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@@ -0,0 +1,10000 @@
+B. First plug it back in to find out if it still works, and then try to figure out what happened. If someone else was responsible for unplugging it, they can help you clean it out. In any case, you’ll do what’s necessary to correct the problem.
+C. Decide you must have done something wrong, and now it’s coming back to haunt you. You grumble under your breath as you clean out the refrigerator and wonder why things like this always have to happen to you.
+10. Your supervisor calls you into the office to compliment you on the tremendous job you’re doing on your new project. You:
+A. Thank him outwardly, all the while thinking it’s about time he noticed how great you are. Maybe now you’ll get the respect you deserve.
+B. Are sincerely flattered, and tell him so. You also ask if there is anything you could be doing better.
+C. Insist that you’re not really doing all that well, and try to hurry him along so you can escape. You don’t deserve praise.
+11. You have to talk to your boss about a recent event that is affecting the way you and your co-workers perform your job. You:
+A. Act as though you and your boss are best buddies, and demand that she do something to fix the problem. After all, you could be running the show just as easily as her, and you’d probably do a better job.
+B. Approach the matter professionally and with confidence that a solution can be found. You offer any suggestions you might have to correct the problem, and ask if she has any ideas about what should be done.
+C. Would never presume to talk to your boss. There’s a reason she is the boss and you’re not. You might send her an anonymous e-mail or ask one of your co-workers to talk to her.
+12. This weekend you have a hundred little projects at home that have to be tackled, and you’re feeling a bit overwhelmed. You:
+A. Attack several things at once, starting with the easiest ones. You might not manage to finish any of them, but you can always insist that someone else pitch in, because you have more important things to do.
+B. Decide which projects need to be completed first and take them on one at a time. By taking things step by step, you will finish what needs to be done. If anyone else is available at home, you’ll ask them to help out.
+C. Bemoan the unfortunate twist of fate that ruined your weekend. There’s no way you’ll ever be able to finish everything. You don’t ask anyone else for help because they have better things to do than perform favors for you, and you wouldn’t want to be a bother.
+13. The opportunity arises for you to pursue your dream job, but it would mean leaving your current, stable position right away. You:
+A. Drop everything and go for it. Who needs a safety net?
+B. Weigh your options, and plan out what you’ll do if the new opportunity falls through. If you have a spouse, you discuss the decision with them and create a backup plan. If it’s possible, you’ll find a way to make it work.
+C. Stay right where you are. Why risk disappointment? You just know it won’t work out.
+14. You have five minutes to get to an appointment, and you’re stuck in a seemingly endless traffic jam at a dead stop. You:
+A. Curse, fume, and honk your horn repeatedly. Don’t these people realize you’re in a hurry?
+B. Are frustrated, but you know there isn’t much you can do change the situation. If you have a cell phone, you call to let them know you’re going to be a little late. You use the unexpected time to relax and listen to your favorite radio station, or just to think.
+C. Want to die. Things like this always seem to happen to you. It just isn’t fair. You’re so worried about being late you’re feeling sick, and there’s no way you’ll be able to relax until you’re out of this mess.
+15. A co-worker reviews one of your projects and tells you a few things that aren’t pleasant, but they are valid points. You:
+A. Thank him through clenched teeth, but insist that you know what you’re doing. He has a lot of nerve criticizing your work, and his opinions don’t really matter anyway.
+B. Are grateful for the opportunity to improve your work. You thank him for his insight and go back over the project with his suggestions in mind before turning it in.
+C. Give up. You can’t do anything right. Maybe your co-worker should have been in charge of this project instead of you. You’ll just turn it in and hope you don’t get fired for incompetence.
+Results: Tally up all your A, B, and C answers to find out where you rate on the self-esteem dipstick:
+Mostly A:
+Put Down That Mirror, Narcissus. Your tank overfloweth. You may not be aware of it, but you have far more confidence than you need. While confidence is a good trait to possess, too much of it can make you appear arrogant, rude or unapproachable. Try to take more notice of others’ feelings, and you’ll get much further.
+Mostly B:
+Join the Circus, You Have Perfect Balance. You have a healthy level of self-esteem tempered with empathy and concern for others. You’re probably the life of the party or the person everyone comes to for help, and you’re glad to give it when you can- but you know when you need time for yourself.
+Mostly C:
+If You Dig Any Deeper You’ll End Up in China. You’re a few quarts low, and you could use a self-esteem top-off. You may think you can’t do anything right, but with a little confidence and some positive thinking, you’ll find you are worth far more than you believe. If you answered C to everything, it’s time for a complete system flush and refill.
+=======================================================
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+I have spent sometime soul-searching and thinking deeply about this. Mary Wigham's sampler is under the care and conservation of Ackworth School and the chart would have been released on behalf of Ackworth School by Needleprint at some point in time with the funds being returned to Ackworth School for conservation, or possibly to purchase another sampler for the school which happened to turn up at auction. It is very unfortunate that the sampler was charted and sold commercially without license or permission and so the market is to some extent taken and it is not now viable to invest money in a print run for sale when we risk losing the investment which could have been put to better use.
+Instead, starting from next week, you will be able to download a section every week to stitch for free - and so you will be able to complete this breath-taking sampler. On the chart will be a contact address for the school, and I would simply ask that you spare a note or a cheque and make a simple donation, please. This is the only dowry Mary will have to ensure her care and conservation in perpetuity.
+I apologise to faithful local needlework stores who have always supported Ackworth School by their sale of Needleprint charts, but these are exceptional circumstances.
+This is so generous of you, and I can hardly believe this news. For those of us who treasure old samplers, this is a true gift from you. Thank you so much. Carolyn
+I am looking forward to the opportunity to stitch this chart. The Ackworth charts are wonderful. Could you post the information for the chart so I can have my fabric ready to stitch?
+It is your generosity that ensures the Ackworth School samplers can be cared for and conserved so they can continue to delight and inspire generations of stitchers to come. Thank you!
+This indeed is very generous of you to do this for those of us who do treasure samplers and their legacy.
+Thank you sooo much.
+Brenda
+Thank you so much for your generosity to offer such a wonderful as this one. This is truly a gift and it will be treasure greatly.
+Thank you so much for doing this. It is a shame that the monies generated from the publication did not support ongoing projects with the Ackworth samplers. But now it's been given a second chance, thanks to you.
+Jacqueline, what a treasure! You are the soul of generosity and certainly know how to make lemonade when life hands out lemons!
+Such a wonderful gesture Jacqueline - I will be looking forward to adding Mary to my complete collection of Needleprint charts. Because of the exchange rate - do you know if Paypal donations can be accepted? Regards Melody
+Jacqueline,
+I know how hard a decision this has been for you and this is an incredibly generous offer. I know I haven't bought the chart waiting for it to be available to support Ackworth. Is there any chance of a paypal account or something setup for the school so that those of us who can't write a check in Pounds Sterling can make a donation as well? Or would they be able to handle checks in dollars?
+So, any chance that you might spend that printing money on publishing Sarah Evans's sampler instead? It's the one I've most wanted since I saw it in the engagement calendar.
+Robbin
+OH, this is lovely...how generous an offer!
+Well, this is certainly making the best of a bad situation. Thank you for your generosity!
+Thank you so much for sharing this sampler. It is indeed a great way to, under the circunstances, obtain funds for her conservation. I will be donating it as soon as I know where.
+Aury
+Jacqueline
+Thank you for your generosity and kindness in sharing this special girl with us. I know you will find support in those of us who enjoy this blog and your continued work.
+Thanks for sharing this beautiful sampler. I would love to contribute with its conservation. Please let us know if it's possible to do it by Paypal.
+I know it is possible to set up Paypal donation buttons - would it be possible to do that here and/or on the Needleprint website? I would certainly like to donate something in exchange for the chart!
+Jacqueline, thank you so much for sharing Mary with us! Donating through Paypal would be wonderful, if such a thing is possible.
+Jacqueline, what a lovely treat we have in store. I am busy with several other projects right now, but I'll be sure to save the charts and stitch this sampler when time permits. Thank you in advance.
+I'm really looking forward to this! What a lovely surprise.
+Jacqueline, first of all - thanks so much for your wonderful gift to all of us.
+Secondly I'd like to ask you if you (or let me know where to look) for all who have permission to chart Ackworth samplers or other quaker samplers e.g. through your Companion to Beatrix Potter I got to know of The Scarlet Letter's M.Quertier. For someone like me who hasn't got in touch with the beautiful quaker samplers and is a foreigner is easy to be fooled.
+Thirdly, and because I'm not long around, wouldn't it be possible to have other sold out/out of print charts, such as Sarah Moon and Martha Brady, available in Pdf's?
+Love this!!
+So the chart from the Goodhart dustcover and the chart from the Ackworth dustcover will have to wait ;-)
+Thank you for all your lovely comments and very helpful suggestions. We have been experimenting with PayPal buttons today and we think we have a way to enable donations to be paid via PayPal - in that way there is no loss in currency exchange, just a small PayPal fee.
+There are a number of people who work with museums and other collections and pay license fees. Never be afraid to ask your supplier if they have paid a license fee - they are proud to tell you they have. If in doubt just email me and I will find out for you.
+Except for the Beatrix Potter sampler - our first - all our other charts were sold as limited edition charts so we cannot reprint, I'm afraid.
+What wonderful opportunities for all of us: stitch this lovely sampler and make a donation to the cause. I shall plan on starting and contributing as soon as the information is released.
+Thank you for sharing this wonderful chart and would be happy to make a donation!
+Thank you for sharing the chart. PayPal will be just right to make a donation.
+I had no idea about the background on this amazing chart. Thank you for sharing.
+you have a wonderful blog!!! Stitching is awesome!
+Jennifer D
+Dear Jacqueline,
+I love reading your blog! I want to thank you for sharing this wonderful sampler with all of us. I look forward to seeing it.
+redlinen
+Hi Jacqueline, please do set up a Paypal account as I would like to donate as well.
+Dona
+Jacqueline thank you so very much for sharing this lovely chart. I just thought I would tell you and others that if you pay by PayPal and one can choose to pay the charges instead of your paying them. There is a way because I have used it before when I have sent money to charity through PayPal. Thanks again. Love Patti xxx
+Thank you so much for sharing this sampler .
+The Ackworth charts are wonderful.
+Thank you so much Jacqueline. Great idea on the PayPal donate button!
+I have just recently discovered my love for Quaker and Old Sampler designs. I am very excited to find this wonderful opportunity to stitch this gorgeous piece. Thank you so much! By the way, I love your blog and all your work is just fantastic!
+Just to let you know where we are - we are working on the PayPal donation buttons for you - they have to be done by the Bursar, but I think I shall have them in the next couple of days. It is an excellent idea of yours - thank you everyone who has helped.
+Later today I shall be back to give you linen and thread details. the very soon we shall be ready with Instalment 1 for you - oh yes, and a whole wonderful Mary Wigham SAL gallery.
+I so appreciate all your kind words - thank you.
+Wow, that's just brilliant, I'm so excited[but not here next week ;( Will I be too late to join in when I'm back the following week?? Thank you so much - happy to donate to Ackworth school, it's just a stonesthrow up the road from me ;)
+Thank you, thank you, thank you!!
+You are welcome to join the stitchalong anytime during the next 3 months. The previous installments will be around for any newcomers to download. We want everyone who wants to have an opportunity to join in.
+It's evident how much all of us appreciate your kind gesture, and how very much we want to support the Ackworth School. Thank you so much for trusting us with this very special gift. I'm wondering if you are setting up a specific memory sampler fund for this piece. I would love to be a part of such a special fund that's named after the sampler. Thanks again, and hugs, Deb
+Jaqueline, this is wonderful news and a great opportunity. Paypal is a fab idea. Can't wait to see the details. x
+How join you for this wonderfull project?
+Any day now we shall have a special posting and you will be able to download the first instalment of the chart - free of charge - there will be instructions on the chart to tell you what to do everyone is welcome. And we hope you will like the chart enough to make a donation to go straight to Ackworth School!
+Jacqueline muchísimas gracias por ofrecernos la oportunidad de bordar esta maravilla. Nunca he abordado un trabajo tan complejo pero me siento capaz y LO TERMINARÉ.. ¡LO PROMETO! Ya lo veo luciendo en la pared de mi salón y veo las bocas abiertas y babeantes de todas mis visitas :-))))
+No entiendo muy bien inglés y no he entendido muy bien la manera como efectuar la donación, pero ya me informará Mayté (he llegado hasta aquí desde su blog)
+Muchos besos desde el Sur de España.
+Carmela
+This is very generosity! Thanks so much.
+Como Carmela y yo somos una misma persona aunque seamos dos, suscribo las palabras de Carmela.Estoy conforme con todo.Ya me informará Mayté.Gracias por todo Pepa
+I would also like to thank you for opportunity to stitch this wonderful sampler!
+Thank you so much for making this available for a stitch-along. I haven`t done a Quaker sampler yet, although there are many that catch my eye. This one may be my first! I am esp glad to see it will be charted for DMC. I love silks, but something this size in silk is just not in my budget. I also did not realize that this sampler had been reproduced illegally. Thank you for doing this to help support the preservation of needlework for the future...
+Hello, I just found your blog! LOVELY LOVELY BLOG!!! I am looking forward to be participating in the stitch-along!
+Hugs to you.
+Thank you for such a great gift to the stitching world and those that love samplers. I just found your blog today and what a find it has been. I belong to a antique sampler guild that adores Quaker samplers. We have done several projects with a Quaker theme. I have not stitched a large Quaker but am very excited about this. I will have to put this in my stitching rotation immediately when you make it available. I will be watching for the post with great anticipation. Thank you again.
+wow, what an awesome deal! Thanks so much! I have added this blog to my blog roll, so that I remember!!! Thanks again!
+I also would llike to join the SAL - is this the way to do it? I have several of the Needleprint charts and am stitching Beatrix Potter now. The charts are lovely. I would be pleased to make a donation for the new chart. Thank you so much.
+Lori
+Thank you so much for your generosity in sharing this lovely piece with us. It will be a lovely addition to my quakers!
+Do we know what exact day part one of the Mary Wigham SAL will be starting?? Thanks for letting us know! and Thank you for making it available to all!
+FrenchieAnne
+Through a stitching blog i came here.
+First sorry for my english, i live in Belgium.
+How i would love to joint this SAL for such a beatyfull sampler.
+I would gladly donate a gift for the ackwork school, but can i do this with Paypal?? How wil we know what materials we need and when we will start. Oh i really look forward and would like to thank you for this generouis offer.
+My verry best wishes, Nicole
+Thank you for your generosity!
+This is a marvelous pattern.
+How wonderful!
+I too want to thank you for organizing this wonderful SAL. I'm really looking forward to gathering my supplies and then beginning to work on the Wigham sampler.
+Also I just donated $25.00 by way of PayPal. You did a great job, it made donating so very easy. =)
+Thank you again for your genrousity, time and effort. This is going to be a lot of fun!
+Cindi - Southern California
+I don't have paypal but if the address is there, I can donate :D thanks for the opprotunity to stich something so lovely!
+I found your blog and the Sal and I coudl´t resist to join too. I know the Needleprint charts and find an online site like this is a dream for me. I loooove quakers and even I am doing a quaker wall upstairs with son QQRR and near of 8 samplers. I have never lost any of the QQX at Leagay , finished our 18th right now. So as you can imagine I HAVE to stitch Mary Wigham. I have told about it in my blog and I have seen that a wellknown stitcher here, Mayte is our " head ".Thanks a lot for this opportunity and I hope more Spanish stitchers joing and do a donation to the A. Shool for the conservation of these beautiful samplers.
+This SAL will be my partner in my next summer holidays to Frances, so I hope I can send some pic of my progress or where I stitch at home when I come back.
+Es precioso el muestreador y no quiero perderme la oportunidad tan gnerosa de hacerlo. Gracias por compartirlo. Quisiera saber dónde hay que mandar el donativo.
+Thanks so much for putting this out there.
+I love it!!
+This is an amazing chart how would I start to receive the chart?
+Just look on the right hand side of the blog and click on the image of Mary's sampler titled Mary Wigham Forever SAL and follow the instructions there. We do ask you to consider making a donation for the sampler conservation, please.
+Microsoft E3 2010 Live Report
+Fable 3, Gears of War 3 and more expected to at Xbox event.
+Microsoft kicks off E3 week on Monday, June 14 at 6.30pm BST and we're going to be bringing you live updates from the conference. We expect the likes of Gears of War 3, Fable III and Kinect will have a presence, but what else does the platform holder have up its sleeve? Will we see a new game from Rare? Will any third-party games be announced as exclusives? Is a celebrity going to come on stage to endorse a new game? Anything could happen, but you'll get all the info right here.
+Hello VideoGamers! This is your friendly neighbourhood Wesley Yin-Poole, reporting live from Microsoft's E310 press conference in the Wiltern Theatre, Los Angeles.
+People are gathering their seats now. Things are set to kick off at 18.30pm BST.
+So, the theatre itself is lovely. Art decor, that iconic Xbox green, and upbeat pop blasting out of big speakers.
+So, it's a good time to discuss what we expect from the conference.
+Gears 3 campaign, Fable III gameplay plus Kinect integration possibly, and hopefully some nice surprises.
+There's a rumour that Microsoft will reveal a Xbox 360 Slim model, and some bundles with Kinect.
+Of course, we pretty much have to get a Kinect release date and pricing details.
+Beyond that, it's rumour and speculation, as I've been told countless times over the last two days.
+As always, feel free to rumour and speculate in the comments section below. We love it when you do that.
+The theatre is pretty much full now. Nice strobe lighting, lots of chatter, and a bucketload of expectation. Let's rock Microsoft!
+Just been told the briefing will begin in five minutes. Not long now!
+"This program contains titles that have not yet been rated!" Expect gore people!
+And we're off!
+They're showing the Black Ops trailer we've already seen.
+Here's Mark Lamia, Treyarch studio head. He's going to take us deep behind enemy lines. Live gameplay demo!
+Crawling about in dank dirty tunnels, talking to squad mates. Lots of dead bodies, rats. Nice lighting though.
+Now we're in Laos, preparing to take a Hind from an enemy encampment.
+Time to get in the Hind...
+LS to move, RS to turn. We're blowing up loads of enemy trucks.
+Sorry about the problems. Auto updating now working. No need to refresh the page.
+Neutralise SAM site - heavy machine gun fire and rockets - looks wicked.
+And it's over.
+Here's Dom Mattrick - senior vice president of Xbox 360. He's announcing an exclusive with Activision - all CoD add-ons and map packs will launch first on 360. First in 2010, 2011 and 2012.
+That's big that.
+This year marks 10 years of Xbox. 2010 will be the biggest year eva!
+Kinec brings your living room to life, he says. It's all about showing, not telling.
+Here's Hideo Kojima, founder of Kojima Productions!
+He's talking about Metal Gear Rising, the very first footage of the game in action. Shigenobu Matsuyama, the producer, is talking now.
+A trailer!
+Zan-datsu - slice take, it means. Raiden's slicing up a baddy and it looks like he's taking their innards.
+You can cut at will, slicing anything - cars, walls and melons.
+Here's Phil Spencer, corporate vice president of Microsoft Game Studios.
+He also says 2010 is their biggest year ever. We're passionate about blockbuster games, he says.
+Every game shown today is available only on Xbox 360. Here's Cliffy B!
+Gears of War 3 live gameplay demo of four-player co-op! Delta going to a fort. New lambent enemies and the female Gears.
+You can give each other weapons. Just seen the kick from behind cover. God this is gory - flame tentacles and all sorts.
+Lots of huge planmt things sprouting out of the ground. And there's the chainsaw!
+LAMBENT BESERKET! Now with added tentacles!
+Running next to laser from the Hammer of Dawn - looks wicked.
+It's over - new mode called Beast just announced. No details.
+Now it's time for Peter Molyneux - Fable III.
+This conference is fast and furious.
+Now Phil's back.
+Exclusive title from Crytek!
+Codename Kingdoms - looks like Spartacus.
+Now it's time for Halo - 34 million games sold and 2 billion online hours played.
+Now it's time for Halo - 34 million games sold and 2 billion online hours played.
+Bungie creative director Marcus Lehto on stage now - Reach multiplayer online beta the biggest in console history. He says thanks. World premiere of the campaign.
+This looks all sorts of awesome. I can't wait.
+Typical Halo - then a space ship! We're flying into space. OMG space combat!
+That rocked - Halo's winning.
+Marc Whitten, corporate vice president for XBL, is on stage now.
+25 million members on XBL.
+He's talking about Kinect - Ron, one of the engineers is talking.
+Wave to sign in. Wave again to access the Kinect hub, where you can find friends, games and Facebook. No controller required.
+Voice recognition - say Xbox and Kinect is listening. All he says is Zune and he accesses movies and TV and whatnot. This is cool, to be fair. Uses hands to select the movie he wants to watch.
+Skips the film backwards with his hand. Pauses by saying Xbox Pause. That's pretty slick. Xbox Play, and it plays.
+Xbox Play Music - oh god Justin Bieber.
+Kinect is coming to every country where the Xbox is sold. Also bringing Xbox LIVE to Windows Phone 7.
+Video Kinect - Laura one of the engineers is on stage.
+She's demoing Video Kinect. She's calling her cousin up in Texas.
+Looks very smooth - can watch movies together, and sports by the looks of it.
+Blimey, the camera tracks you as you move around. It will keep you in the shot automatically.
+"Xbox, end chat."
+Video Kinect is coming to MS Live Messenger network.
+ESPN on Xbox.
+Josh Elliot and Trey Wingo from ESPN are on stage.
+Brits won't be too interested in this.
+You get to choose which team you are rooting for.
+Can watch replays of touchdowns with your voice.
+All free for XBL Gold members.
+Kudo Tsunoda, Kinect creative director is on stage now
+Little girl is demoing Kinectimals, which we saw last night.
+She's petting "Skittles".
+She's hiding from the bloody tiger. Don't do that to the poor thing!
+I can't wait for this game. DAY ONE!
+Slo motion rope skipping! EPIC!
+Looks like a full retail game - there's box art on the screen. 30 unique activities.
+Someone from Rare is demoing Kinect Sports. He's conducting the crowd, now there's a second player and they're running the 200 metres.
+The guy appears to be destroying the woman, but he tripped and it was a photo finish.
+Glad that's over - you can play over XBL. There's football, which looks awful. Javelin, table tennis, boxing, and beach volleyball.
+Montage video showing all the sports. Football, bowling, javelin, table tennis, boxing and volleyball.
+Now it's time for Kinect Joy Ride from Big Park Studios.
+JoyRide demo for Kinect.
+Steer by pretending to turn an imaginary wheel.
+You can boost by thrusting your arms forward.
+Not convinced by JoyRide. Doesn't look suited to Kinect.
+Kinect Adventures up next. Kart running along a railway track. Dodging obstacles.
+Second player jumped in for two-player.
+Kinect takes photos of you while you're playing.
+White water rafting being demoed now. Two players stood inside the raft and navigating down some rapids.
+If you jump high enough you can slide down clouds. Looks decent, but another mini-game. More photos shown of the two women who played the game. Can post on Facebook. Over 20 adventures to go on.
+Third-party publishers next. Also working on Kinect games.
+Looks to be a fitness game. People working out. Looks very flashy. Punching obstacles. Your Shape from Ubisoft.
+Ubisoft on stage now to show Your Shape.
+This isn't exactly what we wanted to see for Natal. This conference is strikingly similar to what we've seen from Nintendo in recent years.
+Tailors menus and fitness regimes to your shape.
+You have the freedom to choose how you want to work out. Can take a class like martial arts or yoga, or play fun gym activities.
+Your on-screen you is kind of an orange bloby thing - like a heatmap of a person. It's not a avatar like lots of the other Kinect games we've seen.
+Yoga demo now. The on-screen woman has now turned blue and purple.
+That's the Your Shape demo over. Looked decent for a fitness game, but not really a game.
+Harmonix on stage now to show its Kinect dancing game, Dance Central.
+Dance Central is coming this holiday, exclusively for Kinect and Xbox 360.
+Been eager to develop a dance game but the tech hasn't existed. It now exists with Kinect.
+Incredible soundtrack, featuring Lady Gaga, No Doubt and Beastie Boys.
+600 moves and over 90 routines.
+It was designed so that anyone could play. Although I expect everyone won't want to play.
+Phil Spencer is back on stage.
+Kinect will launch worldwide this holiday, starting in North America on November 4.
+More than 15 launch titles when Kinect arrives in stores.
+LucasArts and MS Game studios to bring Star Wars game next year. Gameplay trailer.
+The game looks very on-rails, but not bad.
+Very brief trailer, but will be out next year.
+Dan Greenawalt on stage from Turn 10.
+Ferrari 458 Italia in the demo.
+It's a Kinect Forza racing game from Turn 10.
+Kinect allows them to create radical new car experiences.
+Showing a demo of being able to walk up to and around the car. Man on stage focused on a headlight by touching it.
+He got inside the car. Looks nice, but a bit dull. Looks like how Kinect could add to traditional racing experiences.
+Coming 2011, although I'm not sure what exactly it is.
+Don Mattrick is on stage now.
+He sounds like he's wrapping up things. Talking about transforming the industry.
+Launching a whole new era of entertainment.
+Revealed the new Xbox 360. Black, smaller, shiny
+250GB hard drive, built in wi-fi.
+It's whisper quiet - which is very nice.
+It'll cost the same as the standard Xbox. $299
+It's out now.
+Available in stores by the end of the week.
+Now word on European release.
+That's it. All over.
+Showed some good games, but other than the Crytek game there were no new game announcements.
+149 Comments
+El-Dev
+Kinect looks a nice bit of kit but useless basically for games other than party games and I wouldn't use the other features it has to offer.
+Gears 3 looked good, why not give them longer instead of that rubbish from Ubisoft?
+mydeaddog
+I have no idea why they showed so little of Fable 3, either.
+thompo555@ Mr_Ninjutsu
+If the brick is out of it then its just a redesigned Elite. No point what soever, knowing Microsoft though its cheap and nasty look probably means that production costs have gone down and they are looking somewhat like this. $.$
+@Neon, You seen anything on Create Studios' TerRover?
+Mr_Ninjutsu@ mydeaddog
+Wido
+Black Ops. Not sure about that.
+Gears 3! Lambent Berserker? Yes please, I want some of that action. Looked pretty intense plus a new horde mode was said. Beasts? I think.
+Fable 3 looked good. MGS:Rising was awesome. Slicing that van into two... Priceless lol. Star Wars game on Kinect looked brilliant.
+Slim to be same price as current prices and is released July 16th.
+mydeaddog
+I hope Ubi's showcase has some decent stuff in it, because frankly MS's show was a bit of a buzz-kill...
+Mr_Ninjutsu@ mydeaddog
+Mr_Ninjutsu@ rbevanx
+dazzadavie@ mydeaddog
+mydeaddog
+You and me both. Metal Gear Rising looks pretty ace though.
+rbevanx@ Mr_Ninjutsu
+The slim isn't enough for me and I'm really hoping EA blow everyone away with Dead Space 2!!!!!(Yes I know it's a sequel but the MP sounds awesome for it)
+Does anyone know if Kane & Lynch 2 is gonna be at E3?
+thompo555@ Mr_Ninjutsu
+Could actually use move a lot, especially if you can browse the Internet/xmb with it. Visions of me lying on bed waving this weird dildo around!
+Mr_Ninjutsu@ rbevanx
+rbevanx
+Mr_Ninjutsu@ thompo555
+Digital investment:it’s no con, it’s a fact of life. Get used to it.
+A couple of weeks ago, John Duncan, wrote a piece on his blog which was then edited and used in PressGazette. To be honest, after a brief e-mail exchange with John, I was just going to let it lie but, they asked me if I’d like to reply - so I did; and that reply was published today. I had to chop a few bits out - as did they, and then John had a bit more to say , so I added a bit more, so this is an extended, annotated version.
+Two weeks ago, my former colleague John Duncan, took what might politely be called a pop at newspaper owners’ investments on the web.
+He pointed out that the Guardian’s world-conquering website still had less UK users on a daily basis than the paper had readers; that newspaper owners had been ‘conned by the numbers from their web departments’; and, in fact, the internet was not ‘a beast’ but ‘a poodle’.
+“The people running newspapers believe that the future is online…This is bad news for newspaper people, because not only are the reader numbers not very exciting online, neither are the prospects for selling advertising…”
+Now, I don’t have a problem with John’s maths about comparative UK readership of the Guardian and Guardian Unlimited. However, I do think it’s pretty irrelevant, and I have a huge problem with the conclusions he draws; with his assessment of the UK online market; and perhaps most of all, with his assertion that online teams have somehow been ‘conning’ unsuspecting boards into making investments.
+Before I get going, let me introduce as my first witness, Bill Keller, executive editor of the New York Times, interviewed earlier this month.
+“At present, the print edition of The (New York) Times supplies most of our revenue and profit. I don’t expect that to change in a hurry. We have a variety of levers we can adjust to keep the print newspaper healthy. We can add features that attract new advertising. We can reorganize for greater efficiency. (One major example: consolidating New York area printing into a single, modernized plant.) We can raise prices. We can trim costs. And so on.
+But the Web audience is growing at a great clip, while print circulation is not. And online revenues are growing faster, too, albeit from a smaller base. If the trend continues, there’s little doubt that — “eventually” — online becomes the main business”
+I don’t know Bill Keller. He may well be the sort of gullible chap who is easily conned by evil web types, but let’s just assume that he didn’t get where he is today by not having a clue about the future of his industry.
+What he is describing is the process of evolution and transition that the entire newspaper industry is going through.
+Right now, if you want to add up daily readers and revenues print wins by a long mile. But every piece of research tells the same story. People are spending less time with newspapers and more time online [’Young People and News‘ from Harvard is just the latest] . The trend is, of course, particularly pronounced in under 30 year olds.
+What do we think things will look like in five years? What about in 10? And do you really think you can wait until then before you start to take digital seriously?
+And taking it seriously, of course means investment.
+But, investing in what? Well, frankly, as an industry it’s time to stop thinking like ‘newspaper people’ and stop thinking about investing in print versus investing in digital. It’s time to start talking about investing in things that will best equip us for the next decade and beyond.
+That means investing in journalism, and in our brands. It means investing in engaging with our readers and users and making sure we understand them like never before. It means providing the very best service for our advertisers; and it means making sure that we have the best editorial, commercial, technical and production teams possible.
+Sometimes that will mean investing in digital, sometimes in print, and more often than not - in both.
+Does this mean everyone should be able to get what they want? Hell, no! An organisation where there aren’t compromises - often painful ones - either has too much money or too little amibition for its own good.
+What about John’s assertion that we will have no luck selling advertising? Well, our year on year figures would prove the opposite. And so, apparently, would those from the rest of the industry. The Association of Online Publishers annual survey revealed that its members - who include pretty much all of the UK’s main media owners, print and broadcast - experienced an average of 63% growth in digital revenues last year. Ahead, as it happens of the online market as a whole.
+And this market is, frankly, growing like mad. An average of the current forecasts for growth in the UK market indicates that digital spending in the UK is going to grow from a £2bn market to approximately £4bn over the next two years. In other words, there is likely to be some £2bn of new money coming online.
+But, isn’t much of this going to search (ie Google)?. Well, even if 50% of it is, that still leaves £1bn of new money left for us to fight for. When you consider that £1bn is more than the entire UK consumer magazine ad market, and nearly twice the size of the entire UK radio market you would have to be a fool to turn your back on this market.
+Of course, that money is not going to be handed to us on a plate. We will face competition from all quarters: from global portals to start-ups hoping to feast on slithers of our classified revenues. This is our new reality. It is our new competitive landscape. There is no shortage of people who want to eat our lunch; and this is precisely why our digital offerings need to be in the best possible shape if we want to stand any chance to succeed online.
+John says that broadband is nearly at penetration and therefore UK online audiences are unlikely to grow. Well, yes, growth rates are slowing - hardly surprisingly seeing as we have had the fastest growing broadband penetration among the major economies for the last five years according to OECD figures.
+But we are nowhere near saturation point yet. Last month PWC forecast that we will move from 50% of households having broadband connections this year to 80% by 2011. That is another 30% of UK households - and this will probably be the 30% most likely to trust brands they have a relationship within the real world.
+At the same time - all the evidence shows that the longer people have a connection, the more time they spend doing things online. So internet usage in the UK is set to grow for many years yet.
+So has this all been some sort of con? I can’t tell you how much I object to the idea that myself and others who have spent the last decade or more conceiving and delivering digital strategies within newspapers have somehow been deliberately misleading boards.
+I also can’t tell you how silly it would seem to anyone taking a cool look at the trends around our industry that digital investment was somehow ‘a con’.
+Don’t get me wrong. Print has many healthy decades ahead of it. And much of our editorial and commercial success will depend on having strong presences both in print and online. I wouldn’t be still working in a newspaper group if I didn’t believe that. But on the key metrics of circulation and ad revenue those decades will be about gentle, and sometimes not so gentle, decline.
+The online world, meanwhile, offers smart media owners potential for growth - in reach, reputation and revenue. None of this will be easily achieved - but without it, we That’s not a con. It’s a fact. And it’s time to learn to deal with it.
+John’s latest post looks at McClatchy’s latest figures and tells us in a rather understated fashion: 8% of revenue: 100% of innovation effort: Why print people need to get to grip with the shocking numbers at the heart of the online newspaper con.
+After proving something that didn’t really need to be proved - that newspapers won’t be able to cover their current cost base on their digital revenues he concludes:
+“All I’m saying is that it might be better for us to invest in real print innovation before we decide to get into the dog of a business that the internet is going to be for us. Print still has a lot of revenue, a good base from which to redevlop our products and fight back. That’s great news, because the path down which newspaper companies are being led right now just leads to layoffs and bankruptcy.”
+It’s funny that after such a data-rich expose John’s solution is the remarkably wooly: ‘invest in real print innovation’.
+What ‘real print innovation’, I wonder, is there that is going to so dramatically turn around newspaper’ fortunes, King Canute?
+The last decade in the UK has seen no shortage of print innovation and marketing investment across the market. Collectively, we have launched free papers and new sections; we have changed formats; we have given away CDs, DVDs and wallcharts. That is a lot of smart ideas, and a lot of cash.
+The same is true in most developed newspaper markets. And each year WAN produces a lovely report to prove it.
+This effort gives us some blips and bubbles of growth. In some cases, what might have been a crashing decline has been made much more gradual though many of the tactics described above. The net result though is that everyone is having to run much harder just to stand still.
+And, yes, there is growth globally in newspaper markets, as WAN loves to trumpet each year - but not in the UK; not in the US and not in Western Europe. And, this isn’t the result of a lack of innovation - to suggest as much is frankly an insult to those who work in newspapers. It is the result of a structural shift in consumer behaviour and advertising budgets.
+This is like gravity. And you can’t defy gravity just by jumping a little higher and harder.
+The fact is that 100% of the threat and 100% of the real, long term growth potential for all our businesses lies with digital. And yes, proportionally, our 10 year old businesses are a lot smaller than the 100+ year old ones. But we have to start somewhere.
+More than this, though, the idea that somehow the web has had 100% of the industry’s innovation and investment is hat stand.
+Those with any memory at all will recall that between between the dot com crash and the moment when Rupert Murdoch stood up and announced his conversion to all things digital - a period of some five years - most newspapers - in the UK and elsewhere - woefully underinvested in their online activity. Not simply in terms of cash, but critically in terms of senior management energy, effort and conviction.
+It was the organisations that kept the digital flag flying through that period: ourselves, the BBC, the New York Times and the Washington Post to name but a few which are now accepted as the leaders in the field.
+It was during that period, for example that we overtook the early market leader the Telegraph. Despite overhauling their entire business in the last 18 months they haven’t really got anywhere near us since [see their ABCe vs ours]. Why? Because getting things right digitally takes years, not months. And stop/start spending was never the way to do it.
+This isn’t just true in the field of journalism. Our automotive classified business, Auto Trader, also took the web seriously from the start - and never gave up. As a result it increased in value during that period. It is one of the few print classified titles to have made a successful digital transition - the result of taking significant risk and sticking with it.
+I can understand that the figures don’t add up for John. They are not pretty. But, given the dramatic change that is happening around us, it would be a miracle if they were. If only everything were as clear as he’d like it to be. By the time it is - I fear it will be too late.
+Ourselves, the music industry, the film industry, and my old favourite Kodak - all of us are caught in a hinterland between a world that we know well, but which we have to accept is not going to be with us for much longer, and one which is inevitable, but still doesn’t make complete sense to us.
+By all means let’s not throw away our past. But let’s not cling on to it so tightly that we also throw away our future.
+James wrote:
+Interesting article. One of the other benefits in investing in the digital platform is that it gives you the chance to generate revenue from people who cannot buy the newspaper. For example, I live in Tokyo and cannot buy the Guardian (except for a couple of days late). I can however pay to get the digital edition (which I may start doing soon) or other services such as the Wrap (which I do subscribe to). If newspaper companies do not invest in the digital product, people like me (and many other non-UK residents) are not going to want to pay for subscription services.
+Good to see you back blogging.
+Posted on 27-Jul-07 at 4:13 am | Permalink
+Notes from a Teacher: Mark on Media » Saturday squibs wrote:
+[…] Digital investment:it’s no con, it’s a fact of life. Get used to it. Simon Waldman talks back to John Duncan about why newspapers’ drive to online is important. A good debate between two bloggers I have come to highly respect. […]
+Posted on 28-Jul-07 at 6:56 pm | Permalink
+melting man » Blog Archive » links for 2007-08-10 wrote:
+[…] Digital investment:it’s no con, it’s a fact of life. Get used to it. at SimonWaldman.net solid arguments on why digital investment is important from the online ad perspective (via cityofsound) (tags: digital newspapers media) […]
+Posted on 10-Aug-07 at 8:24 am | Permalink
+Mo.
+Blizzard continues to mention that moving tabs into separate processes can prevent certain kinds of crashes from taking down the entire browser, enable better hardware utilization on computers with multicore processors, improve the responsiveness of the browser’s user interface, and enable superior security sandboxing.
+The way in which this architectural change will impact the Firefox memory footprint is a bit less transparent. Having processes for tabs will add to the memory overhead, but it also offers some benefits. Blizzard says that using different processes will reduce memory fragmentation problems and allow the browser better predict when to release memory when tabs are’s separate processes project, aka Electrolysis ( ) has been in the works since 2009. I hope they finish it soon.
+Taking down the whole browser or just one tab. Is that really THAT important? It still means that there’s something buggy in that browser – why don’t they fix that in the first place? It’s like taking painkillers to calm the pain instead of going to the doctor to fix the root cause of the issue.
+Yes, it is really THAT important! Also most of the time, it is not something buggy with the browser, but with plugins or add-ons loaded by that page. So, yes, it is really important to restrict crashes or hangs only to that certain bad tab if possible.
+That’s why IE and Chrome and the upcoming WebKit2 are so good. Separate processes enable with increased responsiveness, parallel execution, and enhanced security.
+Crash with plugins it’s still a bug in browser (the way they handle plugins). The point is the bug remains but now with memory overhead. Problem solved but the issue remains if you get my drift ;)
+Failure in software is inevitable.
+The best that can be hoped for is to minimize the failure in a way that makes it predictable to contain and recover.
+They keep saying that so we take it like it’s true. Adobe makes plugins focusing IE and Windows and 32 bit. Designers make sites for IE and maybe gecko. That is not failure – it’s laziness and disrespect for the end-user.
+As a concrete example: Google makes google-docs unusable in Opera. One may say that is Opera’s fault but Google isn’t the shop at the end of the street – it should/can do better. They don’t! This is not failure but corporate decision which give a crap about users.
+But it takes time to test each piece of software. The only alternative is to block or somewhat limit functionality.
+Or use Web standards, that way you don’t need to actually test and retest all of the features, and fix a lot of things…
+About the multiprocess thing, I agree with Arthur.
+I prefer the browser to actually fix the bugs, and implement things like saving the text you typed on the crashed page and restore it when you get back there… For plugin bugs, make a separated process for the plugin, that’s justifiable.
+this web standards is a myth and will be a myth for some years
+do a page as complex as google docs using these legendary ‘standards’.. c’mon, go show us how to do it
+a hint: even html5 is still not a finalized ‘standard’ it still does not cover everything – previous specs (html4) were of VERY low quality, did not include exception scenarios, until html5 and js and css matures THERE ARE NO STANDARDS per se. so c;mon – code according to something that does not exist!
+there are ‘industry standards’, and these are set by the biggest players: gecko and webkit – somehow they are mostly in agreement what this means. opera is always knowing better, and they suffer webpage incompatibility and thus they whine and blame it on the developers
+get to work – it seems that they’ve finaly started to fix their idiotic bugs – last desktop build contained a truckload of these (like removing INT limits on element widths/margins etc, that broke a lot of pages – opera was the only one with this issue, for years..)
+“do a page as complex as google docs using these legendary ‘standards’.. c’mon, go show us how to do it” In the same way they do it by using non-standards. Non-standards are a group of rules they need to follow too. The job is the same. ;)
+I’m sorry HTML5 is still being developed… The thing is, the same company behind “Google Docs” (or other “x” application) with bugs is making part of HTML5 development team, so they need to blame themselves twice…!! haha!
+I don’t think that thing of INT limits were affecting a lot of pages, it’s with absurd values anyway…
+Forget about google-docs for a moment. Let’s remember instant search in google and custom image for the home page. Haha!! Google – the richest company in the world can’t write another 2 lines of good javascript code or they have so much power that they do what they please?
+google instant was broken because opera history.back navigation object was different than in all other browsers. google decided to drop opera support.
+masking as firefox ‘worked’ until:
+- you didnt delete a character while typing (it stopped working)
+- you didnt include non alphanumeric characters in your query (it stopped working)
+- you didnt back from the page you followed from seearch results (it took you back TWO pages in history, not one)
+etc.
+opera started to sort out their history object recently, maybe, just maybe, theyll do it good this time – given they history record, i doubt it
+and this int limit broke down google books and affected google maps, so it wasnt a ‘small deal’.
+:)?
+they give a crap about 1% users because it costs them more to adapt to opera then these 1% users generate revenue compared to others
+it is a business, opera is a weaker player in this game, and it is opera job to adapt and clean its own yard
+go to sitepatching blog and look for google docs related material – you’ll see that most defects they fix are OPERA OWN BUGS. get a grip
+LOL, actually some of them are differences because Opera implement differently, things like e.g. default value for simething is 0 or 1 that aren’t defined in the Web standards.
+Some of these “bugs” are present in WebKit and other browser too, but they put a mechanism to identify the browser and fix, while leaving Opera with no detection or “fix”.
+so WHY have opera decided to use different default than all other browsers?
+Ok, I agree sometimes it’s a bug or not so well implemented, every browser vendor has its problems with compatibility. The fact is when Safari and Firefox behave differently the developers put a way to work with the two (by browser sniffing they take a different code for each one) and Opera is left with no code or a default for IE.
+Sometimes Opera do it for security, there’s no default value or behavior established on the standard recommendation and they choose the safer one. ( )
+Others are most browser sniffing where the website has no issue at all in Opera…
+Access and you’ll see some posts about sniffing and compatibility:
+1% you say? They panic if they lose 0.01% (generally speaking – not Google). You do realize that 1% means a few hundred millions :) and you must admit that supporting IE6 and 7 usually means 10 times the work needed to support standards.
+It’s useless. I haven’t had a crash with Firefox for months and months and months. I have had crashes in the past, of course, and some of them were pretty mysterious. But I use Firefox every day for hours and a huge number of tabs, never had a single crash with Firefox 4 or Firefox 5. Chrome, on the other hand… I have. And I just use it to try it out once upon a time. IE? Crashes galore.
+I don’t know about Opera, but on my end it’s pretty stable, even if buggy in terms of rendering. It probably doesn’t have multiprocess, that’s why it doesn’t crash :)
+I wouldn’t call it useless it’s just the newest trend with a lot of hype around it. Browsers were almost never the problem – USERS are. Even with process separation and Linux and god knows what other security protection in place the user will still get fooled if he’s clueless about what the web means.
+Opera buggy rendering hapens because web devs don’t follow the web standards but adapt to IE and FF rendering. But now with Firebug dead, soon FF will also have “buggy” rendering :D FF don’t crach a lot but I wish it did because after some time with 50+ tabs it just kills my system and I have to kill FF manually, with crash it would be faster :D
+It took Google 2 years to do the same, yet Mozilla hasn’t quite got there in the same timeframe?
+Well I guess Mozilla’s been putting effort into more important things so they haven’t wasted their time.
+There are more important things than this after all.
+The one thing that I think is always ignored in these situations are the variables OTHER than the browser.
+Operating system, other applications running, amount of RAM that you have installed, speed of your internet connection etc.
+I think the performance of different browsers is more noticeable if you are using them on the most clapped out, knackered old PC possible.
+Even the worst browser will perform pretty well if it’s used on a hi spec PC with a fast internet connection.
+So you’re saying IE6 won’t freeze on a gaming rig?
+CHALLENGE ACCEPTED..
+It’s not a good idea. Multiprocess is a Double-edged sword. It will take up more Memory and CPU although it’s helpful for the freezing problem. Avant browser is a good example. Compared with the 2011 version I still like using 11.7 versions which haven’t Multiprocess.
+I will only consider Firefox when they do something like the omnibar.
+I am using Firefox 5.
+If you are also using Firefox 5, try this.
+Firefox Button > Options > Toolbar Layout…
+Now when the customize toolbar window pops up, you can drag the separate Google search bar into the window and then hit DONE. The search box is now gone from the UI and you will just have the address bar spanning the entire width of the page, just like in Google Chrome.
+If you type something in the address bar and hit Enter, then a Google Search will be performed just like in Google Chrome.
+For both Google Chrome and Firefox, the shortcuts for selecting the text in the address bar is Ctrl+L. That saves messing about with the mouse, and if you’re quick on the keyboard it makes perfect sense.
+So in my mind Firefox already had an omnibar. I use it all the time. It’s just that Mozilla don’t shout about it.
+Less than 10 seconds of simple customization and you have the omnibar that you want. You can always hit Ctrl+K and be taken straight to the Google homepage anyway. If you keep the separate Google search bar visible then the shortcut to access it is Ctrl+K.
+If you want to complete the Chrome look then whilst you have the customize toolbar window open, tick the checkbox marked “Use Small Icons” and then drag the home button stop button and refresh button so that they sit in their “traditional places” between the back and forward buttons and the address bar.
+So you don’t need any add ons or to wait for Mozilla to sort this out in a future version, just 30 seconds of simple customization and Firefox basically has the same layout as Google Chrome – if that’s what you desire. If not then you can do something else with it or just leave it the way it was.
+With Chrome, you don’t get these options and the ability to play around.
+Yeah. With Chrome you don’t need a 300 word manual either.
+Just saying…
+I know I know. It’s the kind of thing I could show someone in person in less than a minute but having to explain it in writing across potential language barriers is always going to be a little more tricky.
+FF – i’ll will show how to use me, Chrome – just use me
+You’re being stupid, you only need to remove the search field, common!?
+Multiple memory leaks, awesome!
+FF10 – multiprocess implementation, FF11 – memory leaks get fixed, FF12 – memory leaks regarding multiprocess get fixed, FF13 – minimal requirement for FF – 1GB RAM, FF14 – all memory leaks get fixed, FF14 – FF auto-restarts after 30min of using to fight memory leaks, users rejoice, FF15 – multiprocess is off by default
+LOL
+by Guest Contributor Sofía Quintero
+Lately I find myself wondering what might have been Quentin Tarantino’s approach to cinematizing Ntozake Shange’s seminal choreopoem For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf.
+Once he had gotten over the initial shock of being offered the job, I can imagine Tarantino signing up for the challenge. Known for penning screenplays driven by crisp dialogue and characters with quirky names (Reservoir Dogs, anyone?), he could have found an immediate albeit superficial connection with the source material. Since Tarantino is also an aficionado of Black cinema circa the time of the play’s original production, I’d bet he would have pursued a gritty 70s aesthetic and forgone imposing contemporary settings and storylines. And let’s face it – since the race and gender politics of his films are usually a muddle of contradictions, he might not have done any worse than Tyler Perry with regard to Black representation.
+I mean, if the job of adapting For Colored Girls was not going to an African American woman, might as well as given Quentin Tarantino a shot at it.
+Or Martin Scorcese. Or Steven Spielberg. Or Christopher Nolan.
+You’re kidding, right?
+Yes and no..
+#1: The community needed For Colored Girls to be a major studio picture.
+Anyone remotely familiar with my work knows I am a major proponent of infusing progressive sociopolitical ideas into unapologetically commercial entertainment. My overall disappointment in For Colored Girls (some of which can be heard in my interview with Joan Morgan by Dr. Mark Anthony Neal) and this specific defense of Perry’s involvement reminded me of another vision I have: a day when there’s an Angelika in every ‘hood. Or do not urban, working-class people of color deserve to have art house theaters in their communities? The idea that such folks can’t appreciate never mind support films independently produced and distributed outside the studio system is elitist given that they have yet to be given the opportunity to prove otherwise. Especially when you consider that some of the more interesting (even if not progressive) depictions of Black life have not been financed by major studios nor screened at multiplexes.
+And for those who champion having representations of Black life that crosses over to White audiences, such moviegoers are far more likely to support a critically-acclaimed, low-budget, character-driven independent feature. They rarely pack the stadium seats at the nearest AMC theater for a “Black” drama. Rather the liberal White folks who are willing to spend time and money on our cinematic representation are usually frequenting small theaters with names like the Rialto to see joints that screened at Sundance or Cannes. Regardless of who wrote and directed it, this is the approach that I believe would have done Shange’s play the most justice, both artistically and financially.
+Perry generates profits for Lionsgate, in large part, because his films are relatively inexpensive to make. Costing approximately no more than $20-million to produce, his movies have a low financial hurdle to clear. (And one must wonder what percentage of his budgets goes to pay Perry to write, director, produce and occasionally act.) Had For Colored Girls been executed as an independent feature i.e. made at half the cost of a Tyler Perry Production (as was Lee Daniels’ $10 million adaptation of the novel Push into the film Precious), its profit margin – not to mention its prestige – could have been much greater.
+2: We needed the Tyler Perry fan base to make For Colored Girls successful at the box office.
+The assumption that the film had to be a studio picture automatically entails that the movie had to generate major profits. In addition to recouping the costs of producing a picture, a studio also expects that box office receipts reimburse its investment in marketing it. (Alas, the amount allocated for marketing is never included in a film’s reported production budget and is rarely revealed.) Still a film’s first three days in theaters remains the industry’s primary measure of both its director and stars’ ability to sell enough tickets to get a return on its investment, and therefore warrant entrusting this talent with future productions.
+Enter Tyler Perry and with him the argument that an African American woman should not have helmed the picture because one has yet to command the opening weekend ticket sales to make investment a studio’s worthwhile. Even those who don’t care for Perry’s fare believed and conceded to his defenders that Kasi Lemmons, Darnell Martin et al did not possess the box office pull to entice a major studio’s backing. All of us, critics and fans alike, doubted that lovers of the 35-year old play were plentiful enough and so we also needed Perry’s diehard followers to flock to see For Colored Girls in order for it to succeed.
+We all were wrong.
+Yes, in the simplest terms, given that the film reportedly cost only $21 million to make, opening weekend ticket sales of roughly $19.5 million render it a success. And in fairness to Perry, this performance is on par with that of most of his films. But let’s be honest. Those who concluded that he was the choice to helm For Colored Girls to box office success had not set our sights this low. We weren’t hoping for the modest box office receipts of films like I Can Do Bad All By Myself or Why Did I Get Married? We were fantasizing an opening weekend more aligned with Madea Goes to Jail which also originated as a play, opened at $41 million, scored Perry his first appearance in the number one slot and held it for two weeks. Perry’s defenders were excited over the idea of Madea’s stans turning out in droves to support Perry then reading Shange’s seminal play, and they wanted skeptics to get excited, too.
+Theirs was an understandable desire – a beautiful hope even – but an unrealistic expectation. While I never expected the film to deliver Madea numbers, its showing surprised even me. Perry’s base – the ones who consistently buy $20-plus million in ticket sales on opening weekend even when Madea is not on the bill – plus the multigenerational and diverse fans of the written and staged choreopoem should have generated higher receipts. According to Box Office Mojo, 19 per cent of For Colored Girls viewers were not Black. This tells me that Madea’s fans didn’t show up for Perry’s colored girls, handing him his second lowest opening weekend after Daddy’s Little Girls. (I’ll leave it someone else to ruminate on the possible implications on that coincidence.)
+#3: Perry’s success creates opportunities for other African American filmmakers.
+This is a freestanding assumption about the industry’s general regard for filmmakers that are not White that has yet to be proven whether the filmmaker is Tyler Perry, John Singleton or Spike Lee. As often as it’s slung to shame critical members of underrepresented communities to support fare they find uninteresting if not outright problematic, there’s just no evidence that the film industry actually operates on this principle. If this were the case, we would have a bankable African American female director on the set by now.
+On the contrary, the story of how Tyler Perry became attached to For Colored Girls shows just how unfounded this assumption is. Or more like the non-story. Not only had critically acclaimed music video director Nzingha Stewart optioned the rights and drafted a screenplay, she also succeeded in attaching Angela Bassett, Sanaa Lathan and Alicia Keys to attract major studio interest. Only six months after Lionsgate announced the project and named Stewart as writer and director, it released a statement that Perry would assume those duties with no explanation for replacing her.*
+Stewart received credit as executive producer For Colored Girls in a corporate move that strike me as at once conciliatory and patronizing. After all, personnel changes that occur for innocuous reasons are quite common, and studios are quick to reveal them to assure fans that their anticipation will not be disappointed. Even less than amicable partings on “mainstream” films (read: with White casts and crews) are attributed publicly to “creative differences.” In any event, some explanation is offered. But Lionsgate, Perry and even Stewart have dodged the question why the African American woman who brought the project to the studio, had packaged it well enough to get consideration and was granted initially the opportunity to realize that attractive vision was replaced by Perry. Of course, we don’t know what material compensation or future opportunities Lionsgate offered her, but given how the typical woman of color filmmaker tends to write/direct a feature every five, six years, I would be hard to convince that these plus the credit she received (which she had already earned) are commensurate with the loss of what was arguably a passion project. A bird in the hand…
+But never mind that. The fact the project did not originate with Perry when his juggernaut has been fully based on his own material is all we need to know to bust open this assumption. His immense power and privilege in Hollywood shut a door that Stewart had worked diligently toward and succeeded in opening for herself, punto final.
+I’m still waiting for proof that a rising tide lifts all boats in the mainstream film industry. From where I sit, the opposite is true. The powers that has yet to read Tyler Perry’s commercial viability as a call to produce more films by and for Black people. Rather they narrowly interpret his popularity as a demand for more of Perry’s work and his work alone. How many other African American media makers release two features and have two TV shows on the air in the same year?
+The industry’s penchant for hedging its bets with a handful of talent of color did not begin nor has yet to end with Tyler Perry. The tremendous success of straight-to-video hustlers-in-the-‘hood movies in the DVD market, for example, has yet to make an executive think, “Maybe if we offered some romantic comedies and psychological thrillers to our slate next year, we would make even more money.” Instead he greenlights even more hustlers-in-the-‘hood flicks. Nor is this mindset confined to popular film as the publishing industry’s street lit explosion and practically every genre of commercial music dominated by African Americans illustrates. Yet many of the same people who make impassioned arguments against the dominance of street lit at Barnes & Noble at the expense of other African American stories are blind to the same phenomenon at work in the film industry.
+Indeed, the saddest thing about the persistence of this unproven assumption is our complicity in it. As much as some of us may preach the gospel of supporting our filmmakers on opening weekend, where we the weekends Cadillac Records, Something New and Talk to Me – all studio-backed pictures written and/or directed by Black women – were released? And when given the names of Julie Dash or Sanaa Hamri as alternative directors for For Colored Girls, too many responded, “Who’s that?” with no consideration that their unawareness was more part of the problem than a case in point in their defense of Tyler Perry. Clearly, an adamant supporter of African American cinema at the box office could stand to make a diligent effort to identify all the filmmakers who need this support and not place all their bets on one voice. If we are unwilling to bother, we can hardly expect a White studio executive with her eye on the bottom line to do the same.
+This is not about Perry’s gender or talent although those things are fair game and continued to be discussed. But when we unpack the assumptions on which the argument rests, to insist that he was the best option to write and direct For Colored Girls because he has proven to be a box office draw is to conclude essentially not only (1) aesthetic and sensibility are irrelevant but also (2) they have no implication for commercial success. If that’s the case, should we ever hear that Oliver Stone is on the shortlist to write and direct Native Son or that James Cameron was tapped to adapt The Bluest Eye, let’s rock with it. After all, they both have far better opening weekend track records than Tyler Perry.
+*Editor’s Note: Check out this great interview over at Shadow and Act with Nzingha Stewart for more information on the Tyler Perry situation. – LDP
+.
+In this blog we will look at the pre-requisites and steps required to integrate Firebase Cloud Messaging (FCM) in iOS apps. For convenience, I have divided the content into the following sections:
+- FCM introduction
+- Setting up FCM
+- Handling FCM
+- Sending FCM.
+There is a bonus section at the end with advanced content like sending data with FCM, etc.
+Before we dive into account creation and pod installation, here is the list of pre-requisites:
+- An actual iPhone or iPad. Push messages cannot be sent to simulators so you require an actual device to send push notifications.
+- A Mac computer (Mac book, Mac mini). From my experience, a VM running on Windows or ubuntu machine will not work.
+- Paid Apple developer account. Free account has its limitations and push messaging is one of them.
+FCM Introduction
+Firebase is Google’s Backend as a service solution (a.k.a BaaS and MBaaS (Mobile BaaS)). Firebase offers a wonderful suite of products for client and backend and FCM is one of them.
+Straight from the official docs: FCM is a cross-platform messaging solution that lets you reliably deliver messages at no cost.. Firebase delivers 95% of push messages in under 250 milliseconds.
+Firebase identifies each device for an app by a unique registration ID or token. This token is required to send individual push notifications. The registration ID is unique per device per app. Hence, do not worry if more than one of your apps is in a user’s device, the registration ID is different.
+Why choose Firebase?
+- It is free for unlimited usage (no hidden charges or limits).
+- It is cross platform.
+- The latency and performance is unmatched.
+- There are various sending options like from firebase console, or to a single device or to a group of devices or to devices/users subscribed to certain topics.
+- Analytics and conversion ratio is available right in the Firebase dashboard.
+Setting up FCM
+This is the most critical and time consuming step in sending FCM or Apple Push Notification Service (APNS), in general. Once this is done, sending an FCM message is as easy as issuing a curl command. Lets begin by creating an xcode project with a single view application. By the way, this tutorial is in swift 3 (of course). I know that swift 4 is out and I will upgrade to swift 4 sometime later.
+Perform the following:
+- Create an xcode project for iPhone with the name “FCM-blast”.
+Ensure you have a unique bundler identifier.
+- Go to firebase.google.com and hit console on top right.
+- Create a new project.
+The welcome screen displays.
+- Click on Add Firebase to your iOS app.
+The following screen displays.
+- Enter the unique bundle identifier that was used to create the xcode project, pick a nickname and click Register App.
+- Download the GoogleService-Info.plist config file. Add this file on the same level as your xcode projects info.plist file.
+This file contains all the info about firebase project that we have created. We don’t have to enter the app id or project id. Notice that the FCM-Blast.entitlements file gets added when the push notification is enabled from Application > Capabilities. If you don’t see push notifications there, just follow along, you must enable the push notification setting on the Apple developer console.
+- Close xcode. Navigate to the project folder in terminal and perform a pod init from the terminal. This adds a podfile to your project. Add the following pods to your project’s podfile:
+- pod ‘Firebase/Core’
+- pod ‘Firebase/Messaging’.
+- Perform a pod install from terminal to install all pods and dependencies and open the auto created .xcworkspace file.
+- In your AppDelegate.swift file add FirebaseApp.configure() under did finish launching with options function.
+This completes the basic firebase setup.
+Next step is to create the certificate that firebase uses to send push notifications. Perform the following steps to generate a development p12 certificate:
+Ok lets review what we have done till now. We have created an iPhone / iPad project, added firebase pods, created a new project in firebase console, added the GoogleService-info.plist file in our project, then registered our app in apple developer console and created certificate, generated a .p12 certificate, added it to firebase. Whew!!! that a lot of setup. The good news is we are done with the setup, now we can code. If you run into any issues you can refer firebase official docs.
+Handling FCM in our project
+Before we can send push notification, we need to ask user’s permission, I am sure you have seen a notification permission prompt in many iOS apps. Unless user allows our app to send notification we can’t. Here is how you request permission, since my app supports iOS 9 I have added conditional code. Make sure the AppDelegate adopts UNUserNotificationCenterDelegate. Also we want to get a hang of FCM registration Id, so we can send push notification to a particular device.
+That’s it, we are basically done. Now we can send push notification. The extra code is just to get token information. Above code just prints the registration token, ideally it should be saved in some backend by mapping it with some sort of user id like email id or username. This token can be used to send individual push notification. Firebase also allows us to send data with push notifications, this data is bundled as dictionary of String and Any. Here is how to receive data:
+Next step is to create the certificate that firebase uses to send push notifications. Perform the following steps to generate a development p12 certificate:
+- Log in to developer.apple.com > Account.
+- Select Certificates, Identifiers & Profile.
+- In the left pane, select Identifiers > App IDs and click on + to register a new add id, if not already added. Ensure push notification is enabled when registering the app.
+- Select Certificates > Development and click + to add a development certificate and select Apple push notification service SSL. Click continue.
+- Select your project from the dropdown and click Next.
+- Read the documentation about certificate and click Next.
+Apple asks for a CSR or .cerSigningRequest file.
+- Open Keychain Access in your Mac computer and click Keychain Access > Certificate Assistant > Request a Certificate From a Certificate Authority.
+- Ensure to select Saved to disk and Let me specify key pair information and click Continue.
+- Save the .cerSigningRequest file.
+- Now, go to your browser where we left off. It should display Upload a CSR file.
+- Click on Choose file and select the .cerSigningRequest file that you saved previously. Click Continue.
+The following page displays:
+- Click Download and save the certificate file with extension .cer. Double click on this certificate to install it. It will open Keychain Access and install the certificate on your computer.
+- Now all we have to do is find the newly installed certificate on Keychain access, click on the developer name or your name, control click (or right click) and click export. This will generate a .p12 file. save it in your computer.
+Now we need to provide this certificate to firebase so it can send push notification to our app.
+- Go to your firebase project page, click Overview > Project settings.
+- Click Cloud Messaging tab and scroll to the bottom. Under “iOS app configuration”, click Upload your Development APNs certificate. Upload the .p12 certificate that we created (or rather exported from keychain access) in the previous step. Add password if you have added any during the certificate creation.
+- As you can see at the bottom of the above screenshot, a development certificate file has been added. For production usages, create a production certificate and upload in the production section (see that upload button at the very bottom of screenshot above, that’s it).
+We are now done with the setup, and can start to code. If you run into any issues you can refer firebase official docs.
+Handling FCM in our project
+Before we can send push notification, we need to seek the user’s permission. I am sure you have seen a notification permission prompt in many iOS apps. Here is how you request permission: since my app supports iOS 9 I have added conditional code. Ensure the AppDelegate adopts UNUserNotificationCenterDelegate. Also we want to get a hang of FCM registration Id, so we can send push notification to a particular device.
+That’s it, we are basically done. Now we can send push notifications. The extra code is just to get token information. Above code just prints the registration token, ideally it should be saved in some backend by mapping it with some sort of user id like email id or username. This token can be used to send individual push notifications. Firebase also allows us to send data with push notifications. This data is bundled as a dictionary of String and Any. Here is how to receive data:
+Just override the following function in AppDelegate and it gets called whenever push notification is tapped or when app is open and push notification is received.
+This is all there is to handling FCM message in an iOS app. This method gets called immediately if the app is in the foreground, but no notification is displayed in notification tray. In case the app is in the background, this function gets called when user taps on the notification and the app opens. Now lets move on to the last section and see how to send these push notifications.
+Sending FCM push notifications
+There are several ways to send FCM push notifications. The easiest is from Firebase console. Click on Notification on the left navigation pane in Firebase console of your project.
+There is an option to enter text, select delivery date and target audience. Target audience could be all users, or a segment of users, or user subscribed to a particular topic, or to a single user or device (registration token is required in this case). This is good for maybe announcements or one time offers, or things like that. What we want is to be able to send push notifications programatically, for use cases like sending an offer to a user after she successfully purchases some item from your online store. Fortunately firebase provides a way for us to send notification via simple http post commands. Here is a sample structure of FCM message.
+Sample JSON above has three main fields. registration ids field contains who to send this message to, notification field if present displays notification on device if (app is not in foreground), the data field is the data that gets delivered inside. Data field is very helpful in various use cases, like you receive a push notification that you have received an email from a friend, when you tap that, the email is opened automatically without taking you to inbox, this navigation is triggered based on data received in did receive remote notification. There is a lot more customization that can go inside the above JSON. You can refer to the official docs for more details.
+How do you send an FCM push notification from curl command or simple http post? Here is how:
+You can get your projects server key by going into project settings > cloud messaging > server key.
+Here is what it looks like:
+Let me know what you think. Got any questions shoot below in comments.
+-Kaushal Dhruw (@drulabs twitter / github / stackoverflow)
+West Virginia is nicknamed “Almost Heaven” and having lived there for 44 years, I feel an expert on the all of the amazing things to see and do in the mountain state. Though it always seems to catch a bad rap when it comes to lists and people poking fun at us, we take it in stride because honestly, we know better. West Virginia provided a fantastic place to raise my family; somewhere we felt safe that offered us the opportunity to make a good living, have a beautiful house, and be part of the state’s great culture. West Virginia is home to astronauts, movie stars, Olympic medalists, inventors, musicians, authors, Pulitizer Prize winners, just to name a few. Here are 95 reasons you should go to West Virginia for vacation or even a day trip. Come see for yourself why the pride of the mountain state is catching and now people all around the country are wanting to see it for themselves.
+95 Reasons to Go To West Virginia- #gotowv
+1- Explore the Mystery Hole: A place where the Earth’s gravity is all out of whack and water runs uphill. The tour is fun and quirky plus the drive getting there is beautiful.
+2- Visit the National Radio Astronomy Observatory: Greenbank offers the world’s largest astronomical telescope. This one of a kind scientific wonder offers too many things to list; you have to see it to believe it! Wireless devices are banned here.
+3- Tune in to Steve Bishop on V100 FM Radio: Tune in your FM radio to 99.9 to hear Steve Bishop (and partner Jenny) for their Steve and Jenny in the Morning radio show. Steve is Charleston’s favorite DJ and he makes you feel like part of be salivating at the Upper Gauley’s challenges. These combined rivers drop 650 feet in 24 short miles. Hang on!
+5- See the Famous Hatfields Gravesites: Hatfields, of the Hatfields and McCoys feud fame, that is. Visit the family cemetery and site of “Devil Anse” remains. This feud is a local and folklore favorite and Kevin Costner made the historical drama into a TV event that drew millions of viewers. located in Sutton, about an hour from Charleston. Owners Melody and husband Chef Tim prepare and serve top quality organic and local (when possible) food and wine in a cozy inn setting. My go-to meal is the House Roasted Red Pepper appetizer, Filet Mignon Gorgonzola, and for dessert, the Zabalione. Enjoy a glass of wine and nibble on tapas in the artsy little riverside bar on the back of the property.
+8- Play Bingo in Dunbar: N-35. I-26. B-5. BINGO! The stakes are high at this big paying bingo establishment that also sells tips (I’m a junkie for these instant prize winners) and delicious homemade food. and the Greenbrier Resort is open year-round and contrast of the falls shimmering behind a rusted old power plant.
+11- Eat at the Nostalgic Burger Carte: Located on I-60 in Smithers, this nostalgic and unique eatery is THE place to go when you are jonesing for a serious burger, fries, and milkshake. The fish sandwiches are pretty tasty, too.
+12- Go Tubing or Kayak Down the Greenbrier River: Spend your day in the sun on the relaxing Greenbrier River in a recreational activity that anyone can do; floating in an inter tube. Canoeing and kayaking are also good choices.
+13- Attend the WV Wine and All That Jazz Festival at UC: The University of Charleston is the perfect setting along the Kanawha River to host this lively festival. Hundreds of boaters will anchor around the school to hear the music and thousands of guests will sample wine and bring their blankets and lawn chairs for this fun social event. The daylong festivities benefit the Funds for the Arts program.
+14- Play the Slots or Table Games at Mardi Gras Casino: West Virginia’s premier gambling facility houses both 8 alumni playing in the NFL.
+16- See the Beauty of the Monongahela National Forest: Beautiful nature scenery in the Allegheny Mountains, a real working forest. Well over a million tourists will visit the forest for their wildlife, hiking, backpacking, fishing, and other recreational activities.
+17- Walk the Grounds of the WV State Capitol: West Virginia is home to the most beautiful state capitol. This is West Virginia Public Radio’s nationally syndicated show, “Mountain Stage”, and has been going strong in the Kanawha Valley for over 30 years. Shows typically feature 4-6 artists and the venue is incredibly ntimate. I have seen many fantastic artists here through the years with my favorites being Natalie Merchant, Jonatha Brooke, and Zap Mama. Music genres include alternative, world music, country, indie rock, blues, and folk. browsing or doing some serious shopping, be sure to check out Yarid’s for the best shoe selection, Sarah’s Bakery for the best sweets in Charleston, Geranium’s for ladies clothing and accessories, and Bridge Road Bistro for one of the best meals around (ask for Aaron or Marie). All shops are locally owned and community supported.
+23- Spend the Weekend at the Gorgeous Stonewall Resort: This unique resort is located in West Virginia’s rolling hills and is full of outdoor recreation. The grounds feature an Arnold Palmer Golf course, one of the finest in the state, patios, lush greens, a fire pit, and gorgeous scenery. The “Adirondack-style” resort is lovely and provides excellent service as well as a stellar kids program, 3 onsite restaurants (I am a fan of Stillwaters), swimming facilities, and a better than average spa. You can even rent a boat from their marina!
+24- Partake in the Crowder Auction QVC Showcase: This fast-paced auction house, located in Pinch, is home to QVC merchandise and I mean located only 7 miles outside of Charleston and is the perfect spot for a family picnic, gathering, or celebration. Playgrounds, hiking trails, and mountain biking opportunities are available as well this state 44 years and never make it to this place?
+27- See the Mothman Statue: This creature with the glowing red eyes singlehandedly terrorized the town of Point Pleasant plus they made a movie of it.
+28- Ride Through Beckley’s Exhibition Coal Mine: West Virginia made its living through coal for many years and at this attraction, guests ride through the vintage mine in an actual coal car. Operation here ceased in 1953, plus offers designated spots to stop and rest or jump in the river for a quick cool down.
+31-Watch a Baseball Game at Appalachian Power Park: Come out and enjoy America’s favorite pastime, baseball, with the West Virginia Power. The Power is a minor league baseball team and is the class A affiliate to the Pittsburgh Pirates. The park itself is remarkable and hosts many fun and charity events.
+32- Visit the Pearl S. Buck Birthplace: See the historic home, now converted museum, of Pearl S. Buck, located in Hillsboro. Buck was the first American woman to win both the Pulitzer Prize (The Good Earth) and the Nobel Prize for Literature. The home is located in one of my favorite parts of West Virginia where you will get a good dose of country charm and majestic mountains.
+33- Relax, You’ve Reached Domestic: The tagline for this Shepherdstown eatery. (rises from the ground up), stalactites (hangs from the ceiling), and flowstone.
+36- Have Lunch at the Cathedral Cafe: This 100+ year old stone church, now restaurant, is a local’s favorite and offers tasty sandwiches, soups, and drinks. This is a popular spot for locals, coffee drinkers, and artsy types, located in downtown Fayetteville.
+37- Take a Drive and Hike Through Hawk’s Nest State Park: This state park is bursting with beauty and fun in the form of stunning panoramic views, wildlife, an aerial tram to the river, hiking, and a jetboat for the occasion in your Mardi Gras inspired costume and do not forget your best umbrella for Charleston’s annual Funeral Parade, for over 30 years. This New Orleans style parade dances and marches down Capitol Street to the sounds of the River Rat Band the Saturday before Labor Day.
+40- Drive Through Oglebay Park’s Winter Festival of Lights: One of the top rated Christmas light displays in America is located draws around a million visitors per year. Ghost tours are available, too.
+42- Drive Across the New River Gorge Bridge: Once the world’s longest single-span arch bridge, it is now the third, but still a beauty to behold.
+43- Visit a Retro Amusement Park: Camden Park, sign of the happy clown, is a cheesy, but still and handcrafted arts and crafts. The Greenbrier Resort manages an onsite cafeteria offering delicious food and drink. Try the fried green tomatoes! Certainly not your typical fast food selections.
+45- Eat a Biscuit Sandwich From Tudor’s: Tudor’s Biscuit World is practically a state institution, with a scrumptious breakfast menu to choose from and down home lunch and dinner favorites. My favorites are the Ron on toast (egg, cheese, sausage) and the Peppy (pepperoni and melted cheese).
+46- Partake in the Spa at Berkeley Springs State Park: Berkeley Springs has 102° mineral waters to enjoy in separate private walk-in tubs. This is one of the nation’s oldest health “healing spas”, most notably used by George Washington over a span of years.
+47- Attend a Performance or Concert at the Clay Center: Charleston’s premier performance hall, the Clay Center, is home to big name entertainment, concerts, Broadway shows, and comedy. counter parts. This is a fun and funky spot where you can enjoy a tasting of all of their flavors.
+49- Book the Historic Home Tour of Bramwell: Once the richest neighborhoods in West Virginia, this town of old money and said to be mansions is a delight to explore. About 10 historic homes open their doors to the public once a year for this popular event in a super cute and friendly town.
+50- Take a Tour of the Palace of Gold: Walk through the Prabhubada’s glimmer temples created by the Hare Krishna community. The palace’s interior is that of opulence with over 50 varieties of marble and onyx, stained glass windows, and mirrored ceilings. The grounds mostly resemble an Indian Kingdom, full of lush gardens and lovely waterfalls. After visiting the Palace Lodge, I could not believe there were that many Indian people living in or near Wheeling, WV. covered bridge in Hillsboro that is they witnessed.
+54- Catch a WVU Basketball Game: Make a trip to Morgantown to see the Mountaineer basketball team play coached by the legendary Bob Huggins. The coliseum set up will have you wrapped up in all of the action and cheering along with the student section in no time.
+55- Drive the Quilt Trail: Visit Monroe County and go on the quilt trail to see iconic quilt patterns on the sides of barns. A few of the examples of the patterns Fairlea. I love the livestock competition and all of the fun amusement style rides. Go for the eats if nothing more.
+57- Ride the Cass Scenic Railraod Train: Springtime is the perfect time to plan your ride because at the top, they are now offering. A hidden jewel in Morgantown.
+60- Discover Lost World Caverns: A self-guided cave in Lewisburg where you can spend as much time as you wish exploring the rocks and crevices throughout the 120 feet deep cave. The cave remains at 52 degrees year round and contains gorgeous formations. The Snowy Chandelier is quite impressive.
+61- Climb the State’s Most Famous Seneca Rocks: Located in Grant County, Seneca Rocks has rock “fins” rising over 300 feet out of a hillside. They also offer a climbing school that has been in business for 40 years. This is for serious climbers!
+62- Try a Delicious Pizza and Craft Beers from Pies & Pints: My favorite pizza ever! Pies & Pints lets you order 1 pie and choose 2 different combinations. They offer a decent happy hour and.
+65- Listen to live music at The Fiddlehead: One of the best venues (also a restaurant) in the state for live music, located in Thomas. Go on Wednesdays for Open Mic night. I opt for the sausage and cheese plate.
+66- Camp at Summersville Lake: One of my favorite seasonal activities would be taking our boat to the lake and camping nearby. This man made freshwater lake is formed by a rock fill dam and can be up to 327 feet deep in some parts. Incredible rock cliffs line the lake which makes great fishing conditions for bass, catfish, and walleye. There are plenty of camping sites, boats, and cabins available for rent in the area.
+67- Tour the West Virginia State Penitentiary: Located in Moundsville, this 1876 gothic tourist favorite has a creepy history with riots, fires, and over 100 executions. Ask about the Greenbrier Ghost. are there in April, do not miss the Annual Chocolate Festival.
+70- Dine at Cafe Acropolis: Summersville’s most famous dining spot, Cafe Acropolis brings diners the delight of Greek food in a unique setting. Caution: customers complain about the prices but for the area, there is nothing that can compare.
+71- Take Time to Play at Ace Adventure: This spot has something for everyone. The lake has giant inflatables to climb and jump from such as large “icebergs” and slides. They have a huge “Blob” that looks like a big pillow, that can catapult a person at least 20 feet in the air with the right jumper following another. Ace Adventure also has a zip line across the lake that is quite popular and offer mountain top zip lining and white water rafting just a short bus ride from the lake. You can also stay in one of their cabins. Fiestaware Discounts: The outlet mall at Flatwoods has a Homer Laughlin China Co. Fiestaware shop that features deep discounts on this famous West Virginia made pottery.
+75- Go Snow Tubing at Winterplace: Winterplace Ski Resort is home to epic snow tubing, the largest in the state! They feature 2 super tubing carpet lifts and 20 lanes of sliding fun. No gear? No problem. Rent everything you need on the premises. Better than average food selections also available.
+76- Spend the weekend at the Glen Ferris Inn: This historic Inn has a gorgeous landscape and epic views of Kanawha Falls waterfall that crosses the entire river. I like to treat myself to the “penthouse” and keep an eye out for their themed dinners. German is- Molly Moocher Hunting: Better known as morel mushrooms, they can be found and picked from March to early May in the damp woods. These mushrooms are delicious!
+80- Get a huge crowd.
+83- Treat yourself to an awesome Mexican meal at Cozumel Mexican Restaurant: “The” place for delicious fajitas, finger-licking good cheese dip, and spicy salsa with fresh, warm tortilla chips is a cliffside amphitheater. “Honey in the Rock” is a WV based show that has been playing for dozens of years now, preserving West Virginia’s history since 1955, although I prefer to see the touring productions.
+86- Dineeeshow: A resort for all seasons. The winter months are popular for skiing, snowmobiling, and snowtubing at the most popular ski resort in WV. Summer months are great for mountain biking, 4×4 tours along the mountain trails, and several weekend festivals that bring visitors from all over the country. During this time, they allow you to ride the chair lift down to the lake where you can kayak, Stand Up Paddle, swim, or relax in one of the hammocks hanging in the trees.
+90- Feast on Italian Eats at La Trattoria: If you are in the Martinsburg area, run, do not walk, to this delicious authentic Italian eatery. Their selection of 6 homemade pasta sauces will knock your socks off! I hear the Fettuccine Gypsy is highly recommended. Gluten free pasta is also available.
+91- Sing “Country Roads” at the Milan Puskar Stadium After a WVU Home Football Game Win: Although the entire football game experience at Milan Puskar Stadium is something that you will be sure to remember, nothing compares to singing “Country Roads” with every other fan in the stadium after a win. It is electric.
+92- Stroll Through Days of Yore at the Heritage Farm Museum & Village: A place to learn about Appalachian heritage through museum offerings of past, present, and future showcases. They also have a country store, blacksmith, schoolhouse, petting zoo, and log home b&b’s available to stay overnight in.
+93- Attend Bridge Day in October– See the BASE jumpers leap over 800 feet off the New River Gorge Bridge into the river below as the crowds draw to cheer them on.
+94- Take Fido to the Dog Park: The east end of Charleston is where pet-lovers will be thrilled to let their dogs play at the off-leash Ruth Rafferty Peyton dog park, the only dog park in Kanawha County. Pet owners can relax on the benches while their dogs run and play.
+95- Stroll the Shops on Capitol Street- Located in downtown Charleston, Capitol Street is arguably the most popular street in town and where all the memories of days gone by take place. Gone are the huge department and chain stores, but in their place, locally owned restaurants and shops that are fun to browse and explore.
+Want more West Virginia? Check out these posts that may make you go to West Virginia even faster:
+The WV Cultural Center 4 Day Trips in WV Black Sheep Burrito A Look at Lewisburg.
+Motte was hired as the director of player development for University of Memphis baseball program earlier in June, effectively ending his playing career, Evan Barnes of The Memphis Commercial Appeal reports.
+Motte's nine-year run in the majors came to an end in March, when he was released by the Cardinals during spring training. After failing to latch on elsewhere, Motte will stay involved with baseball in Memphis, where he makes his offseason home. The 36-year-old appeared in 444 career games with the Cardinals, Cubs, Rockies and Braves, logging a 3.30 ERA, 1.15 WHIP and 60 saves. He led the majors with 42 saves in 2012 as a member of the Cardinals and was a key reliever for St. Louis during its run to the 2011 World Series title.
+Motte was released by the Cardinals on Thursday, Joe Trezza of MLB.com reports.
+Unlike most non-roster invitees, Motte can't be reassigned to the minors due to his service time and must instead be given his unconditional release. The veteran reliever is likely to return to the Cardinals' organization once 48 hours have passed and would pitch out of the bullpen for Triple-A Memphis. He could sign a major-league deal somewhere, but with FIPs of 5.68 and 5.44 in the last two seasons and a spring training ERA of 10.13, it's unlikely that one will be offered. He's expected to be happy to start the year in his hometown of Memphis but could be up in the majors later this season when injuries strike the Cardinals' bullpen.
+Motte will not be on the Cardinals' Opening Day roster, Joe Trezza of MLB.com reports.
+Due to his amount of service time in the big leagues, the Cardinals are required to give Motte a shot at signing a deal with another organization. If he fails to do so, the 35-year-old will be sent to Triple-A Memphis. Motte agreed to a minor-league deal with the team in mid-February after posting a 3.54 ERA and 1.18 WHIP over 46 relief appearances with Atlanta last season.
+Motte signed a minor-league contract with the Cardinals on Friday, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.
+The veteran reliever had a bounce-back season with the Braves last season, producing a 3.54 ERA in 40.2 innings pitched. His peripherals bring up a lot of red flags, however, as he struck out just six batters per nine frames while allowing 1.3 home runs per nine. Unless something drastically changes, it's unlikely that Motte will do anything to get on the fantasy radar this season.
+Motte (oblique) was activated from the 10-day DL prior to Friday's game against the Mets, Mark Bowman of MLB.com reports.
+Motte returns to the bullpen following a two-week stay on the disabled list with a right oblique strain. Over the course of the year, the right-hander has posted a 4.00 ERA and 1.25 WHIP in 36 innings.
+Motte landed on the 10-day disabled list Friday due to a right oblique strain.
+Motte threw 17 pitches during Thursday's loss to the Cubs, giving up two earned runs in just an inning of work. It appears as though the right-hander suffered the injury at some point during his outing, although it isn't apparent when it might have happened. This marks the second time this season that Motte has been placed on the shelf, with the other coming in mid-July due to a back strain. There has been no word yet on a timetable for the 35-year-old.
+Motte (back) was reinstated from the 10-day DL on Friday.
+Motte will return to the club after nearing a month without action, as his last major-league appearance occurred July 5 against the Astros. The reliever was able to make another rehab appearance Wednesday, tossing a perfect inning with Triple-A Gwinnett. In a corresponding move, the Braves placed Ian Krol on the 10-day DL with a strained left oblique.
+Motte (back) could return to the Braves on Friday, Kevin McAlpin of 680 The Fan reports.
+Motte has been on the disabled list since the All-Star break with a back strain, but was able to make two rehab appearances with Triple-A Gwinnett over the past week. It appears likely that the 25-year-old returns to the bullpen prior to Friday's series opener with Miami, settling back into a high-leverage role with the club.
+Motte (back) began a rehab assignment Saturday at High-A Rome, the Atlanta Journal Constitution reports.
+Motte has missed the past two weeks with the back strain. Expect him to make another one or two rehab appearances before making his return at some point in early August.
+Motte (back) was put on the 10-day DL prior to Friday's game against the Diamondbacks.
+Motte suffered a back strain while warming up in the bullpen during Sunday's contest, and wasn't able to recover over the All-Star break. The reliever should be able to return once he's eligible to come off the disabled list barring any setbacks, but could wind up making a few rehab appearances if the team feels as though he could benefit from them. In a corresponding move, the Braves recalled Jason Hursh from Triple-A Gwinnett.
+Motte suffered a back strain when he was warming up in the bullpen Sunday, but the injury is not believed to be serious, David O'Brien of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.
+He was checked out by the training staff, and while he obviously did not make it into the game, it sounds like he will avoid a disabled list stint and could be ready to pitch after the All-Star break. Motte has a 6.07 ERA, 1.20 WHIP and three blown saves in his last 13.1 innings.
+Motte has allowed six runs on five hits over his last two appearances (one inning).
+The 35-year-old had allowed only five runs all season prior to the disastrous series against the Astros. Motte's had an excellent 1.78 ERA prior to the last two outings, but he now has a 3.76 ERA and 1.14 WHIP with 19 strikeouts across 26.1 innings for the season.
+Motte (1-0) pitched a scoreless eighth inning and was the pitcher of record when Atlanta took the lead in Monday's win over Washington.
+Motte has seen an increased role out of the Atlanta bullpen of late, and his 2.08 ERA and 1.15 WHIP are solid numbers. However, he's also held opponents to an unsustainably low .196 BABIP, and his 6.2 K/9 is way down from last season's 9.1 mark. His 5.62 FIP over the past two seasons shouldn't instill confidence, either.
+Motte hasn't allowed a run in 12 straight appearances (11 innings).
+The veteran righty got shelled in his first outing against the Brewers, but he's allowed only five hits during his scoreless streak. Motte has worked his way into higher-leverage situations with Atlanta, recording a hold in each of his last three outings. His K/9 is only 6.8, but his 1.50 ERA and 1.17 WHIP have provided some value.
+The Braves selected Motte's contract from Triple-A Gwinnett on Thursday.
+Catcher Anthony Recker was optioned to take his place at Gwinnett. Motte is likely to take a spot as a middle-innings reliever, but considering the club's 4.94 bullpen ERA in its first 19 games, perhaps he can move into higher-leverage appearances in front of closer Jim Johnson. He's a long shot to earn save chances in the long run, but keep an eye on his performance, because it's not impossible.
+Motte signed a minor-league contract with the Braves on Sunday.
+It didn't take long for the veteran reliever to find work after being unconditionally released by the Rockies last Wednesday. Motte appeared in 30 games for Colorado in 2016, recording a 4.94 ERA and 1.52 WHIP across 23.2 innings, which were both some of the worst numbers of his career, so it's not entirely surprising that the Rockies decided to cut him loose after he failed to make the big club out of spring training. The 34-year-old is expected to report to Triple-A Gwinnett on Monday.
+Motte was unconditionally released by the Rockies on Wednesday.
+Motte was designated for assignment at the end of March after not making the big-league roster out of spring training, but given his vast major-league experience, it comes as no surprise that he wanted out of the Rockies' system rather than reporting to Triple-A. The veteran reliever will look to leverage that experience into a big-league contract with a different organization soon.
+Motte was designated for assignment by the Rockies on Friday.
+The Rockies signed the veteran reliever prior to the 2016 campaign with the hope of bolstering their bullpen, but he struggled on the mound and with injuries, ultimately producing a lofty 4.94 ERA. Paired with his poor spring showing (8.31 ERA, 1.85 WHIP in 8.2 innings pitched), this led the Rockies to cast him off the 40-man roster in order to make room for slugger Stephen Cardullo. If Motte chooses to accept the assignment to the minors, his major-league experience could help him climb his way back to the big leagues, but there's a good chance he'll prefer to look for a major-league contract with another club.
+Motte is struggling so far this spring, allowing six earned runs in four innings while logging a 3:1 K:BB ratio.
+The veteran's chances of remaining in the Rockies bullpen certainly improved following the injury to Chad Qualls (forearm) and the demotion of Miguel Castro, but Motte's performance thus far is nothing to call home about. If one positive can be taken from his performance, it's that he hasn't given up a single home run this spring after giving up over two home runs per nine innings last season. However, the 34-year-old certainly is not guaranteed an Opening Day roster spot, and he'll need to outperform the likes of Scott Oberg, Jordan Lyles and Carlos Estevez in order to solidify his standing in the organization.
+Motte reported to spring training without any health issues, Thomas Harding of MLB.com reports.
+The veteran reliever was sidelined for the first two months of 2016 due to a shoulder injury, but it appears that he'll actually be able to hit the ground running during his contract year with Colorado. Motte was hot and cold throughout last season, concluding the year with a 4.94 ERA and a 9.1 K/9. Given the multitude of other relief options now present in the Rockies' bullpen, Motte will likely fill more of a middle relief role unless injuries deplete Colorado's relief corps.
+Conyngham
+-.
+- Maylath Valley Health Systems Inc., Sybertsville, is offering CPR and/or first aid classes on Saturday at 9 a.m. and Oct. 24 at 6 p.m.
+For more information, call 570-208-2929 Monday to Friday between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.
+Drums
+- Drums Garden Club will hold its regular monthly meeting in the social room of Good Shepherd Church, Drums.
+The business meeting will be held at 1 p.m. followed by refreshments.
+Frackville
+- Venue4Him, and outreach of Frackville Four Square Church, in conjunction with Schuylkill Mall and Schuylkill Mall Theatres' Movie on the Mountain, will host Fire on the Mountain Saturday.
+The free event will take place outside at the Movies on the Mountain drive-in lot.
+The night will kickoff with a concert of contemporary Christian music, beginning at 5 p.m.
+Following the concert, a double feature will be shown on the digital drive-in screen, beginning at 7 p.m.
+Movies will be "October Baby" and "Courageous."
+The entire family is invited.
+Freeland
+- VFW Home Association Post 5010 will hold its monthly meeting on Tuesday at 7 p.m. at the post home.
+VFW Post 5010 will have its monthly meeting immediately following the home association meeting.
+- The Freeland Municipal Water and Sewer Authority will hold a special meeting for general purposes today at 7 p.m. at the authority office, 711 Birkbeck St.
+- Zumba fitness with Sandy Lapchak will be held today at 5:30 p.m.
+For more information, call the YMCA at 570-636-3640.
+- Sunday at the club.
+- The Freeland YMCA soccer program will begin today at 5:45 p.m.
+Anyone who would still like to register for this program can contact the Freeland YMCA at 570-636-3640 or freelandymca@verizon.net.
+- pirohi workers of St. Mary's Byzantine Catholic Church will be making potato and prune pirohi on Thursday.
+To order, call 570-636-1426 today and Tuesday between 3 and 7 p.m.
+Pickup is on Thursday between 2 and 4 p.m. in the rectory garage.
+Containers are provided.
+- Freeland Pool League:
+Last week's results - Clover II 11, Legion I 10; Legion II 14, Clover I 7; TOS 14, Jeddo 7.
+Tonight's matches - Clover I at Jeddo; Legion I at Legion II; TOS at Clover II.
+- The Freeland Northside Community Ambulance Association will hold its monthly meeting today at 7 p.m. at the station.
+All board members and corps officers are requested to attend for the annual officers' photo.
+Jack Brogan, chairman, will be in charge.
+Girardville
+- The borough of Girardville will conduct curbside recycling collection on Oct. 30 and 31..
+- Front & Center.
+- The Sodality of the Madonna del Monte of Most Precious Blood Church will meet Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. in the church hall. All members are invited to attend.
+Hobbie
+- A family style roast beef dinner will be held from 3 to 7 p.m. on Oct. 13 at St. James Lutheran Church, Hobbie.
+Tiickets are available at the door. Cost is $10 for adults and $5 for children 5 to 12 years old. Children 4 and under are free.
+Adult takeouts will be available. For more information, call 570-868-3618 or 570-379-3878.
+Mahanoy City
+- The ACTION (Active Christian Teens In Our Neighborhood) Youth Group will sponsor its annual Thanksgiving/Christmas food drive in Mahanoy City for the St. Vincent de Paul Society on Oct. 14.
+Residents are asked to turn on their porch lights at 6 p.m. if they would like to donate any non-perishable food items.
+Residents should call Debbie at 570-773-0813 if they do not have a porch light.
+The food drive benefits the Blessed Teresa of Calcutta Church Food Pantry in Mahanoy City.
+Mountain Top
+- The Wright Township Recreation Board will sponsor a Halloween parade in the Wright Township Recreation Park on Oct. 27 beginning at 1 p.m.
+Refreshments will be provided by Supervisor Daniel N. Frascella Sr., Weis Markets and Carone's Supermarket, and will be served by the Kiwanis Club.
+- Mountain Top Hose Company No. 1 and the Mountain Top Area Ambulance Association will host an open house on Oct. 21 from 1 to 4 p.m. at their respective stations to display their new vehicles to the community.
+Events include a Life Flight landing (weather permitting), free face-painting and free hot dogs and soft drinks.
+More activities are being planned.
+- The Mountain Top Photo Club will hold a photo exhibit on Oct. 26 from 7 to 9 p.m. at Wilkes-Barre General Hospital's Mountain Top Campus, 239 S. Mountain Blvd., Mountain Top, between Weis Market and Steve Shannon's on Route 309.
+Approximately 150 photos will be on display. Most of the group's photographers will be available to discuss their work. Light refreshments will be served.
+For more information, visit club.com or email mountaintopphotoclub@gmail.com.
+Nuremberg
+- A free influenza immunization clinic will be held on Oct. 18 from 4 to 7 p.m. in the Schuylkill Mall's Community Room.
+This free clinic is open to the public.
+Anyone more than 6 months old is welcome.
+Pardeesville
+- The Pardeesville Recreation Association will meet today at 6 p.m. at the pavilion.
+Members will be discussing the upcoming haunted trail.
+Members are reminded to return waivers and sponsor forms at this time. Also at this time, flyers can be picked up to be distributed.
+Shenandoah
+- Plans have been finalized for the first Italian Day in the Garden set for 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday at American Legion Memorial Garden, adjacent to the Anthony P. Damato American Legion "Medal of Honor" Post 792, in the 100 block of North Main Street.
+The downtown bash will include entertainment from noon to 4 p.m., children's games, face-painting and Italian specialties such as pasta fagiola, Italian wedding soup, pierogies Italiano, pasta with pepperoni meat sauce, sausage hoagies with peppers and onions as well hot dogs and a sweets table.
+Proceeds will benefit the 100th anniversary celebration of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Roman Catholic Church, West Washington Street.
+Everyone is welcome.
+- In response to Pope Benedict XVI's proclamation of a "Year of Faith," which will officially begin on Thursday, the students and faculty of Trinity Academy will celebrate a special prayer service on Wednesday at 1:15 p.m. at Annunciation BVM Roman Catholic Church, Cherry and Chestnut streets, Shenandoah.
+The public is invited to join the Trinity Academy school community for this prayerful celebration, which will also include light refreshments being served afterward in the school cafeteria.
+Pope Benedict's proclamation said Oct. 11 was selected as the official beginning of the Year of Faith because it marks the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council.
+The official closing date is Nov. 24, 2013 in conjunction with the Catholic Church celebration of the Solemnity of our Lord Jesus Christ, Universal King.
+Tamaqua
+- Tamaqua area residents can participate in a safety survey and pick up a $10 gift card to Boyer's Market during Heritage Day festivities on Oct. 17..
+Weatherly
+- The Weatherly Area Soccer Parents will meet on Oct. 16 at 6 p.m. at the high school in Mr. Neil's classroom.
+All high school girls and boys soccer parents are welcome.
+- Citizens Fire Company Dart League results:
+Men's high shooters - Mike R., 42, 37, 36; Norm, 37; Danny, 42, 41; Frank, 37; Jason, 42; Shannon, 39, 36;Â Darrell, 35.
+Women's high shooters -Cathy, 27, 26; Bern, 22.
+Danny K. shot two 9s and Jason B. shot one.
+- The Weatherly Senior Center is closed today in observance of Columbus Day.
+- The Weatherly Area High School senior parents will meet Wednesday at 7 p.m. at the Citizens Fire Company to discuss the All- Night Party.
+Each parent will be receiving a letter in the mail with details explaining upcoming plans.
+- The Weatherly Area School Board will meet in regular session Wednesday at 7 p.m. in the middle school large group instruction p.m.
+Refreshments will be available.
+- Penn State Extension and Monroe County Conservation District will host the 2012 Farm Tour, which will connect consumers with local producers on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
+Participants will have the opportunity to visit local farms to learn about their available products and farm management.Â
+Brochures and maps for this self-guided tour are available at participating farms; Penn State Extension Office, 724 Phillips St., Suite 201, Stroudsburg, or at extension.psu.edu/monroe/events.
+No pre-registration is required. Participants may start and end at any participating farm, attend all or just a few.
+- The Weatherly Area High School Class of 2013 will hold a Chinese auction at the Laurel Mall on Saturday and Sunday.
+Seniors are being asked to pair up and make a basket to be donated for the fundraiser.
+Baskets must be ready by Friday.
+For more information, email dolinskyb@weatherly sd.org or derrc@weatherlysd .org.
+- The Weatherly Area PTA's Reflections contest for 2012-2013,.
+The deadline for entries is Oct. 16.
+- Centenary United Methodist Church will hold an unbaked pizza sale on Oct. Sunday.
+Help to prepare for the sale will be needed on Oct. 18 at 6 p.m. at the church and on the morning of the sale at 8 a.m. to assemble the pizzas.
+- American Legion Post 360 will hold its all-you-can-eat breakfast on Oct. 21 from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the post home, 360 Veterans Lane.
+The menu will include pancakes, sausage, bacon, scrambled eggs, home fries, S.O.S., toast, coffee, tea and juices.
+Price is $7 for adults and a donation for children 12 years old and under.
+Proceeds will benefit children and youth and veterans programs.
+- The Weatherly Area High School sophomore class is selling a variety of pies, cheesecakes, pumpkin roll and nut roll for Thanksgiving.
+Order forms were distributed to class members this week. Those who have a son or daughter in the Class of 2015 and did not get an order form should contact class advisors Diane Polchin or Terry Hartz. Orders are due Oct. 17 with delivery expected on Nov. 20.
+To order, call Polchin at 570-427-8240 or see any member of the sophomore class.
+- The Citizens Fire Company kitchen Saturday hours will not begin until Oct. 27.
