every army barring some Space Marine subfactions iirc, complete rules including scenarios and a surprisingly decent long-term campaign outline), as well as general layout (fantastic ratio of fluff and images to rules, knowing when to use art, model images, or just quote snippets). 8e sounds like it will harken back to the most important parts of the 3e rulebook, namely the complete unit listings as well as the full rules. Better still, going off the AoS template means we can expect to see similarly-streamlined primary rules, and keeping the bulk of complexity and interactions to a unit datasheet rather than a bunch of special rules with limited application or occurrence. Overall the biggest aspect that will be missing will be the fluff and art, but I feel it’s a very fair tradeoff to put that into a General’s Handbook equivalent in exchange for having the free rules be complete and readily available. That said, moving on to comparisons to Age of Sigmar! Things That Are… So, there are two avenues to approach the current Age of Sigmar versus the upcoming 40K 8e: rules and fluff. I wanted to tackle them separately, as I think they have a much different success rate. The Rules: So rule-wise, I think AoS came out of the gate incredibly strong in all but three areas, areas I mentioned in my previous comments on playing AoS. The first is the lack of points when released: from what I have heard, the General’s Handbook solves these problems, but I have not had a chance yet to get a copy, and it is vexing that this isn’t available online (again, devoid of fluff/art would be completely fair) as that is probably my largest lasting criticism of the system. It sounds like 8e will be releasing with the points values immediately available, so hopefully this problem shouldn’t recur for 40K. The second is that AoS did away with ranks of units. Now, this is a big issue for Fantasy as the game’s roots hail from historical wargames, of which ranked warfare was a big part. In later editions of the game flanking had less and less of an effect (coming to an abrupt head with the Steadfast rule and resulting immunity of huge hordes to being flanked), so I think the impact it had on that aspect of the game was significantly reduced before AoS did away with it entirely, but I feel it’s still important to mention. Lastly, and this feeds back into the second point, was the argument that most battles tended to devolve into a scrimmage near the center of the map, or around whatever primary objective was on the table. I did notice this when I played, albeit in a small game, but I think this issue will be more pronounced to players familiar with Warhammer Fantasy rather than 40K; in my 40K experiences, central tussles like that are commonplace, and often lack the clean lines of demarcation that ranked warfare would display. While I think this complaint is valid in that it changes an underlying aspect of the “feel” of fantasy Warhammer, for 40K I think it will be completely on-par with how the game has operated for decades, if not its entire lifespan. It’s technically called a “Sigmarite Shield,” but let’s all be real here: They’re Space Marines, and that is 100% a Storm Shield. Probably a Power Axe too. As an afterthought too, moving from AP back to saving throw reduction is a spiffy idea imo, and will really help units like Tau Crisis Suits who currently suffer from being multiwound, but having a Toughness and Save that means they get automatically instagibbed by a Krak missile. The Fluff: Whoo boy, this is a big area where I think the New Games Workshop™ have recognized the wisdom in not throwing the baby out with the bathwater. Age of Sigmar completely nuked multiple factions and absolutely gutted most of the lore, basically starting from scratch in multiple ways. While some decry them, I do really like the look and lore and winkwinknudgenudge aspect of the totally-not-Space-Marine Stormcast Eternals; however, they’re the only notable new faction lore-wise. The new look for Chaos, Elves Sylvaneth and Orcs (Orrucs?) are nice, and the new Dwarves Kharadon Overlords look amazing and could give Mantic Forgefathers a run for their money (more on that in a bit), but so far the lore just hasn’t been engaging in the same way as the old Warhammer lore had been. That is one big downside of basically shitcanning three decades of worldbuilding and starting from scratch, and while I have every confidence it will eventually become awesome again lore-wise, these things take time. Meanwhile, for 8e it looks like they learned from the disastrous End Times series and descent into mashing the big reboot button. Instead, the Gathering Storm series for 40K has helped make some big fluff adjustments without completely decimating everything. The destruction of Cadia helps advance the plot (as well as theoretically force them to retool a new Imperial Guard unit set, for once…), and the awakening of Roboute Guilleman… Holy crap. This is big. So, I was actually only mildly surprised that they woke him up. The series of 30K/Horus Heresy Primarchs they’ve been churning out of Forgeworld means it only makes sense that the desire to see Primarchs walk the stars again would spill over into 40K. However, I was completely caught off-guard (in a good way, mind you) by Roboute’s reaction to seeing the Imperium ten millennia after he took his near-eternal powernap: This is amazing. Like, beyond the slight possibility he has started an Ultramarines Tumblr account now, this sets up dozens and dozens of splinter lines for an author or GW as a whole to split the Imperium apart into smaller subfactions. We now have a very real possibility of a second civil war in the Imperium, between those loyal to the original vision of the Emperor (a secular, logical, empire) and those loyal to what it