+West Hazleton
+- Join Alyson Disabella Cara for a Zumba-thon fundraiser to benefit the West Hazleton Baseball Association at 5 p.m. Saturdayon
+- The Weston Athletic Association will meet Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. at the Nuremberg/Weston Fire Company building.
+Are you a member of Weston or the surrounding community? If so, you may become a member of the WAA and support the revitalization of the community park. Annual membership dues are $5 for an individual and $10 for a family.
+For more information, contact Brea at 570-987-4074. Donations are welcome.
+The park is available for rent.
+If it is a given that man is an animal, as is so famously articulated in Aristotle’s famous dictum that man is a social animal, then there should be no good reason to exclude ideas which, in general, are meant to apply to man as an animal, from animals. So in the case of vegetarianism: if there is an argument suitably argued against vegetarianism for animals qua animals then it will apply to man insofar as he is an animal as well.
+This is the case in an interesting passage from the first book of Aristotle’s Politics.
+For some animals, when they are created, at the outset bring forth with them in the process of creation (τοῖς γεννωμένοις) so much nourishment as is adequate until the time when the animal itself is able to provide for itself; for example those animals which have larvae or eggs. As many animals as give birth to live young, they have nourishment in themselves for a given time, the substance called milk. So that clearly one must think that [there is nourishment] for the things which have been created (γενομένοις), plants on account of animals and the other animals for the sake of humans. The tame animals are for the use and nourishment of mankind, while the wild ones, if not all, most of them, are on account of nourishment and help, in order that clothes and other tools come to be from these. And therefore, if nature does nothing in vain or without a purpose, it is necessary that nature made all of these on account of humans (Translation mine, Aristotle, Politics, 1256b10-22) [1]
+Aristotle, not uncharacteristically, is running together lines of thought, arguments and assumptions. He begins from the idea that in nature when an animal is in the process of being former, it is supplied by nature with some form of physical sustenance, such as an egg providing not only a type of shelter but also some nutrition for the growing embryo. To Aristotle, this is a universal feature for animal life; even in the case of animals which give birth to live young, their mothers are capable of lactation to provide this same sustenance in a different manner. Thus, the thinking goes, when an animal is past the initial stage of life, nature would likewise still provide it with nourishment as when it has reached the point of maturity.
+Latent within this passage is the idea that once nature has delivered an animal into its full physical maturity, it will have come to possess capabilities to procure food by its own means.[2] Thus, there is still a need for food, but the initial form of food, such as a lactating mother, is not longer present for the animal. The animal feels the urge to continue feeding, and in Aristotle’s mind, it has a natural instinct to seek those things which will best suit its appetite. Among those things are both plants and animals. Thus vegetarianism is ruled out, albeit Aristotle does need some detail work in explaining the nuances of this idea in full.
+Lastly, there is the point made about nature doing nothing in vain. What does he mean in applying that thought in this case? (1) Either that nature does not bring an animal into maturity to just let it die since it has no way to get food (e.g. a human baby dies because it cannot find food); but this would be absurd. (2) Or nature does not bring an animal into existence for it not be used in the proper way (i.e. cows are made for hamburgers, for leather, and for milk) (3) Or both, to put it somewhat directly, the predator and prey are made for a purpose, and both fulfill their roles.
+REFERENCES:
+[1] καὶ γὰρ κατὰ τὴν ἐξ ἀρχῆς γένεσιν τὰ μὲν συνεκ- (10)
+τίκτει τῶν ζῴων τοσαύτην τροφὴν ὥσθ’ ἱκανὴν εἶναι μέχρις
+οὗ ἂν δύνηται αὐτὸ αὑτῷ πορίζειν τὸ γεννηθέν, οἷον ὅσα
+σκωληκοτοκεῖ ἢ ᾠοτοκεῖ· ὅσα δὲ ζῳοτοκεῖ, τοῖς γεννωμένοις
+ἔχει τροφὴν ἐν αὑτοῖς μέχρι τινός, τὴν τοῦ καλουμένου γά-
+λακτος φύσιν. ὥστε ὁμοίως δῆλον ὅτι καὶ γενομένοις οἰη- (15)
+τέον τά τε φυτὰ τῶν ζῴων ἕνεκεν εἶναι καὶ τὰ ἄ διὰ τὴν τροφήν, τῶν δ’ ἀγρίων, εἰ μὴ πάντα, ἀλλὰ
+τά γε πλεῖστα τῆς τρο. εἰ οὖν ἡ (20)
+φύσις μηθὲν μήτε ἀτελὲς ποιεῖ μήτε μάτην, ἀναγκαῖον
+τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἕνεκεν αὐτὰ πάντα πεποιηκέναι τὴν φύσιν.
+[2] Unsurprisingly, Aristotle will include hunting among the means.
+Hi, and thanks for creating this blog. It’s been too long since anybody maintained a good, regular blog for ancient Greek and Roman philosophy, and it’s good to see somebody doing it.
+Your post on Aristotle and vegetarianism touches on a number of points that I find especially interesting. Two issues in particular come to mind, one interpretive and one more broadly philosophical. The interpretive issue concerns how we should understand the teleological ideas in the passage you quote; the philosophical issue is whether, on any plausible interpretation of the passage, Aristotle has given us a good argument against vegetarianism.
+On the interpretive level, the Politics passage you quote seems, at first sight, to appeal to a straightforwardly anthropocentric conception of teleology, not unlike what we find attributed to Socrates by Xenophon (in Memorabilia IV.3): plants and animals are the way they are at least in part so that we can eat them; they’re designed for our benefit, and so it’s natural and (presumably) therefore appropriate for us to kill and eat them. The trouble with this interpretation is that Aristotle elsewhere seems resolutely committed to a non-anthropocentric conception of teleology; not only are most things in the world not the way they are in order that they will benefit us, but the teleological order of plants and animals is strictly species-relative: each kind of living thing is the way it is for its own sake, not for the sake of some other living things. This conception of teleology as fundamentally internal to the lives of specific sorts of living thing even seems to be, for Aristotle, a weak criterion of something’s being a distinct living thing with its own nature; whatever exists primarily for the sake of something else is either essentially a part of that thing or is an artifact rather than a natural being. Of course, there are some other prominent passages in the Aristotelian corpus that also seem to contradict that idea by appealing to anthropocentric teleology; Physics II.8, for example, seems to regard rainfall as occurring in order to make crops grow so that we can eat them. Some scholars have therefore thought that Aristotle’s teleology is anthropocentric after all. But in my view, at least, the scholars who argue against that interpretation are correct.
+There is a whole massive literature on this topic that I can’t even begin to do justice to, but the gist of the story is that while Aristotle recognizes that many things in nature occur for the sake of something external to them, these external or cross-species teleological relations are never fundamental; in particular, they do not play a causal role in explaining why living things are the way they are or why certain natural processes regularly occur. Rather, they are instead explained by appeal to more fundamental features of living things and their modes of life, features that are in turn susceptible to explanation in terms of strictly internal teleological relations (in the case of rainfall and the like, there would be no intrinsic or internal teleological explanation to be had, but the regularity of the processes involved allows them to be incorporated and used by living things into their own processes and activities, which admit of just such intrinsic or internal teleological explanation). To quote Mariska Leunissen on our Politics passage above:
+“It is important to recognize that Aristotle’s focus here is on the existence of natural beings qua food; plants and animals are for the sake of human beings qua being the foodstuffs without which humans would not be able to live. The teleology that accounts for the use human beings make of other living beings is therefore secondary: it reveals the perspective of the user, who makes use of what is provided by nature for his or her own good…it is the predator that it adapted to use and digest the food that is available, not the food to the predator…the thorny bushes are not the way they are (that is, bristly, woody, and fibrous), and do not grow where and when they do, because there are camels in their neighborhood that can only eat such food. Aristotle mentions no examples of plants or animals that are the way they are for the sake of becoming the right kind of food for some other being and the fact that formal natures of animals — if possible — develop means for protection or defense indicates that natural teleology is restricted to the life and well-being of the individual animal…the individual formal natures make sure that each individual kind of living being is able to benefit from the foods in its environment, which amounts — generally speaking — to ‘nature providing food for all.’.” (Explanation and Teleology in Aristotle’s Science of Nature, 41-43).
+I prefer Leunissen’s sort of interpretation on three grounds: it is a plausible interpretation of the various passages in which Aristotle seems to embrace external or anthropocentric teleological explanations; it is more consistent with the great majority of passages in the corpus, which seem clearly to rule out such external teleology as a fundamental explanatory factor; and it gives Aristotle a much more philosophically and empirically plausible view of the world.
+That said, we might doubt whether Aristotle’s argument gives us good arguments against vegetarianism even on the interpretation I prefer. The argument, so construed, seems to be something like this: human beings are by nature structured in such a way that eating meat benefits us by sustaining our life and health; life and health are goods that we should at least usually pursue; therefore we should (or at least can) eat meat.
+Some might want to challenge the second premise or the movement from the premises to the conclusion on the basis of some sort of impersonal or absolutist conception of the good; utilitarians, for instance, might think that what we should really aim at most of all is the greatest achievable welfare of the greatest number of sentient beings, and so we should refuse at least to kill animals to eat them even if it means that we human beings are less well off than we might otherwise be, since vegetarianism would yield a greater gain in non-human animal welfare than loss in human welfare. With Aristotle, I would reject this sort of impersonal or absolutist conception of the good in favor of one grounded on individual human flourishing; what we should and should not do is, ultimately, determined by what does and does not contribute to our flourishing as the kinds of animals we are. If that’s right, objections like the utilitarian’s and others are off the table.
+But even a thoroughgoing Aristotelian has ample reason to doubt whether there are good reasons not to be a vegetarian. Simply put, the first premise seems either false or too weak. It is false if it is taken to mean that we must eat meat in order to survive and be healthy; it is too weak if it is taken to mean only that eating meat is one good way of surviving and maintaining health. For some human beings in some conditions, eating meat has been and remains the best or even the only way to survive and remain healthy. For most of us who have the privilege of sitting down to consider whether we should be vegetarians, however, that is simply not true; while it might be more difficult to do so, it is perfectly possible for most of us to get along perfectly well on a vegetarian diet, and it would be much easier if vegetarianism were more widely practiced. Since eating meat isn’t the only way of achieving and sustaining the bodily aspect of our well-being, if there are other good reasons to refrain from it, then our natural adaptation to it would be insufficient to defeat those reasons.
+Are there such reasons? I doubt Aristotle thought so himself, and as I remarked above an Aristotelian will not recognize impersonal or absolute notions of goodness as fundamental reasons for refraining from meat. But if it is an aspect of human well-being to cultivate a benevolent appreciation for the natural world — as I think, but will not argue here, that it is — then that would seem to be a powerful reason to avoid eating meat, or at least to avoid killing animals or contributing to the practice of killing them, since there are few things more contrary to a benevolent appreciation for something than destroying it in order to consume it. People who are not in a position to avoid eating meat can, I think, do so with a more or less benevolent appreciation for what it is they are doing, and many traditional cultures (though not, I think, the ancient Greeks on the whole) developed ways of recognizing and acknowledging that killing and eating animals was, to put it in Aristotelian terms, necessary but not noble. But just about anybody reading this post (or reading Aristotle at all) does not have the excuse of necessity.
+So I don’t think Aristotle has a very good argument against vegetarianism, at least not in the Politics passage you quote. Despite this, I had a turkey sandwich about an hour ago, because that is how far I am from setting nobility above (faux-) necessity.
+To end on a more scholarly note, it is curious that Aristotle does not more directly address the ethics of eating meat, since it was a topic of debate among Pythagoreans and others whose views Aristotle certainly knew (e.g., Empedocles). He mentions Empedocles’ view somewhere in the Rhetoric, I think, and the fragments of Theophrastus suggest that he was an out-and-out vegetarian. But the question seems not to have exercised him very much.
+Thanks again for writing this blog. I hope to keep up with it as it develops!
+David,
+Thank you for your considered response and overall encouragement regarding the blog.
+I am only casually acquainted enough with the kind of literature you cite to know that the standard interpretation is dubious about cross-species teleology. A few points. One is, well, we have got this passage here, which I find is difficult to explain on a non-anthropocentric interpretation. If as you suggest, however, we are meant to take animals as “for humans” in the sense that they are food, I find this unsatisfying and I will say why in a moment. To begin however, Aristotle presumes animals are fundamental, non-replacable, constituents for human life. If this were not so, I would find it hard to imagine what he means by nature doing nothing in vain in the case of animals which humans, and humans in a unique manner, utilize in some sense. viz. If humans were to adopt vegetarianism or abstain from animal-killing in general, these animals would come into existence in vain, but ex hypthesi nature does nothing in vain. Now as far as this touches on the idea that animals are for humans “qua food,” I think this is mistaken. On my take, cows, say, are for humans not qua food but qua animals. Among these uses qua animal are: beef, leather, fats, gelatin, various biochemical ingredients. Furthermore, I think it implausible to imagine that Aristotle believed animals had to be eaten, because they provided nutrients unavailable elsewhere; in fact, as you note, he was aware of a whole community, Pythagoreans, who seemed to sustain themselves without meat. Therefore I would say it is as animals, at the genus, not the species (e.g. cow, chicken, horse) and not qua food, that Aristotle says animals are for humans. On a side note, I am uncomfortable with attempts (unless they are unashamedly bald attempts at forming a neo-aristotelianism) to incorporate Darwinian anti-teleological explanations in Aristotelian biology, which I take Leunissen to be doing.
+I think we might want to strengthen or clarify your premise 1, “human beings are by nature structured in such a way that eating meat benefits us by sustaining our life and health.” Now the benefit might be a kind of straightforward, on-the-side-of-a-cereal-box nutritional concern, wherein animals and animals alone provide essential vitamins and minerals x,y, and z or an equivalent scenario. So if you undermine the idea that animals are necessary for nutrition, this premise falls. But Aristotle does not tell us whether the benefits are exclusively nutritional, and in fact, unless you assume that eating food is exclusively a nutritional concern, there are other reasons to eat animals. Animal eating might serve as a necessary psychological anodyne to the monotony of eating (ever tried sticking to a diet which only allowed certain foods!?), or a way for the farmer to make sufficient money off his herd (so a political concern), or as way to regulate wild/domestic animal populations (another political concern), or in general, as a practice of frugality.
+Thanks for the reply. The trouble with your interpretation of the teleology in the passage is that it is inconsistent with the vast majority of texts in which Aristotle appeals to teleological notions to explain living things. So if you read it that way, you’ll be compelled to say either that he changed his mind, that he is here simply appealing to some sort of common view that he doesn’t really endorse, or that he’s just hopelessly confused. Similar problems plague the anthropocentric interpretation of the rainfall example in Physics II.8; Aristotle explicitly tells us elsewhere that rainfall occurs as the result of material necessity and does not offer a teleological explanation of its occurrence, so if we think that Phys II.8 is committed to the claim that rainfall occurs primarily in order that humans can grow crops, we have to attribute to him a view that is idiosyncratic by his own lights. The distinction between what Leunissen calls primary and secondary teleology isn’t ad hoc, either; Aristotle tells us in several places that “for the sake of” expressions may pick out the internal goal of an activity or process or simply point to the beneficiary of a goal or process, and expressions of the form “X for the sake of Y” may either identify intrinsic causal relations (in which case they contribute to explaining why X happens) or incidental relations (in which case they don’t). In other words, the material for an interpretation like Leunissen’s (which in this respect is much like Monte Johnson’s and resembles those of Allan Gotthelf and Jim Lennox — in other words, the most outstanding scholars of Aristotelian biology and teleology in the past generation) is ready to hand in Aristotle’s general treatment of causation and explanation.
+So too, I think it is at best misleading to describe Leunissen’s sort of interpretation as Darwinian and anti-teleological. Setting aside whether Darwin’s view requires a kind of teleological explanation (on which check out Lennox’s ‘Darwin Was a Teleologist’, Biology and Philosophy 8.4 (1993), 409-421), it’s clear that Leunissen’s does. As she reads Aristotle, camels have the sorts of stomach they do in order to eat the kind of food that is available to them in the environment they inhabit; the function of eating rough, bristly thorn bushes explains why the camel has a stomach structured in the way that it does. This is not a Darwinian explanation because Aristotle does not think that the camel’s structure evolved over time to meet this need; he thinks there have always been camels that have always had stomachs structured so as to eat bristly thorn bushes. In terms sometimes used by contemporary philosophers of biology, Aristotle’s teleological explanations are “systemic” rather than “historical”; intrinsic final causes identify the role that some features of a living thing play in its overall functioning as an organic system, and the status of a function does not depend on its having been ‘selected for’ at some point in the past. Part of the view may or may not be that the achievement of the telos plays a crucial role in sustaining the structure that regularly acts so as to produce it (though there is debate about whether this so-called “etiological” interpretation of final causes is either true for Aristotle or applies to every case of what he regards as a final cause). But in any case it’s clear that what we have here is a form of teleological realism, not the sort of view popularly associated with Darwinism on which things only seem to act for ends.
+One of Leunissen’s arguments against the anthropocentric interpretation strikes me as a pretty decisive philosophical objection to the view, as well, whether or not Aristotle held it in the Politics passage or elsewhere. If we take teleology seriously as a mode of explanation, then what we are saying is that the telos in some sense explains why a living thing has the features it does. On your anthropocentric view, animals as such exist in order to be food for human beings. But that purported telos does a very poor job of explaining the features that many animals have; for one of the things that virtually all of them have is a set of structures and behavioral dispositions to protect and defend themselves against attempts to kill and eat them, whether those attempts are ours or those of other animals. To hold that feeding human beings is the function of animals as such wouldn’t just commit us to saying that nature systematically does something in vain, but that it systematically thwarts the achievement of the fundamental telos of most animals; the anthropocentric teleology is just empirically and explanatorily inadequate. Since I take Aristotle to have been no slouch when it came to offering explanations of empirical phenomena in biology, I take the inadequacy of the anthropocentric theory as a reason to think that he didn’t believe it. But whether or not he believed it, it’s a very strong reason to reject it anyway.
+Nonetheless, the claim that nature does nothing in vain is not inexplicable on a Leunissen-style interpretation. On any reading, that phrase cannot mean that everything that happens has a purpose; rather it means something to the effect that the fundamental structural features of substances with a nature — i.e., with an internal source of motion and rest — occur for the sake of an end. On Leunissen’s reading, what nature hasn’t done in vain is to make human beings such as to require food but to be unable to acquire or eat it; as natural beings, we are by nature structured in such a way as to be able to eat animals and to devise the means of getting them to eat. This is a true and non-trivial claim in several respects: we would not be successful as organic beings if we could not eat or get food, and we are in fact structured in ways that make us carnivorous, unlike many other animals; indeed, for most of human history a diet without meat would have led to malnutrition or even death. Nature does nothing in vain in that natural beings that are not ill-formed or somehow disabled in their development are structured in ways that enable them to survive and flourish; Aristotle may have underestimated the frequency with which things turn out ill-formed or are developmentally stunted, but he was basically right about this. So on this view, unlike the anthropocentric one, Aristotle turns out to have been an insightful biological thinker (as many biologists have attested) rather than a curiously inept armchair teleologist. I go for that reading.
+I do think that Aristotle thinks it’s good for us to eat meat because it’s in accordance with our nature. I have misgivings about that claim, as I sketched out last time, but I don’t think it’s crazy or something that he wouldn’t have held given that he knew that Pythagoreans and Empedocleans could survive and not become utterly sickly without eating meat (though perhaps they did seem sickly; they must have suffered from numerous nutritional deficiencies, especially if they were serious about avoiding beans). Particularly when we add fish into the mix, it’s not difficult to suppose that Aristotle had tolerably sensible empirical reasons to think that anyone who abstained from eating animals altogether was acting to the detriment of his health. This is one of those things where subsequent historical experience and different social conditions can legitimately lead us to different ethical conclusions. So maybe it was reasonable for Aristotle to reject vegetarianism. I’m just not sure it’s reasonable for us.
+That said, I think it may be time for lunch.
+Dave,
+I will post a more advanced answer later, on two fronts:
+One trying to address the rain issue you mentioned from the Physics, a post in which I will deal with this issue (and perhaps change my mind!) and another on the broader methodological interpretative issue, which although I am more confident on, I am not sure if will satisfactorily address this issue in particular.
+When I have made those posts, I will make reference to them in this comment, and this comment will itself be deleted. Until then, you will certainly have the upper hand.
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+Set Visit: Red Interview with Karl Urban
+Click here to see the brand new Morgan Freeman character banner from RED!!
+Example: Urban walks up in black slacks and a blue dress shirt. The sleeves are rolled up and half of his buttons on the shirt are unbuttoned showing his manly bare chest. Later he regales us with tales of drinking too many Hurricanes and owning a small lightsaber collection. He also gets into some details on the next STAR TREK films as well as some info on the constantly delayed PRIEST. They literally had to yank the guy from the table. He wanted to make sure he answered every question we had. I often wondered when he would come back...
+Karl Urban
+>>IMAGE?
+Yeah. I mean it is extraordinary. I cant recollect in recent history such a phenomenal cast assembled for one movie. So, yeah, I was pretty jazzed to get here.Were you familiar with the comics for your part to the movie?
+I did, yeah. I mean I read the comic before shooting. Which, I mean the comic is really like the first act; its hardly even the first act. And, you know, it is really interesting to see how they have developed it and fleshed it out and injected a great more characters and comedy. The movie is a lot more complex.Who is your character again?
+I play a CIA agent whose name is William Cooper. And it is my job to essentially hunt down Frank, Bruces character. There is a lethal finding that has been put out on him, which basically means Ive got a government sanctioned hit to take him out.You are the one that initiates the hit then?
+I dont initiate it. I carry it out.Oh, you carry it out? OK. Is it a physical role for you then?ve played all sorts of characters. Do you do a lot of research? Like, for something like this where you are playing an agent, do you do that research or do you sort of just jump on it and say, Ive got this.
+No, no, no. I think thatd be a mistake to enter into any role thinking that youve?
+Yes there are.There are? OK.
+How important is it to take a role like this, with the success of Star Trek, and get away from where you play a darker character?
+No, I havent really thought about it in terms of its importance. I just I read the script and really responded to the character. He is a cool character; he starts in one place with one point of view and ends somewhere completely different. Its got a great arc. And then, also, the wonderful thing about it is that I play a CIA hit man but I have family. I havent seen that or had the opportunity to play something like that before, so there was quite a, sort of, like a real sort of fun dynamic to the role, which that is what attracted me.Do you see your family?
+Yes, you do. You get to see him at work and then at home with his family. There are some classic scenes of doing a hit and talking on the phone with the wife about the kids! And it is just its so bizarre. Im looking forward to seeing it.Your wife knows what you do in the movie, right? Or does she not know?
+She knows that I work for the company, but thats about it. Its like you know, its one of those things where you have an understanding, but, OK. Dad cant talk about work. You know, like, Dont ask! So there are some days Im coming home and Im covered in bruises and banged up, which is what I do after meeting Bruces ? Whats it like on the set when you are not filming?
+Ill say a few things about Bruce. Ive been watching his work for years. First of all, it was really refreshing to sit and meet him and find out that all your kind of expectations of who he might be is not Ill just say I wasnt disappointed in who he was. He was very open and generous with time and his ideas. And, you know, he is I think if he wasnt such a major movie star, hed make a phenomenal stuntman. He is one of the most coordinated actors Ive ever worked with.Do you get any good funny lines in the film or do you play it pretty straight?
+I play it pretty straight. I get thrown in some funny situations that, you know my job is very kind of Kill him.You obviously have some hand to hand combat with some of the actors
+Well, I do. I have a massive fight sequence with Bruce Willis. Yeah.Whats it like to punch Bruce Willis?
+Oh, it was great![laughter]
+One of my favorite bits in the thing is I take this coffee cup and hurl it as his face. And to his credit, he took it right smack on the head. It actually cut him and he started bleeding.Ah, really?
+Yeah. I made him bleed.Dude, he is going to find you So Bruce is a bleeder, huh?
+Bruce was fine. His makeup artist wasnt too happy about it.[laughter]
+The movie also has Morgan, John Malkovich. Could you talk about being a fan of theirs and what they were like?Morgan and I sort of really didnt have to do within this film. But obviously, I have such a long-standing, deep appreciation of not only his work but Johns as well. Same with John I sort of really only had a limited amount to do with him in the film. But the course of the film Ive shit! And the customs guy confiscated the lot!
+But he is like he is constantly coming out with these little, you know, really insane stories. But hes yeah, he is one of a kind. Hes classic.How many days have you been on set and working, and what ?
+I think I was about 30 out of 60.And what did you find in this experience? What challenged you as an actor? What challenged you in this location or this schedule? How was this situation different? I mean it was 30 days.
+Wow, thats?
+Yeah, in Toronto. It was absolutely freezing. Challenge-wiseFor instance, with your weapons training or physical training, anything like that, was that a challenge?Do you like to shoot guns in your free time?
+Yeah, I do, actually. I just went out just a couple of days ago with Buster and went to a range here. And we literally spent 600 bucks. We were there for a couple of hours, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang. It was great.I have to ask, if you're walking on Bourbon Street, can you blend in? Or do people immediately want come up to you, especially with Star Trek and the success of that film, do they immediately look at you and they know?.But you can't walk around Bourbon Street and drink Hurricanes all night the way we can, right?
+Well, actually.[laughter]
+Why wouldn't you? Hence, the glasses.[laughter]
+Do you have an American accent in the film?
+I do.Is that something you enjoy? Is that a challenge??
+Well, you know, really it is a big nod back to the silent movie days. You had westerns, and obviously the villain in the western typically wore a black hat. So, visually it takes its cue off that.Body language the same? Any twirly of mustaches or anything?.
+Yeah. [laughs]I'm just curious though. Vampires seem to be that whole genre seem to be taking off. Summit has the Twilight franchise. Priest, True Blood it seems like everybody is making vampire movies. What do you think is the appeal right now of the vampire genre?
+I think it's kind of sexy. Most definitely after, you know, post True Blood and Twilight it's yeah, its really interesting how that whole genre has taken off. I think there is something taboo about it and that is always, I think, very attractive. There is something forbidden about it and sexual, and I think that is a great hook for people. You always want what you cant have.Do you have fear going into a vampire movie that it was part of the bandwagon? Were you just a little bit iffy about taking that role?
+No, no I wasnt at all, actually. I thought, Well, I can take that one off. Ive done that. Id love to I just want to You know, that is what interests me. If I can find something that I havent.What do you think the evolution for your character is going to be in the sequel for Star Trek?
+I have no idea.
+You havent seen a script yet?
+I havent?
+Yeah, I do. Well, Im mainly buying for my kids.When you say kids, that is in quotations, right?
+Ive got a great light saber collection.Wait, wait. I am going to call you on this. What company makes them?
+Oh!Oh, yeah. Im calling you on it!
+Is it It could be Light Force or It could be Master Replica.
+Master Replica, thats it! The ones that yeah. Yeah, yeah. They are brilliant. The ones that light up. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Ive got a Yoda one. Ive got a little green one and then a blue one and a red one, which makes for a lot of fun until you get hit in the face.Whos hitting you in the face with a light saber??
+Yeah. But, you know, I kind of, in many ways, geek out maybe not quite as much as some of the ones. I dont dress up, but I love going there and, you know, seeing all the models of the R2D2s&As or whatever it is...the pressYeah, the press stuff sucks.
+Yeah.[laughter]
+Its OK.Have you done an animated film? Have you done voiceover ?
+No I have not. I have not done that yet. I dont know apart from the next Trek film, I dont know what Im going to do next. I have the opportunity to do a couple of things, but Ive been away for three months, so I am going to go back and spend some time at home before getting to the next thing. And I never know what that is until I read the script and I go, Wow. Thats kind of interesting, or, I havent done that before.
+If I start making decisions about how Id like to play the character while Im reading it or if I connect on some sort of emotional level, that is generally a good indication that it is something that Id like to do.Do you want to direct and produce?
+Thats a good question. Here is the thing. You know, Ive been blessed to work with some truly phenomenal directors. And I have so much respect for everything that comprises their craft. Im Id love to tell if I ever get around to doing something like that.Youve signed on for two Trek sequels, right?
+Correct. Yes.Do you see yourself going beyond those two? Is it going to be just a three movie deal with you guys?
+Again, I dont know. I think that is sort of dependent upon many factors.Will you get bored with it eventually? It sounds like you like a new challenge. Ive got faith in them. If it goes beyond three, then, you know, Id go for it.Have you made any requests to the writing to J.J. or any of the other people working on it where you want your character to go? Have you said something youd like to be included in the next one?
+No. I kind of think you know, I kind of think they are geniuses. We should just let them do what they do. Officially bestow a genius label on them and just let them do it. You know, Ive just got full faith that whatever they come up with is going to equal and surpass the first installment.Can you talk a little bit about being like a young agent up against these old-school Cold War assassins?
+Good question. Yeah, OK. Well, its Ive learned on this, is that you can get tracked on a cell phone not even having it turned on, because it always maintains a residual charge.You have to take the battery out, right?
+Even when it is off. Even when it is off it will always take a residual charge. I think even when you take the battery out, I believe.Really? Wow.
+I could be wrong on that, so because its got to store all your information, so it is constantly emitting something.You are a dangerous actor to know! [laughter]
+No, Im not, but I do know some dangerous people.[laughter]ces?
+Who killed Kennedy.[laughter]
+Unbelievable!
+.
+As a young wife and mother . . .
+she found her cottage in the woods . . . but it was an “Ugly Duckling”
+all alone and abandoned in the woods . . .
+but later, she turned that “Ugly Duckling” into a beautiful Swan.
+The Swan also known as “French Country Cottage“
+As a young mom and filled with excitement about turning her “ugly duckling” into the Swan
+for her family, using her incredible decorating and styling talents,
+she wanted and was encouraged to share her vision with others.
+How could she do that?
+Courtney’s sister encouraged her to start a blog
+to chronicle her journey of restoring the French Country Cottage.
+Courtney’s sister introduced her to the world of blogging and Courtney dug right in.
+Now it wasn’t easy at the beginning. Courtney’s sister seemed to be the only commentor
+for the first six months.
+Courtney continued to follow her heart and dreams . . .
+Like the Little Engine that could . . . but not taking into consideration
+of saying, “I think I can” . . . but the attitude of “I know I can”
+The months following came more readers and her blog grew to great proportions
+as people discovered how beautiful it was and gained much encouragement and inspiration
+from Courtney’s journey.
+What was that quote in the movie, Field of Dreams? (my hubby’s favorite)
+“if you build it, they will come” …… and they did!
+Then came major sponsors . . . and then another dream realized . . .
+becoming the Editor of Romantic Homes Magazine.
+The girl who described herself as the “girl behind the curtain” posing to be
+all confident . . . but sometimes found herself with some doubt . . .
+came out from behind that curtain . . . out on the stage . . . in the front row . . .
+and danced like no one was looking! . . . but they were looking!
+I have known Courtney for years and I can truthfully say, that she has remained
+the same sweet and kind person when I first met her at an event in High Point, N.C. when she was
+just mainly blogging . . . She remains truly a beautiful soul, till this day.
+Courtney took that beautiful and talented soul of hers
+and brought that “Ugly Duckling” cottage back to life,
+unearthing the beautiful soul of the home . . . to become The French Country Cottage.
+Her She Shed!
+So I leave you with this last sneak peek below of Courtney’s book of her most gorgeous,
+romantic and charming home . . . and her amazing story.
+The iconic bicycle we have seen in many settings . . . at her home, at the beach,
+carrying flowers or her sweet fur baby! How appropriate the bike is, adorned with balloons . . .
+celebrating her journey . . . the realization of her hopes and dreams. . .
+So as in the Fairy Tale stories . . . .
+AND THEY LIVED HAPPILY EVER AFTER!!!!
+And speaking of Happily Ever After . . . I love this book so much that I personally want
+to share one with you . . . my dear readers.
+So I am giving away a copy of this book to one lucky reader!
+Just leave me a comment telling me how much you would love to win this book.
+This Giveaway starts today, August 22, 2018 and ends at Midnight, September 5, 2018.
+The giveaway is restricted to residents of the Continental U.S.
+Good luck and have a most beautiful day and may all your dreams come true!
+Courtney’s book is now available on Amazon.
+Note: This is not a sponsored post.
+All glorious reviews are entirely and happily, turning cartwheels across the floor, my own!
+Good morning Shirley, what a beautiful story you told of the sweet and talented Courtney. I know whoever wins this amazing book will enjoy it as much as I have. Wishing you a joy-filled day!
+Courtney’s blog is always such a bright part of the day, very enjoyable! I’m sure her book is fabulous. Thank you, Shirley.
+As I sit here with my morning cup of coffee taking in every word of this beautifully written blog I am in awe. I love following your blog and decorating ideas. Thanks for capturing Courtney’ fairy tale and sharing with your readers. I would love to win this beautiful book.
+Oh yes, I would love a copy of Courtney’s book – how beautifully you have represented her journey!!
+Loved Courtney’s journey. Now my journey is to win this book! Please don’t make me go to Amazon for a copy. I love decorating books and don’t have this one that I love! I collect books of all kinds, but especially decorating ones. I need this one for my collection! Keeping my fingers crossed!
+Shirley you are a beautiful story teller! I follow Courtney’s blog and would love to have her book! Can’t wait to see more of Berry Patch!
+Would love to win the book
+Very well said.
+I would love to have this book! I visited France in May and fell in love with their style!
+It truly is a beautiful swan! Love her story of continuing on and thanks for sharing Shirley.
+You have spun a beautiful story about a truly lovely home. My dream has always been to convert a broken down ugly duckling into a once again love filled swan. I would think it simply delightful to receive a copy of Courtney’s gorgeous, inspiring book. I am enjoying following your new adventure…keep the inspiration coming!
+Shirley, How lovely you tell the story! I have followed Vourtney’s blog for quite some time and admire her vision and determination! I would love to have her book!
+Of course I meant Courtney’s blog!!
+I am loving her book. It came last week but didn’t start it until this week. I have enjoyed her blog from when I started. She has given me encouragement through her story to follow my passion of decorating my home. Now in this new house I have discovered my style over the past few years
+Whoever gets this book will be happy
+Cindy
+Shirley, what a beautiful story! Courtney is so talented and has such a gorgeous home! Enjoy your day!!!
+Courtney’s book speaks to my soul! So many gorgeous ideas to stimulate my own creative process!! Thanks for the giveaway op! I’ve followed your blog for several years and love it immensely!
+It would so fun to page through this gorgeous book of beautiful things
+I could get a lot of inspiration from this book!
+Courtney’s book is one to keep on the coffee table for all to enjoy. She is so talented and so are you!
+Love your blog.
+betsy
+Quite the inspiring story! I too would love to win her book!!!
+How wonderful to watch someone grow like that. I’m sure her book is a treasure!
+would love this book
+I love Courtney, she has angelic style! Her book looks lovely! I would love to have this book to read and savor the pretty pictures!
+Blessings
+This book looks so lovely, Courtney’s pictures are always beautiful as are yours! Thanks, Shirley!
+I would love to win this book and would pour over every page. Her jourtney is a dream come true and you have said it perfectly. How lucky you are to know her! I wish I had been blogging when my son was transforming very ugly ducking houses into beautiful swans. It is a true talent. Have a most beautiful day, Shirley.
+I love her story and woul enjoy readina this book!! How encouraging and inspiring!
+I love her story and would enjoy reading her book! How inspiring!
+What a lovely story about your friend’s decorating journey. I would love to have a copy of her book.
+I would love to win Courtney’s book!
+I am addicted to decorating magazines and books! I would love to win a copy. Thank you for the give-away, Shirley!
+Oh how I would love to have this book…
+I’ve always looked forward to your blog, We speak the same language! Love of everything French! Thanks for the chance to win this beautiful book, filled with some hope I could use right now. Thanks for showing me great ideas from the pictures. I admire your flexibility to move in a temporary home while building your Dream Home, which is what we just did-what a ride! I also admire that you make even a temporary home so very beautiful, Thanks
+Holy mackerel!!! Talk about living the dream!!! Courtney ought to be kneeling on rice paper and thanking her sister DAILY for the push of encouragement!!! We all dream, but how many of us actually get to take it to the limit? Fabulous!!!!!! I’d love to have this book because I am studying and planning (it’s a slow go because the choices are endless!) to redecorate our home. I’m looking at it as a little gift from me to me via my husband’s wallet!😉 I spent so much time cooped up in here over the last few years with these stupid surgeries, and now I’m ready to change things up. God forbid I have to go through any of that again, but if I do I would like to at least have a fresh look going on so I don’t lose my ever-lovin’ mind!!!
+Thanks for the opportunity! And thanks for sharing these gorgeous pictures. They lit a little fire under me to go do some housework!!!
+So glad Courtney followed great advise from her sister. What amazing results So enjoy reading her blog. I would love to win her book and thank you for the chance
+linda m
+Would love to win this book! Love love country french.
+Thanks for sharing Courtney’s inspirational story. I would love to have her book filled with everything French country!
+What a beautiful tribute to your friend. Courtney is a very talented person. I would love the book.
+What a beautiful story……….the book looks wonderful. I would love to win it.
+I’ve been following French Country Cottage for, well, I don’t know how long. What a beautiful fairy tale come true. Her book looks exquisite and I’d be honored to win it. Can’t wait to see your new dream home too!
+Shirley, When I first heard that Courtney was writing a book, I knew it would be a feast for the eyes and it did not disappoint. It is truly beautiful and full of inspiration. One of your readers is in for a treat!
+I too LOVE her style. I would very much like to win this book. She was one of the first blogs that I followed. Please put me in your drawing for this wonderful book. thanks
+I would enjoy reading this book!
+Hi Shirley!
+I always enjoy reading your blog and I’m impressed you still are writing, amid all your unpacking!
+Thank you for offering this giveaway and book of Courtney’s! 🌸 Trenda
+You are the sweetest Shirley- thank you SO much for sharing!! I am so glad that we met several years ago- you are always such a kind friend!
+xo
+I would love to receive one of Courtney’s books. Why don’t you write a book Shirley?
+I ditto that Karol😊
+Shirley what a beautiful tribute you have shown of Courtney’s beautiful home. I would love her new book.
+I’ve been following Courtney for years. I love her style. I would love to get her book. She is truly an inspiration.
+As the sunset of our life enters, one finds the small things in life that matters the most, family, friends and taking time to do things we enjoying doing. After raising three young men, smelly socks ,wet towels in the floor, well you get where I’m going,it’s time for mama. I have been a devoted fan of Courtney’s for some time. It’s nice remember I still have feminine side of me and now devote more time for reading. Would love to engage in an afternoon of dreaming.
+I would love to win a copy of Courtney’s book, she has great style, her home is gorgeous!
+Courtney has been blessed with a wonderful loving sister and an equally wonderful friend…I was blessed when one day she showed up in my FB feed…every picture she shows us is a beautiful piece of her soul…I would love to have her book,but I believe whoever it goes to was meant to have it…Please keep us dreaming of our own French Country Cottage…We all love you.
+Nikki
+Thanks for sharing this and what a lovely intro to Courtney. I would love to win her book to learn more about romantic decorating. I need to be inspired!!!
+A lovely story celebrating Courtney. I have been following her blog for quite some time, she is very inspirational. I would love to receive her book.
+What a Great write about Courtney’s book! I met her at the High Point event 2 years ago and she was such a Sweet person! Hope to see her this Fall again at event. Love seeing her decorating skills on her blog and yours too! The book is Beautiful.
+What a beautiful and inspiring story! I would love to read all about it and especially enjoy the beautiful photography in this book. Fingers crossed!
+Yes absolutely would love to win this book! Thank you for doing this!
+I would love to receive this book and see how she has transformed her ugly duckling into a beautiful swan!
+I would treasure this book. Would love to have her ideas in concrete form (a book). Just looking at the photos is amazing.
+I would so enjoy receiving this book. The photos are so beautiful. Thank you for offering such a nice gift for a lucky reader.
+Shirley, you should take a page out of Courtney’s book (pun intended!) and write one about your homes! I’ll buy it! I’ve loved following Courtney’s journey for some years and would love the book to have all the inspiration in one place! And I’m loving following your journey, too!
+Lovely words, lovely pictures…I need to study this lovely journey…
+From reading her blog, I know that I would love this book. Thank you for offering it to some lucky person.
+Love her blog and just know I would love her book!!
+In a word the book is swoonworthy! I’d love to have a copy just to take in every detail and dream 😊
+Would love to have her book! Thank you
+Shirley, What a lovely introduction to Courtney’s fairy tale. I loved the pictures that accompanied your storytelling. I have several French country sofa table books…and would love this one to add to my collection. Thanks and many blessings, Allison
+That was such a sweet story. I would love to win Courtney’s book, hers was one of the first blogs I found. Thank you for sharing.
+That was such a sweet story. I would love to win Courtney’s book, hers was one of the first blogs I found. Thank you for sharing.
+oops, didn’t think commented posted.
+What a story! I would love to have her book!
+This book would most definitely be a beautiful addition to other books I treasure on French decorating! It would make my day to win. Thank you, Shirley!
+Just found Courtney’s blog a short time ago. love her blog and and would love to wine a copy of her book.
+Beautiful story of hope for all the budding decoraters.Id love to see this book.
+Hi Shirley, I would love to win this beautiful book. Because of life I will not be able to purchase one so I would love, love to win. Thank you for the opportunity! I love your wash room I just came from that post to have so much room is awesome! You have really decorated it beautifully. Have a lovely day!
+xoxo Jo
+I’ve been following her for quite some time and would love to receive a copy of her book. I love her style. Thanks for the giveaway.
+Definitely following her blog after reading your post.. thank you for the opportunity to enter ..
+Thanks for sharing this beautiful post . I would love her book. Such talent is a gift. I follow her posts and love her decorating.
+Want to launch a global nonprofit? Partnerships are the key
+Many Seattleites are inspired to do good overseas. But making a real impact means recognizing your limitations and identifying potential partners whose work you can support.
+The Puget Sound region has become a hotbed of the “Do-It-Yourself Foreign-Aid Revolution,” a phrase coined by Nicholas Kristof to describe the groundswell of individuals who want to be directly involved in international issues, often by launching their own foreign programs.
+Global Washington, a Seattle-based organization that supports Washington-based NGOs (and a Seattle Globalist sponsor), has experienced tremendous growth in its membership over 5 years since its formation.
+Getting involved with a foreign cause can take a variety of forms:
+For some, this may be raising funds for an intermediary organization that supports foreign projects.
+For others, it may mean funding foreign programs and collaborating with the NGOs that operate them.
+Or for those who have a burning desire to pursue a passion, and the ability to devote the necessary resources, this can be starting and operating a new program in a foreign country, or even multiple countries.
+Each individual and organization will find the path that is right…if they know what it takes to succeed.
+Here are three examples of organizations that chose different points along the spectrum of international activities, each with great success:
+Families with Children from China (FCC)
+Families with Children from China, Inc., of Greater New York (FCC), was formed by a group of American families who had adopted children from China and wanted to create educational and cultural programs for adopted children and their families. In 1996, FCC began to explore various options for providing support to help improve the lives of children in Chinese orphanages.
+As an all-volunteer organization with members who were predominantly working parents, FCC could not commit to a program that would require travel to China, or even full-time managers in the U.S.
+FCC was introduced to the Amity Foundation, a Chinese organization that was supporting social services in China and wanted to expand its work in orphanages.
+This was the start of a long-term relationship, during which FCC has provided support for projects that Amity oversees. FCC was even able to recommend and help shape projects. Each year, FCC appeals to its members for funding, and works with the Amity Foundation to identify projects and monitor the use of funds it contributes.
+By using a local country intermediary, FCC is able to further its mission, to improve the lives of children in Chinese orphanages, with minimal commitment of time on the part of members.
+Pangea Giving
+Pangea is an international giving circle based in Seattle (I’m part of it myself).
+Pangea was formed by a group of people who, in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks, wanted to become better global citizens. Its mission is to raise awareness of global issues, study ways to address them, and help people in economically disadvantaged communities around the world.
+Pangea’s strategy is to make a significant impact through small grants to carefully selected foreign organizations that can show demonstrable success in tackling specific problems in rural communities.
+One of the keys to Pangea’s success is that its members, on the whole, have significant time and resources to devote to the process of selecting and monitoring grant recipients. They also have a love of travel. Members regularly travel to far-flung corners of the world to visit prospective grantees, and to monitor the use of grants. Collectively, they spend many hours identifying prospects, reviewing proposals, and monitoring results.
+Within a decade, Pangea has grown into a fifty-member organization with a grant portfolio of approximately twenty grantees in Latin America, Africa, and Asia. Through their concerted efforts to educate themselves about world issues and international grantmaking, the members of Pangea have become highly knowledgeable about the substantive issue areas they fund, and the specific needs of populations living in the areas they target.
+Half the Sky Foundation
+In 1997, Jenny Bowen, founder of Half the Sky Foundation (HTS), adopted a daughter in China and had a first-hand view of the plight of children living in orphanages.
+Jenny wanted desperately to improve the lives of those children who could not be adopted and were destined to grow up in institutions.
+She had a vision that institutionalized children could live happy, fulfilling lives if caregivers could be recruited and trained professionally to address the children’s emotional and intellectual needs.
+To implement the vision required funding, but also required working within orphanages to provide training, and ultimately to change attitudes about what could be accomplished. In those early days, there was no local organization to partner with in this effort. So there was no choice but to form a new organization that would hire and train its own employees to work in Chinese orphanages.
+In 1998, Jenny formed HTS as a U.S. 501(c)(3) organization, and persuaded Chinese government officials to allow HTS to launch programs for children in a few government-owned orphanages. By 2013, HTS’s programs were annually reaching 6,000 children in 21 of the 31 provinces of China, and had transformed 60,000 young lives.
+HTS had also developed close working relationships with Chinese government officials at the national, provincial, and local levels, and it had entered into a partnership with the Chinese government to train every child welfare worker in the country.
+In addition, HTS had become one of only about 16 non-Chinese nonprofit organizations to obtain official national registration in China. It had also established fundraising organizations for attracting contributions in 7 countries, including China.
+This is a highly complex structure for an organization with an annual budget of approximately $10 million.
+How did HTS achieve all of this in just 15 years? The short answer is that it took a highly passionate and visionary founder, the determination and patience to cultivate trusted relationships with a multitude of government officials, and a cause that lent itself to building a global community of supporters.
+Choosing the Right Path
+These inspiring stories demonstrate that there are a number of different paths to having an impact on global issues.
+Being realistic about the time and funds available is critical to success.
+Philanthropists who are well informed and thoughtful about how to pursue their mission, and about the challenges they will face, are more likely to succeed in turning their passion into reality.
+I want to start off by saying that I am proud to be from Seattle, where there is a culture of global awareness and service unlike many other places I’ve lived and visited. I work for a U.S.-based non-profit that provides services to vulnerable populations both internationally and locally. In my job, I am exposed to a lot of wonderful, local non-profit organizations doing impactful work in our community and communities across the globe. I have the tremendous opportunity to meet people who are passionate about global issues and genuinely want to make a difference in the lives of people around the world. I also meet a lot of people who want to channel their passion for global issues by starting up their own non-profits. I’ve seen first-hand how this can be problematic and I also find it a little irresponsible of this article to encourage people to start their own non-profits (particularly non-profits aimed at “helping” people in other countries) without offering more of a cautionary tale. “Time and funds” aren’t the only factors critical to success.
+After reading this article, two issues, in particular, come to mind:
+1) The Seattle area is saturated with non-profits already. There are nearly 2,000 501(c)(3) status organizations in the city of Seattle alone. That’s over 35 organizations per 10,000 people. () These organizations’ services range widely in scope. Whatever your interests are, there’s most likely already a non-profit out there whose mission matches those interests. Too often, the people I meet who want to start up their own non-profits aren’t aware of the non-profit landscape and don’t do the necessary research to see what needs are or aren’t already being met by other organizations. Instead of starting more non-profits, I wish we, as a community, would talk more about combining efforts of existing non-profits in order to make more of an impact. Furthermore, funding for non-profits is spread thin as it is and adding more organizations to the pot isn’t going to help us use resources more efficiently.
+2) Whose needs are really being addressed? How do you know your services are needed (or wanted) in the community you intend to serve? I’m amazed how often people take the answers to these questions for granted and make assumptions about the needs of a community. Sustainable solutions to social problems are developed from within communities, not imposed on them by outsiders. Often, outsiders are in a position of privilege, with more resources and power than those in the community they intend to serve. I’m not saying that if you’re in a position of privilege you can’t help others (one might argue that because of your position of privilege, you have a responsibility to help others), but you must do so in a socially responsible way.
+All that being said, I do not oppose innovation in the non-profit sector and certainly don’t intent to discourage people from contributing to causes they are passionate about. My point is that DIY may not always be the best approach. I feel like we could all benefit from taking a DIT, do-it-together, approach more often.
+I second this. Starting your own non-profit without first understanding the landscape of services already available and the true needs of the community can potentially hurt the communities you are trying to help. More can be accomplished by working together to improve existing programs than by utilizing limited resources to start something from the ground up.
+The commentators above make important points. The first step for anyone wanting to help solve a global issue should be to survey the landscape of existing NGOs, understand what the needs are, and look for opportunities to contribute to or collaborate with existing organizations. This is discussed extensively in my book, “How To Be A Global Nonprofit: Legal and Practical Guidance for International Activities.” Some people are set on creating a new organization, sometimes because they have identified a challenge that no no one else will address. Whatever the reason, those who decide to create organizations need to seek collaborative approaches and avoid duplication of efforts.
+Dolph Ziggler Nick Metro Nic Nemeth Nick Nemeth Nicky: Billed height: 6 ft 0 in (183 cm) Billed weight: 218 lb (99 kg) Billed from: Hollywood, Florida: Trained by: Florida Championship Wrestling Lance Storm Ohio Valley Wrestling Steve Keirn Tom Prichard: Debut: 2004: Nicholas Theodore Nemeth (born July 27, 1980) is an American professional wrestler and stand-up comedian. He is currently signed. . He is also known for his performances with WWE as Spirit Squad member Nicky in 2006. Nemeth signed a development contract with WWE in 2004, and was sent to Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW). He was brought up to. Dolph Ziggler ritorna a Raw il 7 marzo 2011 introdotto da Vickie Guerrero.Durante la stessa puntata sconfigge John Morrison.A WrestleMania XXVII Dolph Ziggler e le LayCool (Layla e Michelle McCool) affrontano il trio composto da John Morrison, Nicole Snooki Polizzi e Trish Stratus, perdendo in un 3 on 3 tag team match.Dolph Ziggler torna ad avere un feud con Kofi Kingston
+Dolph ist ein im englischen Sprachraum,. Dolph Ziggler (d. 27 Temmuz 1980), Amerikalı profesyonel güreşçi.. İlk olarak Ohio Valley Wrestling'de Nick Nemeth adıyla görülmüştür. Şu anda WWE'de güreşmektedir. 2005 yılında Spirit Squad adlı bir stable (takım) içinde güreşmiştir. Daha sonra 2009'da geri dönmüş, 2010'da Intercontinental Champion, 2011'de United States Champion, 2012'de Mr. Money In The Bank ve.
+Dolph Ziggler (mit bürgerlichem Namen Nicholas Theodore Nick Nemeth) ist ein Wrestler, der bei der WGL unter Vertrag steht. Dolph Ziggler konnte sich den Hardcore Title von David Otunga holen, verlor diesen jedoch zwei Tage später wieder an John Morrison . Zusammen mit Christian bildete er di Nicholas Theodore Nemeth (July 27, 1980), best known by the ring name Dolph Ziggler, is an American professional wrestler and occasional actor and stand-up comedian who performed in WWE. Nemeth signed a development contract with WWE in 2004, and was sent to Ohio Valley Wrestling. He was brought up to the Raw brand in 2005 as Kerwin White's sidekick. He was, however, sent back to OVW shortly. Dolph Ziggler ist ein Wrestler, der bei der WGL unter Vertrag steht. Showstopper V2 (Dezember 2011 - Mai 2012
+Dolph Ziggler: Trainer/coach: Lance Storm Al Snow Mike Bucci: Discipline: Professioneel worstelen: Nemeth is feitelijk al sinds 2004 als worstelaar actief in de WWE, maar werkte oorspronkelijk onder verschillende ringnamen, zoals Nicky toen hij lid was van Spirit Squad. Nemeth werd in 2008 gereboot als Dolph Ziggler, zijn huidige ringnaam. Ziggler won tevens 2 keer het WWE United States..) Einzelnachweise. Zuletzt bearbeitet am 6. August. Dolph Ziggler. Edit. Classic editor History Comments Share. Nicholas Nemeth, better known by his ring name Dolph Ziggler, is an American professional wrestler who is currently signed to BITW Wrestling. Contents . Stats.
+Dolph Ziggler Thm-roster-final-dolphziggler.jpg Aliases Dolph ZigglerZigglerThe Show-OffThe #HEEL First WWE Game WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 201 Dolph Ziggler is a playable character in the upcoming WWE '13 game. Dolph Ziggler first debuted as Kerwin White's personal caddy, then as Nicky of the stable The Spirit Squad where he won his. Dolph Ziggler is a Reccuring Antagonist from WWE who is the Leader of Dimwit Show Off. He hates Ambrose after He's being with The Shield to continues His Journeys. He is also portrayed by the English Voice Actor, Himself only
+Survivor Series was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event and WWE Network event produced by WWE.It took place on November 23, 2014 at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Missouri.The 28th event under the Survivor Series chronology, it was notable for the first appearance of former World Championship Wrestling (WCW) wrestler Sting in WWE. Also, this was the first Survivor Series. Dolph Ziggler Nick Metro Nic Nemeth Nick Nemeth Nicky: hauteur facturé : 6 ft 0 in (183 cm) poids facturé: 218 lb (99 kg) facturé à partir: Hollywood, Floride: formé par: Florida Championship Wrestling Lance Storm Ohio Valley Wrestling Steve Keirn Tom Prichard: Début: 2004: Nicholas Theodore Nemeth (né le 27 Juillet, 1980) est un Américain lutteur professionnel et humoriste. Il est.
+Dolph Ziggler Nic Nemeth Nick Nemeth Nicky: Boyu: 1,83 m (6 ft 0 in) Kilosu: 99 kg (218 lb) Eğitildiği yer: Hollywood, Florida, ABD: Eğiten: Florida Championship Wrestling Ohio Valley Wrestling Steve Keirn Tom Prichard Lance Storm: Başlangıç : Kasım 2004: Dolph Ziggler Kıtalararası Şmpiyonu iken 2014. İlk olarak Ohio Valley Wrestling'de Nick Nemeth adıyla görülmüştür. Şu and Dolph Ziggler: Cody Rhodes, Damien Sandow, Christian, Tyson Kidd, Sin Cara, Tensai and Santino Marella: 18:23 Successfully defended his contract against Chris Jericho in a career vs. contract match on the August 20, 2012 episode of Raw. Successfully defended his contract against John Cena in a Ladder match at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs. Ziggler held the contract for 267 days. Money in the. Nicholas Theodore Nick Nemeth (Born July 27, 1980), best known by the ring name Dolph Ziggler, is a American professional wrestler under signed contract with WWE For Extreme (aka WWE:FE). Ziggler just recently re-signed a main roster contract with WWE:FE in July of 2010 and began competing immediately on the WWE SmackDown! and WWE Raw brands. He trained with Ohio Valley Wrestling in 2004 for. Dolph would debut as a heel in Febuary 2011 being accompanied by Vickie Guerrero and would go onto announce his pursuit for the HCW World title in March. He would debut beating Chavo Guerrero. He would later gain Number 1 contership for the HCW Interegional Championship by pinning Mark Henry he will cash in this title match at GloryMania. Dolph would later start a feud with Edge. Ziggler would.
+Dolph Ziggler successfully retained the Intercontinental Championship at Tables, Ladders and Chairs (TLC) in a three-way ladder match, but lost the title to Kingston at SmackDown on January 4, 2011. That same night, he won a match against Cody Rhodes, Drew McIntyre and The Big Show, and became the No.1 contender to the World Heavyweight Championship. He was defeated by Edge in a rematch on the. Dolph Ziggler claimed Bobby Roode to be a fraud, as Roode pinned Ziggler by holding his tights. Roode retorted that he was the smarter one in the match. Ziggler said that he was the better wrestler and that he wanted a rematch, which occurred the following week where Ziggler defeated Roode the same way that Roode had defeated him. Details On Recently Scrapped Segments For Raw Underground. . He is a very good wrestler and good for my eyes. See more ideas about Dolph ziggler, Best wrestlers, Wrestler modifier - modifier le code - modifier Wikidata Christopher Keith Irvine (né le 9 novembre 1970 à Manhasset , New York , États-Unis), plus connu sous le nom de Chris Jericho , est un catcheur canadien et le chanteur du groupe de metal Fozzy . Il travaille actuellement à la New Japan Pro Wrestling et la All Elite Wrestling , où il est le premier et ancien champion du monde de la All Elite. Nicholas Theodore Nemeth (born July 27, 1980), better known by his ring name Dolph Ziggler is an American professional wrestler, actor and stand-up comedian. He is currently signed with NNJ Wrestling, where he performs on the NXT brand and is the NXT Television Champion. See this blog for information regarding the pre-reboot history of NNJ Wrestling
+.. Dolph Ziggler or Ziggles as he's known to the FWC is also over as fuck much like Daniel Bryan. As of late, his popularity has dwindled a bit with the FWC community due to him not having anyone of interest to feud with Dolph Ziggler Age, Height, Weight, Biography, Affair, Family, Wiki Dolph Ziggler was born on July 27, 1980, as Nicholas Theodore Nemeth and attended St. Edward High School in Lakewood. Ziggler wrestling career at high school level saw him clinch the National Championships twice and hold the school record for highest number of pins (82) in a care Dolph Ziggler Wiki 2020, Height, Age, Net Worth 2020, Family - Find facts and details about Dolph Ziggler on wikiFame.or. Guerrero holding the Divas Championship belt at.. Can it be? Can it be that Dolph Ziggler really is that damn good, the best in the business and the man who steals the show every single Tuesday night — and your girlfriend too? You better believe it, brother Dolph Ziggler: Billed height 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) Billed weight 213 lb (97 kg) Billed from Cleveland, Ohio: Trained by Steve Keirn Tom Prichard Lance Storm: Debut November 2004 Nicholas Theodore Nick Nemeth (born July 27, 1980) is an American professional wrestler signed to WWE on their RAW brand. Ziggler previously held the World Heavyweight Championship on two separate occasions, the WWE.
+v • d • e Triple H Shawn Michaels Goldberg James Harrison Matthew Harrison| Rey Mysterio| Batista| The Undertaker Edge CM Punk Jeff Hardy Jack Swagger Kane Dolph Ziggler Christian Randy Orton Mark Henry Daniel Bryan John Cena AJ Styles Chad Gabl
+Name: Dolph Ziggler Besondere Information: Bruder: Briley Pierce. FANDOM. Videospiele Filme TV. Wikis. Wikis entdecken; Community Deutschland; Wiki erstellen; Suche Anmelden Du hast noch kein Benutzerkonto? Registrieren Wiki erstellen . Wrestling Fantasy Liga Wiki. 741 Seiten. Neue Seite hinzufügen. Dolph Ziggler is a famous American wrestler, who was born on July 27, 1980.As a person born on this date, Dolph Ziggler is listed in our database as the 10th most popular celebrity for the day (July 27) and the 38th most popular for the year (1980) Nicholas Theodore Nemeth (born July 27, 1980) is an American professional wrestler and stand-up comedian. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand under Dolph Ziggler is the kind of Superstar that makes women swoon and men wonder what they ever did to the universe that they didn't get the gifts he has. An elite collegiate athlete who set his sights on WWE and didn't stop until he got there, Ziggler took a journeyman path to the top that is completely at odds with the skill he used to navigate it. Initially cast in go-nowhere roles as a.
+Dolph Ziggler This song is by Hot Dad and appears on the album Wrestle (2015). Dolph Ziggler This song is by Hot Dad and appears on the album Wrestle (2015). FANDOM. Games Movies TV Video. Wikis. Explore Wikis; Community Central; Start a Wiki; Search Sign In Don't have an account? Register Start a Wiki. LyricWiki. 2,054,148 Pages. Add new page. Stroll Around. Popular Pages Random Page. Random. Dolph Ziggler last edited by kaneundertaker2 on 10/18/19 07:29AM View full history Comics WWE Superstars (Super Genius Comics) Dolph Ziggler is a police detective in Titan City. Font-size. The Dolph Ziggler — Theodore Nicholas Nemeth Theodore Nicholas Nemeth Wikipédia en Français. Dolph Ziggler — Nicholas Theodore Nemeth Vereinigte Staaten Deutsch Wikipedia. Dolph — ist ein im englischen Sprachraum[1], insbesondere in den USA vorkommender männlicher Vorname.[2] Dolph ist eine Kurzform von Adolph, der englischen Form.
+.Dolph Ziggler was born on July, 27, 1980 at Cleveland , Cuyahoga, Ohio, United States.Also we can address Dolph Ziggler by other professions like, Wrestler & Comedian, Film Actor, Television Actor, who works predominantly in WWE, Hollywood Dolph Ziggler (born July 27, 1980) is an American professional wrestler, currently contracted to the Total Wrestling Federation's Rebellion brand. Finishing moves (Sleeper hold, sometimes with bodyscissors, Zig Zag (Jumping reverse bulldog)), Signature moves (Dropkick, Fame Asser (Leg drop..
+Three huge matches were officially announced for WWE Super ShowDown on Wednesday's edition of WWE's The Bump. Saudi Arabia's own Mansoor, who won the 50-Man Battle Royal at Super ShowDown 2019, will return to home to take on Dolph Ziggler. Can the hometown advantage compete with The Showoff Dolph Ziggler Connected to: {{::readMoreArticle.title}} Z Wikipedii, wolnej encyklopedii {.
+Dec 15, 2014 - Nick nemeth is the most beautiful thing to walk this planet, dolpppphhhhh Features HIT * 95% EVA * 5% Attack Element: Physical Actions Mongolian Chop Always 4 Big Swing Always 3 Stomp Always 5 Pray When HP is between 0% - 15% 9 Block Always 3 1 Description 2 Locations 3 Notes 4 Trivia One of the many soldiers Brad must fight at the end of the game. Rando Land He and the Crow Man in Area 2 are recolors of an unused party member. His last name is a reference to.-American professional wrestler currently signed to the American professional wrestling promotion All Elite Wrestling (AEW) under the ring name Miro.He is best known for his 10-year career with WWE under the ring name Rusev; and he was the first (and so far. N.
+When WWE Super ShowDown returns to Jeddah, Dolph Ziggler aims to undo the legacy of Kofi Kingston in what is sure to be an explosive WWE Championship showdown. The two-time World Champion made an unexpected return to the May 21 edition of SmackDown LIVE. Though Ziggler acknowledged that his initial plan was to leave the WWE Universe in his rearview, the recent notoriety that Kingston received. Nicholas Theodore Nic Nemeth (født 27. juli 1980), bedre kendt under ringnavnet Dolph Ziggler, er en amerikansk wrestler, der wrestler i World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) på Smackdown-brandet.Han er også tidligere kendt under ringnavnet Nicky, da han var medlem af heel-gruppen Spirit Squad i 2006.. Nemeth skrev kontrakt med WWE i 2004 og blev sendt til Ohio for at udvikle sig som.
+Dolph Ziggler is a wrestler on brand set 1, which consists of Monday's Raw, Thursday's SmackDown, and Friday's Fastlane Nicholas Theodore Nemeth (born July 27, 1980) is an American professional wrestler and stand-up comedian. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on Appearance Edit. Wears Same Gimmick like his Real-Life conterpart But His Bi-Straight and he has 3 Girlfriends in real-life he only dated AJ lee,He will do dudes,and his Catchphrase is Rape 3:16 similar to Stone Cold Bear Austin.. Personality Edit. Barf is Gay and Straight his actually bi-straight because he often says OooH! [Possibly his catchphrase] he will fuck a opponent until they tap Feb 13, 2017 - This Pin was discovered by Casie Lamb. Discover (and save!) your own Pins on Pinteres. She is currently a manager to Nyla Rose in All Elite Wrestling since July 2020.. History. A year after her first appearance as a.
+The NFL Season is at the quarter poll already if you can believe it. We’ve already seen anything and everything from the surprising to the downright expected. The Broncos may be even better than we thought, Andy Reid has turned the Chiefs into a contender, the read option is already taking a back seat and there’s still a long, long way to go before we crown a Super Bowl champion.
+No need to waste any time getting into the rankings for this week. Don’t worry. The name at the top is a familiar one.
+1. Denver Broncos (4-0, Last Week: 1): The Stat: 16, 50, 6000. Peyton Manning is so good right now that he gets three stats this week. He’s the first quarterback to ever throw 16 touchdown passes in the season’s first four weeks. He’s also done that without a single interception. He also is the first quarterback EVER to reach 50 touchdown passes or 6,000 passing yards in his first 20 games with a new team.
+2. Seattle Seahawks (4-0, LW: 2): The Stat: 14. Richard Sherman’s 58-yard INT TD knotted the game with Houston before the Seahawks eventually won in overtime, but that’s just commonplace these days for Sherman. The boisterous shut down corner has 14 interceptions, two returned for touchdowns since he entered the league in 2011. He also has 45 passes defensed in that time, though he only has four this year while teams try to avoid him.
+3. New Orleans Saints (4-0, LW: 3): The Stat: 4146. With 30 completions in Monday night’s game, Drew Brees passed John Elway for 4th on the all-time list. Brees moved 23 past Elway in the game, but he’ll be 4th for awhile. Dan Marino is 3rd, still 821 completions away. He will be moving up the passing TDs list soon, though. Brees is just eight scores behind Fran Tarkenton.
+4. New England Patriots (4-0, LW: 5): The Stat: 17. There’s been all kinds of negative talk about Tom Brady’s no-name receiving corps, but it appears they’re coming around just fine. Julian Edelman (117) and Kenbrell Thompkins (128) both crossed the 100 receiving yard plateau Sunday. That’s the first time in 17 games two Patriots receivers passed the century mark. The last time: Week 4 of 2012, when Wes Welker and Rob Gronkowski did it.
+5. Kansas City Chiefs (4-0, LW: 6): The Stat: 37.6. The previously turnover-less Chiefs no longer hold that distinction after handing the rock over twice against the Giants, but the offense still excelled. One reason for that is field position. Kansas City leads the NFL, starting offensive drives at their own 37.6 yard line. That’s five yards better than any other team in football. The Chiefs are best in football on the other side too with opponents starting at their own 20.6.
+6. Indianapolis Colts (3-1, LW: 9): The Stat: 14-6. Andrew Luck is 14-6 in his first 20 regular season games. Why is that important? It ties John Elway for best ever start by a Number One overall pick in the draft. 29 quarterbacks have been taken first overall, so for Luck to find himself on the top of that list is pretty notable.
+7. Chicago Bears (3-1, LW: 4): The Stat: 1-13. Ever since a tough first half in Week One against Cincinnati, the Bears looked extremely good, up until Sunday at Detroit. Jay Cutler was victimized by the tough Lions defensive front, forcing him and the offense into a 1-13 day on 3rd Downs. Even more telling, that one conversion came on a touchdown pass with 43 seconds left. That kept Chicago from their first game since
+8. San Francisco 49ers (2-2, LW: 10): The Stat: 153. Frank Gore’s 153 rushing yards Thursday night against St. Louis was his highest total since rushing for 167 yards against the Cardinals in Week 14 of 2009. That’s a span of 48 mostly excellent starts for the work horse back. In fact, he’s reached 100 yards 17 times in that period without getting to 150.
+9. Detroit Lions (3-1, LW: 17): The Stat: 10-47. I mentioned that the Bears went 1-13 on 3rd Down against the Lions. It wasn’t a fluke. Detroit has the best 3rd Down defense in the NFL this year, giving up just 10 conversions in 47 chances, a 79% success rate for a defense that is much improved from a year ago.
+10. Miami Dolphins (3-1, LW: 8): The Stat: 18. Despite their strong start, the Dolphins will need to protect Ryan Tannehill better for the 2nd year signal caller to continue to succeed. Tannehill’s been sacked 18 times this year, the highest number in the NFL. That has a lot to do with Tannehill’s five interception total, four of those coming in the last two games. With the Ravens, Bills, Patriots and Bengals up next, we’ll soon know how good the Dolphins really are.
+11
+. Cincinnati Bengals (2-2, LW: 7): The Stat: 0-4. The Bengals were upset by the Browns Sunday, and now it doesn’t get any easier. It’s Tom Brady and the undefeated Patriots next up. Cincinnati’s 0-4 all-time against Tom Brady, and it hasn’t been pretty. Brady has 10 TDs, 2 INT, and his offense has scored 35, 38, 34 and 38. Even worse, the Bengals were without three of their starting four in the secondary Sunday so hopefully that will change.
+12. Green Bay Packers (1-2, LW: 12): The Stat: 6-1. The Packers are 6-1 coming off a Bye Week under Mike McCarthy, including four straight wins. Their most common victim in those situations? Two wins against the Lions, including just last year. This week they host those same Lions, riding high off the win against the Bears.
+13.
+Tennessee Titans (3-1, LW: 15): The Stat: 0. I’ve championed the Chiefs all year about winning with good defense and turnover free football, but it’s the Titans who are now the only team in the NFL that hasn’t given the ball away a single time. That streak might be tough to keep up with Quarterback Jake Locker out for about eight weeks with a serious hip injury.
+14. Atlanta Falcons (1-3, LW: 13): The Stat: 59. The Falcons had gone 59 straight games without losing back-to-back in the same season. The last time it happened was Weeks 13 and 14 of 2009 against the Eagles and Saints. Atlanta’s record is much better than it looks. Their three losses were to teams that are a combined 15-1. The good news: their next four games are against teams with a 5-10 mark.
+15. Houston Texans (2-2, LW: 11): The Stat: 3. That’s the number of touchdowns Texans Quarterback Matt Schaub has given up on interception returns in the last three games. In fact, the Houston signal caller has given up an INT TD in four of the past six games, with eight total interceptions in that time. No wonder fans are starting to wonder if he’s the long term solution at Reliant Stadium.
+16. San Diego Chargers (2-2, LW: 19): The Stat: 83.3%. Philip Rivers threw for 401 yards in the 30-21 win against Dallas Sunday, and he did it with the best completion percentage ever for a 400 yard game, 83.3%. Rivers was 35-42 in the game, furthering improving a percentage that’s easily better than his career best of 66.0% in 2010. It’s only been four games, but Rivers has completed 73.9% of his passes overall, and he’s done so without projected top wide out Danario Alexander.
+17.
+Baltimore Ravens (2-2, LW: 14): The Stat: 2.6. We’ll look past Joe Flacco’s five interceptions against a Bills secondary without its top four players and point out that the hard nosed, run-oriented Ravens are averaging an atrocious 2.6 yards per carry. That’s the 2nd worst average in the NFL, ahead of only the Jaguars. Many people considered the Ray Rice/Bernard Pierce backfield one of the best in the NFL, yet they combined for nine carries and 24 yards in Buffalo. Not going to work.
+18. Buffalo Bills (2-2, LW: 21): The Stat: September 22, 1996. That’s the last time the Buffalo Bills beat a defending Super Bowl champion before knocking off the Ravens on Sunday. That day, 6,382 days ago, Buffalo racked up just 224 total yards but beat Dallas 10-7. This time around, the Bills defense intercepted Joe Flacco five times, beating Baltimore 23-20.
+19. Dallas Cowboys (2-2, LW: 16): The Stat: 130-130. The Cowboys are one of the greatest unknowns in the NFL from week-to-week. Sometimes they come out guns blazing. Other times they’re completely stagnant. Because of that, it shouldn’t be terribly surprising that since 1997, Dallas has a 130-130 record. It’s incredible that a stat like that is even possible, and I’m sure Jerry isn’t too pleased to see it.
+20. Cleveland Browns (2-2, LW: 25): The Stat: 4.2. Brian Hoyer’s getting the love for taking over the Browns and winning his first two starts with the team, but anyone watching knows that the Browns’ defense is the biggest reason why they’re 2-2 and looking better every week. Cleveland is leading the NFL, giving up only 4.2 yards per play with its revamped unit. They’ve done it by being number one in both pass yards per attempt (5.9) and rush yards per carry (2.9). They also are tied for the league lead, giving up just two touchdown passes in four games.
+21. Minnesota Vikings (1-3, LW: 26): The Stat: 12. Adrian Peterson is known for his bruising running style, but one of the things that makes him the ridiculous talent he is is that he combines the bruising style with home run capability. AD’s 60-yard touchdown run Sunday was his 12th of 60+ yards in his career so far. That’s the largest number in NFL history. Second on that list: the great Jim Brown with nine such runs, followed by Chris Johnson and Barry Sanders with eight. Speaking of comparisons between Peterson and Sanders, check my column from last week.
+22. Philadelphia Eagles (1-3, LW: 18): The Stat: 44.7%. The Eagles may have a high octane offense brewing, but the defense is lacking far behind. From a yards standpoint, they aren’t the worst overall, but Philadelphia’s allowing a score on a league worst 44.7% of opponents’ drives. That means their competition is scoring almost half the time they get the football. It’s tough to win when you’re up against that.
+23. Carolina Panthers (1-2, LW: 24): The Stat: 15-of-19. This is a real oddity. This is the 19th season of Carolina Panthers football, yet it’s only the fourth time they’ll ever hit the road after a Bye Week. The Panthers have played at home following the Bye 15 times in the previous 18 years, though it doesn’t seem to matter from the standpoint of record. Carolina’s 7-8 at home following a Bye and 2-1 on the road.
+24. Washington Redskins (1-3, LW: 27): The Stat: 52%. The Redskins dropped back to pass on 52% of their plays at Oakland Sunday. In the season’s first three games, Washington called a pass play 74% of the time. While a lot of that was because the team faced big deficits, it can’t be argued that when the ‘Skins get closer to 50-50 in the run-pass game, they are a much better team. In last year’s NFC East Champion season, Washington actually ran the ball 54% of the time. If they can find that ratio again, the wins will start to come.
+25. Arizona Cardinals (2-2, LW: 28): The Stat: 61%. The Cardinals aren’t putting up huge points, averaging just 17.3 points per game, but fans are at least seeing late game excitement. Arizona has scored 61% of its points in the 2nd half, and their highest scoring quarter is the 4th.
+26. New York Jets (2-2, LW: 20): The Stat: 7. Jets Quarterback Geno Smith is tied with the Giants Eli Manning for the NFL’s most turnovers. Both have 11. Making the concern even bigger this week is that Smith and the J-E-T-S hit the road to Atlanta. Smith has seven of his 11 giveaways in New York’s two road games, compared to four in the pair of home contests.
+27. Oakland Raiders (1-3, LW: 23): The Stat: 0. The Raiders have been tested early, facing Andrew Luck, Peyton Manning and Robert Griffin III in three of their four games, but Oakland hasn’t intercepted a single pass this year, unacceptable for a professional unit in a four game span. The four quarterbacks they’ve faced have thrown 11 interceptions this year. On top of the lack of picks, the Raiders are allowing a league best 72.1 completion percentage.
+28. St. Louis Rams (1-3, LW: 22): The Stat: 0. The Rams are transitioning from a running attack to a passing attack, but there’s a long way to go and to abandon offensive balance completely is a dangerous proposition. Unfortunately for St. Louis fans, that’s exactly what their team is doing. After cutting ties with Steven Jackson (4.2 ypc, 6.2 TD per season in nine years in StL), the Rams running attack is averaging 2.6 ypc and they’re one of two teams who still haven’t scored a rushing touchdown.
+29. Pittsburgh Steelers (0-4, LW: 29): The Stat: 1968. This is the first time since 1968 that the Pittsburgh Steelers have been 0-4. Between the two 0-4 starts, Pittsburgh has a 440-306-3 record, 6 Super Bowl titles, 26 playoff appearances, 66 Pro Bowlers, 29 All Pro’s, and just 3 head coaches in 45 years. Needless to say, most people aren’t feeling too bad for the men of steel right now.
+30. New York Giants (0-4, LW: 30): The Stat: 4. On defense, the Giants are usually known for their fearsome front seven, harassing quarterbacks into sacks and bad decisions. Not this year. New York’s 0-4 and has only four sacks, total. The descent didn’t start this year either. In 2012, the G-Men were 20th with 33 sacks after finishing 4th with 48 in 2011.
+31. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (0-4, LW: 31): The Stat: 10. This is the 10th time in franchise history that the Buccaneers have started 0-4. That ties the Bengals for the most such starts since the NFL/AFL merger back in 1970. The saddest part: The Bucs didn’t exist until 1976.
+32. Jacksonville Jaguars (0-4, LW: 32): The Stat: 31. The Jaguars, in four games have scored only 31 points this year. How bad is that? The Broncos are averaging 44.8 points per game. Denver’s average is two touchdowns better than Jacksonville’s season total.
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+Dent RAG, Cole P. In vitro maturation of monocytes in squamous carcinoma of the lung. Br J Cancer 1981; 43: 486-95. doi:10.1038/bjc.1981.71
+Chapman S, Nakielny R. A guide to radiological procedures. London: Bailliere Tindall; 1986.
+Evans R, Alexander P. Mechanisms of extracellular killing of nucleated mammalian cells by macrophages. In: Nelson DS, editor. Immunobiology of macrophage. New York: Academic Press; 1976. p. 45-74.
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+The Nineteen Seventies and
+Eighties
+From 1945 to the end of the nineteen sixties, Australian
+society changed in a number of important ways. Up to 1966, over two million immigrants
+(often in the worst conditions and the lowest paid jobs) brought new influences and
+contributed to an unprecedented period of prosperity:
+cultural traditions matured and television brought the world,
+or a version of it, into the living room;
+many more women participated in the strictly sex-segregated
+paid workforce and many more of these were married (1947-22.4 percent of the workforce
+were women and 19.8 percent of them were married; in 1971, 31.7 percent were women and
+56.8 percent were married);
+the contraceptive pill became available on a wide scale;
+people stayed at school longer; and
+a higher percentage of the population went to universities and
+colleges.
+In other important ways Australia hardly changed at all. The
+groups who benefited least from abundance were Aborigines and those on social welfare,
+particularly single women and children. Women's share of prosperity was at the
+"female rate" for those in paid work child care was a vastly under-supplied
+commodity; family violence and rape was barely acknowledged publicly; abortion was illegal
+and childbirth and contraception had become the tight preserve of a male-dominated medical
+profession which excluded home births and midwives, and virtually turned childbirth into
+an illness.
+In 1965, the Liberal Australian government decided to send
+Australian troops to back up the escalating United States armed intervention in Viet Nam.
+Much of the fodder for this gesture was chosen by a form of Russian Roulette. Marbles went
+into a barrel for all the 20-year-old males, and if their numbers came out they had to go
+to war.
+Around the world, young people, mostly on campuses and in
+colleges, many with privileged backgrounds, began to question the purposes of prosperity
+if wars, racism and alienation were the results. Alternative life-styles, sexual
+liberation, long hair, unisex dress or no clothes, dropping out, sitting in, and
+confrontation were some of the features of this revolt.
+Many women took part, but slowly some began to realise that
+the liberation being talked about was largely in the interests of men. Women still
+produced and looked after the babies, had the worst jobs and lowest pay, did the cooking,
+made the morning tea and serviced the revolution. Small disgruntled groups of women met
+together to sort it all out. Experiences of the newly-emerged women's liberation groups in
+the United States and Britain influenced some Australian women and the first women's
+liberation group formed in Sydney at the end of 1969, and the first public meeting to get
+the movement going was held early in 1970. Similar events were taking place in Adelaide
+and Melbourne, and women's liberation took off in other cities and centres as well.
+Unlike the movements that had preceded it, the Women's
+Liberation Movement expanded the critique of the division of labour that kept women in
+segregated jobs and on low pay into a consideration of the division of labour in the
+family, of sexuality and the division between the public-political and the personal and
+private-political.
+The movement has produced an unprecedented volume of written
+material, not only describing oppressive aspects of women's lives such as rape and
+violence, and taboo subjects such as sexuality and lesbianism, but also developed a body
+of theoretical work that attempts to redefine the whole arena of politics.
+This includes a critique of traditional forms of hierarchical
+organisation, producing a strong emphasis on the collective, and sharing of skills. While
+this has had many positive effects, it sometimes reproduced old problems in new forms. On
+IWD committees where Women's Liberation had a strong influence, these groups became
+open-ended rather than representative bodies, without secretaries or presidents, as these
+were seen as entrenching bureaucracy and inhibiting the sharing of responsibilities.
+Speakers platforms also reflected these attitudes and were comprised of rank-and-file
+activists while "stars" or famous women were taboo.
+The emergence of women's liberation helped to break up old
+alliances and to form new ones. In Sydney, the IWD organisation became an open-ended
+collective with no connections in the early years with the Union of Australian Women who
+continued to organise its own less demonstrative IWD activity. In some centres the UAW
+helped to initiate marches or participated in open collectives.
+There were often tensions between the new and the older
+groups, Some of this was due to differences in dress and language, but it was mainly over
+politics. The criticism of the family, and slogans like "better dead than wed",
+and the open discussions about sexuality and lesbianism were not easily accommodated by
+more traditional groups. The challenges that this represented to the established roles of
+women at home and in public life threatened many older women and their younger sisters
+were sometimes intolerant.
+The first of the large IWD marches took place in 1972. From
+then on, IWD marches generally took place on the Saturday morning nearest to March 8. The
+name March is really a misnomer for mostly they were more like a walk through the streets
+with a party atmosphere.
+In Sydney, the march was organised by an ad hoc open-ended
+group of women's liberationists who formed the March Action Campaign for IWD. They issued
+a sticker, a badge, a broadsheet, other smaller leaflets and a poster inspired by the
+image of Angela Davis, a Black revolutionary in the United States who had been in prison
+facing a possible death sentence, but was later released after an extensive international
+campaign.
+The March Action Campaign was taken up in some other states
+and focussed on the following demands:
+The Right to Work:
+The broadsheet referred to all the polishing, sweeping and
+other work performed by women for no wages and argued that women should have access to all
+paid occupations without having to carry a double burden of paid and unpaid labour.
+Equal Pay - one rate for the job:
+Some 20 percent of women workers, such as the NSW teachers in
+1959, and the meatworkers in 1969, had won equal pay for equal work, but the average award
+rate was still $45 for men and $32.57 for women. In both these industries women were
+performing the same or similar work to men but no advance had been made in revaluing the
+traditional areas where the majority of women worked. One rate for each job, irrespective
+of the age, sex, or race, was demanded. While, in December 1972, the Whitlam government
+began to phase in equal pay for all women workers, its long term effects still left a gap
+between male and female rates and a new equal pay demand still needs to be made.
+Equal opportunity for work and education:
+Most of us are under educated and so we work at unskilled,
+semi-skilled and dull jobs said the broadsheet. Only two percent of Australian women had
+tertiary qualifications. At 15 most of us leave school. It is not that training and higher
+education isn't available'', but, rather, that social attitudes and lack of work
+opportunity hold us back.
+Free child care and pre-school activities:
+In New South Wales, only enough child care centres existed to
+cater for 2.8 percent of all pre-school children. Comprehensive child care centres with
+flexible hours, user control and paid for by the government was the alternative suggested.
+Free, safe contraceptives:
+At that time there was a luxury tax of 27 1/2 percent on the
+birth control pill, the law prohibited the general publication of contraceptive advice and
+information, and contraception was seen as a problem for women. The broadsheet said that
+this should be changed and safe contraceptives be freely available in birth control
+clinics.
+Safe, legal abortion on request:
+A study by the World Health Organisation had disclosed that,
+due to illegal abortion attempts, Australia had the highest maternal mortality rate of
+developed Western countries. While contraception was described as being more desirable
+than abortion, in many cases abortion was seen as being more desirable than childbirth.
+This IWD broadsheet had nothing to say about sexuality, which took increasing prominence
+in later years.
+Estimates of the numbers who marched from Sydney Town Hall to
+Hyde Park in 1972 ranged from 2-5,000, while the organisers said 4,000. Marchers wound
+their way through the city, mostly on the footpath, with bodies, flags, children, banners
+and dogs mingling with the Saturday morning shoppers. Police permission for any but
+established (or Establishment) marches was difficult to secure at that time, and IWD was
+not so favoured. Police had estimated that a few hundred might march and they must have
+regretted their way-out prediction as the thousands of marchers caused havoc with the
+traffic.
+Sydney IWD
+As they marched, women greeted old friends, conversed, sang
+or chanted One of the favourite chants was:
+Few of the daily media treated the politics of the march
+seriously or reported it accurately. Most focussed on an incident with Germaine
+Greer who happened to be in Australia at that time. Contrary to press mythology,
+she was not a founding sister of the women's liberation movement in Sydney, although her
+book The Female Eunuch played an influential role. On IWD she walked in the body of
+the march, a thug threw an egg at her and the splattered dress captured the headlines.
+While the march was in progress, another Nazi Party member pelted red dye at the Abortion
+Law Reform truck, but this was nowhere near as newsworthy as Greer's egg-stained dress.
+When the march reached Hyde Park, as part of a picnic,
+concert, meeting, a small group of women delighted the audience with street theatre on The
+Stages of a Woman's Life. It began with a coffin-like glory-box, traversed each stage
+of acquiring "womanhood" and marriage, and finished with the woman's addiction
+to Bex powders which had been provided to get her back on her feet when she faltered or
+collapsed along the way.
+As the items and the speakers proceeded in the warm sunlight,
+a young woman rose and removed her T-shirt, denouncing the taboos which permitted a man
+this privilege and denied it to women. Police moved in and other women followed her
+example. The audience closed ranks to block off the police and valiant men rose to defend
+the women. Six of them were arrested .... no women. Another man from the New Theatre had
+been arrested earlier when, clad in a bear-skin, he had wheeled a giant prick through the
+streets in a wheelbarrow. The constabulary were not amused at his send up of their Manhood
+and used the outdated Crimes Act to arrest him.
+Many women were also angry or uneasy at the male
+interventions on their day; and women themselves provided the most effective block to
+police threats in the park. Two women, one of them Aboriginal, walked to the front of the
+meeting, breasts bare, feeding their babies. The police were checked.
+As in the years to come, IWD was a time for women's theatre,
+music and arts. Part of the activities that year was a presentation of the musical play The
+Match Girls by the New Theatre.
+Sydney IWD made a profit and these funds were used to rent
+the first Women's Liberation House in Alberta Street on the edge of the city area.
+More about Joyce
+here
+Contents
+70s80s_2
+IWD Australia Home
+Annandale NSW Eora Country NSW 2038
+RÜS.
+He'd felt it coming on all season. His every perception called out to him,
+less clairaudience than common sense. It was part of the way of things. One
+felt the change in pressure that signaled the nearness of a lull in a storm.
+One smelled the sweetness of tevketl long before the berries actually ripened
+so as not to miss their brief span for picking. And one knew when it was time
+to die. Rüsul could no more fail to recognize his coming death than he could
+be surprised by a pause in the rain or sour berries.
+The certainty came to him one morning. He'd never been the type to awaken
+easily, always struggling to cross that daily border between slumber and the
+responsibilities of the wide awake world. But that day he had opened his eyes
+and known. Death had announced itself, named a time and place, and left him
+instantly alert. Rüsul had risen and gone about his day with a wistful smile,
+a bit sad that his time was ending but also relieved to know for sure. That
+knowledge signaled the start of the final rite of passage for every Fant.
+His assistant had seen the change in him at the workshop that day,
+acknowledging it with a simple question. "You know?"
+Rüsul had smiled. "I do. The last lesson I need to learn. No sadness from
+you, Yeft. It's long overdue. Besides, I know you've wanted my tools since
+the day you ended your apprenticeship."
+The younger Fant ignored the barb and instead asked, "Is there anything I
+can do to help? Do you have enough time for everything?"
+Rüsul had been thinking it through since breakfast. Time enough to complete
+the game board and pieces he'd promised to his elder daughter's husband
+after drinking too much beer on the night of their Bonding. Time enough to
+finish the lintel for the great window in his son's new home. And time also
+to build a stout raft and gather together the supplies he would need for the
+voyage. He had no goodbyes to say. Yeft had seen the knowledge on his face as
+much because they'd worked side by side for thirty years as because it had
+been so fresh. The rest of his loved ones would realize what had happened
+after he'd left. None would come seeking him. Until the day they each woke to
+their own invitations, they wouldn't even know where to look.
+HE'D been on the open water for five days, seated comfortably enough at
+the front third of a raft, his back against the short mast that held the only
+sail. A tarpaulin covered a jumbled pile that occupied most of the other two-thirds. Beneath it lay jugs of fresh water and beer to quench his thirst,
+assorted fresh fruit to enjoy before it spoiled and dried fruit for after if
+the wind died or the current slowed and delayed his journey. There was grain
+and salt for making cold porridge, and an assortment of succulent leaves as
+much for dessert as for late night snacking. Rüsul had also packed a
+scattering of various soft woods and, despite his promise, held onto his
+favorite knife. At the last moment he'd been unable to part with it, though
+of course he wouldn't need it when he reached his death.
+For the last five mornings he'd eased leisurely from sleep as usual. His
+daily ritual consisted of breaking his fast and then tending to his ablutions
+over the back end of his raft. He'd raise the sail and often as not tack in
+the direction that felt right. That done, he would take a chock of wood and
+his knife from under the tarpaulin and settle in with his back once more
+against the mast and spend the day carving. His hands and trunk did the work
+with the familiarity of experience, freeing his mind to wander at will through
+a lifetime of pleasant memories. When he grew thirsty he'd stop for some
+midday beer, and when hungry for an early supper. By dusk he'd set aside his
+knife and furl the raft's sail. As the last of the day's light fled, Rüsul
+would examine the statuette he'd made, the face of some old friend or
+relative gazing up from the wood as clearly as it had from his memory. His
+talent at carving had brought him a modicum of fame and security. His work had
+become quite collectible, but these pieces would never be admired by anyone
+else. Before laying himself down for sleep, he made a point of saying farewell
+to the day's effort and pitching it over the side for the ocean to claim.
+This sixth day had gone much like the others. Rüsul's left hand had all
+day long guided the knife slowly back and forth across the chock in his right.
+The constant rain created the illusion that the outer layers of wood were
+being washed away to reveal the figurine beneath. Later, as the sky began to
+lose its glow and he sat finishing his porridge and fruit, the rain faded
+entirely. For the briefest of moments the heavy clouds parted and Rüsul
+enjoyed the unfamiliar sight of sunset and felt the red light of Ekkja on his
+skin. Defter than the touch of a loved one's nubs, warmth flooded through the
+folds and wrinkles of his naked body, relieving all weariness while reminding
+him of just how weary he'd been. Then it passed. The clouds closed again and
+the rain resumed. He took down the sail.
+Rüsul finished his dinner and leaned over the edge of his raft to rinse his
+bowl and spoon before tucking them away under the tarp along with his carving
+knife. With his trunk he cradled the day's work, a perfect rendering of
+Margda, Barsk's long dead Matriarch. Her face looked back at him with
+complexity. There was pain and certainty, confidence and confusion, as if
+she'd just been thrust deep in the throes of one of her prophetic seizures.
+It was possibly his best work ever.
+He had muttered a farewell to the carving and raised his trunk high,
+preparing to fling the figure into the sea, when the ocean dropped away.
+The raft, which had risen and fallen with the sea's mood, froze stiller
+than calm water. The sudden stability caused Rüsul to tumble over backwards.
+The tiny rendering of Margda slipped from his nubs as he landed on his
+backside. He rolled onto his knees, one hand moving back and behind the bottom
+of his left ear to rub at a sudden stitch in his side. His other hand braced
+against the raft until his balance returned and allowed him to crawl to the
+edge.
+Peering over the side he saw an expanse of grayness below the raft. It
+sloped down in all directions too far to measure in the rain. Beyond that lay
+water. The ocean had not so much dropped from beneath him as something else
+had surged up from below it, lifting him and the raft.
+"There! At the far end. Take him, now. And quickly!"
+Rüsul turned. From beyond the other side of his raft, a gate of some sort
+had opened in the gray below. A tall, bizarre-looking person stood next to the
+opening and three more poured from it. All four had been wrapped in fire-bright plastic, more plastic than he'd seen in his entire life. The legs of
+their slacks thickened to form heavy boots. The sleeves of their shirts flowed
+into gloves and the collars rose up into hoods that hid their heads. Following
+their instructions, three of them advanced upon Rüsul. Translucent gray masks
+covered their faces. Two had hold of his arms in an instant and hauled him
+upright like a wet sack of leaves.
+It all happened so fast, so unexpectedly. He was on his way to die. The
+sameness of the past days had helped him to distance himself from the world
+and his past life. None of this should be happening. His brain wanted to deny
+it, disbelieve and make it go away. The hands gripping him made that
+impossible. As his feet scrabbled beneath him, the greatest piece of
+strangeness came clear to Rüsul and he struggled to pull free. No trunks. From
+even a short distance, their plastic hoods and masks rendered his assailants
+anonymous. But this close he saw the truth. Tiny pointy ears set well back.
+Long snouty faces with little black, slick noses. And all younger and stronger
+than him. His pitiful attempts to break away from the two holding him ended as
+the third wrapped more red plastic around each of Rüsul's wrists and pulled
+them behind his back. The three pulled him from his raft and began marching
+him over the grayness toward their gate, past the fourth figure.
+"You're Dogs. Cans, aren't you? I've seen pictures. But you can't be
+here. You're not supposed to…" He passed within the grayness and stopped
+speaking, his eyes trying and failing to make sense of the featureless surface
+surrounding him on all sides. He knew he moved because his feet stumbled and
+scraped as his captors dragged him along. His stomach flipped and for a moment
+the possibility of his evening meal coming back up distracted him. They seemed
+to move in a broad arc and the grayness gave way to painfully bright light
+that defined a corridor. The three Cans stopped. Rüsul steadied himself
+against them, squinting down the walls that somehow existed where nothing
+belonged but the open sea.
+Another person came toward him, taller and leaner than the others and clad
+in blue plastic that lacked hood or mask. She advanced on him with a liquid
+gait. A Cheetah with a significantly flatter face, a smallish nose, and even
+beadier, black eyes than the Dogs regarded him and drew back her lips to
+reveal gleaming teeth.
+"I am Nonyx-Captain Selishta," said the Cheetah. "Do you have a name?"
+Rüsul blinked. The light hurt his eyes but the questions racing through his
+mind hurt more. Why were there Dogs on Barsk? Why a Cheetah? Why were they
+speaking to him when he'd left all conversation behind. Why would anyone ask
+the name of a dead man? Could any adult be so ignorant and stupid?
+"I'm on my way to finish dying," he said.
+The Cheetah sneered at him. "Of course you are. You all are. And of course
+that's why you're naked as well? How foolish of me to think otherwise. Well,
+old man, your demise is going to have to wait a while. My people have many,
+many questions to ask you, and I need you alive for that."
+The Fant shook his head. "It doesn't work like that, I…"
+A cold plastic hand slapped Rüsul across the face. And then again.
+"My name is Selishta. This ship and these men obey my will. I'm the only
+one who gets to say how things work here." She pulled her hand back, staring
+a moment at the glove as if her fingers had touched something disgusting, then
+stepped back. She directed her attention to the Cans.
+"Maybe this one will know something useful about whatever shrubs and
+leaves the drug comes from. Hold him here a moment while the rest of the crew
+secures his flotsam, and then put him below in one of the vacant isolation
+cells."
+"Shrubs?" said Rüsul, more to himself than the others. "I was a wood
+carver, but that's past. I've died."
+The Cheetah stepped back, waving one gloved hand in front of her stupid-looking nose. "If you had, I've no doubt you'd smell better than you do."
+Rüsul's eyes widened and he studied his surroundings for the first time.
+As the Dogs had hauled him in he'd acknowledged only the formless gray of the
+place, but now the clear outlines of plastic wall panels, metal floor tilings,
+and piercing artificial light removed all doubt that he was inside an
+artificial structure. He gazed longingly back at the open gate they'd brought
+him through, where Nonyx-Captain Selishta stood silhouetted against the
+darkening sky. Rüsul watched as other Dogs in their red plastic suits hurried
+past the Cheetah, carrying away his supplies in the tarp that had previously
+covered them. Other Dogs had dragged the mast and sail in and down another
+corridor. Moments later, more of Selishta's crew entered with the
+disassembled pieces of his raft. And then he saw the Cheetah stoop to pick up
+something else. As she straightened up and regarded the object in her hand,
+Rüsul saw that Selishta had found his carving of Margda.
+The Nonyx waved the carving in a gesture encompassing everything that
+moments ago had made up Rüsul's raft. "You won't need any of that where
+we're going." She paused and regarded the image in his hand. "This is one
+of your women? Unbelievable. And I thought the males were the ugly ones." She
+tossed it away.
+The Cheetah dismissed Rüsul with a wave and the pair of Dogs took him away,
+deeper into the "ship" as the captain had named it. But it wasn't like any
+vessel of good wood that he had heard of, open to rain and sky. The world
+seemed to close in around him, and at first Rüsul imagined that he had
+actually died. But he knew it wasn't time yet. Time, in fact, seemed to have
+stopped. A claustrophobia that he'd never known before squeezed at his heart.
+To the chagrin of the Cans leading him, Rüsul's body went limp. Head and
+trunk down, he began to wail, as mournful a sound as any living being could
+manage. The Dogs dropped him. They clutched at their heads and kicked him
+until pain silenced him.
+"Why do they all do that?" said one of the Cans, over the sound of the
+Fant's moans. "I think my ears are bleeding."
+"Shut up and grab an end," said another. "I just want to get him into a
+cell before he catches his breath and starts in again."
+"Why do I get the smelly end?"
+"The whole thing stinks. All the more reason to hurry up and dump his ass
+where he won't be polluting our air."
+One took Rüsul's arms, the other his legs. Neither Dog came anywhere near
+touching his trunk or ears.
+"How can something that's been sitting out in the rain for days smell
+this bad?"
+"Yeah, every time we grab another one, I worry the ship's recycler is
+going to break down and then we're all screwed."
+They hauled him ever further away from his death.
+A distractor, also called a “halo,” moves the middle of James Weatherwax’s face forward slowly over several weeks. James was born with Apert syndrome,
+a genetic disorder that prevents the bones in a child’s skull and face from growing normally, and can make it difficult for kids like him to do everyday
+things like breathe, eat, talk or sleep.
+If we’re born with the expected
+configuration of features, we can
+afford to take our faces for granted.
+Although we might wish for a smaller
+nose or movie-star cheekbones, our
+faces will do.
+But children born with Apert syndrome don’t have that luxury.
+Their faces get in the way of simply
+breathing, eating and sleeping.
+Apert syndrome is a rare and
+extreme form of craniosynostosis,
+where one or more of the special joints
+between the bones of the skull, called
+sutures, fuse before birth – years too
+early – deforming the head and
+putting pressure on the brain.
+Because the bones in the center
+of their faces are jammed together like
+a compressed jigsaw puzzle, children
+with Apert syndrome have concave
+faces; bulging eyes; a small, beaked
+nose; and an undersized upper jaw.
+Their fingers and toes are often fused
+together. They likely have severe sleep
+apnea, and can suffer hearing loss,
+dental problems and developmental
+delays.
+The difficulties of Apert syndrome
+go beyond the physical challenges,
+says Dr. Richard Hopper, a craniofacial
+surgeon who is revolutionizing the
+surgical options for kids with the
+syndrome.
+“We love James
+whatever he
+looks like, but I
+had to do this
+to improve his
+quality of life.”Kecia Weatherwax
+“We love James
+whatever he
+looks like, but I
+had to do this
+to improve his
+quality of life.”
+Kecia Weatherwax
+“We interact through our faces; it’s
+our portal to the world. Imagine a child
+whose face constantly lets them down.
+They can’t breathe. Their eyes are
+watery. They’re drooling. Their teeth
+don’t fit together. They talk funny. Their
+face is always in the way of what they
+want to do.
+“And as humans we instinctively
+scan a person’s face when we meet
+them. If the proportions and balanceof the face look right, we’re more
+likely to interact,” says Hopper. “When
+someone meets a child with Apert
+syndrome for the first time, it can be
+hard for the person to get past the fact
+that the child’s face just looks wrong.”
+James has been treated at Children’s since he was a baby
+and has had more than 15 surgeries. Ongoing relationships like these are a big part of what motivates
+Dr. Richard Hopper to continue improving care.
+James Weatherwax knows these
+challenges all too well. He was born
+with Apert syndrome and cleft lipand palate. He and his mom, Kecia
+Weatherwax, have been making
+the long journey from their island
+community in Klawock, Alaska, to
+Seattle Children’s since he was a baby.
+Now 10, James has already had more
+than 15 surgeries on his skull, face,
+hands and feet.
+Weatherwax says that over the years
+she’s worried about how James would
+be accepted by others. People in theirhome community know and accept her
+son, but this hasn’t always been the case.
+“There were times where kids have
+been cruel. People can just be really
+mean because they don’t understand
+him,” she says.
+Drs. Richard Hopper and Hitesh Kapadia collaborate with each
+other and other members of the 18 specialties that make up the Craniofacial Center. The kinds of dramatic improvements Hopper seeks for his patients are only possible in a collaborative
+environment like Children’s.
+Traditional surgeries for Apert and other
+syndromic forms of craniosynostosis
+move the facial bones together as one
+block, the same distance and in one
+direction. While it’s effective in helping
+kids breathe, that approach doesn’t
+normalize facial proportions. Hopper
+felt his patients deserved more.
+So, over the past five years, he and
+his colleagues in the Craniofacial Center
+developed a new approach called
+segmental subcranial distraction. It
+combines existing techniques in a way
+that hasn’t been done before, and
+gives patients the benefit of multiple
+procedures in one surgery. It also does
+more than alleviate breathing and
+chewing problems: by normalizing
+the features, it gives a child with
+Apert syndrome the chance to interact
+socially without his face getting in
+the way.
+“You need to move different parts
+of the face in different directions, and
+different distances,” explains Hopper.
+“Essentially, you have to unlock the
+compressed jigsaw puzzle and then
+reassemble it.”
+During the delicate, daylong
+surgery, Hopper and his team separate
+the bones of the face from the skull,
+releasing the cheekbones and eye
+sockets from the middle of the face
+and repositioning them with small plates
+and screws. Using an implant that he
+and his colleagues design specifically
+for the child, he brings the forehead
+forward and attaches a device known
+as a distractor to the central part of
+the face.
+Like James, Dino Velagic, 17, has
+Apert syndrome, and struggled to breathe until Hopper and his team performed a
+revolutionary new procedure called segmental
+subcranial distraction. This
+procedure, developed by Hopper, has only been
+done seven times – all at Seattle Children’s.
+While the child is recovering at
+home, a parent turns the distractor a
+millimeter a day for about two weeks
+to continually move the bones. New
+bone grows and fills in the gaps. Once
+everything is in the right place, the
+distractor stays on for about six more
+weeks while the bone solidifies.
+Transformative innovations like
+segmental subcranial distraction are
+only possible, Hopper says, because
+of the depth and range of skills in
+Children’s Craniofacial Center, the
+largest in the United States.
+Dr. Hitesh Kapadia, one of just a
+few craniofacial surgical orthodontists
+in the country, is a key collaborator.
+Weeks and even months before the
+surgery, he uses computer imaging
+and standardized growth predictions
+to precisely plan the direction and
+magnitude of the movement of the
+facial bones. Kapadia must take intoaccount the age of the child at the
+time of surgery and accurately predict
+where the teeth need to meet, and
+how that affects the cheekbones,
+nose and the soft tissues of the face.
+“You need to
+move different
+parts of the
+face in different
+directions,
+and different
+distances.”Dr. Richard Hopper
+“You need to
+move different
+parts of the
+face in different
+directions,
+and different
+distances.”
+Dr. Richard Hopper
+Social worker Cassandra Aspinall collaborates with child life specialists to
+help children work through their anxiety. Depending on the child’s age and developmental needs, they may use tools like this doll fitted with
+its own custom-made halo.
+Weatherwax initially hesitated when
+she heard about the new treatment.
+“We love James whatever he looks
+like, but I had to do this to improve
+his quality of life,” she says. Early
+in 2013, they made another trip to
+Seattle Children’s.
+“He is doing really well now and is
+just being a happy boy who is always
+on the go,” says Weatherwax. “He
+goes out to play with his friends and
+he loves playing basketball and
+swimming. He is much more active
+and a lot more independent.”
+For Hopper, that’s the measure of
+success. “For me, it’s never about ‘We
+moved that bone into a better position,
+wasn’t that a great surgery?’ It’s got to
+be, ‘Was that the best way to move that
+bone? How does that affect the child at
+2 o’clock in the morning? How does it
+affect him when he meets a friend for
+the first time on the playground?’”
+After endoscopic surgery, Wesley Matthes
+wore a custom helmet for eight months
+to reshape his head. “He slept fine with it
+from day one,” recalls his mother, Angela
+Neeleman. “Helmet therapy was worlds
+easier than I expected it to be.”
+As Angela Neeleman and Steve
+Matthes discovered when their son
+Wesley was born, single-suture
+craniosynostosis (where just one of
+the skull joints fuses prematurely)
+can happen in any family. In fact,
+one in every 2,000 babies born
+each year has the condition.
+The standard treatment involves
+a surgery with a large incision to
+remove the fused suture and reshape
+the skull bones; absorbable plates and
+screws hold the pieces in place while
+they heal.
+Recently, Seattle Children’s has
+given families another option: a
+camera-assisted operation called
+endoscopic strip craniectomy. It uses
+two small incisions, takes half as long
+as the open surgery, and rarely requires
+a blood transfusion (which is almost
+guaranteed with the open method).
+After the endoscopic surgery the
+baby must wear a helmet 23 hours a
+day for up to a year to mold the skull,
+and the family has to be able to come
+back frequently to get the helmet
+adjusted. (The helmet is similar to
+one originally developed at Children’s
+for babies who develop “flat head
+syndrome” from lying on their backs.)
+“We’re confident both surgeries
+work equally well so families can
+choose the option that makes the
+most sense for them,” says Dr. Amy Lee, the neurosurgeon who brought
+the procedure to Children’s.
+Neeleman was uneasy with the
+open surgery and appreciated having
+a choice about Wesley's treatment.
+“I’m his mom; my job is to protect him
+as best as I can from as many things
+as possible. The endoscopic option
+allowed me to do that.”
+Published in Connection magazine, November 2013
+On an unrelated note, some of the comments on my last post were a little weird. Honestly, I don't care who you voted for. That wasn't the point of the post. My blog is not the place for political debate, which is why I didn't mention who I voted for. Different people should be allowed to have different view points, and not everyone has to have the same beliefs! The only reason I even wrote about the election in the first place is because it was an important and exciting day for me, and I wanted to express my feelings. I don't understand why people have to be so nasty to each other, and I don't want negative comments and arguing on my blog. This is meant to be a peaceful space. In a way this is like a journal to me, and I'm sharing it with you. I feel like I had to address this even though I didn't want to because it was causing me to not want to write on this blog anymore. So I just had to get it out.
+64 comments:
+so fun to see your skirt in print! i'd never heard of stitch, so i'll have to check it out.
+and thanks for addressing the comments issue. i feel like there were a lot of weird undertones with people posting about the election last week and it's good to just get it out there. this is your blog and you're entitled to write whatever you want without feeling like you (or your dedicated readers) will get attacked. if people don't like what you're writing, they shouldn't read your blog, but they certainly shouldn't leave nasty comments.
+wow, cute skirt! i wish i had the sewing skillz to make that. someday!
+i'm also wondering how your sweater-making class went. what pattern are you using? i'm in the process of knitting my very first sweater, too -- the northern cross sweater from the "twinkle's weekend knits" book. exciting stuff! :)
+When I saw that magazine I thought it looked like something Martha would do on the cover, and then yesterday when I got it flipped to this page and thought, huh, that looks just like the purple wiksten skirt, before I saw your name next to it and Martha's by the pleated one. Anyway, I'm so excited to make one of these! It might just jump to the top of the sewing list :).
+thanks, meg. my sweater class got canceled 2 weeks in a row! so my first one will be this sunday. i've already started the sweater though, and so far so good. i'm using a really easy pattern from rowan's new shapes book. it's a shawl collar cardigan using really chunky yarn, so it will be super cozy for winter.
+Okay, so I have a really good memory for this kind of thing, but I remember that you mentioned making a pattern for a new sewing magazine a few months ago, and I've wondered when that would be revealed... and it looks amazing! The editors did a great job of scouting out contributors!
+congratulations on your work in print!
+also, it seems these debates have been all over design blogs the last few weeks. thanks for speaking up, i think a lot of bloggers just ignore the fights under comments. this is your space. :)
+i love this! what fabric do you recommend it be made with? (i want to get some fabric now so i dont have to wait when the magazine comes ;)
+i made mine with linen, but since it's getting colder i've also used denim and corduroy. wool would be nice too. but keep in mind that different fabrics will give it different shapes. the linen makes it very flowy, but denim would make the shape more pronounced and structured.
+Thanks so much!
+I love all your work :)
+So glad to see you back=) Congrats on getting in the magazine!
+I was a little turned away from the comments too. I am so glad that you addressed this issue and that you do not judge anybody who may have voted differently. Everyone has their own opinions and I am so thankful that you agree with that;)
+Congratulations with the skirt! I just wished I lived in the US so I could get the magazine a lot cheaper! Will keep an eye out for it for sure though! I would love to own a pattern for your clothes as they always sell out so quick I cant ever get my hands on them! P.s. your completely right with what you said, its not nice at all people spoiling your beautiful blog with their wierdness.
+Oh that magazine is making me swoon! Congrats on that!
+the stitch feature looks terrific! and it's so great that martha also has a pattern featured, too.
+i totally missed the politics debate in your comments, but i agree, different viewpoints are a good thing. however, i've also learned that it's almost impossible to have a civil debate about religion, politics, money, or childrearing. *especially* online.
+don't let it get you down!
+Dear Jenny,
+Please don't let commenters (regardless of subject) get you down - it just goes to show what a wildly diverse audience you attract with your lovely clothing designs and sense of style.
+Thanks for your blog. I really enjoy it no matter what the subject is.
+I'm a grandmother and probably 3 sizes to large to fit into any of your things, but they're so -- so -- what? Lovely, simple, different. They're great, and I'd love to know your process. If it's somewhere on the blog (a backstory?), point me to it. And bully for you for blasting the pundits. Well, having seen your photo, I doubt you'd "blast" anyone, but I wanted to when I read the comments. Amen.
+oh, I'm so jealous that you have your copy already. Mine isn't here yet:(
+Congratulations on being published!
+and I agree with all the other commenters about the nasty comments.
+this is your space.
+I wish I could sew! I'd just love to see the pattern (Martha's too); thank you for the inspiration. And thank you for this blog and for sharing about your process and thoughts and much else----it makes wearing Wiksten mean a lot.
+fwiw and now that the election is over----I'm talking about, yes, the candidates and wearing my Ellebeth top here---
+many regards.
+how fun! and congratulations!
+and I'm sorry to hear about the negative comments, the election was so important and life consuming, I'm sure people just let the worst come out with out realizing it. but by no means should you let it discourage you from blogging. I love your little journal. keep up the brilliant work! :)
+Congratulations on the Stitch feature! I'd been thinking about purchasing it, but knowing that a pattern of yours is in there has pushed me over the edge. :)
+I've been a long time reader of your blog and I just wanted to say that I loved that you expressed your excitement about the election without pushing your beliefs on anyone. Regarding some of your commenters - some people just don't know when to hold their tongue (er, fingers?), especially on the internet and especially when it involves sensitive subjects, i.e. politics.
+I love your blog and your clothes are wonderful. Please don't stop writing! :)
+Good for you for speaking up. I wouldn't even have faulted you for deleting argumentatively off-topic comments. But you handled it with grace and honesty. There are so many lovely people reading your blog and commenting. I have faith that the discourse will return to its usual more positive vibe.
+What a cute skirt!
+Sorry about all the weird comments on your last post. I think people were so passionate about this election...I saw a lot of controversial and not-so-nice comments on the most benign of blog posts. It's good to have such a passionate election I think, but too bad that people take it out on each other in place where they shouldn't.
+That's so cool about the magazine! I want to stop by B&N tonight to see if they have a knitting book I decided I *must have* and will check the magazines while I'm at it. :)
+i just ordered the stitch mag - can't wait.
+also, for you apc fiends - there are a few items (i saw 4, though there may be more) that are on sale in the fall/winter collection for about 30% off. you have to click on the specific item to see if it is on sale. I saw the striped tee (i think it is the same one Jenny has), one of the cocktail dresses (the camel/gabardine one, not the pink/peach/melon one), an orange smocked dress, and the hippie jeans on sale. I did not see any of the madras stuff on sale, but that just came out recently.
+I've never heard of Stitch magazine either. Is there a website for it? I'd love to check it out!
+thanks
+great blog btw
+Jenny,
+Congrats on being published... the first of many patterns to come I'm sure. I'll buy the issue just for your pattern alone. Sorry to hear about your issues with posting weirdness. Please don't let it discourage you...I love reading your posts too much!
+xo
+Hi Jenny,
+I'm certainly buying this magazine. Is it available in stores like Jo-ann, or just online?
+Congratulations!
+I've never seen this magazine before, and now I gotta get it! Just the other day other day I was looking at your purple skirt in the domino magazine tearsheet and thinking I'd love to make one like it!
+I agree it's a little odd to use someone else's craft blog as any kind of political soapbox, and I'm sorry it made you think you don't want to blog anymore! I just wanted to say I hope you don't ever stop, add moderation if you have to please but I don't stop sharing your lovely pictures, clothing and thoughts :o)
+I'm sorry, I hadn't seen this post before I posted a comment on the "election day" post. I so enjoy your creativity.
+congratulations on the pattern! can't wait to check out the magazine.
+and good for you for speaking up about the weird comments- yes, this is your space and it is entitled to be peaceful! so sorry that people were being so weird.
+xo
+I really love your blog. Please keep posting! I love your style and all the links you offer. I have really enjoyed visiting your site!
+hi jenny,
+congrats! that is so exciting, the skirt looks great! i remember seeing your photo of it in the summer, it looked so nice on you.
+and way to go for not putting up with the negativity. i really enjoy your blog!
+You are just lovely :)
+So are your clothes. After discovering your blog i have become interested in sewing again and creating my own clothes.
+I believe your blog inspires more than divides so please don't worry :)
+- Quolleen from Melbourne
+ah---yay! something to add to my exchange gift list. grazie.
+Love your blog & clothes. Keep up the great posts!
+good grief Jenny, so sorry about all the blathering you got for simply being excited to vote!
+I remember you mentioning designing for a magazine and was wondering when that would come out... congrats congrats congrats!!! That is so exciting and inspiring!! (Though I must say, I expected them to have you modeling it and was surprised not to see you!!!)
+Blogs by their nature are a place where people feel (or at least want to feel)like they are part of a community and so naturally they will open up to one another. Being part of a community is feeling connected, etc... Some readers may go too far, but I think it is part of wanting to connect and feel like they have shared opinions be it the same taste in clothes, or politics.
+More than any other sigular event in the last 2 years, this past election has driven people to seek these types of connections.
+OOOoooohhh I love the skirt Jenny! And a pattern by Martha as well? I may have to sacrifice some poor old aussie dollars for the magazine - thanks!
+As for the commenting hoo haa - you've made me feel like I got off lucky - I had a bit of heated discussion in my comments, and I'm from Australia, and I revealed exactly who I was supporting as well...... I thought your post was very diplomatic and well thought out as to not cause a stoush..... geepers!
+Ah - the delights of blogging......
+Thanks in advance for the pattern - I'm off to take a look at that magazine!
+Leah xxx
+The skirt is lovely. I am immediately googling for a stockist of it in Australia. The exchange rate is pretty woeful for us at the moment.
+I've been reading and admiring your blog for ages now, but last time I tried to comment (and I assure you not on anything politically related at all!) it wouldn't let me unless I had a Blogger account. I'm glad I can say hi when I stop buy again now!
+Yippee! I just ordered a copy!
+that is a great skirt. when my work becames a bit more sane in the winter i am putting that on my list, although my sewing skills are so lame.
+the political comments really were a bit bothering- i never have time to do anything but read your blog post, so i didn't see the comments left, but i think you handled it well with your response. i agree that people got way too personal in their comments. terrible. whatever great skirt and love the new corduroy top so much.
+I was just thinking about this when I was looking for inspiration in your past entries. Congratulations, that is so awesome! I am really hoping I can find one on the shelf somewhere.
+Also, I can't wait to see your sweater!
+like so many before: congratualtions on the print. and for all your success with this blog and your loverly photographs.
+i'm so happy that you share your journal with us. i would miss you, if you didn't. it has become one of the blogs i look forward to reading (and i have a rather short list of those.) i've enjoyed so much, since finding you... around the time Joe had a funny fake mustache last all-hallow's-eve.
+thank you, thank you, my heart sings.
+Hello Jenny,
+I admire your sewing, I watch it regularly and get a lot of inspiration from it.
+..just for encouragement..
+Lucie
+(from Czech Republic)
+I love love love your blog - even though I can't sew a stitch!
+Please don't stop!
+Sam (a Scottish girl living in Paris)
+Hey, sweetpea! Just a note to say that I follow your blog and love it. I do think of it as a peaceful place, and stopping by adds a bit of beauty to my day. Keep it up, and thank you!
+i love your skirt. how exciting. your sewing skills blow me away!
+Hrm, I may have to make a trip to the bookstore, if there is a Wiksten pattern AND a Martha pattern!
+Sorry you got some bothersome comments. I got my first negative one in 2.5 years due to my election posts. It really ate at me!
+Hi Jenny!
+The skirt is awsome...what an eye for style you have! I am looking into investing in a good dressform...what one do you have, use, recommend? Also, if you don't mind sharing....how long did it take you to create/finalize your blocks/patterns for your line?
+And do you begin your process with draping or do you just shoot straight to flat pattern? Feel free to let me know if I am being too nosey:)
+Thanks for all you do!
+Ok, I couldn't wait. I had this fear that the issue would sell out ! So I ordered it. It's done. Now to just anticipate its arrival. I'm so pumped.
+does this expanded sizing allow for someone plus sized?
+just curious. us big girls want to be cute too.
+I believe the Yarn Harlot said it best when she said that her blog was like her living room. If people wouldn't carry on these conversations in front of you in your living room, they shouldn't be having them in your blog comments.
+I'm sure there are more appropriate forums for political debate.
+I love your designs Jenny. They are beautiful and inspiring. I love how you layer your wardrobe - I used to do more of this when I was in University and forgot how funky/fun it is.
+Congratulations on the skirt pattern! Wiksten in print! Woohoo!
+Congratulations, Jenny! I'm definitely going to order the magazine.
+And thanks for addressing the comments, as well as internet nastiness in general. The web would be a lesser place without your lovely little blog!
+anonymous,
+yes, the pattern does come in much larger sizes than i usually make! i forgot to mention that.
+Congratulations on the pattern! I've never seen the magazine before but now I'm going to go out and find it.
+And I just want to say that this post and it's comments, although the outcome of a negative thing, have made me feel better about a lot of things. All of the very -- well -- let's say "charged" commenting here and elsewhere surronding the election were upsetting. To see that some people also think it is unfair to force one's opinions on others (and especially on a design blog!) makes me happy. Thanks for addressing the issue, even if it is not the usual programming.
+Hi Jenny,
+Can't wait for my copy of Stitches to arrive! I really look forward to seeing your creation in print too - congratulations!!
+I recently had to design a project (pattern + instructions)for a small magazine in Australia. I found it quite tough as I'm not a pattern maker or professional seamstress in any way. One of the things that helped and inspired me along the way (not only with my project) has been your blog. Your talent, exceptional taste and dedication is an inspiration. Thanks for sharing it!
+-Michelle.
+The skirt is gorgeous. I hope Stitch is available in Sweden. We have a huge selection of American sew/craft magazines in the major stores, but I'm not sure I've seen this one.
+Also I love your designs - you really manage to create a distinct style that also looks very inviting and comfortable to wear. A co-worker sent me the link to your site a couple of months ago, and now I am officially hooked :)
+I found the magazine - finally! I might have gotten the last copy at the Barnes & Noble in Union Square (NYC). It was a little confusing because there's another magazine called Stitch that is not this nice, and this seems to be a special Winter Issue put out by Quilting Arts. I wish it were a regular monthly magazine with projects like your skirt. I'd subscribe! But I guess I'll just have to check again in the Spring to see if it's seasonal.
+Thanks for letting us know about it!
+wow! i'm so excited! i remember when you posted that skirt originally, i started wishing and hoping i'd someday be able to have a skirt like that. thank you for sharing the great news!
+I just picked up the magazine! It's wonderful! I'm finally getting my own sewing machine for Christmas - you're skirt is going to be my first project!
+i just picked up my first copy of stitch yesterday--what a nice surprise! i was honestly expecting to flip right to your article and ignore the rest but there were a lot of great projects in there. thank you for the skirt pattern. i can't wait to choose some fabric and get to work!
+congratulations!! i can't wait to try this.
+and very gracefully you handled the election post kafuffle.
+hooray for your pattern - love it!
+Hello,
+i sewed the skirt and i love it. Thanks for the pattern un Stitch magazine! You can see the skirt i made by following the link
+Bye
+Amélie
+Figures
+Abstract
+Objective
+To measure mortality and its risk factors among children discharged from a health centre in rural Gambia.
+Methods
+We conducted a cohort study between 12 May 2008 and 11 May 2012. Children aged 2–59 months, admitted with suspected pneumonia, sepsis, or meningitis after presenting to primary and secondary care facilities, were followed for 180 days after discharge. We developed models associating post-discharge mortality with clinical syndrome on admission and clinical risk factors.
+Findings
+One hundred and five of 3755 (2.8%) children died, 80% within 3 months of discharge. Among children aged 2–11 and 12–59 months, there were 30 and 29 deaths per 1000 children per 180 days respectively, compared to 11 and 5 respectively in the resident population. Children with suspected pneumonia unaccompanied by clinically severe malnutrition (CSM) had the lowest risk of post-discharge mortality. Mortality increased in children with suspected meningitis or septicaemia without CSM (hazard ratio [HR] 2.6 and 2.2 respectively). The risk of mortality greatly increased with CSM on admission: CSM with suspected pneumonia (HR 8.1; 95% confidence interval (CI) 4.4 to 15), suspected sepsis (HR 18.4; 95% CI 11.3 to 30), or suspected meningitis (HR 13.7; 95% CI 4.2 to 45). Independent associations with mortality were: mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC) of 11.5–13.0 cm compared to >13.0 cm (HR 7.2; 95% CI 3.0 to 17.0), MUAC 10.5–11.4 cm (HR 24; 95% CI 9.4 to 62), and MUAC <10.5 cm (HR 44; 95% CI 18 to 108), neck stiffness (HR 10.4; 95% CI 3.1 to 34.8), non-medical discharge (HR 4.7; 95% CI 2.0 to 10.9), dry season discharge (HR 2.0; 95% CI 1.2 to 3.3), while greater haemoglobin (HR 0.82; 0.73 to 0.91), axillary temperature (HR 0.71; 95% CI 0.58 to 0.87), and oxygen saturation (HR 0.96; 95% CI 0.93 to 0.99) were associated with reduced mortality.
+Citation: Chhibber AV, Hill PC, Jafali J, Jasseh M, Hossain MI, Ndiaye M, et al. (2015) Child Mortality after Discharge from a Health Facility following Suspected Pneumonia, Meningitis or Septicaemia in Rural Gambia: A Cohort Study. PLoS ONE 10(9): e0137095.
+Editor: Tobias R. Kollmann, University British Columbia, CANADA
+Received: April 10, 2015; Accepted: August 12, 2015; Published: September 9, 2015
+Copyright: © 2015 Chhibber et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited
+Data Availability: This study is subject to ethical requirements that the data are not to be sent outside The Gambia unless approved by the GG/MRC Scientific Coordinating Committee and Joint Institutional Ethics Committee. An ethically compliant dataset will be made available upon approval of a proposed analysis by the SCC and JIEC. Interested researchers may contact the Secretaries of the SCC and JIEC (scc@mrc.gm) with data requests.
+Funding: Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation’s PneumoADIP (), Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (, MRC (UK) (), and the University of Otago () funded the work. The funding bodies did not influence the design or implementation of the study or the decision to publish, and the authors alone are responsible for the content of this paper.
+Competing interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
+Background
+Millennium Development Goal 4, reduction in under-5 mortality by two-thirds by 2015, is unlikely to be met in many countries [1, 2]. The highest rates of child mortality are in sub-Saharan Africa [3]. Infectious diseases are responsible for nearly two-thirds of these deaths and under-nutrition is a contributing factor in at least a third [4].
+The WHO program for Integrated Management of Childhood Illness focuses on rational treatments for syndromic presentations at first-level health facilities and also provides advice on follow-up care [5]. In sub-Saharan Africa, there is little focus on follow-up, because of under-resourced health systems with many competing priorities. Additional data on post-discharge mortality in settings of primary and secondary care could help decisions about the level of priority given to follow-up care.
+Child mortality after discharge from hospital in high-income countries is confined to small high risk groups [6–8]. In low-income settings, children appear to be at increased risk of mortality following any illness [9–13]. Estimates of post-discharge mortality have varied between 1% and 18% often with a similar or greater magnitude than in-hospital mortality [13]. Mortality following specific illnesses varies, as do the results of risk factor analyses [9–12, 14, 15]. The most important factors associated with post-discharge mortality appear to be young age, malnutrition, previous hospitalisations, HIV infection, and pneumonia [13]. Most studies of post-discharge mortality in low-income settings have involved referral centres [9, 10, 12, 14, 15]. To obtain data more representative of the majority of admissions in sub-Saharan Africa we determined the risk factors for and rates of child mortality following discharge of children in a setting of primary and secondary care within a demographic surveillance system in rural West Africa.
+Methods
+Setting
+We conducted a prospective cohort study of children discharged from Basse Health Centre in eastern Gambia. Plasmodium falciparum is endemic in the region with seasonal transmission during the brief wet season from June until October. The region is rural and the population engages primarily in subsistence farming. Basse is the major town in Upper River Region (URR). The health centre has 12 paediatric beds, providing primary and secondary care to referrals from five peripheral nurse-led clinics located on the south bank of the River Gambia. There are no private inpatient facilities in the area. The Basse Health and Demographic Surveillance System (BHDSS) comprises the geographic area of URR to the south of the river (S1 Fig).
+Demographic surveillance includes 4-monthly visits to all households during which births, deaths, and migrations are registered. Residency is defined as living in the BHDSS area for two consecutive visits or being born to a woman resident in the area. Loss of residency is defined as absence for two consecutive visits. In 2010, the population was estimated to be 160,634 with under-5 mortality of 81 per 1000 live births. Surveillance for cases of suspected pneumonia, sepsis, and meningitis in the area has been underway since 2008 and all cases are linked to a unique individual BHDSS identity number.
+Participants
+Children were eligible for inclusion in the cohort if they were admitted to Basse Health Centre between 12 May 2008 and 30 April 2012, a BHDSS resident, 2–59 months of age, met criteria for suspected pneumonia, meningitis or septicaemia [16], and were discharged alive. The proportion of all children admitted between 1 May 2011 and 30 April 2012 who met criteria for suspected pneumonia, meningitis or septicaemia was 77.9% (2224/2854). Children were ineligible if they were non-resident, discharged on the same date as admission or if they died on the day of discharge. If an individual was readmitted and discharged within the first 180 day post-discharge follow-up period, they contributed person-time for both admissions. Children contributed person-time to follow-up until one of the following occurred: exit from the BHDSS, attained 5 years of age, death, completed 180 day follow-up, or the study end (1 May 2012), which ever occurred first.
+Procedures
+All individuals who presented as outpatients or inpatients to the six health facilities in the BHDSS were assessed by surveillance nurses 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to determine if surveillance criteria for review by a clinician were present (S1 Table). We used a wide set of surveillance criteria for referral so as to include all patients who might meet diagnostic criteria for suspected pneumonia, sepsis, or meningitis. The referred patients did not necessarily require a higher level of clinical care. Clinicians used standardised criteria to make a surveillance diagnosis of suspected pneumonia, sepsis, or meningitis (S2 Table). Standardised investigations were performed on the basis of the surveillance diagnosis (S1 Panel). Patients were treated as per government guidelines.
+The following clinical information was collected: presence of cough, difficulty breathing, irritability, convulsion, vomiting or diarrhea (three or more abnormally loose stool in the previous 24 hours), antibiotics taken in the previous week, the number of days of illness, axillary temperature, pulse rate, peripheral arterial oxygen saturation (Nellcor N-65, Mansfield, MA, USA), respiratory rate counted for 60 seconds (Respiratory Rate Counter, UNICEF, Copenhagen, Denmark), grunting, lower chest wall indrawing, nasal flaring, auscultatory crackles, wheeze, or bronchial breathing, dullness on chest percussion, bulging fontanel, neck stiffness, prostration (inability to drink or breastfeed or sit if usually able), conscious state (‘unresponsive’, ‘responds to pain’, ‘responds to voice’, or ‘alert’), and clinically severe malnutrition (CSM; visible wasting of the buttocks, skin or hair changes, or bilateral pedal edema). Haemoglobin concentration was measured systematically from January 2011 and at the clinician’s discretion during 2008–2010, using a point-of-care device (HemoCue Hb 301, Angelholm, Sweden), weight was recorded using a digital scale (HD-314, TANITA, Arlington Heights, Illinois, USA), height using a ShorrBoard (Weigh and Measure, Olney, USA), and mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC) using a tri-coloured single-slotted tape (Weigh and Measure, Olney, USA). Weight-for-height z-scores were calculated using 2006 WHO growth standards. A non-medical discharge was recorded if the patient left the health centre against medical advice. The wet season was defined as 1 July to 30 November and dry season as 1 December to 30 June. Deaths were monitored at 4-monthly household visits and we used the BHDSS dates of death. Inconsistent dates and child identities were resolved at additional household visits.
+Ethical considerations
+The Gambia Government/MRC Joint Institutional Ethics Committee approved the project (SCC1087 and L2012.41). Surveillance nursing staff administered an informed and written consent process with the caregivers of each child enrolled in the study.
+Statistical analysis
+Analysis was conducted using STATA version 12.0 (StataCorp. College Station, USA). Categorical variables were compared using Fishers exact or χ2 tests. Variances of continuous variables were tested and the appropriate t-test was conducted to test differences between means. A survival analysis was used to model events within 180 days of discharge. Univariate Cox regression was used to identify associations with post-discharge mortality. Variables with p ≤0.10 on univariate analysis were entered into two multi-variable Cox regression models. A syndrome-based model used the standardised surveillance diagnoses of suspected pneumonia, sepsis, or meningitis in the presence or absence of CSM. Multiple syndromic diagnoses were categorised according to a mutually exclusive hierarchy of severity (meningitis > sepsis > pneumonia). A second model used individual clinical risk factors to determine associations with outcome. Variables with the highest p-value were removed from the multi-variable models one-by-one in a reverse stepwise approach until all p-values were <0.05.
+Results
+In total, 7646 children presented to the health facilities in the BHDSS and met the surveillance criteria for clinician review (Fig 1). Sixty-one (0.8%) patients were not reviewed by a clinician and the residential status of 102 (1.3%) was undetermined. Of 6310 patients with suspected pneumonia, meningitis, or septicemia, 2358 (37%) were treated as outpatients and 3952 were admitted. Of those admitted, 155 (3.9%) died as inpatients. Twenty-four (0.6%) patients without an outcome measure and 38 (1.0%) with inadequate records were excluded with 3735 of 3797 eligible admissions (98%) remaining in the final analysis. Of those included in the analysis, 1602 (43%) were screened at peripheral primary care facilities outside Basse.
+This flowchart shows the numbers of participants who were screened, met criteria for enrolment, discharged alive and included in analysis. aBasse Health and Demographic Surveillance System (Basse HDSS).
+During the 180 day follow-up period, there were 105 deaths among the 3735 (2.8%) admissions. Fifty-five patients exited alive from the BHDSS during 180 day follow-up, 22 in the first 90 days and 33 in the second 90 days. In the 2–11 month age group 47 of 1605 (2.9%) children died; in the 12–23 month age group 39 of 1127 (3.5%) died and there were 19 deaths among 1003 (1.9%) children aged 24–59 months. The crude mortality rate was 28.5 deaths/1000 discharges/180 days of follow-up. The mortality rate was 29.8 deaths/1000/180 days for children 2–11 months of age and 27.6 for children aged 12–59 months. The mortality rates in the background BHDSS populations aged 2–11 and 12–59 months during the period of the study were 11 and 5 deaths/1000/180 days respectively. Fifty-eight deaths (55%) occurred within 45 days of discharge and 81 (77%) occurred in the first 90 days (Fig 2).
+Fifty-five patients exited alive from the Basse HDSS during 180 day follow-up.
+On univariate analysis, children who died were more likely than children who survived to present in Basse than peripheral clinics, have a longer duration of illness, have no cough or difficulty breathing, have prostration, diarrhea, lower temperature, lower heart rate, lower respiratory rate, lower oxygen saturation, lower hemoglobin concentration, lower values of nutritional indices, lethargy, an absence of chest wall indrawing, nasal flaring, crackles, and wheeze, but have neck stiffness, a longer duration of admission, a standardised diagnosis of septicemia rather than pneumonia, multiple clinical diagnoses, bacteremia, be transferred from Basse, be not recovering on discharge and be discharged against medical advice (S3 Table).
+The risk of death was reduced by 2% with each increasing month of age (Table 1). Clinically severe malnutrition was present in 52 of 105 (50%) children who died and 300 of 3630 (8.3%) who survived. The increased risk of death associated with CSM was greatest in the first 2 months after discharge but remained during months 2 to 6 of follow-up (Fig 3).
+Clinically severe malnutrition was defined as the presence of visible wasting of the buttocks, characteristic skin or hair changes, or bilateral pedal oedema. Fifty-five patients exited alive from the Basse HDSS during 180 day follow-up. Numbers of events refer to the number of post-discharge deaths in each category. Total numbers refer to numbers of children in each category at the beginning of follow-up. Abbreviations: MUAC, mid-upper arm circumference (measured in centimetres).
+The multivariable model using clinical syndrome on admission showed that children with suspected pneumonia without CSM had the lowest risk of post-discharge mortality (Table 1). This risk was increased approximately two fold in children with suspected meningitis or septicaemia without CSM. The risk of post-discharge mortality was increased substantially in children with CSM. Compared to children with the clinical syndrome of pneumonia without CSM, those with pneumonia and CSM had 8 times (95% CI 4 to 15) the risk of death, those with suspected sepsis and CSM had 18 times (95% CI 11 to 30) the risk of death and those with suspected meningitis and CSM had 14 times (95% CI 4 to 45) the risk of death.
+The multivariable model using demographic, clinical, and circumstantial factors showed that the risk of post-discharge mortality increased in a dose-dependent fashion with falling values of the MUAC on admission (Table 2). Compared to children with MUAC >13.0 cm, the risk of death increased 7 times with MUAC 11.5–13.0 cm, 24 times with MUAC 10.5–11.4 cm, and 44 times with MUAC <10.5 cm. The other factors which were associated with death in the risk factor model were: discharge in the dry season (HR 2.0, 95% CI 1.2 to 3.3), neck stiffness (HR 10, 95% CI 3 to 35), non-medical discharge (HR 4.7, 95% CI 2 to 11), while the risk of death was 29% (42 to 13%) lower for one unit increase in degrees Celsius of axillary temperature, 4% (1 to 7%) lower for one percent increase in oxygen saturation, and 18% (9% to 27%) lower for one unit increase in hemoglobin concentration. Age was not associated with the risk of death in this model. Mid-upper arm circumference ≤13.0 cm was present in 82 of 105 (78%) children who died and 1158 of 3630 (32%) children who survived. We repeated this model using categories of weight-for-height z-score instead of MUAC and found similar associations for the other risk factors but the magnitude of association with post-discharge mortality was less for z-scores (z-score < -3, HR 6.7, 95% CI 2.9 to 19.6; z-score ≤ -2 and ≥ -3, HR 2.7, 95% CI 1.3 to 5.8) than MUAC (S4 Table).
+Considering the prognostic value of CSM compared to MUAC ≤13.0 cm for post-discharge mortality, the specificity of the two indices was 92% versus 68%, while the sensitivity was 50% versus 78%. Exploring the utility of different measurements to define groups for potential interventions, categorisation of patients by MUAC ≤13.0 cm would include 33% of discharges and 77% of post-discharge deaths while MUAC <11.5 cm would include 9% of discharges and 50% of deaths. Categorising patients by CSM would include 9% of discharges and 50% of deaths while also including the clinical syndromes of meningitis and sepsis would include 31% of discharges and 70% of deaths. The number of patients that would be necessary to follow-up with a hypothetical 100% effective intervention in order to potentially prevent one death was 15 for MUAC <13.0 cm, 6 for MUAC <11.5 cm, 19 for weight-for-height z-score < -2, and 12 for weight-for-height z-score < -3.
+Discussion
+To our knowledge, this is the first study of post-discharge mortality in a primary and secondary care setting in a developing country. The proportions of children 2–59 months of age admitted to a rural health centre with suspected pneumonia, sepsis, or meningitis, who died as inpatients (3.9%) or during post-discharge (2.7%) follow-up were similar. Post-discharge mortality in rural Gambia was five times higher than the background community rate. The majority of deaths occurred within 90 days of discharge. Children with signs of CSM on admission had an over 10-fold increase in the risk of post-discharge mortality. Post-discharge mortality was intimately related to increasing degrees of malnutrition as measured by MUAC, with a measurement of less than 10.5 cm associated with a 44-fold increase in the risk of mortality.
+Our data align with previous studies of post-discharge mortality, demonstrating higher mortality than in background populations [9,10,12] and that mortality is highest soon after discharge [9, 10, 12, 17, 18]. Variability in the absolute rate of post-discharge mortality between our study and others may relate to our setting of primary and secondary care as well as differences in health care seeking, quality of care and duration of follow-up; 2.8% of children died in rural Gambia (6 months follow-up), whereas during 12 months of follow-up 4.5% died in coastal Kenya [12] and 6.1% in Guinea Bissau [10]. The setting of our study in primary and secondary care provides data representative of most admissions to health facilities in sub-Saharan Africa [19], thus confirming that post-discharge mortality comprises a major component of child mortality, unrelated to admissions in hospitals and referral centres.
+In our clinical syndrome model, suspected diagnoses of sepsis or meningitis were associated with increased mortality following discharge, but risk was almost an order of magnitude greater when CSM was also present. Our risk factor model found that children with MUAC <11.5 cm on admission, indicative of severe malnutrition, had an extremely high risk of post-discharge death; 25 times greater than children with a normal MUAC. Importantly, a MUAC of 11.5–13.0 cm, indicative of moderate malnutrition, was also associated with a 7-fold increase in mortality. A number of studies have identified severe malnutrition as a risk factor for post-discharge mortality [9–12, 14, 15, 17, 18]. However, ours is the first reported study to identify an increased risk of mortality in relation to moderate malnutrition. Furthermore, we found that using MUAC as the anthropometric measure was more sensitive in categorising children at risk than weight-for-height z-scores. This is an important finding given the greater prevalence of moderate compared to severe malnutrition. The potential impact of an intervention would be greater if it included children with moderate as well as severe malnutrition.
+The association between age and post-discharge mortality evident in our clinical syndrome model has also been shown by others [9–12], with older children generally having better outcomes. In contrast, age was not associated with post-discharge mortality in our risk factor model. The lack of association with age was due to mortality being greater in the 12–23 month (3.5%) than the 2–11 month age group (2.9%) which reflects the greater prevalence of malnutrition (weight-for-height z-score ≤ -2) in the older (38%, 411/1078) compared to younger (25%, 392/1564) age group. Although a study in Kenya found no relationship between post-discharge mortality and season [12], post-discharge mortality in Gambia was greater in the dry season, possibly related to a greater prevalence of invasive pneumococcal infections and rotavirus infection at this time [20, 21]. A recent systematic review of mortality in relation to seasonality concluded that deaths are more associated with humid and rainy seasons [22]. The reason for the apparent discrepancy between this review and our data may relate to differential risk for the major seasonal diseases in the specific post-discharge time period. Although assessed in previous research [12], we showed an association between neck stiffness on admission and post-discharge mortality, indicating some post-discharge deaths may be due to recrudescence of meningitis, and an increased risk in children with a low admission temperature. Children unable to mount a strong febrile response may be malnourished, immunosuppressed or moribund. Our findings that post-discharge mortality was associated with anaemia and hypoxia have not been consistent in other studies [10–12, 15]. If a discharge was noted to be against medical advice then there was an increased risk of post-discharge mortality. Findings from other studies in this regard are mixed [10, 18].
+Moisi and colleagues reported that focussing on one or more characteristics significantly associated with post-discharge mortality (including weight-for-age z-score) would target 33% of discharged patients, include 47% of post-discharge deaths, and that the number of patients followed to identify one death would be 16 or less [12]. Our findings are similar to those from Kenya but in our setting a more simple approach may identify a greater proportion of post-discharge deaths. Categorising patients only by MUAC <13.0 cm would target 33% of discharges and 77% of post-discharge deaths whereas using MUAC <11.5 cm or CSM with or without clinical syndromes would target 9% to 31% of discharges identifying a maximum 70% of deaths. The use of MUAC is attractive as it is more simple to measure than height and weight and it is a well-accepted correlate of moderate (<13.0 and ≥11.5cm) and severe (<13.0cm) acute malnutrition [23, 24].
+The strengths of our study are that all patients in the six facilities in the study area were screened for inclusion with clinical and follow-up information collected prospectively with little loss to follow-up. A limitation of our study is that we did not include the HIV status of patients. However, the low prevalence of HIV among antenatal women in Basse, around 1% [25], suggests that HIV will have had only a minor influence on post-discharge survival. The exclusion of participants from the model based on risk factors, primarily due to missing haemoglobin values among patients enrolled before 2011, may have under-estimated the association as measurements of haemoglobin would be biased towards lower values. Our study excluded around 22% of patients who were admitted in the BHDSS. Thus, even though we followed the majority of discharged patients our data do not provide information about children with simple diarrhoea and dehydration or those with malaria without neurologic complications (patients with malaria and neurologic complications were categorised as suspected meningitis).
+Our study shows that post-discharge mortality is substantial in primary and secondary health care in West Africa. Children with CSM had poorer outcomes post-discharge, particularly if they had a more severe provisional diagnosis on admission. Furthermore, we have shown that moderate malnutrition is a significant risk factor for post-discharge death and that measurement of MUAC provides the most sensitive approach to detect high-risk children. This relatively neglected group of children deserves more attention. Preventive interventions should be tested and might include nutritional rehabilitation in the community, prophylactic chemotherapy, or improved systems for the follow-up of at risk children.
+Supporting Information
+S1 Fig. Map of Africa showing The Gambia in West Africa with the study area in the east of the country in Upper River Region.
+The Basse Health and Demographic Surveillance System (BHDSS) is highlighted in pink and Basse town is indicated. The URR is bisected into north and south banks by The Gambia River.
+(TIFF)
+S1 Panel. Guidelines for investigation of suspected pneumonia, meningitis, or septicaemia
+(DOCX)
+S1 Table. Criteria for clinician review for assessment of suspected pneumonia, meningitis, or septicaemia.
+(DOCX)
+S2 Table. Clinical definitions for suspected pneumonia, meningitis, or septicaemia.
+(DOCX)
+S3 Table. Univariate Cox survival analysis of the hazard of post-discharge mortality association with demographic and clinical patient characteristics.
+a SD = standard deviation. b Numbers do not sum to the total number of participants due to missing values. c Complete PCV (pneumococcal conjugate vaccine) vaccination defined as receipt of three doses or if less than three doses given doses given within 1 month of the scheduled age. d Days unwell is the reported length of illness at presentation. e Prostration defined as loss of the ability to sit, drink, or breastfeed. f Numbers in square brackets refers to number of participants with valid information for the variable.
+(DOCX)
+S4 Table. Multi-variable Cox regression model for the hazard of post-discharge mortality associated with clinical characteristics, anthropometry using weight-for-height.
+a Mean (Standard Deviation). b Dry season (Dec-Jun). Note: Due to exclusion of participants with missing values 1954 participants contributed to the model.
+(DOCX)
+Acknowledgments
+We thank all the residents of the BHDSS and the staff involved in the BHDSS and Pneumococcal Surveillance Project. We acknowledge the Basse Health Centre staff and the support provided by the Regional Health Team in Upper River Region.
+Author Contributions
+Conceived and designed the experiments: AVC PCH MJ GAM. Performed the experiments: MN MIH JCP. Analyzed the data: AVC JJ GAM MJ. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: AVC MJ GAM. Wrote the paper: AVC PCH JJ MIH JCP MN MJ BG GAM. Collected and aggregated data: AVC JCP MN MIH.
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+- 9. Roy SK, Chowdhury AK, Rahaman MM. Excess mortality among children discharged from hospital after treatment for diarrhoea in rural Bangladesh. Br Med J (Clin Res Ed). 1983;287(6399): 1097–1099.
+- 10. Veirum JE, Sodeman M, Biai S, Hedegard K, Aaby P. Increased mortality in the year following discharge from a paediatric ward in Bissau, Guinea-Bissau. Acta Paediatr. 2007;96(12): 1832–1838. pmid:18001338
+- 11. Villamor E, Misegades L, Fataki MR, Mbise RL, Fawzi WW. Child mortality in relation to HIV infection, nutritional status, and socio-economic background. Int J Epidemiol. 2005;34(1): 61–68. pmid:15649965
+- 12.–732. pmid:22084510
+- 13. Wiens MO, Pawluk S, Kissoon N, Kumbakumba E, Ansermino JM, Singer J, et al. Pediatric post-discharge mortality in resource poor countries: a systematic review. PLoS One 2013;8(6): e66698. pmid:23825556
+- 14. Chisti MJ, Graham SM, Duke T, Ahmed T, Faruque AS, Ashraf H, et al. Post-discharge mortality in children with severe malnutrition and pneumonia in Bangladesh. PLoS One. 2014;9(9):e107663. pmid:25225798
+- 15.. pmid:10083713
+- 16.(1): e1001161. pmid:22272192
+- 17. Phiri KS, Calis JC, Faragher B, Nkhoma E, Ng’omaa K, Mangochi B, et al. Long term outcome of severe anaemia in Malawian children. PLoS One. 2008;3(8): e2903. pmid:18682797
+- 18. Snow RW, Howard SC, Mung'Ala-Odera V, English M, Molyneux CS, Waruiru C, et al. Paediatric survival and re-admission risks following hospitalization on the Kenyan coast. Trop Med Int Health 2000;5(5): 377–383. pmid:10886803
+- 19. Simoes EA, Peterson S, Gamatie Y, Kisanga FS, Mukasa G, Nsungwa-Sabiti J, et al. Management of severely ill children at first-level facilities in sub-Saharan Africa when referral is difficult. Bull World Health Organ. 2003;81(7): 522–531. pmid:12973645
+- 20. O’Dempsey TJD, McArdle T, Inf Dis J. 1994;13(2): 122–128.
+- 21. Hanlon P, Hanlon L, Marsh V, Byass P, Shenton F, Sanders RC, et al. Epidemiology of rotavirus in a periurban Gambian community. Ann Trop Paediatr. 1987;7(4): 238–243. pmid:2449845
+- 22. Burkart K, Khan MM, Schneider A, Breitner S, Langner M, Kramer A, et al. The effects of season and meteorology on human mortality in tropical climates: a systematic review. Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg. 2014;108(7): 393–401. pmid:24907712
+- 23. Briend A, Maire B, Fontaine O, Garenne M. Mid-upper arm circumference and weight-for-height to identify high-risk malnourished under-five children. Matern Child Nutr 2012;8(1): 130–133. pmid:21951349
+- 24. Garenne M, Maire B, Fontaine O, Briend A. Adequacy of child anthropometric indicators for measuring nutritional stress at population level: a study from Niakhar, Senegal. 2013;16(9): 1533–1539.
+- 25. National AIDS Control Programme. Republic of The Gambia, HIV Sentinel Surveillance Report 2011. Banjul: Ministry of Health & Social Welfare; 2012.
+Paul Mattick. 1978
+Source: Kurasje Archive;
+First Published: in Root and Branch #6, 1978;
+Transcribed: by Andy Blunden, for marxists.org 2003.
+It will soon be sixty years since the mercenaries of the German social-democratic leadership murdered Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg. Although they are mentioned in the same breath, as they both symbolized the radical element within the German political revolution of 1918, Rosa Luxemburg’s name carries greater weight because her theoretical work was of greater seminal power. In fact, it can be said that: she was the outstanding personality in the international labor movement after Marx and Engels; and that her work has not lost its political relevance despite the changes the capitalist system and the labor movement have undergone since her death.
+Just the same, like everyone else, Rosa Luxemburg was a child of her time and can only be understood in the context of the phase of the social-democratic movement of which she was a part. Whereas Marx’s critique of bourgeois society evolved in a period of rapid capitalistic development, Rosa Luxemburg was active in a time of increasing instability for capitalism, wherein the abstractly formulated contradictions of capital production showed themselves in the concrete forms of imperialistic competition and in intensified class struggles. While the actual proletarian critique of political economy, according to Marx, consisted at first in the workers’ fight for better working conditions and higher living standards, which would prepare the future struggles for the abolition of capitalism, in Rosa Luxemburg’s view this ‘final’ struggle could no longer be relegated to a distant future but was already present in the extending class struggles. The daily fight for social reforms was inseparably connected with the historical necessity of the proletarian revolution.
+Without entering into Rosa Luxemburg’s biography,[1] it should be said, that she came from a middle-class background and that she entered the socialist movement at an early age. Like others, she was forced to leave Russian Poland and went to Switzerland to study. Her main interest, as behooved a socialist influenced by Marxism, was political economy. Her early work in this field is now only of historical interest. There was her inaugural-dissertation, The Industrial Development of Poland (1898), which did for Poland, though in a less extensive manner, what Lenin’s The Development of Capitalism in Russia, did for Czarist Russia a year later. And there were her popular lectures at the Social-Democratic Party School, posthumously published by Paul Levi (1925) under the title Introduction of National Economy. In the latter work, it should be noted, Rosa Luxemburg declared that the validity of political economy is specific to capitalism, and will cease to exist with the demise of this system. In her dissertation, she came to the conclusion that the development of the Polish economy would proceed in conjunction with that of Russia, would end in complete integration, and therewith would end the nationalist aspirations of the Polish bourgeoisie. But this development would also unify the Russian and Polish proletariat and lead to the eventual destruction of Polish-Russian capitalism. The main contradiction of capitalist production was seen by her as one between the capacity to produce and the limited capacity to consume within the capitalist relations of production. This contradiction leads to recurrent economic crises and the increasing misery of the working class and therewith, in the long run, to social revolution.
+It was only with her work on The Accumulation of Capital (1912) that Rosa Luxemburg’s economic theories became controversial. Although she claimed that this book grow out of complications arising in the course of her popular lectures on National Economy, namely, her inability. to relate the total capitalist reproduction process to the postulated objective limits of capital production, it in clear from the work itself that it was also a reaction to the emasculation of Marxian theory initiated by the “Revisionism’ that swept the socialist movement around the turn of the century. Revisionism operated on two levels: the primitive empirical level personified by Eduard Bernstein, [2] who merely compared the actual capitalist development with that deducible from Marxian theory, and the more sophisticated theoretical turnabout of academic marxism, culminating in Tugan-Baranowsky’s [3] Marx-interpretation and those of his various disciples.
+Only the first volume of Capital was published during Marxs’ lifetime, and the second and third were prepared by Friedrich Engels from unrevised papers left to his care, although they had been written prior to the publication of the first volume. Whereas the first volume deals with the capitalist process of production, the second concerns itself with the circulation process. The third volume, finally, deals with the capitalist system as a whole in its phenomenal form, as determined by its underlying value relations. Because the reproduction process necessarily controls the production process, Marx thought it useful to display this fact by means of some abstract reproduction diagrams in the second volume of Capital. The diagrams divide total social production into two sections: one producing means of production, the other means of consumption. The transactions between these two departments are imagined to be such as to enable the reproduction of the total social capital to proceed either on the same or on an enlarged scale. But what is a presupposition for the reproduction diagrams, namely, an allocation of the social labor as required for the reproduction process, must in reality first be brought about blindly, through the uncoordinated activities of the many individual capitals in their competitive pursuit of surplus-value.
+The reproduction diagrams do not distinguish between values and prices; that is, they treat values as if they were prices. For the purpose they were intended to serve, namely, to draw attention to the need for a certain proportionality between the different spheres of production, the diagrams fulfill their pedagogical function. They do not depict the real world, but are instrumental in aiding in its under- standing. Restricted in this sense, it does not matter whether the interrelations of production and exchange are dressed in value or price terms. because the price form of value, taken up in the third volume of Capital, refers to the actual capitalist production and exchange process, the imaginary equilibrium conditions of Marx’s reproduction diagrams do not refer to the real capitalist world. Still, Marx found it quite necessary to view the process of reproduction in its fundamental simplicity, in order to get rid of all obscuring interferences and dispose of the false subterfuges, which assume the semblance of scientific analysis, but which cannot be removed so long as the process of social reproduction is immediately analyzed in its concrete and complicated form.[4]
+Actually, according to Marx, the reproduction process under capitalistic conditions pre cludes any kind of equilibrium and implies, instead, “the possibility of crises, since a balance is accidental under the conditions of this production.”[5] Tugan-Baranowsky, however, read the reproduction diagrams differently because of their superficial resemblance to bourgeois equilibrium theory, the main tool of bourgeois price theory. He came to the conclusion that as long as the system develops proportionately with respect to its reproduction requirements, it does not have objective limits. Crises are caused by disproportionalities arising between the different spheres of production but can always be overcome through the restoration of that proportionality which assures the accumulation of capital. This was a disturbing idea, as far as Rosa Luxemburg was concerned, and this the more so as she could not deny the equilibrating implications of Marx’s reproduction diagrams. If Tugan-Baranowsky interpreted them correctly, then Marx was wrong, because this interpretation denied the inevitable end of capitalism.
+The discussion around Marx’s abstract reproduction diagrams was particularly vehement in Russia because of earlier differences between the Marxists and the Populists with regard to Russia’s future in face of her backwardness and her peculiar socio-economic institutions. Whereas the Populists asserted that for Russia it was already too late to enter into world competition with the established capitalist powers, and that, furthermore, it was quite possible to construct a socialist society on the basis of the not yet dissolved collectivity of peasant production, the Marxists maintained that development on the Western pattern was inescapable and that this development itself would produce the markets it required within Russia and in the world at large. The Marxists emphasized that it is the production of capital, not the satisfaction of consumption, that determines capitalist production. There is, therefore, no reason to assume that a restriction of consumption would retard the accumulation of capital; on the contrary, the less there is consumed, the faster capital would grow.
+This “production for the sake of production” made no sense to Rosa Luxemburg – not because she was unaware of the profit motive of capitalist production, which constantly strives to reduce the workers’ share of social production, but because she could not see how the extracted surplus-value could be realized in money form in a market composed only of labor and capital, such as is depicted in the reproduction diagrams. Production has to go through the circulation process. It starts with money, invested in means of production and labor-power, and it ends with a greater amount of money in the hands of the capitalists, to be re-invested in another production cycle. Where would this additional money come from? In Rosa Luxemburg’s view, it could not possibly come from the capitalists; for if it did, they would not be recipients of surplus-value but would pay with their own money for its commodity equivalent. Neither could it come from the purchases of the workers, who only receive the value of their labor power, leaving the surplus-value in its commodity form to the capitalists. To make the system workable, there must be a “third market,’ apart from the exchange relations of labor and capital, in which the produced surplus-value could be transformed into additional money.
+This aspect of the matter Rosa Luxemburg found missing in Marx. She intended to close the gap and therewith substantiate Marx’s conviction of capitalism’s necessary collapse. Although The Accumulation of Capital approaches the realization problem historically – starting with classical economy and ending with Tugan-Baranowsky and his many imitators – so as to show that this problem has always been the Achilles heel of political economy, her own solution of the problem comprises, in essence, no more than a misunderstanding of the relation between money and capital and a misreading of the Marxian text. As she presents matters, however, everything seemingly falls in its proper place: the dialectical nature of the capital-expansion process, as one merging out of the destruction of pre-capitalist economies; the necessary extension of this process to the world at large, as illustrated by the creation of the world market and rampant imperialism in search of markets for the realization of surplus-value; the resulting transformation of the world economy into a system resembling Marx’s closed system of the reproduction diagram; and therewith, finally, the inevitable collapse of capitalism for lack of opportunities to realize its surplus-value.
+Rosa Luxemburg was carried away by the logic of her own construction to the point of revising Marx more thoroughly than had been done by the Revisionists in their concept of a theoretically possible harmonious capital development, which, for them, turned socialism into a purely ethical problem and into one of social reform by political means. On the other hand, the Marxian reproduction diagrams, if read as a version of Say’s Law of the identity of supply and demand, had to be rejected. Like her adversaries, Rosa Luxemburg failed to see that these diagrams have no connection at all with the question of the viability of the capitalist system, but are merely a methodologically determined, intermediary step in the analysis of the laws of motion of the capitalist system as a whole, which derives its dynamic from the production of surplus-value. Although capitalism is indeed afflicted with difficulties in the sphere of circulation and therewith in the realization of surplus-value, it is not here that Marx looked for, or found, the key to the understanding of capitalism’s susceptibility to crises and to its inevitable end. Even on the assumption that there exists no problem at all with regard to the realization of surplus-value, capitalism finds its objective limits in those of the production of surplus-value.
+According to Marx, capitalism’s basic contradiction, from which spring all its other difficulties, is to be found in the value and surplus-value relations of capital production. It is the production of exchange-value in its monetary form, derived from the use-value form of labor-power, which produces, besides its own exchange-value equivalent, a surplus-value for the capitalists. The drive for exchange-value turns into the accumulation of capital, which manifests itself in a growth of capital invented in means of production relatively faster than that invested in labor-power. While this process expands the capitalist system, through the increasing productivity of labor associated with it, it also tends to reduce the rate of profit on capital, as that part of capital invested in labor-power – which is the only source of surplus-value – diminishes relative to the total social capital. This long and complicated process cannot be dealt with satisfactorily in this short article, but must at least be mentioned in order to differentiate Marx’s theory of accumulation from that Rosa Luxemburg. In Marx’s abstract model of capital development, capitalist crises, as well as the inevitable end of the system, find their source in the temporary or, finally, total breakdown in the accumulation process due to a lack of surplus-value or profit.
+For Marx, then, the objective limits of capitalism are given by the social production relations as value relations, while for Rosa Luxemburg capitalism cannot exist at all, except through the absorption of its surplus-value by pro-capitalist economies. This implies the absurdity that these backward nations have a surplus in monetary form large enough to accommodate the surplus-value of the capitalistically advanced countries. But as already mentioned, this wrong idea was the unreflected consequence of Rosa Luxemburg’s false notion that the whole of the surplus-value, earmarked for accumulation, must yield an equivalent in money form, in order to be realized as capital. Actually, of course, capital takes on the form of money at times and at other times that of commodities of all descriptions - all being expressed in money terms without simultaneously assuming the money form. Only a small and decreasing part of the capitalist wealth has to be in money form; the larger part,, although expressed in terms of money, remains in its commodity form and as such allows for the realization of surplus-value an additional capital.
+Rosa Luxemburg’s theory was quite generally regarded as an aberration and an unjustified criticism of Marx. Yet her critics were just as far removed from Marx’s position as was Rosa Luxemburg herself. Most of theme critics adhered either to a crude underconsumption theory, a theory of disproportionality, or a combination of them. Lenin, for example – not to speak of the Revisionists – saw the cause for crises in the disproportionalities due to the anarchic character of capitalist production, and merely added to Tagan-Baranowsky’s arguments that of the underconsumption of the workers. But in any case he did not believe that capitalism was bound to collapse because of its immanent contradictions. It was only with the first world war and the revolutionary upheavals in its wake that Rosa Luxemburg’s theory found a wider response in the radical section of the socialist movement. Not so much, however, because of her particular analysis of capital accumulation, as because of her insistence upon the objective limits of capitalism. The imperialistic war gave her theory some plausibility and the end of capitalism seemed indeed actually at hand. The collapse of capitalism became the revolutionary ideology of the time and supported the abortive attempts to turn the political upheavals into social revolutions.
+Of course, Rosa Luxemburg’s theory was no less abstract than that of Marx. Marx’s hypothesis of a tendency of the rate of profit to fall could not reveal at what particular point in time it would no longer be possible to compensate for this fall by an increasing exploitation of the relatively diminishing number of workers, which would increase the mass of surplus-value sufficiently to maintain a rate of profit assuring the further expansion of capital. Similarly, Rosa Luxemburg could not say at what time the completion of the capitalization of the world would exclude the realization of its surplus-value. The outward extension of capital was also only a tendency, implying a progressively more devastating imperialist competition for the diminishing territories in which surplus-value could be realized. The fact of imperialism showed the precariousness of the system, which could lead to revolutionary situations long before its objective limits were reached. For all practical purposes, then, both theories assumed the possibility of revolutionary actions, not because of the logical outcome of their abstract models of development, but because these theories pointed unmistakably to the increasing difficulties of the capitalist system, which could in any severe crisis transform the class struggle into a fight for the abolition of capitalism.
+Although undoubtedly erroneous, Rosa Luxemburg’s theory retained a revolutionary character because, like that of Marx, it led to the conclusion of the historical untenability of capitalism. Although with dubious arguments, she nonetheless restored – against Revisionism, Reformism, and Opportunism – the lost Marxian proposition that capitalism is doomed to disappear because of its own unbridgeable contradiction and that this end, though objectively determined, will be brought about by the revolutionary actions of the working class.
+The overthrow of capitalism would make all theories of its development redundant. But while the system lasts, the realism of a theory may be judged by its own particular history. Whereas Marx’s theory, despite attempts made in this direction, cannot be integrated into the body of bourgeois economic thought, Rosa Luxemburg’s theory has found some recognition in bourgeois theory, albeit in a very distorted form. With the rejection by bourgeois economy itself of the conception of the market as an equilibrium mechanism, Rosa Luxemburg’s theory found a kind of acceptance as a precursor of Keynesian economics. Her work has been interpreted, by Michael Kalecki[6] and Joan Robinson,[7] for example, as a theory of ‘effective demand,’ the lack of which presumably explains the recurrent capitalistic difficulties. Rosa Luxemburg imagined that imperialism, militarism, and preparation for war aided in the realization of surplus-value, via the transfer of purchasing power from the population at large to the hands of the state; just as modern Keynesianism attempted to reach full employment by way of deficit-financing and monetary manipulations. However, while it in no doubt possible, for a time, to achieve full employment in this fashion, it is not possible to maintain this state of bliss, as the laws of motion of capital production demand not a different distribution of the surplus-value but its constant increase. The lack of effective demand is only another term for the lack of accumulation, as the demand required for prosperous conditions is brought forth by nothing other than the expansion of capital. At any rate, the actual bankruptcy of Keynesianism makes it unnecessary to kill this theory theoretically. It suffices to say that its absurdity shows itself in the present-day unrelieved growth of both unemployment and inflation. ‘internationalor.
+In view of the at first covert but soon overt social-patriotism of the official labor movement, Rosa Luxemburg’s internationalism represented the leftwing of this movement – but not completely. In a way, it was a generalization of her specific experiences in the Polish socialist movement, which had been split on the question of national self-determination. As we already know from her work on the industrial development in Poland, Rosa Luxemburg expected a full integration of the Russian and Polish capitalism and a consequent unification of their respective socialist organizations, both as a practical and as a principled matter. She could not conceive of nationally oriented socialist movements and even less of a nationally restricted socialism. What was true for Russia and Poland also held for the world at large; national fissions had to be ended in the unity of international socialism.
+The Bolshevik section of the Russian Social-Democratic Party did not share Rosa Luxemburg’s strict internationalism. For Lenin, the subjugation of nationalities by stronger capitalist countries brought additional cleavages into the basic social frictions, which could, perhaps, be turned against the dominating powers. It is quite beside the point, to consider whether Lenin’s advocacy of the self-determination of nations reflected a subjective conviction, or democratic attitude, with regard to special national needs and cultural peculiarities, or was simply a revulsion against all forms of oppression. Lenin was, first of all, a practical politician, even though he could fulfill this role only at a late hour. As a practical politician, he realized that the different nationalities within the Russian empire presented a steady threat to the Czarist regime.
+To be sure, Lenin was also an internationalist and saw the socialist revolution in terms of the world revolution. But this revolution had to begin somewhere and he assumed that it would first break the weakest link in the chain of competing imperialist powers. In the Russian context, supporting the self-determination of nations, up to the point of secession, suggested the winning of “allies” in any attempt to overthrow Czarism. This strategy was supported by the hope that, once free, the different nationalities would elect to remain within the new Russian commonwealth, either out of self-interest, or through the urgings of their own socialist organizations.
+Until the Russian Revolution, however, this whole discussion around the national question remained purely academic. Even after the revolution, the granting of self-determination to the various nationalities within Russia was not very meaningful, for most of the territories involved were occupied by foreign powers. Still, the Bolshevik regime continued to press for self-determination in order to weaken other imperialist nations, particularly England, in an attempt to foster colonial revolutions against Western capitalism, which threatened to destroy the Bolshevik state.
+The Russian Revolution found Rosa Luxemburg in a German prison, where she remained until the overthrow of the German monarchy. But she was able to follow the progress of the Russian Revolution. Though delighted by the Bolshevik seizure of power, she could not accept Lenin’s policies towards the peasants and with respect to the national minorities. In both cases she worried needlessly. Although her prediction that the granting of self-determination to the various nationalities within Russia would merely surround the new state with a cordon of reactionary counter-revolutionary countries, turned out to be correct, this was so only for the short run. Rosa Luxemburg failed to see that it was the principle of self-determination which dictated Bolshevik policy with regard to the Russian nationalities, than the force of circumstances over which the Bolsheviks had no control. At the first opportunity they began whittling away at the self-determination of nations, to end by incorporating all the new independent nations in a restored Russian empire, and, in addition, by forging for themselves spheres of interest in extra-Russian territories.
+On the strength of her own theory of nationalism and imperialism, Rosa Luxemburg should have realized that Lenin’s theory could not be actualized, in a world of competing imperialist powers and would, most probably, not need to be put into practice should capitalist be brought down by an international revolution. The disintegration of the Russian empire was not due to or aided by the principle of self-determination, but was effected through the loss of the war; as it was the winning of another war, which led to the recovery of previously lost territory and to a revival of Russian imperialism. Capitalism is an expansive system and therefore necessarily imperialistic. It is the capitalistic way of overcoming national limitations to capital production and its centralization – of gaining, or securing, privileged or dominating positions within the world economy. It in thus also a defense against this general trend; but in all cases, it is the inescapable result of capital accumulation.
+As Rosa Luxemburg pointed out, the contradictory capitalist ‘integration’ of the world economy cannot alter the domination of weaker by stronger nations through the latter’s control of the world market. This situation makes real national independence illusory. what political independence can accomplish, at best, is no more than the subjugation of the workers under native instead of international control. Of course, proletarian internationalism cannot prevent, nor has it reason to prevent, movements for national self-determination within the colonial and imperialistic context. These movements are part of capitalist society just an imperialism is. But to ‘utilize’ these movements for socialism can only mean to try to deprive them of their nationalist character through a consistent internationalism on the part of the socialist movement. Although oppressed people have the sympathy of the socialists, it does not relate to their emergent nationalism but to their particular plight as twice-oppressed people, suffering from both native and foreign exploitation. The socialist task in the ending of capitalism, which includes the support of anti-imperialist forces; not, however, to create new capitalistic nation-states, but to make their emergence more difficult, or impossible, through proletarian revolutions in the advanced capitalist countries.
+The Bolshevik regime declared itself socialistic and by that token was to end all discrimination of national minorities. Under such conditions, national self-determination was, in Rosa Luxemburg’s eyes, not only senseless but an invitation to revive, via the ideology of nationalism, the conditions for a capitalist restoration. In her view, Lenin and Trotsky mistakenly sacrificed the principle of internationalism for momentary tactical advantage. While perhaps unavoidable, it should not be elevated into a socialist virtue. Rosa Luxemburg was right, of course, in not questioning the Bolshevik’s subjective sincerity as regards the establishment of socialism in Russia and the furthering of the world revolution. She herself thought it possible, by way of a westward extension of the revolution, to defy the objective unripeness of Russia for a socialist transformation. She blamed the West European socialists, and in particular the Germans, for the difficulties the Bolsheviks encountered, which forced them into concessions, compromises, and opportunist actions. And she assumed that the internationalization of the revolution would do away with Lenin’s nationalistic demands and resurrect the principle of internationalism in the revolutionary movement.
+As the world revolution did not materialize, the nation-state remained the field of operation for economic development as well as for the class struggle. The “internationalism” of the Third International, under Russian dominance, served strictly Russian state interests, covered up by the idea that the defense of the first socialist state was a prerequisite for international socialism. Like national self-determination, this type of “internationalism” was designed to weaken the adversaries of the new Russian state. After 1920, however, the Bolsheviks no longer expected a resumption of the world-revolutionary process, and settled down for the consolidation of their own regime. Their ‘internationalism’ expressed now their own nationalism, just as the economic internationalism of the bourgeoisie serves no other end than the enrichment of nationally-organized capital entities.
+The result of the second world war and its aftermath ended the colonialism of the European powers and led to the formation of numerous ‘independent’ nations; while, at the same time, two great power blocs emerged, dominated by the victorious nations Russia and the United States. Within each bloc there was no real national independence but rather the subordination of the nominally self-determined countries to the imperialistic requirements of the leading powers. This subordination was enforced by both economic and political means and by the general necessity to adapt the economies and therewith the political life of the satellite nations to the realities of the capitalist world market.
+For the former colonies this implied a new form of subjugation and dependence, which found its expression in the term neo-colonialism; for the reborn, capitalistically more-advanced nations it implied the direct control of their political structure through the proven methods of military occupation and puppet governments. This situation led, of course, to new “liberation movements” not only in the capitalist but also in the so-called socialist camp, providing the proof that there is no such thing as national self-determination, either in the market-controlled or the state-controlled economies.
+That nationalism is really a vehicle upholding the ruling class was soon made evident in all liberated nations, as it provided political parvenus with an instrument for their own emergence as new ruling classes, in collaboration with the ruling classes of the dominating countries. Whether these now ruling classes adhere to the ‘free world’ or to the authoritarian part of the world, in either case the national form, on which their rule in based, precludes any stop towards a socialist society. Wherever possible, their nationalism implies a fervent, even if miniature, imperialism, which sets ‘socialist nations’ against other nations, including other ‘socialist nations.’ Thus we have the sorry spectacle of a threatening war between the great ‘socialist countries’ Russia and China, and, on a smaller scale, the open warfare between ‘Marxist’ Ethiopia and “Marxist’ Somalia for the control of Ogaden.
+With some variations, this story can be prolonged almost endlessly, characterizing the present state of world politics, in which small nations act as proxies for the great imperialist powers, or fight on their own behalf, only to fall victim to one or another power bloc. All this substantiates Rosa Luxemburg’s contention that all forms of nationalism are detrimental to socialism and that only a consistent internationalism can aid the emancipation of the working class. This unwavering internationalism is one of her greatest contributions to revolutionary theory and practice and sets her far apart from both the social-imperialism of Social Democracy and the Bolshevik opportunist concept of world revolution as advocated by its. great ‘statesman’ Lenin.
+Like Lenin, Rosa Luxemburg looked upon the October Revolution as a proletarian revolution which, however, depended fully upon international events. At the time this view was shared by all revolutionaries whether Marxist or not. After all, as she said, by seizing power the Bolsheviks had “for the first time proclaimed the final aim of socialism as the direct program of practical policies”[8] They had solved the “famous problem of winning a majority of the people, by revolutionary tactics that led to a majority, instead of waiting for the latter to evolve a revolutionary tactic.”[9] In her view, Lenin’s party had grasped the true interests of the urban masses by demanding all power for the Soviets in order to secure the revolution. Still, the agrarian question was the axis of the revolution and here the Bolsheviks showed themselves as opportunistic in their policies as with regard to the national minorities.
+In pre-revolutionary Russia the Bolsheviks had shared with Rosa Luxemburg the Marxist position that the land must be nationalized as a prerequisite for the organization of large-scale agricultural production in conformity with the socialization of industry. In order to gain the support of the peasants, Lenin abandoned the Marxist agricultural program in favor of that of the Social-Revolutionaries – the heirs of the old Populist movement. Although Rosa Luxemburg recognized this turnabout as an ‘excellent tactic,’ for her it had nothing to do with the quest for socialism. Property rights must be turned over to the nation, or the state, for only then is it possible to organize agricultural production on a socialistic base. The Bolshevik slogan “immediate seizure and distribution of the land by the peasants” was not a socialist measure, but one which, by creating a new form of private property, cut off the way to such measures. “The Leninist agrarian reform,” she wrote, “has created a now and powerful layer of popular enemies of socialism in the countryside, enemies whose resistance will be much more dangerous and stubborn than that of the noble large landowners.”[10]
+This proved to be a fact, hampering both the restoration of the Russian economy and the socialization of industry. But, as in the case of national self-determination, here too the situation was determined not by the Bolsheviks’ policy but by circumstances beyond their control. The Bolsheviks were prisoners of the peasant movement; they could not hold power except with its passive support, and they could not proceed towards socialism because of the peasants. Moreover, their sly opportunism did not initiate the peasants’ seizure of the land, but merely ratified an accomplished fact, independent of their own attitude. While other parties hesitated to legalize the expropriation of land, the Bolsheviks favored it, in order to win the support of the peasants and thus to consolidate the power they had won by a coup d’etat in the urban centers. They hoped to maintain this support by a policy of low taxation, while the peasants required a government which would prevent a return of the landlords by way of counter-revolution.
+As far as the peasants were concerned, the revolution involved the extension of property rights and was, in this sense, a bourgeois revolution. It could only lead to a market-economy and the enhanced capitalization of Russia. For the industrial workers, as for Lenin and Luxemburg, it was a proletarian revolution even at this early stage of capitalist development. But as the industrial working class formed only a minuscule part of the population, it seemed clear that sooner or later the bourgeois element within the revolution would gain the upper hand. Bolshevik state-power could only be hold by arbitrating between these contrary interests but success in this endeavor would negate both the socialist and the bourgeois aspirations within the revolution.
+This was a situation not foreseen by the Marxist movement and not predictable in terms of Marxian theory, which held that the proletarian revolution presupposes a high capitalistic development in which the working class finds itself in the majority and thus able to determine the course of events. While Lenin was not interested in a bourgeois revolution, except as a preliminary to a socialist revolution, he was a bourgeois in that he was convinced that it was possible to change society by purely political means, that is, by the will of a political party. This idealistic reversal of Marxism, with consciousness determining the material development instead of being produced by it, implied in practice no more than a copying of the Czarist regime itself, in which the autocracy had ruled over the whole of society. In fact, Lenin insisted that if the Czar could govern Russia with the aid of a bureaucracy of a few hundred thousand men, the Bolsheviks should be able to do likewise and better with a Party exceeding this number. In any case, once in power the Bolsheviks had no choice but to try to maintain it in order to defend their sheer existence. In the course of time there emerged a state apparatus which took upon itself the authoritarian control not only of the population but also of economic development, by turning private property into state property without changing the social relations of production – that is, by maintaining the capital-labor relations that allow for the exploitation of the working class. This new type of capitalism – properly called state-capitalism – persists to the present day in the ideological dress of ‘socialism.”
+In 1918, Rosa Luxemburg could not envision this development, as it lay outside of all Marxist assumptions. For her, the Bolsheviks were making various mistakes, which might endanger their socialist goal. And if these mistakes were unavoidable within the context of the isolated Russian Revolution, they should not be generalized into a revolutionary tactic for times to come and for all nations to follow. However helplessly, she opposed the Russian reality with Marxian principles, so as at least to save the Marxian theory. Bat it was all in vain, for it turned out that private-party capitalism is not necessarily followed by a socialist regime, but could be transformed into a state-controlled capitalism, wherein the old bourgeoisie was replaced by a new ruling class, whose power is based on its collective control of the state and the means of production. She knew as little as Lenin how to go about building a socialist society, but while the latter proceeded pragmatically from the experiences of wartime state-controls of capitalist nations and envisioned socialism as the state-monopoly over all economic activity, Rosa Luxemburg persisted in proclaiming that such a state of affairs could not emancipate the working class. She could not imagine that the emerging Bolshevik society represented a historically new social formation, but saw in it no more than a false application of socialist principles. And thus she feared a possible restoration of capitalism by way of the agrarian reforms of Bolshevism.
+As it turned out, the agrarian question agitated the Bolshevik state unceasingly, finally leading to the compulsory collectivization of the peasantry as an in-between solution between private-property relations on the land and the nationalization of agriculture. This was no real repudiation of Lenin’s peasant policies, which had been based on necessity, not on conviction. Except on paper, Lenin simply did not dare to nationalize the land, and Stalin did not dare more than the forced collectivizations of the peasants, in order to increase their production and exploitation, without depriving them of all private initiative. Even so, this was a frightful undertaking which almost destroyed, the Bolshevik regime. If Rosa Luxemburg was right against Lenin with respect to the peasant question, her arguments were nonetheless beside the point, for it was just a question of time, and of the strength of the state apparatus before the peasants would lose their newly-won relative independence and fall once more under the control of an authoritarian regime.
+It should have been evident from Lenin’s concept of the party and its role in the revolutionary process that, once in power, this party could only function in a dictatorial way. Quite apart from the specific Russian conditions, the idea of the party as the consciousness of the socialist revolution clearly relegated all decision-making power into the hands of the Bolshevik state apparatus. This general assumption found an even sharper accentuation in the Russian Revolution, divided, as it was, in its bourgeois and proletarian aspirations. If the proletariat was not able, according to Lenin, to develop more than a trade-union consciousness (that is, to fight for its interests within the capitalist system) it would certainly be even more unable to realize socialism, which presupposes an ideological break with all its previous experience. Echoing Karl Kautsky, Lenin was convinced that socialist consciousness had to be brought to the proletariat from the outside, through the knowledge of the educated middle class. The party was the organization of the socialist intelligentsia, representing revolutionary consciousness for the proletariat, even though it might also include a sprinkling of intelligent workers in its ranks. It was necessary that these specialists in revolutionary politics become the masters of the socialist state, if only to prevent the defeat of the working class through its own ignorance. And as the party was to lead the proletariat, so the leadership of the party was to lead its members by way of a semi-militaristic centralization.
+It was this arrogant attitude of Lenin, pressed upon his party, which made Rosa Luxemburg quite wary about the possible outcome of the Bolsheviks’ seizure of power. Already in 1904 she had attacked the Bolshevik party concept for both its artificial separation of a revolutionary vanguard from the mass of the workers and for its ultra-centralization in general, as well as in party affairs in particular. “Nothing will more surely enslave a young labor movement to an intellectual elite hungry for power,” she wrote, than this bureaucratic strait-jacket, which will immobilize the movement and turn it into an automaton manipulated Central Committee. (11) By denying the revolutionary character of Lenin’s party concept, Rosa Luxemburg prefigured the actual course of Bolshevik rule down to the present day. To be sure, her indictment of Lenin’s organizational ideas was based on their confrontation with the organizational structure of the Social Democratic Party, which, though highly centralized, aspired to a broad mass basis for its evolutionary work. This party did not think in terms of seizing power, but was satisfied with its electoral successes and the spreading of the socialist ideology as a basis for its: growth. In any case, Rosa Luxemburg not believe that any type of party could bring about a socialist revolution. The party could only be an aid to revolution, which remained the privilege and required the activities of the whole working class. She did not see the socialist party as an independent organizer of the proletariat, but as part of it, with no functions or interests differing from those of the working class.
+With this conviction, Rosa Luxemburg was only true to herself and to Marxism when she raised her voice against the dictatorial policies of the Bolshevik party. Although this party reached its dominating position via the demagogic demand for the sole rule of the Soviets, it had no intention of delegating any power to the Soviets, except, perhaps, where they were composed of Bolsheviks. It is true that the Bolsheviks in Petrograd and a few other cities held a majority of the Soviets, but this situation might change again and return the party to the minority position it had held during the first months after the February Revolution. The Bolsheviks did not look upon the soviets as organs of an emerging socialist society, but saw in them no more than a vehicle for the formation of a Bolshevik government. Already in 1905, which saw-the first rise of the Soviets, Lenin recognized their revolutionary potential, which, however, gave him only one more reason to strengthen his own party and prepare it for the reins of government. To Lenin, the latent revolutionary power of the Soviet form of organization did not change its spontaneous nature, which implied the danger of the dissipation of this power in fruitless activities. Although a part of social reality, spontaneous movements could, in Lenin’s view, at best support but never supplant a goal-directed party. In October 1917, the question for the Bolsheviks was not one of choosing between Soviet- and party-rule, but between the latter and the Constituent Assembly. As there was no chance of winning a majority in the Assembly and thus gaining the it was necessary to dispense with realize the party dictatorship in the proletariat.
+Although Rosa Luxemburg held that in one fashion or another the whole mass of people must take part in the construction of socialism, she did not recognize the soviets as typifying the organizational form which would make this possible. Impressed as she was in 1905 by the great mass-strikes taking place in Russia, she paid little attention to their soviet form of organization. In her eyes, the soviets were merely strike committees in the absence of other more permanent labor organizations. Even after the 1917 Revolution she felt that “the practical realization of socialism and an economic, social and juridical system is something which lies completely hidden in the mists of the future.”[12] Only the general direction in which to move was known, not the detailed concrete steps that had to be taken to consolidate and develop the new society. Socialism could not be derived from ready-made plans and realized by governmental decree. There must be the widest participation on the part of the workers, that is, a real democracy, and it was precisely this democracy which alone could be designated as the dictatorship of the proletariat. A party-dictatorship was for her no more than “a dictatorship in the bourgeois sense,, in the sense of the rule of the Jacobins.”[13]
+All this is undoubtedly true, on the general level, but the bourgeois character of Bolshevik rule reflected – ideologically as well as practically – the objectively non-socialistic nature of this particular revolution, which simply could not proceed from the quasi-feudal conditions of Czarism to a socialist society. It was a sort of ‘bourgeois revolution’ without the bourgeoisie, as it was a proletarian revolution without a sufficiently large proletariat: a revolution in which the historical functions of the bourgeoisie were taken up by an apparently anti-bourgeois party by means of its assumption of political power. Under these conditions, the revolutionary content of Western marxism was not applicable, not even in a modified form. This may explain the vacuity of Rosa Luxemburg’s arguments against the Bolsheviks, her complaints about their disrespect for the Constituent Assembly and their terroristic acts against all opposition whether from the right or the left. Her own suggestions as how to go about with the building of socialism, however correct and praiseworthy, would not fit in with a Constituent Assembly, which is itself a bourgeois institution. Her tolerance towards all points of view and their wishes to express themselves in order to influence the course of events, cannot be realized under civil-war conditions. The construction of socialism cannot be left to a leisurely trial-and-error method by which the future may be discerned in the ‘mists’ of the present, but is dictated by current necessities that call for definite actions.
+Rosa Luxemburg’s lack of realism with regard to Bolshevism and the Russian Revolution may be traced to ambiguities of her own. On the one hand she was a social democrat and on the other a revolutionary, at a time when both positions had fallen apart. She looked upon Russia with social-democratic eyes and upon Social Democracy with revolutionary eyes; what she desired was a revolutionary-Social Democracy. Already in her famous debate with Eduard Bernstein,[14] she refused to choose between reform and revolution but endeavored to combine both activities in dialectical fashion in one and the same policy. In her view, it was possible to wage the class struggle in both the parliament and in the streets, not only through the party and the trade-unions but with the unorganized as well. The legal foothold gained within bourgeois democracy was to be secured by the direct actions of the masses in their everyday wage struggles. It was the masses’ actions, however, which were most important, as they increased the masses’ awareness of their class position and thereby their revolutionary consciousness. The direct struggle of the workers against the capitalists was the real ‘school of socialism.’ In the spreading of mass-strikes, in which the workers acted as a class, she saw the necessary precondition for the coming revolution, which would topple the bourgeoisie and install governments supported and controlled by the mature class – conscious proletariat.”
+Until the outbreak of the first world war, Rosa Luxemburg did not fully comprehend the true nature of Social Democracy. There was a right wing, a center, and a left wing, Liebknecht and Luxemburg representing the latter. There was an ideological struggle between these tendencies, tolerated by the party bureaucracy because it remained purely ideological. The practice of the party was reformist and opportunistic, untouched by the left-wing rhetoric, if not indirectly aided by it. But there was the illusion that the party could be changed and restored to the revolutionary character of its origins. Suggestions to split the party were rejected by Rosa Luxemburg, who feared to lose contact with the bulk of the socialist workers. Her confidence in these workers was not affected by her lack of confidence in their leaders. She was thus more than surprised that the social-chauvinism displayed in 1914 united leaders and led against the party’s left. Even so, she was not ready to leave the party until its split in 1917 on the issue of war aims, which led to the formation of the Independent Socialist Party (USPD), in which the Spartacus League, composed of a circle of people around Liebknecht, Luxemburg, Mehring, and Jogiches, formed a small faction. In so far as this faction engaged in independent activities, these were a matter of propaganda against the war and the class-collaborationist policies of the old party. Only near the end of 1918 did Rosa Luxemburg recognize the need for a new revolutionary party and a new International.
+The German Revolution of 1918 was not the product of any left-wing organization, though members of all organizations played various parts in it. It was a strictly political upheaval to end the war and to remove the monarchy held responsible for it. It occurred as a consequence of the German military defeat and was not seriously opposed by the bourgeoisie and the military, for it allowed them to place the onus of the defeat upon the socialist movement. This revolution brought Social Democracy into the government, which then proceeded to ally itself with the military, in order to crush any attempt to turn the political into a social revolution. Still under the away of tradition and the old reformist ideology, the majority of the spontaneously-arising workers’ and soldiers’ councils supported the social-democratic government and declared their readiness to abdicate in favor of a National Assembly within the frame of bourgeois democracy. This revolution, it has been aptly said, “was a Social Democratic revolution, suppressed by the Social Democratic leaders: a process hardly paralleled in the history of the world.”[16] There was also a revolutionary minority, to be sure, advocating and fighting for the formation of a social system of workers’ councils as a permanent institution; but this was soon systematically subdued by the military forces arrayed against it. To organize this revolutionary minority for sustained actions, the Spartacus League, in collaboration with other revolutionary groups, transformed itself into the Communist Party of Germany. Its program was written by Rosa Luxemburg.
+Already at its founding congress, it became clear that the new party was internally split. Even at this late hour Rosa Luxemburg was not able to break totally with social-democratic traditions. Although she declared that the time for a minimum program short of socialism had passed, she still adhered to the politics of the double perspective, that in, to the view that the uncertainty of an early proletarian revolution demanded the consideration of policies defined within the given, social institutions and organizations. In practice this meant participation in the National Assembly and in trade unions. However, the majority of the congress voted in favor of anti-parliamentarism and for a struggle against the trade unions. Although reluctantly, Rosa Luxemburg bowed to this decision and wrote and acted in its spirit. As she was murdered only two weeks later, it is not possible to say whether or not she would have stuck to this position. In any cage, encouraged by Lenin, via his eminary Radek, her disciples soon split the new party and merged its parliamentary section with a part of the Independent Socialists to form a “truly Bolshevik Party;” this time, however, as a mass-organization in the social-democratic sense, competing with the old Social Democratic Party for the allegiance of the workers, in order to forge an instrument for the defense of Bolshevik Russia.
+But all this is history. The failed revolutions in Central Europe, and the state-capitalistic development in Russia, overcame the political crisis of capitalism that followed the first world war. Its economic difficulties were not so overcome, and led-to a now world-wide crisis and the second world war. Because the ruling classes – old and now – remembered the revolutionary repercussions in the wake of the first world war, they defeated their possible recurrence in advance by the direct means of military occupation. The enormous destruction of capital and its further centralization by way of war, an well as the raising of the productivity of labor, allowed for a great upswing of capital production after the second war. This implied an almost total eclipse of revolutionary aspirations, save those of a strictly nationalist and state-capitalist character.
+This effect was strengthened by the development of the ‘mixed economy,’ nationally as well as internationally, wherein governments influenced economic activities. Like all things of the past, Marxism became an academic discipline – an indication of its decline as a theory of social change. Social Democracy ceased to see itself as a working class organization, but rather as a people’s party, ready to fulfill governmental functions for capitalist society. Communist organizations took over the classic role of Social Democracy – and also its readiness to form, or to partake in, governments upholding the capitalist system. The labor movement-divided into Bolshevism and Social Democracy, which had been Rosa Luxemburg’s concern – ceased to exist.
+Still, capitalism remains susceptible to crises and collapse. In view of present methods of destruction, it may destroy itself in another conflagration. But it may also be overcome by way of class struggles leading to its socialist transformation. The alternative enunciated by Rosa Luxemburg – socialism or barbarism – retains its validity. The current state of the labor movement, which lacks any revolutionary inclinations, makes it clear that a socialist future depends more on spontaneous actions of the working class as a whole, than on ideological anticipations of such a future which may find expression in newly-arising revolutionary organizations. In this situation, there is not much to be learned from previous experiences, except the negative lesson that neither Social Democracy nor Bolshevism had any bearing on the problems of the proletarian revolution. By opposing both, however, inconsistently, Rosa Luxemburg opened up another road towards the socialist revolution. Despite some false notions, with respect to theory and some illusions regarding socialist practice, her revolutionary impulse yielded the essential elements required for a socialist revolution: an unwavering internationalism and the principle of the self-determination of the working class within its organizations and within society. By taking seriously the dictum that the emancipation of the proletariat can only be its, own work, she bridged the revolutionary past with the revolutionary future. Her ideas thus remain as alive as the idea of revolution itself, while all her adversaries in the old labor movement have become part and parcel of the decaying capitalist society.
+1. For biographical information, see John P. Nettl, “Rosa Luxemburg”, 2 vols. (London: Oxford University Press, 1966).
+2. Eduard Bernstein, “Die Voraussetzungen des Sozialismas und die Aufgaben der Sozialdemokratie”, translated as “Evolutionary Socialism”> (1899; NY: Schocken, 1961)
+3. Mikhail I. Tugan-Baranowsky, “Die Theoretischen Grundlagen des Marxismus” [The Theoretical Foundations of Marxism] (Leipzig: Duncker and Humblot, 1905).
+4. Karl Marx, Capital, vol. 2, “The Process of Circulation of Capital” (1885; Chicago: Charles Kerr, 1926), p. 532.
+5. ibid., p. 578.
+6. Michael Kalecki, ‘The Problem of Effective Demand with Tagan-Baranowsky and Rosa Luxemburg.’
+7. Joan Robinson, Introduction to Rosa Luxemburg, “The Accumulation of Capital” (1913; London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1951).
+8. Luxemburg, “The Russian Revolution” (1922), in“The Russian Revolution and Leninism or Marxism?” (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1961), p. 39.
+9. Ibid.
+10. Ibid.
+11. Luxemburg, “Organizational Questions of Russian Social Democracy” (1904), Ibid., p. 102.
+12. Luxemburg, “The Russian Revolution,” Ibid.# p. 69.
+13. Ibid., p. 72
+14. Luxemburg, “Social Reform or Revolution” (1899; NY: Pathfinder, 1973).
+15. Luxemburg, “The Mass Strike, the Political Party, and the Trade Unions” (1906; NY: Harper and Row, 1971).
+16. Sebastian Haffner,“Failure of a Revolution” (NY: Library Press, 1972), p. 12.