has become (rule by fear, idolatry, exploitation of people to achieve any and all goals). The other Gathering Storm stuff I believe has also indicated a condensation of all of the Eldar under a single banner, which would mirror the occurences of the same for the various Elf factions in Warhammer Fantasy. These are all nifty, but again I think they pale in comparison to GW not only waking up a Primarch, but then using said #woke (literally and figuratively) Primarch to explicitly lay the motivation and groundwork for a second Imperial Civil War. Things That Have Not Yet Come To Pass So, with all that said, where is 8e going, and where could it stumble? Overall, I think 8e is going to explode in popularity. The revamp will simplify the rules, as well as make them freely available; both of these are currently huge impediments to someone looking to play without downloading rulebook scans, and the changes will allow anyone with even cardboard counters to start trying out new units and even armies without having to shell out for a $30 rulebook. Rules-wise, the Age of Sigmar template for rules will meld perfectly to 40K. There’s no loss of regiments to worry about, and apart from vehicles and fliers, the rules are likely to be no more complex than they currently are for AoS; on that note, they could even work to fixing fliers so they feel more like fliers rather than big, slow gliders filled with missiles and bullets. Currently, the biggest drawback for Age of Emperor and Games Workshop as a whole is their prices. There’s been some really promising pushback on the pricetags, especially with the Build+Paint series they’re releasing, but the prices need to drop a bit more on more items to really start drawing people in; imo, a Space Marine squad at a $20 impulse-buy pricepoint would be perfect, and could really help them make a killing once the popularity of the game starts to expand. Also, I need to quickly go on a brief tangent about the Build and Paint series. See this? So this has a Dreadnought, 5 Terminators, and some terrain, in addition to paint and decals. Pricetag? $40 on Amazon. On GW’s webstore, the Terminators would be $50 and the Dreadnought would be $46; that’s a huge price savings, and while it’s likely due to stiffer poses and less bitz as the models are from previous starter sets and just being repackaged, the push for cheaper entry-level items is a brilliant masterstroke imo. One huge example for this is the Battle for Vedros starter set, which comes out to $50, a very-easily-in-impulse-buy-range $25 per player if you split the cost with a buddy. It looks like it’s a reboxing of the Assault On Black Reach, with around half of the non-singular models or so per side, but that pricepoint is imo exactly where they want to be to draw in interested players. On another note, they also are selling Gretchin for a box set that comes out to ~$1.50 each, which is tempting me to buy a box or two In the Other Corner Of The Ring So, as you may have known if you’ve visited my blog before, I’m kind of very interested in Mantic Games and their line of products, and so it is worth discussing how I think their large-scale sci-fi wargame offering will fare against 8e. In a word? Poorly. For three different reasons: The Rules: Right now, Warpath is imo not a strong enough contender to recapture the folks lost from the transition to WH40K 8e, and the number of folks lost I think will be exponentially smaller than those lost going from Warhammer Fantasy to Age of Sigmar. The Fantasy to AoS transition melded well with the just-in-time update of Kings of War to its Second Edition, and that game system is rock solid. The players looking to find the regimental wargame they’d lost were satisfied, and all was right in the world. Age of Sigmar is booming in popularity thanks to the General’s Handbook and a series of good marketing and game design decisions in general, but that lost segment of players who wanted square-based regimental battles is probably lost forever, split between Mantic and 9th Age (the latter of which enjoyed a burst of popularity, but seems to have quieted down since). However, I do not believe the loss of players from Warhammer 40K will be anywhere near as large. It will be nonzero, to be sure, but the rule change will be exponentially less jarring. In addition, Warpath simply isn’t ready yet: the game still suffers from workable-but-unintuitive Nerve/Resilience rules, tacked-on and imbalanced Commands, and utterly useless and randumb Secondary Objectives. It works for casual play, but is in complete shambles when it comes to tournament readiness; if you recall from the criticism of Age of Sigmar, this was one huge strike against it as the lack of point values meant tournament play and balance was near impossible. Overall, while Warpath has oodles of potential, I think the advantages it once enjoyed by being a possible alternative to 40K that had free rules and faster gameplay are about to evaporate. That means it will have to stand on its own merits, and while I believe it has many, they will likely be insufficient to create a stream of disgruntled 40K players migrating to their system. The Cost: Right now, Warpath stuff is relying heavily off of their Kickstarter, which heavily focused on plastic kits versus resin/PVC sets. I think this was a really good idea, as right now it means their units are about half the cost of similar Games Workshop models. However, historically their non-plastic prices have been significantly higher, roughly the same cost as Games Workshop sets, and their quality is generally below that of a GW sculpt. These factors combine to mean that unless they continue to offer significant price savings, their models may well not be the first choice for someone looking to purchase new models. I think