+Request For Proposal #03-23M Insurance Agent of Record: Property and Casualty Risk Management Department Issued by the City of Sarasota General Services/Purchasing Department Proposals to be submitted before: ____________ by 4:00 p.m. in the Office of the Director of General Services 1565 1st Street, Room #205 Sarasota, Fl. 34236 Ph. #(941) 954-4190 RFP #03-23M 1 7/17/2010 First advertising date Notice to Proposers RFP #03-23M Request for Proposal Insurance Agent of Record: Property and Casualty The City of Sarasota, Florida, is requesting proposals from qualified individuals/firms for an Agent of Record for property and casualty insurance. The minimum requirements, scope of services, and evaluation criteria for this project are available from Demandstar at (800) 711-1712 or by their Internet address at. Those individual/firms interested in being considered for this project are instructed to submit five- (5) copies and one (1) original of their proposals, pertinent to this project prior to 4:00 PM on________, to the office of the Director of General Services, City Hall, 1565 1st Street, Room #205, Sarasota, Florida, 34230. Qualified responses will be reviewed and ranked by an evaluation committee. Those firms short- listed may be selected for interviews and shall be prepared to make scheduled presentation to a pre- appointed evaluation committee, if required. The committee will recommend to the City Manager, and to the City Commission, it’s ranking of the top three- (3) firms for the Commission’s approval. Evaluation criteria will include: compliance with submission requirements, qualifications of proposer to meet the City’s Objectives, whether the proposed services meet the City’s objectives and the overall approach have been adequately and technically addressed, and the proposed fee. RFP #03-23M 2 7/17/2010 Minimum Requirements The City of Sarasota is seeking proposals from qualified firms for an Agent of Record for property and casualty insurance. I. Scope of Work The successful firm shall demonstrate its ability to provide the following scope of services. 1) The successful firm shall solicit insurance coverage proposals and programs from interested markets. The goal of this project shall be to evaluate and recommend the most effective risk- financing program in terms of protection and cost. It is the intent of the City to review various risk financing strategies including programs that encompass the City's current risk financing arrangement and may include first dollar, self-insured retention, large deductible, loss sensitive programs or other programs which or any other decision factors to include direction by the City's Finance Director or his designee. It should be noted that a three-year schedule is consistent with most governmental entities. Except for those years when a complete program marketing effort is sought, the successful firm shall manage the insurance renewal process. The firm chosen shall develop a project timeline and shall be available for planning, review presentations, and implementation meetings. A renewal proposal must be presented to the City's Risk Manager no later than August 15th of each year. 2) Assist the City's Risk Management staff in the development and maintenance of a loss sensitive premium allocation system, which will experience rate departments. 3) Assist the City's Risk Management staff in the development and maintenance of contractual insurance standards and provide advice as to the appropriate types and levels of coverage necessary for proposed City contracts, as needed. 4) If requested by the City, the firm chosen will request proposals from interested third party administrators, evaluate these proposals, participate in interviews, and make a recommendation for selection to the City's Risk Manager; coordinate the approval of selected third party administrators with the appropriate excess carrier(s); maintain frequent contact with claims personnel so as to follow the progress of claims management activities; remain abreast of loss development; resolve problems/conflicts regarding claims administration issues; negotiate fees. If applicable, assist the Risk Management Department in the audit of Workers' Compensation classification coding. 5) Review accounting data received from carriers to assess accuracy and initiate billing activity; resolves accounting differences or discrepancies. 6) Issue binders and insurance certificates of coverage on behalf of the City and request endorsements from carriers. 7) Analyze insurance market trends and report in advance on the affect that trends will have on pricing and coverage availability. RFP #03-23M 3 7/17/2010 8) If applicable, assist the Risk Management Department in the audit of Workers' Compensation classification coding. 9) Provide applicable training services to City staff on insurance and risk management topics as needed. 11) Coordinate an annual actuarial evaluation of the program to determine funding requirements; seek written quotations and recommend a vendor; gather and disseminate loss and other relevant data to the actuary; review the draft report; request changes as needed and forward the final report to the Risk Management Department. The final actuarial report is to be completed by December 15th of each year for the previous fiscal year ending September 30th. 12) It is expected that routine verbal consulting advice will be provided on safety and loss control matters as they relate to the City's risk management program. On site inspections, written programs and training classes may be negotiated for an additional fee. (Costs for on site inspections, training classes and written programs should not be included in your estimated annual fee.). 13) Provide access to and consulting advice regarding the potential for utilizing new and emerging risk financing programs or other types of programs. The fee for implementation of such programs is not to be included in this proposal, however, if implemented, a fee will be negotiated and an amendment to the contract shall be executed. The ability to analyze, recommend and access such services is expected as part of this RFP. II. Conditions The successful firm shall have the capability of accessing insurance markets on a national basis to maximize the availability of coverage for the City's consideration. The successful firm shall demonstrate that it possesses the resources at its disposal as are necessary to fulfill the requirements of the scope of services. Firms who have a financial interest in a third party administrator, insurance company, servicing company or other entity, which intends to propose if chosen, must disclose such financial interest and must demonstrate their ability to meet the scope of services independently of such financial interests. The successful firm shall demonstrate a proven record of providing services of this type to clients of a similar size, nature, and complexity as the City of Sarasota. The successful firm must posses all necessary licenses to perform the above-mentioned services as may be required by the State of Florida. RFP #03-23M 4 7/17/2010 III. Selection Criteria The selection of a successful proposer will be made after a careful evaluation of the proposals received and will be based on, but not limited to, the following: Maximum allowable points 30 points Professional and Technical Insurance Capabilities- Knowledge of and experience with public entity programs and markets; ability to identify and respond to the exposures of the City; ability to design a responsive and cost effective program; demonstrated ability to represent the City's interests above the interests of a single carrier, service provider, or intermediary; technical expertise and experience of the principles and support staff; depth of resources; proven track record with entities of similar size; leverage in insurance marketplace; relationships with carriers. 20 points Risk Management Consulting Capabilities- Ability to provide consulting services in the areas of risk identification, contract analysis, contractual insurance language and render appropriate recommendations; premium allocation and experience modification assistance; technical risk and insurance training capabilities; ability to provide or have readily accessible loss control specialists to provide verbal advice on Risk Management matters and the capability to provide on site services if requested. 25 points Managerial and Service Skills- Demonstrated service standards of the proposing company; process for insuring client satisfaction; annual renewal plan and three year marketing plan; routine contact; creativity; and regular contact from principles and service personnel. 5 points Estimated Proposal Annual Fees- 15 points Proposal Quality-The overall quality, responsiveness, and completeness of the proposal. (Ability to met the requested scope of services) 5 points Whether a firm is a State Certified Minority Business Enterprise certified in accordance with Section 287.0943 and/or 287.0943(1), Florida Statutes and/or whether a percent of the cost or value of the proposal is placed with a State Certified Minority Subcontractor/Subconsultant certified in accordance with Section 287.0943 and/or 287.0943(1) Florida Statutes. The City of Sarasota, Florida reserves the right to reject any or all proposals, waive informalities, request additional information and to negotiate a contract with the most qualified firm for professional services at compensation which the agency determines is fair, competitive and reasonable. RFP #03-23M 5 7/17/2010 IV. Compensation The successful firm shall be compensated on a monthly basis at 1/12th the annual fee. Fees are payable at the end of each month services are provided with the first fee installment due October 31, 2003. All program premiums and charges are to be written net of commission and the acceptance of a commission shall be grounds for immediate termination of the contract. If a carrier does not or cannot work on a net of commission arrangement, the firm shall disclose this fact and the commission shall be deducted from the annual fee. The successful firm shall provide an annual statement from each carrier confirming that the insurance carrier has paid no commissions. Additionally, the City reserves the right to seek additional relevant records as a means of enforcing this provision. V. Contract Period It is the intent of the City to enter into a one-year agreement commencing October 1, 2003, with the option to renew for two additional one-year periods at the same fees, terms, and conditions. VI. Required Submittals Qualified firms interested in providing a proposal shall address the items listed below: 1) Name, address, phone number, fax number and e-mail address of the person or firm submitting the proposal. Provide the name of the contact person and person authorized to contract for the firm if the proposal is being submitted by a firm. 2) The proposer shall submit a short narrative of the proposer's business history and number of years of operation. This should include the number of employees in the firm and any other relative information. 3) Respond to the questions and information requested in the Proposal Guide, (Attachment B), page 19, which are included as a part of this RFP document. 4) The proposer’s qualifications to meet the City’s objectives and perform the tasks listed in the proposal. Provide at least three references of similar size and complexity as the City of Sarasota including their phone numbers, addresses, and contact person. 5) Provide a statement of litigation that the firm or staff of the firm is currently involved in or have been involved in the past five years. 6) The proposed scope of work based on the City’s objectives outlined in this RFP. Include performance standards appropriate to the proposed work. 7) Estimated annual proposed fees RFP #03-23M 6 7/17/2010 VII. Administered By A. The Risk Management Division of the Finance Department. VIII. Submission Schedule A. 04/3/2001 Request for Proposal Advertised 05/03/2001 4:00 P.M., Submission Deadline Week of 05/07/2001 Review Proposals, Establish Short List, if necessary To be Notified Schedule Presentations, if necessary To Be Determined Recommendation to City Commission IX. Solicitation A. To be considered submit one (1) original and five (5) complete copies in an 8½” by 11” format. B. Submission Deadline and Location: Proposals must be submitted to the City’s Purchasing Manager at the address listed below by 4:00 p.m. on____________. Room 205 City Hall 1565 First Street Sarasota, FL 34236 X. Communication All communications regarding this project, including questions related to this Request for Proposal, shall be submitted in writing to the Purchasing Manager by 4:00 p.m. on __________________. Purchasing Manager City of Sarasota, General Services/Purchasing P.O. Box 1058 Sarasota, FL 34230 FAX: (941) 954-4121 RFP #03-23M 7 7/17/2010 XI. Limitations A. This request does not commit the City to the award of a contract, or to pay any costs incurred in the preparation for a response to this request. B. The City of Sarasota may or may not require the prospective proposer to participate in negotiations and to submit additional technical information or other revisions to their proposal as may result from the negotiations. C. The City of Sarasota reserves the right to reject any or all proposals, to waive informalities, to request additional information, and to award a contract deemed most advantageous for the City. XII. Minimum Requirements of Proposer A. Previous experience in the performance of projects of a similar nature. B. The Individuals/firm warrants that he/she is fully qualified, with adequate personnel and experience to undertake the services required within a reasonable time. C. Registered under the State of Florida to perform the services required for this project. Copy of Registration Certificate MUST be submitted with proposal. XIII. Project Representation The City Manager or his/her designee will be the Contract Administrator for this project. XIV. General Terms and Conditions A. Payment of Fees The contract shall be a fixed fee type of contract not to exceed the negotiated contract price. Progress payments will be made monthly, based upon the negotiated fee schedule B. Time of Completion The services shall commence upon written notice to proceed from the City Manager or his designee, and the project shall be completed in accordance with the project schedule. RFP #03-23M 8 7/17/2010 C. Project Team Substantial consideration is given by the City in awarding of an agreement, based on the experience of the project team proposed by the individual/firm to perform the services required. No change shall be made in the composition of the team, without the prior written approval of the City Manager or his designee. D. Changes in Scope of Work The City Manager may request changes in the scope of work to be performed. Such changes, including increase or decrease in compensation must be mutually agreed upon and incorporated by written amendment to the agreement. E. Indemnification 1. Non-Design Professional The City shall not be liable for any loss, injury, death or damage to persons or property, which at any time may be suffered or sustained by any person whatsoever arising from the negligent performance by the successful proposer and its employees and agents of its obligations under the provisions of this agreement. The successful proposer shall indemnify and hold harmless the City, and agents and employees against all claims, liabilities, loss, injury, death or damage whatsoever, including but not limited to attorney fees, on account/or arising out of or resulting from any negligent act or omission of the successful proposer in the performance of the work. The City and the successful proposer acknowledge that the first ten dollars ($10.00) of the compensation paid to the successful proposer for its work hereunder shall be deemed specific consideration for this indemnification. The successful proposer shall fund the foregoing indemnification by providing the insurance coverage’s set forth below. 2. Design Professional The successful proposer shall indemnify and hold harmless the City, its elected and appointed officials, officers, employees and agents, from liabilities, damages, losses and costs, including but not limited to reasonable attorney’s fee, to the extent caused by the negligence, recklessness or intentional wrongful conduct of the successful proposer or any person employed or utilized by the successful proposer in the performance of the contract. City and the successful proposer acknowledge that the first ten dollars ($10.00) of compensation paid the successful proposer for its services hereunder shall be deemed specific consideration for the indemnification RFP #03-23M 9 7/17/2010 F. INSURANCE The successful proposer, prior to the signing of agreement and before starting any work on this Agreement, shall procure and maintain, during the life of this Agreement, the insurance coverage listed below. The policies of insurance shall be primary and written on forms acceptable to the City. The policies shall be placed with an insurance carrier approved and licensed by the Insurance Department of the State of Florida and that meets a minimum financial A. M. Best & Company rating of no less than “A”: Excellent. 1. Worker’s Compensation Worker’s Compensation Insurance on behalf of all employees who are to provide a service for this Agreement, as required by Florida Statues Chapter 440 and Employers Liability with limits of not less than $100,000 per employee per accident; $500,000 disease aggregate; and $100,000 employee per disease or proof of exemption waiver. 2. Commercial General Liability Including but not limited to bodily injury, property damage, and personal injury, with limits of not less than One Million Dollars combined single unit per occurrence, Two Million Dollars per location aggregate plus property damage insurance in the minimum amount of Five Hundred Thousand Dollars covering all work performed. 3. Automobile Liability Including bodily injury, property damage liability for all vehicles owned, hired, leased, and non-owned, with limits of not less than Five Hundred Thousand Dollars property damage, not less the One Million Dollars combined single unit per occurrence and Two Million Dollars aggregate, covering all work performed. (Limits may be satisfied by combing an Umbrella form and the Automobile Liability for a combined total limit of $2,000,000.) 4. Umbrella Liability N/A unless being used to meet underlying coverage requirements. 5. Professional Liability In the minimum amount of One Million Dollars. G. Additional Insured The City of Sarasota, its elected and appointed officials, employees and agents shall be listed by endorsement as additional insureds, except for worker’s compensation and professional liability, without exclusion for its/their own negligence. Further, other designated persons or entities may be required to be listed as additional insureds. RFP #03-23M 10 7/17/2010 H. Certification of Insurance The successful proposer, prior to providing any services pursuant to this Agreement, shall furnish to the City proof of insurance, including, but not limited to a Certificate of Insurance, a copy of the Declaration page of each policy, and the separate endorsement referencing the City of Sarasota as “additional insured” except for worker’s compensation and professional liability, and the effectiveness of all required insurance for the successful proposer, and each of its subcontractors. The certificates of insurance shall state that the City will be notified in writing at least thirty (30) days prior to cancellation, non-renewal or any other modification of any policies required of the successful proposer. No work shall commence under this Agreement until the City’s authorized representative has given written approval of the insurance certificates. Additionally, the successful proposer has an affirmative obligation throughout the entire term of this Agreement to provide the City Manager evidence of the continuation of all policies required of the successful proposer by this Agreement. As such, as each policy of insurance is renewed, proof thereof must be provided in writing to the City Manager. City suggests that the successful proposer obtain all policies on an occurrence form basis. If, however, the successful proposer determines to obtain claims-made policies, the successful proposer shall be required to assure that the policy dates run concurrently throughout the entire term of this Agreement and the successful proposer shall be required to maintain “tail” coverage at the successful proposer’s own expense for a period of time as directed by the City Manager. I. Successful Proposers Responsibility Approval by City of the successful proposer’s work product for the project shall not constitute nor be deemed a release of the responsibility and liability of the successful proposer for the accuracy and competency of the successful proposer’s designs, drawings, specifications or other documents and work pertaining to the project. Additionally, approval by the City of the successful proposer’s work product shall not be deemed to be an assumption of drawings, specifications or other documents prepared by the successful proposer for the project. After acceptance of the final plans by the City, the successful proposer agrees, prior to and during the construction of the project, to perform such successful proposer services, at no additional cost to the City, as may be required by the City to correct errors or omissions on the plans prepared by the successful proposer pertaining to the project. J. Truth-In-Negotiation Covenants Florida Statute 287.055 requires for any lump-sum or cost plus a fixed fee professional service contract over the threshold amount provided in Florida Statute 287.017 for category four $150,000.00), that the agency (City) shall require the firm receiving the award to execute a Truth-In-Negotiation certificate stating the wage rates and other factual unit costs supporting the compensations are accurate, complete, and current at the time of contracting. Any professional service contract, under which such a certificate is required, shall contain a provision that the original contract price and any additional costs thereto shall be adjusted to exclude any significant service by which the agency determines the contract price was increased due to inaccurate, incomplete or non-current wage rates and other factual unit costs. All such contract adjustments shall be made within one (1) year following the end of the contract. RFP #03-23M 11 7/17/2010 K. Ownership of Documents It is understood and agreed that all documents, including detail reports, plans, original tracings, specifications and all data prepared or obtained by the successful proposer in connection with its services hereunder, including all documents bearing the professional seal of the successful proposer, thereunder shall be delivered to and become the property of the City, prior to final payment to the successful proposer at the termination of the agreement. L. Work Progress and Delays The City Manager shall be entitled at all times to be advised in writing, at his request, as to the status of work being done by the successful proposer and the details thereof. In the event the successful proposer cannot satisfy the deadline specified in the project schedule, then it shall notify the City Manager in writing at least seven (7) days prior to such deadline of the reason for the delay. In the event the cause of the delay is due to delay by City or regulatory agencies as to the approval of any plans or permits submitted by the successful proposer, when such delay will result in an overall delay of the project completion date, the City Manager shall grant to the successful proposer, in writing, an extension of the agreement time equal to the as aforementioned delays. The City Manager shall be solely responsible for determining whether any extension of time should be awarded to the successful proposer. M. Professional Standards 1. The successful proposer shall covenant and agree that it and its employees have complied with the Florida Statutes pertaining to the licensing of employees. 2. In the event the successful proposer shall be placed in any form of bankruptcy or make an assignment for the benefit of creditors, the City Manager may declare the same a default of the agreement which he may terminate pursuant to Section VIII, A, 1 herein. 3. Section 287.055(6)(a), Florida Statutes, requires the following provisions to be made a part of the Agreement The successful proposer warrants that it has not employed or retained any company or person, other than a bonafide employee working solely for the successful proposer, to solicit or secure the agreement, and that it will not pay or agree to pay any person, company, corporation, individual or firm other than a bonafide employee working solely for the successful proposer any fee, commission, percentage, gift or other consideration contingent upon or resulting from the award or making of the agreement. For breach or violation of this condition, the City Manager shall have the right to terminate the agreement without liability and at his discretion to deduct from the agreement price of otherwise recover the full amount of such fee, commission, percentage, gift or consideration. RFP #03-23M 12 7/17/2010 N. Termination by Default The successful proposer acknowledges that the conditions, covenants and requirements on its part to be kept, as set forth in the contract, are material inducements to City entering into an agreement. Should the successful proposer fail to perform any of the conditions, covenants and requirements of its part to be kept, the City Manager shall give written notice thereof to the successful proposer specifying those acts to things which must occur in order to cure said default. Provided, however, if the successful proposer makes a good faith effort by taking steps to substantially cure the default, the City Manager may grant the successful proposer additional time to cure such default as he deems warranted in his sole discretion. Should the default remain, upon expiration of the time granted to cure the same, the City Manager may terminate the agreement, by written notice of termination, said notice specifying the time and date of termination. O. Termination without Default The City Manager shall have the right, at any time, upon fifteen- (15) days written notice to the successful proposer, to terminate the services of the successful proposer. P. Payment and Ownership of Documents upon Termination In the event of termination of the agreement, the successful proposer shall cease work and shall deliver to the City all documents (including reports, surveys, plans, tracings, specifications and all other date and material prepared or obtained by the successful proposer in connection with the project), including all documents bearing the professional seal of the successful proposer. City shall upon delivery of the aforesaid documents, pay the successful proposer and the successful proposer shall accept as full payment for its services thereunder, a sum of money equal to the percentage of the work done by the successful proposer and accepted as satisfactory by the City. Q. Assignment The successful proposer shall not assign, sell or transfer any interest in the agreement. R. Compliance with Applicable Law The laws of the State of Florida shall govern the agreement. The successful proposer covenants to promptly comply with all applicable federal, state, county and municipal laws, ordinances, regulations and rules related to the services to be performed thereunder. The successful proposer covenants that it will conduct no activity or provide any service that is unlawful or offensive. RFP #03-23M 13 7/17/2010 S. Disclaimer of Joint Venture The successful proposer and City shall warranty and represent that by the execution of an agreement it is not the intent of the parties that the agreement be construed or deemed to represent a joint venture or an undertaking between City and the successful proposer. The successful proposer shall be solely responsible for the conduct of all activities and services provided by the successful proposer as part of its business operations. While engaged in carrying out and complying with terms of the agreement, the successful proposer is an independent contractor and not an officer or employee of the City. The successful proposer shall not at any time or in any manner represent that it or any of its agents or employees is employees of the City. T. Right of Inspection The City Manager, by and through his designee, shall have the right at all reasonable time during the term of the agreement to inspect or otherwise evaluate the work being performed thereunder and the premises in which it is being performed. U. Remedies - Cumulative All remedies therein before and therein conferred on the City shall be deemed cumulative and no one exclusive of the other, or any other remedy conferred by law. V. Waiver Failure of the City to take any action with respect to any breach of any term, covenant or condition contained in the agreement, or any instance of default thereunder by the successful proposer, should not be deemed to be a waiver of any default or breach by the City. W. Attorney's Fees Should it become necessary for the City to bring any action against the successful proposer to enforce any of the covenants, provisions or conditions of the agreement, the successful proposer will pay all costs attendant thereto, including reasonable attorney's fees to the attorney representing the City, and said obligation shall apply to declamatory relief, if necessary, to interpret any of the items thereof. X. Public Entity Crimes A person or affiliate who has been placed on the “Convicted vendor list” following a conviction for a public entity crime may not submit a bid on a contract to provide any goods or services to a Public Entity, may not submit a bid or a contract with a Public Entity for the construction or repair of a public building or public work, may not be awarded or perform work as a contractor, supplier, subcontractor, or consultant under a contract with any Public Entity, and may not transact business with any Public Entity in excess of the threshold amount provided in Florida Statute Chapter 287.017 for category two- (2) for a period of thirty-six (36) months from the date of being place on the “convicted vendor list”. RFP #03-23M 14 7/17/2010 Y. Discrimination An entity or affiliate who has been placed on the discriminatory vendor list may not submit a bid on a contract to provide goods or services to a public entity, may not submit a bid on a contract with a public entity for the construction or repair of a public building or public work, may not submit bids on leases of real property to a public entity, may not award or perform work as a contractor, supplier, subcontractor, or consultant under contract with any public entity, and may not transact business with any public entity. Z. Minority Business Utilization Policy 1. The City Commission has established a Minority Business Enterprise Utilization Plan (M.B.E.), Resolution No. O1R-1377, (Adopted August 6, 2001), whereby the City will assist in the development of opportunities for M.B.E.’s through the use of commodities, goods and services obtainable from M.B.E.’s, in conjunction with the award of this contract. Each proposer shall undertake to achieve a goal to place a percent of the value of the proposal with one or more M.B.E.’s, including the suppliers of materials, goods, as well as services in accordance with the percentage designated in Florida Statute 287.09451 (4)(n). The values are: 25% of the moneys actually expended for architectural and engineering contracts, 24 % of the moneys actually expended for commodities 50.5% of the moneys actually expended for contractual services 21% for construction contracts 2. Proposers shall document and include with their proposals the full name and address of the M.B.E.’s along with a description of the services, supplies, materials or goods and the allocation of cost, if applicable, or the percent of value of each as it relates to each M.B.E. proposed for participation. Changes from those M.B.E.’s submitted with the proposal will be subject to the approval of the City. All M.B.E.’s shall be certified as a Minority Business Enterprise by the State of Florida, Department of Management Services, Office of Supplier Diversity pursuant to Section 287.0943, Florida Statutes, or by statewide and interlocal agreement certification, as provided for by Section 287.0943(1) Florida Statutes. a. Should the Request for Proposal request the services of a consultant or contractor for a Continuing Services Contract only the Prime Consultant/Contractor will be allowed points when it has been determined that the certification criteria of Florida Statute 287.0943 and or 287.09431 has been met. 3. A State of Florida M.B.E. Certificate or interlocal agreement M.B.E. Certificate from an agency having an interlocal agreement with the State of Florida must accompany the bid/RFP submission. 4. As used in this section Small Business, Minority Business Enterprise, Minority Person and Certified Minority Business Enterprise shall have the same meaning as those words are defined in Section 288.703, Florida Statutes as amended. RFP #03-23M 15 7/17/2010 5. If a proposer does not place a percent of the value of the proposal as set forth in Section 287.09451 (4)(n), Florida Statutes, with a M.B.E., the proposer shall justify, in writing as part of the response to the Request for Proposal, the reason why the proposer was unable to meet the M.B.E. participation goal. Adequate justification shall include the proposer being unable to find a M.B.E. possessing the required experience or licensing in order to provide the necessary services or the proposer’s inability to find any M.B.E. within a specific trade or business, or that 100% of the proposed services will be provided by the proposer. 6. Any proposer who fails to comply with the requirements of this plan shall have the response declared nonresponsive. 7. Should any proposer who is awarded a contract falsely represent to the City that it has complied with the requirements of the plan, and if it is determined by the City Manager that said proposer has not complied with this plan, as represented, the City Manager may terminate the subject contract under the provisions of the contract relating to a breach of contract by the proposer. Alternatively, the City Manager may elect to fulfill the terms of the contract but refuse to accept future proposals from the proposer on the basis that the proposer is not a responsible proposer for City of Sarasota RFP purposes. 8. In reviewing proposals received in response to Requests for Proposals, the City Manager shall award no more than five (5) points on the evaluation criteria to those firms providing 100% minority participation. Evaluation points awarded to firms documenting a lesser percentage of minority participation will be adjusted based upon the percentage of participation indicated and defined in an Administrative Regulation. 9. The Internet address below is for the State of Florida Office of Supplier Diversity. This State office can provide you with an online directory of all state certified minority business enterprises. Vendors appearing on this website will be accepted by the City as certified minority business enterprises. The required certificate as per the specifications should accompany your submission. A phone number for the Office of Supplier Diversity has also been included for your use. Internet Address: Phone: (850) 487-0915 RFP #03-23M 16 7/17/2010 Attachment A City of Sarasota Schedule of Insurance - Ending October 1, 2003 Coverage Deductible Company Expiration Date Premium Limits Law Enforcement $ 100,000 General Star 10/01/2003 $105,373 $ 1,000,000 Public Officials $ 25,000 General Star 10/01/2003 $ 68,232 $ 1,000,000 Property $1,000,000/ Lexington 10/01/2003 $514,485 $134,000,000 $ 100,000 Essex Weschester Royal Workers’ Compensation $ 250,000 Hartford 10/01/2003 $148,528 Statutory Excess Boiler & Machinery $ 5,000/ CNA 10/01/2003 $ 9,980 $ 20,000,000 $ 2,500 Petroleum $ 25,000 FPLIPA 02/27/2004 $ 1,399 $ 1,000,000 Flood (1 facility) $ 5,000 Bankers/ 05/07/2003 $ 4,977 $ 1,000,000 Flood (4 facilities) $ 1,000 Service Ins. 06/19/2003 $ 9,540 $ 1,671,500 Liquor Liability N/A Mt Vernon 10/01/2003 $ 1,970 $ 1,000,000 Crime $ 500 St. Paul 10/01/2003 $ 1,839 $ 434,400 Fidelity $ 1,000 St. Paul 07/01/2003 $ 944 $ 100,000 City Manager Fidelity $ 1,000 St. Paul 07/01/2003 $ 200 $ 50,000 Employee Fidelity $ 1,000 St. Paul 07/01/2003 $ 2,055 $ 1,000,000 Fianace Director Deputy Director City Auditor & Clerk Deputy Auditor & Clerk Cash/Investment Manager RFP #03-23M 17 7/17/2010 THIS PAGE WAS LEFT INTENTIONALLY BLANK RFP #03-23M 18 7/17/2010 ATTACHMENT B PROPOSAL GUIDE Property and Casualty Agent of Record Please tab a separate section of your proposal response as “Proposal Guide” and respond to the information requested here in addition to all information as requested in the Request for Proposal. Company________________________________________________________________ Address_______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ Contact_________________________________________________________________ Phone_______________________________Fax_________________________________ E-mail__________________________________________________________________ 1) Project and Service Personnel Information Please provide the following information on the personnel who will be assigned to service the City 19 7/17/2010 20 7/17/2010 2) Professional and Technical Insurance Capabilities( Please answer and describe) Do the above listed personnel have direct experience in the marketing and placement of public entity property and casualty insurance programs? Please list the number and size of public entity clients your firm has personally served. Do the personnel assigned to service the City have experience in the type of programs listed in "Attachment A", page 17, currently utilized by the City? If your firm is selected, can the City continue its current programs or are you prohibited from representing this program? Do you have an established relationship with the wholesale brokers, carriers, or other intermediaries from the City's current program? Have you worked under a fee arrangement in the past? 3) Risk Management Consulting Capabilities Do you have a formalized risk identification method or best practice you use in evaluating the exposures of your clients? If yes, what is the program? Do you provide contract analysis for your clients? Do you have experience in developing contractual insurance language for your clients? Please describe. Have you developed an experienced rated premium allocation program for your large clients? Please name the client and describe the allocation method. RFP #03-23M 21 7/17/2010 What types of risk and insurance training have you performed in the past? Who was the audience? In which areas do you have the greatest expertise? Does your firm have staff loss control consultants? What are the minimum credentials for these individuals? Give three or four examples of the types of services your loss control personnel provide to your clients. Would they be available to provide advice on various loss control questions or concerns as part of this proposal (see scope of services)? Have you provided consulting assistance to your clients regarding the selection of a risk management information system? Please describe. 4) Interpersonal Skills Please describe the methods you use to keep your clients informed of changes occurring in the insurance industry. How do you and your staff maintain a pro-active approach to client service? Give two significant examples where you have instituted solutions for your clients before they were sought. RFP #03-23M 22 7/17/2010 What are the interpersonal skills or qualities you consider important in service personnel? To what extent will senior management i.e. the (producer)be involved in the servicing of the account? 5) Managerial and Service Skills Please describe the internal service standards you have established for servicing your clients? What methods will you use to assure that you are providing the highest level of service to the City. Please describe how you will approach the three-year marketing project as described in the Scope of Services. What is your estimate of total staff hours you and your staff will expend during the three-year marketing project as described in the Scope of Services? Please describe how you will manage the annual renewal project as described in the Scope of Services. What is your estimate of total staff hours you and your staff will expend during the annual renewal project as described in the Scope of Services? What special considerations or changes do you recommend that the City consider regarding its current financing arrangement at the next renewal? RFP #03-23M 23 7/17/2010 6) Proposal Price Please provide the estimated annual fee you are proposing to provide for the services as described in the Scope of Services. October 1, 2003 to September 30, 2004 $_____________________ October 1, 2004 to September 30, 2005 $_____________________ October 1, 2005 to September 30, 2006 $_____________________ RFP #03-23M 24 7/17/2010 CITY OF SARASOTA TERMS AND CONDITIONS REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS 1. For information or questions concerning this Request For Proposal (“RFP”), contact the Purchasing Department, 1565 First Street, Sarasota, Florida 34236; phone (941) 954-4190, fax (941) 954-4121, or the contact person named in the specifications. 2. RFP specifications describe the goods or services to be acquired by the City. Unless otherwise authorized in the specifications, responses must comply in all respects with the RFP specifications. Deviations from specifications, may, at the option of the City, be deemed non-responsive and such responses ineligible for award. 3. The City assumes no responsibility for proposals received after the advertised deadline or at any office or location other than that specified herein, whether due to mail delays, courier mistake, mishandling, or any other reason. 4. RFP responses will be considered irregular and may, at the sole discretion of the City, be rejected if they show omissions, alterations of form, additions not called for, such as conditions or limitations, etc., unauthorized alternate responses, or other irregularities of any kind. 5. The City reserves the right to waive and/or accept minor irregularities when, in the sole opinion of the City, such waiver or acceptance is deemed to be in the best interest of the City. 6. The City reserves the right to reject any or all proposals, in whole or in part, for any reason whatsoever. 7. Unless otherwise specified, all prices are to be FOB-Delivered prices to any location in the City. 8. Unless otherwise stated in these specifications, any manufacturer’s names, trade names, brand names, information or catalog numbers listed in the specification are for information and not intended to limit competition. When the phrase “or equal” is used, the Proposer may offer any brand for which he is an authorized representative, which meets or exceeds the specifications for any item listed in this RFP. At the request of the City, the Proposer shall submit cuts, sketches, and descriptive literature. The City reserves the sole right to determine acceptance of the item(s) as an approved equivalent for all the items in this specification. 9. All blank spaces on the RFP form shall be filled in legibly and correctly or responded to as indicated. 10. In the event of a discrepancy between a unit price and an extension, the unit price will govern. Written prices shall govern figures. 11. Interpretation of the meaning of the specifications nor correction of any apparent ambiguity, inconsistency, or error therein, will be made to any Proposer orally. Every request for such interpretation or correction should be in writing, addressed to the Purchasing Manager, City of Sarasota, 1565 First Street, Sarasota, Florida, 34236 and must be received at least eight (8) calendar days prior to the proposal due date to be given consideration. Only the interpretation or correction so given by the Purchasing Manager and issued by the Purchasing Department as a written addendum to the RFP shall be binding, and prospective Proposers are warned that no other source is authorized to give information concerning, or to explain or interpret, the specifications. RFP #03-23M 25 7/17/2010 12. All documentation, including insurance certificates, bonds, and/or checks required by the specifications to be submitted with the proposal must reference the RFP number. 13. The City reserves the right, in the sole opinion of the City, to require oral presentations from all respondents or from a shortened list, at the discretion of the Evaluation Committee, derived from the evaluation and selection process herein described during any stage of the evaluation and/or selection process. 14. All proposals shall be signed by an authorized individual of the respondent’s organization to commit the respondent’s organization to the performance of the services described by this RFP. 15. All proposals shall remain in effect for one hundred twenty (120) days after the closing date of the RFP, unless otherwise stipulated in the specification. 16. Failure to attend a mandatory pre-RFP Conference, if officially noted on the Request For Proposal Invitation, will result in your proposal being considered non-responsive. 17. Proposers, their agents, and associates shall not contact or solicit any City Commissioner, City official, or City employee regarding this RFP during any phase of this RFP. Only that individual listed as the contact person in the specification or the Purchasing Department shall be contacted. Failure to comply with this provision may result in disqualification of the Proposer, at the option of the City. 18. The following reasons include, but are not limited to, rejecting proposals or disqualifying Proposers: a Proposer submits more than one proposal for the same work by an individual, firm, partnership, or corporation under the same or different names; evidence of collusion among those making proposals; previous participation by the Proposer in collusive proposals on work for the City of Sarasota; the Proposer submits an unbalanced proposal in which the prices for some items are out of proportion with the prices for other Request For Proposal items; there is uncompleted work for which the Proposer is committed by contract which, in the judgment of the City, might hinder or prevent the prompt completion of the work under this contract if awarded to such Proposer; any material change in qualification or a material misrepresentation. 19. The successful Proposer shall enter into a two party contract that shall be acceptable to the City of Sarasota in form and content. 20. If the contract awarded as a result of this RFP is terminated, the City reserves the right to go to the next responsive and responsible response with the balance of the contract. 21. Proposer acknowledges that all information contained within its proposal is part of the public domain, as defined by the State of Florida Sunshine and Public Record Law. No information should be labeled confidential unless exempted under said law. 22. In the instance of any expense reimbursement requests from the successful Proposer, Section 112.061 of the Florida State Statutes, the uniform statutory method stating the exclusive method for reimbursing the travel and per diem expenses, shall be followed whether or not the resulting contract provides for a different method. 23. The City reserves the right, at the City’s sole option, to issue direct purchase orders for applicable supplies and equipment to be utilized in this project. RFP #03-23M 26 7/17/2010 24. The City reserves the right to utilize its employees for any phase of the project if it is determined to be in the best interest of the City. 25. There shall be no discrimination as to race, sex, color, creed, disabilities, or national origin in the operations conducted under this RFP. 26. The City of Sarasota Administrative Regulation Nos. 024.A003.0194 and 024.A007.0195, City Ordinance 92-3580, and all applicable laws of the State of Florida shall apply to this RFP and resulting contract. 27. Through a cooperative purchasing agreement the cities of Bradenton, Longboat Key, North Port, and Venice, Sarasota County Government, Sarasota/Bradenton Airport Authority, Sarasota County School Board, and Sarasota Memorial Hospital may procure against the resulting contract if the Proposer agrees at time of award. Such participation, if it occurs, will be by separate purchase order and invoicing with the governmental entity concerned. Rev10/27/00 RFP #03-23M 27 7/17/2010 THIS PAGE WAS LEFT INTENTIONALLY BLANK RFP #03-23M 28 7/17/2010 SWORN STATEMENT UNDER SECTION 287.133(3)(a), FLORIDA STATUTES, ON PUBLIC ENTITY CRIMES This form must be signed and sworn to in the presence of a notary public or other officer authorized to administer oaths. 1. This sworn statement is submitted to_________________________________________________ (Print name of the public entity) by_____________________________________________________________________________ (Print individual’s name and title) for____________________________________________________________________________ (Print name of entity submitting sworn statement) whose business address is__________________________________________________________ (If applicable) its Federal Employer Identification Number (FEIN) is _______________________ (If the entity has no FEIN, include the Social Security Number of the individual signing this sworn statement: On the attached sheet.) Required as per IRS Form W-9. 2. I understand that a “public entity crime” as defined in Paragraph 287.133(1)(g), Florida Statutes, means a violation of any state or federal law by a person with respect to and directly related to the transaction of business with any public entity or with an agency or political subdivision of any other state or with the United States, including but not limited to, and bid or contract for goods or services to be provided to any public entity or agency or political subdivision or any other state or of the Unites States, and involving antitrust, fraud, theft, bribery, collusion, racketeering, conspiracy, or material misrepresentation. 3. I understatejury trial, or entry of a plea of guilty or nolo contendere. 4. I understand that “affiliate” as defined in Paragraph 287.133(1)(a), Florida Statutes, offices, directors, executives, partners, shareholders, employees, members and agents who are active in the management of the affiliate. The ownership by one person of shares constituting a controlling interest in another person, or a pooling of equipment or income among persons when not fair market value under an arm’s length agreement, shall be a facie case that one person controls another person. A person who knowingly enters into a join venture with a person who has been convicted of a public entity crime in Florida during the proceeding 36 months shall be considered an affiliate. 5. I understand that a “person” as defined in Paragraph 287.133(1)(c), Florida Statutes, means any natural person or entity organized under the laws of any state or of the United States with the legal power to enter a binding contract and which bids or applies to bid on contracts for the provision of goods or services let by a public entity, or which otherwise transacts or applies to transact business with a public entity. The term “person” includes those officers, directors, executives, partners, shareholders, employees, members, and agents who are active in management of the entity. RFP #03-23M 29 7/17/2010 6. Based on information and belief, the statement, which I have marked below, is true in relation to the entity submitting those sworn statements. 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+One of the things I loved about the response to my post on The People You Meet in Grad School was the number of individuals who were willing to admit (either in comments or email) to being one of these people. Grad school and academic life both attracts and breeds particular types of personality dysfunctions, and being honest with ourselves about which ones we identify with is probably the first step to growth, or so I’ve heard.
+I’ve been examining another academic specimen of late, and that examination has sometimes been a self-examination. The Busiest Person in the World is the person who breezes by in you the hallway. If you try to catch zie’s attention, zie will say “I’m sooooo sorry, I just can’t talk right now” and then spend the next 10 minutes telling you how busy zie is. The thing is that this person doesn’t necessarily have an observably fuller schedule than you. You may be taking a similar course load, attending a similar number of conferences, teaching the same number of sections, and have similar family responsibilities, but TBPW (I’m all about the acronyms today) seems to live at DEFCON 5. Zie is always sleep deprived, always barely making deadlines, but it would never occur to you that incompetence is playing a role here. Because TBPW has turned harried exhaustion into performance art, a monument to zie’s commitment and passion and a reprimand to everyone who isn’t as tired and overworked as zie is, because clearly you all just don’t care or try hard enough.
+I think there are various reasons why people engage in this behavior. Some crave the sense of righteousness that comes from being a martyr to one’s work. Some are addicted to adrenaline and can’t seem to finish a project or a semester without the catharsis of barely getting everything done on time. And some are conditioned to think that the appearance of exhaustion grants them favor in the eyes of their colleagues and relatives. I tend to occupy the latter category, coming from a huge family that always has too much going on, in which most members own their own businesses and yet rarely take vacation. Everyone is late to everything because OMG, SO BUSY, and idleness is a kind of sin. Before I started going to counseling, I used to sit around thinking of stuff to tell my parents so that I wouldn’t look like I was wasting my time. We aren’t just that way about work either. Overextending oneself, staying up all night to create a Martha Stewart Experience on holidays or birthdays was how you showed your love as well.
+So let’s go over some red flags here, shall we?
+Frequent illness and refusal to take time off. I’m not talking about people with actual chronic health problems. I’m talking about people who come to work incubating streptococcal bacteria or norovirus. Students are frequently terrible about this. I love the ones who sneeze and drip and look miserable in my general direction as they hand their assignment in, proof of how much they sacrificed in order to make the deadline (this is a big reason why I don’t do late penalties or paper submissions anymore).
+Poor time management that borders on self sabotage. TBPW often spends more time complaining about how much work they have to do than actually doing it. This is especially true if zie is addicted to the adrenaline rush of having to stay up all night to complete a project or working up to the very last second. Though they may not realize they’re doing it, TBPW may have a preternatural ability to orchestrate the conditions for an all-nighter or a panic-fueled rush to the finish by finding 1400 things that MUST BE DONE NOW before a big project can even be started, by obsessing over small details at the expense of big picture concerns, or by refusing to set reasonable priorities. Zie’s philosophy seems to be that if it didn’t come close to killing you, it didn’t really count.
+Radically underestimating the amount that can be accomplished in a set period of time. My boss’s book was due to the publisher on Wednesday, which meant we had to get it in the last FedEx shipment at 7:00 Tuesday. At 9:00pm Monday night, he expressed the desire to edit the entire 500 page manuscript in the twelve hours left before he was supposed to hand it off to me for final proofreading (yeah right) and formatting. He was also sick at the time and had spent the past hour editing a single photograph, an obsessive moment that I’ll cop to enabling (and sharing). He asked if I would also be able to read the entire thing through for editing problems between 9:00 am and 7:00 pm (in addition to converting all photo files to TIFFs, re-paginating the manuscript, re-doing the Table of Contents, updating the captions list, and printing out three copies of the thing). I actually said “no problem” without irony. It’s been quite a week for both of us.
+Constantly talking about how tired and overworked zie is. This behavior is especially insidious when it includes belittling the experiences of other people in earshot. I was once in the vicinity of two colleagues, both of whom are parents, who had a 20 minute conversation, with many single and childless people listening in (we were in the writing center break room at the time, so there was hardly an expectation of privacy), about how women without children just don’t have their priorities straight and have no idea what being busy is really like. Now, I have nothing but respect for graduate student and academic mothers and what they have to go through, but this behavior still struck me as gross. Those of us in the throes of TBPW-dom are doing performance art, and this sometimes makes us assholes. If someone is doing this in your presence, don’t compete. Politely express concern for their exhaustion, but don’t play the game. Even if you win, you lose. If you got 2 hours of sleep, they got 1.
+If you recognize any of these symptoms in yourself, take 2 Chill Pills and make an appointment with a massage therapist or a therapist of some variety. You are a danger to yourself and others. If you find yourself in the same office or house as this person, give them a wide berth, and woe betide you if this person happens to have some immediate supervisory capacity over you.
+Certainly, there are times when work piles up, when the midnight oil must be burned due to no failing of our own, but so often this sort of stuff becomes competitive. When we start taking too much pride in the physical and psychic scars we bear from our efforts and even begin lording them over others, we become toxic colleagues and teachers and toxic to ourselves.
+Photo Credit: mirjoran, Flickr Creative Commons.
+9 thoughts on “TPYMIGS: The Busiest Person in the World”
+I was always one of those who waited until the last minute to start things. At first it might have been the adrenaline rush–or rather, that I needed the challenge of the time limit in order to find the work interesting–but I think later it was just because I really, really didn’t want to do it. That’s when I dropped out of grad school. 😛
+I don’t consider myself chronically busy or overworked–I just have executive functioning problems. I know I need to write the paper, I know I am CAPABLE of writing the paper, I just… can’t make myself start the paper. Maybe it’s an ADHD thing; I know I’m not the only person with this problem. And it’s a big reason why I’m not in school anymore, and why the thought of ever going back fills me with dread.
+Yeah, I think that may be a different animal altogether. Did you have that problem with all types of school work or just writing? Writing anxiety is a HUGE factor in procrastination for a lot of people.
+Well, most of the classes I took were writing-heavy. I loathe making powerpoint or any other kind of presentations, but anything with small bite-sized pieces of information, like tests or exercises or short-answer questions, I did a lot better with. People would always tell me to break other tasks down into small pieces, but my panic response would always take over when I tried to do that.
+That’s understandable, and, I think, quite common. I have no advice to give, but I sympathize 😉
+great piece! i’m still an undergrad, but i definitely see/exhibit some of those behaviors.
+question: do you have any suggestions (or could you point me to any resources) about writing anxiety? i’m a college senior preparing to apply to grad school and i’ve noticed that, while i’ve always completed all sorts of other tasks on time or sometimes in advance, i have difficulty starting writing assignments.
+i’ll mull over the details of a piece weeks before i write it and get excited about a polished final product, but until i’m forced by an immediate deadline, it’s difficult to start…friends guess that because i’m very meticulous with my writing, i let the fear of writing something sub-standard overwhelm me.
+i’d really like to fix this because i know that, as a low-income student with some chronic health conditions, this behavior is something i definitely have control over. (i actually forced myself to do this a little with a prospectus due for my thesis last week…i started a few days before and had half done before the last day or two.)
+sorry for the long comment!
+@Mighty,
+That’s a big question, something that probably deserves its own post, so I’ll be mulling it over for a bit. You might go pick up a copy of Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird, which is my favorite writing advice book (and honestly the only one I recommend). She’s hilarious and offers some great practical advice.
+I’m just gonna hide now. 😉 this post is so me.
+notemily is right about the ADHD thing: the last three are all symptoms of ADHD as well, especially if you change the last one to not just talking about how overworked and exhausted one is, but also feeling that way.
+Interesting! As I was writing it, I thought it hewed closer to a description of your standard Type A borderline workaholic, but now I totally see what you’re talking about. I guess there’s no reason why someone can’t be both at once.
+Tami Simon's in-depth audio podcast interviews with leading spiritual teachers and luminaries.
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+Caroline Myss: The Shadow Course, Part 2
+)
+Caroline Myss: The Shadow Course, Part 2
+Tuesday, August 15, this spiritual journey, offering diverse, in depth, and life-changing wisdom. SoundsTrue.com, many voices, one journey.
+You're listening to Insights at the Edge. Today my guest is. With Sounds True, Caroline Myss, along with Andrew Harvey, has created a new eight-week transformational online learning course called [The Shadow Course]: An Eight-Week Journey to Know Yourself and Bring Light to the World, beginning on September 1st. In this in-depth journey with Caroline and Andrew, you're guided to uncovering what you don't know about yourself so you can come into alignment with your true power and purpose.
+In this episode of Insights at the Edge, Caroline and I spoke about how you know the shadow is at work whenever you engage in blame or thinking that you deserve something. We also talked about why people are more comfortable with their shadow than with their light, and how shadow issues like greed and over-responsibility can show up as health challenges. We also talked about how Caroline would work as a spiritual director with someone who presented envy as a shadow issue in their life. Finally, Caroline spoke about how bringing awareness to our personal shadow is indeed the engine for social change in the world. Here's my conversation on [The Shadow Course] with Caroline Myss.
+Caroline, you and Andrew Harvey will be teaching a new eight-week online course with Sounds True, that begins on September 1, called [The Shadow Course]. To begin with, I would love it if you would define for our listeners how you think of Shadow work.
+Caroline Myss:Well, I don't think of it, first of all, as something negative. I think that that's the first thing that has to be established. The Shadow is that part of us that we don't know very well. That sounds like a small sentence, but actually it's great big huge, because people think that we're... We think we're born knowing ourselves, and it's really an astounding thought to people when they realize that we're born strangers to ourselves, and that part of the experience of life is getting to know who we are day by day, relationship through relationship, experience through experience.
+For example, you don't know that you have a language facility until you go to school and you study languages. You don't know that you're good at music until you're introduced to music. You don't know anything about yourself. You have to figure out who you are, what you like, what you don't like, and in part of that, you have to discover what about you is also triggered in darkness, what about you you're afraid of and why you're afraid of it, and what that—the kind of power that fear has. Or why, for example, you're afraid to pursue a challenge you have, why you're afraid to move on with your independence, why you need the acknowledgment of other people before you're able to do anything.
+Without that, you don't move forward and then you build up resentment and hostility when people don't acknowledge you. This is called your shadow. This is the part of you that you're uncomfortable with, that operates in the hidden caverns in yourself, and oftentimes, people will get into a relationship with the unconscious agenda of having that person find out more about them than they know themselves. You'll see how many times people will say to someone, "You don't really know me." What they're really saying is, "I don't really know me and I was hoping you'd do a better job at it."
+TS: OK, so if the Shadow is the part of ourselves that we don't know, and there's lots of parts of ourselves that we don't know, what is the most effective way, in your view, to start to learn about these parts of ourselves that are currently in hiding?
+CM: Well, any time you answer a question, "I don't know," you finish it with, "but I'm going to find out," "but I need to find out, because I'm too old not to know myself." And that's not allowed. You change the rule. You never let yourself off the hook by saying, "I don't know." Secondly, you never again blame another person for your own actions for choices that you make.
+TS: OK, that's pretty big. Most people spend a lot of time, at least internally, blaming someone for something.
+CM: Yes. So that's not allowed anymore. You never, ever, ever again use another person's name in the explanation of why you do what you do, of why you said what you said, of why you are the person you are. You... when the action you've taken is negative. You can credit, for example, I frequently credit a wonderful mentor I had in college for inspiring me in terms of how to teach and how to love and respect knowledge, and the calling it is to pass on knowledge, but to take somebody and to blame another human being for a negative attitude I have or why I would hang up the phone on you and then turn around and say, "Well, you know I had a bad childhood and my mother"—that's not allowed because the only person residing in my body is me.
+I'm too old to blame anybody for my actions anymore. That's what ceases. As tempting as that is, and we're all tempted to do that, to say, "You made me angry," the rules change when you realize, "I had options. I didn't have to get angry." Anger is the fastest, quickest response. That's the one that seems to let the other person know, and is the response that seems to effect and get me the most powerful consequence that I'm looking for, but I also have the option of saying to this other person, "Wait a minute. This is getting out of hand." I could also do that. I could also back off and say, "I don't think I'm really understanding what you're trying to say to me, and so I'm getting angry. I don't want to get angry." So I have other options.
+TS: Now, Caroline, I just want to make sure I understand something. When we find ourselves blaming someone ... I notice this. I blame people that I work with for a project not working, etc., etc., etc. How is that my shadow showing itself for my recognition and awareness?
+CM: OK, let's follow this through because we've both been bosses and we've both had employees.
+TS: There's lots of people to blame.
+CM: Right, and so we've both had the experience of hiring people who don't do their job well. We both had to say to somebody, "You're not adequate. You can't do this." We both have had the experience of trusting someone to do something, and they didn't come through. It is OK to recognize this person, can't call it, it just didn't work. It just didn't work. But when we take it a step further, I'd have to ask myself deep in my gut in this age of intuition, in this age of gut resource, and your gut is a resource, in this age of gut resource, I have to ask myself, "Why did I hire them? Why did I ask that person to do this in the first place? Was there anywhere along the line that I actually questioned working with this person?"
+You know, nine out of ten times the answer is yes. Maybe at that time I didn't recognize the signal quickly enough to stop myself and say, "This is a signal telling me to not give this responsibility to this person." Blaming somebody and saying, "You're the reason this didn't work," is—I guess my feeling is that it's the lowest way to handle something and nobody learns. You, most of all, won't learn from it, but I will always tell someone, "First find the intuitive thread. First find it," because you will. You'll find that you had some kind of sense somewhere about that situation.
+I'll tell you that the other person did as well. Maybe somewhere along the line, that person thought, "I shouldn't do this job. It's out of my league," or somewhere along the line, the person thought, "I'm consciously not doing a good job but I don't care," whatever it is. It's OK to hold another person accountable, but accountability is not blame. There's a difference. Accountability is not blame. To me, when you—holding someone accountable is saying, "I gave you this to do, and it is my assessment that you did not do it, so that's the end of this. You're going to go your way and I'm going to stay here." Accountability is what we have to do, but then turning around and blaming someone for abilities they do not have, not being able to assess them fully, that's where I draw the line and say, "Now, what did I miss? What didn't I see clearly?"
+That's where I would say to someone as a spiritual director, "Instead of going into blame, let's go into analysis here. Let's go into interpretation. What didn't you see clearly and why not? Because you could have. You have the gut tools to have seen something else, to have felt something else. If not, you're going to develop them so that this doesn't happen again."
+TS: In [The Shadow Course], there's this sentence that I pulled out. You stated, "You know the shadow is at work in your life whenever you engage in blame or thinking you deserve something."
+CM: Yes, blame and deserve. Those are the two words I tell everybody to drop immediately.
+TS: Talk some about this sense of deserving because I think a lot of people think they deserve a lot of things.
+CM: Let me finish something else here, and that's that another question I would always ask somebody is, "Did you operate in naivety?" which is a question that needs to be asked every day of somebody. If I was your spiritual director, I would say, "Did you operate in blind trust?" That is a foolish way to operate. "Did you operate in naivety? Did you drop the ball in managing, in overseeing?" Because what you always have to assume is what you just said, that the Shadow is operating. What does it mean to be unconscious? If I was your spiritual director or your abbess in a monastery, what is my role? My role is to help you become aware of your shadow, and my role in doing that is to be aware of the shadow you're not yet aware of, to know that in this situation it is very likely that you're going to be tempted to drop the ball.
+I need to be there before you drop the ball because I know it is likely you're going to do that. It is my job as an abbess, as a spiritual director, to be the [inaudible 00:15:11], to assume you're going to drop that ball, because you're not perfect. I would never leave someone to their own devices unless I'd worked with them and I knew them, like my business partner and I've known him for 18 years. I know every inch of how he thinks and works, and he knows every inch of how I think and work, even down to knowing each other's shadows. How often he'd say to me, "I can't book you like that because I know exactly what you're going to do if you're overtired. You'll bite someone's head off and I'm not doing that." He knows my shadow. He knows exactly how I will behave if I'm overtired. It's not personal.
+He knows exactly how snappy I get, so he manages even my shadow. It's not personal. He knows. "It'll come out. I've seen it. I know it. It will. Forget it. I'm sending you home right after this."
+TS: OK, Caroline, so I think this issue of blame and how the Shadow is at work when we blame, I think that's pretty clear, but let's talk about this "deserving" notion. As I said, I think a lot of people think, "I deserve to not have my band account effected when there's an economic downturn. I deserve someone who loves me."
+CM: "I deserve a happy marriage," or "I deserve a relationship that doesn't fall apart."
+TS: How is that the shadow? How is that the shadow at work?
+CM: Well, because first of all, "deserve" assumes that you're the center of the universe and that justice revolves around you. Number two, it assumes the position that your wounds should be rewarded. It assumes an attitude that simply has no merit—and that's that suffering should be rewarded, especially yours. Because that attitude is so fundamentally foul, it collides with any reason to heal. Why would you give up your wounds if your wounds are rewarded and you could pull them out at any convenient time? "I deserve. I've had a bad day. I am unhappy. I deserve to spend this kind of money. That doesn't matter. I'm not happy. I'm not happy. I deserve opiates. I don't know how else to be happy and to stop thinking about my misery."
+That's why it's such an egregious way of thinking. It's self-destructive and at its heart, it's self-pity. It allows somebody to be lazy, to go into their weakest spot and indulge it, and never get out because it's really a shadow comfort zone. You get to have whatever you want, do whatever you want, and have no—and here's the operative word—conscience about it. Not consciousness, but conscience. You have done nothing bad. Whether you've overspent, overate, overslept, overlied, didn't tell the truth, it doesn't matter because you were just not happy. So you can get away with anything because you deserved it because you were so unhappy or you were just so sad, or something woke up your bad memory. That is a whole template, a whole way of being that has been nurtured, nurtured, encouraged, encouraged in our society.
+TS: OK, so let's say someone's listening and they're like, "You know, there are moments when I think, 'God, I've worked really hard today. I deserve to just sit here and watch television and eat potato salad,'" or whatever it might be, or "I deserve a happy marriage. I'm a loving person," so the people that identify at this moment where they're saying, "I deserve" to themselves, what would you suggest as part of this Shadow work?
+CM: I would say, "Oh, that's absolutely ridiculous. You deserve absolutely nothing, nothing. You never have and you never will." However, if you want to watch TV, just say so, just say so. Just say, "I want to watch TV." It's not a matter of deserving. It's what I want to do. I don't need to suffer to watch it. I don't need to be in pain. I don't need to have to come from wounds. I simply need to say so. That's what someone with a backbone does.
+TS: I like it.
+CM: If you want to buy something and overspend, just say, "You know what? I'm going to overspend. That's what I want to do." I'm going to own it. That's what I want to do. I'm going to own that I do not care about the consequences of this. I'm going to stop blaming it on the fact that I am having an unhappy moment. I'm not having an unhappy moment. I want to have an unhappy moment so I can do this, so now I can give up being unhappy and just say, "I want to go spending." So I can give up that whole shell and own the truth, and own the truth. "I want to go spend. I want a spending spree. I enjoy it. It's a buzz for me. It makes me feel rich."
+Or, "I love the way people look at me when I go into a store and I'm treated like I'm a millionaire. I love the respect I get even for five minutes when they look at me and think that I have an endless bank account. It's a thrill for me, and then I come out of there and I'll deal with how I have no intention of paying it back. I'll let the creditors chase me. It doesn't bother. I don't have a conscience about that. I suppose I have to admit that, too, and that's my shadow because I feel I need that thrill because it serves me psychically and psychologically. It's how I get respect in the moment, such as it is." That's how you do it.
+TS: Very clear. Now, Caroline, in the [The Shadow Course] course, you make a distinction between listening to our conscience, or what you might call the voice of the soul, and listening to what you call the inner self, which is a voice that you say carries the Shadow. Can you help people understand this concept of the inner self? What's the inner self?
+CM: Well, I consider the inner self an anomaly of our time. It is more than the ego, but far less than the soul. The inner self was somewhat of a hybrid that emerged as we came into this era of the psyche, of the intuitive self, this post-nuclear age. We are the people, the generations, who are the explorers of the inner self, the world behind our "I", inner space. People before the nuclear age were not consumed with the inner self. They were not consumed with finding meaning and purpose, and past lives, and processing every single feeling, and putting every feeling in front of them as having uber-significance. That wasn't where that world came from prior to the nuclear age. That is the turning point, prior to the nuclear age.
+The significance of emotions were far more in the atmosphere of, "Did you give your word and you keep your word?" Love, trust—the baser, solid, hard-core emotions that formed the pillars of society. We are now more in what I would call the quantum level of ourselves. Just like we've gone into quantum physics, we've gone into the quantum aetheric energy fields of ourselves where we're discovering the atomic counterpart of ourselves, how powerful one word can be, how powerful our energetic field can be, and just like we have an internet, we have an "inner net", and we are learning that we are in fact connected to each other through the soul. We're discovering ourselves all over again, if not for the first time.
+In this discovery of ourselves, we're learning, realizing, that our inner world is a vastly, vastly deep and profoundly complex place, so it's the ego, as was defined before, is associated with our identity and our survival self. But it's insufficient to carry this self-examining, self-exploring, multileveled, complex additional self that is interested in healing and processing and exploring the multi-dimensions of our consciousness. That word was never ever used prior to the nuclear age by mainstream people, by mainstream people.
+People in the 1930s and 1920s did not casually throw around the pursuit of consciousness, but we do. We do, and in fact, we're obsessed with the healing of everything. Now, when you go into the inner self, this is a part where we start examining the significance of our own feelings, the significance of our wounds, the significance of our calling, the significance of, "Why was I born? For what purpose," and so obsessed our way with this, that one of the aspects of our time is that we've developed a contempt for the ordinary. The idea of being ordinary is actually appalling to people. "I'm not ordinary. God, make me anything, but don't make me ordinary." So much so that parents name their children things like Sunshine, Meditation, Karma, anything but an ordinary name like Jane or Michael because it is just not recognized, not recognized.
+The significance of being noted, people say to me all the time, "I know I was born for something special," as if being special is the reason to be born, as if the life path is specialness. "I was born for specialness," as if that's the reason to be alive. This inner self is this kind of shell that begins to develop around a person as they form an interest in themselves, as their focus of, "Who am I and what am I feeling?" and the significance, "My feelings have huge significance. My place in the universe has huge significance. I must have a special reason to be born. I need to be noticed and when I'm not noticed, I am crushed and devastated. I had a devastating childhood because I was not noticed."
+As we began to overvalue our place, as overvaluing our significance, it's place in within this shell became constructed. Now, at the same time, and this is important, at the very same time, the values of our collective society were something we left behind. Part of the characteristic of the inner self is that we separated, we went on individual sojourns, and we separated from the bodies that held collective accountability and collective values, like churches, like communities, like our collective spirit religions, so that we can't identify any collective values that are held within our society at all, whereas before, the collective values were integrity, longevity. I mean integrity and honesty and morality, and ethics, and we knew what it was to take a vow and to hold vow, and we knew what it was, what it meant when someone took a vow of fidelity. We knew that it meant something. It means nothing now, it means absolutely nothing now.
+If someone steps out and commits adultery, that word is never even used anymore. It's like an archaic word that has to be dusted off. It hardly means a thing. It has no social clout. It means nothing. So our collective values mean... Among the values that we have lost is truth, telling the truth. We have shifted it for this. It's more important for someone to speak their truth than to tell the truth. Where the inner self comes in, is it has become a vessel, a means through which a person can speak truth without the fear of being rejected because talking, saying, admitting, acknowledging, listening, dealing with truth at all in this society has become so uncomfortable that it's called being too direct. It's called misspeaking.
+We even have a new archetype that's called "the whistleblower" if you speak the truth, and if you do, and if you are a whistleblower, you're arrested. That's how harsh truth falls upon our ears. The inner self is how we do that. What we do is we say, "I got it on the inner self and my inner self feels this way. Now, I don't feel this way, but it was, my inner self is telling me not to do this," so it's the—Your inner self is the most intimate part of you. It is that part that is more integrity, more honest, that part that has your private agenda, usually the agenda of the shadow, it's the more manipulative part, the more vulnerable part, the part that holds onto your secrets. It's the part that will say things like—Your outside will say whatever it needs to say to feel a part of a group, to feel accepted.
+You'll say, even down to this, "Do you care what restaurant we go to?" "Oh, no, no, no, no. Not at all," but you're inner self will say, "I don't want to go there and you just never care about my needs." Somehow the inner self will eventually let that be known or say, "I have to tell you the truth. This is the way I —This isn't the kind, like my favorite food." You didn't say that up front, because you didn't have the courage to just say. It has to come through the inner self, so it almost sounds like guidance, and that's why the inner self can never be corrected. The inner self can never be attacked. It can never be criticized because it has that reputation of almost being guidance, of almost being sacred.
+Everyone stands back when someone says, "I got it on the inner"—"Oh. Well, it must be guidance," but it's not. It's just that part that a person has honed to be a little bit more accurate and that's not your basic garden-variety survival ego that once was sufficient. Does that help?
+TS: It does, but I'm still wanting to make sure that there's not confusion between the voice of genuine guidance and what I'm mistaking for the inner self. How do I know the difference?
+CM: The voice of genuine guidance is something that we attain when we develop a comfort zone with truth, Tami, when we develop self-esteem. Genuine guidance comes from having self-respect, from having a rapport with—As you develop a sense of rapport with yourself, a sense of self-respect, "I know who I am," of values that you will not compromise no matter what, no matter what, "This is who I am. This is where I draw the line. I'm sorry. I will not compromise. I will not say something that's not true. It's not going to happen. It's not going to happen. Whether or not you like me is not a relevant matter here. I don't compromise my integrity," when somebody, as someone develops that type of inner stamina, that person is automatically, automatically that clarity of internal voice is not something they're afraid of.
+They simply become more and more clear because they are more and more clear. It's not something they have to work at. It's not something they have to work at at all. That clarity simply is the result of becoming clear about yourself. They go hand-in-hand. It is not the result of diet, nutrition, vegetarian, nothing but as you become clear about who you are, what you will and will not tolerate, that you won't compromise yourself, that you know your values, that you know that you are not in league with darkness, that when you get up in the morning the choices you make during the day are congruent with who you say you are, that in fact when you give your word, you keep it, that you are exactly the person you say. That as you become clear about yourself, your inner mechanism is as clear as you are about yourself, and you don't ask for guidance to get you out of fogs you get into because you don't tell the truth, because you're screwing up other lives, because you're frightened, because you're making a mess out of your life.
+Your guidance is all about, "How do I serve?" It's about creativity. It's about, "Help me bring something creative forward." You don't waste time with, "Can you give me guidance because I'm afraid I'm going to lose money." You don't waste your time asking for the type of guidance that heaven does not give. Heaven does not give that kind of guidance. It's not a broker. It's not a real estate broker and it's not a banker.
+TS: OK, Caroline, you state something that I thought was quite intriguing in [The Shadow Course]. You state, "People like their Shadow more than their light."
+CM: Oh, sure.
+TS: I thought, "That's interesting." Can you unpack that for me?
+CM: Well, the Shadow is a very safe place because people trust, people trust that first of all the Shadow is a place to hide. It's very easy to say, "I don't know why I do things." There's no accountability there. There's no accountability. Look at the people at the hearings in Washington about the Russians. All they had to say is, "I'm not sure," and the Senate moved on. There's no accountability. They knew exactly what they were doing. All you have to do is play stupid, and there is absolutely no accountability in the Shadow. Though you have to say things like, "I didn't mean that." That's a Shadow response, whereas when you're in the light, you have to say, "I'm going to shine some light on myself and tell the truth that I knew exactly what I was doing and I did it anyway. I did it anyway."
+Or the light goes like this, which is, "I can see that you have an incredible talent and you would be very good for this job, and I'm going to support you in that," but the Shadow in someone would be, "I'm so jealous of you. I can't empower you that way so I'm going to pretend I don't see your talent," and it's conscious, it's conscious. "I can't acknowledge the talent in someone else." People are comfortable in that Shadow because it makes them, it gives them permission to do things, to act in negative ways and claim they're innocent, and say they didn't know better, that they didn't know why they do what they do, when in fact they do, and then to claim that it wasn't deliberate.
+As I say to people in my workshop, "You're not allowed to say, 'I don't know.' You're too old to say, 'I don't know.' You're too old. You can't say this," and here's why, and it may sound like I'm so harsh. I'm not harsh. I am compassionately tough because what I know is that when you are suffering, you're suffering because you're lying to yourself, because conscience has not been emphasized in its role in health as properly and dynamically as it should be, that the role of conscience, the role of—That health is not about, healing and health is not about identifying what someone did to you. That may be part of cleaning out. But healing, healing is about getting that part out of you that is constantly fueling and festering and speaking to you about what you want to do to somebody else, the part of you that's always festering like pus in your brain that says, "I just want to tell him this. I hate them. I want to make—I want to punish them for what they're doing."
+That's the part that is destroying your conscience because you know it's not the right thing to do. In order for you to tolerate your own darkness, you have to really, really, really twist events that happened to you in such a way that you're only the good person and never the bad person, and that you're only—you have to choose to keep yourself a victim. Then you have to choose to sabotage your adulthood to keep wounds alive. You have to say that you're feeling worse than you're actually feeling. What this does is it creates a sense of self-loathing because you're missing the strength and goodness of your own life. In order to tolerate that, you have to continually find people to blame for your weakness. It's conscious. It is conscious.
+Therapy will not get that out. Therapy is not a deep enough instrument, not at all, because it doesn't examine conscience to the depth that is required. It does not, and it doesn't examine the handiwork of evil—as clever as it is, as subtle as it is, and how it wraps itself around our inner self, and how it cleverly disguises itself as self-pity.
+TS: OK. We've got to slow down here on this, the handiwork of evil? I need to understand what you mean by that.
+CM: Darkness has many guises and one of them is self-pity. It comes through your weakest link, and it talks to you. It says things like, "You poor thing. You poor thing. Look at you. You poor thing, you poor thing," and it emphasizes—You know that I just drench myself in the teachings of the classical mystics that go all the way back to the Desert Fathers and all the way back to the mystics in the Indian tradition and in the Hindu tradition and in the Tibetan tradition, and don't make the mistake that because these sacred, sacred texts are old that their teachings are a waste of time. It is because they were written long before we were contaminated with technology, contaminated with the rational mind that makes them so pure, that makes them so perfect... the perfect vessels between the human being and the divine mind, the holiness of God, which is why these vessels, these sacred texts understood the way of light, the way of angels, the way of demons, the way of God, the way of nature so perfectly. Because there was no distraction between worlds and doubt had yet to be created.
+When they talk about and write about the nature of darkness and how it penetrates into our world and they say things—like all the traditions, whether you're Native American or Aboriginal or whether you go into Druid or whether you go into Catholic, or whether you go into Hindu, why do they all have protective rituals? What are they protecting themselves from? They're protecting themselves from the vulnerability of the human being, to, let's put it in physics, the terms of physics, psychic free radicals if you prefer. Psychic free radicals, conscious psychic free radicals. They're attracted to—
+TS: What do you mean by that, free radicals? What do you mean?
+CM: Well, the free radicals in your body are source of illness, so let's just say in the collective, psychic free radicals that'll find their way into your individual energy system and that match the nature of your lowest psychic common denominator, that if you are someone who dwells in despair and in self-pity, the vibration, the law of attraction, you will attract to yourself that same frequency. That's a low negative collective so if you want to think in terms that are not evil, call it that, but in my world, in my world, evil exists. The way that comes to you is it weighs in just like health. Disease finds its way to your weakest link. Darkness finds its way to your weakest link.
+For the alcoholic, it's the temptation to drink. That's the weakest link. The voice in the head says, "Come on. You can handle one drink. What's the matter with you? You know you can." That's the weakest link. For somebody who does blame and deserve, it'll come in through blame and deserve. "Well, look. It's always their fault. It's not your fault. You never did anything. It's that person's fault. You were only trying your best. They never liked you," blah, blah, blah. That voice, that voice will get activated, and that's what darkness does. It activates your weakest strongest voice, and that's how darkness acts, which is why Teresa of Avila, for example, always said in that prayer, "Lead me not into temptation." "Don't let me go there. Don't let me follow that voice because it'll get me in trouble. It'll get me in trouble. If I let that voice, if I listen to that voice, it'll get me in trouble. If I sit in a bar and I listen to the voice that says, 'You can handle one drink,' it'll get me in trouble."
+Bill Wilson and his Alcoholics Anonymous, he identified that voice, "Don't go there," but he knew that it would take somebody, a group, a group of people, to help them fight that darkness that you had to go 90 days and several times, and you had to pray with these people to develop a field of grace around you, to get out of that negative clutch, the clutch of that negativity. Even then, it wasn't enough. You had to go again and go again and continue to go because once is not enough. You have to constantly, constantly be on your guard. That's what daily prayer is about, "Keep me on my guard. I will never be strong enough to be without prayer. I will never be strong enough, never. I will always be. Lead me not into temptation, because I am always, always going to meet that one person that is one notch stronger than I am, that is one notch, that can just trigger my weakest link." That's what I mean.
+TS: OK, Caroline. There's so much I want to talk to you about, but I'm going to see if I can squeeze a few more questions in. You mentioned the role of conscience in our health and how important that is. In [The Shadow Course], you talk about a shadow issue that I think a lot of people are challenged by, which is greed. You go so far as to say, "If we're challenged by unconscious greed, it can show up in the lower part of our body, particularly—"
+CM: Even conscious, even conscious greed.
+TS: OK, "—in our sciatic nerves."
+CM: Yes.
+TS: You get that specific. I'm curious, are there other shadow issues in your work as a medical intuitive where you say, "You know, that Shadow issue and this part of the body almost always go together"?
+CM: Oh, yes. Oh, yes. Yes. I'm glad you asked that question because I think the way I've been speaking can give the idea that all Shadow issues are negative, like greed is negative, but you can be greedy for attention. If someone has been very lonely, that need for attention is understandable. But what people don't often realize is that that need for attention, it can backfire in them because this is how negativity can work. They can tell themselves, "I am not worthy of being loved. No one will ever love me," so as... that need will take a negative path and they might start becoming fragile or manipulative, or they might find themselves violating their own boundaries in order to have affection from somebody, compromising, getting involved with someone they don't really love because they don't think that love will ever come along. You see what I'm saying there?
+TS: Yes, I do.
+CM: OK. Then on another—I just want to make sure that people understand that these issues can be quite tender. They can be quite understandable, quite compassionate about this. They're not always aggressive and hostile and negative like stealing or something, but another that affects the body quite overtly is responsibility. Here you'd say, "Well, what's wrong with being responsible?" There's nothing. Everybody, everybody has to tackle responsibility, but where it can become the type of negativity that I'm speaking of now where you think that you're doing a good job but you don't realize you're going into the Shadow is two ways. One is that because we all have to take responsibility for our life. That's nature's way, nature demands every creature take responsibility for its life to its best capacity to do that. I repeat, to its best capacity to do that.
+When a person in the extreme, either works to avoid, consciously uses his or her life choices and creativity to find ways to avoid responsibility in the extreme, to avoid it, to use their creativity to go into identity theft, to do anything but work, anything but a healthy route of responsibility, or they do the other route in the extreme, and I emphasize in the extreme, tell themselves that "If I don't do it, the whole thing will just collapse. If I don't do it, nobody can do it. I'm the one, only me, only me, and if I don't do it..." What that does is creates this idea that, "I am irreplaceable and if I don't do it, nobody will survive," and that is simply not true. Life goes on no matter who dies. Everybody's death or everybody's retirement or everybody's exit reshuffles the deck for people certainly.
+The fact is, life goes on. When we tell ourselves that we're the only one, what we do, and we don't realize we often do this, is we shortchange other people from learning how to take responsibility. The people that are around us, we oftentimes steal their maturity because of the way we are. What that does, the organ that pays the price for our choice to take their responsibility on ourselves, and keep them miniaturized in their responsibility, is the pancreas. Oftentimes, most often, you will see that when people have diabetes or pancreatitis, there will always be an extreme of responsibility involved somewhere.
+TS: OK. One more shadow issue I want to bring up and then I have two final questions. The shadow issue is envy. I notice, Caroline, sometimes, that I feel envious of certain people. I know whenever I feel that, that there's something that wants my attention. Help me understand your view of how, through the type of Shadow work you teach, you would help somebody deal with moments of envy.
+CM: I think envy is when... I obviously think that... I do think that it's difficult to... I remember when I was in college and the girls, a lot of girls, were getting engaged and blah, blah, blah, blah. I admit to feeling a little spark, not much, but a spark of envy as they were looking and getting married and all of that. It didn't last long. I took a couple of aspirin and it passed. But I did have this... I'm not plagued with envy as one of my shadows. I really am grateful for it, because I've seen the suffering. But I did early on wonder what it would be like to have children, and to have that path. Then I had this deep time in which I examined that path, which would be the same of what I would counsel somebody, which is, "Take your eyes off someone else's life. Get your eyes off the life that you envy and don't look there again. Do not look there again, and don't look in the same way."
+If it's someone who is in your field and you have to look at them, then the way you are looking is you are assuming things, you're making things up. You are making things up. You are projecting your fantasies onto their life. You're projecting your childhood fantasies onto their life, and that's what we have to deal with. If I was your spiritual director, I'd say, "All I want you to do is write down your childhood fantasies. Maybe they're a princess knight. Maybe they're being in a castle. Maybe they're... Whatever they are. But whatever they are, you write those down and you get your eyes off that person. You're projecting that you have no idea what their life is really like and you, I want you to focus on everything, everything that's good in your life, everything. Every day, I want you to show up with three things that you appreciate about your life that you did not see yesterday."
+TS: OK. This is a very important question to me, Carolyn, which is how the personal Shadow work that you've been talking about here in this interview and that you teach in the eight-week course along with Andrew Harvey, how that relates to the sense that we have a collective Shadow that is operating in our sociopolitical world that is so upsetting to so many people, and the work that we do with ourselves, with our sense of over-responsibility, with our envy, with our greed, whatever it might be?
+CM: You're packing too much into one question.
+TS: I'm packing in, because what I want to find out is how does this personal Shadow work that we do relate to our collective Shadow, the collective Shadow that we're concerned about?
+CM: We're the engines of everything that happens. We're the engines of the events around us. I don't think that's a principle that people get. They don't get that because too many people say, "I don't watch the news. I don't want to look at this. I don't want to look at that," and yet they don't get that you're the engine of this event, and everything that happens around you filters into your life. I don't care if you're not watching the news or reading it, the energetics of it are affecting you. They are affecting your bank account. They're affecting your economy. They're affecting your food. They're affecting it. So what are you talking about not watching this and not watching that? What's the matter with you?
+This is one of my issues about this so-called "conscious era" that we're living in, which has never been more unconscious. By this late date, 60 years of being in these conscious waters, we should have backbones of titanium when, in fact, we are weaker than we've ever been. We are more unhealthy than we've ever been. We require more vitamins. We're more drugged than we've ever been. We are far too hypersensitive for our own survival. We should be able to look at the news and then some, and take it like troopers. By this time, we should be able to look and tolerate, look and take anything with Buddhist detachment, and be able to see clearly what's going on, at least understand the two things. We're going through the evolution of one era and into the other and that the mythologies of all the gods are breaking down, not because priests have gone rogue in the church, but because the myths of all religions no longer fit the size of the souls we are becoming.
+It's time for those myths to go down, because none of them include a cosmic galactic-size story of the divine. We are about to enter a galactic community, so those stories of God have got to be retired. And humanity is doing battle because they don't want to give that up. and that part of our work now is to evolve into global human beings, and the role is look at yourself and see how you're fighting that, see how you're fighting it. Very few people want to become globalized, very few people. Look to yourself at how you're fighting developing a global identity. That in fact we've never been more territorial than we are now, that for the last 60 years this idea of becoming one humanity has fallen upon deaf ears because that is not the way politics is.
+We've never been more separate. We don't want refugees here. We don't want any. We've never been more prejudiced. We've awakened the pattern of the Civil War, for God's sake. We're going backwards, not forwards. Someone could say to me, "Oh. Well, we're recycling and there's all these little pockets of people doing all these little things"—look at the whole. Look at who's the president, look at the hostility, look at the murders, look at the violence, look at how much power the NRA has, look what's happening with Brexit in Europe. Open your eyes. The fact is, the majority of choices people have made in the last 60 years have been to become isolated, to follow themselves and not participate in the country community, to not pay attention to government, to not participate.
+The fact is, we dropped the ball on our own nation. So what's going on now? We have to wake up and realize the mystical truths. What is in one, is in the whole. We have what it takes to change things, but not by doing like little recycling gigs. This is about recognizing, "Wait a minute here. Whoa. I got to put the brakes on here. I need to become a spiritual activist, a political activist. I can't look the other way. This is my planet. This is my community. I need to participate at every level. This is a body I live in. My country has a soul, and it has a physical body, it has an energetic body. It's no different than my own, than my own, than my own. If I have hostility toward political parties, then I have to deal with that. I have to deal with that because that's keeping my nation broken. My nation is broken. It's broken. What can I do to participate? What do I have to learn? What do I have to do? What do I have to do to maintain the Constitution and freedom because this is a difficult passage, and if I don't participate in it, if I do not, then the future generation, my own life may end up without freedom."
+TS: When you say the one, the mystical truths, the one is in the whole, so you believe in addition to paying attention to the collective concerns. That the personal Shadow work that we're doing is actually an engine of change?
+CM: Yes, and I believe you have to look at what's erupting is the collective Shadow that—this isn't coming out of nowhere. This is the underbelly of humanity. Humanity is not a sophisticated animal. It's a predator, and it's very difficult for us to be sharing creatures. In a small scale, it is, but we don't want to share the planet yet. We're still living from the idea that there's not enough. We don't get that if we look up and see solar, there's plenty, but we keep looking down. We don't get that if we look at each other through the soul, we would only see each other, but we keep looking at the body.
+It's time for us to evolve into our energetic form primarily so that we would get we are all truly connected on the "inner net" but for all the language we have used spiritually, we don't yet live there. This is that great turning point. This is it. This is the turning point from energy to matter, from body to soul. This is it. We're living this. It's a privilege to be alive now, but it is a passageway. Make no mistake. It may take a century. It may take two centuries or whatever, but that's what we're living.
+TS: Here's my final question for you. I also interviewed Andrew Harvey, your co-teacher, in the eight-week shadowing course, and I asked him the same question, which is, I think of the two of you as very talented "Shadow busters", meaning—
+CM: Shadow busters?
+TS: You are. No matter who's in the room, my sense is that you have this gift at tuning into the Shadow that's not quite being said or presented but is operating in the room or in a person, and I'm wondering if you agree, and if so, what makes you such a good Shadow buster?
+CM: I have no difficulty... I'm not afraid of it. I don't live in it. I'm not naïve. I'm not an optimistic. I'm not a pessimist. I'm a realist. I've never re-created the universe to suit a vision that says there's no such thing as evil. I spend a lot of time dealing with my own shadow, so I know it's real. All of the above, and I also see life through the lens of if there is a light, there's got to be a Shadow because that's how nature designed things. If there's an up, there's a down. If there's a left, there's a right. This idea that, "I don't believe in the Shadow because it just doesn't appeal to me," is intellectual arrogance at its worst.
+Then I see all these people wearing stones and feathers and all this nonsense around their neck, and I think, "What's that for?" They'll say, "Negativity." I'm just like, "Oh, stop it." If you're going to deal with negativity—If you're going to deal with evil, then do it with a backbone. Learn how to pray. Bow your head. Kick your shoes off on sacred ground. Don't do it with rocks. You can't throw rocks at evil. You can't deal with it either with feathers and rocks. You need prayer. You need the real thing. You need to have God as an ally. You need God as an ally, however it is you define that force, however it is you define it, but believe me, there is something greater than you in the heavens and it is intimate.
+This universe is a very impersonal place. The laws of, the mystical laws are, this is an impersonal universe where—I don't believe in religions. I love to study them and talk about them. I have gone after the mystical laws as they are taught in all traditions, and that is where the jewels are. That's the gold, that's the truth, that's the nectar. Because that's what applies to every human being. All the laws are impersonal. Their mathematics is impersonal. Gravity is impersonal. Just like Buddha, the laws of change. Change is, Buddha says, "It's change and you're going to suffer if you fight it." That's impersonal. He's talking to everybody.
+The law of Jesus, Jesus said, "If you hang onto things, it's going to hurt. That's forgiveness. Let go of the dead." He was talking to everybody. He was talking to everybody. In Tibetan wisdom, "Don't hang on to spectacles. It's going to kill you." Then I find that all of these teachings, these universal laws... [barking dog] That's my dog. Excuse me everybody. Hold it. All of those laws are exactly the laws that apply to the well-being of our health, every one of them, every single one of them, our core to the maintenance of our body and soul, every one of them.
+You hang onto something, you're going to lose your energy. You lose your energy, you lose your health. Simple as that, and without understanding that, you can't call your soul back. You can't detach, you can't detach without forgiveness. You can't and you won't. You can't detach because your pride won't let you, and you only battle pride with grace. No amount of therapy, no amount of therapy will ever, ever challenge your pride. Only grace will get you, and so there we go, my darling. That is full circle.
+TS: I've been speaking with Caroline Myss along with Andrew Harvey, her co-teacher, in an eight-week to know yourself and bring light to the world, a new online course called [The Shadow Course] that starts on September 1. Caroline, it's always great to talk to you. I always, always, always learn something. Thank you so much.
+CM: Thank you. What a pleasure.
+TS: SoundsTrue.com, many voices, one journey. Thanks everyone for listening.
+The eleventh century, the most critical and significant of the Spanish middle ages, witnessed a change of sign in the peninsular balance of [47]'ij).(50).
+The Almoravids were able to stabilize the situation for only two decades, their decline becoming evident when Alfonso I of Aragon captured Zaragoza, in the heartland of the middle Ebro Valley in 1118. Increasing pressure by Alfonso I and Alfonso VII of Castile exacerbated the [48] disaffection of the Andalusi masses with their Berber overlords, leading to a series of popular rebellions in 1144-1145 which ended Almoravid rule in Spain. Now, however, the Muslims were as fragmented as before, regional centers coalescing into a new constellation of seventeen Taifas. The cycle then repeated itself as the disarray of these kingdoms invited a new round of Christian victories (sieges of Córdoba and Almería, 1146-1147) which in turn led to the invasion of a new Berber dynasty, the Almohads, in 1171. Once again there was a great Muslim victory, when Abu Yusuf Ya'qub defeated Alfonso VIII of Castile in Alarcos, on the Córdoba-Toledo road in July 1195, and once again the battle wrought no change in the balance of power. Instead, the Christians were incited to regroup, to combine their forces, and finally to defeat the Almohads decisively at the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa (1212), near Bailén in northern Andalusia, the same spot where Scipio had defeated the Carthaginians more than a millennium before.
+The stage was now set for the final stage of the conquest. In the west, Alfonso IX of León conquered Badajoz in 1230, and Portuguese victories in the lower Guadiana basin and the Algarve followed. Under Ferdinand III the Castilians occupied the heartland of al-Andalus, taking Córdoba in 1236, Jaén in 1246, and Seville in 1248. In the east, James I of Aragón had captured the Balearic Islands in 1229 and Valencia in 1238. Rights to the conquest of Murcia had been the subject of three distinct negotiations between the crowns of Castile and Aragón (Pacts of Tudilén, 1157; Cazola, 1179; and Almizra, 1244). Pursuant to treaty arrangements, Ferdinand's son Alfonso, the future Alfonso X, garrisoned Murcia in 1243, completing the submission of Lorca, Mula, and Cartagena the following year. After a rebellion in 1264, Alfonso had to call upon his father-in-law James I of Aragón to subdue the territory a second time. The result was that the kingdom of Murcia, although remaining within the Crown of Castile, was to become culturally hybrid.
+Our analysis of Andalusi and Spanish Christian society ends when the organization of the conquered territories by the Christians is completed and patterns of adjustment between conquerors and conquered have been established. At this point, in the last quarter of the thirteenth century, we can say that the situations and processes that lent tonality to Iberian history in the high middle ages were completed and, although confrontation with the Muslims of Granada continued until 1492 and substantial numbers of Muslims remained behind to continue [49] interacting with Christians, the dynamics of Spanish society of the later middle ages were the result of quite different social phenomena.
+Yet many of the elements which came to characterize that Spanish society followed directly from the reversal of the eleventh century. In the first place, the economic system of the Islamic imperium was severely disrupted by nomadic invasions. Tunisia, for example, which had been the major entrepot for Andalusi trade with the East was effectively cut off by the Hilali invasions. Iberian merchants now traded directly with Egypt, enduring increasing competition from Genoan and Pisan traders, who were the direct beneficiaries of the Tunisians'
+loss of intermediary status. But eastern trade routes had also been disrupted by Mongol and Turkish warriors, and the fragile economy of the Islamic world, dependent upon a complex system of long-distance trade routes for the supply of raw materials and gold which underwrote the urban affluence of the Islamic high middle ages, was broken, initiating a long period of decline.(51)
+The Berber invasions had paradoxical results. They made communication between Islamic Spain and the East more difficult and tended to draw al-Andalus in its waning years into a Magribi orbit. Heightened intolerance, the result of increasing Christian pressure on a now fully Islamized society, intensified the cultural isolation of al-Andalus (note the movement of Jews to the Islamic east or the Christian north, the practical disappearance of Christian minorities, and the rise of popular religious expressions with xenophobic overtones). Muslim intolerance was matched by the hardening of Christian attitudes,(52) as the movement of conquest gained force. Curiously, the general economic dislocation did not much affect the Iberian countries, as both Berber dynasties retained control of the Sudanese gold routes. The Almoravids and Almohads coined gold pieces of high value, which were copied by the Christians (e.g., the gold morabetinos of Alfonso VIII). In essence, this gold, when paid in tribute or captured in booty (the entire Almohad treasury was said to have been captured at Las Navas) fueled the Christian military effort.
+At the same time as al-Andalus was moving into a markedly Moroccan cultural orbit, French influences made themselves felt in the Christian kingdoms. During the eleventh century the towns along the pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela became foci for the concentration and radiation of elements of French culture. As the Cluniac reform spread to [50] Christian Spain and the ecclesiastical hierarchy became permeated by French clerics, the cultural shift became obvious. Visigothic writing was replaced by the French style, inducing a break in traditional cultural links with the Visigothic-Mozarabic cultural tradition, as the codices written in the old hand became increasingly difficult to read. Two of the prime outward symbols of French influence were the substitution of the Mozarabic liturgy by the Roman rite and the diffusion of Romanesque art and architecture.(53)
+The eleventh century also witnessed an economic turn-around in the Christian kingdoms. Urbanization, fueled by Sudanese gold and the international trading currents flowing along the road to Santiago, as well as by the opening of the western Mediterranean to Christian shipping, was in evidence everywhere, and with it the diffusion of commercial methods and craft techniques by the settling of foreigners (Andalusi Jews and Frenchmen -- francos). The French also were agents of the diffusion of feudal institutions and styles that had hitherto been underdeveloped in Spain. In part, this movement of feudalization was encouraged by the growing mastery of iron techniques and subsequent improvements in the quality of Spanish arms and tack.(54) The popular cavalries of the early phases of the frontier warfare tended in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries to cede in importance to more professionalized units (the military orders).
+We have seen, in this rapid overview of the chronology of events in Spain from the eighth through the thirteenth centuries, that neither of the societies discussed developed in isolation, either from each other or from the larger world system or regional subsystems in which they found themselves embedded. The specific contours produced by these molding influences are the subject of the analytical chapters that follow.
+1. This section is based upon Philip Grierson, "Commerce in the Dark Ages: A Critique of the Evidence," Transactions of the Royal Historical Society, 5th series, 9 (1959), 123-140; Denys Hay, Europe: The Emergence of an Idea (New York: Harper and Row, 1966); Archibald R. Lewis, Naval Power and Trade in the Mediterranean, A.D. 500-1100 (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1951); Lombard, Espaces et réseaux du haut moyen âge; and Andrew M. Watson, "Back to Gold and Silver," The Economic History Review, 2nd series, 20 (1967), 1-34.
+2. On the Islamic world as a medium of diffusion, see Andrew M. Watson, "The Arab Agricultural Revolution and its Diffusion, 700-1100," Journal of Economic History, 34 (1974), 19-23; see also Arnold Toynbee's remarks on the cultural conductivity of nomadism, A Study of History, 10 vols. (London: Oxford University Press, 1934-1964), III: 391-394.
+3. One of the few to stress the Roman heritage is Harold Livermore, The Originsof Spain and Portugal (London: George Allen and Unwin, 1971), p. 302, where he describes the Islamic Empire, in its early stages at least, as a neoRoman system.
+4. On Arabic response to Roman hydraulic monuments, see Lucie Bolens, "L'Eau et l'irrigation d'après les traités d'agronomie andalous au moyen-âge (Xle-XlIe siècles)," Options Méditerranéennes, 16 (December 1972), p. 77; Glick, Irrigation and Society in Medieval Valencia, p. 196; al-Himyarî, La péninsule ibérique au moyen-âge, ed. and trans. E. Lévi-Provençal (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1938), p. 153; and Norman Smith, Man and Water: A History of Hydro-Technology (New York: Scribner's, 1975), p. 22. On the plundering of building stones by nomads, see ibn Khaldûn, The Muqaddimah: 4n Introduction to History, ed. and trans. Franz Rosenthal, 3 vols. (New York: Pantheon, 1958), I: 303.
+5. al-Mâwardî, Les statuts gouvernementaux, trans. E. Fagnan (Algiers: Adolphe Jourdan, 1915), p. 382.
+6. On the place of Central Asia and the "focality" of the Islamic world in the process of technological diffusion, see Joseph Needham, "Central Asia and the History of Science and Technology," Journal of the Royal Central Asian Society, 36 (1949), 135-145; and idem, Science and Civilisation in China, vol. I (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1965), especially p. 220. On Islam as an "intermediate" society, see S. D. Goitein, Studies in Islamic History and Institutions (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1966), pp. 59-60. On the cultural role of Persia, see Maurice Lombard Espaces et réseaux du haut moyen âge, p. 6o, and idem, L'Islam dans sa premièregrandeur (Paris: Flammarion, 1971), p. 105.
+7. Needham, "Central Asia." For a summary of the nature of diffusion from a geographical perspective, see Peter Gould, Spatial Diiffusion, Commission on College Geography of the Association of American Geographers Resource Paper No. 4 (Washington, D.C., 1969); for an anthropological approach, see, for example, George M. Foster, Culture and Conquest (Chicago: Quadrangle, 1960), pp. 10-20.
+8. Fernand Braudel, The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean World in the Age of Philip II, trans. Siân Reynolds, 2 vols. (New York: Harper and Row, 1972-1973), I: 282.
+9. Siete Partidas, I.6.54; Gonzalo Menéndez Pidal, Los caminos en la historia de España (Madrid: Ediciones Cultura Hispánica, 1951), p. 57 (on the sestaferia, Friday, corvée in Asturias).
+10. Albert C. Leighton, Transport and Communication in Early Medieval Europe (Newton Abbot: David and Charles, 1972), p. 57.
+11. Jacinto Bosch Vilá, Historia de Albarracín y su sierra, Martin Almagro, ed. Vol.
+11. Albarracín musulmana (Teruel: Instituto de Estudios Turolenses, 1959), p. 21 (see also ibid., p. 34, on the replacement of roads by rivers as arteries of communication where no Roman roads survived); Manuel González Garcia, Salamanca: La repoblaàén y la ciudad en la baia edad media (Salamanca: Centro de Estudios Salmantinos, 1973), p. 58; for Roman roads and bridges in a rural valley near León, see Justiniano Rodriguez Fernández, El monasterio de Ardón (León: Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas, 1964), p. 177; on the use of Roman roads by both Muslims and Christians, see Sánchez-Albornoz, Estampas de la vida en León hace mil años, 3rd ed. (Madrid: Espasa-Calpe, 1934), p. 100 n. 88; p. 130 n. 4.
+12. Lombard, Espaces et réseaux du haut moyen âge, p.81; José Angel Garcia de Cortázar, El dominio del monasterio de San Millán de la Cogolla (siglos X a XIII) (Salamanca: Universidad de Salamanca, 1969), pp. 151-152.
+13. G. Menéndez Pidal, Los caminos en la historia de España, p. 41: "karro per que locum que sivit ambulare, si non abuerit kerrera directa, licentiam damus pergat per defesas per terras laboratas, per vineas, et limites frangere per via discurrente ad karro vel ad equs et mulas cargatas ambulare."
+14. Richard W Bulliet, The Camel and the Wheel (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1975), p. 110. Bulliet makes no reference to climatic change; but if, as seems to have been the case especially in North Africa, the climate was becoming more arid from the third through the seventh century, such a shift would have reinforced the competitive edge of the camel over the cart in transport.
+15. Sánchez-Albornoz, Despoblación y repoblación del valle del Duero (Buenos Aires:Instituto de Historia de España, 1966), p. 151 n. 57; Bulliet, The Camel andthe Wheel, pp. 229-230.
+16. S. D. Goitein, A Mediterranean Society, 2 vols. to date (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1967- ), I: 275-276.
+17. On structural features of medieval communications, see Lombard, Espaces et réseaux du haut moyen âge, pP. 50; Braudel, Mediterranean, I: 357, 360, 363. On specific traveling times, see G. Menéndez Pidal, Los caminos en la historia de España, p. 45; E. Lévi-Provenqal, España musulmana hasta la caida del califato de Córdoba. Instituciones y vida social e intelectual, trans. Emilio Garcia Gómez (vol. 5 of Historia de España directed by Ramon Menéndez Pidal) (Madrid: Espasa-Calpe,1957), p. 189.
+18. G. Menéndez Pidal, Los caminos en la historia de España, pP. 46 (citing Poema de mio Cid, verses 1448-1609); Luis Vázquez de Parga, José M. Lacarra and Juan Uría Riu, Lasper-egrinaciones a Santiago de Compostela, 3 vols. (Madrid: Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas, 1948-49), I: 61. The issue of the permeability of the frontier is also discussed in Chapter 2, section 6, below.
+19. On the coordination of land and sea travel, see Goitein, Studies in Islamic History, p. 303; idem, Mediterranean Society, I: 276-277, 317. On the acceleration of pace during summer, see Braudel, Mediterranean, I: 256.
+20. Goitein, Studies in Islamic History, pp. 301; also, idem, Mediterranean Society, I: 275.
+21. Goitein, Mediterranean Society, I: 302, 318, 401; idem, Letters of MedievaJewish Traders (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1973), p. 55 n. 17; Mahmûd 'Ali Makkî, Ensayo sobre las aportaciones orientales en la España musulmana y su influencia en la fformación de la cultura hispano-árabe (Madrid: Instituto de Estudios Islámicos, 1968), p. 24.
+22. Goitein, Studies in Islamic History, p. 299; Mediterranean Society, I: 43, 60, 69, 275, 344.
+23. See Lombard, Espaces et réseaux du haut moyen âge, p. 194.
+24. E. A. Thompson, The Goths in Spain (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1969), especially pp. 216-217.
+25. Claudio Sánchez-Albornoz, "Repoblación del reino asturleonés. Proceso, dinámica y proyecciones," Cuadernos de Historia de España, 53-54 (1971), 406 n. 17.
+26. Livermore , Origins of Spain and Portugal, p. 213.
+2l. A brief summary of what little is known of Visigothic economy is found in Jaime Vicens Vives, An Economic History of Spain (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1969), pp. 83-92.
+28. Ignacio Olagüe, La revolución islámica en occidente (Barcelona: Guadarrama, l9l4), pp. l3-ll2, 224-282. One index of aridity in North Africa is the extension of qanat foggara) systems in Tunisia from the seventh through ninth centuries; see Olagüe, Revolución islámica, p. 91, and Jaime Oliver Asin, Historia del nombre "Madrid" (Madrid: Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas, 1959), pp. 359-36l.
+29. Leopoldo Torres Balbás, Ciudades hispano-musulmanas, Henri Terrasse, ed., 2 vols. (Madrid: Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores, n.d.), I: 2l n. 38, 32-34.
+30. Manuel Diaz y Diaz, "Metales y mineria en la época visigótica, a través de Isidoro de Sevilla," in La mineria hispana e iberoamericana, l vols. (León: Catedra de San Isidoro, l9l0), I: 26l-2l4.
+31. José Maria Lacarra, "Panorama de la historia urbana en la peninsula ibérica desde el siglo V al X," in Estudios de alta edad media española (Valencia: Anubar, l9ll), p. 52; Glick, Irrigation and Society in Medieval Valencia, p. 195.
+32. Antonio Ubieto Arteta, Ciclos económicos en la edad media española (Valencia: Anubar, 1969), pp. 19-20; Diaz y Diaz, "Metales y mineria,"passim. On Isidore generally, see William D. Sharpe, "Isidore of Seville," Dictionary of Scientific Biography (hereafter cited DSB), 13 vols. to date (New York: Scribner's, l9l0) l: 2l-28.
+33. Toynbee, Study of History, III: 323; J. N. Hillgarth, "Visigothic Spain and EarlyChristian Ireland," Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy, Section C, 62 (l962),ll0.
+34. See the full account of the received view by Claudio Sánchez-Albornoz, Orígenes de la nación española. El reino de Asturias, 3 vols. (Oviedo: Instituto de Estudios Asturianos, l9l2-l9l5), I: 366-392, 413-458.
+35. R. Dozy, Recherches sur I'histoire et la littirature des árabes d'Espagnependant le Moyen Age, 2 vols. (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1881), I: especially 36-38; and Olagüe, Revolución islámica en occidente, p. 322 (invasion of Chaldeans with horses, from Habbakuk) and 334 (three and a half years of duration of conquest, from Daniel).
+36. On Count Julian, see Livermore, Origins of Spain and Portugal, p. 281. According to Vallvé, "Algunos problemas de la invasión musulmana," p. 365, Julian was also a Goth, the governor of Cádiz. Sánchez-Albornoz, holding to the generally accepted view, follows ibn Khaldun in supposing Julian to have been a Christian Berber, a fidelis of Witiza and emir of the Gumara tribe; "Frente a unas páginas erróneas sobre la conquista de España por los musmulmanes," Cuadernos de Historia de España, 49-50 (1969), 306-307 n. 43. On Tarif, see Vallvé, "Algunos problemas," p. 365; tarifa in Arabic means point, utmost point (an obvious allusion to its location on the straits of Gibraltar). On Tariq, ibid., p. 356. Olagüe, Revolución islámica en occidente, pp. 274-275, believes Tariq to have been a Goth, governor (in name at least) of Tingitania. For fanciful views of Tariq and Julian as Jews, see references in Norman Roth, "The Jews and the Muslim Conquest of Spain," JewishSocialStudies, 38 (1976), 146, 148.
+37. Vallvé, "Agunos problemas de la invasión musulmana," p. 367. The basis for Vallvé's critique, that the Arab chroniclers took place names of Cádiz Bay from classical sources and applied them mistakenly to the Bay of Algeciras, is convincing and must be better answered than by Sánchez-Albornoz's hysterical reply, cited in n.36, above.
+38. See Olagüe, Revolución islámica en occidente, pp. 22-25: 10,000 war horses would have consumed 400,000 liters of water daily. If the number is reasonably accurate, it would have made sense to let the enemy advance rather than attempt a ride to Seville in mid-July.
+39. The material on the curve of conversion comes from conversations with Richard W Bulliet and from his book Conversion to Islam in the Medieval Period: An Essay in Quantitative History, which I read in manuscript with his generous permission. For his method of analysis, see his chapter "Conversion to Islam and the Emergence of a Muslim Society in Iran," in A. Atmore and N. Levtzion, eds., Conversion to Islam: A Comparative Study of Islami%ation (in press). Bulliet's conversion curves are based on statistical analysis of names of Islamic jurisprudents compiled in biographical dictionaries, or tabaqát. He first derives a "curve of Muslim names," based on the tendency of converts to Islam to adopt for their children names readily identifiable as Muslim, drawn from a restricted list of such names (Muhammad, Ahmad, 'Ali, al-Hasan, al-Husain). Results from this sample can be checked against a smaller sample of ancestors with nonMuslim, non-Arab names (e.g., an Andalusi faqih of the tenth century with a grandfather or great-grandfather named Lub -- Lope). This sample yields a "curve of actual conversion," and there is a two-generation offset (about seventy-five years) between the two curves. Figures 1 and 7 show curves of actual conversion. Bulliet's sample for al-Andalus is too small to be statistically significant; yet it corresponds precisely to curves for other Islamic societies (Figure 7). In geographical diffusion literature, the logistic curve is the normal curve of innovation adoption; see Gould, Spatial Diffusion, pp. 19-21.
+41. Revolución islámica en occidente, pp. 251-253.
+42. Makki, Aportaciones orientales, p. 53 (al-Samh's letter) and 41 (baladiyyün); veterans were also called al-'arab al-aqdamün -- "Old Arabs."
+43. Ibid., pp. 170-172, listing five pro-'Abbasid uprisings between 755 and 781.
+44. A. Barbero and M. Vigil, Sobre los orígenes soaales de la reconquista (Barcelona:Ariel, 1974), p. 82.
+45. Ibid., p. 48 n. 72: ut nolint esse Romani. Diaz y Diaz, "Metales y mineria," p.267, notes that Isidore omitted Cantabria from his account of mineral resources, perhaps because he did not consider that region part of Hispania.
+46. Olagüe, Revolución islámica en occidente, p. 286; Sánchez-Albornoz, Despoblacióny repoblación del valle del Duero, pp. 180-183.
+47. Sánchez-Albornoz, Despoblacióny repoblación del valle del Duero, p. 125. Ibn al-Qutiyya mentions a barren zone lying between Christian and Islamic territory in the ninth century (ibid., p. 251).
+48. José Angel Garcia de Cortázar, La época medieval (Historia de España Alfaguara, 11) (Madrid: Alianza, 1973), p. 130. Note that the conversion of the Basques, once thrown into contact with an intrusive Christian population, would also follow a logistic curve.
+49. Sánchez-Albornoz, Despoblación y repoblación del valle del Duero, pp. 53 n. 23, 215.
+50. The social dynamics of this breakdown and realignment of forces is discussed in Chapter 4 and the changing pattern of political organization in Chapter 6.
+51. Lombard, L'Islam, p. 202; Goitein, Studies in Islamic History, p. 310; and idem, Mediterranean Society, I: 32.
+52. The symmetry is noted by Juan Verner, Los musulmanes españoles (Barcelona: Sayma, 1961), p. 59.
+53. See the discussion of stylistic influences in Chapter 9. For summaries of eleventh-century changes, see J. M. Lacarra, "La repoblación de las ciudades en el camino de Santiago: Su trascendencia social, cultural y económica," in Vázquez de Parga et al, Peregrinaciones a Santiago, I: 465; and Ubieto, Ciclos económicos, p. 123.
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+Jamal Lewis
+Cleveland Browns Running Back
+Jamal Lewis seems like he’s ancient in football terms, but he’s only 28 years old. (He’ll be 29 by the start of the season.) That’s probably because Lewis was a major component in the Baltimore Ravens 2000 Super Bowl title run, back when he was 19 or 20 years old. Since then, Jamal Lewis has broken the single-season rushing record and spent time in prison, which is more than enough for one NFL lifetime.
+In 2007, Jamal Lewis showed he still had something in the tank, though. After the Baltimore Ravens came to the conclusion Jamal Lewis was finish, they let him go in lieu of Willis McGahee. Lewis signed as a free agent with the Cleveland Browns, who had been an NFL doormat since their franchise respawned in Cleveland in the late 1990′s. Lo and behold, the Cleveland Browns became one of the NFL’s Cinderella teams last year — and one of its offensive juggernauts.
+Now, fantasy football owners are trying to figure out where to slot Jamal Lewis. I’m tempted to downgrade him because the tread is wearing thin, but Lewis is younger than LaDainian Tomlinson and is the same age as Brian Westbrook, so it’s hard to say that Lewis is that much more worn out than the guys at the very top of fantasy cheet sheets. And given the fact the Browns look to be a fantasy scoring powerhouse, he has to be considered a value pick in the 2nd or 3rd rounds of fantasy drafts.
+- Age: 29 (nearly 30)
+- Years Pro: 10
+- Height: 5’11"
+- Weight: 245 lbs.
+- College: Tennessee Volunteers
+- Current Team: Cleveland Browns
+Jamal Lewis – University of Tennessee
+Jamal Lewis had a noteworthy freshman year with the Tennessee Volunteers, going for over 1,000 yards and 7 touchdowns. In his sophomore year, Lewis tore up his knee, so that his junior year was a campaign to prove he was fully recovered from the injury.
+Lewis finished his college career with over 2,600 yards. When Jamal Lewis entered the NFL Draft after his junior year, he was regarded as a major talent with serious injury concerns. This did not stop the Baltimore Ravens Ozzie Newsome from taking a shot on the talented young runner.
+Jamal Lewis – Baltimore Ravens
+The Ravens selected Jamal Lewis with the 5th overall pick of the 2000 draft. Some wondered about his health moving forward, but the Baltimore Ravens were looking for a rugged back to control the ball and wear down opponents. Lewis combined above average size for an NFL back with blazing straight-ahead speed. The Baltimore Ravens were building a talented defensive unit, but their offense had been inconsistent for years, and they wanted someone to build an entire offense around.
+Lewis got off to a relatively slow start in his rookie season, mainly because the Baltimore Ravens offense was a disaster. Tony Banks started the season as quarterback, but his continued tendency to throw interceptions hampered the Ravens’ conservative game plan. Eventually, Trent Dilfer became the starting quarterback, but most considered him a cast-off. Through one stretch early in the season, the Ravens didn’t score an offensive touchdown in six straight games.
+Luckily, the Baltimore Ravens Defense was dominating in a way the NFL had never seen before. The Ravens defense gave up fewer points than any defense (over a 16 period) in NFL history, eclipsing the total of the 1985 Chicago Bears Defense. Therefore, the Ravens stayed in the playoff hunt, despite terrible offensive production.
+Eventually, Brian Billick began turning the game over to Jamal Lewis. Lewis turned it on in the second half of his rookie season, and was a star by the time of the NFL playoffs. Despite being a low seed and having to go on the road for their playoff games, the Baltimore Ravens used Jamal Lewis and a devastating defensive attack to roll over their AFC opponents. They crushed the New York Giants in that year’s Superbowl.
+Jamal Lewis – Record Season
+In his fourth season, Jamal Lewis was even more impressive. Lewis had put up solid numbers in his previous campaign; in 2003, he came close to breaking Eric Dickerson’s all-time single-season rushing yards record. Jamal Lewis became one of a few people to top 2,000 yards, which made him a fantasy football stud beyond most measures. Unfortunately, it appeared that his career would end as soon as he reached the summit of the NFL stardom.
+During an injury-tainted 5th NFL season, cocaine distribution charges came forward against Jamal Lewis. He would be convicted and sentenced to 4 months in prison (during the 2005 offseason), and many wondered if the Baltimore Ravens would release their star running back. His prison stint made it difficult for Lewis to rehabilitate from his injury, and he entered the 2005 NFL season a shell of his former self.
+Meanwhile, the Baltimore Ravens had failed to solve their problems on offense. The Ravens wasted years on Kyle Boller, who was expected to be their franchise quarterback. Instead, the mobile and strong-armed Boller continued to make bad decisions and seemed confused by the speed of the NFL game. The team would bring in an aging and injury-plagued Steve McNair to give them veteran leadership at the QB position, but the team was forced to continue their conservative play-calling. This meant the team leaned too heavily on Jamal Lewis.
+Lewis was unable to recapture the form of 2003, and many Ravens fans called for Chester Taylor to be named the starting running back. When Taylor left in free agency for the Minnesota Vikings, Jamal Lewis was left as the only viable running back on the roster. He would soldier on during McNair’s first season with the Ravens, when the team went 13-3 in a tough AFC North. Jamal Lewis proved a dependable back in a real-game sense, but his fantasy numbers were disappointing. After the season, the Baltimore Ravens decided to trade Jamal Lewis in for a younger model, and their trade for Willis McGahee ended Lewis’s up-and-down career in Baltimore.
+Jamal Lewis – Cleveland Browns
+The Cleveland Browns signed Jamal Lewis to a relatively modest 3-year veteran contract in 2007, and he was installed as the team’s starting running back. Many fantasy owners looked at Jamal Lewis as a lower-tiered running back — one of those guys you get if you drafted quarterback and receiver high and you’re desperate for a starting runner. Given the anemic Browns offense, there was little reason to believe Jamal Lewis would have a career renaissance in Cleveland. "Renaissance" and "Cleveland" are two words that rarely go hand-in-hand.
+When the Pittsburgh Steelers skunked the Browns in the opening game of the 2007 season, the worst case scenarios seemed to be coming true. The opening day started, Charlie Frye, was traded to the Seattle Seahawks in what looked like a desperate move. Most Browns fans wanted the team to start newly-drafted Brady Quinn, essentially giving up on the season in the 2nd week. Instead, Romeo Crennell started Derek Anderson, a lightly considered former 6th round pick and (coincidentally) another castoff from the Baltimore Ravens.
+The Browns scored 51 points in Week 2 versus the Cincinnati Bengals. Derek Anderson showed a strong arm and an ability to hit the Browns’ talented targets — Braylon Edwards and Kellen Winslow Jr. — despite a propensity to throw interceptions. Meanwhile, with the Browns passing game shocking opponents, Jamal Lewis found all kinds of running lanes, and suddenly the veteran runner was having a career rejuvenation. This year, Jamal Lewis is slotted in the low 2nd round or 3rd round of most fantasy football drafts.
+Jamal Lewis – 2008 Fantasy Football
+As stated earlier, Jamal Lewis isn’t the old man you probably tend to think of him as. He’s as young or younger than LT and Westbrook, and frankly has a lot fewer carries than those players over the past five years. So the idea that Jamal Lewis has too much wear-and-tear has somewhat been proven wrong. Of course, Jamal is a big back who takes a lot of shots, so those backs tend to wear out a little quicker than the shiftier backs. But Jerome Bettis was still a factor until he was about 30, so there’s no reason to think Lewis doesn’t have another year or two of fantasy production. At the very least, the Cleveland Browns should be in scoring position a lot, so Jamal Lewis should get his share of goal line touches.
+I’ve always compared Jamal Lewis to Hershel Walker. He’s big and bruising and fast in a straight-ahead situation. When he has to shift his feet and make cuts, Jamal Lewis sometimes looks lost. During his last few years with the Baltimore Ravens, this was a disaster, because the Ravens didn’t have the passing game to keep defenses from stacking the box.
+In Cleveland, though, that’s not the case. Defenses have to account for Winslow and Edwards, so they won’t be putting 8 men in the box very often. This is a perfect situation for Jamal Lewis. The offensive line is young and improving, while Anderson should be even more comfortable in the offense. The Cleveland Browns offense should improve (if anything) this year, if they can avoid the injuries that have destroyed their plans in most seasons (prior to 2007).
+All that being said, I would probably grab a stud wide receiver in the low 2nd round and hope Jamal Lewis slides to me in the 3rd. If you got the first or second pick in the draft and you want to pair a running back with LT or AD, then Jamal Lewis becomes a solid veteran on a Top 5 offense — and that’s about all you can expect low in the 2nd round. If that’s your preference, I can see drafting Jamal Lewis low-low-low in the 2nd round. I personally wouldn’t spend a pick on him until the 3rd, at least. That’s because he is a big back with 8 years of NFL pounding, so Jamal Lewis could suddenly fall apart physically one year.
+The same could be said for runners being drafted a round or a round-and-a-half ahead of Jamal Lewis, though. For instance, Jamal Lewis is the same age (28) as Larry Johnson, who plays in a lousy offense and who has much more immediate injury concerns. Sure, Larry Johnson is a better back at this point in their careers and he will be the focus of the Kansas City Chiefs offense, but being a focus has drawbacks, too. The point being, Jamal Lewis is yesterday’s news, so he still gets underrated in a lot of mock drafts. At a point, the Cleveland Browns’ running back becomes a major value in a fantasy football draft.
+Jamal Lewis 2009 Fantasy Outlook
+Jamal Lewis is not a risk I would take in fantasy football in 2009. Jamal Lewis will be 30 before the season starts and he has a lot of wear and tear on that body of his. Given his punishing style of rushing the ball and the fact he came into the league at age 19/20, I would expect Jamal Lewis to be a couple of years older than his chronological age – that is, in football years.
+Plus, there are two younger backs that the Browns new coaching staff is likely to give a few carries. One is James Davis, the 5’11", 218 pound rookie runner out of Clemson, whom the Cleveland Browns drafted in the 6th round this year. Eric Mangini and the Browns brand new coaching staff are going to want to put their own stamp on the team and James Davis is the only RB on the Browns Roster that Mangini & Company drafted.
+Also, the Browns have 4th year runner, Jerome Harrison, who was drafted in the 5th round out of Washington State in 2006. Jerome Harrison is a bit smaller at 5’9", 205 lbs, but he has had some moments in his previous three years and should be coming into his prime years in the NFL. I would give Jerome Harrison a higher bump if this were a returning coaching staff and we could say he knows the offensive scheme now, but Jerome Harrison is starting fresh like everyone else.
+All signs point to Jamal Lewis being the starting running back in Cleveland this year, though. He’s the only truly viable runner on the team and any starting runner in the NFL is worth having on your roster – if nothing else as trade bait after the week they have a big game.
+Eric Mangini showed with Thomas Jones last year that he loves to run the ball and the RB in Cleveland should have plenty of opportunities – but I wonder how effective Jamal Lewis will be at this point in his career.
+On the other hand, the Cleveland Browns have been drafting offensive linemen high for years now, and they could any year suddenly have one of the best offensive lines in the NFL. So keep that in mind if you are too dismissive of Cleveland Browns running backs.
+Jamal Lewis Photo Enlargement
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+Table Contents
+- 1. What fruits are good for is type 2 diabetes curable?
+- 2. What is is type 2 diabetes hereditary ketoacidosis?
+- 3. Is type 2 diabetes diet plan lose weight hereditary?
+- 4. How many carbs per day for a what's worse type 1 or type 2 diabetes?
+- 5. How many people have 3 signs of type 2 diabetes?
+- 6. Is cinnamon good for controlling type 2 diabetes without medicine?
+- 7. Can diabetes type 2 stomach problems eat oranges?
+- 8. How many carbs per meal for a sugar diabetes type 2?
+- 9. What is the best diet for a type 2 diabetes may be caused by bacteria ?
+- 10. Is honey ok for diabetic ketoacidosis type 1 or 2 ?
+- + What fruits are good for ?
+- + What is ketoacidosis?
+- + Is hereditary?
+- + How many carbs per day for a ?
+- + How many people have ?
+- + Is cinnamon good for ?
+- + Can eat oranges?
+- + How many carbs per meal for a ?
+- + What is the best diet for a ?
+- + Is honey ok for ?
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+Table of Contents
+(PART-1)
+Q1. Write a note on Accession of States and Tribal Areas to Pakistan.
+Ans: A large number of Princely states were situated between Pakistan and Indi. Most of the states took their decisions. However, no decision could be made about the fate of Jammu & Kashmir, Junagadh, Manawadar states.
+Junagadh and Manawadar States:
+The rule of Junagadh and Manawadar announced their accession to Pakistan but India occupied them through military action.
+State of Hyderabad Deccan:
+Nizam, the ruler of the State of Hyderabad Deccan decided not to join either of the two countries. He intended to give his state an independent status but Indian Army attacked Hyderabad Deccan and forcefully incorporated Hyderabad Deccan into India.
+The majority of the people in Hyderabad Deccan, Junagadh and Manawadar were Non-Muslim but a vast majority of the people of Jammu and Kashmir was Muslims.
+State of Jammu and Kashmir:
+A vast majority of the people of Jammu and Kashmir was Muslims. They wanted accession to Pakistan but as a result of Hindu Raja’s understanding with the Indian rulers, Indian Forces invaded the Kashmir Valley. The people of Kashmir started their fight for freedom. The Indian Army tried to crush the wishes of the people but after meeting with failure in their attempts.
+Three wars on Kashmir Issue:
+The two countries have fought three wars (1948, 1965 and 1971) so far but the right of self-determination of the people is being ignored. The Kashmir issue could not be settled according to the principles of justice so far.
+A Politician of Principle:
+Quaid-e-Azam (Rahmatullah) was a politician of principle. He joined only those states with Pakistan which acceded to Pakistan with their free will. The states of Bahawalpur, Khairpur, Kharan and Makran were among those who acceded to Pakistan.
+Independence of Tribal Areas:
+Quaid-e-Azam (Rahmatullah) announced that tribal areas would continue to enjoy full freedom and their independence and freedom would be looked after. The tribal areas were independent and free in the British rule too. When the tribal leaders, maintaining their independence and freedom, declared their accession to Pakistan, Quaid-e-Azam (Rahmatullah) declared brave tribal people defenders of the north-western borders of Pakistan.
+Q2. Describe the Salient Features of Construction of 1956.
+Ans: Formulation of Constitution:
+Geographical factors of Pakistan caused a delay in the formulation of the constitution. The country was divided into two unequal parts. East Pakistan was one unit. It had more population than that of West Pakistan. West Pakistan consisted of four provinces and twelve states. Therefore, the Government dissolved all the provinces and states and merged them into a single province.
+Formation of a new Province:
+On 14th October, 1955 a new province of West Pakistan came into being. It composed of 12 divisions. The federation consisted of East Pakistan and West Pakistan. This cleared the hindrances which were being experienced in the way of representation.
+First Government of West Pakistan:
+Mushtaq Ahmad Gurmani was made the first Governor of West Pakistan.
+First Chief Minister of West Pakistan:
+Dr. Khan Sahib was the first Chief Minister of this province.
+One Unit of West Pakistan:
+This unit continued till 1970. After the establishment of one unit of West Pakistan, the task of the formulation of the constitution became easier to a great extent.
+Formulation of the Constitution:
+The first constituent Assembly had already done a lot in this connection. Chaudhary Muhammad Ali availed of the work already done and formulated such a formula which the second constituent Assembly consisting of all the political groups and provinces expressed their consensus.
+Promulgation of the first constitution:
+The draft of the new constitution was presented in the Assembly on 9th January, 1956. After the final approval by the Governor-General, it was promulgated in the country as the first constitution of Pakistan on 23 March, 1956. The salient features of this constitution are as under:
+Salient Features of Constitution of 1956:
+- Written Constitution:
+The Constitution of 1956 was a written constitution. It was not a detailed constitution. The Constitution of 1956 consisted of 234 articles, which were divided into 13 parts and 6 schedules. The Objective Resolution was included in the Constitution as a preamble:
+- Flexible Constitution:
+This constitution was flexible. It had the flexibility to bring changes according to the changing circumstances. The constitution could only be amended through a process requiring the amendment to be passed by at least a two-thirds majority of the National assembly and authentication by the President.
+- Federal Constitution:
+The constitution provided for a federal system in the country. Federation consisted of two provinces i.e. West Pakistan and East Pakistan. Powers were divided between the centre and the provinces. The subjects were divided into three lists; The Federal List, The Provincial List, and the Concurrent list. Both, the Central and Provincial government had the jurisdiction of legislation regarding the concurrent list. The provinces were given autonomy to a great extent.
+- Parliamentary System:
+The Constitution of 1956 provided for a parliamentary form of government. The president was the head of state and the Prime Minister the head of government. The President had the nominal powers. The real powers rested with the Prime Minister.
+The Prime Minister was authorized to appoint his cabinet but he and his cabinet were answerable for their policies and actions before the National Assembly. The President was to be elected by the members of both the National and Provincial Assemblies.
+- Unicameral Legislature:
+Under this Constitution, the unicameral legislature was introduced. The only house of parliament, the National Assembly, was to consist of 300 members, 150 members each from West Pakistan and East Pakistan. Ten seats were reserved for women, five for each wing. The Assembly was elected for a tenure of five years.
+- Independence of Judiciary:
+The independence of the judiciary was guaranteed in this Constitution. Supreme Court shall be the highest court. Two high courts, one in each province, shall be established. The Chief Justice of Pakistan shall be appointed by the President, and the other judges shall be appointed by the President after consultation with the Chief Justice. The Judges shall have the security of their services. A judge could be removed only by the President after an address by the National Assembly, two-thirds of the members concurring.
+- Single Citizenship:
+The citizens of Pakistan shall have only single citizenship. All the citizens shall be called Pakistanis. In America, the people enjoy dual citizenship i.e. one citizenship of Central Government the other of the Governments of the states whereas, in Pakistan, the Constitution established the principle of single citizenship.
+- Fundamental Rights:
+The citizens shall have all the rights as are guaranteed in the Charter of the United Nations. All citizens shall be equal before the law. They shall enjoy social, political and economic rights. The rights of the citizens shall have judicial protection. In case of violation of these rights, the victim shall be free to go to the court.
+- Official Languages:
+Under the Constitution of 1956, Urdu and Bengali were both accepted as state languages, while English was to remain the official language for the first 25 years.
+- Constitutional Institutions:
+Under this Constitution, various constitutional institutions were established. Among these institutions, Islamic Research Institute, Public Service Commission, Chief Election Commissioner and auditor General are worth-mentioning. All these institutions were authorized to work in their respective scopes.
+Q3. Narrate causes of Martial Law 1958.
+Ans: Ayub Khan Era 1958-1969:
+Martial Law 1958:
+General Muhammad Ayub Khan deposed Iskander Mirza in October 1958. He imposed Martial Law and justified his actions on some ground. Some important causes of this Martial Law are given below:
+- Political Conflict:
+After the establishment of Pakistan, conflict of power gave birth to grouping in the Muslim League. Governor-General Ghulam Muhammad took advantage of this conflict and dissolved Assembly twice. Thus, political conflict paved the way for the first Martial Law in the country.
+- Poor Economic Conditions:
+Political instability and poor economic situation were prevailing in the country. Despite being an agricultural country, the country experienced a food shortage. The economic situation was so poor that in some areas famine-like situation arose.
+- Lack of Political Leadership:
+Pakistan lost capable political leadership after the deaths of Quaid-e-Azam (Rahmatullah) Liaquat Ali khan and Hussain Shaheed Suhrawardy and such people got control of the country as could neither built national unity among people nor solve the problems of the people.
+- Smuggling and Nepotism:
+Some other causes of Martial Law included smuggling, black marketing, nepotism and obtainment of undue privileges. No one was mere to solve the problems of the people. The middle class was living a miserable life. The system of the entire country was plunged into chaos.
+- Role of Bureaucracy:
+Bureaucracy manifested the most irresponsible attitude and played its role In failing democracy in the country. Being influential, lust for power was born in their hearts which caused the imposition of Martial Law.
+- Ayub’s Khan Politics:
+Politicians were involved inputting legs of each other. So, there was political instability in the country. In these circumstances, Governor-General Ghulam Muhammad included General Ayub Khan as Defence Minister in the cabinet. It created uncertainty.
+- Provincial Prejudices:
+Thriving provincial prejudices also resulted in the imposition of Martial Law. Politicians, without caring for national security, instigated the public sentiments/
+- Political Instability:
+Six cabinets were formed by two Governor-General from 1953 to 1958. Political instability and failure of the parliamentary system resulted in a political crisis. The people developed hatred towards politicians. They lost their trust in the democratic process that brought Martial Law.
+- Delay in Elections:
+No General Elections were held in first eleven years of Pakistan. Elections were held only in the provinces one by one. After the Constitution of 1956 was passed, it was hoped that General Elections would be held within one year but it could not be done.
+Q4. Write a note on the effects and results of Election 1965.
+Ans: Election of Basic Democrats:
+The Then President of Islamic Republic of Pakistan Ayub Khan, under the system of Basic Democracies, conducted elections to elect 80,000 Basic Democrats in 1960 and got his Presidency confirmed by these members of Basic Democracies.
+Tenure:
+Team of the members of Basic Democracies was going to expire in 1965. So, they were re-elected in November 1964.
+Electoral College:
+Under the Constitution of 1962, these members formed Electoral College for the election of President, National and Provincial Assemblies. Ayub Khan announced that Presidential elections would be held in January 1965.
+Winner of Election:
+According to public opinion, Ayub Khan won the election through indirect Method of Election, manipulation and rigging. So, the presidential Elections 1965 was against the wishes of the people.
+Effects of Elections 1965:
+Criticism on Basic Democracies System:
+People began to criticize the Basic Democracies System introduced by Ayub Khan. It was openly said that no one could win elections against Ayub Khan in the prevailing system.
+Rejection of the System:
+Ayub Khan strangulated democracy. Therefore, the people rejected this system. This brought a tremendous decline in Ayub’s Khan popularity.
+Coordination Campaign Against Ayub Khan:
+Basic Democracies System proved an important factor of Ayub Khan’s downfall. All the political parties of opposition blamed Ayub Khan of manipulation in these so-called Elections and launched a public coordination campaign for the restoration of democracy in the country.
+Q5. Give a brief account of the causes of the Indo-Pak War 1965.
+Ans: Indo-Pak War 1965:
+India committed open aggression against Pakistan to materialize its expansionist intentions and attacked Pakistan on the night of 6 September. Although Pakistan had far less military and economic resources as compared to those of India, yet the Armed Forces of Pakistan, filled with the spirit of Jihad, forced an enemy many times bigger than it to face a humiliating defeat. A brief account of the causes of the September 1965 war lasted for 17 days is given below:
+- India, intoxicated with power, started a war against China in 1962 and was defeated badly. Afterwards, to remove this stigma, India tried to occupy the disputed territory of Rann of Kutch but had to face a total defeat. Thus, to restore its lost dignity, India started a war against Pakistan.
+- General Elections were to be held in India. Congress wanted to win these elections. It decided to conquer Pakistan to get votes from the voters.
+Q6. Briefly describe estimated expenditure and achievement of 2nd Five Year Development Plan.
+Ans: Estimated Expenditure for the plan:
+It was estimated that Rs 23 billion were needed to achieve the objectives and targets of the Second Five Year Plan. It was estimated that Rs 12.4 billion would be spent on the public sector, Rs 3.8 billion in the semi-public sector and Rs 6.8 billion on the private sector.
+Economic Growth:
+Under this Plan, the pace of economic growth of the country remained quite satisfactory. In some sectors, the higher growth rate was witnessed as compared to the estimated rates.
+Achievements:
+The points given below attract our attention when we analyze the plan.
+- National Gross Income exceeded even beyond 30 %
+- Exports were increased at a rate of 7 % per annum
+- In the industrial sector, more than 15 % of growth was recorded.
+- In the agriculture sector, more than 15 % of growth was recorded.
+Importance of the Plan:
+The Second Five Year Plan occupies special importance in the economic planning of the country because while preparing this Plan, the drawbacks of the First Five Year Plan were taken into account. So, the drawbacks were rectified and special care was taken in the evaluation of national resources. The success of this Plan proved a source of encouragement. It helped a lot in future planning.
+Q7. Briefly describe the achievements and status of 3rd Five Year Plan.
+Ans: Achievements of the Plan:
+The above-stated objectives and particulars show that the 3rd Five Year Plan had a lot of merits when we analyze its growth, its synopsis is as under:
+- An increase of 9.5 % was expected in exports but only 7 % increase could be possible.
+- The pace of growth in agriculture remained lower than the expected pace the target fixed was 4.5 %.
+- In the industrial sector, the target fixed was 13 % but only 9 % increase could be made possible.
+Feature of the plan:
+The Third Five Years Plan could not succeed fully. In most of the factors, it could not reach its pre-fixed targets.
+Reason of Failure:
+The 3 Five Year Plan was surrounded/ enveloped by unfavourable circumstances from the very beginning.
+Severe Drought:
+A severe drought was experienced during the first two years. It affected crops badly.
+Indo Pak War 1965:
+Defence expenditures increase because of Indo Pak War 1965. It causes a reduction in the to proceed resources for development expenditure.
+The decrease in foreign aid:
+A decrease of 27 % was also noted in foreign aid. Agricultural output decreased too.
+The rate of growth (%) in Industrial and agricultural sector 1958-69
+Source: Economic Survey of Pakistan 1984-85
+This table shows that during this period large scale industries flourished while the rate of growth of small scales industries remained either stagnant or below the desired growth. The agriculture sector continued to suffer fluctuations continuously.
+Q8. Write a note on Yahya Khan Regime 1969-71.
+Ans: Tenure of Ayub Khan:
+President General Muhammad Ayub Khan ruled almost ten years.
+Reforms:
+Many reforms were implemented during his Government. The country made much progress in the field of industry. According to the constitution, all the powers rested with the President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
+Aggressive Movement:
+The people launched an aggressive movement against the rule of General Muhammad Ayub Khan and the situation seemed to be running out of his control. Keeping in view the situation, Martial Law was once more imposed in the country.
+Q9. Write a note on the result of Elections 1970.
+Ans: Result of Elections 1970:
+Awami League, the party of Sheikh Mujeebur Rahman, won 167 out of 169 seats (including 7 seats of women) from East Pakistan in the General Elections of 1970. Noor-ul-Amin and Tridev Roy were the only two non-Awami League 4 candidates who won the election. From West Pakistan, Pakistan Peoples Party of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto got clear majority by winning 88 out of 144 seats (including 5 seats of women). The remaining seats were won by the other political parties. Conflict of power created a new situation in the country.
+Q10. Describe Separation of East Pakistan and the Emergence of Bangladesh.
+Ans: Separation of East Pakistan:
+Sheikh Mujeebur Rahman mounted pressure to establish his government while Pakistan People’s Party opposed it strongly. General Muhammad Yahya Khan’s wish to cling to the government further worsened the situation.
+Non-Cooperation Movement:
+In the meantime, Sheikh Mujeebur Rahman launched the Non-Cooperation Movement in state affairs. Blood shedding, non-cooperation, refusal to pay taxes, demonstration of strikes, a boycott of courts and not going of officials to their respective job places became the daily routine.
+Appointed General Tikka Khan:
+General Tikka Khan was appointed Governor East Pakistan to control the situation but the situation continued to deteriorate every day. In the meantime, Sheikh Mujeebur Rahman established a parallel government with the unlawful help of India.
+Flag Hoisting:
+On 23 March, 1947 Sheikh Mujeebur Rahman hoisted the flag of independent Bangladesh at his residence. Sheikh Mujeebur Rahman was arrested. This further worsened the situation. The civil war reached its peak.
+Separation of East Pakistan:
+No instant and effective operation could be done in East Pakistan because of.
+Ryder cup dinner
+A.
+Here are some great places in and near "downtown Chicago":
+Steakhouse - David Burke's Primehouse (River North), Chicago Cut Steakhouse (River North)
+Mexican - Mexique (West Town), Salpicon (Old Town)
+Italian - Piccolo Sogno (Greek Town/River West), Piccolo Sogno Due (Magnificent Mile, south end), Gioco (South Loop), Cafe Spiaggia (Magnificent Mile, north end)
+Other - Sable (contemporary American small plates, craft cocktails - River North), GT Fish (seafood small plates - River North), Mercat a la Planxa (tapas, Loop), Lou Malnati's (deep-dish pizza - Gold Coast, River North, South Loop), Pizano's (deep-dish pizza - River North, Loop)
+All of these accept reservations on Opentable.com as well as over the phone, with the exception of the two places for deep-dish pizza. Both places for deep-dish work slightly differently; you can phone ahead with your pizza order and they will have it ready at the time you request, so if you arrive shortly before it's ready, they should be able to seat you quickly.
+If you care to mention where you're staying (the hotel name or a nearby intersection), we can tell you which of these is closest.
+- re: nsxtasy
+- re: jbontario
+We were thinking about getting a car service but received an email from the Ryder cup site telling us that public transport (train) would be a great option. Do you have any experience or opinion with those 2 options. Also, I was looking at frontera grill. How hard would it be to get a 7:00 reservation on Thursday? If it's impossible, what is the latest they will seat a party?
+- re: nsxtasy
+We are at the fairmont. What is your opinion of the purple pig? I hear great things about the food but that it is crowded and hard to get into at peak times. Also, is there any significant difference between piccolo song and piccolo song due? I have read some of your posts and you are very knowledgeable about the Chicago dining scene. What are your favorite restaurants? If you could go anywhere in town where would it be?
+- re: Klocke
+Actually you can take the Metra (commuter rail) there and I assume they have a shuttle or its about a mile walk from the station. There is no food worth it around the club so take the train back and enjoy. Frontera takes very limited reservations, however, Topolobombo, it's fancier sister does.
+- re: jbontario
+More details about Metra... The commuter train is very nice and comfortable. Note that the downtown stations are on the west side of the Loop, so you may have a bit of a walk at that end as well, depending on where you're staying. You can find schedule and fare information and other details on Metra's website at
+More details about Frontera Grill and Topolobampo... Frontera only takes a handful of reservations over the phone, and leaves most of the dining room available for walk-in traffic. Without a reservation, you can arrive 15-20 minutes before they open the doors and you'll walk right in; otherwise you're usually looking at 60-120 minutes before getting seated. I've heard that the waits are lengthy even later on in the evening. You can check their website at for hours. Topolobampo does indeed take reservations, at Opentable.com as well as over the phone, but they book up 2-3 months in advance for dinner, 2-3 weeks for lunch. You can try getting reservations at both of these, but as you can see it's not easy unless you're planning way in advance. That's why I didn't mention them when recommending Mexican places; they're certainly among our best. But you'll also get excellent creative Mexican cuisine at Mexique and Salpicon, which I mentioned above.
+I didn't mention the Purple Pig because you asked about places that accept reservations. Waits there at dinner are often 90-120 minutes or more. If you're interested in trying it and you want to avoid the waits, go very early, very late, or for lunch.
+There are two main differences between Piccolo Sogno and Piccolo Sogno Due. One is the location. The other is that the menu at Piccolo Sogno Due has a bit more seafood. Otherwise, they have a lot in common, including including delicious contemporary Italian food (natch), a fairly spacious layout (with a noise level that is only moderately high, not at all oppressive), available outdoor seating, some of the best bread service you'll find anywhere, and extremely knowledgeable and helpful servers.
+What are my absolute favorites in or near downtown, where I would go if visiting from out of town? Sable, for sure - I love that place, and it has some of my favorite dishes, including the sweet corn creme brulee and the corned beef reuben strudel and the duck sausage. I love our creative Mexican cuisine; my favorite, Mundial Cocina Mestiza, is a bit further from downtown, in the Pilsen neighborhood and half a block from the 18th Street stop on the CTA Pink Line (but Mexique and Salpicon are also excellent and a bit more convenient to downtown). CTA info is at I love our deep-dish pizza. The two Piccolo Sognos are among my favorites too. I also enjoy our high-end restaurants, such as Everest and TRU, but they're expensive and dressy (jackets) which rules them out for many folks. I wouldn't go to a steakhouse; not that ours aren't excellent - they are - but every city in the country has good steakhouses. OTOH if you or your companions really love a great steak, then by all means go to Chicago Cut or Burke's. I enjoy French bistros once in a while, and La Sardine in the West Loop would be my pick there; the food is traditional and their execution is top notch.
+HTH - feel free to ask more questions, and enjoy your visit!
+- re: nsxtasy
+We are planning on waiting in the bar at frontera until a table opens up. We have reservations at gene and georgetti and sable. We still need an Italian spot for Friday. The piccolo song group was full Friday when we wanted to go. What else might you recommend? Also, what are some quick breakfast spots close to the fairmont? We don't want to spend much time in the morning, just something to tide us over. Thanks.
+- re: Klocke
+- re: camusman
+- re: Klocke
+- re: Klocke
+To be honest, I just think that G&G sucks for lack of a better culinary term. The cottage fries are good, but the steaks are average at best and while the decor is classic old school steak house, it's just not good regardless of your regularity.
+Scarola also has a bunch of regulars and while I've been there at least a dozen times over the past year or two and would not be considered a "regular" we're always treated well and I really like the food.
+- re: Klocke
+La Scarola is mine and my husbands favorite Italian restaurant in Chicago. Very old school vibe, food is always great, and service is usually good as well. You will find Armando the owner walking around socializing through the dinner as well. They also do a hand written list of specials daily in addition to the menu online. One of my favorites that they have quite often is the Sinatra Pasta, It has scallops, shrimp, mussels in a tomato cream sauce. Also love their linginue and clams, the veal mondelli, and lasagne there. The grilled calamari is always my starter.
+- re: Klocke
+I love, love, love The Purple Pig and I eat there a lot but almost always at off hours and usually alone because my SO will not wait for a table at peak times. Late afternoon works best for me as I cam combine lunch and dinner. If you have flexibility than by all means go as the food is terrific. We went a few weeks ago at about 9:15 on a weeknight (fairly late by Chicago standards) and there were no seats at the bar (where I normally eat) and the wait time was 60 minutes! That wasn't going to work so we headed over to the Peninsula and ate at Shanghai Terrace which is a fine dining Chinese restaurant. We had a really delicious al fresco meal (terrace outdoor garden). I hadn't been in awhile and I forget it's there but the service and food were terrific.
+I've only been to Picollo Sogno but last time I went it was significantly better than my previous visit and it is so nice to dine in the garden area.
+For the bucket list I have had two exceptional meals in the past two months at Les Nomades. The food was so perfectly prepared that it was almost scary to me as an avid home cook. How do they absolutely nail it with every dish? Also for the bucket list I recommend Tru for it's elegant atmosphere and excellent food. Just a few thoughts.
+- re: Klocke
+Purple Pig is good. I would personally also recommend The Publican. If you want to risk it and try the bar area or wait a few hours, Girl and the Goat lives up to the hype.
+Piccolo Song Due I know just opened. The original is fantasic. weather permitting it has the nicest patio around.
+- re: Dee74
+i wanted to check in and let you all know how our dining experience went. we had a late lunch at the purple pig and it was great. we told our server what we liked and let her choose a few starters. she did so well we turned over the ordering to her. we especially liked the pork neck gravy. after 2 drinks at the bar we got a table at frontera. everyone enjoyed their appetizers (ceviche trio, guacamole). the spice rubbed ribeye and the duck breast were stand out entrees. fridasy we had dinner at la scarola and it was a blast. the grilled calamari and grilled octupus were at treat for us. there's not much octopus in texas. our meals at pp, frontera, and la scarola were great. thanks to all who took the time to guide istook the time to help us. saturday we went to gene and georgetti. i should have listened to jbontario. it basically sucked. the service was fine but the food was tasteless. lesson learned. sunday we were "fooded out" and went to sable for a few drinks and a few plates. the scallops were good, but the pork loin was somewhat flat. you guys gave great recommendations, i wished i would have listened to them all. thanks again.
+These are the subject areas I have most experience in: Music, History, Psychology, Clinical Studies, Medical Research Articles, Pharmaceuticals PIL and SmPC leaflets, Literature.
+I am currently (Sept 2021) translating Yasemin Soysal’s bestselling book, “Tek Şişman Beyniniz”, The Only Fat Thing is Your Brain, (published in Turkey by Pozitif Yayınları).
+History/Psychology/Evolution/Political Theory: My English translation of Cem Eroğul’s brilliant book “Birey Nedir”, Marxism and the Individual, has been published by Palgrave Macmillan (published in Turkey by Yordam Kitap).
+Literary Translation: My translation of ‘Savaşın Çocukları’ by Ahmet Yorulmaz, has been published in the UK by Neem Tree Press and is now available worldwide in its English version, “Children of War”. You can read an extract below.
+Encylopaedias: Other recent publications include the Vehbi Koç Foundation 50 Year Encyclopaedia, which is available in hardback and as an online resource. A while back in 2014, I was lucky enough to translate the fascinating Atlas of Sinan: Architectural Genius of an Empire (Sinan Atlası: İmparatorluğun Mimari Dehası), a Bilingual Atlas of the works of the architect Sinan.
+Editing: I edited “The Kurds of Turkey”, written by Cuma Çicek and published by I.B. Tauris.
+You can also find some traditional Turkish lullabies I translated and sang in English on my youtube music channel.
+An extract from Savaşın Çocukları (Children of War) by Ahmet Yorulmaz: translated by Paula Darwish
+Section One
+Cretan Folk Poem
+Don’t look down on the first steps
+Because from there you will ascend to the palace
+Chapter One
+I’m not sure why I was given the nickname, ‘Hassan, the mirror’, to be honest. It might have been because of my immaculately polished boots, smart khaki trousers and walking cane, or maybe the red fez I always sported on my head. Maybe, it was the cravat carefully fastened under my collar with a long pin and inlaid with sparkling stones or perhaps the ring on my little finger set with a shimmering claret jewel that never failed to draw attention? Could it have been the ornate and elegant gold pendant watch that always hung from my waistcoat…?
+No. Somehow, I don’t really think it could have been for any of these reasons; especially when I compare myself to other grand figures that had been around before me, such as the so called ‘fragrant Mr Nail’, who bathed his customers’ feet in special lotions brought from Europe. He used to light up the carnation in his lapel with tiny bulbs connected to a battery in his pocket by a hidden wire. At that time, there were no gas or kerosene lamps lighting the streets and when the great man passed by, the Greek women would lean out of the window to signal to each other that ‘fragrant Mr Nail’ was on his way.
+So in that case, could it have been my neat moustache, swarthy skin and good height that led to the nickname? I just can’t work it out.
+Maybe it was supposed to mean mirror-like but in any case, my real name is Hassan, so forget about the other ones. Don’t be fooled into thinking I was one of the wealthy Chanians because of the way I dressed. I certainly wasn’t on a par with the manager jovial Mr Ferid, who was one of the richest people in Chania. I was just one of those people, who did well by the times and was able to earn a comfortable living – something of a night owl who worked hard all day and whiled away the evenings in one of the tavernas. By the way, Mr Ferid was an incredible man. When the navies of four great countries anchored in the Chanian port of Suda, and the so-called temporary government was set up, he took French citizenship to protect himself and his property .That was during the 1897 uprising, the uprising that started with Venizelos shouting, ‘Turks out!’, ‘Greece is great!’: the uprising that threw us from our homes and villages, forced people into the big cities to try and scratch out a living; the uprising that sentenced some of us to die in fighting and left others strangled in their own fields.
+As well as changing his nationality, Mr Ferid also swapped the fez on his head for a hat. Strangely enough, our women saw the fez as a sign of being a good Muslim whereas the Greeks thought it quite handsome or the sign of a womaniser. The first time the great Mr Ferid greeted me, only a mere child at the time, is one of my most unforgettable memories. We used to pass him on his way back from the farm, ambling along on his Arab horse with a hide as smooth as leather, his booted feet in the stirrups, his hands gripping a silver handled crop and the hat perched on his head.
+‘Hello, my boy,’ he used to say in Greek.
+In fact, he always greeted me and the family in Greek although we also heard him speaking French. We heard that he was French and we knew he didn’t speak Greek. If you ask me whether he knew any Turkish I’m afraid I might not be able to give the right answer. I always resented the fact that we didn’t really know Turkish which must have been our original language, our mother tongue. The sultans scattered us here like seeds but they didn’t take into account our language and future. How much effect could a few Turkish teachers sent over from Istanbul really have? What sort of teachers were they anyway? There was one in particular, called Master Ismail, who was famous only for his ignorance. There were numerous stories about him and one of the most popular ones concerned Master Ismail’s friends who presumed that because he was a geography teacher he would be knowledgeable, and therefore consulted him on important matters. One day his friend and fellow teacher Nasip, asked him which direction the Libyan city of Derne was from Crete. Master Ismail immediately replied, ‘In the North.’
+‘But dear Master Ismail,’ replied Nesip, ‘Everyone says that Greece, I mean the place they call Hellenica, is in the North.’
+Master Ismail was not happy with this response.
+‘Are you telling me about this? Perhaps you think I don’t know what I’m talking about?’
+‘Oh, dear Sir. If you say it’s in the North, that’s where it is, but can you just tell me where exactly is the North?’ continued Nesip.
+‘Let me explain this in a way that you can’t fail to understand…. On which side is Turkey?’ asked Master Ismail.
+‘To the North sir.’
+‘And what language is spoken in Derne?’ continued Master Ismail.
+‘Arabic,’ replied Mr Nesip.
+‘And Arabic and Turkish are related, are they not?’
+‘True sir.’
+‘And which language is spoken in Turkey?’
+‘Turkish of course!’
+Master Ismail’s reply was interesting, ‘In that case, how can you possibly think that Derne is in the South!’
+The African city to the south of Crete was apparently to the North just because Turkish and Arabic were spuriously related languages. Maybe the story was a bit exaggerated but no doubt it was made up to deride the incompetent teachers sent from Istanbul, festooned in their robes and turbans. Needless to say, the overall situation was far from good.
+Shahmaran: hybridity, woman-and-snake and the cursed alliance
+(Extract from an academic study by Dilşah Deniz)
+The visual embodiment of our subject, Shahmaran, the hero of the myth, is constructed as a hybrid creature in a body that is half-woman and half-snake: an intermediate species. Accordingly, it does not belong to any species group or family and defies classification as animal or human. Rather, it stands at the crossover point between the two, simultaneously representing both whilst unable to represent either in isolation. Brought to life by a story and visual image, the melancholic figure of Shahmaran, wandering Anatolia and Mesopotamia as a manifestation of the joining of half-woman and half-snake, is almost the only depiction of a female in male dominant places which are forbidden to women.
+The imagery of the picture and story is projected by way of contrasts: womanhood-manhood, nature-humanity, death-life, love-hate, compassion-oppression. Although these contrasts may seem like a confusion, they actually express the main elements of a common meaning. Subsequently, in the readings examined from now on, the whole, presented as a backdrop by these opposites, and the elements occurring in the exchange between the reader and writer of this whole will become significant.
+In the existing story, the presence of snake, poison and antidote in the same body (in other words pain-and-cure/problem-and-solution in one vessel) continues the intertwined dualist imagery in a number of ways. Similarly, the representations of earth and the underworld depict a division of the universe between mankind/man (the lords of the earth) and woman/snake (rulers of the underworld). The bringing of immortality and wisdom from the underworld back to earth shows the inverted multiple narrative from another angle.
+The two-headed nature of the figure, along with the meaning categories attached to one head as human and one as animal, are striking in the sense that they question the reason behind marrying the human part with a female quality, and the animal part with a male quality (as sensed from the figure). This raises the question of whether this should be seen as the antagonism or the alliance of mankind and nature. However, considering the balance of intellect and power, perhaps the question that should be asked is whether a reference is being made to the alliance of male physical strength (war/ resistance/military might) with female qualities (intelligence/management/willpower), as part of an administrative division of labour.
+” width=”20″ height=”20″>
+This content is also available in: 英语, 土耳其语, 德语, 繁体中文, 库尔德语, 阿拉伯语
+This article was orginally published in the Boston Sunday Globe on 12/27/15
+By Michael Kranish
+NEW YORK — Morris Pearl, a former managing director of the world’s largest investment company, walked out of his three-bedroom Park Avenue co-op on a recent rainy morning and headed to a Beaux Arts-style members-only club. He fit the scene seamlessly, greeted by smartly dressed attendants who knew him well.
+Yet, as Pearl settled into a corner table, he was deeply troubled. For the past three decades, he had worked at a Who’s Who of Wall Street firms and made his fortune.
+When he started, he believed that the world of high finance he’d joined was part of a virtuous circle, greatly enriching those at the top but also helping those of all incomes by enabling growth, industry, and jobs.
+But he has come to have doubts. On this morning, as it happened, a group that he heads called Patriotic Millionaires helped unveil the latest startling report on income inequality. It said the gap had grown even greater, with America’s 20 wealthiest people owning as much as the bottom 152 million.
+The report underscored Pearl’s fear that the compact between Main Street and Wall Street, which helped draw him here, had unraveled.
+The chasm between the super-rich and the working poor is widely seen as the greatest division in America. Yet there is no consensus on what to do.
+Many Wall Streeters, himself included, had become fabulously wealthy, and that didn’t bother him, but he was troubled at how income had stagnated for tens of millions of average Americans.
+The question he asked himself this day was fundamental: how responsible for this gap was Wall Street, and the way it has changed during his career? The answer, he feared, was that it played an even greater role than many realized, even if that notion isn’t widely understood or much evident in the economic rhetoric of the presidential campaign.
+“I don’t want to live in a country where everybody is on the edge of not being able to get by, and that’s what I’m afraid we’re moving to,” he said. So he began to study what had changed — and what needs to change.
+Inequity is the new normal
+To watch the business news channels, read financial journals, or listen to government officials, it seems that the economy has turned the corner. The unemployment rate has dropped from the 2009 high of 10 percent to 5 percent today. Inflation is under control. Many upper-income Americans have seen their income spike. The Federal Reserve Board raised interest rates on Dec. 16 after chairwoman Janet Yellen said the economy is on a “solid course.”
+Yet for much of the nation, the impact is indiscernible. Indeed, the fact that even this strong data couldn’t make much of a dent in the income gap marked an unintended turning point, underscoring that the divide is the new normal.
+Despite President Obama’s pledge to make reducing income inequality a centerpiece of his administration, the gap has widened. A landmark study released earlier this month by the Pew Research Center said a historic tipping point has been reached in the diminishment of the middle class, with the group having suffered a 28 percent drop in their median wealth from 2001 to 2013.
+A key reason is that many people’s income has stagnated. The average annual salary of the American male worker is about $50,000, down from $53,000 a generation ago in inflation-adjusted dollars, even as productivity has sharply risen.
+The depth and length and strain of this economic divide has deeply scarred the American mind-set. Consider these polling results, among the most revealing of this campaign season: Just 27 percent of those surveyed say the distribution of incomes among the economic classes is fair, and only 35 percent believe that anyone in America can get ahead economically, according to a New York Times/CBS News survey conducted in June.
+More than any other factor, this sense that the underpinning of the American Dream has been shaken — the idea that any hard-working person can vault ahead in a system in which all have a fair chance — explains the angry direction taken by the 2016 presidential campaign.
+It has led voters across the political spectrum to be drawn to outsider candidates who promise wholesale change, and play to their fears. To Pearl, that means the focus shouldn’t just be on Washington, but also on Wall Street.
+Love for computer science
+Pearl, bald and bespectacled at 55 years old, grew up in a small town in upstate New York and moved as a teenager to Burlington, Vt., where his family owned Nate’s Clothing on Church Street. Determined to be an accountant, he went to the University of Pennsylvania and happened to take a computer science class, about which he became passionate.
+Putting his two interests together, he became expert in the ways certain markets are managed, which made him attractive to Wall Street.
+Throughout his career, he did not directly trade stocks, but instead watched from a slightly removed distance, becoming expert in how markets worked. He traveled inside the heady world of many Wall Street firms, worked at Prudential Bache, Salomon Brothers, and Kidder, Peabody & Co., served as head of fixed-income research at PaineWebber and then UBS, and in 2005 became a managing director at BlackRock, the world’s largest investment company.
+He marveled when one of his early employers held nightly 5 p.m. parties on the top floor, with free booze flowing, and trimmed back to weekly parties only when the market turned down. He was shocked when an employer entertained traders with scantily clad Brazilian dancers, and was surprised when one of his son’s classmates was feted at a party by the classmate’s exceptionally wealthy parents, who had rented the American Museum of Natural History for the event.
+Still, he clung to the belief that, notwithstanding some excesses, the greater work performed on Wall Street was vital..
+But over the years, the market has changed fundamentally. Institutions took over investing and today own 70 percent of stock, and typically hold it as a short-term play, according to research by John Bogle, founder of the Vanguard investment company. The markets are much more about trading at the margins, measuring profits in transactions that take milliseconds.
+Today, 99 percent of volume is for trading, and only .6 percent for raising capital, according to Bogle’s research. Much investment capital today is raised by private equity and venture capital firms, including many in Massachusetts.
+All of this has led to a narrowed Wall Street focus that has become known as “short termism,” in which managers look more to the next quarter’s results than long-term planning and profits.
+“Management comes and goes and they are happy to leave the hole they dig for their successor,” the 86-year-old Bogle said in an interview. “I don’t mean to be cynical, said he, being very cynical.”
+‘All this cash sitting there’
+Few have watched the changes on Wall Street more closely than Howard Silverblatt, who since 1977 has worked at various positions at S&P Dow Jones Indices and currently is a senior analyst.
+He has rarely seen companies making so much money or holding on to so much cash. This year, the nonfinancial companies in the S&P 500 are making record profits and have a near-record cash stockpile of $1.31 trillion, Silverblatt said.
+In the past, a large portion of such funds would be used to create new products, build new factories, hire more workers, and raise wages.
+“Companies have as much cash to do anything they want,” Silverblatt said. “They have all this cash sitting there.”
+There are, of course, many reasons for the wage stagnation, including global low-wage competition, shifting markets, and diminished union power. Much of the economy is driven by small businesses and privately held companies that aren’t subject to the same short-term pressures as publicly held firms.
+Still, the role of publicly traded firms, given their size and sway, has an outsized impact. The data on those firms demonstrate that despite record profits and cash stockpiles, a huge amount of money that could be spent on new jobs and wages is on the sidelines.
+Many of America’s largest companies give much of their profits to shareholders in the form of stock buybacks and dividends, according to research by University of Massachusetts Lowell professor William Lazonick. That leaves less for long-term fixed investments, such as building or retooling factories. Lazonick has called for banning buybacks, which he blames “for the destruction of the middle class.”
+This is expected to be a record year for stock buybacks, a trend that the Globe wrote about in an earlier installment of this series. Many companies use their cash to buy back stock in the hope that it will quickly raise share prices, while critics say the money would be better spent on investments that would boost long-term growth — which in turn can create jobs and raise wages.
+Business groups have defended the state of corporate investment. They note the difficulty of making costly new bets in an economy where many people spend frugally, and when cheaper products made by global competitors are a constant threat. Thus, they say, it can be better to use excess cash to reward shareholders, or hold cash offshore while waiting to see if the next president changes tax policy.
+Currently, funds brought into the United States are subject to the same 35 percent corporate tax on domestic income, minus whatever tax has already been levied by a foreign government.
+Many Republican candidates have proposed a “tax holiday” that would enable companies to bring the cash to the United States at a reduced or zero rate, predicting it would set off an economic boom. Most Democrats have opposed the idea, citing reports that a 2004 tax holiday resulted in few new jobs, and that much of the money was spent on stock buybacks.
+But this is not a typical Republican-versus-Democrat divide, or rich-versus- poor. Both Democratic and Republican members of the Securities and Exchanges Commission have said in speeches this year that they are concerned about short-term thinking on Wall Street.
+Republican Eric Cantor, the former House majority leader who last year became vice chairman of the investment firm, Moelis & Co., said in an interview that Wall Street has been stymied by the same inability to take long- term action that has caused gridlock in Washington. He said many companies are slow to invest due to uncertainty about tax and monetary policy.
+“The partisan divide between the White House and Capitol Hill has now bled over into the mentality in the private sector,” said Cantor, who lost his Virginia seat in the US House in a 2014 primary against a Tea Party supporter. “I am concerned about the lack of willingness to invest long term. . . . I do think there is a general sense of caution, a lack of willingness to take risk across the board.”
+Nor is it a divide just between Main and Wall streets. It is a divide within Wall Street itself.
+Laurence Fink, the CEO of BlackRock, is perhaps the most vocal critic of short-termism, writing a letter to Fortune 500 executives earlier this year in which he blasted the lack of long-term investing.
+Then, in a harshly worded column that appeared on the website of McKinsey & Co., a business consulting firm, Fink castigated fellow Wall Streeters for what he called “a gambling culture in which we tune out everything except the most immediate outcomes.”
+Fink, in language that sounds like it could come from someone at Occupy Wall Street — except that his company manages $4.5 trillion in assets — concluded: “We need a call to arms with many more voices speaking up and taking a stand.” Fink declined an interview request.
+Fink’s broadsides have been countered by Carl Icahn, who has championed the role of activist investors as a means of getting poorly managed or stagnant companies to act in the interest of shareholders. Icahn on CNBC earlier this year said BlackRock’s activities endanger the economy because it relies significantly on debt issues. Icahn did not respond to a request for comment.
+Fink’s attack on fellow Wall Streeters, along with similar criticism from a variety of academics and politicians, ratcheted up the debate about short-term thinking. And it fit squarely into Pearl’s concerns about the changes he had seen on Wall Street.
+Social contract is lacking
+Pearl looked around him on Wall Street and gradually became convinced that his brethren were at least partly responsible for the country’s stagnation. The short-term outlook, he concluded, “made America much more fragile than they were before. That is what dissolved the social contract between employers and employees.”
+“The income of the people became such a minor concern. Henry Ford said he needed to pay workers enough so they could afford to buy his cars. You don’t hear business leaders today say, ‘I need to pay my workers enough that they can afford to shop in my stores to buy my products.’ That’s not even a consideration. It is like, ‘I need to pay my workers whatever I need to pay them to get the job done.’ ”
+It is a harsh assessment, one rejected by many of his coworkers and business leaders. It is far from a majority view on Wall Street. But Pearl, an undecided Democrat, believed such concerns needed to be discussed more broadly in Congress and during the presidential campaign.
+In 2013, in what Pearl described as a turning point, he was at a meeting on the top floor of a bank building in Athens during a crucial moment of Greece’s financial meltdown. At the time, BlackRock was advising the Bank of Greece. Pearl looked down at a parade of protesters headed toward Parliament, where debates about austerity measures were taking place.
+“I started wondering if I was really helping the rest of the people of Greece,” Pearl said. The United States wasn’t facing anything like the Greek crisis, but he worried what might come if public policy wasn’t changed. Within a year, Pearl said, he decided he had more than enough money to live comfortably “forever.” (He declined to give his net worth other than to say it is in “the low eight figures.”) He asked himself why he had become so wealthy compared to others. He decided to quit his job and become an advocate.
+“I’ve benefited amazingly,” Pearl said. “Yeah, I’m a smart guy and I have occasionally worked hard at different times in my life. But a lot of it was sort of having the luck, having to take a few computer science classes, taking advantage of public schools. . . . It is not because God told me to be rich; it is not because I worked that much harder than other people.”
+He had heard of a new group called Patriotic Millionaires, composed of “high net worth” individuals whose initial focus was on raising taxes on some of the richest Americans.
+For example, they criticized a tax break known as “carried interest,” which enabled certain hedge fund managers to pay the equivalent of the capital gains tax rate on their earnings, meaning their rate was lower than clerical workers pay on their regular earned income.
+The issue of income inequality has seeped into the presidential campaign in different ways. Senator Elizabeth Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat, said in an interview that she hopes candidates will look at her proposal to clamp down on corporations who are paying little or no income tax, while Republicans have said US corporate tax rates are too high.
+Some voters have been drawn to Democrats Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton in hopes that they will push measures that spread wealth more evenly, such as raising taxes on the wealthiest people and providing more benefits for lower income. Others have been attracted to candidates such as Donald Trump, who has rallied those who fear their livelihood is threatened by immigrants who are here illegally.
+Proposals aimed at changing the short-term mind-set, such as limiting stock buybacks and extending the holding period for capital gains, have received only limited notice on the campaign trail.
+As Pearl entered this new world of seeking to influence politics, he found something familiar to his old life. Money matters.
+As he scrolled through his smartphone, Pearl found dozens of requests for his money. He responds to many, sending $125,000 to candidates and traditional political committees in this election cycle.
+But that only makes him the nation’s 674th biggest contributor, according to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics, underscoring how wealthy individuals play an outsized political role.
+Still, it was more than enough to ensure that Pearl and fellow Patriotic Millionaires had special access, and he took advantage of it. On the evening of Nov. 17, there was Pearl with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi at Washington’s elegant Jefferson Hotel.
+The next morning, there was Pearl, bypassing the long line of tourists visiting the US Capitol, being whisked to meetings with senators and staff members, at which he discussed his proposal to end tax breaks for hedge fund managers and to require companies to disclose all political spending.
+Then it was on to the White House, where he met in the Roosevelt Room with members of Obama’s economic team. They expressed sympathy for his proposals, Pearl said, but said the time wasn’t right to push for them.
+As Pearl left the White House grounds, he said, he knew that he wasn’t going to make progress quickly. He figured it had been much easier for him to make millions of dollars on Wall Street than it would be to change public policy. Still, he hoped the group’s meetings and press conferences would at least stir discussion in the presidential campaign.
+The only way to change the short-term thinking on Wall Street, he said, is to “take a long-term view. This is going to take years.”
+Bever?
+Here’s the spoiler: City Council voted 3-2 not to revisit the current policy. So the city will continue to adhere to our current 30-day standard. Under that policy, staffers will delete emails sent within and between city departments (as well to and from councilmembers and constituents) unless that staffer affirmatively decides that an email be retained as a public document. If not, on that 31st day, the message is metaphorically shredded. It is important to note that the policy also explicitly prevents email backed up in the normal course of operations from being produced in response to a Public Records Act even if it is recoverable.
+At a time when civic engagement in public government in Beverly Hills is nearing an all-time low, and voter participation in city elections is forever in the tank, why the hostility toward transparency? Shouldn’t City Hall keep this essential conduit for conducting city business available to public review? Doesn’t making email impervious to review suggest to stakeholders something less than truly open city government?
+The Pew Research Center and the Knight Foundation both view transparency as crucial to encouraging civic engagement in local governance. “If people believe their local government shares information well, they feel good about their town and its civic institutions,” the organizations observe in their report, How the Public Perceives Community Information report via Pew (2011). But not all of our councilmembers agree, however, as suggested by this excerpted exchange from the October 2nd City Council study session:
+I don’t see a compelling reason to change. – Councilmember Gold
+I’m surprised we have a 30-day policy – I thought we had at least a two year policy because of the public records act. We want to be transparent …. Something that we might think right now might not matter in a number of months or in a year or two might matter, so at the very minimum I would say that we correspond to the two-year policy of the public records act. – Councilmember Bosse
+It seems like we haven’t had any complaints or concerns…. I’m concerned that the goal and objective of the extended time beyond the 30 days is for other people to look in and maybe try to find some nefarious email to embarrass someone, and it may not be relevant to some important issue. So I think the policy has worked so far and I don’t see any reason to change it. – Councilmember Brucker
+I would agree with Councilmember Brucker on one point: He suggests that a longer retention period might allow other people to look at emails that have come or gone through City Hall. Absolutely: that’s the whole benefit of the public records act, and that’s the whole point of transparency…If someone wanted to look at documents related to Roxbury Park, for example, they wouldn’t be able to look at anything more than a month old… Access and transparency is a good thing: it’s doing the people’s business in the light of day. – Vice-Mayor Mirisch
+I actually think the system is working right now and I don’t see a reason to make a change in the system. Two years is as arbitrary as ten years is as arbitrary as 20 years or 60 days or 30 days. If there’s an issue with the policy, that’s when you address [it]. I don’t’ think that this is transparency; I think it is a philosophical difference like death and taxes. – Mayor Brien
+With a 3-2 sentiment running against revisiting the policy, the Mayor could conclude, “You have direction from three of us – which is the direction of the Council – to leave the policy as it is.”
+But isn’t email today a chief conduit for intra- and inter-department communication? Surely there must be a law that says that official emails are public documents just like a text document or spreadsheet?
+California Public Records Act is Silent on Email
+Well, no there’s no such law. The California Public Records Act is a tool used by journalists, stakeholders and organizations every day to pry from the tight grip of government functionaries crucial information about how local governments perform. The Public Records Act presumes that material generated in the course of state and local government business is public (with broad exceptions) and that it be made available upon a simple request from the public.
+We at Better Bike have used it only once to learn about how safety-related data informed our Traffic & Parking Commission’s decision process regarding the Bike Route Pilot program. But emails weren’t part of that review, however, because they are not treated like public records by Beverly Hills. And because the Public Records Act is silent on the categorization of email altogether, governments and public agencies have wide latitude to determine how to handle their email. (Indeed they vary in how they administer the Act too.)
+Not surprisingly then, email retention practices vary across our region too. Beverly Hills is among the most conservative: as noted, we simply don’t recognize email as public documents. Malibu likewise calls them only “transitory” and does not retain them either. Both cities delete by default. Santa Monica however, takes a different position: emails are considered public records by default and are thus open to review upon request. And they make them available for a period of one year “unless classified by law as privileged,” according to their City Clerk. (That would include legal correspondence, closed-session communications, etc.)
+Under these restrictive policies, who indeed decides whether an email is privileged or not? That point of decision makes all the difference. City of West Hollywood allows the recipient to decide, which is formalized in policy. In Beverly Hills, though, there is some ambiguity: administrative regulation 4C.11 hardly mentions how to actually categorize or retain emails. Yet the staff report presented to Council on October 2nd indicated that the recipient decides despite our policy being silent on who gets to decide. In a follow up query, our IT director said the recipient doesn’t actually decide. When asked again about the contradiction, he confirmed the staff report’s assertion that the recipient does indeed decide. So who does get to decide? Perhaps this will be sorted out only when a suit is brought against the city.
+What’s the Difference Anyway?
+There are legal reasons for nailing down our policy. Emails can reflect important policy discussions that may be of interest to the public. Councilmember Brucker took a dim view of discovery, however, seeing in it the potential for embarrassing the city or otherwise mucking around to no good end. Destroying email at the 31 day mark puts an end to discovery.
+We see it the opposite way: emails are indeed public documents of city business and should be categorized that way and preserved for a reasonable amount of time before destruction. Indeed a rationale for the brief 30-day window (as noted in the staff report) was the expense of storing them. That argument no longer holds today as the cost of storage and the costs of database management have plummeted.
+There is another good reason to revisit the email retention policy if only to clarify it: what happens when a member of the public asks to inspect an email prior to closure of that 30-day window? Will the email be denied as categorically not a public document? Or will that public request stop the 30-day clock? (We’re waiting to hear back.)
+Going beyond our current policy, there are sound reasons for making email available to the public by default and beyond a mere 30-day window. Take this example: we wanted to know why our Traffic & Parking Commission declined to recommend significant bike-friendly safety treatments despite a high rate of bike-involved collisions that is reported by the BHPD to be on the increase. Indeed that record (provided to the commission) suggested the need for safety improvements. In declining to provide them, what did the commission discuss with Transportation staffers and the police department? Anything at all? Without the email chain, we’re simply left to guess.
+The fact is that our City Council is on record by a 3-2 decision to favor a more restrictive policy puts Beverly Hills on the wrong side of transparency. Councilmember Mirisch was correct to call it up for review. Moreover, we need to follow Santa Monica’s lead. Email communication is vital to city business and needs to be part of the public record and available for review. Just because the Public Records Act is silent about it doesn’t preclude taking a pro-transparency position. Beverly Hills should revisit this issue after the March election.
+We Editorialize: A Retrograde City Council Holds Our City Back
+As with many recent policy decisions emanating from Council chambers, the decision to leave untouched our transparency-inhibiting and ambiguous email policy reflects an essential conservatism that does us no favor. Keep in mind that conservatism in Council chambers is not the same political conservatism we see in state and national politics. Personal political alignment simply doesn’t come up in city discussions, nor does it necessarily track with an individual member’s issue position. Rather our conservatism is the definition of the term in that it represents a disinclination to change. Where transparency and open government is concerned, conservatism will keep us a governing backwater long after other cities like Santa Monica have moved on to more robust models of civic engagement.
+It’s not just about the process. Our traditional embrace of governing conservatism also hobbles us on policy substance, too. Consider sustainability and mobility. We call ourselves a ‘green city’ but we’ve taken few steps to mitigate the most significant contributing factor to our large and growing environmental footprint: transportation-generated greenhouse gases. When it comes to reducing vehicle congestion, we’ve hardly even tipped our hat to what other cities do. We see Los Angeles, Santa Monica, and West Hollywood laying down sharrows and installing bicycle racks by the hundreds to encourage cycling, but we’ve taken zero action here in Beverly Hills to get people out of cars.
+Is it that we’re constitutionally averse to innovation? Do we bristle at the work it takes to move our city ahead? Are we simply satisfied to fund dubious marketing campaigns by the Convention & Visitors Bureau, or happy to funnel money into questionable Chamber of Commerce studies and East Coast business promo junkets? That’s not what it takes to grow the world-class city we like to talk about in Council chambers, but that’s what actually happens.
+For example, City Hall a few years ago slapped solar on a city garage and purchased natural gas trash trucks and called ourselves the ‘green city.’ We taken a ton of money from Homeland Security for closed-circuit cameras and license plate readers and called ourselves the ‘smart city.’
+But we continue to send our cops out on routine patrol in SUVs even while scrapping our bike patrol unit. We’ve yet to post our 2009-era Beverly Hills Sustainable City Plan on the website (go ahead and search for it) perhaps because adhering to the sound proposals therein requires leadership and investment. Evidently it’s enough to simply brand ourselves ‘green.’
+And so it is with governing. We talk a good game about public participation but don’t do very much to encourage it. City Hall is lazy about posting online notice for city meetings, for example. Our email notifications of city meetings still don’t function properly. Public documents are not always legible (if they are posted at all) and our new website hardly begins to realize the value of public engagement in local governance. Evidently it’s enough to simply call ourselves ‘smart’ and hope nobody really notices.
+It’s About the Bike, Stupid!
+Mobility is the key to our economic and ecological future (after all, we’re a transportation keystone for the Westside and a contributor to the larger region’s eco footprint) yet mass transit and active transportation garner little respect from our policymakers. Just take a look at our bus stops to see just how little we care for our transit riders. Sit in the saddle to understand how little the city does to protect those who bike in Beverly Hills.
+Tacit City Hall consensus on half-steps and satisfaction with mediocre outcomes can’t obscure just how elusive is true consensus on the substantive issues facing those elected to serve our city. Time and again, split 3-2 Council decisions remind us that we continue to adhere to traditions that will not move us forward literally or figuratively.
+In declining to recognize that cycling is a valid and increasingly popular mobility choice, for example, our City Council reaffirms our commitment to the single-passenger motor car and all the costs it presents, from the time-sink of vehicle congestion to the cost in treasure to construct public parking garages while giving away free the parking spaces. Heck, taxpayers are subsidizing some retailers in city-owned property in the business triangle to the tune of 25% of the base rent (or more) simply to keep shops in business.
+By failing to see that cycling can bring more foot traffic to these tired businesses and commercial districts, and by sticking with the old model of shoppers-in-cars to the exclusion of any other growth scenarios, City Hall nourishes an economic monoculture of banks, boutiques and nail salons that would not otherwise be sustainable.
+Not that we haven’t tried to suggest an alternate path. Success in promoting local commerce by inviting cyclists in is found in Long Beach, San Francisco, Portland, New York and now even Los Angeles. That suggests we have additional options beyond those identified by our Small Business Task Force. Of course we’ve pointed them out time and again – most recently in a meeting with a Chamber of Commerce representative. We asked, How can we bring the benefits of cycling-related local development to Beverly Hills? The tepid reception we received was a stark reminder of how resistant the power players are in the Hills of Beverly to the vision and effort required to bring us into the 21st century.
+We’ve offered those examples before, only to hear from officials, “We’re not New York. We’re not San Francisco.” But you know, every place wants that success. These are fine places to live. They are highly valued. They have many competitive advantages our city would kill for in order to attract and retain top-tier businesses. We turn our back on alternative pathways to the future, satisfied in wearing a lapel button that reads ‘green city’ or ‘smart city’ with precious little of substance to back up those boasts.
+3 Strategies to Shatter Sales Barriers
+How many 250 pound bodybuilders do you know that practice ballet?
+Not a lot, right? At 15 I didn’t either.
+Yet it was around this age when I was first introduced to bodybuilding by an uncle of mine, a guy by the name of Martin Humphries.
+I remember him lending me a copy of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s first book, ‘The Education of a Bodybuilder’ and I remember being swept away by this feeling of awe and inspiration on reading how this little kid from an obscure part of Austria went from nothing to becoming the greatest bodybuilder and action film star of all time.
+Of course, I immediately joined a gym and pretty soon after that I managed to get my hands on a copy of ‘Pumping Iron’, one of Arnold’s first films.
+Back in 1999 in pre ‘Celtic Tiger’ Ireland, long before the days of digital TV, this would have been on video cassette.
+I clearly remember the feeling of excitement as I impatiently took the cassette out of its plastic box and inserted it into the video recorder and pressed play.
+What greeted me on the screen was not what I was expecting.
+Two absolute monsters of men being trained in ballet by this petite lady dressed in a leotard and tights.
+The two monsters were of course Arnold Schwarzenegger and his training partner and friend Franco Columbu.
+A Unique Point of Difference
+Were they practicing ballet to appear more graceful on stage during competition to give them the edge? Or was it simply another opportunity for Arnold to appear different to everybody else?
+Whatever the true reasoning was, it doesn’t matter because the strategy clearly worked. In fact I would go so far as to say that Arnold’s unique point of difference and the reason for his massive success was his willingness to continually be different and to do things everybody else wasn’t doing. What is your point of difference?
+Make Sure Your Message is Clear and Impactful
+Here is the harsh truth about today’s world: everybody wants your attention and your money. What is the strategy to get it? It’s quite simple, bombard you relentlessly with messages. So, if you want a piece of the pie you better make sure that your message is as unique, clear and memorable as possible.
+You do that by making sure you are as different from the competition as you possibly can. There are many ways to do this and not all of them involve a trip to your nearest ballet studio.
+Usable Expert Knowledge
+For me the strategy was simple. I would spend my days off shopping the competition, finding out what they were or weren’t doing, usually they weren’t doing a lot, and then I would put systems and processes in place in my sales office to make sure the service I was providing to my clients was 1,000 times better.
+That was it. Essentially what I found out was that most sales people are average, they are lazy, they are forgettable and most importantly they lack expert knowledge.
+I defined myself with many points of difference along the way but most notable was my expert knowledge and my ability to convey that knowledge to my clients in a way that was easy to understand.
+I studied like hell, I read copious amounts of books and consumed massive quantities of audio programs (at least 3 hours per day). I embroiled myself with subjects ranging from sales training and customer service to building materials and project development.
+As I earned my certificates, diplomas and degrees along the way I would frame them and strategically place them behind my desk until eventually I ran out of room and I had to put them on the wall to the side of my desk alongside all my framed testimonials from all my previous clients. Pretty soon my office space became almost like a sales temple where people would come, sit down in front of me, gaze around in awe and just want to buy from me. I barely had to say a word. It was the ultimate example of how to use social proof and authority status to make large volumes of sales.
+The easiest way to find your point of difference is to become the expert, the authority figure. Trust me, even with this knowledge the other 95% will still be too lazy to even attempt it.
+Break The Rules
+This is actually Schwarzenegger’s second rule for success. (To discover all of Arnie’s rules for success click here).
+Now just like Arnold, I’m not for a second advocating breaking the law here. Ethics, ethics, ethics.
+But you can be extremely ethical and honest and still break some rules to get ahead in your sales career. In fact to get ahead, you absolutely must. Here is a reframe for all of you who may not be entirely sure where we are going with this:
+There is very little glory to be found in playing small and if you live your life amongst the herd you’ll never discover the world of possibilities that surround you.
+If you live your life like I once lived for many years in my twenties, you inevitably begin to slowly conform and be constrained by what you perceive to be society’s expectations of you.
+Yes, those “rules”!
+Worse still you start to worry about what people think of you. Your boss, your co-workers and your so-called friends. It is your responsibility to get on with your own life, you are responsible for your own successes and failures.
+When I decided I had enough of my career in the police I remember the time when my old superintendent had the brass balls to come into my house to try and coax me back to work.
+When he saw his weak pitch was failing to have any effect he of course couldn’t help but reveal the true measure of himself by telling me that I’d never amount to anything outside of the police. Needless to say that was the moment I finally quit my old life and began afresh. To this day I owe a great deal of gratitude to that man and many others like him.
+Here is how you too can break some rules to get ahead and begin your new sales career:
+Ignore the Critics
+Learn to ignore the voices of those who criticise you and try to belittle you.
+Whatever you are doing that draws that type of attention, multiply your efforts by a hundred and then a thousand. If the herd doesn’t like your actions then you are surely on the right path. Envy and jealousy only raise their heads when they see somebody rising faster than their little minds can comprehend.
+Work Outside Your Comfort Zone
+Get comfortable working outside of your comfort zone. Once you’ve mastered the previous point you are going to want to really hammer home with your efforts. Whatever amount of dials, door knocks, follow ups or insane hours you are putting in, keep going until the uncomfortable becomes the norm. Then double your efforts again. Watch the sales roll in.
+Educate Yourself
+Education. All that extra effort is fantastic.
+The new mindset is amazing. But you must learn how to replace the pickaxe with a laser as you tunnel through mountains. Continual education and upskilling is what will truly set you apart and bring about massive quantities of unchallenged successes. Books, if you don’t like books then audio programs, YouTube videos, blogs, articles, posts, industry events, classes, seminars, the list is endless. You have no excuse in 2017 for not getting ahead. All the information you need can be found at the press of a button and consumed simply by looking in the direction of the palm of your hand.
+“It is impossible to be a maverick or a true original if you are too well behaved and don’t want to break the rules.”
+Arnold Schwarzenegger
+Align Yourself With Only Quality Experts
+Tony Robbins calls this strategy “Modelling”. You find somebody that is doing what it is you want to do at the highest possible level in the game, you seek them out and you copy them. That’s it in a nutshell. Why? Because as brilliant and unique as you might be, you are going to have a difficult time reinventing the wheel.
+I was at a 3 day Glenn Twiddle conference in Sydney recently and one of the speakers, a real estate guy by the name of Michael Spillane summed it up perfectly when he said, “Success doesn’t leave clues, it leaves the whole plan”.
+Why prolong the learning period when you don’t have to?
+Learn the strategies, the systems, the language patterns, the body language, the rationale, the thinking, the apparel, the habits, just hoover up and learn everything you can about the people whose success you wish to replicate. After all, imitation is best form of flattery.
+Schwarzenegger read everything he could on bodybuilding starting out. He studied his idol Reg Park and many more like him. He saw how Reg Park used bodybuilding to transition him into Hollywood and guess what, Arnold did the exact same. He simply followed the blueprint for success that was already laid out in front of him.
+Since moving to Sydney I’ve had the good fortune to learn from the very best people here in Australia. Cora Ryan, a sales expert who was recognised year after year after year in the 1990’s as Australia’s no.1 project home sales person by A.V. Jennings, the largest building company in Australia.
+Mariette Rups-Donnelly, one of Australia’s leading presentation experts and coaches. Peter Spann, one of Australia’s leading wealth creation and seminar experts who presented with the likes of Tony Robbins.
+If I were to attribute any of my successes to date to any one particular strategy It would absolutely be ‘aligning myself with Only Quality Experts’.
+And as if to reiterate my previous point, here is what I credit each of these mentors most with and here is what you need to begin getting prepared for if you truly want to be the best; each of my mentors took me far outside of my comfort zone. And not just a little but out beyond the outermost reaches of the Milky Way. Because that is where true growth exists and that is where success awaits you.
+It also teaches you probably the most important lesson that you can learn in sales and certainly in life. One my mother kept telling me growing up but one I never quite got: you can have everything you want in life if you are just willing to go out there and chase your dreams.
+
+I’m thrilled to host my lovely friend Molly Greene today. Molly and I met last year on Twitter; since then, we’ve collaborated on numerous projects and we “talk” online nearly every day. Molly is a gracious woman and friend, a fab blogger, and a tremendously talented writer. She just released a wonderful new mystery, Mark of the Loon. I hope you enjoy this interview!
+First, please tell us something about yourself. Tell us a secret.
+I don’t share much about myself in the real world. The truth is, I haven’t told my parents I wrote a book! I was shy to blog about my life when I started in 2011. But after the first couple posts, I figured no one was reading them anyway, so I let ‘er rip. When I finally gained an audience I was over myself. The truth is, Twitter and blogging have made me a different person, but even today, my readers know more about me than my friends, family and neighbors (unless they’re reading my blog). FYI, I’ll tell Mom & Dad the good news if I ever get a royalty check over $100.
+How long have you been writing? What inspires you?
+I love stories, in both books and movies, and I’ve always been a reader. I wrote a really bad novel in the late 1990s, and I’ve written an enormous amount of nonfiction as part of the responsibilities of my day job. I started Mark of the Loon several years ago, and here we are! How I feel about life experiences inspires me to write about them. It’s great fun to incorporate memories, feelings, and situations into a fictional plot, because you don’t have to stick to the truth or describe events in real time. And you can steal great tidbits from your friends’ lives. Oops, I just told another secret.
+What are you passionate about? What keeps you awake at night?
+Over-thinking keeps me awake at night. What makes me jump out of bed in the morning is excitement over creative projects. I’m my best person when I don’t have a lot on my plate, which allows me to enjoy the things I love to do – gardening, decorating, writing, my daily walk. Even moving furniture. I haven’t had much time for anything but writing (in my spare time) for a while now.
+If a magic carpet would take you anyplace in the world, where would you go? Why?
+First, the Pacific Northwest. I miss the moist air and deep green of lush countryside. I want to meet my tribe of Twitter friends who live there, and I want to see the Orcas in LummiBay. Next, the East Coast to meet you, Terri, and Christine Nolfi. I’d love to see Pat Conroy country and the islands off South Carolina, and experience Christine’s famous Grey Goose martini. Then to Ireland, where my grandmothers were born.
+If you could change one thing in your life, what would it be? Why?
+Complete and utter financial independence would be lovely. Then I could write full time and buy really expensive furniture. And travel!
+Mark of the Loon
+Mark of the Loon is, in many ways, character driven. But there is also a fascinating secret that keeps this story moving. This is a very difficult balance to strike. How did you accomplish this? Did you ever find yourself pulled in one direction or the other?
+It sounds hokey, but I found the writing process so compelling I never had to force anything. Turns out I’m a dedicated ‘pantser.’ My characters told me what was going to happen every step of the way, and I figured they should know, right? I used my daily walk to formulate ideas about what might happen. By the time I wrote it all down on the weekends, I knew how to move the plot forward, and it became a matter of ‘how fast can I type”?
+Tell us about Madison. Who is she? How did you shape her character?
+Every one of my characters exists in me or my close friends. (Except for maybe.
+I have to work very hard to create place detail. Your novel – this place, this house – are beautifully developed, very real. How important was place for you? For the story?
+I spent some time a dozen years ago getting a handle on what I valued, and what is most important to me. Things like autonomy, independence. As I worked through that exercise, I recognized that where I live – my surroundings – is right up there in the Top Ten. A house doesn’t have to be big, but a great ambience is important. Most of my descriptions are either 1) rooms and land I’ve seen 2) places I’ve lived, or 3) properties I’d like to own in the future. I’ll chalk it up to moving around a lot, working as a real estate agent long ago, and having a great memory.
+Place is critical to the story because it shows what’s important to Madison, what she feels she’s good at, how she expresses herself, and what she wants.
+I just love Gen. I believe she’s the star of your next book? Would you please tell us about her? Will we see that wonderfully horrid little creep Velasco again?
+Gen is a compilation of a woman with the guts and sense of humor I wish I had, combined with a couple of my smart, hilarious, tough-as-nuts friends. As for Velasco, he’s doing time, so I don’t think he’ll be around for the next story. Gen will have to tell me about some other malicious ne’er-do-well. Oh, wait, she already has.
+WRITING & PUBLISHING
+How long did it take you to write Mark of the Loon? To revise?
+I started the original draft in June 2009, and wrote ‘The End’ in March 2010. At the time, I had a full time day job and was also remodeling a house. I worked through the first round of edits on my own through the rest of 2010, then put the mss aside and began to query agents. That went nowhere, and I simply decided I was not cut out for the process, so chose to go indie. I began to build a social media platform early in 2011. I worked with traditionally published author Deryn Collier (‘Confined Space’) during the Fall of 2011 to further develop plot. I edited until the day I published the ebook on Amazon. Gah!
+What did you most and least enjoy about the process?
+I LOVED working on plot development, and ‘getting’ the intuitive flashes of what was going to happen next. I did not love the extensive editing process. I’d changed as a writer so much during the years I’ve worked on the book that I could barely stand to read some of my original writing. I changed huge blocks of the original manuscript. Last fall, Deryn Collier gave me some wonderful ideas about balancing the plot, and that was great fun. After that, trusted beta-readers pointed out errors and what didn’t work. I edited until I thought I was going to be dragged off to the loony bin.
+Do you have a marketing plan for MOTL? If so, would you be willing to share details?
+My initial plan was simply to get the book published, a huge project in itself. I priced the ebook at 99 cents so it would be easy for interested blog and Twitter followers to purchase. I’m hoping initial sales will spark positive word of mouth. Since then, I’ve joined the IBC’s 99 Cent Network. I also joined the IAN. Once I have ten reviews, I’ll purchase promotional spots on a few e-book sites. As always, my plan is to observe others, to eavesdrop on Twitter to see what’s working, and to beg my indie friends to share their secrets. It’s worked out well so far!
+As you know, we first met on Twitter. In the year or so since we’ve met, you’ve developed an amazing, multi-faceted platform. I’ve very impressed! Would you be willing to share this process with our readers?
+I wish I could say that I knew what I was doing. Twitter and I just clicked. I loved it, spent a lot of time on the site, and continue to express my appreciation to those who support me there. I started a blog because I read that I was supposed to. Blogging took a little longer to get into, but I’d say it took off when I began to share openly with others what I’d done on social media, and how I did it.
+FUN FACTS
+Lefty or righty? Righty!
+Introvert or extrovert? Introverted extrovert. I love to be alone, but my flight attendant girlfriends taught me long ago the power of connection in unexpected places. I can – and do – talk to anyone, anywhere.
+Plane, train or automobile? Automobile, hands down. As long as I’m not driving. And the driver is very, very quiet.
+Beer or wine? Beer in the summer, red wine in winter (although I’m on an alcohol hiatus, other than a bi-weekly snort of bourbon for medicinal purposes).
+Water: ice or no ice? Ice in the summer, of course!
+Light or dark? It can get pretty dark inside my head, which is why I love people who make me laugh.
+Winter or summer? Ahhh. Fall. When the nights are crisp, but we still feel the sun once in a while.
+Walking or running? Walk, walk, walk. Walking is my meditation.
+Sit on a beach or sit by a fire? I grew up by the beach in San Diego. When I was a kid, we parked almost on the sand and had the place to ourselves. Now So Cal beachgoers have to fight enormous crowds, so I’ll choose a warm fire, thank you very much.
+Book or audiotape? Book, book, book!
+Read or write? Not fair, won’t choose.
+Draft or revise? Draft, hands down.
+Writer’s group or editor? Editor. Trust me, a writer’s group would get sick and tired of the whining.
+FINAL THOUGHTS
+If you were to give one tip to aspiring writers, what would it be?
+Read books. Learn your craft from successful authors. Listen to the world and conversations around you, and fold what you hear into your own characters. As Anne Lamott says, it doesn’t get better than real life.
+What are you working on now?
+Blog posts! But very soon I’ll be back to Rapunzel, the second in my ‘Genevieve Delacourt’ series.
+How can your fans connect with you? Social Media Links:
+Twitter:
+Goodreads:
+Independent Author Network (IAN) member page:Â
+Website/blog:
+About Molly Greene:
+Although my day job since 1993 has been Marketing Manager for several high-profile national mortgage companies, I moonlight as a freelance writer, blogger, and author. I’ve been published by the National Association of Realtors® Magazine, the San Diego Association of Realtors® Magazine, Scotsman Guide, and Reader’s Digest. Previous nonfiction works include the consumer booklet, For Sale By Owner, and the thoughtful self-awareness guide, Someone Worth Becoming. My fiction debut, Mark of the Loon, is available on Amazon, and I’m at work on a sequel, Rapunzel, which features attorney-turned-detective Genevieve Delacourt, who appears prominently in Loon.
+About Mark of the Loon
+What happens when a single workaholic falls in love with an old stone cottage in Northern California? In Mark of the Loon, Madison renovates and sells property in addition to her busy real estate sales career. Her work-centric lifestyle leaves little time for anything beyond business and her three wise, hilarious friends. When Madison buys the Blackburne’s former house, a series of mysterious events both endanger her and lead her to love – and a permanent home.
+I can't believe you still haven't told your parents, Molly! That just cracks me up. Thanks, Terri, for a great interview.
+Terri, thank you so much for hosting me today! Your friendship has meant so much this past year. I always look to you for guidance about how writing, blogging and social media should be conducted with grace, kindness, generosity and poise. You are the best of the best, and I am a better person because of it. The best to you in all you do!
+I'm with Laura! You should so tell your parents. I'm sure they would be proud. Great interview. Nice learning new tidbits about you, Molly.
+Thank you for stopping by Diane. I thought Molly's responses were great too!
+Thank you so much for your lovely comment Laura!
+I really enjoyed reading this interview. The book sounds interesting and I'm putting it on my to read list. I'm finding my experience on Twitter and with my first book to be very similar. Thanks for sharing. BTW I lived in San Diego in the mid-70's. Beautiful city.
+Thank you so much for your lovely comment, Kat. I hope you enjoy the book!
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+Continuous flow fuel injections systems
+Continuous Flow Fuel Injection Systems
+By Randy Knuteson
+November 1998
+ontinental Motors calls it their "Continuous Flow Fuel Injection System." Some technicians refer to it in less dignified terms, replete with colorful expletives. The proclivity of human nature has always been to focus on the negative. But regardless of an occasional negative encounter, the positive attributes of these systems are easy to identify. You need not look far to appreciate the commendable features of the TCM Fuel Injection System. For many years, the factory has pointed to "simplicity" as being the "single-most significant feature" of their systems. Some would concur. Others would strongly disagree. The goal of this article is to provide some information to clear up any misunderstandings that may have landed you in the "disagree" camp.
+Continuous Flow Fuel Injection Systems
+By Randy Knuteson
+November 1998
+continued form page 1.......
+Setting up the System
+Is "Fine-Tuning" Required?
+Some shops make the erroneous assumption that a freshly overhauled fuel system need only to be bolted to the engine and flown away. They say "after all, wasn't the system overhauled and calibrated to factory specs?" Yes — however, variations in induction systems, supply systems, and operating environments mandate a final "tweaking" of the installed components. Still, some tenaciously hold to the mind set that "it should be set up for my airplane out of the box."
+For this reason, many Repair Stations have difficulty persuading technicians to use calibrated hand-held gauges while setting up their Continental systems on the airframe. While TCM strongly recommends the usage of externally plumbed gauges, some technicians still consider this procedure nothing more than a mere suggestion. Failure to follow this "suggestion" often results in lackluster performance, frustration, and dissatisfied customers. Always use these gauges if you expect to appreciate the system's full-performance capabilities. Teledyne's Service Information Directive 97-3 provides clear instructions for final adjustments once fuel components are installed on the airplane.
+Before Adjusting
+Verify the accuracy of the following gauges before making adjustments to the fuel system: Tach, MAP, Fuel Flow, Oil Temp, Oil Press, CHT, EGT. Don't rely solely on the ship's gauges when setting pressures and flows. Rectify any discrepancy if fou nd. Errant gauge readings, if significant, can result in annealed rings, compression loss, and cylinder detonation. Tee in the calibrated gauges. Pressurize the system with the boost pump and inspect for leaks. Chock the wheels, set the brakes. Finally, before attempting any adjustments, allow CHTs and oil temps to reach their normal operating values as spelled out in the POH.
+Cautionary Notes
+Be sure to limit the duration of full rated power run-ups, and cowl the engine to direct prop-blast across the cooling fins of the cylinders. Carefully monitor CHT readings during all ground runs. Allow the engine to stabilize for 10 to 15 seconds, and take your readings, but always hold high rpm runs to a minimum especially with newly installed cylinders. Never exceed 420ûF CHT or 210ûF oil temps. Failure to take these precautions could dramatically shorten the life of your cylinders. After full powered runs, it is also imperative that the engine be allowed to run at 800 to 1000 rpm for a few minutes. This practice allows the engine temperatures to stabilize prior to engine shut down.
+Setting Pump Pressures
+Don't be alarmed if it takes several attempts to set pump pressures. Both low- and high-end settings tend to chase each other. Fine-tuning these pressures requires a little patience. Best performance is achieved by setting the pump idle pressure (relief valve) to the higher side of the accepted parameters. During part throttle operations, with the fuel/air mixture properly adjusted, this setting generally provides for a slight fuel enrichment. However, setting idle pressures too high can also disturb the pump's equilibrium. While the engine may start fine, it may idle rough, or quit on roll-out due to an overly rich condition. Correctly setting unmetered pressures at idle is especially critical on turbocharged systems. Low unmetered pump pressures result in a leanness at mid-range cruise and full-rich climb configurations. Some try to compensate for this leanness by backing the aneroid out further in an attempt to achieve the desired top-end flow. Improper adjustment of the pump may manifest itself in high CHT and oil temps (confirmed by a high calibrated TIT temp). This can be remedied by adjusting the unmetered fuel flow at idle to the top specification.
+When setting up the top end of naturally aspirated systems, be sure to fly the airplane, rather than rely on ground runs. Most naturally aspirated engines will not achieve redline rpm in static runs at any field elevation, but will do so on takeoff roll as air gets moving through the prop — it's just a fixed-pitched prop until the engine turns up to on-speed governor rpm. Make certain the governor is adjusted to redline rpm also. Use a tach checker, as most older mechanical tachs seem to deviate as much as 100 rpm. Remember, this system is rpm dependent and will require actual redline rpm and full rich mixture (regardless of altitude) to check redline/takeoff fuel flow. Turbo systems can be tuned by using static runs but pay close attention to those temps.
+Turbo-charged engines that incorporate a pressure regulator require this unit to be deactivated when setting pump pressures. Remove the center hose to the regulator and cap the fitting. Also plug the detached hose. TCM recommends setting these systems so full power metered fuel pressure and fuel flow are "5 percent higher than the maximum specified limit." Upon successfully setting pump pressures, plumb the pressure regulator back into the system. Pressure regulators, (sometimes referred to as pressure controllers), serve to "regulate" or limit full power fuel pressures without compromising maximum fuel pressures at lower rpms.
+Adjusting the Throttle/ Control Assembly
+The pilot's sole control over the fuel system lies in the throttle and control (metering unit) assemblies. The metering-unit houses both the mixture and the main metering valves. Adjustments to these units are rather straightforward. Idle speed is increased by a clockwise rotation of the adjustment screw and conversely, a CCW rotation decreases idle speed. Mixture set up is accomplished by adjusting the length of a linkage rod joining the throttle plate to the metering valve. Once set, this arrangement then schedules fuel in relation to airflow. A 3/8 in. elastic stop nut serves to make this adjustment. A C/W rotation of this nut enriches the mixture and turning it, CCW leans the mixture. Mixture adjustments made to the GTSIO system on the Cessna 421 are the exact opposite and are an exception to this rule. Throttle bodies that include an appendage like Seneca's 360 system requires the usage of a straight-bladed screwdriver or allen wrench to adjust mixtures. On these control assemblies, a C/W rotation leans the mixture. When leaning to ICO, an rpm increase of 25 to 50 rpm (75rpm+ at 5,000 ft. field elevations) should be observed on the tach. A reading in excess of 50 rpm indicates an overly rich setting whereas, no increase in rpm reveals a lean condition. Between mixture adjustments advance the throttle to approximately 1,500 rpm for a short period of time to clear the engine in order to prevent it from loading up and giving false rich indications.
+Manifold Valve Assembly
+The next component in line is the manifold valve. It sits astride the backbone of the engine and, as mentioned earlier, serves several practical purposes. Although there are no field adjustments that can be made to this simple device, a few suggestions may help when faced with the grim task of troubleshooting.
+If an engine continues to lope on at ICO, it can usually be attributed to either scored mixture valves in the metering unit or a manifold plunger that refuses to seat. Typically, if the engine runs on indefinitely, the problem can be attributed to scored mixture valves. However, if it continues to run for a short period, then the problem lies somewhere between the manifold valve and the cylinders. To further isolate the cause, remove the hose feeding the manifold valve at the metering unit outlet fitting. With the mixture valve against the ICO stop, engage the boost pump and look for any indication of fuel flow from this fitting. Be certain to capture any leaking fuel in a suitable container and use caution if the engine or exhaust is heat-soaked. Leakage in excess of 20 drops per minute at 10 psi of pressure is unacceptable. The metering unit should be sent in for repair. If you're still uncertain as to the cause, interrupt the hose feeding the manifold inlet and plumb a ball-valve between it and the metering unit. Then, with the engine running at idle speed, use the ball valve to manually cut off fuel flow to the divider. If the engine continues to run, the problem most likely rests at the manifold valve. Other contributing causes of poor idle cut off may stem from a leaking primer system — plugged or partially plugged injection nozzles, allowing the engine to run on residual fuel pooled in the induction, or in the case of a turbo-charged engine, a leaking aneroid seal that dumps fuel back into the upper-deck.
+A fuel system that has been fine-tuned for a specific engine/airframe may require a periodic re-trimming. As the engine breaks in, and operating parameters change, and cockpit gauges lose their accuracy, it becomes necessary to perform a "check-up."
+Continental encourages an "operational verification" any time an engine is installed, a 100 hr. or annual is performed, or whenever a fuel component is replaced or adjusted. This may seem "excessive," but it assures of a smooth running engine to TBO.
+Washington, D.C.
+(Remarks as Prepared)
+INTRODUCTION
+Good morning Chairman Price, Ranking Member Rogers, and other distinguished Members of the Committee. It is my privilege to appear before you today to discuss the President’s fiscal year (FY) 2011 budget request for the U.S. Secret Service. I would like to begin by thanking you for your tremendous support over the last several years. Given the increased operational requirements we saw late in the 2008 presidential campaign and during the transition, this Committee responded quickly by providing the Secret Service with the funds to make staffing adjustments, enhance protective countermeasures, and address interoperable communications deficiencies with our partner agencies. Those investments have yielded a stronger, more nimble agency at a time when the complexity of our dual mission presents constant challenges.