they can maintain these low prices if they stick to plastic kits, but the higher tooling cost will mean a slower model release schedule and/or more reliance on Kickstarter to fund plastic sprues. In addition, the new not-Dwarves for Age of Sigmar look fantastic, and imo can really give Mantic’s Forgefather s a run for their money. It will be interesting to see if we start to see any crossover between the ranges as players kitbash the two flavors of Space Dwarves. The Fluff: Mantic has a problem with providing stories to fit their universes, and have a notable tendency to leave gaping holes in their backstory rather than just dive in and fill the gaps. On the one hand, I understand wanting to avoid painting yourself into a corner by removing the ability to narratively do a thing you wanted to do, or promising a unit that never ends up getting made, but honestly? Just go for it. Right now, in preserving the Warhammer 40K lore, GW has maintained one of the most well-developed sci-fi settings out there, and possibly one of the best-fleshed-out fictional settings overall alongside titans like Star Wars and Star Trek. They have dozens and dozens of books, thousands of pages of art and models, and a strong tendency to never use a paragraph of lore when a page of lore could be crammed in to fit. At this point, Mantic’s lack of fluff and vocalized reluctance to develop said fluff has driven away interest and created a cornerstone of support for Ironwatch Magazine as a story source for fluff-hungry fans. While I like tooting my own horn as much as the next person, I’d much, much prefer to be filling in the blanks of Mantic’s stories rather than having to craft them from whole cloth. I feel that while filling that fluff deficit won’t help boost popularity enough to draw away any more converts from 40K than Mantic was already going to get, it certainly won’t hurt, and would be to their long-term benefit to develop those stories now, so that they can be fleshed out and expanded over time. Closing Thoughts Overall, I am very, very excited for Warhammer 40K, 8th Edition. I suspect their popularity and especially that of 40K will go from “strong” to “outstanding,” if the reception to Age of Sigmar releases versus those of Warhammer Fantasy is anything to go by. I’ll be very interested to see what kind of prodding and changes it will elicit in competitors like Mantic, and whether that helps encourage them to pursue practices I’m hoping for (like continuing to release plastic-only kits and kicking their storywriting into high gear). So what are your thoughts on the upcoming release of 8th Edition? Let me know in the comments and reblogs below. Cheers!
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Whilst we can't give away the proprietary algorithm best forex trading system in the world designed privately and exclusively, we can inform you that we've combined a number of classical techniques plus our own unique twists and insights that make an excellent combination. Some others softwares will actually display arrows 20 or 30 bars after the signal was meant to be entered, which defeats the purpose of trading that currency pair for which it was given. You can be assured that ours has none of these problems or issues. As the name suggests it is an online activity. How much commission do you pay to trade forex? 19, best Forex, training and, trading However, the accuracy has been consistent, and thus, if, after forward testing for at least six months (whether on demo or on live you believe it doesn't match these claims across the 28 specified currency pairs, please provide. High Risk Warning: Please note that foreign exchange and other leveraged trading involves significant risk of loss. Our stringent algorithm means we've sacrificed the number of alerts, for the sake of accuracy. Forex or currency trading has its benefits as well as a few cons which should be considered before delving. The mobile apps for Android and iOS that provide news, analytics, streaming"s, charts and technical data and financial tools about the global financial markets. You can lose your total investment when trading forex. Everything a trader needs to get started with trading Forex is right here. Again, as in the previous section, it is easy to do if you know what to look for but if you are new to the market it could be difficult to decide which broker to chose. These blogs can be of greater help in your trading journey as such, it has helped us do far. As we said earlier forex trading can be risky and you can lose your entire investment. So let us be extremely clear here - the arrows that you'll get on your chart will not repaint. When trading shares you need shares available to buy and when you want to sell there has to be a willing buyer on the other side. Screenshots OF BUY / sell arrows. Using a powerful triangle of news, research and events, Finance Magnates literally caters to the needs of the entire global trading industry. There are many strategies and systems, have a look on the website for more information on trading strategies and trading systems. We want to do things differently, by developing what we feel is the best forex indicator around in its class. Engine Forex - Find the most suitable, forex Note that it is designed only for the M1 timeframe. We aim to respond within 1 business day. Essentially, the aim is: not necessarily to replace what a trader currently uses, but rather to present to the trader, a a forex indicator which offers buy and sell arrows on their currency chart, to seek out trend changes. We also advise traders to demo with it for the first few months. How many signals will I get? With the very strict criteria implemented, it means you receive extremely high probability alerts which is actually what is essential. The new "Global