+Since the level of protective travel and number of major events, such as designated National Special Security Events (NSSEs), are often unknown until after our budget request is formalized, the Secret Service uses protective activity from previous years to assist in the development of our budget. Although we look at historical averages and other trends to project the rate of protective travel from year to year, the added uncertainties presented in the transition from one administration to the next can be a particular challenge. For example, in my appearance before the Committee last year, I testified that President Obama and Vice President Biden had publicly announced that they would engage in at least one overseas trip per month during their first year in office. From January 2009 through January 2010, President Obama engaged in 31 international travel stops, a 158 percent increase compared to former President George W. Bush’s first year in office. During the same period, Vice President Biden engaged in 21 international travel stops, compared to one international travel stop during former Vice President Cheney’s first year in office.
+In addition to the increased international travel for the President and Vice President, the Secret Service was responsible for planning, coordinating, and implementing security operations for eight NSSEs in FY 2009, the most ever designated in a single fiscal year. The Presidential Inauguration, which in past years necessitated a single NSSE designation for the ceremony itself, as well as other events in the Washington, DC area, was broadened to five separate designations last year, including a train trip from Philadelphia, PA to Washington, DC, with large rallies in Wilmington, DE and Baltimore, MD, as well as a large concert event at the Lincoln Memorial. At the 64th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York City, the Secret Service prepared security plans and protected 189 heads of state and government and 60 spouses more than a 40 percent increase over the 63rd UNGA. Concurrent with the 64th UNGA, the Secret Service was also responsible for security operations associated with the G-20 held in Pittsburgh, PA, which President Obama attended with of 37 heads of state and government, along with their spouses.
+The men and women from the Secret Service’s domestic and international field offices spent roughly half of their time supporting these protective efforts in addition to successfully dismantling a number of transnational criminal groups targeting our nation’s
+financial institutions. For example, the established partnerships developed through our Electronic Crimes Task Forces (ECTFs) led to the Secret Service’s successful investigation into the network intrusion of Heartland Payment Systems (HPS). This investigation revealed that data from more than 130 million credit card accounts were at risk of being compromised and transferred to a command and control server operated by a transnational criminal group involved in other ongoing Secret Service investigations. An August 2009 indictment alleges that this transnational criminal group used various network intrusion techniques to breach security at HPS, navigate the credit card processing environment, and capture payment transaction data.
+In addition to this protective and investigative activity, the Secret Service made additional progress on several large-scale projects in 2009 that were funded with the support of this Committee. The relocation of the Joint Operations Center (JOC) was completed in July 2009 and became operational in November 2009. As of February 2010, major construction of the new White House mail screening facility was 99 percent complete, and is scheduled to be operational following a testing phase of the specialized screening equipment and transition from the current facility. During FY 2009, the Secret Service screened more than three million pieces of mail and other parcels for hazardous materials to ensure the safety of those who live, work, and/or visit the White House Complex―a three-fold increase over the one million pieces screened in FY 2008. Given the increased volume of mail associated with the new administration, the Secret Service must be vigilant about the possible introduction of biological or other hazardous agents entering the White House Complex through the mail system.
+FY 2011 BUDGET REQUEST SUMMARY
+In alignment with the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Quadrennial Homeland Security Review (QHSR), the Secret Service continues to manage known risks while making the investments necessary to prepare for evolving threats. The QHSR report that was recently transmitted to Congress notes that, “the American way of life depends upon the effective functioning of the Nation’s critical infrastructure and key resources, and the protection of key leadership and events.”1 The Secret Service’s dual mission to protect our national leaders, visiting heads of state and government, designated NSSEs, as well as to investigate crimes directed towards our nation’s banking and financial infrastructure, is critical in this regard.
+The FY 2011 budget request for the Secret Service focuses on four primary areas: funding to provide the necessary training and equipment that will be needed in advance of the 2012 presidential campaign; funding to enhance protection of the White House Complex and other protective sites; funding to sustain critical investigative operations in the areas of protective intelligence, cyber crimes directed at our nation’s banking and financial institutions, and counterfeit suppression; and funding to address information technology (IT) and communications deficiencies in programs that directly support the protective and investigative mission.
+The budget request totals $1.57 billion, an increase of $89 million (or 6 percent) over the FY 2010 enacted appropriation. Roughly half of this proposed increase represents adjustments to the base totaling $43.2 million which includes the following: $8 million to implement the Uniformed Division Modernization Act; $2.9 million for routine maintenance and replacement of detection equipment for the new White House mail screening facility; $19.5 million to accommodate pay adjustments associated with General Schedule pay increases; second year funding of $198,000 for staffing in support of the Information Integration and Transformation Program; third year funding of $9.7 million for protective mission staffing provided in the FY 2009 Omnibus Appropriations Act (P.L. 111-8); third year funding of $190,000 for international field office staffing; third year funding of $184,000 for staffing associated with cyber crime investigations; third year funding of $1.2 million for the former President George W. Bush post-presidency detail; and third year funding of $1.3 million for staffing associated with the enhanced protection of White House protectees.
+Program increases proposed in the budget total $62.6 million and include $14 million for the start-up costs associated with the 2012 presidential campaign, and $36 million for the procurement of equipment and staffing associated with the Information Integration and Transformation Program. The budget also includes $12.6 million to begin the discovery, migration planning, and scheduling activities related to the DHS data center consolidation effort. Finally, as part of the Department’s goal to achieve efficiencies, the President’s budget proposes decreases totaling $16.8 million which include: $9.6 million for staffing provided in P.L. 111-8; $3.2 million for protective countermeasures; and $4 million for domestic field office operations.
+PROTECTIVE OPERATIONS
+For protective operations, the FY 2011 budget request provides funding to enhance protection of the White House Complex and other protective sites, and funding to provide the necessary training and equipment that will be needed in advance of the 2012 presidential campaign. This includes $8 million to fully implement the Uniformed Division Modernization Act. Contingent on passage of the authorizing legislation, these funds would provide the Secret Service with the resources needed to meet ongoing recruitment and retention challenges within the agency’s Uniformed Division.
+The men and women who serve on the Uniformed Division are highly trained professionals responsible for protecting the White House Complex, the Vice President’s residence at the U.S. Naval Observatory, as well as providing a dedicated police presence and response to 537 foreign missions located in the Washington, DC area. Uniformed Division personnel assigned to the White House Branch process thousands of staff members, other workers, members of the press, individuals on official business, and tourists at the White House Complex on a daily basis. Through the effective use of fixed posts, foot and bicycle patrols, and police cruisers, these personnel are responsible for security throughout the White House Complex. Uniformed Division personnel assigned to the Counter Sniper Unit, Canine Unit, and the Emergency Response Team also provide
+critical protective support to ensure the safety of the President, Vice President, and their families.
+Uniformed Division Modernization Act
+In recent years, the Uniformed Division has faced ongoing recruiting and retention challenges. This is in part because of its current pay structure and its inability to use certain hiring flexibilities, such as offering higher starting salaries to applicants who have prior state or local law enforcement experience. In addition, the administration of pay for Uniformed Division personnel is complicated by the fact that a majority of the governing authorities for Uniformed Division pay issues reside in the District of Columbia Code, rather than in Title 5 of the United States Code.
+The Uniformed Division Modernization Act (S. 1510), which is currently pending before Congress, would create a new salary table for Uniformed Division members that establishes consistent rank and step increases, and provides for faster step progression. The pending legislation would also give the Uniformed Division new hiring flexibilities, and move the bulk of the governing authorities for Uniformed Division pay and compensation issues out of the District of Columbia Code and into Title 5 of the United States Code. The Office of Management and Budget has advised that there is no objection to the pending legislation, and that its enactment would be in accordance with the President’s program.
+2012 Presidential Campaign
+In addition to their critical role in securing the White House Complex, Vice President’s residence, and other protective sites, Uniformed Division personnel are also responsible for magnetometer operations during NSSEs and presidential campaigns. During the 2008 presidential campaign, magnetometers were used by the Uniformed Division to screen more than 4.2 million people―a 77 percent increase over the previous campaign.
+Although the 2008 presidential campaign and related security activities associated with the transition ended just last year, the Secret Service is already beginning the necessary planning and advance work for the 2012 presidential campaign. This early preparation is critical because of the time required to provide advanced protective training to Secret Service employees and DHS partner agencies participating in campaign security activities. In addition, the Secret Service requires start-up funds to procure, outfit, and preposition sufficient protective vehicles to transport the expected number of protectees, and to purchase an adequate amount of technical security equipment to appropriately secure their residences and sites to be visited by the candidates.
+For the start-up costs associated with the 2008 presidential campaign, the Secret Service received $18.4 million in FY 2007. This figure was formulated based upon the fact that there would be no incumbent President or Vice President running for office; therefore, the Secret Service would be required to provide protection for the sitting President and Vice President, as well as presidential and vice presidential candidates from each party.
+In comparison, the Secret Service received $8.1 million in FY 2003 for start-up costs associated with the 2004 campaign when President Bush and Vice President Cheney ran for re-election. Further, campaign start-up costs for FY 2003 were initially formulated prior to the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001.
+The $14.0 million requested for the campaign in FY 2011 reflects a decrease in costs when compared to the 2008 start-up based on the expectation that President Obama and Vice President Biden will run for re-election. The $14.0 million also reflects the costs associated with procuring and deploying communications and other electronic equipment, protective vehicles, and advanced technical devices that provide an enhanced security environment for the candidates.
+INVESTIGATIVE OPERATIONS
+During presidential campaigns, NSSEs, and routine protective travel, the Secret Service’s international and domestic field office staff enables the protective details to conduct their operations efficiently with little lead time. Our field office personnel provide invaluable assistance to the protective details through their well-established, professional relationships with local, state, federal, and international law enforcement partners in their respective districts.
+In addition to the critical support the Secret Service’s investigative field staff provides to the protective mission, the overall success of our mission is attributed to our roots as a law enforcement agency committed to protecting American consumers and industries from financial fraud. To build on the investigative successes of the past year, the FY 2011 budget request provides funding to sustain our efforts in the areas of protective intelligence, cyber crimes directed at our nation’s banking and financial institutions, and counterfeit suppression.
+Cyber Crime Investigations
+Consistent with recent news reports on cyber crime attacks targeting online financial systems, the Secret Service has seen an increase in network intrusions, hacking attacks, malicious software, and account takeovers leading to significant data breaches affecting every sector of the American economy.
+Last year, the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) and the International Association of Financial Crimes Investigators (IAFCI) recognized the Secret Service’s work on the TJX Companies, Inc. (TJX) investigation, which was one of the largest and most complex cases of its type in U.S. history. While cyber criminal groups operate in a world without borders, the law enforcement community does not. The transnational, multi-jurisdictional nature of these crimes has increased the time and resources needed for successful investigation and adjudication. These investigations also require seamless coordination between Secret Service domestic and international field offices, headquarters, and our law enforcement partners throughout the world. For example, in the TJX investigation, the Secret Service worked with domestic law enforcement partners as well as those in Estonia, Thailand, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Ukraine, Spain, Belarus, and Germany.
+Counterfeit Suppression
+The Secret Service’s well-established relationships with our international law enforcement partners would not be possible without our permanent presence in 22 international offices in 18 countries. In addition to the successes we have seen with respect to cyber crime investigations, our international offices have also assisted with the suppression of counterfeit U.S. currency. For example, Project Colombia is a continuation of the Secret Service’s efforts to establish and support Vetted Anti-Counterfeiting Forces (VACF) in Colombia. Since its inception in 2001, Project Colombia partners have seized approximately $239 million in counterfeit U.S. currency, arrested more than 600 suspects, suppressed close to 100 counterfeit printing plants, and reduced the amount of Colombia-originated counterfeit passed within the United States by more than 80 percent.
+As a collateral effect of our investigative successes in Colombia, the criminal element has been pushed to other parts of South America. For example, from FY 2008 to FY 2009, the Secret Service noted a 156 percent increase in worldwide passing activity of counterfeit U.S. currency emanating from Peru. These counterfeit notes, referred to as the Peruvian Note Family, have emerged as one of the leading domestically passed notes in the last 12 months. In response to the increase in passing activity of the Peruvian Note Family, which was second only to the domestic passing of digital counterfeit in FY 2008, the Secret Service formed a temporary Peruvian Counterfeit Task Force (PCTF) in collaboration and partnership with Peruvian law enforcement officials. Since opening in Lima, Peru on March 15, 2009, the PCTF has yielded 31 arrests, 17 counterfeit plant suppressions, and the seizure of more than $19 million in counterfeit U. S. currency. Due to the overwhelming success of the PCTF, the Secret Service and Peruvian law enforcement officials have agreed to extend operations for an additional six-month period in FY 2010.
+INFORMATION INTEGRATION AND TRANSFORMATION PROGRAM
+The Secret Service has become increasingly reliant on technology to support its day-to-day operations. In support of the protective and investigative mission, the Secret Service must modernize its IT infrastructure and communications systems. The network and mainframe system used today struggles to meet operational demands, and is incompatible with federal guidelines for information sharing, enterprise architecture, and privacy protection. To address these deficiencies, the Secret Service has been working with the DHS Chief Information Officer (OCIO) for several years to address immediate infrastructure concerns while providing a long-term plan to replace our legacy mainframe IT system with a modern, web-based environment that can meet the demands of today’s mission requirements.
+One example of the need for this modernization effort is the White House Communications Agency (WHCA) interoperability project. Between 2003 and 2008, WHCA modernized its telecommunications infrastructure by transitioning to Internet Protocol, or IP, for all voice, satellite, video, secure voice, and wireless communications. This modernization effort revolutionized WHCA’s overall communications capacity while rendering Secret Service systems and devices incompatible. Thanks to the funding this Committee provided in the FY 2009 Omnibus Appropriations Act, the Secret Service has initiated the upgrade of obsolete systems by integrating Radio over Internet Protocol, Voice over Internet Protocol, Secure Communications Interoperability Protocol, and multi-level secure technologies into the IT and voice infrastructure to achieve interoperability and full communications parity with WHCA. The FY 2011 budget request will enable the Secret Service to continue with these critical upgrades which will improve the security, performance, and reliability of our IT infrastructure and communications capabilities to meet mission requirements.
+In addition to the WHCA interoperability project, the FY 2011 budget request also provides funding for the Secret Service to increase the security posture of our internal network, provide more storage to handle data for existing operations, improve information sharing capabilities, allow for the scheduling and tracking of all resources needed to support mission operations, and begin the migration planning and scheduling activities related to the systems and applications that will transition from the Secret Service to DHS Data Centers.
+CONCLUSION
+The Secret Service was created in 1865 as a bureau of the Treasury Department with a sole mission to suppress the counterfeiting of United States currency. One of the earliest Congressional references to the Secret Service Division was on August 5, 1882 in an act making appropriations for the legislative, executive, and judicial expenses of the government. That act provided, “For one chief, three thousand five hundred dollars; one chief clerk, two thousand dollars; one clerk of class four; two clerks of class two; one clerk of class one; one clerk at one thousand dollars; and one attendant at six hundred eighty dollars; in all, twelve thousand nine hundred and eighty dollars.” What is striking about this early reference is not only the amount of money provided, but the focus on the people. As I have said on many occasions, the strength of the Secret Service has been, and always will be, its people.
+Despite the challenges the agency has faced over the last two years, the diverse men and women of the Secret Service remain vigilant and prepared for what lies ahead. At this moment, the Secret Service and its partners are currently engaged in security planning for the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington, DC next month, which was designated an NSSE by Secretary Napolitano on February 6, 2010. Later this year, we anticipate that the President, Vice President, and other protectees will be traveling concurrently to attend Congressional and gubernatorial campaign events around the country, and expect international travel stops to continue at a pace consistent with what we saw during the past year.
+Further, as the complexity of cyber and other crimes directed at our nation’s banking and financial institutions grows, the Secret Service will continue to foster relationships with local, state, and federal law enforcement partners through our network of ECTFs and Financial Crimes Task Forces (FCTFs). We will also continue to provide the necessary computer-based training to enhance the investigative skills of our special agent workforce through the Electronic Crimes Special Agent Program (ECSAP). Finally, since one of the main obstacles encountered by special agents investigating transnational crimes are jurisdictional limitations, the Secret Service will continue to build partnerships with our international law enforcement counterparts in the coming year to further our efforts to disrupt criminal groups abroad from targeting our nation’s critical financial infrastructure.
+In closing, I would like to thank you again for the opportunity to be here today. I look forward to working with the Committee as you consider the President’s FY 2011 budget request and would be happy to answer any questions you may have at this time.
+Rock’n’Roll Jesus
+In the beginning, there was the album.
+A rock opera conceived and composed in the wake of Tommy, based on the last seven days of Jesus Christ’s life, marked an audacious collaboration between Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice, two “upstart” newcomers.
+That was Jesus Christ Superstar, which was released in 1970. Webber and Rice had envisioned it as an ideal stage project, but producers were wary of offending audiences. Thus, it was released as an album.
+After the album became an international smash, theater producers saw the light.
+The Broadway production opened in 1971 and earned five Tony Award nominations, including one for a sharp newcomer named Ben Vereen, who played Judas Iscariot. The Broadway production, which earned mixed reviews (including one from Webber himself), nevertheless ran 18 months. Webber won the Drama Desk Award as “most promising composer.”
+The next year, the London production opened. It would run an astonishing eight years, making it the longest-running musical in London’s theater history – a record that has since been broken, amusingly enough, by other Webber shows.
+In 1973, Norman Jewison’s film version of Jesus Christ Superstar was a box-office hit and earned three Academy Award nominations. It starred Ted Neeley as Jesus and Carl Anderson (who had succeeded Vereen on Broadway) as Judas Iscariot.
+Neeley and Anderson (who died in 2004) would continue to reprise their film roles in various tours of the production, and Neeley (now 63) is still playing Jesus in a national tour that is being billed as his “farewell tour.”
+Last year, a live concert benefit performance was held in Los Angeles, reuniting Neeley with fellow film cast members Yvonne Elliman (Mary Magdalene) and Barry Dennen (Pontius Pilate), with Vereen playing Judas and Jack Black (!) playing Herod.
+Nowadays, Jesus Christ Superstar is mainstream. Countless churches and schools across the country have put on their own productions over the years. If anything, it seems the show is mainly remembered today as Andrew Lloyd Webber’s first major success (since eclipsed by the likes of Cats and The Phantom of the Opera).
+The show has become so accepted as a part of theater lexicon that many young people who weren’t born at the time might be surprised to know that Jesus Christ Superstar inspired protests, picket lines, album burnings and heated debate for months – even years – after its initial release.
+Now, the West Side Civic Theatre in Lewisville is mounting its own production of the Webber/Rice classic under the direction and choreography of the theater’s artistic director, John S. Rushton.
+For Rushton, who is also one of the founders of the theater, reaction has been minor but nevertheless mixed. Some people wonder if he’s pandering to the religious right and others still remain offended – even after almost 40 years – by the rock ‘n’ roll approach to Jesus Christ.
+Neither consideration, however, played a part in Rushton’s selection of Jesus Christ Superstar. Quite simply, he says, “It’s a great show.”
+In addition, “religion fascinates me,” Rushton says. “The quote by Nietzsche, ‘God has no religion,’ is a great quote.”
+An unabashed fan of Jesus Christ Superstar, Rushton has discussed the show many times and with many people since its initial release.
+“One thing that strikes me, to this day, is people’s inability to accept Jesus as a man,” he observes. “I think that’s where a large part of the controversy stems from, whether it’s from this show, or Martin Scorsese’s film [The Last Temptation of Christ] – which I thought was tremendously misunderstood – or Mel Gibson’s [The Passion of the Christ].
+“To me, that’s one reason it works,” Rushton says. “He was the son of God, born of man. The message is so simple. His teachings are all about love, and that’s precisely what’s depicted in the show. It’s the last seven days of Jesus’ life, right out of the Bible. But some people were offended because it was set to rock ‘n’ roll music.”
+The show focuses on Jesus’ arrival in Jerusalem and his conflicted relationship with Judas, who is so emotionally torn by what he perceives as Jesus’ indecision that he betrays him – ultimately betraying himself, as well. It is their relationship – loving but combustible, contemplative but combative – that propels the narrative forward, all of it set to rock music.
+Rushton previously directed a production of Jesus Christ Superstar at the Stained Glass Playhouse in Winston-Salem, but the opportunity to present it in an expansive, outdoor production – and on his home turf – proved irresistible.
+“I was a little bit reluctant at first,” Rushton admits. “It’s a very specific show, for the orchestra and for the performers. This has also been the tightest, toughest schedule I think I’ve ever worked on. It was a challenge, but I love challenges!”
+The cast includes Mikey Wiseman as Judas Iscariot, Laura Human as Mary Magdalene, Richard Clabaugh as Herod and, in the pivotal role of Jesus Christ, 18-year-old Matt Morris.
+Morris worked previously with Rushton and the West Side Civic Theatre on such productions as West Side Story, South Pacific and the most recent show, Seussical. He also played one of the apostles in Rushton’s previous production of Jesus Christ Superstar.
+“But this is probably my dream role,” says Morris, who’s been growing a beard, practicing the songs and working out daily to maintain his stamina onstage. “I’ve got to put my heart and soul into it, and it’s tough – both physically and emotionally.”
+“It’s a little demanding to be Jesus,” Rushton adds with a smile.
+“I’m taking a leap of faith, so to speak,” Morris says. “But that’s what it’s all about.”
+Jesus Christ Superstar “is still my favorite Andrew Lloyd Webber show,” says Rushton. “I know he’s subsequently done shows that are more successful, but I think it’s his best. There is not one weak moment in the entire show.”
+One reason for Rushton’s affection for the piece is that he was a boy when the album was originally released, and he remembers firsthand the firestorm of controversy surrounding it. Here was a fresh new approach to the Gospels (particularly the Gospel of John) that came along at just the right time, when he was just the right age.
+“I had a Sunday school teacher who actually played it instead of breaking it,” Rushton recalls. “It was one of the albums that I virtually wore out as a kid. Not only was the music cool, but it made Jesus cool. This wasn’t like a sermon. This was rock ‘n’ roll!”
+As a result, “I wanted to know more about the story it told and about the characters. To me, it wasn’t the least bit offensive. Just the opposite – it got me more interested.”
+Unlike a lot of adults at that time, “my parents were totally cool with it,” Rushton says, and “despite the controversy, way more people were turned on to the message than were turned off.”
+For someone not yet 19, Jesus Christ Superstar might seem a faded relic from the Austin Powers era, but when Morris came across his mother’s copy of the album – an artifact of her own youth – it struck a chord in him, as well.
+“I was blown away,” he says. “It is such an emotional journey and unbelievably spiritual. I really responded to it.”
+Playing Jesus, Morris says, “is absolutely the biggest chance for me to give something back to an audience. It’s a huge task, but I’m up for the challenge, and with John’s help I’m sure I’ll get there.”
+Rushton has been revisiting several films that have depicted Christ’s life or some aspect thereof, including Scorsese’s The Last Temptation of Christ (“I remember having to cross a picket line at the Thruway Cinema to see it,” he says), Gibson’s Passion of the Christ, Franco Zeffirelli’s mini-series Jesus of Nazareth and even The Da Vinci Code.
+(He hadn’t gotten around to King of Kings and The Greatest Story Ever Told at the time this interview was conducted, but “they’re in my Netflix queue,” he says.)
+In addition to the show-stopping numbers, Rushton wants his actors to find the human side of their characters – to go beyond the preconceived notion of exactly who these characters are, and find the beating heart beneath.
+History has shown that the music works, but unless the audience finds a common empathy with the characters, particularly Jesus and Judas, the show might simply be an empty spectacle.
+“We’ve got to engage their emotions,” Rushton says. “We all know the story and the characters, and we all know how the story turns out, but we’ve got to keep that underlying message to have faith in yourself. That’s what reaches an audience.”
+Seventeen-year-old Human was intrigued, and slightly wary, about playing as powerful and complex a character as Mary Magdalene. She’d only just made her West Side Civic Theatre debut with a featured role in Seussical.
+“I went from a very silly role to, like, ‘Wow!'” she recalls with a laugh.
+Like many who had read or seen The Da Vinci Code, Human was concerned about how her onstage relationship with Jesus would play out. But, she reasoned, this was Jesus Christ Superstar and not The Da Vinci Code.
+“I like the idea that Jesus was both a full man and a full god,” Human observes. “He was able to love a woman yet fulfill his destiny at the same time. He doesn’t love her in that way, but he does love her. She’s very conflicted by that. It’s such a great role and a great message, and it’s such a great opportunity.”
+Jesus Christ Superstar is only the latest in a long line of large-scale productions that Rushton has overseen at the West Side Civic Theatre, and he admits that he occasionally wishes he could do a more intimate show. But the size of the venue dictates the scope of the shows, and Shallowford Square is a large venue. Therefore, putting on a big show is a big concern, although not so big as putting on a good one.
+One problem with an outdoor venue, however, is the weather. This has been an especially hot summer, and during the month of July an especially rainy one. That put something of a damper, literally and figuratively, on the production of Seussical, where most performances had to be called because of rain or lightning.
+“It’s a shame because it was a good show,” laments Rushton, who also directed it.
+“I just hope,” he adds with a smile, “that no one upstairs has a problem with us doing Superstar.”
+Rushton’s wife Joy, herself an actress and a mainstay of the West Side Civic Theatre, is acting as the show’s musical director. How did she land the gig?
+“I work for cheap and I don’t take his crap,” she jokes, gesturing toward her husband. “We both share a common vision: Whatever really works best for the show, go with it.”
+Very often, the vision is achieved after a period of trial and error.
+“Some things we know we can do and some things we know we can try,” she says. “If there’s something I’m adamant about, John will step back and say, ‘Okay’ – and it’s the same with him. It’s simply a matter of what it takes to make the show the best that it can be.”
+Next year will mark the West Side Civic Theatre’s 10th anniversary, which proved an instant hit with local audiences. Hundreds attended the very first show, the Rodgers & Hammerstein musical Oklahoma! In more recent years, as many as 3,000 to 4,000 people will attend a single performance. Admittedly, it’s an outdoor venue and it’s free, but on certain weekends it seems as if the entire population of Lewisville is planted in Shallowford Square.
+“And that’s just how we like it,” quips Rushton.
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+Brussels, 03 December 2014
+Günther OETTINGER - Digital Economy and Society
+Ladies and gentlemen,
+Thank you for the introduction, and for inviting me here today.
+The theme of today's event is "change and innovation". This could not be more appropriate, given that we are indeed in times of great change – and I don't just mean inside the Commission!
+You don't need me to tell you that the telecom industry is changing every day. New technologies, innovations, and business models are constantly emerging.
+I am very interested to hear about the new European Broadband Cable Yearbook – I'm sure the figures will be very helpful in our work.
+And as a relative newcomer to digital, what strikes me is the importance of achieving the right balance: on the one hand allowing companies the freedom to grow, innovate, and give a much-needed boost to the European economy; and on the other hand, making sure there is a level playing field, sufficient competition, and checks and balances where there should be.
+Allow me first to speak about the over-arching theme of today – innovation - and how the European Commission is supporting inventors, SMEs, and start-ups.
+We know that ICT is responsible for half of productivity growth in the EU, and the digital sector is expected to grow seven times faster than the overall EU economy. So we must support innovation if we want this trend to continue.
+For start-ups and SMEs, our initiative "Start-Up Europe" offers a platform for sharing knowledge, offering advice on how to secure funding, how to navigate legislation, and how to scale up your business. This is an example of where the Commission provides resources and expertise, rather than funding, to achieve results.
+Another successful programme is the Grand Coalition for Digital Jobs and Skills, launched in 2013. Big names such as Google, Microsoft, Samsung and Liberty Global, as well as many small and medium sized companies, have made pledges to provide training and job opportunities for Europeans, and it's already taking effect with thousands of extra digital jobs and internships filled. The Commission facilitates this partnership, but the real commitment comes from industry.
+In terms of European funds, Horizon 2020 investment in ICT Research and Investment will amount to 12.5 billion euros between 2014 and 2020. This funding will help take ideas "from the lab to the market": from electric cars, to robots who can help care for the elderly.
+5.5 billion euros will go towards public-private partnerships in 5G, robotics, photonics, Factory of the Future, high performance computing, and big data; with thousands of stakeholders working together, pushing the boundaries of what can be achieved. And to allow true innovation you need open access: sharing knowledge and reaping the benefits of big data.
+The rest of the funding will be spent on projects supporting new cross-cutting initiatives such as Internet of Things and Cyber Security and on projects in Health, Inclusive and innovative Society, e-Infrastructures and Future and Emerging Technologies including our flagship programmes such as the Human Brain Project and Graphene. These are remarkable research programmes which involve collaboration at an unprecedented scale, all of which will help boost the EU's economy.
+But innovation must lead to investment, so let me now move on to the question of investment in the telecom sector. I know that cable has played an important role in delivering our Digital Agenda broadband targets, and we will continue to rely on you in the coming years.
+And it is right that investment should come from industry. But in recent times, we haven't seen as much investment as we would like – or as much as we really need – if we are to meet our targets of getting every European digital, and regaining our position as global leaders in the digital economy.
+With that in mind, the European Commission's aim is to provide all the right conditions, and incentives, for investment. That is why last week President Juncker launched the 315 billion euro Investment Plan to get Europe growing again.
+The new European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI), which will be set up within the European Investment Bank, will have a 16 billion euro guarantee from the EU budget and 5 billion euro contribution by the EIB. Additionally, Member States will have the opportunity to contribute to the Fund by paying in capital.
+The announcement of the Fund is good news for broadband and digital infrastructure projects which can be financed through financial instruments. In particular rolling out high-speed internet networks is essential to foster innovation and productivity and help restoring Europe's competitiveness.
+But this is not the only thing that the European Commission has done to help encourage investment in high speed broadband networks – the backbone of our economy, and our daily lives.
+In late 2013 the Commission came forward with a Recommendation on costing and non-discrimination. This gives an integrated set of pro-competitive rules that will last until at least 2020, giving market players stability and legal certainty over their revenue streams.
+The Recommendation stabilises prices for the 'old' copper networks and ensures consistent broadband access pricing across Member States.
+In return for the increased safeguards provided by the stricter non-discrimination rules, investing operators get the necessary pricing flexibility to experiment with pricing schemes for Next Generation Access services to meet demand.
+The Recommendation will also help ensure that regulatory intervention only takes place where it is most useful for alternative operators, and least burdensome to incumbents' normal commercial activities.
+Secondly, the Directive on broadband cost reduction adopted earlier this year will improve access to networks, guarantee better coordination of civil works - including across utilities - streamline permit granting and equipment for building high speed networks. The implementation of the directive will allow for up to 30% savings in the total investment costs.
+Thirdly, in October we adopted a revised Recommendation on Relevant Markets Susceptible to Ex-Ante Regulation. The recommendation is a further step towards liberalisation of the sector, as two markets were removed from the list. We also redefined the boundaries of broadband markets and recognized that “virtual access products” can be considered substitutes to physical unbundling when they fulfil certain characteristics.
+These measures may not be as well-known or discussed in the media as, say, the Telecoms Single Market package – but they will make a real difference for companies, and are a crucial part of the puzzle.
+Now I know you want to know my views on regulation, and talking of the Telecoms Single Market package, let me use this opportunity to tell you about the work my colleague Andrus Ansip and I want to take forward in the coming months.
+I think everyone in this room would agree on the need to complete the digital single market for the simple reason that it will make life easier – and more profitable – for businesses throughout the EU. You don't have to be an industry expert to understand that breaking down virtual barriers, and cutting red tape, will reduce administrative burdens which might be hindering businesses from expanding or doing business across all the EU.
+Why deal with 28 different sets of rules, when one is so much quicker?
+Today an SME that wants to sell across the EU is faced with 28 different sets of rules in areas like data protection, contract law or even consumer rules.
+Why limit your product to one country, when you have a whole continent full of potential customers?
+But today consumers are penalised - by being redirected to their national web site, being geo blocked, having their credit card refused, or experience excessive shipping costs.
+So there is a need to get this right. And of course this positive effect will be felt by our 510 million citizens who don't see the complicated rule-making processes that you and I are privy to: they simply expect instant, unfaltering, high-quality services at their fingertips, 24/7.
+Plans for a Digital Single Market will be included in the Commission Work Programme in mid-December, with the aim of presenting the strategy for a European Digital Single Market in the first half of next year.
+But first things first. We must first finalise the work on the Telecoms Single Market package. Without a telecom single market, we cannot achieve a digital single market.
+At the Telecoms Council last week which I attended, Member States sent a clear call to intensify and quickly complete the discussions at technical level in order to start negotiations with Parliament as soon as possible.
+Once this is done, and in the course of 2015, in the context of the Digital Single Market, we will be launching a full review of the EU regulatory framework for electronic communications to see what needs to be adapted in this ever-changing sector. There will be amble opportunities for you to express your views through the relevant consultation mechanisms and I will be looking forward to your input. I'm thus not going to pre-empt that review here today.
+Going back to the Telecoms Single Market, besides the end of roaming and more coordination in spectrum one very important part of the package is of course net neutrality. The European Commission's position on net neutrality has been articulated many times, but allow me to do so once again for clarity.
+In an open Internet everyone should have access to services and applications without being blocked. Content and application providers will have guaranteed access to end-users.
+At the same time, we need a balanced approach: on the one hand no blocking or throttling of online content, applications and services, while at the same time guaranteeing efficient network management, and leaving space for continued network and service innovation.
+The rules will need to allow the provision of innovative services, such as IPTV or other services that can emerge in the future, on condition that these do not harm the open Internet.
+It is clear however that such services that require a certain transmission quality in order to work (so-called "Specialised services", such as IPTV or critical emergency or health applications) must not come at the expense of the quality of the Internet connection already paid for by other customers.
+As you know, this is an ongoing discussion between the legislators. I am looking forward to mediating between the Council's emerging position and that voted by the Parliament in April.
+Unfortunately I am not able to stay for the rest of the event today but I look forward to meeting with many of you in the future.
+Thank you.
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+The median home value in Gilbert, AZ is $289,650.
+This is
+higher than
+the county median home value of $226,200.
+The national median home value is $185,800.
+The average price of homes sold in Gilbert, AZ is $289,650..
+WOW! This 5 bdrm 3.5 bath plus a bonus room is bursting w/ UPGRADES! Handscraped wood floors, 18'' travertine, & 51/2'' baseboards, wood shutters & blinds, plus custom curtains!! Gourmet Kitchen boasts cherry cabinets w/ 4.5'' in crown molding, granite, Dacor double ovens, Gas stove, stainless steel appliances, & cabinet depth refrigerator. Custom lighting underneath cabinets & desk in the kitchen. Roll outs, Pot rack, Lazy susan, & R/O system. Soft water. Alarm system. Built in tech center upstairs. Downstairs bedroom w/ bathroom - great for MOTHER-IN LAW SUITE. Master room has a big sitting area room, Built in dresser in master closet. 3 car garage with epoxy paint. Front courtyard w/ pavers. Grass & citrus tree & built in stone fire pit. Popular school and large park down the street.
+Energy efficient Meritage home features a full bedroom and bathroom on the main floor with the gorgeous kitchen overlooking the family room and dining area. Kitchen has upgraded cabinetry and large center island with additional cabinet space. Upstairs features large loft and laundry room. Extra space under the stairs has been made into a small children's play area. Home is equipped with keyless entry, OWNED solar panels, security system wiring, dual A/C, and reverse osmosis system.
+Situated in a Single Story Neighborhood with 4 bedrooms split , 2.5 baths, 3 car tandem garage, This is ready for occupancy, lightly lived in well maintained 5.5 years old. New Exterior Paint 2016, Pebble Sheen Pool 2014, Muti Color LED Pool Light. Solar Screens, Upgraded Lighting, Owned Security System complete with Cameras. Highly Desired CTA Freedom Elementary. Next to proposed Gilbert Regional Park (to be built) Gas Stub for BBQ, Ext Patio, North/South Exp. Many Extras. Owner/Agent Buyer to verify information..
+You have to check out this beautiful 4 bedroom 2 bath home in Gilbert! Come inside and check out the lovely vaulted ceilings and fireplace surrounded by built in shelving. The kitchen is huge with an amazing island, plenty of counter top and cabinet space and all black appliances. The master bedroom features double sinks, spacious closet, and separate shower and tub. Relax in the backyard under the covered patio or go for a swim in this crystal clear pool while the dogs run around in the grass. This home definitely won�t last long so make sure you schedule a showing today!!
+Great 5 bed/3.5 bath home. Very bright and open floor. North and south exposure, open kitchen with maple cabinets, gas stove, stainless steel appliances, built in microwave, kitchen island, extra bedroom downstairs with full bathroom, desert landscaping front and back, covered patio and much more...
+THIS BEAUTIFUL TWO LEVEL HOME WITH 5 BEDROOMS, 4.5 BATHROOMS, OFFICE, KITCHEN, FAMILY ROOM, DINING AREA, BACK YARD WITH A PRIVATE POOL AND SPA TO ENJOY. THERE IS A BEDROOM WITH BATHROOM DOWNSTAIRS, AS WELL AS A 1/2 BATH, OFFICE THE REST OF THE BEDROOMS ARE UPSTAIRS INCLUDING THE MASTER BEDROOM. THIS PROPERTY IS LOCATED IN A NICE QUIET COMMUNITY, CLOSE TO SCHOOLS, PARKS, RESTAURANTS AND MUCH MORE. THIS IS A SHORT SALE APPROVAL IS.
+This home offers one of the best locations in La Aldea. Across from community pool/spa and adjacent to common area. 2 car tandem garage, ceiling fans throughout, custom paint throughout. HOA maintained front yard. Upgraded kitchen cabinet with crown molding. Conveniently located near schools and shopping centers and is a short distance to both freeways.
+You must bring your clients to this gorgeous move-in ready home that looks like a model! This beautiful home offers 4 bedrooms plus a den and 2 bathrooms. The gourmet kitchen features granite counters, gas cooktop, stainless appliances and beautiful 42'' cabinetry. Kitchen has a breakfast bar, and a large walk-in pantry. The great room floor plan has split bedrooms with 20'' diagonal tile in all the right places. Sliding door opens to a covered patio with a beautiful yard, artificial grass for easy maintenance and above ground spa w/mountain views. The master retreat also has access to the backyard. Master bath has double sinks, large walk-in shower and walk-in closet. The home also features surround sound, brand new r/o system, water softener, 2 car extended garage, RV gate and much more
+You will fall in love with this unique one of a kind awesome home! Corner lot located at the start of a Cul de sac has a front court yard which begins the amazing tour of the home and yard. As you enter into the great room, your eye settle on the full length stacked stone fireplace surround. Wood flooding in most areas, travertine flooring and Granite counter in kitchen, all appliances stay, plantation shutters and blinds throughout. Enjoy many hours in your private pool and extended patio area on an oversize lot. Immaculately maintained boasts a privacy wall around the backyard. A double gate entry for large items to pass through if needed. Split floor plan offering 2 bedrooms & 2 baths plus den. You won't be disappointed. Welcome Home!!!!
+A stunning 2016 Built and more. As you enter the warm colors of the home welcomes you. upgraded Tile throughout the home matching the beautiful dark brown maple cabinets. Nicely done granite peninsula in the kitchen perfect for the daily breakfast to share with the family. Gorgeous Backs-plash white subway in herringbone pattern. As you continue to walk from the family room into the enjoyable backyard you will find a built-in BBQ, Firepit with Natural gas and a Built-in Bar with Travertine Top. Master bedroom has a walking shower and double sinks for his/her. Garage floors cover with Epoxy. This home has several thousands on upgrades from a standard home in the community. Ready for your buyers.
+This STUNNING Shea home in Chaparral Estates is bright, open, move-in ready, and is located in one of the ''hottest'' areas in Gilbert--close to the 202, San Tan Mall, shopping, restaurants, Gilbert Mercy hospital, and more. Beautiful hard wood flooring & tile through-out, split bedroom floor plan, beautiful stone elevation, pleasant neutral colors throughout, formal living/dining and a large separate family room with media niche! Kitchen includes Stainless Steel appliances, pantry, HUGE center island and LOADED with additional cabinetry for storage! Master features double sinks, oval tub, separate shower and huge walk-in closet! Inside laundry and garage have built-in cabinets. In a cul-de-sac with minimal traffic and easy access to the elementary school. Fabulous 5 bedroom home in Gilbert's El Dorado Lakes community is turn key. No need to preview - this home is spotless and shows very well. Features include: neutral colors throughout, new interior/ exterior paint, new carpet, gorgeous tile flooring in the Entry, family room, kitchen, laundry and bathrooms. The kitchen has granite tile c-tops, stainless steel appliances, tile backsplash and recessed lighting. The lush green grass, big covered patio, and pebble sheen pool w/ soothing water feature and recently resurfaced decking all provide a backyard oasis, perfect for entertaining friends and family.
+Relax on the balcony of this two-story unit! Travel upstairs to reach the family room. Stainless steel appliances, granite countertops, and a bar top counter characterize the kitchen, and the dining room enjoys a sliding glass door exit to the balcony. The Master suite is complete with a walk-in closet and an ensuite with dual sinks and a private toilet room. The secondary bedrooms share a full bath. Accessible via I-202. Nearby LA Fitness, and shopping and dining options at Power Marketplace. Home comes with a 30-day satisfaction guarantee and one-year premium warranty. Terms and conditions apply.!
+Where else can you find a 4 Bed/3 FULL Bath & 3-Car garage home on a cul-de-sac lot in a lake community as desirable as The Islands? Only steps away from the community pool, spa & greenbelt, this former model is loaded with extras: Huge Master Suite w/ sitting room, dual closets, separate shower/tub & balcony; high vaulted ceilings; French doors; bay windows; 20''x20'' diagonal tile; brand new carpet; fireplace in family room; R/O & water softener; ceiling fans; alarm system; covered patio; low maintenance flagstone backyard; fire pit; cactus garden; new water heater, garage door opener & more. Front yard maintained by the HOA! Highly regarded Islands Elementary & Mesquite HS 1/4 mile away. Live in the center of everything: close to Downtown Gilbert, AZ60 and under 30 mins to Sky Harbor
+5BR+3BA+3G with 2 BR & 1BA down. Large BR#5 has private entry and adjacent to BA for perfect mother-in-law quarters downstairs. All updated SS appliances, BA fixtures and ceiling fans. You get formal DR+LR+FR+eat-in kitchen with bay window in addition to the upstairs loft with skylight. The large A/C replaced in 2014. Exterior fully painted 2017. The professionally landscaped backyard includes covered patio wired for TV; pebble-tek playpool with waterfall and updated tile, cool deck, pump/filter and cleaning system. There is a fire pit with paver brick connected to the cool deck and patio. This is in addition to the grassy back play area with auto watering front and rear. Close to the 202 fwy and the US 60 fwy.
+This AMAZING, upgraded Silverhawke 4bdrm home is calling your name. You'll love the modern kitchen w/stylish white cabinets, granite coutnertops, new flooring, stainless steel appliances & sizable walk-in pantry. The formal dining/living rm is bright & open w/vaulted ceilings. The master suite is spacious w/an equally generous bathroom & walk-in closet. One bdrm w/full bath on the 1st flr is great for guests or just as an office/den. Fresh interior paint, new carpeting & plenty of storage under the stairwell, in the laundry rm & 3 car garage. Outdoors, relax under the extended length covered patio & enjoy some freshly picked fruit. Fantastic location, just 1 mile from trendy Down Town Gilbert, public pool, plenty of shopping/dining & freeway access. Don't miss out, see this home today!
+Rare opportunity to own a beautiful home on an acre in Gilbert with horse privileges! Located on a county island, this home has no HOA, no street lights, and is tucked back on a private road, so no traffic! This gorgeous home features 3,800 SqFt of living space, a massive great room! The down stairs master suite features a large walk in closet, claw foot tub, walk-in shower, and dual pedestal sinks to finish off that "Farm House" feel! . The upstairs features 3 massive bedrooms, with one having its own private entry from the laundry room, making it an excellent game room / bedroom suite. This home has tons of natural light, beautiful hardwood floors, spacious kitchen with tons of cabinets, granite counters, and storage!
+A Few Improvements for Firefox's Android UI 81."
+Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
+Re: (Score:2)
+Re: (Score:3)
+Re: (Score:2)
+Chrome does the same thing too. And Firefox supports Flash where Chrome doesn't (on a Nexus 4). And finally: AdBlock+, and any number of addons FTW!
+Re: (Score:1)
+Flash support is really where it's at for Firefox on Android. The default browser did work with the flash plugin for me, but it was horrendously slow and required enabling flash for the entire page which made flash advertisements go active and rape performance (on a 1.4Ghz dual core tegra chip). Firefox I can just enable the video and actually use the 720 streams (1080 has audio sync issues outside of mxplayer).
+Re:Slow news day? (Score:4, Interesting)
+With Chrome, your sync data is governed by the Google Privacy Policy [google.com] which basically means they can plunder it any way they feel like to serve you ads.
+Re: (Score:2)
+As in, the the server has no idea what the data is that its storing. The server just facilitates key generation...
+Wait...that can't be right...if the server is generating (and therefore has) the keys, then it can decrypt the stream, no?
+Re: (Score:3)
+Re: (Score:1)
+Re:Slow news day? (Score:5, Informative)
+Give Mozilla credit man?
+They are improving it vastly as Firefox 3.6 was beh and 4.0 was frankly aweful. The mobile versions for Android 2.x were terrible too. But that is not the case anymore. So much so I find myself starting to use it again in a non irritational like way and even like it.
+I think one browser engine is harmful and I do not care if it is better. Ie 6 was far better than Netscape and even Mozilla 1.2 sadly and people forget that.
+I do not want a webkit future no more than I wanted a IE 6 only future a decade ago. Website owners have to use all sorts of hacks with -webkit prefixes and strange relatie:position bugs that do not exist in IE nor Firefox. Many bash IE and Firefox for not being -webkit standard while ignoring W3C standards. It is not nearly as bad as it was but it is going in that direction as sites like HTML5test.com rush to benchmark futures that only exist in webkit to prove that any other browser sucks which are not even part of the W3C standard.
+Re: (Score:2)
+Re: (Score:2)
+Oh yeah, great point Mr Anon, by your logic Linux must be the most insecure operating system around because of its dominance on embedded devices and phone.
+Re: (Score:2)
+I agree with you completely except that I think Firefox should ditch Gecko for Webkit (aka Konqueror web part). There's a lot more to a browser than a rendering engine.
+Wow, modded by a Mozilla troll or what?
+Re: (Score:2)
+...eople with common sense who know their history.
+Hah. You not being one of them.
+Gecko is the hairball developed for Seamonkey after tearing up the even nastier hairball inherited from Netscape. Webkit is the Konqueror web component lightly skinned by Apple and as such, is every bit as "pure and open" as Gecko. And a lot cleaner. Nothing stops Mozilla foundation from moving to it, and they can even GPL their fork of it, which in my opinion, would be a wise thing to do.
+Re: (Score:2)
+It's the same reason that I value having Linux around as a desktop OS, even if I don't personally run Linux as my desktop OS and prefer
+Re: (Score:2)
+The problem with trident being the only browser engine wasn't just the single, but also that the sole developer was anti web browsers as a platform.
+google wants the web to be the way to go, they'd prefer to not pay royalties to other people, but they're entire business is about a strong web, the opposite of Microsoft's vision, so I don't think it'd be the end.
+Re: (Score:2)
+Given that it is in the 10-50 million installs bracket (in spite of the fact that the current incarnation hasn't been around that long) I think this item is more relevant then most on
+/.
+I think there are many reasons it is great, but the most important for most users is that it sync's with desktop Firefox. So, I would say that Firefox for Android is the best choice for a mobile browser for anyone who uses desktop Firefox, and that must be hundreds of millions of users.
+Re: (Score:1)
+Chrome for Android is better in every way, except no Adblock.
+Unfortunately Firefox for Android regularly freezes up on me, choking on pages that Chrome renders without trouble.
+I wish they would fix things like that before working on the UI.
+-webkit-Here's why -moz-Here's why -ms-Here's why (Score:3)
+Thats because web designers use webkit CSS and not the W3c one whenever it detects a small screen.
+Perhaps part of it is because the effects needed to make the UI that users of devices with a small screen expect aren't in the latest W3C Recommendation, and the names of those effects differ between WebKit and Gecko by the prefix [slashdot.org].
+Re:Slow news day? (Score:5, Insightful)
+Re: (Score:3)
+Firefox for Android was important when it was first envisioned because the default browser for Android sucked. Today the default browser is Chrome and its much, much, more usable. About the only thing I think Firefox is better than the stock Android browser (Chrome) is that you can get reliable adblock working for it, something you can't do (or at least couldn't do) with the stock browser.
+Adblock and Orbot (Tor) without root access are pretty good reasons why some people use it.
+Re:Slow news day? (Score:4, Insightful)
+Perhaps the most important differentiator is one you don't see: putting user privacy first.
+Re:Slow news day? (Score:5, Insightful)
+I've found Chrome offers no benefits over the latest versions of Firefox. At all. In fact, Firefox feels noticeably faster, more responsive, more extensible, and doesn't feel like a skeleton still waiting to be filled. It also feels like it's moving more quickly, somehow.
+I think it's really down to perception more than anything. I've heard a lot of people badmouth Firefox lately simply because it's Firefox, and praise Chrome simply because it's Chrome.
+Sounds about right to me. Generally, people still want Google to annihilate any competition because thats their browser of choice and again, generally, people want to validate their choice as correct by making it look like at the only proper choice.
+/me generalizes a lot, but really, that's how it is.
+Re: (Score:2)
+Adblock is more than enough reason for me to keep using Firefox
+Re: (Score:2)
+For me it's the awesome bar in Firefox that I've grown to depend on desktop, too. I just type a letter or two of the most frequent sites I visit and there it is. Android chromes are miserable at that and for me that's a game changer.
+Re: (Score:2)
+However I also have an Asus T300 which sucks pretty badly with Firefox with frequent "application not responding" messages. I don't know if it's the device or the software since the T300 has pretty poor IO performance which might be causing an bottleneck.
+Re: (Score:2)
+I use Firefox Beta on Android myself, but I do throw in some useful add-ons of course. Now it has click-to-play, Flashblock is less important (yes, I sideload Flash for the sites that need it), but I do install Adblock Plus to keep myself sane. Another obviously useful add-on on an Android tablet is Phony - set it to be "desktop Firefox" and you get the full desktop versions of all sites rather than some half-baked mobile version.
+Whilst Firefox isn't any better or worse than Chrome on the desktop, I do thin
+Re: (Score:2)
+I think you may be confused.
+Chrome isn't the 'default Android browser'. Chrome can be the default, if you download and set it up that way. But the 'default', at least as in ASOP and Cyanogenmod, is just "Browser". It's likely based on the same chrome engine, but it isn't Chrome (at least a recent version of it).
+I've been using Browser on my (Cyanogenmod 10) phone for the past couple months because the latest Chrome (which has been getting slower and more buggy for the past year on Android) is too glitchy to
+Re: (Score:2)
+It's likely based on the same chrome engine, but it isn't Chrome (at least a recent version of it).
+While they both use WebKit, the version in Browser contains a significant number of optimisations not present in Chrome.
+In contrast... Firefox for Android is actually faster
+I installed every Android browser I could find trying to find one that gave me fine-grained control over cookies, yet even FireFox only had an option to always allow, always reject, and didn't allow deleting individual ones. This is something we've had on desktop browsers for a decade. I have no idea why Android browsers suck so much in this respect. I can understand Google not wanting
+Re: (Score:2)
+Firefox is better than Chroume on Android (Score:2)
+I use a lot of tabs. I cannot stand the way Chrome handles tabs. Firefox is better at tab management and history management.
+Re: (Score:1)
+Re: (Score:2)
+I use it in large part because so many of the browser addons I like on my desktop systems work just fine with it, and also because I can have a different set of standard browser cookies for various things and maintain some professional/personal separation.
+The only real problem I have with it is that many, many "mobile" web sites seem to be coded with the assumption that all mobile browsers are WebKit, so mobile sites are occasionally inconvenient to visit.
+Re: (Score:2)
+There's no easy method that I can see, if anyone here knows a way I'd appreciate learning how. A couple of weeks ago I googled for it, and fo
+Re: (Score:2)
+Downloaded Firefox on the tablet last night and it works well, looks like a tossup between the two browsers right now. I'll wait and see what happens when Opera releases their new version in a month or so.
+Flash is the reason (Score:3).
+Re:Flash is the reason (Score:4, Informative)
+Yes Google has deprecated iGoogle and is going to kill it completely later this year, but damnit, I like my iGoogle homepage!
+It's also nice to have three different browsers around for those situations where a webpage just doesn't render right in one or the other. But I generally prefer Chrome for Android for most of my daily browsing. It's quick at rendering and loading, and since it uses WebKit most web pages just work correctly (but not all of them!)
+I don't use Firefox sync any longer, even though I only browse with Firefox on my desktop computers. I used it for a while, but it was killing my battery because it was always doing its syncing thing. Once I turned that feature off my battery life went way up.
+Re: (Score:3)
+I think Firefox Sync has been fixed. I had similar issues but those are gone now.
+I use Firefox Beta instead of nightly (nightly seems to regularly kill Sync in various ways, that make the browser either slow, or eat battery).
+Had been using it with Sync for 2 month now, zero issue. And it starts faster than nightly (i guess its due to something like debug code being shipped with nightly, although, I didn't check)
+Re: (Score:2)
+Re: (Score:2)
+Re: (Score:1)
+I keep trying, but can't find how to private browse, hopefully It's far more.intuitive now.
+Re: (Score:2)
+Really? How many people even use Firefox for Android?
+I use Opera Mobile for now, but once Firefox for Android becomes useable I won't hesitate a second to switch, Adblock Plus and automatic sync are just so good features.
+Re: (Score:2)
+Just because you don't use it, doesn't mean no one use it.
+Firefox is a good browser, have features that other android browser don't have (or are in two or more different browsers), comes from a trusted company (security and privacy point of view).
+Not all people uses the same phones, mini-tablets, tablets... each type of device and usage makes one app better than others.
+finally, competition is good, we all win with it!
+Start page (Score:3, Interesting)
+The start page showing the browser history was a deal breaker. Did they get rid of that?
+Re: (Score:2)
+Firefox becomes Firefox OS? (Score:3)
+I don't have much to say about the mobile browser; I don't really use a mobile browser all that much and Dolphin works fine for what I need.
+But when I clicked on the links in the summary, much to my dismay, I find that the Firefox team is embarking on some grand plan to have a unified look and feel across all platforms. They call it Project Kilimanjaro or some such thing. And by that I mean eschewing any attempt to look like it belongs on a platform, and to go its own way, Google Chrome-style. Bad enough that Gnome thinks it is an operating system, but now Firefox? I just want a browser that fits with my desktop theme, and looks like a normal app. I don't need an "experience."
+I don't get it. Maybe I'm too old. I'm totally happy with the way Firefox looks and works with my GTK theme extension that I've kept alive for the last few firefox versions (well I'm on 10ESR right now). And tabs on top never made sense to me. When a tab is up that doesn't have a url bar or a search box, how do do a search? With tabs on bottom, I just hit the search bar, type, hit alt-enter, and a new tab with my results shows up, no matter what my current tab looks like.
+Anyway, it seems like we're regressing in terms of UI design. I guess years of research (not to mention that milions of people have learned things a certain way) doesn't mean much.
+Re: (Score:2)
+Firefox doesn't override your title bar and OS windows management controls.
+Now then again I don't specially like some the new UI either but, those are mockups and not implemented.
+Re: (Score:2)
+It does on Windows, unless you set various options that aren't really supported and are likely to break when the big theme refresh lands.
+The new UI is happening, too. See, for instance, this blog post [msujaws.wordpress.com] about the changes to customization that will restrict what you can do with the UI. Or the UX branch [mozilla.org], which has curvy tabs already.
+Extensions can probably address many of the problems they're introducing, but -- particularly with the theme changes -- it's really getting to the point where an actual fork would b
+How 'bout speed? (Score:2)
+My android has a dual-core 1.8ghz chip in it, and Firefox runs like absolute shit on it.
+Re: (Score:1)
+My android has a dual-core 1.8ghz chip in it, and Firefox runs like absolute shit on it.
+Well here's another bit of anecdata- runs just fine on my single-core 1 GHz phone (HTC One V.)
+Re: (Score:1)
+Well, even my Dell Streak 7, which has an inferior dualcore and still runs Android 2.2.2, runs the latest Firefox at least as well as the Webkit browsers I have on it. And it runs more responsively than even Chrome on my quad-core 4.2 device. So there.
+Re: (Score:2)
+i have a dual core A9 at 1.6Ghz on a ICS and it runs just fine, same speed or faster than "browser" or chrome... so exactly what is your problem? maybe the problem is somewhere else or trigger by something, like the internet connection speed, number of tab openned, flash, heavy javascript, etc
+Re: (Score:2)
+HTC Evo 3D here.
+It takes forever to start up, and it seems to take an inordinately long time to process and render fairly simple pages such as wikipedia entries. It doesn't seem to matter if I'm connected via cellular radio or via wifi. In fact, even pages local to my SD card take a while to render.
+Bookmark folders?? Ability to sort bookmarks?? (Score:2)
+Sadly, doesn't look like it, yet. *Sigh*
+I just *love* scrolling through all my bookmarks looking for one I know I have in there. Yes, I know, I can use the search bar to find it, but that doesn't really help when I just want to browse bookmarks of a particular type...for example, restaurants, or online stores.
+In the past, I have stored these bookmark types in their own folders, then when I'm feeling peckish (for food or toys
+:), I'll just open the relevant bookmark folder and see what looks 'appetizing' to
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+Class 3A Track Regional (at St Marys) Results (5-18-18) - click here
+Spots at the State meet were up for grabs on Friday at St Marys and 11 area Class 3A schools qualified athletes for the State meet in Wichita.
+Nemaha Central Thunder rolled to big performance at Regionals with a multitude of athletes earning a trip to Wichita. The lady Thunder claimed the Regional title in convincing fashion posting 130 total points and won by 31 points. Six individual event Regional titles were captured by the Thunder girls on the day including the 4x100 meter relay (Hannah Macke, Laura Macke, Kramer, Rottinghaus) who posted a time of 51.44 to win the race. Rottinghaus who was a part of the 4x100 also won the long jump and triple jump with leaps of 17'01 and 36'00.75, while Kramer who also ran in the 4x100 took first in the 100 meter dash behind a time of 12.75. Jacy Dalinghaus tossed her way to first in the discus and javelin with throws of 123'06 and 141'04. Rottinghaus added a second place finish in the 200 meter dash, while Kramer placed second in the long jump and third in the 200 and Dalinghaus took second in the shot put. Laura Macke snagged a third place in the javelin and fourth in the high jump, while Hannah Macke placed fourth in the 800 meter run. Also Dani Mueting and Ashley Hammes each qualified for State for Nemaha Central girls placing second in the pole vault and fourth in the 100 meter hurdles, respectively.
+For the Nemaha Central boys Caleb Henry led the way as he won the Regional title in the pole vault with a vault of 12'06 as the boys as a team took third. The 4x400 meter relay (Suther, Isaac Haverkamp, Alex Haug, Buessing) earned a second place finish, while the 4x100 meter relay (Luke Haverkamp, Isaac Haverkamp, Suther and Buessing) took fourth place on the day. Zachary Buessing posted a pair of second place finishes in the 110 and 300 meter hurdles, while Dalton Schmelzle and Dalton Schultejans each registered a third place finish coming in the triple jump and pole vault. Alec Suther qualified for State by placing fourth in the 100 and 200 meter dashes, while Matt Baumgartner and Nathan Deters each took fourth in the triple jump and shot put.
+Using 82 total points the Perry Lecompton boys captured the Regional title at St Marys winning by less than four points. Four individual event wins led the charge for the Kaw boys including the 4x400 (Kellum, Packard, Mallonee, Quinlan) and 4x800 meter relay (Packard, Bartlett, Joshua LeClair, Jessye Schumann) teams posting times of 3:31.19 and 8:51.15 to win each event. Shane Quinlan sprinted to a time fo 51.51 to win the 400 meter dash and took second in the 200, while Colton Mallonee won the triple jump with a leap of 43'00.50. A second place finish was earned by Ty Packard in the 800 meter run, while Dalton Kellum took third in the 100 meter dasha and James Bartlett finished third in the 800 meter run. Caden Dean also made State placing fourth in the long jump and Jessye Schumann took fourth in the 800 meter run. Leading the lady Kaws was Talisa Stone who won the high jump with a leap of 5'02, while the 4x100 meter relay (Coleman, Rylee Paramore, Jolie Hirsch, Kellum) took third place. Cali Coleman, Mykiah McDaniel and Haley Kellum each registered a fourth place finish to earn a spot at State posting their performances in the 100 meter dash, discus and triple jump.
+Both Sabetha girls and boys finished in the top four teams at Regionals placing third and fourth, respectively as several Bluejay athletes qualified for State. A pair of Regional titles led the lady Bluejays as the 4x800 meter relay (Lukert, Hunter Lowdermilk, Nicole Kuenzi, McAfee) team posted a time of 10:16.79 to win, while Skylar McAfee who was a part of that relay also won the 800 meter run with a time of 2:32.39. Both the 4x400 (Lukert, Kinley Schuette, Morgan Schuette, McAfee) and the 4x100 (Abby Hinton, Hannah Wertenberger, Morgan Schuette, Kinley Schuette) meter relay teams each qualified after second and fourth place finishes. Hattie Lukert earned second place in both the 400 and 800 meter runs, while Megan Meyer and Gracie Saner each placed third in the high jump and pole vault and Kinley Schuette took fourth in the 300 meter hurdles.
+Leading the Sabetha boys was Mason Engelken as he swept the Regional hurdles posting times of 14.73 and 40.30 to win the 100 and 300 meter hurdles. Second place was earned by Elliot Strahm in the shot put, Braeden Cox in the high jump and the 4x800 meter relay team (Cox, Kaden Dillon, Henry Glynn, Micah Romines). Kyle Grimm tossed this way to third in the javelin and fourth in the discus, while the 4x400 meter relay team (Engelken, Cox, Glynn, Romines) took third and Andrew Frazee placed fourth in the 110 meter hurdles.
+Royal Valley girls led the Panthers performances at Regionals as they lady Panthers took fourth as a team. Ivy Fink earned second place in the high jump to lead the lady Panthers, while Morgan Harvey finished third in both the 100 meter dash and triple jump. Mary Broxterman qualified for State with a third place finish in the 300 meter hurdles and fourth in the 200 meter dash, while McKenzie Hegemann placed fourth in the pole vaultl and Chloe Richter took fourth in the 1600 meter run. The girls 4x400 meter relay team (Fink, Hegemann, Jaden Flemming, Broxterman) also earned a State spot after a fourth place finish. The best finish individually for Royal Valley at Regionals was Kain Fink has he won the high jump behind a leap of 6'00. Garrett Hicks and Mikal Kitchkommie each took second in the pole vault and 100 meter dash, while Gavin Cumpton placed third in the 110 meter hurdles and Kobe Mills finished fourth in the 400 meter dash. The Panther boys 4x100 meter relay team (Chance Lyming, Cumpton, Devon Hale, Mills) is also headed to State after a third place finish.
+Hiawatha Red Hawk girls earned a fifth place team finish at Regionals and had a pair of individual event winners. Katherine Madsen with a time of 6:00.73 won the 1600 meter run, while Elizabeth Kettler posted a time of 12:32.50 to win the 3200 meter run. Madsen added a second place finish in the 3200 to her day, while Claire Geiger took third in the the 100 meter hurdles. Hiawatha boys were led by Justin Hodge who won the 3200 meter run with a time of 10:38.23 and took second in the 1600 meter run. Brode Jones placed third in the discus, while Liam Jones each finished fourth in the 3200 meter run.
+Four individual Regional titles led the Pleasant Ridge Rams performances at St Marys on Friday. Emma Schwinn swept the girls hurdles with times of 16.71 and 48.94 to win the 100 and 300 meter hurdles, while Luke Oatney took first in the boys 800 and 1600 meter runs with times of 4:40.86 and 2:01.07. Glynn Smith also qualified for State for Pleasant Ridge after taking second in the boys triple jump and third in the long jump.
+ACCHS Tigers had four athletes qualify for State led by Tucker Smith who qualified in two events after taking second in the 400 meter dash and third in the 200 meter dash. Trystin Myers placed third in the boy’s 300 meter hurdles, while Victoria Caplinger took second in the girls 1600 meter run and Jaycee Ernzen finished fourth in the 400 meter dash.
+Maur Hill-Mount Academy had Sara Domann earn second in the girls 300 meter hurdles, while Heather Ronnebaum took third in the girl’s 400 meter dash and Taylor Folsom placed third in the boy’s high jump.
+Alexi Adams led Oskaloosa's performances as she posted a time of 1:00.92 to win the girls 400 meter dash, while Jaden Courter took third in both the shot put and discus.
+A pair of fourth place finishes led Mclouth as Baylee Wolfe took fourth in the girls 3200 meter run and Sarah Dailey placed fourth in the girl’s shot put.
+Connor Winter led Horton as he won the boys shot put with a toss of 47'03.75.
+Class 3A State competition will take place with the rest of the classes on Friday and Saturday, May 25th-26th in Wichita at Cessna stadium.
+©2018 MSC Sports
+Hiawatha, KS 66434
+EEO Public Report
+Uncomfortable conversations with myself
+The most traumatic thing that happened to me in 2019 set me on a path of deep reflection and honest evaluation of where life was taking me. In those moments, it seemed like it had all come to a grinding halt and was about to unravel to complete failure. I feared the panic attacks, wished away the depression and felt like a passenger on a conveyor belt to Who Knows Where. My personal life was in shambles because I’d refused to seek help after my divorce and tried to ignore the pain away. In hindsight, it was the pause that I needed. I was forced to stop, pull myself towards myself and make a start on the path towards fixing me. It’s been a truly transformative period. I got caught up in the momentary detour and failed to consider it’s part in the bigger context of my life as a story that is still in process of unfolding.
+One of the most pivotal memories that sits with me is from my childhood. It is so visceral and so real to me that every time I think about it I feel like I’m right back there in that moment. It’s the one memory that has driven me to achieve. It underlies my ambitions and has resulted in the need to continuously do and be better – which has proven to be both a good and bad thing for me.
+I was about 6 years old or maybe even slightly older at the time. I remember sitting in the room that I shared with my sister, looking out over the field next to our house and thinking, “I have got to get my parents out of here”.
+Now don’t get me wrong, I didn’t have a bad childhood. My parents were amazing in the opportunities that they gave us given the very little that we had. But growing up in Eastridge, Mitchell’s Plain leaves you with a different set of experiences in life. I don’t have many people now in my circles that have:
+- Witnessed stabbings and muggings on that field because it was the only way to get a taxi or bus that would take our neighbours to their jobs;
+- Had to ignore the regular sound of gun shots between rival gangs while trying to sleep;
+- Had their home broken into and vandalized with human excrement smeared across the walls of their living room;
+- Had to deal with the fights that broke out at the smokkie (shebeen) operating out of our neighbour Aunty Suzan’s house, or
+- Had their football game cut short because of a drive-by shooting.
+But with all of that going on, my parents gave us the opportunity to see a world bigger than the one most of the kids in our neighbourhood lived every single day. Both my sister and I had the opportunity to go to really good high schools and then pursue tertiary education. No, my folks were not wealthy. My dad was a blue collar worker who did general maintenance at a clothing factory in town, while my mom still is a team lead in the customer service call centre at a cookware company. We are not wealthy people. What we did have were blessings that came in other ways.
+Both my parents worked at companies which provided bursaries for the children of their staff. My sister and I worked hard each year to get the maximum funding from those bursaries since it was linked to our academic performance. But even with that help, my parents still made enormous sacrifices to cover the shortfalls. Having one kid going to SACS and the other to Rustenburg Girls’ is bloody expensive.
+So things like going out to eat, fancy holidays or even having the latest gadgets were not stuff we were accustomed to. To this day, I don’t like people giving me fancy gifts because If I want something then I’d rather get it with my own money. I barely go on holidays either. But I’m trying to change that now. I’ve learnt that travel is important to broaden your perspective.
+My Dad once told me, “Ek het’tie baie geld te los vir julle as ek sut gaan nie. Maar ek en jou ma het lank al ge-decide om julle ‘n education te gee. Daai is jou erf.”
+For those who don’t understand the colourful and emotive Capetonian mix of Afrikaans, English and a bit of slang known as Kombuis Afrikaans, what my dad basically said was that he may not have much money to leave us as inheritance when he passes on. But what my parents had decided long ago was to give us an education. That was the inheritance they would leave us. After that it would be up to us to progress further.
+I’ve come to learn now that my folks never needed me to get them out of Mitchell’s Plain nor to change their circumstances. They were well equipped to do that. And they did.
+Now almost 30 years later, my dad is retired and my mom only a few short years away from joining him. Both my sister and I are able to take care of ourselves and our families. Inheritance received. It’s also the 20th year since our family has moved to Woodstock – my folks really are amazing. The journey has not been without sacrifice, clinical decision making and displays of grit through challenging times. We’ve all come to agree that it has been filled with lots and lots of faith, blessings and love.
+The Behardien Family of 17 Nero Crescent, 1990
+So here I am, reflecting on this one element of my life – a small part of the story. And life is far from done. We’ve had many challenges come our way. We’ve just grown a thicker skin and the confidence that won’t allow us to back down.
+It’s funny now, thinking back to what seemed to be the most devastating blow to me last year, would’ve been “first world kind of problems” if I had asked that kid looking out the window in Mitchell’s Plain. But I too recognize that I’m privileged to have these problems now as many people are facing way worse.
+What I’ve taken are lessons that I now want to help me attain a life well beyond anything that little kid could’ve dreamed up. I’ve been given opportunities and the platforms to do it and it sure would be a shame to let those go to waste.
+I now find myself looking in the mirror asking some very BIG questions:
+- What is my purpose on this earth?
+- What is the one thing that I want to achieve before I die?
+- What are my deepest fears and insecurities?
+- What is my legacy that I want to leave behind?
+- What do I need to do next to start living that legacy?
+These uncomfortable questions have forced me to really go deep, be honest and to uncover the core beliefs that I have about myself.
+Why am I asking these questions?
+I feel it’s time to start unpacking them. I’ve been on that conveyor belt of life for the past few years chasing something which I can’t seem to describe. I know it’s out there, but if you asked me to tell you what it is I wouldn’t be able to. It seems pointless to be chasing something and not knowing what I’m chasing. The risk of ending up somewhere that I didn’t want and having made sacrifices to get to the wrong place scares me. That’s not the way I want to spend the short time that I have left on this earth.
+How am I going about finding the answers?
+I’m not doing it on my own. My therapy sessions initially started as a way of dealing with my anxiety and depression, but has recently evolved to where we are understanding the core beliefs that drive me – almost bordering on coaching sessions. That’s not to say that I don’t slip into episodes of depression or uncover that my motivations behind a decision aren’t as positive as what I may think. These things are expected since I’m still so new at this stage of self awareness. But having my therapist along for the ride has been amazing.
+I also have my girlfriend, my family and some really close friends that I check in with. Keeping the circle small with people that I truly trust.
+Included in my approach is a lot of reading, meditation, exercise and being conscious of finding balance while on the road of personal development and self improvement. I’ve learnt so much already. The moment you decide to do the work, you uncover surprising things about yourself.
+Along the way, I will share what I find and teach what I know. Somehow, I feel deep down that this is a part of my purpose.
+I’ve been trusting my intuition more and it’s been paying off marvellously. If it feels right, then I know I’m onto something.
+13 Comments
+Quaniet JakoetApr 30, 2020 at 07:35
+Love it
+Here for you brother
+As you have been here for me
+fareedApr 30, 2020 at 07:40
+Shukran Q. It’s not an easy road, but we have to step up. Always good knowing I have the support a strong binne kring
+Nick GApr 30, 2020 at 09:02
+This was a really moving and inspiring post! So wonderful to hear your carefully thought through reflections on your life and to get a sense of the determined stance on your future and carving a life well-lead. Strength to you for having taken the steps you have thus far, and excitement to see what the next chapters hold for you! <3
+fareedApr 30, 2020 at 10:50
+Nick my brother, You’ve been alongside me during this journey, inspiring me and playing your part in assisting me to find help. I have a lot of love for you man
+Wahib SherfodienApr 30, 2020 at 09:07
+This could not have been an easy journey for you as well as the courage it has taken to share this journey with us. It’s unbelievable what a person’s perspective of someone is by just a greeting and having some casual chat, not knowing what the inner journey is like. You have made it this far and here’s to that silver lining and all the success. I salute you!!!
+fareedApr 30, 2020 at 10:53
+Shukran Wahib. I suppose we never truly know what each of us is going through, but that’s where being kind and sharing love and understanding to your fellow man comes in. Thank you as always for the friendly banter and the words of wisdom that you send in those weekly WhatsApp messages – it means a lot.
+HeloiseApr 30, 2020 at 09:45
+Poignant. Thank you for sharing!
+CariemaApr 30, 2020 at 13:44
+I read this and smiled… He has arrived! The boy, the adolescent, the man. I read this piece without pausing, and then, read it again. The first time for you, to take in the story of your life. The second time, for me and to reflect on my own and then to find guidance in your words. Your courage has never been lost on me, and this kind of expression is something that I have been waiting for. I genuinely believe that your energy and your story matters – have the ability to move us with this kind of story telling. My friend, trust me when I say … you might be many things, but you are indeed a creative. The latter being the very reason why the manic highs and depressive lows are as real as they are. It also happens to be the source of where creative genius resides. You bared your soul and what a blessing indeed, that this piece emerges during this holy month.
+In my own little cocoon here in Dubai, it’s crystal clear… you have not only heard the call, you have responded to it as well… and that takes courage.
+Always here, for you. C.
+xxx
+fareedApr 30, 2020 at 16:43
+Seeing this comment has left me speechless considering you have been an inspiration and example to me of speaking your truth bravely. Shukran my friend… I know that you’ve been there and always will. Sending lots of love and salaams to you and the family <3
+Rogeema KennyApr 30, 2020 at 15:56
+Amazing story, and your bravery in sharing it will impact lots of people who need to hear it. I hope you find what you are chasing, but if you can’t put it into words then don’t worry about it too much. Sometimes the heart and soul knows better than the head, and it will help you make the decisions you need to to get to the place where you want to end up at. It’s the journeys that change us, not the destinations, so enjoy the ride and embrace the growth 🤗
+fareedApr 30, 2020 at 16:53
+I like that perspective. At this moment sharing has felt like the right thing to do. I’m pretty excited for what’s to come 🙂
+MoMay 3, 2020 at 10:22
+Thank you for sharing your journey Fareed. It is not easy to speak about personal difficulties, but it will no doubt help many others as well as you as you reflect when your write. It can be frustrating and rewarding when trying to find that “something”. But don’t forget that sometimes those frustrations may lead to even greater rewards.And if you have moments where you feel you are going backwards, remember, that itself is growth as you would be trying to find ways to move forward and grow. Strength
+fareedMay 3, 2020 at 10:28
+Thanks for the wise words Mo. You’re so right – there are times that I have felt frustrated that I haven’t moved forward fast enough or that the progress isn’t some miraculous improvement, but then I remember that I’m on this journey and that already is massive! Stay a safe brother
+Sierra Leone Telegraph: 25 July 2019:
+Sierra Leone’s president Julius Maada Bio and his family yesterday arrived in Freetown to a tumultuous welcome by his ruling party supporters, after almost ten days absence from the country, which prompted wild speculations about his whereabouts and wellbeing.
+The president was met on arrival at the Murray Town sea coach dock by a throng of supporters and party loyalists, who formed a long vehicle convoy to accompany the president and his family to their residence at State Lodge, as traffic in the central district of Freetown grounded to a halt.
+To prove he was indeed well and hearty, the president stopped his car and came out to wave to the chanting crowd.
+Arriving at Lungi International Airport where he was interviewed about his disappearance by an AYV News reporter, this is what president Bio said:
+Reporter: Your Excellency, you left the country on vacation and there were rumours that you were sick. And also rumours going around that you were dead. Did you hear these rumours? What did you make up of this fake news?
+President Bio: Fake news have become part of us. But I pray for those who declared me dead. May God make them live longer to see me prosper. I pray for them to be in good health, because it is for them I am working for, to see every Sierra Leonean smile. But I don’t know where that news came from that I was sick or dead. But you’ve seen me; and when God is ready for me he will call me at his own time and I will answer to his will.
+Reporter: Even though you went on vacation you took time to go to Kenya and discussed some things to do with tourism. You didn’t rest, even though you went to have some rest. Whole heartedly, you didn’t concentrate on your work at all?
+President Bio: Just as I have detected it, Sierra Leone we are far behind. So even when you are on leave, you are really not on leave. You always have to find a way to ensure that good things come to the country. In that venture, I used the opportunity when I was in Kenya to meet with the president to see how we can improve tourism in this country, because tourism is one sector that made Kenya one of the leading economies in the East and Central Africa. And there are lots of things they have done very well, especially the wild life preservation which is something we need; and he assured me that anything we want to do he is in readiness to support us, so we can have the same facilities here.
+Reporter: Finally as you have returned, what is your message to Sierra Leone people?
+President Bio: I am back to fulfil my duties to the people of Sierra Leone. That is why they elected me. I don’t have any other thing and I pray to God for those who declared me dead. They have seen me alive and I am praying for them to live long so they will all see the progress inside Sierra Leone.
+I believe Sierra Leone will be a better place if we all work hard. Sierra Leone is a small country. It takes a lot of energy, time and planning for us to make Sierra Leone a better country; and gradually we have changed the image and the narrative; and with time we will see the improvements.
+But the president’s holidaying abroad has caused yet more controversy, after photos were published yesterday by his children on their Facebook page, showing the president’s children in luxurious yacht in Dubai, which critics say demonstrate a clear lack of sensitivity for the plight of millions of poverty stricken families and children in Sierra Leone, who are struggling to find food to eat and somewhere they can call home.
+Child poverty in Sierra Leone is one of the worst in the World.
+Over 60% of all children aged 5 years old in Sierra Leone are suffering from serious malnutrition; and over 30% of new-born would die before their 5th birthday.
+No one must begrudge the president and his family enjoying a well earned break from work. But when in opposition, if it was acceptable to question and condemn former president Koroma’s naked display of opulence and insensitivity to the plight of suffering Sierra Leoneans, then surely it must be even more appalling today, to see those condemning the former president doing the same now – if not worse.
+The people of Sierra Leone voted president Koroma and his APC from power, because of their lack of sensitivity towards the suffering masses. President Bio was elected because he ran a campaign promising to change the political culture of Sierra Leone.
+Hopefully, president Bio can remind and advise himself of this promise, as he embarks on that journey to transform Sierra Leone. If not, 2023 elections will be a very difficult battle for president Bio to win, especially as the opposition APC are now embarking on a root and branch reform and restructuring of their party.
+The travelling President? Sierra Leone, or more appropriately, Freetown based newspapers and even some errant, so called online tablets, outside the country, consciously or self-serving, display blaring headlines about president Bio’s incessant travels: “President Bio in Beijing, China, president Bio in London, UK, president Bio in Washington, D C, United States, president Bio in Nairobi, Kenya, president Bio in Kigali, Rwanda. President Bio in Kampala, Ugandayou got the idea.
+Of course, this is just an abbreviated list of the footprint in terms of international or foreign travels the president has undertaking since coming to power in November 2018. The president is on a junket (travel), his distractors would say or are quick to point out. While as the that president is on a mission according to the supporters of the government.
+A mission to change the narrative of the country that it is not proud of, or any country would be proud of, for that matter, such as the most corrupt in the world, low income country, high poverty rate, most illiterate citizenry, no electricity, and bad roads.
+And the most disheartening of all, is the unpatriotic and selfish government officials, whose ultimate purpose of wanting to serve in government, in the first place, is to enrich themselves at the expense of the poor populace with reckless abandon. A now familiar jargon in Sierra Leone: ill-gotten wealth.
+One sometimes, wonder aloud, where does all the foreign aid money goes that the country receives. How about the domestically generated income from taxes and fees and minerals. Nowhere, but in the pockets of corrupt government officials who enjoy lavish salaries, hugh mansions and luxurious automobiles that are clearly incompatible with their employment status and salary.
+Indeed, these frequent travels have given heartburn to its 7.5 million citizens who worry that the president is not paying or giving enough attention to domestic issues that plague almost everyone, except, of course, those who are politically connected. Now and previous. And the domestic issues, for the most part, are debilitatingly deplorable and negative.
+The rather frequent travels by the president has garnered tremendous interests and concerns within and outside the country, and within the diaspora community encompassing the entire globe. And Sierra Leoneans are everywhere, even in the remotest of places, like Alaska, Finland or Greenland. Iceland? I don’t know about that. It’s too cold, giving our own habitat. There must be a rational reason why a president travel.
+When president Obama (President O) was in power, he made 52 international trips to 58 different countries, between January 20, 2009, to January 17, 2017. He served two four year terms, as mandated by the constitution. In my estimation, the president is on a mission and therefore has taken it upon himself to be the chief cheer leader, in an effort for Sierra Leone to become like Singapore or South Korea, two South Asian countries who were once like Sierra Leone.
+It looks like the president is determined to achieve something before his term runs out. Much as he is trying to do what he can, it is left to all Sierra Leoneans irrespective of geo-political affiliation, ethnic identification or language to help the president achieve his mission to develop the country for all that reside in and outside of it.
+What will they say about my children driving around Freetown in LAMBORGHINI VENENOS if I became President. Will they say it’s my hard earned CASH or through CORRUPTION? I will visit all the articles I have missed after the holidays. I really missed this platform but, will be back. GOD BLESS EVERYONE.
+Sierra Leonean Journalists! President Bio left the country without informing the people where he’s going and the first question the journalist asked was: “Your Excellency, you left the country on vacation and there were rumours that you were sick.”
+For God’s sake, even me that did not study journalism, could have done better by asking the president where was he? And why didn’t he inform the people of Sierra Leone before leaving.
+Wow Patrick, for God sake have you seen the home of the former president in Makeni? Please let the kids enjoy themselves. what have their pictures got to do with anything? May God continue to protect this president and his family. He is working hard for all Sierra Leoneans and he deserves a break.
+The children of the president vacationing in Dubai have a mother who is a professional woman living and working in the United States. She can afford to send her children on a luxurious vacation. Notwithstanding this, there is no law in Sierra Leone that states that children of public officials should not be treated to a luxurious vacation.
+Many folks who enter politics in Africa have lived in Europe or America for years, made a fortune before deciding to return home. Why should the public frown on such people when they spend their hard earned money on their children?
+Morality, morality morality my dear friend – not legality! Has Bio got any moral conscience? Certainly not. This is not about legality. This is about morality and empathy for your fellow man who are worse off.
+I care less whether the mother of those two kids are multi-millionaires in the USA. What is the issue here is the lack of moral fortitude. But as the writer says, 2023 will surely tell. Mark my word, Bio is a one term president, by his own doing.
+Very nice piece – balanced, and in current realities.
+Koroma and Bio are two peas in the same pod. Heartless display of wealth. What a shame!
+O African leaders! When are they going to change if at all? Don’t get me wrong, as the writer quite rightly says, no one should begrudge the president and his family for taking a holiday. But for God’s sake, here is a president that is elected to lead his people, the majority of whom are among the poorest in the world. Yes – by all means go on your holiday and take your family with you, but to rub it on the faces of the poor with those pictures is a disgrace.
+Such expensive luxurious holiday is a sure sign of a leader and his family living above their means and must serve as prima facie evidence of corruption which must be investigated.
+Since when did president Bio start amassing such wealth that he and his family can afford holiday on a yacht in Dubai? I remember seeing a photo of Bio posted a few years ago by APC showing him travelling on a London bus looking very humble. And now he has become so rich in one year to afford such luxury. The ACC will investigate when he leaves office.
+Even if he can afford vacationing on a yacht in Dubai, why cant he wait until after leaving office before displaying such wealth, as mark of respect for the abject poverty that millions are experiencing in the mama Salone.
+Mr. Gawunja,
+It is one thing to be critical of the president. Where did you learn that president Bio was vacationing in Dubai? Did you see any pictures of the president vacationing in Dubai? Or are you assuming that the president should be guilty for the assumed sins of his children?
+Let’s for the sake of argument assume that the president vacationed in Dubai. Do you really think that a Dubai vacation is expensive and immoral? Do you also believe that a Dubai vacation is above president Bio’s earning capacity as president? Moreover, are you suggesting that public officials in Sierra Leone should live a dirt poor life simply because they are public officials?
+It is laughable that Bio can spend time in expensive London and New York City and does not get criticized for that but that folks can go crazy once they hear the name Dubai. Dubai comes nowhere close to London and New York City in terms of cost of living.
+Lastly, as for your vacuous threat of Bio being a one term president, I say keep dreaming. Underestimate Bio at your peril. Remember, he was not given nay chance to win the presidency.
+Do you expect the children of the PRESIDENT to be in the slums while their father, the PRESIDENT is vacationing in a palace?
+By the grace of God, those children living in the slums of Sierra Leone, will soon reach the age of 18; and by 2023, will be old enough to teach Bio and his corrupt SLPP a bloody lesson, at the polls they will never forget in a hurry. What arrogance.
+We always knew Bio is fake, a wolf in sheep’s clothing, only waiting to get his grubby claws on to the nation’s coffers, to spend on his family, while the poor are languishing in abject poverty. God will surely, fight for those poor children, who have no choice, but live in the slums you speak about.
+God will richly bless and preserve President Bio and his vision for our beloved Sierra Leone. All work and no play really makes Jack a dull dull boy. If President Bio’s kids are seen enjoying themselves, let them be and the good Lord will protect them. President Bio is still a dad for God’s sake.
+[Note: Once again I apologize for the six week lag time between entries. The academic semester foiled me again. With the December holidays here now, and looking forward to being on leave next semester, I should be able to meet the challenge of bi-monthly writing.]
+I read Leslie Feinberg’s classic novel about transgender experience, Stone Butch Blues, 10 years ago, although the book itself was published in 1993 (by Firebrand Books; a 10th anniversary edition was published by Alyson Press in 2003). Feinberg has always been at the forefront of transgender politics, well before they became a more visible issue in progressive movements around gender and sexuality. Hers was the first fictionalized autobiography to address the complications of being a subject born a woman, living in a body purposefully constructed as masculine. I recall being captivated and moved by the story of his/her (or hir, the compromise, composite transgender pronoun Feinberg uses in his new book, Drag King Dreams) challenges and triumphs, and learning more than I knew about what it means to be (as Max, the hero of Feinberg’s current novel describes it) fluent in the languages of gender, but only able to articulate yourself in one—and not the one that dominant society has assigned to you.
+Reading Drag King Dreams 10 years after Stone Butch Blues is a less revelatory experience. The book’s heart is large and earnest; Feinberg remains a righteous crusader for not only trans rights, but for a progressive coalitional politics that draws careful connections among gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity, class, and ability oppressions, as well as immigration rights and the complex suppression of freedom prompted by the post-9/11 security crackdown. By demonstrating these interlocking systems of power and their tactile effects on people’s lives, Feinberg brings home polemics that might otherwise feel abstract and distant. I applaud the novel for the sincerity of its passionate political vision, even while the construction of its sentences sometimes makes me wince.
+Max Rabinowitz, the hero of Drag King Dreams, is an aging transman, a denizen of the night who scrapes by without bank accounts or credit cards, eking out a living in a twilight cash economy by working as a bouncer and then a bartender in two different Manhattan clubs. Both cater to drag kings and queens, and other queer people who consciously perform their genders of choice and likewise choose their names, rather than living under the proscriptions of the ones assigned them at birth. Thor, Deacon, and Weasel all act as men; Ruby and Jasmine act as women, although in the trans cosmology, it’s more apt to look at these characters through degrees of gender performance and desire.
+Max’s family of choice is a panoply of race and ethnicity, drawn more tightly together by the brutal death of their friend Vickie, who was most likely killed by someone motivated by lethal hate. Vickie’s death haunts the narrative; it’s the sign of fate with which each character grapples as they make their way through a social world where everything is dangerous for their people. (Or, as they call each other, their “family,” neatly resignifying the conventional understanding of the now fraught word.)
+Thor, for example, is arrested for using a bathroom; Feinberg doesn’t specify if Thor used a “men’s” or “women’s” room. It doesn’t much matter, since Thor clearly doesn’t quite “fit” in either. His liminality causes his arrest. Feinberg positions the police throughout the novel as agents of oppressive, uncaring, unchecked power and hatred. They roughly cart Thor away to jail, where they beat him up and most likely assault him in other ways that Feinberg leaves us only to imagine.
+Ruby, the drag queen who is Max’s intimate, falls ill early in the story, and is taken, although she’s uninsured, to a local hospital, where she is humiliated by nurses who call her “sir” and sneer at the transgendered caregivers who stand staunchly by her side. Unwilling to be subjected to the physical and emotional brutality of those for whom her birth gender is fixed, static, and determining, Ruby insists that Max sign her out of the hospital, and leaves, regally leaning on his arm.
+Jewishness crosses trans in Drag King Dreams as another part of an identity that requires Max to stage his public resistance. His cousin, Heshie, is a differently abled computer geek, who lives in a cold water warehouse dreaming up virtual reality games and developing software that frees people from the limitations of their flawed or otherwise constraining flesh. Through Heshie’s technology, Max explores alternate realities in which he can look for others like him, or feel what it might mean to fly, unleashed from the gravity that ties him to conventional notions of identity.
+Max and Heshie fight over the politics of Israel and Palestine, with Max arguing for a Palestinian homeland and Heshie for a two-state solution. Their Jewishness and the strength of their history asmishpoche (or birth family) isn’t enough to make them the “same” or to let them find “home” with each other without struggle or accommodation. Heshie instantly offers shelter when unknown assailants with most likely political motives trash Max’s apartment. Max appreciates the temporary solution to his transience, but they both know that while they might be blood family, they’re not “home” to one another.
+Max’s search for “home” in fact propels the narrative’s fits and starts. The book refuses more conventional crises and resolutions. While Vickie’s death begins the story and her memorial service happens near its end, other incidents crop up and melt away with what feels like little consequence. Max befriends two Arab men who live in his neighborhood; one of them disappears mysteriously after a political demonstration, which teaches Max about the precariousness of life for people of Middle Eastern descent living in the States after 9/11. He finds common cause with Mohammed, the man left behind, who protects Max’s belongings when the thugs trash his place, and feeds him with a tenderness exactly opposite the brutality he finds at the hands of the police who supposedly keep the nation safe.
+Max entertains several tentative flirtations, one with his friend Jasmine, the Asian-American transperson who manages the clubs at which their friends work together as a team. Another flirtation happens on line, in a game Heshie gives Max called AvaStar, an LGBTQ environment that nonetheless requires players to enter through two-gendered locker rooms where they assume identities that even in virtual reality can’t accommodate the kind of flexibility Max needs to feel whole. Max, entering under the screen name “Pollygender,” signals his more complex gendered performance by awkwardly translating the semiotics of the street through the controls of the virtual space. Several other players are astute enough to read his signs and ask to meet him privately. One is a femme, the other more ambiguously described, but both seem to “get” Max and his multifaceted difference, even in this simulated place.
+These moments of virtual play mix with historical time in Drag King Dreams, as the people Max meets in these futuristic internet environments reveal themselves as rather old-fashioned gender rebels, some of whom even call themselves lesbians. When asked if he’s a lesbian, Max responds yes, even though the material world through which he moves requires more complicated identifications. The AvaStar moments are at once the book’s most hopeful and most strangely nostalgic, sentimental, perhaps, for old gay and lesbian and butch and femme communities of face to face interaction, support, and love. While his screen interactions highlight Max’s loneliness, they also gesture toward the possibility of connection, both online and off.
+The book’s central tension lies in its effort to recreate community through the eyes of a character who’s become an inveterate loner. Over the course of the book, Max begins to remember an earlier activist moment in which he and Ruby planned marches and plotted proactively to make change. The story’s finale finds him and his friends back in jail, arrested at a march against injustice they planned and led. But in between these two eras of his character, the story meanders a bit, as Max slowly works his way back toward the possibility of his own liberation.
+Feinberg’s writing lacks a certain nuance; Max’s feelings tremor close to the surface of the author’s language, and often, his politics overwhelm any depth of characterization the story might otherwise achieve. Max’s conversations with his friends often devolve into polemics, whether he’s arguing about Israel with Heshie or talking about the old days with Ruby. We don’t learn much about anyone aside from how they proceed through the trials of the present. What Feinberg imagines of their pasts seems contrived only to explain current oppressions.
+Yet if Feinberg skimps on her characters’ depth and individuality, she’s committed to drawing out what connects them to each other and the tenaciousness of their bonds. At Vickie’s memorial service, Max relates a proverb passed on by the Yiddishe aunt who raised him: “Tell me who you know; I’ll tell you who you are” (220). This crystallizes Feinberg’s point: that a relationship, or a community, or a movement consists of the lines drawn between us by history, by labor, and by commitment to an idea of family much deeper than origins, because these new ones are families we make and nurture and refuse to see sundered.
+Feinberg’s generation of transgendered activists claimed their connection to gay and lesbian, feminist, and civil rights. Although Feinberg never places her characters in specific age groups, they acknowledge that a younger generation has come up after them whose issues and lives are different in myriad ways. Yet another of the hopeful moments in the novel comes at the team’s climactic march for gender rights in Sheridan Square, the historic site of the Stonewall uprising in 1969. Ruby fights a cordon of obstructive police to join her cohort with a younger generation of transpeople working their way toward them to protest by their sides. That commitment to trans-generational thinking and coalition demonstrates Feinberg’s insistent faith in the potential for change.
+In fact, Max’s belief in possibility resurrects itself over the book’s arc. By the end, despite their incarceration and the uncertainty of their release, Max and his friends are planning their next demonstration and making more connections to others who are disappeared or dispossessed. A loud, aggressively supportive, activist crowd lobbies for them on the station house steps.
+Throughout the book, Feinberg writes obliquely about each characters’ race and gender; for example, we don’t know if Deacon is female or male, black or white. We know Max is “he” and Jewish; that Thor is a drag king; that Ruby dresses like a woman; that Jasmine, too, dresses like a woman and is Asian. But their chosen names conceal their bodies and identities of origin on the page, requiring us to accept them according to what they call themselves and by the gender and sexuality Feinberg tells us they perform.
+Only at the very last moment of the novel do we hear their birth names, as each of Max’s family of friends is called out of the common jail cell in which they’ve been conveniently held. As policemen come to collect each character individually, the officers read from clipboards their original names: The stolid Thor, who took his name from the Norwegian god of thunder, is called out of the cell as “Carol Finster.” For the glorious, glamorous Ruby, they call “Tyrone Lanier.” The enigmatic Deacon is harnessed to the prosaic “Ronald Jackson.” And finally, as he dreams of the resurgence of community in which the living mingle once again with the dead (the literary equivalent of the fantasy party that ends the first gay film about HIV/AIDS, Longtime Companion), an officer comes for Max, sneering at his Jewish surname, then attaching it to his first, calling, “Maxine Rabinowitz.”
+With these final two words, Feinberg drives home how far “Maxine” is from describing Max and his world, and let’s us feel that the state’s investment in this official identity (which Max has long since overthrown) is superfluous, ridiculous, and archaic. And yet by that name, Max remains affixed to state power as closely as a photo is laminated to a driver’s license, always subject to its ability to maim her physically, emotionally, and politically. Hence the need for drag kings to dream.
+Drag Queen Dreams isn’t great literature. But it does manage to bring home how ideology pierces our flesh, and to illustrate how the complications of identity overflow the apparatus of a state (and a body) that would contain it neatly and enforce it brutally.
+- Research article
+- Open Access
+- Open Peer Review
+Gender differences and similarities in medical students’ experiences of mistreatment by various groups of perpetrators
+- Heidi Siller1Email author,
+- Gloria Tauber1,
+- Nikola Komlenac1 and
+- Margarethe Hochleitner1
+© The Author(s). 2017
+- Received: 16 May 2017
+- Accepted: 4 August 2017
+- Published: 14 August 2017
+Abstract
+Background
+Mistreatment of medical students during medical education is a widespread concern. Studies have shown that medical students report the most mistreatment compared to students of other study programs and that the prevalence of mistreatment peaks during clinical training. For this reason, a study was conducted to assess prevalence of mistreatment among medical students committed by various groups of people. The focus was to identify whether gender was associated with the experience of mistreatment. Additionally, students’ perception of university climate for reporting sexual harassment was assessed.
+Method
+In the study 88 medical students (45 women, 43 men) participated. A modified version of the Questionnaire on Student Abuse was used to assess students’ experience of various types of mistreatment and associated distress during medical education. To explore factors that could be associated with this experience the organizational climate for reporting sexual harassment was assessed with the Psychological Climate for Sexual Harassment.
+Result
+The most often cited perpetrators of mistreatment were strangers (79.5%), friends (75.0%) and university staff (68.2%). Strangers mostly committed psychological mistreatment and sexual harassment, whereas friends additionally engaged in physical mistreatment of medical students. The most common form of mistreatment conducted by university staff was humiliation of students. These kinds of psychological mistreatment were reported to be distressing (43%). Gender differences were found in the prevalence of mistreatment. Women experienced more sexual harassment and humiliation than did men. On the other hand, men experienced more physical mistreatment than did women. Women reported experiencing more distress from mistreatment experiences than did men and also more often reported being mistreated by university staff than did men. Women perceived a greater risk in reporting sexual harassment to the organization than did men.
+Conclusion
+Mistreatment of female and male students should be focused on using a gender perspective because types of mistreatment can differ by gender. Additionally, interventions should include the societal level as there was a high prevalence of mistreatment perpetrated by strangers. Also the issue of trust in the university needs to be addressed and the organization is called on to visibly demonstrate that it represents and protects its students as well as its staff.
+Keywords
+- Mistreatment of students
+- Medical students
+- Psychological mistreatment
+- Medical university
+Background
+Student mistreatment in medicine is a widespread concern and has been increasingly studied since publication of the article by Silver and Glicken [1] on student mistreatment. Since then the question has been debated whether it is an innate characteristic of medicine to mistreat and humiliate its students. This is also underlined by a Finnish study that showed that medical students were exposed to the most mistreatment during their university training as compared to students in other study programs [2]. Even though this study shows that student mistreatment does not happen exclusively in medicine, it demonstrates that medical students are the most affected. Consequently, the question was posed whether medical students “misinterpret” suboptimal learning environment as mistreatment [3]. However, it was also found that medical students are not overly sensitive to mistreatment and that the reporting of mistreatment experiences is not the result of student misinterpretation [4].
+In this context the type of treatment medical students perceive as mistreatment appears to be of even more interest. In a systematic review and meta-analysis more than half of the medical students surveyed had experienced mistreatment in the form of verbal, sexual or physical harassment, namely 69%, 33% and 9%, respectively [5]. Medical students reported in particular verbal mistreatment [5–9] during their medical education, such as humiliation [2], or negative remarks and being shouted at [2, 7]. Other forms of mistreatment included, even though to a lesser extent, sexual [2, 7, 10] and physical harassment [7, 9] as well as abuse of power [9]. Mistreatment was especially exerted by residents and clinical staff [5, 6, 9, 11], professors [7, 10], but also by fellow students [10]. Negative experiences seemed to peak when entering clinical internship and during residency [6, 8], but were also prevalent in undergraduate education [10, 12].
+Mistreatment of medical students is discussed as relating to forming and creating students’ professional identity [13], but also as stemming from the androcentric hierarchical structure of medicine and thereby affecting women and men differently [14].
+The investigation of gender differences has not yet been performed systematically and intensively [14, 15]. Thus, so far it can be noted that some studies have found no gender differences in mistreatment of medical students [9, 16], whereas others have [2, 10]. For example, female medical students are affected particularly in terms of experiencing sexual harassment [10]. In this context it was found that female medical students appear to have learnt how to deal and cope with inappropriate behavior on the part of male patients. However, they felt unprepared when encountering inappropriate behavior on the part of male supervisors [15].
+Despite the limited studies on gender differences in student mistreatment, student mistreatment should also be discussed with regard to the androcentric culture of medicine and the numerical feminization of this formerly androcentric field [17]. The culture in an organization, such as hospitals, or medicine for that matter, can be defined by shared values and beliefs, mostly unconsciously engrained and historically grown. Thus, these beliefs and assumptions have developed over time [18, 19]. The historically grown embedding and the unconscious nature of these values and beliefs mean changes in organizational and medical culture are slow. The medical culture is connected to power, hierarchy as well as disrespectful, deprecating and competitive behavior in medicine [20]. The competitive atmosphere in medical training is prevalent not only among students and graduates, but also with regard to collaborating with other professions, e.g. nurses, midwives [21]. Competition in this sense relates to other health professionals downgrading medical students, thereby reinforcing power structures and hierarchical levels. It was also found that both men and women were reported as perpetrators in this context [12]. In this sense, mistreatment can be discussed in relation to non-human perpetrators, such as organizations, institutions and societal structure [22, 23]. In medicine such non-human perpetrators refer to the medical culture, thus power structures between medical and other health care professions as well as hierarchical structures within the medical discipline. In this sense non-human perpetration refers to reifying and reproducing structures that foster mistreatment.
+Mistreatment has considerable effects on health and well-being, e.g. feeling stressed [8], psychosomatic consequences [10] and burnout [11]. However, formal reports of mistreatment of medical students remain scarce [9]. Trust in college support systems and feeling connected to the campus community are associated with a greater willingness to report threats [24]. This underlines the importance of feeling safe and protected in terms of trusting an organization to take action against mistreatment [25]. This also highlights the university’s role in sanctioning student mistreatment and creating a safe environment for students as well as for staff. To start doing so, medical educators were asked to improve students’ educational experiences [8, 26, 27]. Furthermore, a general plea was made to change the culture in medicine [5, 28].
+It is necessary to understand the mechanisms of mistreatment and demonstration of power that medical students face in order to succeed in implementing sustainable and successful intervention strategies to fight mistreatment in medical education.
+In this article a survey of medical students at one medical university in Austria was conducted to assess medical students’ experiences with mistreatment in its psychological, sexual and physical form. In particular this study sought to investigate 1) the extent of mistreatment exerted by various groups of potential perpetrators (university staff, fellow students, friends, (ex-)partners or patients and patients’ relatives) and thus how mistreatment is rooted in medical education or outside the university. 2) Gender differences in experiencing mistreatment were analyzed as there is only limited evidence of these in scholarly literature. 3) The medical university’s social climate for reporting sexual harassment was assessed to obtain a picture of the students’ sense of safety and their trust in the organization to prosecute mistreatment seriously and effectively. This questionnaire was chosen as a university policy on sexual harassment focusing explicitly on students was initiated in 2014 [29]. Even though other forms of mistreatment, such as physical and psychological mistreatment, are also not tolerated, these have not been made the subject of special policies, but are included in the university’s official bulletins. However, these policies do not explicitly focus on students, but pertain to all members of the university. Also analyzed was whether participation in self-defense training was associated with medical students’ perception of the university’s social climate for reporting and dealing with mistreatment. This study was conceptualized to acquire information on the severity of these issues as only little has been written about European medical students experiencing mistreatment.
+Methods
+Procedure
+Medical students were recruited at compulsory lectures on Gender Medicine at a medical university in Austria. Of 109 students attending these lectures 88 (80.7%) participated in the study. The completed questionnaires were collected after the lectures. Participants were recruited at the end of the fifth year of their study program to ensure that they had already obtained some clinical experience during internships and come to know the medical culture at this medical university. The study was conducted during three months (April – June) of the summer term 2015.
+Instruments
+Socio-demographic questions
+Participants were asked their age, gender and relationship status.
+Discrimination, harassment and mistreatment in medical students
+The Modified Version of the Questionnaire on Student Abuse [2] was used to assess students’ experiences of mistreatment during medical education. The questionnaire consists of 38 items on physical, psychological mistreatment and sexual harassment and discrimination. Items were assessed on a four-point Likert scale (ranging from 1 = “never” to 4 = “often”) including open questions for specifying experienced mistreating acts. For each kind of mistreatment the students were asked who the perpetrator was. The list of possible perpetrators included (ex-)partners, patients and patients’ relatives, friends and strangers in addition to perpetrators who were fellow students or university staff. Additionally, students were asked how bothered or distressed they felt by each experience (answers ranged from 0 = “didn’t experience this kind of mistreatment”, 1 = “was not distressed”, 2 = “somewhat distressed” to 3 = “was very distressed”). Three questions on sleep deficits were excluded as they did not fit the purpose of the study.
+Perceived climate for reporting sexual mistreatment
+The Psychological Climate for Sexual Harassment (PCSH) Questionnaire [25, 30] refers to the organization’s intolerance of harassment. It includes two scales. The first scale assessed the risk perceived by students for reporting sexual mistreatment. The second scale asks to what extent students feel the organization takes reports about harassment and mistreatment seriously. It further assesses the perceived seriousness/actions of the organization in prosecuting harassment. The questionnaire is composed of nine items. Answers were assessed on a five-point Likert scale (1 = “strongly disagree” to 5 = “strongly agree”). The organization’s intolerance of harassment scale had a reliability of Cronbach’s α = .59 (three items), whereas the perceived seriousness of the organization in prosecuting harassment scale had a Cronbach’s α of .70 (six items). The questionnaire was used to provide an impression of the perceived organizational climate in supporting and fighting harassment when reporting incidents.
+Participants were also asked if they had learned self-defense in the past. Additionally, participants were asked about the reasons for taking a self-defense course and whether they felt safer after taking such a course.
+Statistical analysis
+Because of the small sample size and the non-normal distribution of data non-parametric tests were used for the analyses. Besides providing percentages for demographic data and experiences with mistreatment, group comparisons were made using the Mann-Whitney U test and Chi-square analysis. In this study the level of significance was set at α = .05, which is in agreement with the majority of studies in social and human sciences that use this cut-off point for significance [31–34]. In this way, any false hypotheses that state that no group differences exist were rejected with 95% confidence. Thus, all p values ≤ .05 were considered to be statistically significant.
+Items asking about various forms of mistreatment experienced (shouting/yelling; humiliation; threats; hitting/kicking/shoving; sexual harassment; discrimination based on age or ethnicity; negative remarks) and perpetrators (fellow students; staff; friends; patients and their relatives; (ex-)partners; strangers) were dichotomized into never experienced (answer 1 = “never”) and experienced (answers 2 = “seldom”, 3 = “sometimes” and 4 = “often” were summarized into one category).
+For each perpetrator group (fellow students; staff; friends; patients and their relatives; (ex-)partners; strangers) the number of students who were affected at least seldom by at least one of the various forms of mistreatment was counted. After determining this number of students, the percentage was calculated for each perpetrator group. In this way, the most often named perpetrators, who committed at least one act of student mistreatment, could be determined.
+Results
+Participants
+Eighty-eight medical students (45 women, 43 men) with a mean age of M = 24.7 (SD = 2.0; range 21–32) years participated in the study. Of the participants, 62.5% reported being in a partnership.
+Prevalence of mistreatment
+The three groups perpetrating the most mistreatment of medical students were strangers (79.5%), friends (75.0%) and university staff (68.2%). Of the respondents 59.1% reported that mistreatment was committed by (ex-)partners and 58.0% stated that mistreatment was perpetrated by fellow students, whereas 47.7% reported mistreatment by patients.
+Prevalence of mistreatment acts committed by the three most reported perpetrator groups
+Medical students also reported friends as being abusive in various ways and being perpetrators not only of psychological forms of abuse (shouting/yelling 60.2%, humiliation 40.9%, negative remarks about the student’s future profession 28.4%), but also of physical mistreatment (hitting, shoving or kicking 27.3%).
+University staff members exerted power over medical students and most often committed mistreatment by humiliating (40.9%) students.
+Distress from mistreatment
+Perceived distress caused by acts of mistreatment
+Gender differences
+Women were more likely to be exposed to harassment and sexual mistreatment (68.9%) than were men (32.6%) (χ 2 (1) = 11.6, p = .001). Men were significantly more often subjected to hitting, kicking or shoving (48.8%) than were women (24.4%) (χ 2 (1) = 5.7, p = .017). More women (77.8%) than men (53.5%) reported having experienced humiliation (χ 2 (1) = 5.8, p = .016). No other forms of mistreatment evidenced significant gender differences (all χ 2 (1) < 1.6, ps > .207).
+More women (68.9%) than men (30.2%) perceived humiliating experiences as distressing (χ 2 (1) = 11.44, p = .001). Further, more women (40.0%) perceived harassment and sexual mistreatment as distressing than did men (18.6%) (χ 2 (1) = 4.0, p = .046). No other significant gender differences in reported distress were found (Table 2).
+Overall, reported groups of perpetrators did not differ between women and men (all χ 2 (1) < 1.1, ps > .290), except for one group. Namely, women (77.8%) reported more often being mistreated by university staff than did men (58.1%) (χ 2 (1) = 3.9, p = .048).
+Women perceived a greater risk for reporting sexual harassment (Mdn = 3.3, interquartile range [IQR] = 2.8–3.7) than did male students (Mdn = 4.3, IQR = 3.6–4.7) (U = 446, z = − 4.28, p < .001). Men having experienced any kind of mistreatment by university staff (Mdn = 4.0, IQR = 3.3–4.3) perceived a greater risk for reporting sexual harassment than did men who did not undergo such experiences (Mdn = 4.3, IQR = 3.7–4.7) (U = 139, z = −2.0, p = .047). Women who experienced mistreatment by fellow students were less likely to believe that the organization would take action against mistreatment or view it as a serious issue (Mdn = 3.2, IQR = 2.6–3.6) than were women who did not undergo such experiences (Mdn = 3.6, IQR = 3.2–4.0) (U = 143, z = −2.24, p = .025). With regard to other groups of perpetrators, no significant gender differences were found concerning risk entailed in reporting harassment or belief that action would be taken consequent to reporting harassment.
+Social climate for reporting harassment at the university
+Overall, students reported perceiving risks when considering reporting sexual harassment (Mdn = 3.7, IQR = 3.0–4.3). However, students overall thought that such a report would be taken seriously (Mdn = 3.4, IQR = 3.0–3.8).
+Of the participants 33% had attended a minimum of one and a maximum of ten self-defense training sessions. As many women (40.0%) as men (25.6%) had taken self-defense training (χ 2 (1) = 2.07, p = .150). The majority of students (86.2%) who attended a self-defense course did not base their decision to take the course on any prior incident experienced either by themselves or by someone else, or on media news reports. Of those who attended self-defense training 58.6% reported feeling safer and better prepared to fight off aggressors after learning self-defense. There were no significant gender differences regarding these aspects (χreason 2(2) = .79, p > .999; χsafety 2(1) = .18, p = .717).
+Those students who attended self-defense training more often reported experiencing sexual harassment (44.4%) than did those who did not learn self-defense (20.9%) (χ 2 (1) = 5.5, p = .024). No significant differences regarding other forms of mistreatment and no differences between attendees and non-attendees were found (all χ 2 (1) < 0.9, ps > .475).
+Overall, attending a self-defense course was associated neither with perceiving a risk in reporting sexual harassment (U = 715, z = −1.01, p = .311) nor with the respondent’s perception of how serious the organization takes reports of sexual harassment (U = 737, z = −0.81, p = .416). When analyzing these relationships separately by gender, attending a self-defense course was associated with the perception by women of how serious the organization takes reports of sexual harassment (U = 159, z = −1.96, p = .050), but not by men (U = 111, z = −1.46, p = .154). Women who took a self-defense course perceived the organization to take reports of sexual harassment less seriously (Mdn = 3.0, IQR = 2.4–3.7) than did women who did not take such a course (Mdn = 3.6, IQR = 3.2–3.8). The risk perceived in reporting sexual harassment was not associated with taking a self-defense course for women (U = 191, z = −1.24, p = .216) or for men (U = 113, z = −1.42, p = .163).
+Discussion
+This study focused on mistreatment in medical students. The scientific literature reports that medical students experience various forms of mistreatment, especially from clinical [5, 9] and university staff [7, 8, 10]. In particular shouting, yelling and humiliation appear to be prevalent [2, 7]. The current study replicated these results. Students also reported being distressed by having experienced such forms of mistreatment. Especially female medical students appear to suffer sexual harassment. This was also shown in a German study [8], a Dutch study [35] and a study conducted in California [9]. In contrast to the studies reported in the literature, the current study shows that sexual harassment was hardly perpetrated by staff. It was committed mostly by strangers. This finding is also in line with another study that differentiated between stranger and non-stranger sexual harassment [36]. It was found that sexual harassment of women was more commonly committed by strangers than by non-strangers [36].
+Female medical students reported more mistreatment by university staff than did male students. Even though this finding is not surprising, it illustrates that such discrimination and mistreatment pervades the career of women in medicine, already starting in medical education [37]. Despite the fact that equal numbers of women and men enter medical studies, women are still subjected to more mistreatment by staff. Such abuse underlines the need to change the medical culture, and also its apparent gendered basis should be challenged. Additionally, the greater incidence of humiliation of women compared to men as found in this study was also found in other studies [2] and is worrisome. These findings emphasize the organization’s need to react accordingly and implement improved strategies to ensure not only the physical but also the emotional safety of students and staff. The strategies implemented so far are evidently nowhere near being sustainable and efficient enough. The organization’s need to react to mistreatment can also be perceived in students’ distrust of the organization and the risk they perceive in reporting harassment.
+Men subjected to mistreatment reported that they perceived greater risk in the reporting of sexual harassment by university staff than did men who did not experience mistreatment. Moreover, women in general perceived a greater risk in reporting sexual harassment than did men. This might be connected to power structures and fear of being hindered in one’s career by members of the organization after reporting abuse. Additionally, it can be concluded that there prevails a lack of trust in the university’s ability to protect students from negative effects on their future careers as a result of reporting mistreatment. Furthermore, the question begs to be asked whom the university represents and whom the university protects. As found in the current study, female students who had been mistreated by fellow students did not believe the university would perceive this mistreatment as a serious issue or one worth prosecuting. Thus, the university might give the impression that it hardly protects students. Also, self-defense courses offered by the university did not appear to increase trust in the organization to prosecute mistreatment. This impression seemed prevalent, especially among women mistreated by fellow students. Consequently, one conclusion might be that the university does not represent and protect students as well as staff of all genders.
+In addition, humiliation by university staff might be influenced by the hierarchical structures in medicine. It could be argued that such forms of mistreatment result from a misconception that medical students need to be prepared for the rough hierarchical structures of the medical profession. Accordingly, the medical culture provides the breeding ground where students are “taught” how to treat persons of lower rank and status. This demonstration of power (e.g. staff demonstrating power over students) in medicine might result in a transgenerational legacy [27], in which these practices are passed from university staff to medical students and might also reinforce mistreating behavior in future generations of medical doctors [27, 38]. It is suggested that incidences and prevalence of mistreatment not only be studied, but also be brought in association with power relationships and hierarchical structures.
+Overall, mistreatment was not only committed by university staff, but also by friends and strangers. Hart and Miethe [39] pointed out that mistreatment is more commonly found off campus than on campus. The context of experiencing mistreatment off campus could also be an influential variable in the current study. The reporting of strangers involved in mistreating behavior towards medical students could be attributed to off-campus experiences. Notably, in the current study a differentiation between on-campus and off-campus (or more appropriately inside and outside the university) experiences was not included in this study. However, it has to be noted that campuses are not prevalent in Austria. The university buildings are located in the city and are not surrounded by a campus area. Thus, this social environment might affect students’ exposure to mistreatment [40] and partially explain why this study showed perpetrators to be strangers or friends.
+The current study has several limitations. It was conceptualized as a first attempt to gain information on the severity of mistreatment of medical students at this medical university. Thus, comparison with a control group of students from other disciplines and a non-student population was not sought at this point. Additionally, the small sample size does not allow generalization for all medical students at this medical university. Another limitation includes the issue of self-selection by participants. Even though a response rate of 80% was achieved, no information was available on those students who did not participate in the study. Thus, the participating students might be especially aware of the issue of mistreatment perpetrated against students and might have experienced more mistreatment than did those who did not participate in the study. In this sense, participating students were more willing to share their experiences.
+Conclusions
+The study offers important insights into mistreatment experienced by medical students. Mistreatment of medical students should be focused on using a gender perspective because types of mistreatment can differ by gender. These gender differences should also be viewed with regard to power relations and hierarchical structures, as these are considered to have an influence on mistreatment. Moreover, interventions to reduce and eliminate student mistreatment should not be restricted to the university as there was a high prevalence of mistreatment perpetrated by strangers. Intervention and campaigns should thus also include the societal level in which students operate, especially as this study shows that mistreatment is not only limited to mistreatment practiced behind the university walls, but that it is a reality for students in general. In order to do so and to enhance trust in the university’s fight against mistreatment, especially for all members of the university, it appears to be necessary to make university policies and actions against harassment and mistreatment in general more visible (e.g. publishing policies on the front page of the university website, displaying folders and posters on this matter at the university, announcing activities such as talks and workshops on this matter, training university staff in non-humiliating ways to teach students). Additionally, it appears to be vital to address the issue of trust in the university and the university’s apparent failure to protect students. Thus, the university has the duty to represent and protect all staff and all students.
+Declarations
+Acknowledgements
+We thank all persons who participated in our study.
+Funding
+No funding to declare.
+Availability of data and materials
+The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
+Authors’ contributions
+HS and MH designed the research. HS and GT participated in data collection. HS wrote the manuscript. HS, GT and NK participated in data analysis. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
+Ethics approval and consent to participate
+Ethics committee approval was not required for this study. Current legislation (see for example Universities Act (UG 2002) [41], Hospitals and Health Resorts Act (KAKuG) [42] regulates which studies conducted at Austrian medical universities require approval by the ethics committee e.g. §30 [41] clinical tests and studies of medical products, new medical methods, or applied medical research which includes human subjects. However, other types of studies (e.g. non-medical research, no involvement of patients) – such as this study – do not require review by the medical university’s ethics committee. Therefore the current study was not reviewed by the ethics committee of this medical university. In this study all potential participants were informed about the purpose and content of the study and how the study data would be used. They were informed that data would be used only in anonymized form. This information was given verbally as well as in written form in the introductory section of the questionnaire. Participation was voluntary and anonymous, and questionnaires were provided in a paper-pencil mode. Participants could withdraw from participation without stating a reason. Students were informed that withdrawal from participation would have no negative HK, Glicken A. Medical student abuse: incidence, severity, and significance. JAMA. 1990;263(4):527–32.View ArticleGoogle Scholar
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+The British have a difficult relationship with commemorative projects. Apparently it’s been going on longer than I realised, as even the Festival of Britain was apparently condemned in advance as a waste of money. I’m sure grumblers grumbled that the money spent on the Great Exhibition’s Crystal Palace would have been much better employed improving their local gin palaces (or more pertinently, the public sewerage system). A lot of Britons love a good moan whenever some large project is announced, on the basis that the money should be spent on something else, and that it will never work anyway. They love it when these projects come in over budget; almost inevitable given that these aren’t off-the-shelf designs, and are completed late. And then, after a few years, they and everyone else forgets the completion delays because they’re almost inconsequential over the lifespan of such projects, and they forget the budget overruns because, frankly, who can keep numbers like that in their head anyway? Finally they decide they liked the project all along now that it’s part of the landscape. In fact, we all miss the Festival of Britain’s Skylon now it’s gone, and obsess over the Festival’s cool graphic design.
+This week’s transport beauty, a pedestrian bridge in central London, illustrates all the downers the British have about commemorative buildings. Even more so, in fact, because the Millennium Footbridge was a Millennium project, one of a whole collection of expensive landmark projects to mark the Millennium, which cranked Britain’s cynicismometer up to 11. Just in London there was the Millennium Dome (waste of time/space/money, but now the O2 Dome over which many people get excited about visiting to see international music acts), the London Eye (ugly/pointless/frivolous/got stuck as it was being hauled upright confirming the sceptics’ opinion of it, yet now an enduringly popular tourist attraction and landmark on London’s skyline), the Millennium Pier at Millbank (largely overlooked because it was in the water) and the Millennium Footbridge. Joining in with the fun, although not strictly a Millennium project, was the Tate Modern – which had strong links with the Millennium Footbridge.
+The Millennium Footbridge managed to avoid the criticisms of pointlessness levelled at the London Eye and the Dome. A pedestrian connection between north and south banks of the Thames had some evident utility, especially given the presence of the already-open Shakespeare’s Globe theatre and Bankside Power Station, under conversion to the Tate Modern. Although there was some degree of (unfounded, as it turned out) scepticism about the likely popularity of the Tate Modern, people ‘got’ the basic idea of improved access to this area of the south bank from north of the river. It would also be the only pedestrian-only bridge in central London, making for a uniquely peaceful way of crossing the Thames.
+Local authority Southwark Council and RIBA’s (Royal Institute of British Architects) competition department invited submissions for a bridge design in the late 1990s, the Millennium happily providing a great excuse. The winner was a team effort from Foster+Partners, British sculptor Anthony Caro, and engineering firm Arup.
+Their design was radical, albeit based on a very traditional design, the suspension bridge. Most suspension bridges feature towers at either end, from which suspension cables are hung, and the bridge deck is then suspended by ties running from the cables down to the deck. Unfortunately, that wasn’t going to work in this case, because the cables and ties would have spoiled the views up and down the river from the bridge, not to mention blocking views of St Paul’s Cathedral or Tate Modern from the opposite riverbank.
+The genius of the Millennium Footbridge was to splay the suspension towers out sideways, turning them into shallow, Y-shaped armatures with the cables running through the arms of the two ‘Y’s. Instead of traditional ties connecting the suspension cables to the bridge deck, every eight metres a transverse steel arm clamps onto the cables. The deck of the footbridge rests on these arms, so it is cradled, rather than hung. The bottom line is that although the Millennium Footbridge is a suspension bridge, it’s a very shallow one. It’s clever and heavy engineering that manages to look extremely delicate. It was designed so that at night, its lighting scheme gives the impression of a “blade of light” reaching across the river.
+The north end of the bridge touches down neatly at the top of a set of steps which lead from Peter’s Hill down to the Thames embankment. The south side is a different matter. Because the embankment is flat here, the bridge effectively terminates in mid-air. Bringing the bridge deck straight down to ground level would have made it inconveniently steep. Instead, at the south end of the footbridge, the bridge deck divides into two halves. When pedestrians get to the end of the bridge deck, they have to execute a 180-degree turn, and use a central ramp which leads down to ground level. I never use it without feeling that somehow it’s a rather clumsy solution, in contrast to the directness with which you can get on or off the bridge at its north end. It was clearly something the bridge’s designers struggled with, and Foster+Partners’ website illustrates a number of other ideas for the southern end of the bridge, none of them entirely satisfactory and none of them quite in keeping with the lightness of touch that marks out the rest of the bridge.
+It is, however, quite possible that I’m the only person in the world bothered by the south end of the Millennium Footbridge, because every time I mention it to anyone else they look at me like I’m quite mad, and should just be grateful that such a lovely and clever piece of engineering should have seen the light of the day. It’s a much loved local landmark, and is immensely popular, not least because it’s immensely useful.
+Needless to say, all the people who were sceptical of London’s Millennium projects in advance have conveniently forgotten that that was the case. They had a field day at first though. The Millennium Footbridge opened in summer 2000, just after the Tate Modern. Both proved enormously popular, justifying the bridge’s existence. The plan had been to open both of them together, but the bridge itself was delayed by a couple of months, and it was also a couple of million pounds over its original £16m budget. Nevertheless, it attracted the crowds. And therein lay a problem.
+With some 100,000 people crossing the bridge on the first day, pedestrians noticed that the bridge developed a significant sway. It’s one of the drawbacks of suspension bridges that they have to be able to flex to cope with forces imposed by the wind and by traffic. Marching troops are required to break step when they cross suspension bridges because the repeated and regular footsteps can cause the flexing to build to the point where it matches the bridge deck’s natural resonant frequency. If reinforced by the marchers adapting the timing of their footsteps to cope with the flexing of the bridge deck, and effectively falling back into step, a positive feedback loop results in which the bridge flexes more and more. Here is why it becomes a problem when a suspension bridge starts flexing at its resonant frequency (although I ought to note that some authorities disagree over the exact role of resonance in the following).
+It was no surprise that the Millennium Footbridge swayed, but the amount of sway was. Although its users weren’t in step as they got onto the bridge, they began to fall back in step in response to the swaying of the bridge, amplifying the sway. Although pedestrian numbers were restricted in response, the situation was clearly unsustainable, and after three days the bridge closed. The Millennium schemes sceptics had another cause célèbre. They called it, mockingly, the Wobbly Bridge.
+Arup worked out an engineering solution which muted the swaying without ruining the careful aesthetics of the bridge. But manufacturing it, fitting it, and testing it would take two years. It would also add another £5m to the bill. It was February 2002 before the Wobbly Bridge opened to pedestrians again, and this time not a wobble was to be felt.
+And that’s it. Ever since, it has been behaving beautifully. It’s become a firm favourite with its regular users and the many, many tourists who cross it to access St Paul’s Cathedral or the South Bank. Like many London landmarks, it has taken its nickname and made it its own. You’ll still hear it called the Wobbly Bridge, but these days it’s done with a degree of fondness and an understanding that the nickname is the only reminder of its early teething troubles. It’s what Londoners do with their landmarks. You know a building has been accepted when its nickname sticks. The Gherkin (properly 80 St Mary Axe) got its name when its unusual design was initially mocked as “the erotic gherkin”. But, of course, once everybody got used to it, they decided they’d liked it all along, so the nickname lost its derogatory component, and stuck fast. The Millennium Footbridge has become such a landmark of London that it was destroyed by death eaters in the film version of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.
+I took my transport mad nephew to see the Millennium Footbridge a few weeks ago. It turned out he’d seen it before (disappointing). But the Wobbly Bridge has one other transport surprise up its sleeve. As I mentioned earlier, a set of steps lead down from the north end of the bridge to the embankment. But what if you can’t manage steps? Never fear, the Millennium Inclinator is here.
+It’s one of Britain’s newest – and shortest – funicular railways. A small glass cabin, balanced by a counterweight, makes it way over no less than 26.85m of track to connect the top of the steps with to the bottom. It opened in 2003, but if you believe in the curse of London’s Millennium projects, you won’t be surprised to hear that the original funicular didn’t work very well and had to be replaced. The new Inclincator opened in 2012 (just in time for the London Olympic Games, another project everyone said would be a disaster, until it wasn’t, at which point they decided it had been a brilliant idea all along).
+My nephew hadn’t seen the Inclinator before, and he absolutely loved it (that’s more like it). On reflection, perhaps not least because my brother-in-law suggested that “Millennium Inclinator” sounded like something out of Star Wars (if pronounced In-Clin-A-TOR). We also took my nephew on a New Routemaster, a regular London double decker, several Underground lines, Thameslink, and all around the London Transport Museum. But I think it was the Inclinator he liked the best. He and I do love a funicular.
+Bibliography and Further Reading
+Foster+Partners project page for the Millennium Footbridge, here
+Funicular Railways of the UK, Millennium Inclinator page, here
+…and anything linked to in the text above
+How to find the Millennium Footbridge
+7 thoughts on “Swipesy Cakewalk (Millennium “Wobbly Bridge” Footbridge, London, UK)”
+I was going to “correct” your assertation that this would be the only pedestrian bridge in central london, because unless you’re claiming them to be shared with trains, which is a stretch imo, the Hungerford bridges already existed.
+And then I went and double-checked before opening my virtual mouth and found they only opened in 2002, so at the time, this would have been the first and only. Weird, I never thought of them as contemporaneous!
+There was an earlier version of the Hungerford Bridge walkways, one side only, if I remember correctly. But yes, I didn’t count Hungerford on the basis that it’s a shared train/pedestrian bridge (and very noisy too when a train goes past!). Thought about including this in the article, decided against it on grounds of length, now wish I had!
+Your memory is correct. Also only half the width of the new walkways and just horrid
+I’ve only recently heard of the Inclinator and now want to go to London for a ride on it.
+As for the public not appreciating things until they happen, it always amuses me to see old Episodes of Have I Got News For You where panellists are snide about the Olympics, they hold the solution to the public finances. All we need to do is announce a new Millenium Dome and then cancel it for money to be spent elsewhere. As I recall, cancelling the old one would have funded the NHS, new everything for the armed forces, rebuild every school, restored the railways so we all have a personalised coach, widened every road to 4 lanes and several dozen other things…
+I’m a big fan of funiculars too… but I can’t help thinking that in another context the Inclinator would be called a “lift”.
+In Paris, Charles de Gaulle – Étoile RER station has a similar affair.
+This used to be my local metro station, and nobody ever seemed to show the slightest interest in it. But naturally I took it a few times, just for fun.
+The scepticism extends to big public art as well as commemorative projects – notably the Angel of the North, which at some time turned the corner from “waste of money”:
+to iconic landmark featuring on tourist leaflets/websites such as the top of the “must see” list here:
+Chris
+Reblogged this on The Bridgehunter's Chronicles.
+Introduction
+Bloated..
+“The conspiracy exists, and the conspiracy involves hiding the true hazards of benzene at low doses,” said Robert Black,.
+The documents may represent the tip of the iceberg. For decades, the petrochemical industry has employed what one litigation guide calls a “comprehensive strategy” for defending against workers’ legal claims. Penned by a senior attorney at Shell Oil, the undated document lays out a coordinated “industry response” aimed at shielding internal company records on benzene. It warns defense attorneys to “avoid unnecessary or inadvertent disclosure of sensitive documents or information,” for instance, and to “disclose sensitive benzene documents only on court order.”
+“We don’t know what the health effects are because they’re not going to let us know,” Black said. “It’s an American tragedy.”
+Five million Americans at risk.
+“It’s a known human carcinogen,” Rimer said, “and it’s emitted from lots of sectors.”.
+“We have to make sure we’re not exposing people to things we can do something about,” she said..
+The reason, in her mind, is clear: “Litigation is continuing and potential for environmental exposures is still significant,” she said. “They need to protect their economic interests.”.
+“This is just appalling,” said Carl Cranor, a philosophy professor at University of California, Riverside, who has read some of the Shanghai documents. “This does not sound like a scientific inquiry where you’re not sure what the outcome will be.”
+Infante, the former OSHA official, who now testifies for plaintiffs in benzene litigation, put it more bluntly: “It’s called potential bias.”
+Study’s authors: No bias.
+“There could have been the best intentions or the worst intentions,” said Harvey Checkoway, an epidemiology professor at University of California, San Diego, who served on a scientific review panel created by the petrochemical companies to review the study. “We set that aside for the research.”.
+“The results don’t support the presumption of bias,” Irons said, explaining that, so far, the research has confirmed benzene’s association with AML as well as myelodysplastic syndrome, or MDS, a cancer of the bone marrow..
+By contrast, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, recommends that workers limit their benzene exposure to an average of 0.1 ppm during a shift.
+“Our conservative approach to setting workplace benzene exposure limits is influenced by the most up-to-date scientific evidence, which includes the 2012 study,” ExxonMobil said, noting that its short-term limit is five times lower than OSHA.
+“His comment was, no, we wouldn’t require monitoring,” Boley testified. “Our levels would be safe.”.”
+Only safe level ‘is zero’.
+“We are monitoring the NCI studies,” an Exxon memo explained, “because of their potential impact concerning the health risks at low benzene exposures.”
+In 1997, the NCI published a landmark study on benzene-exposed workers in Shanghai. The results reinforced past research showing the chemical causes leukemia, said Richard Hay.
+In 2004, the NCI released the results of a second study. It found that Chinese shoe makers inhaling benzene in amounts below the OSHA limit had fewer white blood cells than unexposed workers, suggesting the chemical has no safe threshold.
+“In general,” Hayes said, “we found benzene was a larger problem than we originally thought.”.”
+Wong insists today that his corporate funding had no influence on this conclusion. “My critique of the NCI study was comprehensive and specific,” he said. “I was responsible for every comment.”.
+API representatives went from company to company, giving what amounted to a sales pitch for the Shanghai study. They laid out just what executives might anticipate in return.
+A 2001 document listed the following “expected” results:
+Provide strong scientific support for a lack of a risk of leukemia … at current ambient benzene concentrations to the general population.
+Establish … current occupational exposure limits do not create a significant risk.
+Refute the allegation that Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma can be induced by benzene exposure..”
+Liability also was a worry. Documents warned of “litigation costs due to perceptions about the risks of even very low exposures to benzene” and lawsuits “alleging induction of various forms of leukemia and other hematopoietic diseases,” including more commonly diagnosed lymphomas.
+For some in the industry, the bait proved enticing.
+.”
+Industry-funded researchers bristle at the science-for-sale accusations.
+“I didn’t see refuting anything as my charge,” said Irons, the study’s co-principal investigator, “and I wouldn’t have responded favorably to that.”
+In depositions, however, Irons conceded that oil companies had a vested interest in the project.
+“The oil companies … expected … it would be used for regulation, litigation, and for understanding the health effects of benzene,” he testified in 2010, adding that he didn’t believe a “funding source or the amount of money necessarily impacts on the [study’s] objectivity.”.”
+Noting that the study relied on actual cases from 29 Shanghai hospitals, Wong explained, “It’s very difficult to argue that we have influenced our data one way or another.”.”
+Some would-be funders weren’t so sure, documents show.
+In 2002, consortium members landed a meeting with seven scientists from Dow Chemical Company to pitch the Shanghai study. The meeting came after the scientists had voiced what one described as “specific technical concerns” about its design. Dow eventually opted not to contribute.
+In a deposition two years later, Dow’s head of epidemiology, James Collins, testified that the company feared the study could generate inaccurate risk estimates and thus “be biased.”
+‘Independent’ review panels.
+Industry representatives viewed the boards as essential for lending credibility to the study. “There are going to be people out there who will want to misinterpret and criticize the study,” one argued in a 2003 email. “It is important that ‘the integrity’ … be maintained” with the panels.
+Panelists insist the boards weren’t simply for show. They say industry representatives routinely encouraged them to offer criticisms and recommendations, and they obliged. Documents show investigators incorporated so many panel suggestions that research costs soared $3 million in one year alone.
+.”
+At the time, Irons expressed reservations over the manuscript-review requirement.
+Consortium members dropped it but kept the review boards. For years, panelists kept circulating “ready-for-submission manuscripts” for “feedback,” documents show.:
+perception needs to be that this is not being done to protect against litigation
+use a consulting attorney to address these issues of perceived motivation!”
+Privately, consortium members betrayed less charitable motives. A draft of a 2002 recruitment brief reminded potential sponsors that “there is continued concern with the potential health effects of benzene as it relates to worker exposure … and personal injury claims.”
+In response, a Shell executive urged colleagues to “delet[e] the reference to legal liabilities” and emphasized that “the only reason we are doing this is in support of protecting workers.”.
+“I’d rather have my husband,” Carolyn said. “There is not another one like him.”
+Seeding the literature.”
+A 2002 Shell summary of the Shanghai project defined a “Key Measure/Indicator of Success” as a “Cost effective study reported in public literature … [that would] support … advocacy.”. David Eastmond, a toxicology professor at University of California, Riverside, said that the petrochemical industry “gets sued on a fairly regular basis” over “a wide range of diseases.”
+“If [it] could narrow down which subtypes are caused by benzene,” he explained, “the industry could eliminate a number of lawsuits.”
+Industry-funded Shanghai researchers found that only certain subtypes of MDS and AML are significantly linked to benzene..
+“You don’t want to find out you have cancer at that age because of somebody else’s wrongdoing.”Brian Milward, who developed acute promyelocytic leukemia.”
+Wong said that all he and his fellow researchers can do is report their findings — positive and negative. “I’m sure some people use the results in their own way,” he said, referring to defense lawyers. “I can’t really speak to.
+“In terms of something that would once and forever cause the petroleum industry’s legal liability problems to go away,” said review panelist Rice, “it didn’t do.
+“You don’t want to find out you have cancer at that age because of somebody else’s wrongdoing,” Milward said, explaining he had no idea the solvents and paints he used to clean and seal pipes contained benzene until after he was diagnosed.
+In 2007, he filed suit against Rustoleum Paints and 20 other manufacturers, whose experts argued no epidemiological studies show a link between benzene and APL. Experts hired by Milward countered that evidence linking benzene to AML essentially links it to all subtypes, including APL. draw. In a 2010 article confirming benzene’s tie to “an increased risk of AML,” Wong discussed the relationship by disease subtype. APL was the “most strongly related” to benzene exposure, he wrote..
+“I can’t really do anything,” said Milward, 57 — at least, not what he loves: repairing race cars, working in his yard, playing with his grandchildren. “It just sucks when you get a cancer like this.”
+‘He never complained’.”
+“Assumptions and presumptions,” Irons testified, “have to be modified and re-assessed.”
+The comment proved prescient in Thompson’s case..
+“That’s the kind of guy he was,” Bowers said.
+Within days of the lawn-mowing episode, Thompson learned he had acquired AML — specifically, a subtype of AML known as “inversion 16.”
+“If oil companies are willing to spend $36 million to fund research, how much are they afraid of losing?”Chase Bowers, nephew to John Thompson
+In the contentious world of toxic-tort litigation, Thompson’s case seems like a classic: The only leukemia the petrochemical industry has admitted benzene can.”
+“We found many cases of inversion 16,” Irons said in court. “We did not find an association between benzene exposure and inversion 16.” Other scientists disagree, arguing that if benzene causes one subtype of AML, it likely causes all of them..”
+After two weeks of testimony, the Thompson case ended in mistrial. The suit ultimately was resolved under terms that remain confidential..
+“There’s obvious vested interest here,” Bowers said of the Shanghai study. “If oil companies are willing to spend $36 million to fund research, how much are they afraid of losing?”
+Ashley Schwartz
+Hi Kristen, That was an excellent article and must have cost a great deal of time to un-pick all the facts. Thank you. I am having difficulty finding out what US and EU allow for gasoline to have added to it other than the fractionation volume from the refining into basic petrol. I want to know what else is now added, for the lead-free mix. As I understand it, raw benzene is always present in the fuel, but other forms of benzene ring compound could also be added that cause similar damage to people, I believe, due to need to… Read more »
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+Focusing on Private Hospitals, JD Capital Supports “Healthy China 2030”
+2016-11-18
+Source: cn-healthcare.com
+Abstract: From a shareholder to a controller of substantive medical institutions, JD Capital’s medical health investment team makes its bit to the course of “Healthy China 2030” in a standard, procedural and systematic way.
+Recently, big deals emerged again in the field of non-public medical care. With CR Healthcare formally taking over Phoenix Healthcare Group, the two giants formed into the CR Phoenix Healthcare, China’s largest industrial platform of medical services, with over 100 medical institutions and 11,900 available sickbeds.
+Distinct from the “winter of capital” proliferating in the profession, investment in the field of medical service formed a special scene. In particular, private medical care enterprises become the apple in the eyes of many PE funds and listed companies. Apart from CR Healthcare, gold diggers also include such listed companies in the medical industry as Hengkang Medical Group and Xinbang Pharmaceutical, who purchase or manage public hospitals in trust; and such industrial investor as CITIC Medical & Health Group, Fosun Pharma and JD Capital, who conduct equity investment in hospitals; as well as those who cooperate with the government to invest in newly-built hospitals under the PPP mode.
+“Due to its long development period and strict restrictions, the field of medical care had long been undervalued by mainstream businesses. However, there are never a shortage of forerunners,” remarked by JD Capital in an interview. From a shareholder to a controller of substantive medical institutions, JD Capital’s medical health investment team makes its bit to the course of “Healthy China 2030” in a standard, procedural and systematic way.
+According to statistics, JD Capital has invested in a total of more than 50 enterprises in the field of healthcare, including chemical pharmacy, Chinese patent medicine, medical apparatus, medical service (hospitals), biological pharmacy and other segments. Specifically, JD Capital has invested in 17 second-class hospitals or above from 8 private hospital groups engaged in medical services, which signifies that JD Capital has fundamentally finished its deployment in China’s non-public medical industry.
+Commencement of a trillion-size industrial gala
+In October, the CPC Central Committee and State Council issued the “Healthy China 2030” blueprint. The blueprint specifically mentioned that, to deepen opening up of health industry, it is necessary to formulate favorable policies for the development of the industry, guide financial institutions to enhance financial support with credit and bonds, and develop the health industry into the mainstay of the national economy.
+From the viewpoint of JD Capital, as the action plan for promoting the construction of a healthy nation in the coming 15 years, “Healthy China 2030” is no more merely an initiative of the National Health and Family Planning Commission (NHFPC), but an important strategy of the nation. “For the capital market, this signifies the commencement of a trillion-size gala for industrial investment.”
+With favorable policies issued under the initiative of “Healthy China”, quite a number of listed companies have already started their business layout. According to incomplete statistics, there have been more than a hundred listed companies that have set foot in the field of medicine and healthcare, each with different purposes: while some look for complete transformation and improvement of profitability, some aim to increase company value through transition.
+Under this background, over its years of investment in private hospitals, JD Capital has come up with its own “methodology” for hospital investment, one that different from internet companies who more on “track” than on “players” in their investment.
+Selecting “regional bellwethers” in the field of medical service
+Over the past four years, JD Capital has studied and contacted a large number of domestic and overseas private medical institutions. In the process of judging and calculating the investment bets, JD Capital believes that the most remarkable difference between medical investment and pharmaceutical investment is that the latter produces standardized drugs sold country-wide or even worldwide, with no regional restrictions; whereas the product of medical institutions are human-oriented services restricted by region and other factors.
+Therefore, in China, to invest in private hospitals, the first thing for social capital is to find industrial “bellwethers” in the “region”.
+“Restricted by timing, cost and medical insurance reimbursement policies, the ways patients seek medical advice are highly regional. Competitions among hospitals are mainly restricted within the region. Simply put, leading hospitals, as bellwether in the region (or in a specific field), are people’s first choice, thus can hardly be defeated,” explained by JD Capital’s medical health investment team.
+Moreover, JD Capital believes that due to the complexity of causes of diseases, variety of diagnosis and treatment approaches, patients’ fear of diseases, and high risk of medical technologies, patients tend to choose the best brand in the first place. Unless major changes take place, systematic changes of public and private enterprises, or significant capital increase, it will not be easy for the hospitals’ competition pattern to change. Different from the case of other industries, competitive hospitals will long retain its advantages.
+Second, from a systematic view, for public hospitals are all non-profit ones, to introduce social capital, they must reorganize into for-profit hospitals in the first place; and for private hospitals that are mostly for-profit ones, the reorganization process is both easier and shorter. “A for-profit hospital is an independent business entity qualified for investment and capital operation (listing, going public, etc.). With a flexible system and mechanism, private enterprises find it easier to conduct subsequent capital operations,” summarized by JD Capital.
+In 2016, JD Capital provided additional investment for Pizhou Dongda Hospital, its former investee, and turned from its shareholder into controller. Founded in 2012, the hospital is situated in Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province. Judged according to JD Capital’s criteria for “regional bellwethers”, it is a private hospital up to the standard of a tertiary hospital, and is by now the largest comprehensive private hospital in Xuzhou.
+“We’ve invested in Dongda Hospital by holding shares in 2014 and assisted in its Phase I construction. By 2015, the number of outpatients and discharged patients of the hospital reached 200,000 and 18,000 respectively,” according to JD Capital. With the improvement of its professionalism, there has been a growing need in high-level talents and equipment. With the support of JD Capital, Dongda Hospital plans to launch its Phase II construction. “It is not only part of our strategic deployment in the field of healthcare, but also the starting of our transition from share participation to holding investment.”
+Besides controlling Pizhou Dongda Hospital, in 2016, JD Capital followed up its investment in Zhengzhou Daqiao Hospital, and takes it as the basis for industrial integration of private hospitals in Henan Province. So far, acquisitions have been completed for a number of proper objects.
+Growth decides future, and specialty equals advantage
+“It is our firm belief that investment is all about the future.”
+For JD Capital, the essence of a “promising” “regional bellwether” lies in its “high growth potential”.
+The medical health investment team of JD Capital proposes the following criteria for the growth potential of an enterprise.
+First, market space. “The service industry depends on population. The region should be competitively populated. For example, a county with over 1 million people would be a good market, and a prefecture-level city with over 5 million residents in total or over 1 million in the urban area would also be nice,” said the medical health investment team leader.
+Second, competition pattern. According to JD Capital, “For a private leading hospital, it needs constant improvement in hardware environment, medical equipment, professional personnel and medical service, so as to keep its position as a bellwether and excel among local public general hospitals. Its future lies in the ability to attract patients with first-class environment, equipment, medical technologies and services.”
+Third, external expansion ability. It is inevitable that a hospital hits a growth bottleneck. But a good management team must have accumulated rich experiences and resources along the way. Therefore, they should be able to expand the hospital at a certain point. The JD Capital medical health investment team believes that “such a hospital would be able to set up chains or branches in various regions, thus opening the gateway to high growth.”
+Jiuqiao Medical Investment Co., Ltd. (Jiuqiao Medical) is a typical example of high-growth “regional bellwether” discovered and invested by JD Capital.
+In 2014, Jiuqiao Medical was established jointly by JD Capital and the former shareholders of Zhengzhou Daqiao Hospital. The latter then became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Jiuqiao.
+Located in the old town of Zhengzhou, Daqiao Hospital is a general hospital specialized in gynaecology and obstetrics. With an annual amount of 14,000-15,000 newborns, second only to Henan Maternal and Child Care Hospital, it is a leading obstetrical service provider. According to JD Capital, “The hospital has a rather capable management team. However, due to space limits, it’s hard for its headquarters to add new buildings. This constrains its growth.”
+Having become a shareholder of Jiuqiao Medical, JD Capital used the hospital as a platform and purchased several quality private hospitals within as short as two years, including Zhenyuan Hospital in Luyi, Changcheng Hospital in Chongqing, and No. 9 Hospital in Luoyang, thus expanding Jiuqiao into a large-scale private hospital group.
+Given that public hospitals still remain dominant in China, besides “high growth”, JD Capital also emphasized on the importance of the “advantage of specialty” to social capital accumulation.
+Recently, JD Capital-invested Lunan Ophthalmic Hospital, the largest of its kind in Linyi, Shandong Province and the most specialized private hospital in the region, was granted as a Grade 3 Class A specialized hospital. “Compared with public hospitals, private ones in the region, after years of growth, could become bellwethers in a specialized area, or turn into general hospitals with one or several strong specialties,” according to JD Capital medical health investment team.
+Post-investment management: one hospital, one strategy – await the blossom
+Concerning health and safety, medical service exists as a rigid demand. As a typical anti-cyclical industry, it is subject to strict state regulation. Medical costs are under tight control of health insurance. Therefore, making high profit within a short term is out of the question.
+According to JD Capital, upon the completion of the investment, the team will help improve the hospital’s overall value through four channels, namely the introduction of capital (increase investment), the introduction of mechanism (modern corporate governance mechanism), the introduction of knowledge (advanced medical resources) and capital operation (e.g. integrate peripheral hospitals and finance from the stock market).
+“‘One hospital, one strategy’, or adjusting measures to local conditions, is our core post-investment management idea concluded from our investment practices, and also our strategy to increase the value of hospitals,” according to JD Capital medical health investment team. “Instead of seeking short-term profits and economic benefits, we will focus on long-term value investment. Just wait in patience for the flowers to blossom.”
+To solve the problem of messy and nonstandard management in China’s private hospitals, JD Capital on one hand puts professional financial managers in place to standardize the operation of the hospital’s revenue and expenditures, and allows the market to determine negotiated prices and price raise of medicines; on the other, hire general hospital managers to eradicate such practices as irresponsible prescriptions and medical examinations, fake hospitalization and insurance fraud under the “negative list” principle.
+Medical investment is an integral part of JD Capital’s investment strategy. For now, the company has established a niche fund for medical health. By investing in leading regional hospitals and integrating peripheral hospitals’ assets, JD Capital has been able to pour its quality medical resources, in an effort to build leading regional hospital groups.
+“In the future, we will gather all resources and build a complete industry chain covering insurance, medical care and old-age care, in a way to improve people’s health in an all-round and full-cycle manner, and thus contribute to the course of ‘Healthy China 2030’.”
+Sedation Dentistry
+Do you know and understand the different levels of sedation and the qualifications needed to administer each level?
+Which route of sedation will work best for you?
+Oral Sedation is not the same as IV sedation. These are the questions you need to know:
+- Has oral sedation not met your needs?
+- Is oral sedation the safest route of sedation?
+Dr. Simmons is certified to administer nitrous oxide, oral sedation, and IV moderate sedation. He also works with a team of highly qualified Registered Nurses and Board Certified Anesthesiologists.
+We have a solution for virtually any sedation need. Find out what most of our patients seem to think is the most clinically effective, safe and cost effective method of sedation.
+Our goal is to meet whatever sedation need you may have. You owe it to yourself to give us a call for more information.
+Sedation Facts You Need To Know to Be a Better Informed Consumer
+I will present information in a series of videos and website productions that will edify you on most aspects of dental sedation. The attempt will be to educate you on sedation and hopefully make you a more informed consumer of dental sedation treatment.
+I will attempt to explain the levels of sedation, the routes of sedation, and the qualifications to administer different levels of sedation. I will explain the difference between oral conscious sedation and intravenous (IV) conscious sedation. Which type of sedation do most people choose and why? So let's begin. back to top
+Levels of Sedation
+According to the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA), there are four levels of sedation. I will give you their formal definition and then try to exemplify each level for a better understanding.
+Minimal Sedation– this type of sedation method is characterized as a minimally depressed level of consciousness produced by a pharmacological method that retains the patient’s ability to independently and continually maintain an airway and respond normally to tactile stimulation and verbal command. Although cognitive function and coordination may be modestly impaired, ventilatory and cardiovascular functions are unaffected. In accordance with this particular definition, the drug(s) and/or techniques used should cover a margin of safety wide enough never to render an unintended loss of consciousness. Furthermore, patients whose only response is reflex withdrawal from repeated stimuli would not be considered to be in a state of minimal sedation.
+Another term that is used somewhat synonymously with minimal sedation is anxiolysis, which simply means the diminution or elimination of anxiety.
+One of the key concepts with minimal sedation is the ability of the patient to remain in a conscious state. Even though there may be a modest impairment of cognitive ability, they can still respond to you in a normal manner. For example, I can ask them a question or lightly tap them on the shoulder and they can respond. Swallowing reflexes are intact and they have no problem breathing on their own.
+I will use examples of alcohol consumption. I know many of you do not drink, but I think everyone has observed people at different levels of intoxication.
+Minimal sedation may be equivalent to someone who has had 2-3 drinks. Obviously this is hard to quantify because everyone responds differently. This is an important point to remember because the same principal applies to sedative medications. That being said, we can still draw some general cogent conclusions.
+The individual who is minimally sedated may or may not get a DUI but they are still able to function in a somewhat normal fashion. Maybe we can say the patient is awake but drowsy.
+Patients at this level of sedation would be given a drug in an amount equal to or less than the minimal recommended dose (MRD) as recommended by the FDA for the drug's recommended purpose. For example, triazolam, which is a common oral sedation drug, would only be given in an amount no greater than 0.5mg to an ambulating (walking) or unmonitored person. Its intended FDA use would be for insomnia. back to top
+Moderate Sedation– this type of sedation method is characterized as a drug induced level of consciousness during which patients respond purposefully to verbal commands, either alone or accompanied by light tactile stimulation. No interventions are required to maintain a patent airway, and spontaneous ventilation is adequate. Cardiovascular function is usually maintained.
+The key word here is purposeful. The patient can respond in a purposeful manner to verbal commands or light tactile stimulation. I can still ask the patient a question or tap them on the shoulder and they can respond, but it is purposeful. What does purposeful mean?
+Again, I will use an alcohol example. This may be tantamount to someone who has had 4-9 drinks. There is quite a bit of variation because everyone responds differently. Factors such as tolerance, absorption, food intake, and metabolism can all affect the influence of alcohol. People also have different levels of susceptibility to the influence of alcohol. The same concept applies to sedative drugs.
+This person may be asleep, but they can be easily aroused. Their cognitive function is noticeably influenced. They can respond, but may have to think about what they are saying.
+All swallowing reflexes are intact and they have no trouble breathing on their own.
+This person would be obviously intoxicated, but still able to function. They better not drive home. They would endanger themselves and others. They would definitely get a DUI. I think we have all witnessed folks at this level of intoxication.
+For those of you who have had the pleasure of receiving a colonoscopy, you probably had moderate sedation. You would probably describe it as a pleasant experience, in which you remembered very little, if anything.
+This is still considered to be conscious sedation. back to top
+Deep Sedation– this sedation method is characterized as an induced state of depressed consciousness that's accompanied by partial or complete loss of protective reflexes, including the inability to continually maintain an airway independently and/or respond purposefully to physical stimulation or verbal command, and is produced as a pharmacological method, a non-pharmacological method, or a combination thereof.
+The key words here are partial or complete loss of protective reflexes, particularly the swallowing reflex. They may lose the ability to breath on their own.
+This person will not respond to verbal command or light touching. You have to shake the person to awaken them or arouse them with a painful stimulus.
+They are asleep but difficult to arouse.
+This would be the person who is so intoxicated that they have passed out. You would have to literally shake the person to get a response from them. If they were to regurgitate, they could very well asphyxiate on their own vomit.
+This is not conscious sedation! back to top
+General Anesthesia– this is an induced state of unconsciousness that's accompanied by partial or complete loss of protective reflexes, including the inability to continually maintain an airway independently or respond purposefully to verbal commands or physical stimulus. It is produced by a pharmacological method, a non pharmacological method, or a combination thereof.
+The key word here is unconsciousness. The patient cannot be aroused by shaking or painful stimulation. You can cut a patient with a scalpel and they will not respond. This is surgical anesthesia. There is complete analgesia or pain control.
+Protective reflexes such as swallowing are obviously impaired and the patient may not be able to breathe on their own.
+This is very obviously not conscious sedation. It is also known as sleep sedation or anesthesia.
+Conscious sedation is NOT sleep sedation. This is very important to understand. back to top
+Routes of Sedation
+I will next try to explain the various routes of sedation.
+First, I would like to discuss various means of non-drug relaxation. Some dentists may refer to this as relaxation dentistry, but it is not sedation dentistry by means of a sedative agent.
+Some of the techniques are good chairside manners, talking in a low voice, holding an assistant's hand, being kind, using gentle injection techniques, using topical anesthesia, shaking the cheek during an injection, using the wand, using headphones, watching TV, warm compresses, aromatic smells, pedicures, manicures, hypnosis, etc.
+I think you get the point. Obviously, all of these things do make a difference.
+A gentle caring doctor is of paramount importance. You may have even seen this marketed as "gentle dental." As much as this helps, it is not enough for those of you who need more. You know who I am talking about if you are one of those types.
+Inhalation Sedation: Nitrous Oxide is the inhalation gas that's commonly used in dentistry. It is sometimes referred to as laughing gas or sweet air. There are stronger inhalation agents used for general anesthesia, but not in a dental office. Nitrous does afford some analgesia and relaxation. It is a very safe gas. It is not metabolized by the body. In other words, it comes out the same way it went in. It is very safe to use. Nitrous, when used alone, is at the low end of sedation. When used properly, it will only provide a light level of sedation. It works for some people, but not for those with an appreciable degree of apprehension. If used in combination with other sedative agents, it produces a much more significant effect. back to top
+Oral or Enteral Sedation: This is what most of you see that's marketed as sedation dentistry or "Oral Conscious Sedation."
+There are actually three means of enteral sedation. Enteral sedation passes through the gastrointestinal system. It can be delivered orally, rectally, or sublingually (under the tongue.) It is usually delivered orally or sublingually.
+There are pros and cons to its use. The biggest pro is that it is easy to administer. You just swallow the pill.
+There is a very important concept to understand at this point. There is a thing in sedation and anesthesia that is called "Titration To Desired Effect." This means that you can deliver a drug in very small amounts until you reach the desired level of sedation. This is very important with respect to safety of the drugs and not overshooting or undershooting the desired level of sedation. If you remember the levels of sedation, the intent of conscious sedation is to never go deeper than moderate sedation. Your intent is to never sedate to the level of deep sedation. Remember the differences between the two?
+The problem with oral sedation is that you cannot titrate to effect. The drug has to first go through the GI system where it then goes to the liver, in what we call "the first pass effect."
+After swallowing the pill, it has to be passed through the stomach to the small intestine. Obviously, it has to go through an absorption process which takes time. After the small intestine, it is passed to the liver where the drug is then metabolized to a certain extent. It is then passed into the circulatory system, where it will then eventually reach the central nervous system (CNS) and reach the brain. Once it reaches the brain, it will then manifest the sedative effects of the drug.
+Obviously, only a portion of the drug will ever reach the brain. There is a time delay from administering the drug before an effect is seen. This time delay is generally about an hour.
+An example is the use of triazolam as a sedative agent. It is probably the most common or popular agent used for oral sedation. Other agents, such as lorazepam and valium, are also used but triazolam is probably the most popular. The concept is basically the same for all of the oral agents.
+Usually a dose of triazolam is given an hour before the appointment. The patient arrives at the office and they are evaluated for their response to the dose given. At that point, a determination is made as to how much more of the drug should be given. This can be a little hard to determine. If needed, another dose is given. It takes triazolam about 30 minutes before you start to see an effect. It takes 75 minutes to reach it's full effect. What if the dose you gave was not enough? Do you give more and if so, how much? In reality, you need to wait 75 minutes or at least an hour before you will know the true effect of the last dose given. You spend a lot of time waiting. Can you overshoot or undershoot? You have no way of knowing until you see the complete effect of the drug, which, again, will take at least an hour to reach full effect.
+Oral sedation has the ability to take a patient all the way to deep sedation and loss of consciousness. back to top
+Intravenous or IV Sedation: IV sedation is accomplished by placing an IV catheter directly into a vein. It allows the sedative drug to go directly to the brain. There is no delayed reaction due to absorption and metabolism as experienced with oral sedation. You will know generally within 2-3 minutes the effect of the drug. It can very easily be "Titrated To Effect."
+Midazolam or Versed is probably the most commonly used drug for IV moderate sedation. It is the benzodiazepine drug of choice by most anesthesiologists. It has been used for years and is cleared by the FDA for IV sedation. It will reach its therapeutic effect in 2-3 minutes. You will not experience many of the drug reactions with Versed that you will experience with oral sedatives. IV administration of a drug is much more precise and can render a much more effective means of sedation.
+In fact, I will say it is virtually unanimous that it is the preferred delivery style by Oral Surgeons, as well as Dental and Medical Anesthesiologists. IV administration allows for the more safe and effective precision delivery of the sedative drug. IV drugs can be titrated. Oral sedation drugs are not titrated but given in incremental doses. If multiple drugs are given orally, they are "stacked" instead of titrated, with more unpredictable results.
+I have performed about 500 oral sedation cases and 500 IV cases. I initially started with oral before I got my license to administer IV sedation. After performing both oral and IV, I almost exclusively administer IV sedation because of its predictability. I think this is in concert with the opinion of anesthesiologists. I will admit this is my personal bias, but I think it is well founded. My experience has shown that IV is the superlative route.
+At this time, I generally like to limit oral sedation to mild sedation. This way, I can keep things safer and more controlled. I can keep things in line with the FDA recommended amount for dosing of a particular oral drug. I understand there are many who use oral exclusively but it is not my favorite choice for moderate sedation. back to top
+Intramuscular and Subcutaneous Sedation: These are other routes of administration but they are not commonly used in the dental setting for sedation purposes.
+Qualifications for Sedation
+All states require proper qualification for the administration of the various means and levels of sedation. There are differences amongst states but they all share many of the same regulations.
+Mild sedation has the fewest requirements since the doses given are many times prescribed by MDs on an ambulatory basis for at-home use without monitoring. If used within the prescribed guidelines, mild sedation is quite safe.
+Since all states are different, I can only speak for the regulations for the Commonwealth of VA.
+Oral Conscious Sedation: 18 hours of approved education with 20 virtual patient experiences. This is for the level of moderate sedation.
+IV Conscious Sedation: 60 hours of approved education through an accredited agency such as a hospital or university with the treatment of at least 20 live patients under supervised instruction. Again, if kept within the prescribed intended level of sedation, it is very safe and effective. back to top
+Deep Sedation and General Anesthesia are generally administered only by licensed Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons, Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists, and Anesthesiologists. To see the necessary qualifications for each of these specialties or for further clarifications of the qualifications I have listed for moderate sedation, you can google each individual state board for more in-depth clarification.
+So the question remains: what is the favorite route of sedation? I can only speak for my patient population.
+- For patients needing only mild sedation, oral sedation seems to work very well.
+- For patients needing moderate sedation, the overwhelming majority get IV sedation for its precision, safety, efficacy, and cost.
+- For those needing more, deep sedation or general anesthesia is the right choice.
+We strive to offer whatever modality best suits the patient. We work with a team of three Registered Nurses, three Board Certified Anesthesiologists, and my staff and I. We feel we can handle most situations for adults. Pediatric sedation is another matter and we refer to the appropriately trained specialists.
+Our fee scale depends on the level of sedation. It is less for mild sedation. Our fees are roughly the same for oral or IV moderate sedation. At this time, I am keeping the moderate fees basically the same whether it is oral or IV. Even though there is much more involved on our side for IV, most patients hands down opt for the IV route.
+If we utilize the services of an anesthesiologist, the fee obviously increases, but for those who need it, it is worth the additional fee.
+The bottom line in my practice is IV moderate sedation. It works for probably 98% of our patients at a very reasonable fee. It generally gets the job done nicely.
+I have roughly 300 certified hours in sedation and emergency protocols. I am certified in VA to administer nitrous, oral, and IV moderate sedation. I received my IV training at Albert Einstein Medical School, earning 90 didactic hours and treating 46 live patients. I receive my ACLS certification annually and my entire staff is BLS certified and trained.
+Sedation is an ever evolving practice. We are always striving to improve our practice in the art and science of sedation. back to top
+Sedation Monitoring
+Proper monitoring is essential to ensure your safety during your sedation experience. I will outline some of the necessary forms of sedation monitoring.
+It really starts with an adequate and complete medical history. Conditions such as past heart attacks, strokes, high blood pressure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma, diabetes, obstructive sleep apnea, etc. are absolutely essential to know.
+The American Association of Anesthesiologists has different classifications or grades of health.
+- ASA I is essentially a healthy person
+- ASA II is someone with a mild systemic condition. An example would be someone with well controlled hypertension.
+- ASA III is someone with moderate to severe systemic problems that does not pose a constant threat to their life. They are well functioning if their problems are under control. An example might be an individual with HBP, diabetes, and asthma, but who has things well under control.
+- There are more advanced classifications, but they are not allowed to be treated in an ambulatory facility.
+Anyone who is classified as an ASA III must have a clearance with their physician before treatment.
+We also routinely take baseline vitals. We take blood pressures, pulse, SpO2 or tissue oxygenation readings, BMI or weight classifications, and airway evaluations, to name the basics. If someone has uncontrolled high blood pressure, they need to get it under control first. A high BMI or weight may be a contraindication to treatment. COPD may also be a contraindication to treatment.
+In other words, probably the most important aspect of sedation is obtaining an accurate and comprehensive medical history, including baseline vitals with an appropriate consultation with the physician when indicated.
+Before starting the sedation procedure, all vitals are again taken with an assessment of the individual. If performed properly with good monitoring, sedation can be a very successful and safe procedure. back to top
+We have various means for monitoring patients:
+- Blood pressure readings and pulse are recorded automatically every 5 minutes.
+- Tissue oxygenation is recorded continuously. This is a reading of how well your tissues are perfused with oxygen.
+- Perhaps one of the most important aspects of monitoring is a patient's breathing or ventilation. There obviously has to be a patent airway for oxygen to get to the lungs so that it can then perfuse to the tissues. Our pulse oximeter, which measures the SpO2 or oxygenation of tissues is important, but it does not tell us everything. It is old news. If a person is receiving additional oxygen, which they generally are, there may be a five minute or more delay from the time a person stops breathing before it is seen on the pulse oximeter.
+It obviously becomes of paramount importance to know if a patient is breathing. If a person is in a state of mild to moderate sedation, they are cognitively aware and awake. Remember the levels of sedation. They are conscious and have their reflexes intact. We know they are breathing. If a person may doze off from just being relaxed, not from too much sedation, if they slip into a state of deep sedation or general anesthesia, or if for any reason they stop breathing, we want to know immediately. Typically, this would result from an obstructed airway from relaxed pharyngeal muscles. It can be treated as long as it is promptly recognized.
+Obviously, if a person is conscious and mentating, that is recognizable. Visible signs of the chest rising and falling are obvious. The deeper a patient is sedated, the more crucial monitoring becomes. Remember the pulse oximeter is old news.
+- Perhaps one of my favorite monitoring techniques is the use of capnography. Capnography actually shows you on a screen the patient's actual breathing and measures the amount and level of carbon dioxide exhaled. This is the true measure of ventilation or breathing. It actually shows you in wave form the quality of breathing as well as the actual amount of CO2 expired. It also measures the rate of respiration. With just a glance, it tells you what is happening. It is mandated for the use of deep sedation and general anesthesia, but it is not required for moderate sedation. However, I routinely use it in my practice for moderate or conscious sedation. It really gives me an extra degree of monitoring that I have come to appreciate. I would not work without it. back to top
+- We also have what we call a precordial stethoscope. It is attached to the patient's throat with connecting ear attachments, which I wear. With this, I can hear every breath sound the patient makes. I can know the minute they stop breathing. We can also connect the stethoscope to a bluetooth device with a loud speaker. When connected, this amplifies each breathing sound so that everyone in the room can hear it. Some may consider this going overboard, but we have come to really appreciate these monitoring devices. We consider it well worth the investment.
+- We also have a 3 lead ECG machine which has the capaChesapeake to measure the pulse rate.
+- We also measure blood sugar levels before, during, and after treatment on our diabetic patients.
+I could talk at length about monitoring, but suffice to say, proper monitoring is a requisite for sedation and for your safety.
+By following proper protocols, taking good medical histories and baselines, having the proper qualifications, and relying on careful monitoring, sedation can be a great experience for all apprehensive patients. In fact, if it were not for sedation, there would be many dental cripples. There is now a way for virtually any frightened person to have their dental treatment in a relaxed and comfortable way.
+All you have to do is give us a call.
+Why The Media Matters & Doesn’t Matter
+August 1, 2021 2
+Yesterday (November 16th), I wrote that WORDS MATTER, which invited a great deal of response in the COMMENTS section of this BLOG, and in the personal EMAILS I receive.
+1 – Thank you for your comments. Most of which are very good. And I read them all.
+2 – NO LINKS with your comments. If you add a link to your comment . . . at the least, your link and/or comment will be removed. And if it happens twice, your email address will be BLOCKED from the Directory.
+3 – BECAUSE WORDS MATTER . . . please choose your words carefully within your comments. In the past week, I’ve removed several comments because of racist innuendos, a call to violence against Moslems and their Mosques, and language that is unbecoming.
+But more than just removing the comments . . . I’ve also permanently BLOCKED several email addresses from the Directory for the reasons mentioned above.
+4 – And don’t use this comment section as a vehicle to promote a LEFTIST Agenda, or disseminate PROPAGANDA and/or HALF-TRUTHS. I won’t have it, since there are no shortage of mainstream propaganda vehicles in print, blogs, television, and radio, which do just that.
+GALGANOV.COM IS A CONSERVATIVE WEB SITE, written for Conservatives, and people who are rethinking their LEFTIST VALUES, who might be reconsidering the LEFTIST sickness that is destroying the society that was in the words of Ronald Reagan . . . THAT SHINING CITY UPON A HILL.
+I get plenty of demeaning emails . . . many of them vulgar, some of them threatening, and some that try to hack into this Web Site, which tells me that whatever I write, and the comments that come in . . . that they are touching raw LEFTIST nerves – because . . . WORDS DO MATTER . . . and that is as good as it gets.
+ALSO . . . Thank you to the people, who have already sent their support for this BLOG, and the things that I want to make happen.
+It was pointed out to me yesterday in one of the comments, that I didn’t activate the LINK to the SUPPORT GALGANOV section of the Web Site, for which I apologize. SO HERE’S THE LINK . . . PLEASE CLICK HERE for information on how to support, if you didn’t already support Galganov.com, but would like to.
+The following isn’t Rocket Science . . . NOR IS IT EMBELLISHED. These are just a few of the “truths” upon which the LEFT is pushing their Global Agenda. And if these examples don’t terrify people who want FREEDOM . . . NOTHING WILL.
+1 – ISIS is on the run.
+2 – Islam is a religion of peace.
+3 – We will fully VET all the Syrian Refugees.
+4 – The TERRORISTS are cowards.
+5 – Global Warming is the biggest threat we face today.
+6 – We need MORE Taxes.
+7 – Black Lives Matter.
+8 – White Privilege.
+9 – We need MORE rules and REGULATIONS.
+10 – FREE TUITION for everyone.
+11 – Guns Kill.
+12 – There’s too much FREE SPEECH.
+13 – BOYCOTT ISRAEL.
+14 – The Republicans have no policies.
+15 – The NSA, IRS and Justice Department are not breaking the law.
+16 – Hillary Clinton doesn’t tell the truth. No one really knows what happened in Benghazi. She used illegal emails while Secretary of State. She sold-out American VALUES and GOD only knows what else for huge amounts of money, which she, Bill, and Chelsea plowed into their Foundation from very bad International Actors. But she’ll make a great President.
+The preceding 16-Points barely touch the tip of the LEFTIST Iceberg of LIES, so if people think that words don’t matter . . . THEY SHOULD THINK AGAIN.
+And when I wrote yesterday, that we are fighting TWO WARS, it was not just an off-the-cuff casual statement. IT WAS AS SERIOUS AS IT GETS, because the enemies from without are people we can deal with . . . while the enemies from within are those that will need a REVOLUTION.
+Are we prepared in our respective countries to use every LEGAL tool we have in order to resist, and if necessary replace our government(s)? And if that fails, are we prepared to follow the words of Thomas Jefferson’s TREE OF LIBERTY to do what must be done?
+Best Regards . . . Howard Galganov.
+19 Comments
+Be without fear in the face of your enemies. Be brave and upright that God may love thee. Speak the truth always, even if it leads to your death. Safeguard the helpless and do no wrong. That is your oath. (Godfrey of Ibelin to his son Balian. Liam Neeson, Orlando Bloom, Kingdom of Heaven, 2005)
+An exceptional column and a good reminder and/or wake up call for what we all need to do to stay safe.
+Keep up your good work!
+Kindest regards
+Solette N. Gelberg
+King City, Ontario
+Wondering if you saw the “Opinion” article pubished in this last issue of Newsweek Magazine. Amazing…why weren’t they spouting off like this when Obama was running for President in 2008. Another example of “too little – too late”.
+Did you see Ann Coulter’s comment last Friday when she remarked upon learning of the attacks in Paris that ISIS just elected Donald Trump today”? My guess (and hope) is that she’s right.
+I agree with you. I will be short. Yes, I think ISIS may have elected TRUMP and I pray to GOD this is so.
+Why the French airpower in Syria? The attack came from within, so lets cleanse the within. House to house, round up and review all MUSlUMS, those that are peaceful, welcome, the others, on a jet to wherever. The are suppose to be 8% of the population, so should be easy. I just watched an “Allah” bowing in streets in Paris that they closed off? Get a hold of things or disaster will repeat.
+As always yo are “spot on”. At 71, I am “unemployed” (mostly because of my age and no real recourse), I am No where near retiring, NOR DO I WANT TO RETIRE!
+What part of experiance do you not understand,….stupid?
+Work is honorable, and as long as you can do it, you live. I’ve seen too many people retire, cash their penson checks, and die.
+Work is both honorable and sustainable for all humans! “retirement” is ‘sanctioned euthanasia’.
+“that’s my story and I’m sticking to it!
+I blog, have blocked many for the same reasons as you. No cursing allowed, no defamation of anyone, Muslims I prefer not even referring too. I concentrate on the candidates and the election. I have come across all kinds prefer the journalists, Fox and the WSJ and so many pundits and candidates. Must say I have been following you for years now, and have never come across brilliance like Howard, Insight and professionalism. No one can come close to you in these areas!
+Howard….as usual….very well articulated. Thank you for your hard work and endurance. Please keep up the good work. I think it’s going to take more than the ‘2nd coming’ to straighten out the ‘human condition’ on this poor planet!!!
+I so appreciate your commentaries & speaking truth in an age that where many want to turn the other way. Thank you for standing on truth & having the courage to stand up for godly principles. Keep doing what you are doing! It is appreciated more than you will ever know.
+Chris Hilton, Saint Petersburg, Florida
+PRIVATE Comment – Howard, I DID NOT intend the Jack Nicholson quite remarkably wonderful comment to be published, I just thought you – might – be touched by its unmistakable accuracy. As a former Marine over 5 decades ago I frankly agree with every nuance and descriptive adjective.
+I also appreciate and support your positions in your formal column. Cape Breton NS
+Tom Childs
+Point no. 4 is correct. They are cowards. Take a look at 95% of the so-called refugees. They refuse to fight for their own country and expect others to do it for them. They hide behind women, children, schools, etc. to attack people and attack their own that can’t defend themselves. They go after unarmed people who are enjoying themselves. They refuse to look in the mirror and admit the problems they are having are mostly of their own doing.
+Howard-here’s #17–“You’re a RACIST.” When the LEFT GROUPS can’t defend themselves against the TRUTH, they revert to RACISM and attack the MESSENGER [ad hominem] vs. the MESSAGE. Re: your #7–Considering the PARIS situation, it’s NOT only “Black lives that matter”…it’s “ALL lives matter”! We must also remember that Barack HUSSEIN Obama THRIVES on CRISES! Rham Emmanuel taught him well. TRUMP is looking better and better every day, and yes, ISIS has helped him more than they ever realized! AMEN!
+Howard, I am confused by the label of Racist comments against Moslems. Moslem or Muslim is not a race. Although the majority of the believers are Arabic . There are also Christian Arabs, As well there are many other races involved in their religious practices. And I want to know if you stand against the Beliefs of Jihad, and the murdering of infidels that this Religion specifically teaches. The people can be delivered from these teachings. But the Teachings must be clearly defined and condemned.
+Howard your article is bang on once again. We as Canadians need to stop the FEDS from bringing in the so called refugees to Canada before vetting them. Once in Canada there is no turning back, we will have enemies among us. This is what is happening in Israel with the Palestinians killing Israelis. Israel needs support from Canada and the US, but our leaders are; how can I say this just plain stupid. We are called Racist, Bigots and islamphobic’s if we don’t accept Muslims. Denounce the Koran…
+One possibly unexpected side effect from these responses: They allow us all to see that Canadians and Americans have very common ground in our conservative patriotism. It is an honor to participate in something so important with our Canadian neighbors and friends. Thank you all for writing.
+Ralph
+As our Canadian federal election of a month ago so clearly proved, the largest challenge to success for candidates of the right comes from the ubiquitous and insidious ‘third-party’ now commonly and best known as the Media Party. It’s very easy to debate leftist points of view, but the media lack scruples and will stop at nothing to see talented, devoted politicians of the right lose to the lying dimwits that represent the left. I find myself, however, in a constant quandary as to ‘why’.
+Well said, Joel Goldman. You just brought up the actual point. Your perception is clear and your words hit the nail on the head.
+What really scares me, is by the USA accepting X amount of supposed refugees – This will lead to a Marshall Law being invoked, before the Nov. 2016 Elections!!! Thank goodness, 24 of our Governors have closed their States, in accepting any of them. I live in one of those states and know that we already have enough Moslem immigrants here, already. No, they do NOT assimilate into the USA culture or society. I only see them, in the grocery stores. I do mean, Moslems. They don’t even vote.
+Have been reading your blog for 2 years.
+You haven’t said anything that I do not believe as the truth and my own feelings.
+My grand father showed me in the Bible that God would not allow Isreal to fall .
+Keep up the good work and I will be behind you.
+Have a good southern trip.
+In a world where cyberattacks are constantly increasing in frequency, severity, and sophistication, cybersecurity professionals need to start thinking about how they can combat these threats.
+The field of data science is becoming more important every day as it provides new insights into the behavior of attackers and malware.
+In this article, we’ll discuss what data scientists do for security, why it’s useful for security organizations to have them on their team, and how you can get started with data science if you’re not already doing so.
+What is Data Science for Cybersecurity?
+In data science, machine learning algorithms are used to detect or prevent security threats.
+For example, a machine learning algorithm could be used to determine whether a specific file on the corporate network is behaving in an unexpected manner and indicate that it’s time to investigate further.
+The process of creating these algorithms and using them is called “data science” because you’re using data (e.g., network traffic logs) as your source of information and rely on statistical techniques to understand what’s going on (i.e., conduct research).
+Once you’ve analyzed the data, patterns begin to emerge where some types of malicious behavior can be identified more quickly than others – this is where deep learning comes in.
+Deep learning is a specific subset of machine learning that uses multiple layers of unsupervised information processing to learn things about data that you don’t directly tell it.
+The majority of security professionals in the field today will be familiar with cybersecurity-related terms such as “threat intelligence,” “attack surface analysis,” and “risk assessments.”
+Although these topics are crucial for dealing with cyber threats, they do not specifically deal with handling them – at least not yet.
+The reason behind this is because threat intelligence mainly involves gathering information on past attacks and attackers, whereas deep learning detects patterns within data without prior knowledge or human input.
+In order to get from data to actionable insights, you must be aware of what data you’re exposing yourself.
+The Importance of Data Science in Cybersecurity Attacks are constantly evolving, and so are your organization’s security controls.
+Attackers don’t just use one specific way to breach the systems that they target; instead, they continuously innovate to find new ways to carry out their objectives.
+While it’s possible for an IT admin to predict if a particular system has low risk, the chances of detecting the malicious activity across all devices on your network are slim-to-none because there may be thousands or even millions of them!
+Therefore, detecting potential cyber threats becomes extremely important when considering how much effort is needed for protecting each asset.
+Furthermore, some attackers gain access by exploiting vulnerabilities on systems, while others do so by tricking the users of the systems into performing actions that they otherwise wouldn’t.
+This means it’s essential to monitor not only what applications are being used but also how users interact with them.
+Data Science vs. Machine Learning on the Job Market If data science interests you, you might have noticed an influx in job postings online for “machine learning engineer” or “machine learning developer.”
+You don’t necessarily need to be a data scientist if you want to work in cybersecurity – but having knowledge of machine learning techniques will definitely help!
+According to Indeed, there were over 6,000 jobs posted online related to machine learning back in 2016, whereas today, there are more than 8,700!
+These numbers do not even include deep learning-related positions because the term “deep learning” is relatively new in comparison to “machine learning.”
+Cybersecurity before Data Science
+Companies like to talk about how much they value data science and analytic rigor in making decisions. Business leaders tend to view the process as unbiased and rational and therefore assume their staff can be trusted with these insights.
+Yet often those who receive this information don’t take it seriously or follow through on its implications because they misunderstand why their company collects big data in the first place.
+They assume that machine learning algorithms are as objective as a ballistics report from the forensics lab, when in fact the output is only as good as the inputs.
+The best way for companies to use data scientists’ expensive skillset is to ensure that the data science product is robust from the start, rather than trying to clean up spurious results.
+In cyberdefense, this means partnering with IT security staff early in the design process and ensuring that the attack surface will be well-covered by cybersecurity controls.
+Spend a little time getting a better understanding of their needs instead of blindly trusting your security vendor’s sales pitch to deliver “breach detection” for all your databases.
+Take a look at what kinds of false positives pop up when you run a training set through their system and try to find ways around that.
+If you can help them build something that will work without constant tweaks by people who understand the technology, they’ll be much more likely to use it. In turn, you’re much less likely to get your fingerprints on another company’s data breach.
+What do Data Science Security Professionals Do?
+In order to deal with cyber threats, security professionals should know how to handle them from the data they’re exposed to. Data scientists use machine learning to turn data into actionable insights, and this is where deep understanding comes in.
+Stay tuned for our next article – we’ll be exploring how deep learning can protect your organization’s systems!
+The Importance of Data Science in Cybersecurity in Today’s Society
+Our online lives are constantly at stake due to the growing sophistication of cyberattacks. These attacks can take place through all possible mediums, ranging from laptops and cell phones to home appliances such as smart speakers or fridges.
+As technology advances, so do the opportunities for hackers. When people think about cybersecurity, they often imagine how an IT administrator would deal with specific threats
+However, there is much more than meets the eye when it comes to handling cyber threats that involve data science!
+If you are interested in becoming a data scientist, it’s essential to understand what the profession entails.
+According to Google Trends, interest in “data science” has been steadily increasing over the years, whereas interest in “machine learning” is growing exponentially!
+Data scientists work on using machine learning techniques to turn data into actionable insights which can be used for cybersecurity purposes. These professionals either use pre-existing models or build their own based on the data that they’re exposed to.
+This data could be anything ranging from existing malware samples to user behavior analytics.
+When it comes down to it, security teams need their hands held when dealing with cyber threats – and deep learning can help them! Stay tuned for our next article, where we will be discussing deep learning and how it can help your organization’s systems!
+Cybersecurity careers are definitely on the rise, so if you’re looking for a job, it might be time to start brushing up on machine learning! Can you explain how deep learning works? Let us know in the comments below.
+Future of Data Science in the realm of Cybersecurity
+At the Future of Cybersecurity panel at Data Science Day, MIT’s David Harrigfeld said that data science stands to have a significant impact on an organization’s ability to reduce risk. “If you can’t measure something, you can’t understand it,” he said.
+He warned that the security industry is constrained by static thinking and inadequate tools. When asked about how data science is involved in cybersecurity, Harrigfeld replied:
+“It’s not just using new data sources—it’s managing them in ways you’ve never thought before.”
+Data Science for Security is one of the most prominent applications, explained Chris Wysopal, co-founder and CTO of Veracode Inc., because hackers are constantly evolving their tactics to get around the elusive goal of a 100% secure system.
+“You cannot build a secure system,” he warned, and instead must secure a system that is constantly evolving and changing.
+The challenge in security is understanding what data could be beneficial to collect—and how to use it efficiently, said Harrigfeld. This means building better detection systems, which requires new ways of thinking about getting the data to detect threats.
+Data science provides for better insights into user behavior by using patterns such as mobility and social graphs to predict anomalous behavior, said Edward W. Felten, Professor, and Director of Princeton’s Center for Information Technology Policy (CITP).
+He explained that people are predictable most of the time, but not all the time. Analytics is crucial to understanding what’s normal and abnormal.
+“Analytics can find anomalies that humans can’t see,” he said, adding that you need the suitable algorithms to do it effectively.
+Ms. Li Zhou, Principal Data Scientist with Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Corp., explained that a different focus depends on the industry.
+The cybersecurity field has an abridged timeline, so decision-makers now want indicators of potential problems without spending months building models.
+On the other hand, in healthcare, for example, they have the luxury of time to build better predictive models and invest more resources into improving them. “You really need painstaking academic research if you’re trying to predict rare events,” she added.
+Data Science for Automation
+One of the most important things that can be done with data science is to automate all the repetitive tasks that humans are currently doing, said Harrigfeld. “The human decision-maker needs to be in control, not computer systems.”
+Having computers automatically make decisions doesn’t work because there are too many false positives—it’s still up to humans to determine what is a real threat and what isn’t, said Wysopal.
+Data science is essential for security automation because it allows you to assess trends quickly, said Galen Hunt, Principal Data Scientist with Microsoft Corp., adding that the number of things you need to evaluate just keeps growing—and your assessment needs must grow as fast as the volume of data.
+Data Science for All
+“It’s a space where you can apply data science to any industry,” asserted Harrigfeld. Data science is relevant to all businesses because it allows companies to gain insight from their data, said Wysopal.
+“If I told you that your sales were declining and then asked what you are doing about it, you’d want to know why they are declining,” he said. Data science allows companies to get the insights they need in order to take action.
+“All of us have a deep yearning for making sense of our data,” asserted Wysopal. He added that building tools that help humans understand their data better are essential things that can be done with data science.
+“I think we’re just scratching the surface on what we can do.”
+Felten agreed. He said: “It’s all about understanding and explaining data—and building tools for humans to use.”
+Data Science in Cybersecurity to protect our digital footprints from prying eyes
+Hacking is no longer the exclusive territory of elite governments or national militaries. Criminals, internet hackers, and other less-than-honorable types are all on the lookout for digital access points through which they may exploit your data.
+Cyberattacks, data breaches, identity theft, and more are on the rise. Information is freely accessible to everyone; thus, criminals covet it as much as they do.
+Hackers seek every opportunity to exploit usernames and passwords for various online services in order to gain unlawful access to our personal information like bank accounts and credit card numbers that we store with those companies (health insurance).
+However, traces of our digital activities do not wash away with the tide; they endure forever. New data is stored as a result of each action, interaction, and click on your website.
+Businesses use the data points to create better products, make smarter decisions, and automate tedious tasks.
+In parallel, organizations are being assaulted by a diverse range of hackers seeking to steal sensitive information and disrupt operations, all while under heavy assault from increasingly sophisticated cybercriminals.
+So, they’re taking appropriate measures to repel these assaults, getting better at protecting their data, and seeking methods to keep the hackers at bay.
+Three reasons why businesses are increasingly utilizing data science are discussed below
+- More effectively providing goods and services: Because big data refers to data sets so enormous, diverse, and proliferating that conventional methods of dealing with data and their processing applications can’t produce any substance – or insight, it’s called “big data.”
+- Knowledge extraction is the process of extracting knowledge from data. Data science enables practical, actionable insights by extracting knowledge. Calculating and monitoring these metrics can enhance efficiency, mitigate risks, improve user experiences, and make inventory more agile.
+- Convenience: This is a compelling benefit that has been argued to outweigh the disadvantages.
+- The reason for this is that mining and analyzing, filtering, and sharing crucial data sets allows businesses to make more informed choices than they ever could have done previously.
+- Automating routine, time-consuming processes: Data scientists are making a lot of technical parts of the job more accessible with the aid of data science, AI, and machine learning.
+- A machine-learning algorithm may, for example, automate decision-making abilities and knowledge that require iteration – such as pricing, cost structure, loan decisions, risk assessment –
+Here are four reasons why cybersecurity-related activities are so crucial to businesses, and every owner must consider them!
+- The cost of breaches is on the rise: as cybercriminals escalate their assaults on businesses of all sizes, information security incidents continue to increase.
+- According to Cybersecurity Ventures, a research, and publishing firm specializing in the global cyber economy, cybercrime will cost the globe $6.2 trillion every year by 2021, up from $3.7 trillion in 2017.
+- A data breach not only wreaks havoc on a business’s finances but it also damages its reputation. To avoid data breaches, firms must follow best practices to prevent losing confidential and sensitive information.
+- Advanced cyberattacks: They target IT networks of host organizations using known security flaws in Internet-facing systems. Given this, businesses are putting in additional security measures to detect complex crimes.
+- The availability of hacking tools and knowledge to carry out attacks has resulted in a significant increase in successful hacks.
+- Internal actors, who are frequently less skilled, can often successfully penetrate due to the high availability of hacking tools and skills.
+- Companies are developing a solid internal security system by implementing internal security compliance and receiving adequate instruction and training.
+- The Proliferation of Internet of Things (IoT) Devices: There are more devices connected to the internet than ever before.
+- According to the most recent IoT Analytics Research, active and connected IoT devices will rise from 11 billion in 2020 to 23 billion in 2025. Companies are increasingly aware of the risks and challenges that joined devices and networks in the IoT pose.
+Data Science for Cyber Security: The Road Ahead
+Data science is not only the future of cybersecurity but also the present. Companies are hiring data scientists to help protect their customers and products from malicious hackers.
+Companies in every industry need to invest in this new field before they’re targeted or experience a breach that would cripple them financially.
+Now, startups with new technology are providing services to the companies to adopt innovative strategies by providing an expert team of professionals who specialize in
+- Security consulting services
+- Cyber risk management strategy development
+- Business continuity planning (BCP)
+- Network attack simulation modeling
+- Training programs
+They even provide you with their proprietary software solutions which can be helpful today so that to ensure tomorrow’s success, in a better way.