Alerts" function allows you to receive every alert by just attaching the indicator to ANY chart! . Its a bit like riding a bike, you just need to keep practicing until you get your balance right. Also, It gives a clear picture about what financial trading is really about. Now they offer daily articles on Forex news, lessons and quizzes, an economic calendar and a collection of Forex tools. Well to be quite frank this depends on your broker but mostly the commissions payable i forex is in the form of a spread. You determine your risk on every trade and you can trade forex very safely if you have a good risk management system in place. In fact, a combination of techniques is essentially what determines whether one has the threshold of confidence to enter a trade in the opposite direction, and it this that we had in mind when developing our product,.e. In reality, there's no doubt there's great benefit in classic reversal methods and techniques whether it be the harmonics, (gartley / butterfly or other wave theories like Elliot, Wolf and Hurst Cycles, best forex trading system in the world or Andrew's Pitchfork, or trend line bounces, using. It's not designed for any other financial trading instruments, such as commodities, stock or shares. This gives you a great opportunity without you having to risk 1 cent of your money. For those of you who have been trading the foreign exchange markets for a while, you may very well have tested a variety of methods in order to catch tops and bottoms; often these systems will advise you. There are already lots of other indicators out there offering dozens of arrows a day, but they just end up with a lot of false signals. In most cases the eurusd pair would be the cheapest and a good indication whether the broker is competitive or not. You can also get to view an honest broker rating system based on traders reviews. There are many scams surrounding the forex market. Remember - this is an indicator, not an EA (Expert Advisor or auto trading bot). Note that the signals can occur at any time. The website provides high-quality information that traders can apply in their pursuit of happiness. Although most providers claim that you can learn how to trade currencies within a very short period of time, you can really only start trading properly after learning and acquiring quite a large range of skills. The forex market is not really volatile when trading on 1:1, but as almost everyone trades forex at a leverage of greater than 1:50 it changes the market into the most volatile tradeable market. Even if you don't have an MT4 broker account, you can simply open one for free with any of them (even a demo account and use that to receive alerts/arrows. Although naturally, we wouldn't recommend trading with major economic news releases. MT4, forex, indicator for Trend Reversals Do you have a refund policy? It supports Push Notifications to Google Android and Apple iOS based devices, including the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad tablet. As you can imagine, things can get rather complicated. . Absolutely, as long as you're running the. It is very important to watch out for scams when it comes to software as there are many products out there that just do not do what they promise. Exactly which currency pairs does it support? Baby Pips, baby Pips is a well known and one of the top viewed traders educational site and community. Finance Magnates is formerly known as Forex Magnates which had its initial focus on the Forex B2B sphere. However, with the addition of too many tools, sometimes traders end up with rather cluttered charts which can make things confusing. Isn't it annoying to have to attach an indicator best forex trading system in the world to every single chart in order to receive the alerts? FX Trading Revolution, your Free Independent OUR forex indicator. So in summary you do not need a cent to start best forex trading system in the world practicing and a small amount to start trading. They also offer online calculators, downloadable indicators, and free expert advisors. Bottom line, there's no need to have 28 or more charts open to receive alerts - 1 chart will provide you with every alert. Our algorithm means that it will only provide an alert until all the strict conditions are met, thereby giving an average of one signal a week (on the M1 timeframe). This is due to the combination of a number of classic trend exhaustion patterns, in addition to our own proprietary methods. You buy when you want and sell when you want. Well, that's not a problem with ours. Hence, let us be absolutely clear, the buy and sell arrows produced do not repaint, whatsoever. FX Street best forex trading system in the world offers real-time exchange rates, charts, economic calendar, market analysis, trading newsletters, customizable technical studies, live webinars with the most renowned experts on the currency market. See how forex robot works. Hi friends, today I am here to share with you 9 best forex trading blogs to be followed by every trader to be a successful trader in the. A list of the best forex trading companies in South Africa. Before we list them we have to list the different categories: Best Forex Trading, course in South Africa. Learn to trade forex like pro. Here are our picks for the best forex trading courses and training providers - both free and paid - for 2017. Trading, signals are intended to blast your forex related income exponentially Dear friend, You don't have to be an experienced trader to make thousands of dollars a month in the. Engine Forex is an information service covering a variety of brokers and products for trading online. By browsing this web site and / or using our help or search tools, you're asking.

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