+Editing Love Never Dies 0 You are not logged in. The rich text editor does not work with JavaScript switched off. Please either enable it in your browser options, or visit your preferences to switch to the old MediaWiki editor {{Wikipedia|Love_Never_Dies_(musical)}} [[File:Loveneverdieslondon1114.jpg|thumb|351x351px]]'''''Love Never Dies''''' is a [[Musical theatre|romantic musical]] with music by [[Andrew Lloyd Webber]], lyrics by [[Glenn Slater]] with additional lyrics by [[Charles Hart (lyricist)|Charles Hart]], and book by Lloyd Webber and [[Ben Elton]], with additional material by Slater and [[Frederick Forsyth]]. It is a [[sequel]] to Lloyd Webber's long-running musical ''[[The Phantom of the Opera (1986 musical)|The Phantom of the Opera]]''.<ref>The plot is not based on the story-line in the original book by [[Gaston Leroux]]. Lloyd Webber stated, "I don't regard this as a sequel – it's a stand-alone piece"(see [ Lloyd Webber launches Phantom 2], ''BBC News'', 8 October 2009) but later said, "Clearly, it is a sequel, but I really do not believe that you have to have seen ''Phantom of the Opera'' to understand ''Love Never Dies''" (see [ Andrew Lloyd Webber responds to critics, talks 'Phantom' at 25, 'Love Never Dies'])</ref> The musical is set in 1907,<ref>[ "Phantom Sequel, ''Love Never Dies'', Now Due in London and on Broadway in March 2010"]. ''Playbill.com''. 18 May 2009.</ref> which Lloyd Webber states is, "ten years roughly after the end of the original ''Phantom'',"<ref>[ YouTube - Andrew Lloyd Webber on "Love Never Dies".]</ref> although the events of the original actually took place in 1881.<ref>[ ''Phantom Las Vegas'': Synopsis of scenes and musical numbers].</ref> theatre|West End]] on 9 March 2010 with previews from 22 February 2010. It was originally directed by [[Jack O'Brien (director)]].<ref name=OffOpen>[ LoveNeverDies.com The Show: Creative Team]</ref> The original London production received mostly negative reviews,<ref>[ New York Times: ‘Love Never Dies’ Looking Less Likely for Broadway This Season']</ref> however, the subsequent Australian production featuring an entirely new design team and heavy revisions was generally better received. The planned Broadway production, which was to have opened simultaneously with the West End run, was delayed and then indefinitely postponed.<ref>[ The Australian: 'Moonshadow - musical testing ground gets tough]. "The Australian", 16 June 2012.</ref> ==Background== {{Quote box|quote=I really do not believe that you have to have seen ''[[Phantom of the Opera (1986 musical)|Phantom of the Opera]]'' to understand ''Love Never Dies''. I really don’t. But I hope if you see them together, if you wanted to see them back-to-back, that what you would get from them — from both of them — is the extension of where the story goes.|source=Andrew Lloyd Webber<ref>[ Andrew Lloyd Webber responds to critics, talks 'Phantom' at 25, 'Love Never Dies']</ref>|salign=right|fontsize=90%|quoted=1|width=40%}} Andrew Lloyd Webber first began plans for a sequel to his 1986 hit musical, ''[[The Phantom of the Opera (1986 musical)|The Phantom of the Opera]]'', in 1990.<ref name=sequel>{{Cite news|title=Andrew Lloyd Webber's sequel to ''The Phantom of the Opera'', which opens next week, is already being hailed as even better. Can it live up to the hype? |url=, David|publisher=''Daily Mail''|date=2010-03-05|location=London}}</ref> Phantom live above ground in [[Manhattan]]'s first [[penthouse apartment|penthouse]], but he rejected this when he saw a [[TV documentary]] about the [[Coney Island]] fairground.<ref name=sequel />]]''.<ref name="whatson">[ ''Whatsonstage'' Video Interview with Lloyd-Webber 8 October 2009]</ref> Lloyd Webber returned to the project in 2006, collaborating with a number of writers and directors. However, he still did not feel the ideas he had were adaptable into a piece of [[musical theatre]].<ref name=ALWnote>Lloyd Webber, Andrew. [ A Note From The Composer] ''LoveNeverDies.com''.</ref> Finally, in early 2007, Lloyd Webber approached [[Ben Elton]] (who had served as the librettist for Lloyd Webber's ''[[The Beautiful Game (musical).<ref name=ALWnote /> Lloyd Webber was pleased with Elton's treatment and began work on the sequel.<ref name="whatson"/> In March 2007, he announced he would be moving forward with the project.<ref>{{Cite web|url= Lloyd Webber Confirms 'Phantom' Sequel|author= BWW News Desk|publisher=''Broadway World''|date= 2007-03-09|accessdate=2008-07-18}}</ref>.<ref>{{Cite news|url= |title=Why Andrew is in need of a copycat |accessdate=2008-04-23| first=Richard | last=Kay |date=2007-05-30|publisher=''[[Daily Mail]]'' |location=London}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Cat Destroys Lloyd Webber's Phantom Sequel Score|url=, Andrew|publisher=''Playbill.com''}}</ref> In 2008, Lloyd Webber first announced that the sequel would likely be called ''Phantom: Once Upon Another Time'',<ref>[ "Lloyd Webber 'names' Opera sequel"], ''BBC Newsbeat'', May 30, 2008, retrieved July 18, 2008</ref> and the first act was performed at Lloyd Webber's annual [[Sydmonton Festival]]. The Phantom was played by [[Ramin Karimloo]] and Raoul was played by Alistair Robbins.<ref>Riedel, Michael.[ "A Really Wine Time: 'Phantom' sequel is unmasked at UK bash"]. ''The New York Post''. July 16, 2008. Retrieved July 18, 2008.</ref> However, in September 2008, during the [[BBC]]'s ''Birthday in the Park'' concert celebrating his 60th birthday, Lloyd Webber announced that the title would be ''Love Never Dies''.<ref>[ Lloyd Webber plans Phantom sequel] ''LondonNet''. 15 September 2008. Retrieved 29 December 2008.</ref> In other workshop readings, Raoul and Christine were played by [[Aaron Lazar]] and [[Elena Shaddow]].<ref name=potosingonce />]].<ref name="dailymail1197158">{{Cite news|url= 2 will be fantastic promises Lloyd Webber|author= Bamigboye, Baz|publisher=''Daily Mail''|date=2009-07-03|accessdate=2009-07-04|location=London}}</ref><ref>Bamigboye, Baz. [ Summer Strallen brings little Ohh La La West End] ''Daily Mail''. 16 October 2009.</ref> ''[[I'd Do Anything (BBC TV series)|I'd Do Anything]]'' finalist [[Niamh Perry]] was given the role of Fleck.<ref>Allott, Serena. [ It's do-re-me time: Meet the women who are singing their way to self-fulfilment] ''Mail Online''. 5 December 2009.</ref> Lloyd Webber originally intended for ''Love Never Dies'' to open in London, New York and [[Shanghai]] simultaneously in the autumn of 2009.<ref name=potosingonce>Chatter, Rialto. [ RIALTO CHATTER: Will the PHANTOM 'Sing Once Again' with...Sierra?] ''Broadway World''. 6 February 2009.</ref><ref name="dailymail1197158" /><ref name=oldmagic /> By March 2009, he had decided to open the show at London's [[Adelphi Theatre]], followed by Toronto's [[Royal Alexandra Theatre]] (before transferring to [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]]'s [[Neil Simon Theatre]] in 2010) and Shanghai.<ref name=oldmagic /> The three casts would rehearse simultaneously in London for three months beginning August 2009.<ref name=oldmagic /> Opening dates were soon announced as 26 October 2009 in London, November in Toronto and February 2010 in Shanghai, with a later transfer to [[Melbourne, Australia]].<ref>Bamigboye, Baz. [ "Watch out for..."]. ''Daily Mail''. 3 April 2009.</ref> Plans were then announced for a separate Broadway production to run concurrently with the Toronto show if Toronto proved successful.<ref>Bamigboye, Baz. [ "Watch out for..."]. ''Daily Mail'', 9 April 2009.</ref> In May, the debut of the London production was delayed until March 2010 due to Lloyd Webber re-orchestrating the score and re-recording the album.<ref>Bamigboye, Baz. [ Watch out for...]. ''Daily Mail'', 7 May 2009.</ref><ref>Chatter, Rialto. [ "Rialto Chatter: ''Love Never Dies'' Set to 'Haunt' Stages in March 2010"]. ''Broadway World''. 17 May 2009, accessed 13 August 2010</ref> Technical issues with the special effects, automaton version of Christine and casting multiple simultaneous productions also contributed to the postponement.<ref name="dailymail1197158" /> By October 2009, Shanghai plans had been dropped in favour of an Australian production.<ref>Adam Hetrick and Mark Shenton. [ "Lloyd Webber's ''Love Never Dies'' to Premiere in London in March 2010; New York, Australia to Follow"]. ''Playbill''. 8 October 2009.</ref> Coney Island Waltz" was also performed for the journalists, industry insiders and fans who had assembled for the presentation.<ref>[ ''The Guardian'', 8 October 2009]</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=BWW TV: Stage Tube - LOVE NEVER DIES Press Launch|publisher=''Broadway World''|url=}}</ref> Lloyd Webber announced that ''Love Never Dies'' would begin previews in London on 20 February 2010 and anticipated that the Broadway production would open on 11 November 2010 (this was later postponed<ref name=Spring2011>Gans, Andrew. [ "'Love Never Dies' Postpones Broadway Opening to Spring 2011"]. Playbill.com, April 6, 2010</ref> and then indefinitely<ref name="Postponed Indefinetely" />). Rehearsals began in January 2010.<ref>Bamigboye, Baz. [ The Phantom is taking shape...] ''Daily Mail''. 8 January 2010</ref><ref>Perry, Niamh. [ "''Love Never Dies'' Cast Blog: Rehearsal Update by Niamh Perry"]. ''Broadway World''. 12 January 2010.</ref> ==Score== As with ''Phantom'', Lloyd Webber's score for ''Love Never Dies'' also includes the fictional music of its time as musical fragments to fictional pieces which are taking place within the show itself. Only "Bathing Beauty" survived the post concept album cuts to be performed on stage. Instead of the operatic passages for fictional "operas," the "stage" music at Phantasma is based on the companion pieces to the Savoy Operas, which were often [[Victorian burlesque|burlesques]] and were also sometimes performed at the Opéra Comique. Many of these kinds of burlesques were based on existing French operas. During the Victorian age, nearly every popular opera was turned into a burlesque.<ref name=marvin>Marvin, Roberta Montemorra. [ "Verdian Opera Burlesqued: A Glimpse into Mid-Victorian Theatrical Culture",] ''Cambridge Opera Journal'', Vol. 15, No. 1 (March 2003), pp. 33–66, Cambridge University Press, accessed 2 February 2011 {{subscription}}</ref> The W. S. Gilbert (of Gilbert and Sullivan) operatic burlesque [[Robert the Devil]] is a parody of [[Robert le diable]], a romantic grand opera by Meyerbeer which was mentioned in the opening to "Phantom of the Opera". These pieces were very popular among the lower class, but not commonly seen by more sophisticated opera goers. According to [[W. J. MacQueen-Pope]]: .<ref>MacQueen-Pope, Walter James. ''Carriages at Eleven'' (1947), London: Robert Hale and Co., p. 23</ref> Like most burlesques, "Robert the Devil" featured women in scanty costumes and [[breeches role]]s. In operas, these were always supporting roles. The pageboy role in Christine's second opera is a breeches role, like the part of Cherubino, the Count's page, in [[The Marriage of Figaro]]. However, in burlesques, breeches roles could be main parts. Very little specific information is available for most of these curtain openers. However, the opener for "Pinafore", which had also been performed at the Opéra Comique in 1878, was called "Beauties on the Beach".<ref></ref> Meg Giry's grand opening number in "Love Never Dies" is called "Bathing Beauty (On The Beach)". ==Productions== ===West End (2010–2011)=== The first preview of ''Love Never Dies'' was delayed from 20 February to 22 February 2010 due to a last-minute brief illness of Boggess and technical demands.<ref>{{Cite web |title=First London Preview of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Love Never Dies Cancelled; Performances Now to Begin Feb. 22 |publisher= ''Playbill.com''|url=}}</ref><ref>[ Love Never Dies understudy forced to step in] uktheatretickets.co.uk 22 February 2010.</ref> The show had its official opening on 9 March 2010. It was directed by [[Jack O'Brien (director)|Jack O'Brien]], choreographed by [[Jerry Mitchell]], and had set and costume designs by [[Bob Crowley]].<ref name=OffOpen/> this musical.<ref>[ Andrew Lloyd Webber faces £20,000 fine for 'illegally painting listed theatre black'] ''Daily Mail''. 16 April 2010.</ref> In December 2010, Lloyd Webber closed the London production for a few days to rework the show after a poor critical response. The musical was reviewed again (at Lloyd Webber's invitation<ref>Shenton, Mark. [ "Lloyd Webber's 'Love Never Dies' Invites London Critics Back to Review West End Revamp"] playbill.com, December 21, 2010</ref>),."<ref>Hitchings, Henry. [ "Phantom still lacks spirit in ''Love Never Dies''"], thisislondon.co.uk, 22 December 2010</ref> The London production closed on 27 August 2011 after a disappointing run of fewer than eighteen months.<ref>[ Razzle Dazzle Dimmed: West End's Love Never Dies and Chicago Close Aug. 27], Playbill.com</ref> In 2012, Lloyd Webber stated that although he was, "very, very proud" of the London production, it did not completely work and also said, "something just went slightly wrong; I had cancer just before the production, and it was just that crucial 5% off-beam".<ref name="interview">[ Andrew Lloyd Webber responds to critics, talks 'Phantom' at 25, 'Love Never Dies']</ref> The hoped-for Broadway production was announced as delayed to spring 2011.<ref name=Spring2011/> Lloyd Webber also announced that Asian and Canadian productions were planned, although these have been dropped for now.<ref name="whatson"/> After the mixed reviews and negative reaction from some ''Phantom'' fans during previews, an executive producer stated that before its bow on Broadway, the show would likely undergo "some changes".<ref>Perpetua, Matthew. [ "Love Never Dies, But It Can Be Revised"]. ''NYMag.com''. 11 March 2010.</ref> On October 1, 2010 it was announced that the musical would not open on Broadway in Spring 2011.<ref name="Postponed Indefinetely">[ "Love Never Dies Scraps Plans for Spring Broadway Run"], Broadway.com</ref> In March 2013, it was reported that the musical may return to the West End after a U.K. tour of the successful Australian production.<ref>[ Love Never Dies back to the West End] Retrieved March 25, 2013</ref><ref>[ New U.K. Tour of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Love Never Dies Planned for Early 2014, with Further Life Anticipated] Retrieved March 25, 2013</ref> ===Melbourne (2011)=== In 2010, Lloyd-Webber announced that the Australian production would open on May 21, 2011 at [[Melbourne]]'s [[Regent Theatre, Melbourne|Regent Theatre]]. This production, the first outside of the UK, featured brand new direction and design by an Australian creative team, including director Simon Phillips.<ref>[ "Brand New Australian Production 'Love Never Dies'"] stagewhispers.com</ref> Ben Lewis and Anna O'Byrne were cast as the leads,<ref></ref><ref>[ Cast Complete for Revamped Love Never Dies in Australia; Performances Begin May 21]</ref> Although Lloyd Webber hopes to bring the Melbourne production to Broadway in the future,<ref>[ Andrew Lloyd Webber Wants to Bring Melbourne's LOVE NEVER DIES to Broadway]</ref> he told ''[[The New York Times]]'' that, even with the positive reception of the reworked Melbourne production, a Broadway transfer was probably not realistic. He also announced that the Melbourne production would be filmed on September 15, 2011 and made available on DVD.<ref>{{cite news| url= | work=The New York Times | first=Patrick | last=Healy | title=Andrew Lloyd Webber and ‘Wizard of Oz' | date=14 July 2011}}</ref> The recording was originally to be released on DVD and Blu-ray February 1, 2012,<ref>[ Love Never Dies Will Be Released on DVD and Blu-ray Feb. 1; Sydney Dates Set]</ref> but it was later delayed till May 29, 2012 in the United States.<ref>[ Phantom Sequel, Love Never Dies, Delays DVD Release to May]</ref> In the UK, the DVD was released on March 12, 2012,<ref>[ Love Never Dies Will Be Released on DVD in U.K. March 12]</ref> and in Australia it was released on February 8, 2012. The recorded performance also played in select theaters on February 28 and March 7, 2012.<ref>[ Lloyd Webber's Phantom Sequel Love Never Dies Will Be Screened In Cinemas]</ref> It was then screened again in U.S. cinemas on May 23, 2012.<ref>[ The Phantom of the Opera and Love Never Dies Will Return to U.S. Cinemas]</ref> Lloyd Webber stated that even if a Broadway production does not happen, he feels that he has closed the chapter on the piece, as the filmed version is something that he's, "very, very proud of" and it does not really matter to him, "if it comes tomorrow or five years' time".<ref name="hope">[ LOVE NEVER DIES Still Hoping to Hit Broadway?]</ref><ref>[ Lloyd Webber says "Phantom" sequel likely to hit Broadway]</ref> The Melbourne production closed on December 18, 2011. ===Sydney (2012)=== The Melbourne production transferred to Sydney's [[Capitol Theatre, Sydney|Capitol Theatre]] with previews beginning January 8, 2012 and officially opened on January 12, 2012.<ref>[ LOVE NEVER DIES Arrives at Sydney's Capitol Theatre]</ref> The show concluded its limited engagement on April 1, 2012.<ref>[ Andrew Lloyd Webber's Love Never Dies Ends Australian Run April 1]</ref> ===Copenhagen (2012-2013)=== [[Det Ny Teater]] in [[Copenhagen]], [[Denmark]] announced that their production of ''Love Never Dies'' would open on October 24, 2012.<ref></ref> Starring Tomas Ambt Kofod and Bo Kristian Jensen as the Phantom and Danish coloratura soprano [[Louise Fribo]] as Christine. The production features a new production design by Paul Farnsworth, new stagings by Daniel Bohr and new choreography by Hayley Franks Høier. Karen Hoffmann, who translated the score of "The Phantom of the Opera" into Danish, also translated the score into Danish. The production closed April 21, 2013.{{cn|date=April 2013}} ==Synopsis== ===Prologue (revised version)=== Ten years after the events at the [[Paris Opera House|Paris Opera]], [[Erik (The Phantom of the Opera)|The Phantom]] is now the mastermind of Phantasma, a Coney Island amusement park. Despite the success of his endeavours, he is tortured by the absence of Christine Daae in his life and he longs to hear her sing again ("Til I Hear You Sing"). He sends Christine an invitation to make her American debut on the Phantasma stage. Unaware that The Phantom is behind this, she accepts the invitation and journeys to New York with her husband Raoul (Viscount de Chagny) and son, Gustave. ===Act I=== At Phantasma, [[Madame Giry]] and The Phantom's performers of "Only for You". Madame Giry assures Meg that she performed wonderfully, although The Phantom was not present at the show. Madame Giry is concerned that her daughter has lost the attention of the Phantom and she reminisces about how she and Meg smuggled him from [[Paris, France]] to [[New York City]].”). They recall that “Once Upon Another Time” they thought their love had a chance of succeeding. Gustave wakes up screaming from a nightmare and meets the Phantom for the first time ("Mother Please, I'm Scared!"). The Phantom promises to show Gustave more of Phantasma. He tells Christine that she must sing for him again or she will return home without the boy. In the rehearsal studio for Phantasma, Meg is surprised and jealous to learn that Christine will be singing. Raoul encounters Giry and discovers that the Phantom is the one for whom Christine is to be singing ("Dear Old Friend"). The freaks bring Gustave to the Aerie where he is greeted by the Phantom. Gustave plays a melody on the piano that leads the Phantom to suspect he is Gustave's father ("Beautiful"). The Phantom questions Gustave while showing him the dark wonders, illusions and freaks of Phantasma and finds they are kindred spirits. He unmasks himself, believing Gustave will accept him ("The Beauty Underneath"), but Gustave is horrified and screams. Christine comforts Gustave and, when pressed by the Phantom, confesses that Gustave is his son ("The Phantom Confronts Christine"). The Phantom makes Christine promise to never tell Gustave that Raoul is not his real father. The Phantom declares that everything he owns will go to him. Having overheard everything, a furious Madame Giry fears all her work over the years has been for nothing. ===Act II=== In a gloomy bar, Raoul contemplates his relationship with Christine ("Why Does She Love Me?"). He is joined by Meg who tells him he is in "Suicide Hall", the place "where people end up when they don't know where else to go." Meg swims each day to wash away the stress of working. She tells Raoul that he must leave with Christine and Gustave. Raoul says he is not afraid of the Phantom, who has been behind the bar. As soon as Meg leaves, the Phantom reveals himself and they make a bet. If Raoul wins the bet the Phantom will pay his debts and Raoul can leave with Christine and Gustave. Otherwise, Raoul must return home to Paris alone. The Phantom"). The audience goes crazy for Meg, but Madame Giry tells Meg that the Phantom did not watch the performance and it was for nothing ("Mother, Did You Watch?"). "Before the Performance", Gustave explores backstage, while Raoul asks Christine to leave with him if she loves him. As Raoul leaves, the Phantom enters and tells Christine that Raoul's love is not enough and that she must sing for him. In her dressing room, Christine recalls the [[Paris Opera House|Opera]] where she had to decide between Raoul and the Phantom. Madame Giry, Raoul and the Phantom wonder whether Christine will sing ("Devil Take The Hindmost" (reprise)). Christine performs an aria for the crowd, as Raoul and the Phantom watch ("Love Never Dies"). Raoul leaves as Christine finishes to thunderous applause. Christine is greeted by the Phantom and a letter from Raoul informing her of his departure ("Ah Christine"). Gustave is missing, and she becomes worried ("Gustave, Gustave"). She had previously told him to wait for Raoul backstage and did not want to believe that he had taken the boy. Furious, the Phantom vows to kill the "drunken fool," but Squeltch informs him that he saw the Vicount leave alone. Then, the Phantom suspects Madame Giry because of her attitude towards him before Christine's number and threatens her as she is brought to him by Squelch and Dr. Gangle. Madame Giry confesses that she knew about Gustave's true parentage, but denies ever going near him. Fleck reports that she was passing Meg's dressing room when she noticed the mirror had been smashed and Meg is nowhere to be found. Christine fears for her child's life, but Madame Giry assures her that Meg never hurt Gustave. The Phantom believes he knows where Meg has gone. At Suicide Hall, Meg prepares to drown Gustave, when the others confront her. She holds up a gun so the Phantom will listen as she reveals that the resources Madame Giry has afforded him came from Meg's working as a prostitute to influential men. The Phantom tries to calm her, but on mentioning Christine, she becomes crazied. The Phantom tries to get the gun, but Meg accidentally shoots Christine. As Madame Giry and Meg are sent to find help, Christine reveals to Gustave that the Phantom is his real father and a shocked Gustave runs off. She tells the Phantom that her love for him will never die. They have one final kiss and she dies in his arms. Gustave returns with Raoul who looks on silently and sadly, then Gustave goes and joins the Phantom and lays his head on the lap of his deceased mother. Gustave then looks up at the Phantom and takes the Phantom's mask off but does not react as he did before ("Love Never Dies" (reprise)). Gustave and the Phantom look at each other as the curtain falls. ==Characters and original cast== The following is a list of the principal roles and original cast of ''Love Never Dies''. {|{{Cite news |title=A fabulous new Phantom song - now hear it first with The Mail on Sunday |url= |publisher=''Daily Mail''|date=2010-02-20 |location=London}}</ref> and previewed elsewhere on 22 February 2010.<ref>{{Cite web |title=STAGE TUBE: LOVE NEVER DIES' Ramin Karimloo Sings 'Till I Hear You Sing'|publisher=''WestEnd.BroadwayWorld.com'' |url= |date=2010-02-20}}</ref> It is a love [[ballad]] about the male narrator expressing his longing to hear the voice of his beloved after many years. The promotional music video was an excerpt of Ramin Karimloo's live performance at [[apartment|flat]] with a backdrop of [[slide projector|projector]] images and floating appearance of Boggess.<ref name="phantomdailymail" />.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Title Tune From Lloyd Webber's Love Never Dies to World Premiere on South Bank Show Awards |url= |publisher=''Playbill.com''|first=Andrew|last=Gans|date=2010-01-22}}</ref> The tune is identical to Lloyd Webber's other musical numbers "Our Kind of Love" from ''[[The Beautiful Game (musical)|The Beautiful Game]]'' in 2000 and "The Heart is Slow to Learn", which was intended for a ''Phantom'' sequel, sung by [[Kiri Te Kanawa]] in 1998 at the ''Andrew Lloyd Webber: The Royal Albert Hall Celebration''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The "new" title song from "Love Never Dies" |url= |publisher=''BestMusical.net''|date=2010-02-04}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url= |publisher=''Playbill.com''|title=Lloyd Webber Will Pen Phantom Sequel|first=Andrew|author=Gans|date=2007-03-11}}</ref> "Love Never Dies" also has a very similar [[melody]] to Charles Williams' [[musical composition|composition]] "Jealous Lover" from the 1949 British film ''[[The Romantic Age]]''. "Jealous Lover" was later retitled "Theme from the Apartment" for the 1960 [[Billy Wilder]] film ''[[The Apartment]]''.<ref>{{Cite web|url= Review - The Daily Express|date=10 March 2010|author=Callan, Paul|work=The Daily Express|publisher=LoveNeverDies.com|quote=(But do the first couple of bars not bear a resemblance to the Rachmaninoff-type scene from Billy Wilder’s comedy The Apartment?)}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url='s Lowly Stepchild|publisher=TheaterNewsOnline.com|author=Hirschhorn, Clive|quote=The ubiquitous title song – and the best in the show – has a whiff of Adolph Deutsch's theme tune from Billy Wilder's The Apartment (the first four notes are identical)}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Love Never Dies - at last some constructive thoughts|url= Minds|author=Seckerson, Edward|date=8 March 2010|quote=...about the main title of "The Apartment" to which it bears a disturbing resemblance}}</ref><ref>[ Adoph Deutsch's "The Apartment" w/ Andre Previn's "The Fortune Cookie"] Kritzerland.com</ref><ref>Eldridge, Jeff. [ FSM: The Apartment] ''FilmScoreMonthly.com''</ref> [[Wales|Welsh]] singer [[Katherine Jenkins]] was approached by Lloyd Webber to record her version of "Love Never Dies" in late 2009.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Jenkins 'thrilled' with Lloyd Webber honor|url=''WENN''}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|title=Battle of the divas: Katherine Jenkins takes on Phantom star Sierra Boggess with rival version of Love Never Dies |url= Mail|date=2010-02-06|location=London}}</ref> The song appears as the first track on the [[special edition]] of Jenkins' album ''[[Believe (Katherine Jenkins album)|Believe]]'', which was released on 29 March 2010 in the UK. Jenkins performed the song with Lloyd Webber on the [[ITV1]] show ''[[Dancing on Ice (Series 5).<ref name="dailymail1197158" /><ref>{{Cite web|title= Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber would love to work with Katherine Jenkins|url=''ThaIndian.com''}}</ref> [[Japanese people|Japanese]] singer [[Ayaka Hirahara]] was chosen to record "Love Never Dies" in Japanese for a bonus track of the soundtrack album's Japanese release.<ref>{{Cite web| title= 平原綾香が「オペラ座の怪人」アンドリュー・ロイド・ウェバー氏と対面| url= | publisher=RBB Today | language=Japanese |date=2010-03-11 |accessdate=2010-03-11}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web| title= オペラ座の怪人2 ～ラヴ・ネヴァー・ダイズ ＜デラックス・エディション＞ | url= | publisher=Tower Records | language=Japanese |accessdate=2010-03-11}}</ref> "Love Never Dies" was also recorded in [[Mandarin language|Mandarin]] by [[Liping Zhang]] and in [[Korean language|Korean]] by [[Sumi Jo]].<ref name="CNNTuesday">[ Tuesday's Connector – Andrew Lloyd Webber]. ''Connecttheworld.blogs.cnn.com''. 08 March 2010.</ref> ===Discography=== The [[concept album]] of ''Love Never Dies'' was recorded around 2008–2009, using an 80–90 piece orchestra.<ref name=oldmagic>{{Cite news|title=BAZ BAMIGBOYE on how the new Phantom of the Opera still has the old magic|url=, Baz|date=2009-03-26|publisher=''Daily Mail''|location=London}}</ref><ref>Lloyd Webber, Andrew. [ ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER: Love Never Dies... but here's how I nearly did] ''Daily Mail''. 12 January 2010</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Phantom Sequel to Play West End's Adelphi Theatre Before Bowing on Broadway|url=''Broadway World''}}</ref> Lloyd Webber did not like the orchestrations in the second act, so he had half the album re-recorded.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Cash flows to 'Phantom' 2: Lloyd Webber opens wallet to create a hit|url=''New York Post''|author=Riedel, Michael|archiveurl=}}</ref> [[John Barrowman]] had originally recorded the part of Raoul on the concept album but was replaced by [[Joseph Millson]], who had been cast as Raoul for the stage production at the time the album was re-orchestrated and re-recorded.<ref>{{Cite news|title=John Barrowman set to play villain in Desperate Housewives|url= January 2010|author=Bamigboye, Baz|publisher=''[[Daily Mail]]''|location=London}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|title=John Barrowman: my tiff with Andrew Lloyd Webber|url= February 2010|publisher=''[[The Daily Telegraph]]''|location=London}}</ref>[.<ref>{{Cite web|url= Never Dies global launch|date=2009-10-08|publisher=''AndrewLloydWebber.com''}}</ref> Preview sound clips from all tracks on the album became available online on 8 February 2010 at Amazon.co.uk.<ref>BWW News Desk. [ Preview Clips Now Available from LOVE NEVER DIES CD] ''Broadway World''. 8 February 2010.</ref> A [[cast recording]] of the original production was released on 8 March 2010 by [[Polydor Records]] in the [[United Kingdom|UK]] and on 9 March 2010 by [[Decca Records]] in [[North America]]. It debuted at #82 on the [[Billboard 200|''Billboard'' 200]], #1 on the ''Billboard'' Cast Album chart, and #10 on the UK Albums Chart. It also charted at #1 in [[Greece]], #14 in [[Taiwan]], #8 in [[New Zealand]], and #15 in [[Denmark]].<ref>{{Cite web|title='The Phantom of the Opera' Sequel Scores On Billboard 200 |url=, Keith}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=LOVE NEVER DIES Hits #1 on Billboard Cast Album Chart|url=''Broadway World''|date=2010-03-18}}</ref> ====Albums==== '''Love Never Dies Deluxe Edition [Original Cast Recording]'''<br /> Release date: 8 March 2010 (UK), 9 March 2010 (North America)<br /> Number of discs: 2 Audio CDs, 1 DVD-Video<br /> Extras include: "Bonus DVD with interviews and filmed footage and 40 page booklet with full libretto" '''Love Never Dies [Original Cast Recording]'''<br /> Release date: 8 March 2010 (UK), 9 March 2010 (North America)<br /> Number of discs: 2 Audio CDs Both recordings feature the same 19 tracks on Disc 1 and 13 tracks on Disc 2 with each disc matching an act.<br />A digital version of the double CD album was also made available on the [ ''Love Never Dies'' official online shop]. '''Love Never Dies: Asian edition'''<br /> Release date: 30 March 2010 (North America)<br /> Number of discs: 2 Audio CDs<br /> Extras include: 2 bonus tracks, "Love Never Dies" ([[Mandarin language|Mandarin]] language version) by [[Liping Zhang]] and "Love Never Dies" ([[Korean language|Korean]] language version) by [[Sumi Jo]].<ref name="CNNTuesday" /> === DVD === The Musical was released via DVD and Blu-ray on 29 May 2012 over Universal Studios Home Entertainment in the [[United States of America]].<ref name="lovenever">[ Phantom of the Opera Sequel Love Never Dies Heading to Blu-ray and DVD in May]</ref> ==Reception== ===West End=== ====Critics' reaction==== After ''Love Never Dies'' opened on 9 March 2010 in London, it received mixed critical reviews.<ref name="Mixed">{{Cite web|author=Winer, Linda|url= ‘Phantom’ sequel unmasked in London to mixed reviews|publisher=PopMatters.com|work=Newsday|date= 17 March 2010|quote=...'Love Never Dies,' which opened in London last week to some of the wildest mixed reviews in history.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|title=Broadway debut of Love Never Dies is postponed|url= News|date=7 April 2010|quote=The sequel to Phantom of the Opera has been met with mixed reviews since it opened in the West End in March.}}<".<ref>Taylor, Paul. [ First Night: Love Never Dies, Adelphi Theatre, London] ''The Independent''. 10 March 2010.</ref>."<ref>Brantley, Ben. [ Same Phantom, Different Spirit] ''New York Times''. 9 March 2010.</ref> Other positive reviews included [[Charles Spencer (journalist)|Charles Spencer]] of ''[[The Daily Telegraph".<ref>Spencer, Charles. [ Love Never Dies at the Adelphi Theatre, review] ''Telegraph''. 9 March 2010.</ref> [."<ref>Callan, Paul. [ Andrew Lloyd Webber's Love Never Dies: Adelphi Theatre, London] ''Daily Express''. 10 March 2010.</ref> In ''[[The Guardian]]'', [[Michael Billington (critic)".<ref>Billington, Michael. [ Love Never Dies Adelphi, London] ''The Guardian''. 10 March 2010.</ref>."<ref>{{Cite web|title=Paint Never Dries… but does mud always stick?|url= March 2010|author=Shenton, Mark|publisher=''[[The Stage]]'' blog: Shenton's View}}</ref> In ''[[The Times]]'', critic [[Benedict Nightingale]] gave the show two out of five stars and said, "Where’s the menace, the horror, the psychological darkness? For that I recommend a trip to Her Majesty’s, not the Adelphi."<ref name=nightingale>Nightingale, Benedict. [ Love Never Dies at the Adelphi, London] ''The Times''. 10 March 2010.</ref> Another unenthusiastic review appeared in the ''[[London Evening Standard]]'', where critic [[Henry Hitchings]] wrote that "while Lloyd Webber’s music is at times lavishly operatic, the tone is uneven. There are no more than a couple of songs that promise to live in the memory, the duets don’t soar, and the ending is insipid. Admirers of ''Phantom'' are likely to be disappointed, and there’s not enough here to entice a new generation of fans".."<ref>Hitchings, Henry. [ Love never dies...it just fades away] ''Evening Standard''. 2010-03-10.</ref> Similarly, David Benedict of ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' wrote that the show "wants to be a tragic romance, but it's simply torpid. Only a radical rewrite will give it even the remotest chance of emulating its predecessor."<ref>Benedict, David. [ Love Never Dies] ''Variety''. 10 March 2010.</ref> [."<ref>{{Cite news|title=Stodgy Phantom sequel not quite a hit...|url=''[[The Daily Mail]]''|date=10 March 2010|author=Letts, Quentin|authorlink=Quentin Letts|location=London}}</ref>."<ref>{{Cite news|title=Love Never Dies; London Assurance|author=Clapp, Susannah|url= March 2010|publisher=''[[The Observer]]''}}</ref> Sam Marlowe of ''[[Time Out (company)."<ref>{{Cite web|title=Love Never Dies|url= March 2010|publisher=''[[Time Out (company)|Time Out London]]''|author=Marlowe, Sam}}</ref> Other negative reviews appeared in the ''[[Financial Times]]'',<ref>[[Ian Shuttleworth|Shuttleworth, Ian]]. ''Financial Times'', 12 March 2010</ref> ''[[Entertainment Weekly]]'',<ref>Shenton, Mark. [ "Love Never Dies (2010)"]. ''EW.com'', 11 March 2010</ref> ''The Arts Desk'',<ref>Wolf, Matt. [ Love Never Dies, Adelphi Theatre] .''The Arts Desk'', 10 March 2010.</ref> and numerous others.<ref>[ "Press Reviews"]. ''Love Should Die'' website, accessed 11 August 2010<."<ref>Itzkoff, Dave. [ "Down Once More to the Dungeon: The Phantom Prepares for His Return"]. ''NYTimes.com''. 9 March 2010.</ref><ref>[ About Love Should Die] ''LoveShouldDie.com''. 9 March 2010.</ref> A barbed reworking of the show's title from ''Love Never Dies'' to ''Paint Never Dries'' was originated by the London-based theatre bloggers, [[The West End Whingers]].<ref>[ Review – Love Never Dies, Adelphi Theatre] ''West End Whingers''. 2 March 2010.</ref><ref>[ Guardian theatre critics are UK's best, says the Stage] ''The Guardian''. 6 May 2010.</ref> It has subsequently been picked up and repeated by a multitude of journalists, both in print and on screen.<ref name=nightingale /><ref>Todd, Ben, and Katie Glass. [ "Standing ovation shows love for Andrew Lloyd Webber's ''Phantom'' will never die... even if critics want to retitle sequel 'Paint Never Dries'"]. ''Daily Mail''. 10 March 2010.</ref><ref>Shenton, Mark. [ Love Never Dies (2010)]. ''Entertainment Weekly''. 11 March 2010.</ref><ref>Riedel, Michael. [ 'Phantom' menace: Sequel is shaky]. ''New York Post'', 12 March 2010.</ref><ref>Brooks, Richard. [ Bloggers boo and hiss at return of the Phantom in Love Never Dies]. ''The Sunday Times'', 7 March 2010.</ref> Columnist Barbara Ellen of ''[[The Observer]]'' ridiculed the pomposity of some of the unfavourable reviews in her column on Sunday 28 March 2010, in a jokey ".<ref>Ellen, Barbara. [ "MPs are in no position to sneer at anyone, Diane"]. ''[[The Observer]]'', 28 March 2010.</ref> ===Australia=== ====Critics' reaction==== The reworked production received mostly positive reviews during its engagements in [[Melbourne]] and [[Sydney]].<ref>[ Love Never Dies Melbourne Reviews]</ref><ref>[ Review Roundup: Australian Production of LOVE NEVER DIES]</ref><ref>[ Review Roundup: LOVE NEVER DIES Makes Its Sydney Premiere]</ref> Chris Boyd, of ''[[The Australian]]'' called the musical, "The best thing Lloyd Webber has written in the quarter century since ''Phantom of the Opera'', ''Love Never Dies'' is still a missed opportunity. It toys half-heartedly with domestic melancholia. Christine's wealthy suitor Raoul, 10 years on, is an insecure and possessive husband who uses his wife's talents to pay off his gambling debts. He frets that he cannot deliver to Christine "the rush that music brings", leaving her vulnerable, once more, to her angel of music. ''Love Never Dies'' provides several of those rush moments, but doesn't quite connect the starry dots. Musically, there are some riches - a fluttering duet between Meg and Christine for example -."<ref>[ Phantom sequel spectacularly unmasked]</ref> Jason Blake of the ''[[Sydney Morning Herald]]'' said, "Phillips's production steers clear of "chandelier moments", favouring sustained invention, seamless flow and an engulfing sense of nightmare. There's wow factor, of course (a galloping carousel is an early highlight) though quieter scenes are realised with the same attention to detail, particularly the recreation of a Coney Island bar to frame Raoul's saloon song feature (Why Does She Love Me) and his face-off with Mr Y (Devil Take the Hindmost) An inspired, often ravishing production for sure, though of a sequel that doesn't make a strong enough musical or narrative argument for its own existence."<ref>[ Ravishing sequel brings more anguish for the Phantom]</ref>."<ref>[ LOVE NEVER DIES REVIEW: SYDNEY SHOWS LOVE IS ETERNAL]</ref>."<ref>[ Review: Love Never Dies by Andrew Lloyd Webber, Regent Theatre, Melbourne]</ref> William Yeoman of ''[[The West Australian]]'' wrote, . Under Simon Phillips' unfailingly cogent direction, the cast too manage to transform the most unpromising material, if not into gold then at least into silver."<ref>[ Musical Review: Love Never Dies]</ref> Cameron Woodhead of ''[[The Age: Melbourne."<ref>[ Love Never Dies: Review]</ref> ==Videos== ===Clips=== <gallery spacing="small" widths="200" captionalign="center"><br /> Love Never Dies London footage - HD|London footage </gallery> ==See also== *[[The Phantom of the Opera (1986 musical)]] *[[The Phantom of Manhattan]] ==References== {{Reflist|colwidth=30em}} ==External links== *[ Love Never Dies] *[ 16-image photo gallery from ''The Daily Telegraph''] *[ 15-mage photo gallery from ''Playbill''] *[ ''Love Never Dies'' Casting Breakdown] Loading editor 2010 musicals The Phantom of the Opera West End musicals Musicals based on plays Frederick Forsyth Musicals by Ben Elton 1907 in fiction Sequel plays Musicals Directory Andrew Lloyd Webber musicals Compositions by Andrew Lloyd Webber Musicals made into
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+RENU MultiPlus $1/1RENU MultiPlus $1/1- good on trial size, no name on them pls -
+Lean Cuisine 1/2(registration required, 2 prints per pc)
+lean cuisine any 150/3 (no registration required, 2 prints per pc)
+Muir Glen 1/1 no registration, 2 prints per PC
+Cascadian Farms 1/1Cascadian Farms 1/1
+MISC / UPCs
+Fresh Step Paw Points (unredeemed)
+Home Depot or Lowes $/$ or 15% or more off - cannot be IP or personalized
+Paypal instant funds (best option for quick trades)
+**Nature Made Codes (need actual code from box mailed to me and name of store where purchased)
+*BTFE x2010 or later (these will be re-traded)
+SUNDAY INSERT (insert date listed if known)
+2009 INSERTS
+SUNDAY Insert coupons - insert date unk or not currently published
+Muir Glen 75/1
+Dentyne Ice Single Pack 75/1
+Gum toothbrush 75/1
+Olay facial cleanser $2/1
+Starkist Tuna Pouch any $1/1
+Bumble Bee Tuna Pouch any $1/1
+Glade Scented Oil Plugins $4/1
+Duracell coppertop $1/1 (LB)Zone Perfect on any ONE $1 single bar
+Egglands best eggs 75/1 value
+L'eggs 1/1 good on "ANY" leggs
+Excedrin $2/1 - good on trial size on ANY excedrin product or back & body
+Glucerna product on any ONE, including singles $2/1
+Digiorno Pizza for One $1/1 - any valueBumble Bee Tuna Pouch, Any 3 Or 7 Oz. 55/1
+TRident gum single packs 75/1
+Muir Glen 1/1 or 75/1 any
+Lipton tea bags 60/1
+Ronzoni Pasta $1/1
+Quaker Instant Oatmeal on ANY ONE 50/1 or 70/1
+Viva Towels on any ONE package 75/1
+Monistat Or EPT, Any Product $4/1
+Dove Hair $2/1 good on trial sizesEAS product on any ONE $1
+St Ives Lotion $1/1 valid on trial sizes
+ivory bar soap 3pk $1
+Edge Shave gel 75/1
+Skintimate shave 75/1
+charmin 1/1
+Gillette 2 In 1 Body Wash, ANY $1/1
+Old Spice Body Wash, any $1/1
+REBATES
+any new to me $10 or higher value
+*Dr Pepper or Pepsi products
+**Meat, Pizza, Soda, Salty Snacks, Paper products, Water, etc ($5+ value) = must be no beer or wine purchase necessary in VA and/or Maine
+NONINSERT (coupon details/source listed if known to exist)Amy's Organics Frozen Products - must be valid on burritos
+Angle Soft TP good MUST BE GOOD ON 4PK 50/1 or 1/1 values only (homemailer)
+ARM & HAMMER Detergent FREE detergent homemailer ($3 value to me)
+Barilla 55/1 or better up to 99/1
+Breakstone's cottage cheese 4-pack, any valud (not from sun insert)
+ClingFree dryer sheets good on 40ct $1 value only
+Dentyne Fire Gum b1g1, 75/1 singles; or $1 off multipack values (not blast, no insert)
+Digiorno Pizza 1/1 or better IP OK! (not ultimate)
+Dr Pepper coupons, plmk what you have
+Duracell 2/1 NOT hearing aid batteries, good on coppertop or ultra
+Egglands Best Eggs 75/1 or - FREE carton homemailer (contact egglands ataylor2@eggland.com ) (1.75 value to me)
+Gatorade 50/1 32oz
+Gerber Graduates 50/1 homemailer (from sending in UPCs)
+HEINZ Vinegar 75/1 hangtag x2009
+KELLOGGS (breakfast cereals) (not insert, not IP)
+Kit N Kaboodle Dry Cat Food any value (this is a PURINA product - call 800-778-7462 every month to receive $2 purina coupons!!)
+*KRAFT
+>BREAKSTONE cottage cheese non insert only
+>Breakstone, 2% Singles, Kraft Done Right Dressings, Taco Bell B1G1 NED TearpadPepsi products 6pk 24oz
+Kraft Dressing $1 off produce wyb 2 tearpad x3/31/09
+Lean Cuisine - IP ok, plmk what you have
+Listerine 1/1 or 75/1 - must be good on trial size
+Muir Glen 1/1
+MT DEW (PEPSI products) - diet any value 6pk,2LTR,B1G1
+Post Its 150/1 or 2/1 values - must be good on ANY post it product
+Powerade $1/1 - this value only
+Purina Cat Food $2 any (call 800-778-7462 every 60 days to request)
+Produce $1 wyb 2 kraft dressing tearpad x3/31/2010
+Red Pack Tomatoes 75/1 - this value only - LOTS!! (LB)
+RENU homemailer $2.50/1 - no size indicated homemailer
+Renu MultiPlus contact lens solution 1/1 or higher must be good on 2oz size
+Ronzoni Smart Pasta $1/1
+Sierra Mist coupons - lmk what you haveThomas Products any good on english muffins or pita bread
+Sobe energy juice drink 50/1
+South Beach meal replacement bars $1/1
+South Beach frozen entree 1/1
+Starkist Flavor Fresh Pouch Tuna 2.6 oz or larger 150/3 x9/1/09
+Tanimura & Antle 35/1 homemailer - not at this time
+Thomas Bread must be good on pita bread or english muffins - homemailer
+Tide 1/1 - this value only - must be good on trial sizeTidy Cats 2/1 *this value or higher only* homemailer (call 800-778-7462 every 60 days to request litter and/or food coupons)
+FREE cat food coupons (LB)
+Last edited by PMFan; 09-19-2009 at 04:53:00 PM. Reason: updating
+<<<<------------ my AVATAR = my 18 year old cat, MAX !
+CREATE INFORMATIVE titles: [Store name], Egglands 75c w/ 75c manf qpon, [End Date] // Commissary MOD /Comm PB, Spec Order DB / WL / CDB
+PLEASE IGNORE THIS ONE POST - MY WISHLIST IS IN POST #1 of this thread.
+WINETAGS
+Jacobs Jacob's Creek coupons for food items - NWPN in Maine
+Meat $2 wyb Lawry's Marinade x x12/31/07 NWPN (Redwood Creek)
+PRINTABLES *MUST* be ORIGINAL good quality print only - color prefered B&W ok on most - plmk
+Tylenol $5 or HERE - just 1 or 2
+L'eggs any product 150/1 - LOTS
+playtex sport 250/1 HERE all set for now
+Lean Cuisine 1/2 all set for now
+Aquafresh Advanced 2/1 all set for now
+Eight O Clock Coffee 2/1 or www2.eocoffer.com x12/31/07 all set for now
+arm & hammer $1/1 laundry detergent x2008
+Johnson's $4 all set for now
+Clean & Clear $2 all set for now
+Mission Chips $1/1 or here all set for now
+colgate 150/1 all set for now
+MISC / UPCs
+Purina Weight Circles - giving 4c per pound in pp instant funds
+Stamps unused forever stamps
+Hodgson Mill, Kentucky Kernel, Don's Chuck Wagon UPCs
+SUN INSERT (insert date listed if known)
+Splenda 150/2 11/4V (must not exclude quick packs)
+K-Y $3/1 ANY 10/21V x4/30/08 - all set for now
+Uncle Bens Long Grain & Wild Rice .75 11/4V - just a few
+Oscar Meyer Deli Creations 1/1 - all set for now
+Glade PlugIns Scented Oil Warmer, any $3 11/4S2 x12/1
+Zone 55/1 9/23insert all set now
+*Red Pack Tomatoes 75/1; 50/1 values all set for now
+Charmin 1/1 - all set now
+Daisy Sour Cream 1/1 need 1-2 this value only! all set now
+Icebreaker gum - all set now
+Ken's Salad dressing 16oz $2/1 all set now
+Mt Olive 1/1 all set for now
+Suave Deodorant 1/1 - all set now
+Suave haircare 50/1 - all set now
+NONSUNDAY (coupon details listed if known to exist)
+Airwick Freshmatic
+**Bounty Paper Towels 1/1 good on single rolls - known to exist as homemailer
+*BRAWNY 50/1 HOMEMAILER
+General Mills Cereal 1/1 or 4/4 PEELIE x2008 - all set now
+Glucerna 2/1
+*Kashi Go Lean Bars 1/1blue peelie found on kashi go lean crunch cereal box prefer x7/31/08
+*Vlasic 1/1
+8th Continent Milk - 1/1 or 150/1 or b1g1 value good on 1/2 gallon - all set now
+Amy's Kitchen FREE ITEM ONLY HOMEMAILER
+Barilla Pasta 1/1 all set for now
+Bird's Eye Steamfresh 50/1 or better all set for now
+Blue Diamond Almonds any (not bold), 1/1 all set for now
+Challenge butter (not 1# size) $1/1 all set for now
+Charmin Toilet Tissue, Freshmates or Kid Fresh 1/1 all set for now
+Chickfila.com FREE sandwich homemailer expired OK, NOT WYB all set for now
+Chinet Casual or Classic White Plates - 1/1 value only all set for now
+Clif Bar FREE ITEM ONLY homemailer (click link) all set for now
+Colgate Toothbrush 1/1 this value only! all set for now
+Eclipse gum 50/1 all set for now
+Eggo Frozen WAFFLES 1/1 PEELIE all set for now
+Fresh Express 1/1 or 2/2 value all set for now
+Handi-Snacks PUDDING or ERS 1/1 - no size indicated all set for now
+Horizon Organics good on product of my choice 55-99/1 value only all set for now
+Hunts Canned Tomatoes any value that equals 40c or better off one DND "9" ok all set for now
+Icebreaker gum (do coupons exist?) all set for now
+Kashi 150/1 homemailer all set for now
+Kashi FREE item homemailer all set for now
+Kimberly Clarke 50/1 or 1/1 homemailer all set for now
+Kleenex 55/1 from Kimberly Clarke homemailer -(start w/ 5) all set for now
+Kool Aid no sizes listed - not free wyb 10 kool aid - other WYB OK - lmk what you have all set for now
+Mueller Pasta Regular or Whole Grain 1/1 all set for now
+Lactaid cottage cheese - FREE HOMEMAILER all set for now
+Leggs 1/1 Peelie NED all set for now all set for now
+Log Cabin Syrup 1/1 all set for now
+Mardis Gras 50/1 homemailer all set for now
+McCains Free homemailer all set for now
+Melissa's Organics FREE homemailer all set for now
+Mt Olive Pickles FREE HOMEMAILER(PM me on how to receive HM to trade) (FREE=75c value to me) all set for now
+MEAT $3 wyb 3 nabsico items x10/31 reportedly found in booklet or ad at jewel & ultra stores
+Olay 1/1 or better (must be good on single bar soap) all set for now
+Propel Fitness Water 50/1 or 75/1 all set for now
+Purell 1/1 all set for now
+Purex laundry detergent - 50/1 NONss sources only all set for now
+Red Gold tomatoes 75/1 all set for now
+Rogaine $20 homemailer (PM me for link) all set for now
+Shout FREE homemailer all set for now
+55/1 sargento exp after 9/30 (LB) all set for now
+yoplait coupons (LB) all set for now
+gortons coupons (LB) all set for now
+quattro razors or refills (LB) all set for now
+mach 3 razors or refills (LB) all set for now
+**Dole FREE homemailer
+Last edited by PMFan; 08-02-2008 at 03:03:03 AM.
+<<<<------------ my AVATAR = my 18 year old cat, MAX !
+CREATE INFORMATIVE titles: [Store name], Egglands 75c w/ 75c manf qpon, [End Date] // Commissary MOD /Comm PB, Spec Order DB / WL / CDB
+UP!
+<<<<------------ my AVATAR = my 18 year old cat, MAX !
+CREATE INFORMATIVE titles: [Store name], Egglands 75c w/ 75c manf qpon, [End Date] // Commissary MOD /Comm PB, Spec Order DB / WL / CDB
+ change since Chris Luck’s training will obtain you up to speed and ready to exploit this as soon as in a life time opportunity. He recognizes exactly what it is that you require to win and also win huge over the coming months as well as the training on the web site that this web links to, he will certainly provide you all of that recommendations for free.
+Chris Good luck will teach you the 4 step approach he established to make $11,428 per day. There are numerous means to make money online, such as Blog Writing, Decline Shipping, Amazon, Associate Marketing, a Social Media Site Firm, Offer Info Products, Personal Tag Supplements, YouTuber, Podcasting as well as far more.
+The Subscription Approach is the Holy Grail for passive income because your repayments are repeating. You can set it and also forget it. Welcome to Subscription Method.
+This web site web links to a free video lesson that will detail basic actions to an approach to develop evergreen passive income.
+Chris discusses standing in a publication rack in Barnes and Noble and also I finding a write-up in Forbes regarding a woman called Linda Wyman that began an area called Lynda.com. She began Linda.com as a membership website where she showed individuals points like how to use Microsoft Excel.
+Membership Method
+Now, if you have never seen it previously, visualize Netflix. Rather of flicks, it is on-line education and learning write-ups. She pointed out that she had actually just crossed 2,000,000 regular monthly members. So out of curiosity Chris mosted likely to her subscription website to check it out as well as discovered this at the time she was billing $19.99 to get accessibility to whatever, which suggests her Membership website.
+Linda.com teaches people points like how to utilize Microsoft Excel was generating over $39 million a month. While Chris was on her subscription website fun and gratifying and also exciting as building a membership site as well as truly making money every day just to provide people complimentary details which Chris is going to show you how to do.
+Chris shows you the action in the procedure and also describes just how to do every one without complicated technical knowledge or big amounts of money.
+There are 2 methods to develop a service online. There is by hand. Which is to offer one item. Once, you just obtain paid. Yet membership websites you remain to get paid. Information alone in inadequate. You should solve people’s issues.
+You locate as well as assist individuals that are searching for help. You simply consider what non-fiction books are bestsellers on Amazon.com, as well as select the same subjects that people are already paying cash to examine.
+Then you locate the information sources that will certainly solve their issue. Chris reveals you how to discover details to market, as well as he also shows how easy it is to contract out the content development process.
+Chris Luck has a course for you to create stable passive income. This is a go back to square one system for really constructing your very own subscription site that is developed to create predictable passive earnings. He describes four tried and tested actions for his system.
+You only get paid once. Membership websites you proceed to get paid. This is a start from scratch system for really developing your own subscription repeating payments.
+Provide individuals a Free test before anybody acquires it. Advertising studies reveal that the majority of people that enroll in a complimentary test maintain the membership as a paid customer. In addition to liking your product as a motive, you are likewise making use of the idea of reciprocity to motivate people to join as a paid participant.
+In some cases individuals are scared when they see action 3. Assisting individuals we discover by providing an item that will address a problem. Individuals believe that you should be technology savvy to build a membership site, which used to be like that about 12 years earlier when Chris Good luck I obtained begun. And now. He has been doing this for a years as well as there is thanks to modern technology ultimately obtaining captured up. It is extremely simple to do now.
+Kajabi Membership Site
+The following step is to produce a membership site with a remarkable software application called Kajabi. This automates every little thing, as well as it is extremely easy to make use of. If you do not want to produce it, Chris reveals how to locate individuals that can produce content for you.
+Kajabi provides you all the devices you require to produce on-line training courses and also items for your participants. The fact that you produce a subscription page implies that you wish to cultivate a feeling of neighborhood with your participants. Regular involvement on your member sites will certainly encourage your member to remain to visit your website. So, look beyond your participant platform and be an alternative to develop a community. You will certainly see faithful clients who will pay you on a monthly basis for the rest of their lives.
+A subscription web page on the Kajabi makes the onboarding process much simpler and much more effective for members than ever previously. If you have actually made a decision fad. You can just make use of tried and tested methods of subscription sites.
+Like Steve Jobs with Apple, Think Different, and also merely make a much better version of an original product.
+Chris will offer you 100 Proven Company Ideas you can start today without any previous understanding or experience.
+You might have a subscription website on fishing, physical fitness, baking, body building, couponing, outdoor camping, parenting, advertising and marketing, or The Secret. You require to make your membership website itself a broad subject and then you can have classifications on your subscription website that you can build and so by doing this whenever you wish to add a new classification, you don’t go out there as well as build a new business from square one whenever.
+Look at Amazon.com bestsellers to find suggestions for internet site course content. These are subjects that individuals are currently paying cash to examine.
+Outsourcing Content
+One more option you have is you can purchase content with resell legal rights. You want to go to the internet sites that show up and after that buy the legal rights for the web content you desire to make use of for your membership site. He says resale civil liberties job actually well in big markets that have a whole lot of web content like parenting and also weight loss and also advertising as well as Health, and also self-help points like that.
+It’s going to be really challenging for you to discover material out there with resell legal rights, since there’s not very much need due to the fact that the means the resale rights sector functions is that individuals will pay authors to create the material, however after that they don’t market that web content to the consumer. They sell that material to you the business owner, and then you go out there as well as market the material. If there’s a market with a great deal of need for content, you’re going to find a whole lot of content with resell legal rights, which is fantastic.
+Use Google to locate target markets and material that is either low-cost or breakthrough in one year. This substantial market uses immense riches. On the internet education and learning is reserving, and specialty training offers gold niches for you to utilize. Huge chances are offered. There is an abundance of on-line advertising training. Pick one with a certain procedure that functions, and afterwards will certainly be easy to just adhere to the instructions. All you need to do is act. Chris Good luck’s Subscription Technique supplies basic actions you can do right now without prior understanding or experience to create specialized training sites that will certainly provide you reoccuring income.
+Evergreen Passive Income
+Making use of evergreen content gives you easy earnings by video clip training courses on Kajabi so clients can resolve whatever troubles they have. Just like blogs, you can earn passive income from subscription websites for offering the content you conveniently collect.
+Allow’s begin with one of the greatest misconception concerning easy earnings. Individuals who promote the easy income system will inform you that you will certainly make easily make cash while you sleep. Focus on developing evergreen web content and also make products that are lively, eye-catching and also fashionable.
+Membership Method Reviews
+Benefits of using Membership method program:
+Online Visibility:
+In instance you intend to make your on the internet existence as well as don’t recognize the procedure of doing it, then this program can help you in knowing all the tactics. You only require to comply with the methods, methods, as well as methods given in this membership program to obtain the results that can transform your life financially.
+It is a prominent program by a famous personality named Chris Good luck. The individual recognizes whatever concerning the on-line field so you can find out many brand-new things from him.
+Make money:
+Utilizing this subscription program, you can make as lots of incomes as you want. Yet keep it in mind that it’s not that much convenience because to make money via this technique, you require to obtain a lot of subscriptions, which is quite complicated.
+Nevertheless, with effort, you can make this uphill struggle possible. If you are assuming that this on pressing this program, you will certainly have the ability to make cash by doing absolutely nothing, then you are wrong, and also you ought to not purchase this program.
+Subscription websites:
+Via this program, you will find out the procedure of making a subscription internet site. Nonetheless, it does not reveal the approach of making other kind of sites.
+It just concentrates on subscription websites, once you understand the art of making a subscription web site, you will certainly have the ability to make all types of web sites with simplicity.
+Online Business Report
+Subscription websites have massive gaining potential and also are just one of the very best methods to gain cash online. It is so interesting that Chris Good luck has made a name for himself based on several of his membership websites.
+Chris Good luck has actually been an on the internet entrepreneur given that 1999. Over the previous twenty years, it has built at the very least 13 effective on-line businesses. This has actually made him among the most successful online vendors of our time.
+In 2007, the concept of sharing his expertise and experience ahead to Chris Luck. Several years of hard job to do every little thing with each other as well as complete her training program earned her a membership technique.
+This training course will certainly show you from the beginning how to build, keep, and also automate subscription websites. It covers nearly every aspect that you need to recognize to do well with your membership websites.
+The Membership Method Review
+The important things that differentiates this high priced course from a lot of the other ones, is that developing a subscription type of website is among the hardest and most gratifying things to do as well as without the proper assistance and mentorship, the chance of failure is huge. If you are a newbie, it can be truly frustrating at first, so be planned for that.
+If you haven’t seen it currently, Chris Good luck has a cost-free webinar training that lays out precisely what the revenue capacity of this version is as well as what it takes to be successful. Obtain a preference of what’s inside the Membership Method without paying anything here! Make web link
+Is Subscription Method a Rip-off?
+Due to the fact that it delivers a lot of worth to anybody that determines to sign up with, subscription Approach is absolutely NOT a rip-off. The training materials are well-structured detailed guides taking you from square one all the method to a completely optimized as well as earnings all set membership internet site.
+Wealth Is Normal
+Passive Income Vs Active Income
+Active revenue refers to the income you get from a task in which you are always proactively involved. It is cash made by job.
+Passive revenue offers you with a monetary return without consistent active job. It might require initial initiative to establish it up, but later you will earn money when you rest. Getting a residence to lease is one example. Easy revenue ought to need little or no effort to maintain it.
+Passive income is different in that you can earn money without dedicating yourself everyday or otherwise whatsoever. Easy income would certainly be money made with little or no work or energetic participation,
+The very best method I can define this is that active income is the revenue from effort and initiative that has actually been taken lately, while passive earnings is for me the earnings that I take into that revenue a very long time back. The earnings stream you build up is easy, so it may require time as well as monetary investment for you to develop on your own, but it has the prospective to supply you with a passive revenue. It can provide an operating, non-active earnings for years.
+Making without work, there are excellent advantages to having an easy revenue. Passive revenue implies that normal earnings can be produced with little or no initiative to maintain it. It is the cash obtained that does not call for extra efforts to preserve the flow of earnings after the work is done.
+Online Goldmine
+THE ONLINE EDUCATION INDUSTRY IS ABOUT TO REACH CRITICAL MASS. WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?
+With students and instructors having a hard time with online emergency teaching, and also several planning for range knowing this autumn, the quality of online education and learning sources has never been much more essential. The Subscription
+Explainer
+- Explainer
+- Climate policy
+Australia emits 1.2 per cent of the world's greenhouse gases. So who must act to cut emissions?
+What is our part in solving a problem that is, by its nature, global?
+By Peter Hannam
+Facebook has banned the sharing or viewing of our news articles on its platform. For independent journalism straight from the source, download our app and sign up to our newsletters.
+Australia's policies to address climate change have been among the most contentious political issues of the past quarter-century.
+The standard refrain from the Morrison government is that Australia is performing well on a global stage when it comes to reducing the emissions of greenhouse gases that are cooking the planet.
+And, the refrain continues, Australia's emissions are just a fraction of the world's total and if we didn't export all that coal and gas, someone else would. In a global context, so this story goes, the main culprits are nations such as China, the United States and the fastest-growing emitter, India.?
+First, is Australia on track with its emission cuts?
+According to the Australian government's latest data,annual emissions were little changed – down just 0.1 per cent – in the year to June 30, 2019.
+As it happens, the choice of the base year comparison can alone alter the impression about how well Australia is doing. Compared with 2000, for instance, annual emissions in the latest year were down 0.8 per cent, suggesting the country has not done very much over the past two decades. But compared with a base year of 2005 – a neat shift the Abbott government made when it approved the Paris climate goal – the reduction suddenly swells to a more impressive 12.9 per cent.
+Aside from recent reductions in emissions from the electricity sector as renewable energy's share has increased, the only sector that has contributed a drop has been land use. Australia has consistently booked emissions reductions from reduced land clearing even during the years that governments in Queensland – the biggest deforesting state – and NSW have loosened restrictions on farmers.
+Excluding the grandly named Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF) change, Australia's emissions have been rising since 2014, according to Climate Action Tracker. That's also the year the Abbott government scrapped a price on carbon.
+From the government's own projections out to 2030, total emissions don't look like falling much at all, with even LULUCF reductions not helping much.
+Incidentally, emissions from bushfires don't add to Australia's ledger because – perhaps optimistically – the vegetation is expected to all grow back. For now, though, the UK Met Office is predicting the fires will make a sizeable contribution to what is expected to be a jump in atmospheric levels of CO2 in 2020.
+So where do Australian emissions cuts rank in the world?
+While there are different ways to count emissions, Australia's share amounts to about 1.2 per cent of global pollution.
+According to The Australia Institute – using data from Germany's Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) – that tally ranks Australia as 14th-largest emitter.
+That doesn't sound like a lot but, as the Australia Institute's Tom Swann notes, if all the countries polluting less than Australia were taken together, they would account for 30 per cent of global emissions, or more than China's 27 per cent share. China, the US, the EU and India emit about 60 per cent of the world's total – and they all need to take action to cut back – but the emissions of the rest also matter.
+"There is no solution to climate change without all countries taking strong action," Swann adds.
+When it comes to what's a fair level of action for nations to be taking, things get murky quickly.
+For instance, the Kyoto Protocol and Paris Accord largely avoid tallying historical emissions, even though rich countries got wealthy, in part, because their economies were powered by relatively cheap fossil fuels.
+Instead, the wealthier nations were supposed to lead the way in reducing the pollution, with poorer nations expected to do less. Net-zero emissions is also the goal in the second half of this century if the world is to keep warming to less than 2 degrees. As it happens, all of Australia's states and the ACT have at least nominal carbon neutrality targets by 2050.
+But, of course, it is not just total emissions that count. Australia makes up just 0.3 per cent of the world's population, so - on a per person basis - we pump out more greenhouse gases than most nations, according to the PIK.
+By another measure, Australia has also not been doing its fair share. The Abbott government choice of 2005 as the base for Australia's Paris climate pledge gave it a relatively high-emissions year. The proposal to cut pollution 26-28 per cent by 2030 would have been more like 17-19 per cent if 2000 emissions were the starting point.
+However, even since 2005, Australia has been a relative laggard among OECD nations.
+What part do our coal exports play?
+Global accounting rules focus on what is emitted within a particular country. China, the biggest emitter and the world's manufacturing hub, has often pointed out a lot of its emissions are "embedded" in the steel, ships and other goods it exports.
+Australia has an export role of its own that the government would rather not highlight.
+The country is the world's largest exporter of coking coal used to make steel, the second-largest exporter of thermal coal burnt in power stations and, since last year, the biggest gas exporter. These fuels are burned in other countries and the greenhouse gases from them counted against others' ledgers – not that the atmosphere cares.
+Australia's fossil fuel exports accounted for 3.6 per cent of global emissions in 2017, with the country's coal exports alone accounting for more than a quarter of total coal trade, according to a report last year for the Australian Conservation Foundation by Climate Analytics. By exports, only Russia and Saudia Arabia contributed more.
+A common line from both the Coalition and Laboris that Australia must support its $70-billion-a-year coal export industry as importers elsewhere would merely buy the coal or gas from other suppliers if we stopped. In fact, emissions would rise because Australian coal is "cleaner" than coal from other sources, so the argument goes.
+"If you stopped exporting coal [from Australia] immediately then that would not reduce global emissions," Anthony Albanese, Labor's leader, told reporters in January. "There is enough displacement from other coal-exporting countries to take up that position, and that coal will produce higher emissions rather than less."
+That latter point is debatable. Major customers for Australia, such as Japan and South Korea, are cutting back on new coal plants. As such, future coal demand may be on the skids, so substitution won't be the issue.
+And opponents of Adani's proposal to open up the giant Galilee coal province in Queensland argue that region's coal will likely have a higher "dirty" ash and lower energy content than major alternative sources. Burning that coal won't push down emissions, they say.
+How business behaves, rather than governments, will be key. If recent indications are any guide, such as $10-trillion asset manager BlackRock's move to ditch thermal coal, fossil-fuel exporting nations had better start diversifying their economies.
+US-based BlackRock made news because of its monster clout in markets but Tim Buckley, a director of the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, says the firm was actually a laggard. All but one of the main Japanese trading houses, for instance, has signalled they are getting out of coal, and major US banks will likely come under greater pressure to follow BlackRock.
+"If Chase, Citi and Wells Fargo [match BlackRock], that's virtually game over" for thermal coal, he says.
+True, India's fast-rising demand for energy will give coal exporters some hope but even there it will depend on state subsidies to keep the coal-fired power plants expanding. Wind and solar are already cheaper than new coal plants in India, Buckley says.
+The Reserve Bank of Australia takes a cautious approach.
+," the RBA said in a September 2019 outlook report on Australian coal.
+Energy and Emissions Reductions Minister Angus Taylor has defended Australia's policies. Credit:
+How do our efforts count on the world stage?
+Australia's climate policies are not just assessed by the home audience of voters but the country's international trading partners too.
+Australia was one of only three nations – along with Norway and Iceland – to win concessions allowing it to increase emissions under the Kyoto Protocol period that ran from 2008 to 2020. It is this relatively weak goal that the Morrison government (and its predecessors) hails as "meeting and beating".
+By the agreed formulas of carbon budgets, Australia claims to have "over-achieved" its Kyoto goal, allowing it to claim a 411-million tonne "credit" it hopes to "carry over" into the Paris period, from 2021 to 2030.
+As Stephen Howes, an Australian National University professor who worked on the Garnaut report into Australia's emissions, notes in a recent report, taking 2020's expected emissions total, the record is not one of "overachievement" at all.
+Angus Taylor, the Energy and Emissions Reduction Minister, defends Australia's stance, saying all targets under the Kyoto Protocol are assessed using so-called emissions budgets. It's from these budgets that Australia is planning to count Kyoto "carryover" credits against its Paris goals.
+Such credits effectively cut Australia's emissions effort for the 2021-30 Paris period by about half – an accounting shortcut that has not gone unnoticed among Australia's counterparts.
+In the Madrid climate summit in late 2019, Australia's Kyoto credit scheme drew special attention, including an effort to ban the use of such credits.
+The fact that much of eastern Australia was starting to burn even as the meeting took place only served to reinforce interest in how one of the most exposed nations to climate change would be tackling the issue.
+Germany, Britain, Sweden and New Zealand have all ruled out using such credits as against the spirit of the Paris accord, and the issue is not going to go away.
+With pressure likely to mount on all nations to lift their Paris goals by the next climate summit – scheduled for late this year in Glasgow – the Morrison government has begun to signal that its international stance might also be starting to "evolve".
+"Australia will use its over-achievement from previous targets only to the extent necessary to reach the 2030 emissions reduction target," Mr Taylor said in mid-January..
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+If you rent then a dumpster it is possible to store exactly what is not required and still have it migrated out when the work is full. This not only keeps your possessions clean but it also helps keep the actual neighbors content. During a redesigning process, in case waste just isn't managed correctly, the bordering houses could also have to keep with debris and dirt. Therefore, an effective way out is to rent a dumpster as soon as the remodeling begins in Rose Hill, MS.
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+25 yard spin off canisters are normally used on the lower end of the professional scale. They will handle plenty of weight, which makes them great for coping with waste coming from landscaping and high duty remodelling projects in Rose Hill, MS.
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+Dumpster renting are actually a simple process. You must do some research prior to deciding to pick the corporation and what is meets your needs. The size of the actual dumpster, disposal container or garbage container is one of the largest things that you'll find to vary. Dumpsters are usually large, as opposed to disposal packing containers are smaller sized in Rose Hill, MS.
+You can have the den remodeled to fit how you use the idea. If you want the idea bigger, get rid of a walls as mentioned above. If you would like it far more professional looking you might want to have wood made bookshelves mounted. You may need a much larger area so that your clients may sit far more comfortably. When you have more than one client from the exact same business occur at a time, you don't wish one person or higher sitting away from your family room in yet another room.
+Please use the form below to contact us. We look forward to working with you and will get back to you as soon as possible. All fields are required
+Fourteen-year-old Shuang doesn’t have time for fun anymore. There are too many chores and, as a 9th grader, this is a critical school year.
+There is only time to study.
+After the 9th grade, Chinese students compete for scholarships to continue their education. If they score highly on their exams, admission to a good high school could set them up to perform well on the national college exam three years later. Being admitted to a top college could change their life. However, if their score is only average, the risk of dropping out increases exponentially, especially in rural regions.
+Shuang’s mountainous home north of the Vietnam border is so rural, it takes more than two hours on motorbike for her to travel to the boarding school where she lives from Monday to Friday.
+During the school week, Shuang studies with her friends when they have free time.
+But when she’s home over the weekend, there is so much work to do on her family farm. Wood to cut. Water to haul. Mustard greens to harvest for a week of meals. At home, Shuang and her family eat the bitter, leafy plant with rice for every meal.
+Shuang knows that if she wishes to escape poverty or one day raise children who don’t subsist on mustard greens and rice, this is her critical year.
+How well she performs on her exams could make or break her future.
+That’s why she’s studying so hard: for the chance to win a prestigious scholarship and change her own destiny.
+And Shuang deserves that chance.
+It’s impossible to overlook her potential. She’s got the focus and drive that would allow her to become a doctor, scientist or great academic.
+Shuang is short and strong, with a kind face and black bangs that cover her forehead in a perfect, crisp line. She has a natural seriousness about her, and is uncommonly mature and polite — carrying a sense of gratitude well beyond the average 14-year-old. She likes to read and re-read Chinese language books she received from her school. She’s a strong student in her class and her work ethic is unmatched.
+But, the hardships she’s faced have aged her. Her smile rarely reaches her eyes.
+Shuang just needs a chance.
+A HISTORY OF POVERTY
+Jian Chen, Holt’s vice president of China programs, lived in Nanning during the 1966 to 1976 Cultural Revolution. During this decade in China’s history, established institutions like conventional education were eliminated. Rather than attending school, children learned from soldiers, peasants in the countryside, and workers in the factories.
+The breakdown of formal schooling radically shaped the lives of all those who lived through it. Jian and thousands of other children and teens were sent from the city to work in the countryside alongside the peasants.
+Jian recalls at times literally hauling buckets of human excrement across her back. She didn’t receive formal education, and instead spent two years doing farm work as a peasant.
+But following the Cultural Revolution, Jian received an opportunity that changed her life.
+When the Cultural Revolution ended with Mao’s death, the new leadership re-opened colleges. Jian and all her classmates studied rapidly for their shot at a scholarship. Jian says she received a dose of good luck on her English exam and scored well enough to be admitted to one of the best colleges in China.
+“That changed my life over night,” Jian says. “Suddenly, I was important in my village. My father had never given me much attention, but then he was so proud of me. My entire life changed.”
+EDUCATION BARRIERS
+In China, as everywhere, education remains the single most effective tool to reduce poverty and create the type of generational change that may eventually eliminate some of the country’s most pressing social issues, from family instability, displacement and child abandonment, to drug addiction and even one of the leading causes of abject poverty in China — lack of access to affordable healthcare.
+Primary education is free through the 9th grade — but parents are required to supplement government funding with fees, uniforms, supplies and, as many children from the countryside attend boarding schools during the week, additional money for room and board.
+In rural areas, public schools generally receive less government funding than urban schools and the school system is weaker overall. As a result, rural families often pay more supplementary fees. This is counterintuitive as poverty is also more pronounced in rural areas. But because education is highly valued in China, many parents are willing to make tremendous sacrifices to keep their child in school.
+“It’s very frustrating for these kids,” Jian says of children living in poor or rural communities. “They know how important a good education is. But they have no opportunities. They have no chance.”
+These supplementary costs can overwhelm already struggling families.
+Not only do children from poor rural families have fewer educational opportunities, they also have more exhausting household duties and generally poorer health and nutrition. In order to eat, many children help cultivate rice and gardens, and do more time-consuming and exhausting chores like hauling water and washing laundry by hand.
+These responsibilities are more heavily felt by girls, who are traditionally expected to carry this workload.
+For a student like Shuang, the responsibilities outside of her classwork are so distracting, so exhausting, so time-consuming, it’s easy to see why she is at a severe disadvantage in the competition against more wealthy students.
+“What I experienced as a child, it’s not the same in China anymore,” Jian says. “But the lack of opportunities is still the same. I have so much empathy. For poor children, there is no investment in their education. They don’t have any hope unless someone helps them.”
+HOLT PROGRAMS
+In the seven years since Holt began family strengthening services near Shuang’s village in Nanning, this program has twice been named one of the 40 most influential projects in China by the Civil Affairs Ministry and China Charity Federation. A total of 2,500 of the most vulnerable children in the region are enrolled in sponsorship. With the support of their sponsors, they receive assistance with their school fees, as well as nutritional support.
+Every child chosen to participate in Holt’s family strengthening program comes from one of the poorest families, and most children have lost one or both parents. More often than not, students from poor families — like Shuang — drop out of school soon after the 9th grade to begin helping on the family farm or to work in nearby factories.
+But in Holt’s programs, every child is matched with an advocate who encourages children to stay in school.
+Children receive school uniforms and supplies, which helps reduce the burden on their families. They also receive a few dollars in pocket money so they can purchase things like toothbrushes and soap, clothing or, during the New Year, some food and snacks that they would normally not have, like meat or treats.
+“Sponsors also make children feel special,” Jian says. “It makes them feel good to know that someone is thinking about them and supporting them. Sponsors give kids confidence.”
+Eventually, the goal is to help the family earn enough income that they can provide for their children independently.
+And when sponsored children score so well on their exams that they are admitted to great high schools or universities, Holt donors may provide additional support.
+HOME LIFE
+If you stumbled upon Shuang’s home by accident, you would probably assume the house had been long abandoned.
+Shuang and her family live on a one-acre plot of land in an isolated gully overlooked by three hilly peaks. Shuang’s two eldest sisters moved to the city to find work, so now it’s just her mom, dad, 17-year-old sister, Jui, and 8-year-old brother, Dao.
+Their three-room mud hut is built on a shallow cutout in the side of one of the hills. Their house has no electricity or running water. One room serves as a kitchen, where besides a small, clean metal table and a few shiny knives, everything is covered in soot and dirt from the indoor fire pit that they cook over.
+In the second room, Shuang and Jui share a wood-plank bed. Dao has his own small bed, too. Their tiny room is so full and muddy, it’s hard to think that the three of them sleep here.
+“I don’t have anything special,” Shuang says, looking around the room. Her eyes settle on a stack of books and notebooks on one corner of the bed. “It’s hard to study here. It is dark and there is no light at night.”
+Outside the mud walls, in a 10-foot “yard” that drops dramatically down the hill, there’s a brick chicken coop, where about 10 chickens and 10 new baby chicks chirp quietly. A small, disheveled mother dog watches her two rambunctious puppies. If anyone walks too closely, they duck into a burrow they’ve dug under one wall of the home. A clothesline marks the perimeter of the yard.
+Shuang looks past the clothesline, down the 30-foot drop to a small creek where the family washes their clothes, and beyond that, a small rice paddy that’s flooded with an inch or more of water. Both sides of the rice paddy are marked by small ponds, which form here because rain channels down from the mountains.
+“Both our ponds have a spring, too,” Shuang says.
+Three times a day, Shuang carries two 5-gallon buckets down a steep and overgrown path and fills them from the spring water, which is cleaner than the muddy ponds, but barely.
+A flock of white ducks swim nearby. Shuang is excited that because it’s Chinese New Year soon, they will get to eat duck. In the north pond, the family also raises fish, which they can catch with hooks on string. Once in a while, they will also eat fish with their meals.
+“I eat chicken sometimes, once per year,” Shuang says. “Otherwise, we sell our chickens and eggs in the market.”
+To make additional income, Shuang’s parents gather kindling from the mountains around their home. It’s backbreaking work, even with the help of their horse and cart. The selling price is low.
+“It’s hard to find wood to gather close to the house now,” Shuang says. “Sometimes my parents walk two hours to gather firewood.”
+The family’s only connection to paved roads, rural markets and nearby villages is a small, dirt footpath, wide enough for their horse cart, but too thin, steep and unstable for a vehicle. It takes 40 minutes to walk from Shuang’s house to the two-lane highway that winds over a particularly dense stretch of mountains. From there, the closest village is a 30-minute drive.
+AN ACT OF CHARITY
+Shuang’s Holt sponsorship advocate is a kind and compassionate man named Mr. Pan.
+Mr. Pan worked as a teacher before joining China’s government in the Ministry of Education. Now, in partnership with the local government, Mr. Pan meets with children and families in Holt’s programs and works to keep them in school, ensure their basic needs are met and explore long-term solutions to reduce or eliminate poverty.
+“Shuang’s family is the poorest in this area,” Mr. Pan says, “So I’ve spent more time trying to find ways to improve their situation. Their lives are very hard. They are very isolated. During the rainy season, I can’t even reach them because the path to their house is too muddy.”
+When Mr. Pan first visited Shuang and her family, he was struck by how difficult life is for this family.
+“How can you study here? How can Shuang find enough time to study?” Mr. Pan asks rhetorically, standing in the muddy yard in front of her home. “Shuang is so happy and positive, but still her life is very difficult. The father had a leg injury, and that makes work difficult for him. Shuang’s mother has kidney problems. And they live so far from anyone. Even it is hard for the community to help them. I want to help Shuang stay in school.”
+Three days before the Chinese New Year, Shuang and her family have reason to celebrate, and a genuinely excited smile breaks through Shuang’s typical calm when she shares her good news.
+Shuang is moving into a new house as soon as the concrete floors dry.
+After Mr. Pan first visited Shuang and Dao — who is also in Holt’s sponsorship program — he took it upon himself to see how he could help. He contacted several companies in Nanning to ask if any business would help Shuang’s family.
+Finally, a printing company offered to build a new home for Shuang. As charity is a relatively new and novel concept in China, this offer was exceptionally rare.
+Adjacent to their current home, a new, whitewashed cement structure waits for the family to move in. The roof is tin and the windows and front door are just hollow frames, but already this is a clear improvement to their current home.
+This new house will greatly increase the family’s overall security. It will help Shuang and Dao perform better in school, reduce the children’s chores and help the family grow stable.
+Shuang walks through the door to the main room, with doors to the left and right leading to the home’s two additional rooms.
+“We will sleep over there,” Shuang says, pointing to the left room. “My parents may sleep in this room or this may be a living room and they will keep sleeping in the other house.” Shuang walks into the third room — the kitchen — which has a half-wall separating off a small, closet-sized space near the back corner. “We have a bathroom now!” Shuang says. “Before, we had no privacy. We had to wait until night.”
+“They still won’t have running water or electricity,” Mr. Pan says. “I have asked other companies to help with solar panels, but I haven’t had luck yet.”
+As the family has little furniture, Mr. Pan asked the nearest village to donate some items. In early February, villagers will help carry new beds, a stove and some other home goods along the same long, slippery path that Shuang and Dao walk on the days they go to school.
+“We have a new home for the New Year,” Shuang says. “I am so happy.”
+Shuang is also excited for another big change coming to her family’s farm — another opportunity that Mr. Pan helped create for her family. Soon, they will be hosting 100 cows or more at a time, cows owned by the largest landowner in the area. About 50 yards from Shuang’s new house, two laborers are building short, brick walls that will eventually be a roofed, but mostly open-air, barn.
+“The family will get money for keeping the cows here,” Mr. Pan says. “It’s not too much extra work for them, but the extra income will really help.”
+SECOND CHANCES
+Like most children in China, Shuang is not sure what she wants to be when she grows up. That would likely be determined by the needs of her country, and she would accept the offer to study in any college, regardless of subject.
+Generally, Shuang’s attitude is one of joy and gratitude.
+“I love my family,” Shuang says. “I’m happy to help them.”
+But, if she receives the opportunity to continue her education, she will take it.
+As she leads up to her exam day, Mr. Pan and Shuang’s sponsors will do everything they can to help reduce the burdens she faces and give her the confidence and support she needs to keep pushing forward. To give her a chance at the future she dreams of.
+WRITTEN BY BILLIE LOEWEN | PHOTOS BY BRIAN CAMPBELL
+Recent Comments
+Elevated osteopontin levels in metastatic melanoma correlate with epigenetic silencing of breast cancer metastasis suppressor 1
+Metge B.J.,University of South Alabama |
+Liu S.,University of South Alabama |
+Riker A.I.,Ochsner Cancer Institute |
+Fodstad O.,University of South Alabama |
+And 3 more authors.
+Oncology | Year: 2010
+Objective: Breast cancer metastasis suppressor 1 (BRMS1) has been shown to functionally reduce the metastatic potential of melanoma. We also previously reported that BRMS1 negatively regulates the expression of the oncoprotein osteopontin (OPN). This study was carried out to assess the clinical relevance of BRMS1 and OPN in melanoma. Methods: Epigenetic regulation of BRMS1 was assessed by treating clinically derived melanoma cell lines with the demethylating agent 5-aza-2′-deoxycytidine (DAC) and the histone deacetylase inhibitor trichostatin A (TSA), followed by sodium bisulfite modification and methylation-specific PCR. Assessments of BRMS1 and OPN levels were performed using immunoblotting, quantitative real-time RT-PCR or reporter assays. RNA silencing was employed to abrogate the expression of OPN in melanoma-derived cell lines. The in vivo relevance of our findings was determined with experiments using athymic nude mice. Results: The reduced expression of BRMS1 in surgically excised melanoma specimens correlated with increased OPN expression during the progression from primary to metastatic melanoma. Treatment with DAC and TSA elevated BRMS1 levels, but caused an inconsistent change in OPN gene expression. Abrogating the expression of OPN in BRMS1-deficient metastatic melanoma-derived cell lines retarded the growth of melanoma tumor xenografts in athymic nude mice. Conclusion: While treatment with DAC and TSA may not be a universally applicable treatment alternative in melanoma, silencing the expression of OPN in metastatic melanomas that have lost expression of BRMS1 is a potential option for therapeutic intervention. Copyright © 2010 S. Karger AG.
+Mitf-Mdel, a novel melanocyte/melanoma-specific isoform of microphthalmia-associated transcription factor-M, as a candidate biomarker for melanoma
+Wang Y.,Peking University |
+Radfar S.,Yale University |
+Liu S.,Dana-Farber Cancer Institute |
+Riker A.I.,Ochsner Cancer Institute |
+Khong H.T.,University of South Alabama
+BMC Medicine | Year: 2010. © 2010 Wang et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.
+Warburg effect in chemosensitivity: Targeting lactate dehydrogenase-A re-sensitizes Taxol-resistant cancer cells to Taxol
+Zhou M.,University of South Alabama |
+Zhou M.,Central South University |
+Zhao Y.,University of South Alabama |
+Ding Y.,University of South Alabama |
+And 11 more authors.
+Molecular Cancer | Year: 2010
+Background: Taxol is one of the most effective chemotherapeutic agents for the treatment of patients with breast cancer. Despite impressive clinical responses initially, the majority of patients eventually develop resistance to Taxol. Lactate dehydrogenase-A (LDH-A) is one of the predominant isoforms of LDH expressed in breast tissue, which controls the conversion of pyruvate to lactate and plays an important role in glucose metabolism. In this study we investigated the role of LDH-A in mediating Taxol resistance in human breast cancer cells.Results: Taxol-resistant subclones, derived from the cancer cell line MDA-MB-435, sustained continuous growth in high concentrations of Taxol while the Taxol-sensitive cells could not. The increased expression and activity of LDH-A were detected in Taxol-resistant cells when compared with their parental cells. The downregulation of LDH-A by siRNA significantly increased the sensitivity of Taxol-resistant cells to Taxol. A higher sensitivity to the specific LDH inhibitor, oxamate, was found in the Taxol-resistant cells. Furthermore, treating cells with the combination of Taxol and oxamate showed a synergistical inhibitory effect on Taxol-resistant breast cancer cells by promoting apoptosis in these cells.Conclusion: LDH-A plays an important role in Taxol resistance and inhibition of LDH-A re-sensitizes Taxol-resistant cells to Taxol. This supports that Warburg effect is a property of Taxol resistant cancer cells and may play an important role in the development of Taxol resistance. To our knowledge, this is the first report showing that the increased expression of LDH-A plays an important role in Taxol resistance of human breast cancer cells. This study provides valuable information for the future development and use of targeted therapies, such as oxamate, for the treatment of patients with Taxol-resistant breast cancer. © 2010 Zhou et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.
+Briggs J.J.,University of Oslo |
+Haugen M.H.,University of Oslo |
+Johansen H.T.,University of Oslo |
+Riker A.I.,Ochsner Cancer Institute |
+And 4 more authors.
+BMC Cancer | Year: 2010
+Background:.Methods:.Results:.Conclusions: These results suggest that the level of cystatin E/M regulates legumain activity and hence the invasive potential of human melanoma cells. © 2010 Briggs et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.
+Marcus J.D.,Ochsner Cancer Institute |
+Mott F.E.,Georgia Regents University
+Ochsner Journal | Year: 2014
+Background: Communication is the cornerstone of good multidisciplinary medical care, and the impact of conversations about diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis is indisputable. Healthcare providers must be able to have difficult conversations that accurately describe diagnostic procedures, treatment goals, and the benefits and/or risks involved.Methods: This paper reviews the literature about the importance of communication in delivering bad news, the status of communication training, communication strategies, and psychosocial interventions.Results: Although many published guidelines address difficult communication, communication training is lacking. Consequently, many clinicians may have difficulties with, or in the worst-case scenario, avoid delivering bad news and discussing end-of-life treatment. Clinicians also struggle with how to have the last conversation with a patient and how to support patient autonomy when they disagree with a patient’s choices.Conclusion: There is a clinical imperative to educate physicians and other healthcare workers on how to effectively deliver information about a patient’s health status, diagnostic avenues to be explored, and decisions to be made at critical health junctions. Knowing how to implement the most rudimentary techniques of motivational interviewing, solutionfocused brief therapy, and cognitive behavioral therapy can help physicians facilitate conversations of the most difficult type to generate positive change in patients and families and to help them make decisions that minimize end-of-life distress. © 2014, Academic Division of Ochsner Clinic Foundation.
+MicroRNA-125b confers the resistance of breast cancer cells to paclitaxel through suppression of pro-apoptotic Bcl-2 antagonist killer 1 (Bak1) expression
+Zhou M.,University of South Alabama |
+Zhou M.,Central South University |
+Liu Z.,University of South Alabama |
+Zhao Y.,University of South Alabama |
+And 10 more authors.
+Journal of Biological Chemistry | Year: 2010
+Paclitaxel (Taxol) is an effective chemotherapeutic agent for treatment of cancer patients. Despite impressive initial clinical responses, the majority of patients eventually develop some degree of resistance to Taxol-based therapy. The mechanisms underlying cancer cells resistance to Taxol are not fully understood. MicroRNA (miRNA) has emerged to play important roles in tumorigenesis and drug resistance. However, the interaction between the development of Taxol resistance and miRNA has not been previously explored. In this study we utilized a miRNA array to compare the differentially expressed miRNAs in Taxol-resistant and their Taxol-sensitive parental cells. We verified that miR-125b, miR-221, miR-222, and miR-923 were up-regulated in Taxol-resistant cancer cells by real-time PCR. We further investigated the role and mechanisms of miR-125b in Taxol resistance. We found that miR-125b was up-regulated in Taxol-resistant cells, causing a marked inhibition of Taxol-induced cytotoxicity and apoptosis and a subsequent increase in the resistance to Taxol in cancer cells. Moreover, we demonstrated that the pro-apoptotic Bcl-2 antagonist killer 1 (Bak1) is a direct target of miR-125b. Down-regulation of Bak1 suppressed Taxol-induced apoptosis and led to an increased resistance to Taxol. Restoring Bak1 expression by either miR-125b inhibitor or re-expression of Bak1 in miR-125b-overexpressing cells recovered Taxol sensitivity, overcoming miR-125-mediated Taxol resistance. Taken together, our data strongly support a central role for miR-125b in conferring Taxol resistance through the suppression of Bak1 expression. This finding has important implications in the development of targeted therapeutics for overcoming Taxol resistance in a number of different tumor histologies. © 2010 by The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc.
+Amplifying TLR-MyD88 signals within tumor-specific T cells enhances antitumor activity to suboptimal levels of weakly immunogenic tumor antigens
+Geng D.,University of Maryland, Baltimore |
+Zheng L.,Louisiana State University |
+Srivastava R.,University of Maryland, Baltimore |
+Velasco-Gonzalez C.,Louisiana State University |
+And 3 more authors.
+Cancer Research | Year: 2010
+The efficacy of T cell-based immunotherapy to treat cancer patients remains a challenge partly because of the weak activity toward subdominant tumor antigens (TAg) and to tumors expressing suboptimal TAg levels. Recent reports indicate that Toll-like receptor (TLR) stimulation on T cells can lower the activation threshold. In this study, we examined the antitumor activity and survival of TLR2-MyD88-stimulated CD8 T cells derived from melanoma patients and T-cell receptor transgenic pmel mice. TLR2-stimulated pmel CD8 T cells, but not TLR2-/-pmel or MyD88-/-pmel T cells, responded to significantly lower TAg levels and resulted in increased production of effector molecules and cytotoxicity. Wild-type or MyD88-/- mice treated with TLR2 ligand and pmel T cells, but not TLR2-/-pmel or MyD88 -/-pmel T cells, showed tumor regression of an established melanoma tumor. Overexpressing TLR2 in TAg-specific T cells eradicated tumors; four times fewer cells were needed to generate antitumor responses. The enhanced antitumor activity of TLR2-MyD88-stimulated T cells was associated with increased effector function but perhaps more importantly with improved survival of T cells. Activating TLR-MyD88 signals in patient-derived T cells also reduced the activation threshold to several weakly immunogenic TAgs, resulting in increased cytokine production, expansion, and cytotoxicity. These data highlight a previously unappreciated role for activating TLR-MyD88 signals in tumor-reactive T lymphocytes. ©2010 AACR.
+Zhao Y.,University of South Alabama |
+Liu H.,University of South Alabama |
+Riker A.I.,Ochsner Cancer Institute |
+Fodstad O.,Norwegian Radium Hospital |
+And 3 more authors.
+Frontiers in Bioscience | Year: 2011
+Cancer.
+Riker A.I.,Ochsner Cancer Institute |
+Zea N.,Ochsner Cancer Institute |
+Trinh T.,Ochsner Cancer Institute
+Ochsner Journal | Year: 2010. © Academic Division of Ochsner Clinic Foundation.
+Howell Jr. P.M.,University of South Alabama |
+Li X.,University of South Alabama |
+Riker A.I.,Ochsner Cancer Institute |
+Xi Y.,University of South Alabama
+Ochsner Journal | Year: 2010
+Melanoma is a highly aggressive and deadly skin cancer. Early intervention correlates with nearly 100% patient survival, but greater than 80% mortality is associated with advanced disease. Currently, few treatment options are available for patients with metastatic melanoma, and the global incidence of melanoma is increasing faster than that of other cancers. Therefore, it is vitally important to uncover and use genetic and epigenetic regulatory mechanisms at work during the development and progression of melanoma for better prevention, diagnosis, and clinical management. MicroRNA (miRNA) is a set of small, single-stranded, noncoding RNAs that target the 3'-untranslated region of an estimated 30% of all human genes to inhibit their expression. Our understanding of miRNA-mediated regulation of cancers has grown immensely over the past decade. Here we review currently available data on melanoma-associated miRNAs, highlighting those deregulated miRNAs targeting important genes and signaling pathways involved in the progression of melanocytes to primary and metastatic melanoma. Understanding the important roles of miRNAs in melanoma progression and metastasis development will contribute to the development of miRNA-targeted therapy in the future. © Academic Division of Ochsner Clinic Foundation.
+Resources
+Browse by:
+INVENTOR
+PATENT HOLDER
+PATENT NUMBER
+DATE
+Cleaning device for circular discs
+4162552
+Cleaning device for circular discs
+Patent Drawings:
+«
+‹
+1
+›
+»
+(4 images)
+Inventor:
+Winter
+Date Issued:
+July 31, 1979
+Application:
+05/923,174
+Filed:
+July 10, 1978
+Inventors:
+Winter; Heinrich J.
+(Hainburg-Hessen, DE)
+Assignee:
+Heinrich Josef Winter Kunststoffverarbeitung unde Werkzeugbau GmbH
+(Hainburg am Main, DE)
+Primary Examiner:
+Blum; Daniel
+Assistant Examiner:
+Attorney Or Agent:
+Carella, Bain, Gilfillan & Rhodes
+U.S. Class:
+134/149
+;
+15/104.92
+;
+15/88.1
+;
+211/1.3
+;
+211/40
+Field Of Search:
+15/21B
+;
+15/104.92
+;
+15/160
+;
+134/149
+;
+206/42
+;
+211/1.3
+;
+211/2
+;
+211/40
+;
+211/41
+;
+274/47
+;
+312/10
+International Class:
+U.S Patent Documents:
+1420004
+;
+2938732
+;
+3005223
+;
+3077622
+;
+3401708
+Foreign Patent Documents:
+815004
+Other References:
+Abstract:
+A cleaning device for a circular disc with a central bore, the device hav a shaft on a supporting box to rotatably hold a disc to be cleaned in a cleaning tank, and a drying rack which fits into the box and on which the disc can be dried; there is further disclosed a hub to surround said shaft and enclose a section of the surface of the disc during the cleaning operation.
+Claim:
+I claim:
+1. A cleaning device for circular discs having a central bore, said device comprising:
+a cleaning tank, a cross-section of the tank being in the shape of a segment of a circle;
+a base on which the tank stands;
+a supporting box formed by the base providing a downwardly opening space;
+two opposed side walls of the tank;
+a shaft supported on the side walls to hold a disc for rotation between the side walls and
+a drying rack having a base, and supporting means on which a disc may be deposited after cleaning;
+wherein the drying rack is of such a size that it can be accommodated in the space of the supporting box for storage with the supporting means flanking the tank.
+2. A device according to claim 1, further comprising at least one radially extending cleaning element provided on at least one of said side walls, said element being made of elastic material and pressing against the disc surface to be cleaned.
+3. A device according to claim 2, further comprising an elongated brush element provided as the cleaning element.
+4. A device according to claim 2, further comprising means defining a slot provided on at least one side wall of the cleaning tank into which slot the cleaning element is insertable.
+5. A device according to claim 4, wherein the slot has an open side and tapers towards its open side at least partially in a wedge-shaped manner.
+6. A device according to claim 1, further comprising a circular groove, open at the top, the groove being provided in the supporting box and at the centre of the circular segment of the cleaning tank to support the shaft.
+7. A device according to claim 1, further comprising an upper surface of the supporting box which slopes towards both sides in the longitudinal direction, starting from the centre of the circle segment of the cleaning tank.
+8. A device according to claim 1, wherein the drying rack further comprises:
+a base plate being at least approximately rectangular and having external horizontal dimensions corresponding to internal measurements of the underside of the supporting box;
+said supporting means including a plurality of supporting elements extending vertically from the base plate and being provided alternately in two longitudinal groups; wherein the positions and separations of said elements relative to one anotherare such that when the drying rack is inserted into the underside of the supporting box, one longitudinal group is in the hollow space on one side of the cleaning tank and the other longitudinal group is on the other side of the cleaning tank.
+9. A device according to claim 8, wherein the separation of adjacent supporting elements in a longitudinal group is greater than the width of a supporting element plus twice the thickness of a disc to be dried.
+10. A device according to claim 8, further comprising tetrahedrally-shaped prominences, provided on the base plate, between adjacent supporting elements in a longitudinal group, a corner of each prominence being close to each of the two adjacentsupporting elements and the other two corners are arranged midway of adjacent supporting elements.
+11. A device according to claim 10, further comprising vertical flat bars arranged perpendicularly to and supported by supporting elements, of plate-like construction.
+12. A device according to claim 1, further comprising hub sections arranged on the shaft, and gripping edges on the circumferences of the hub sections.
+13. A device according to claim 1, further comprising holding elements provided on the base plate of the drying rack for securing it to the supporting box.
+14. A device according to claim 1, further comprising a hub having:
+two hollow shells, to one of which the shaft is connected;
+an extended piece on at least one of the hollow shells coaxially with the shaft;
+and an adaptor which can be mounted on said extended piece in two opposite positions such that in the first position a centering cylindrical section thereof can engage and thus centre the disc, whilst in the second position the cylindricalsection overlaps the extended piece and the adaptor does not reach as far as that plane defined by the free edge of the hollow shell supporting it.
+15. A device according to claim 14, further comprising the extended piece being of approximately cylindrical construction and two cylindrical sections of different diameter forming the adaptor, the axial extent of the adaptor being less than theinternal height of a hollow shell; a projection being provided coaxially of the shaft, beyond the extended piece and adjacent to the side wall of the hollow shell, the radial extent of the projection being less than the internal diameter of thecentering cylindrical section and the height of the projection above the side wall being greater than the difference between the internal height of the hollow shell and the axial extent of the adaptor, and less than the internal axial clear height of thecentering cylindrical section.
+Description:
+The invention relates to a cleaning device for circular discs having a central bore.
+Cleaning devices are used, for example, to clean gramophone records by dipping them into a liquid and subsequently to dry them. One device is known from U.S. Pat. No. 2,938,732, in which the two parts of a hub are centered from either side ofa gramophone record, and screwed together, via its central bore. Sealing rings are provided in a suitable manner on the peripheral edge of the two hub sections, which rest respectively on the two sides of the gramophone record, in order to protect thegramophone record label, which lies radially further inwards, from moisture during the washing operation. In the case of this known device, this gramophone record provided with a hub with an axially projecting shaft ends can be dipped into a slot-likeliquid tank, the cross-section of which in the plane of the slot is approximately in the shape of a segment of a circle, the angle of the circle segment being less than 180.degree.. Rounded grooves are provided in the two slot walls at the geometriccentre of the circle segment, into which the abovementioned shaft ends of the hub are inserted in a manner such that the gramophone record thus supported can rotate freely in the slot-like liquid tank. All the necessary parts of the gramophone recordcome into contact with the liquid through the rotational movement, so that the desired cleaning is effected. The known liquid tank has, at the lower part of its peripheral surface, a tangentially adjoining base plate so that it can be stood on a flatsurface.
+In order now to dry the gramophone record after cleaning in the liquid bath, in the case of the known device the surface of the gramophone record is first roughly dried off, after removal from the liquid tank, by wiping with the aid of a sponge,and the gramophone record is then placed on a drying rack, on which the gramophone record is inclined to the horizontal by about 45.degree..
+However, the use of this known drying rack necessitates considerable space, since because of the inclined position of the gramophone record during the drying operation, a correspondingly large projected area of the gramophone record is taken upin the horizontal plane. This manifests itself in a disadvantageous manner, particularly if a large number of gramophone records are to be dried simultaneously. In addition, the upper side and the underside dry off at different rates in the inclinedposition of the gramophone record, so that long drying times can result, although one side of the gramophone record has already dried off. Furthermore, the storage of the drying racks in the case of the known device is found to be disadvantageous, sincethese must be accommodated as individual parts, for example in an additional box, and cannot be connected to the liquid tank in any suitable manner for storage.
+According to the present invention, there is provided a cleaning device for circular discs having a central bore which comprises a cleaning tank, with a cross-section in the shape of a segment of a circle, standing on a base and having twoopposed side walls between which the disc can be rotated freely during the cleaning operation around a shaft extending through the central bore and supported on the side walls, and a drying rack comprising a base and at least one supporting element onwhich the disc is deposited after cleaning, wherein the cleaning tank has a base which is constructed in the form of a supporting box in which the drying rack can be accommodated for storage. Since the supporting box must be constructed according to thesize of the cleaning tank, the drying rack can be constructed in a corresponding size without taking up additional space during storage, since this drying rack is then inside the open hollow space of the supporting box. During use in the intendedmanner, several discs to be cleaned, for example gramophone records, can be dried because of these relatively large dimensions of the drying rack, the stability of the drying rack being considerably increased through having a construction of large area.
+At least one radially extending cleaning element made of elastic material and pressing against the disc surface to be cleaned is advantageously provided on at least one side wall of the cleaning tank, so that the cleaning action in the liquidbath is increased. It is advantageous to provide a cleaning element on each of the two side walls in order to clean both disc surfaces equally well. An elongate brush element is advantgeously provided as the cleaning element. In order to make easyreplacement of the cleaning element possible, this is advantageously insertable, in a positive manner, into a slot provided on at least one side wall of the tank. The slot tapers, towards the open side at least partially in a wedge-shaped manner inorder to prevent the cleaning element from falling out.
+The cleaning element advantageously extends from the peripheral surface of the cleaning tank and is shorter than the radius of the tank, so that the cleaning element reaches at most as far as the vicinity of the hub, where cleaning is no longerdesired.
+The cleaning element is appropriately arranged vertically, that is to say it extends vertically upwards from the lowest point of the cleaning tank having the shape of a segment of a circle. Because of this symmetrical arrangement of the cleaningelement within the cleaning tank, the cleaning action is consistent for the two possible directions of rotation of the disc in the liquid bath.
+In order to make possible rotatable mounting of the disc with the aid of the fitted hub sections and the shaft ends in a manner such that the disc surface to be cleaned dips into the liquid bath, a circular groove, as a support for the hub, whichis open towards the top is advantageously formed in the supporting box at the centre of the circle segment of the cleaning tank.
+The upper side of the supporting box preferably slopes towards both sides in the longitudinal direction of the slot, starting from the centre of the circle segment of the cleaning tank.
+The base of the drying rack is advantageously constructed as an essentially rectangular base plate, the external horizontal dimensions of which correspond to the internal measurements of the underside of the supporting box. It is therebypossible to insert the drying rack into the hollow space of the supporting box from below, it being possible to achieve positive locking or even non-positive locking by matching the dimensions, so that the two parts can be stored with one another in asimple manner. If the non-positive locking mentioned is inadequate, suitable holding elements acting between the two structural members can be provided. A number of vertically extending supporting elements are provided alternately on the base plate intwo longitudinal groups, their position and their separation relative to one another being such that when the drying rack is inserted into the underside of the supporting box, one longitudinal group is in the hollow space on one side of the cleaning tankand the other longitudinal group is on the other side of the cleaning tank. This is advantageous, for example, if the sizes of the supporting elements are chosen so that they would collide with the cleaning tank if they were not displaced in the mannerdescribed above. The two longitudinal groups of supporting elements are advantageously aligned parallel to one another.
+It is advantageous if the separation of adjacent supporting elements in a longitudinal group is greater than the width of a supporting element plus twice the thickness of the disc to be dried.
+On the base plate, between adjacent supporting elements in a longitudinal group, there are appropriately provided tetrahedron-shaped prominences, of which in each case one corner is close to a foot of each of the two adjacent supporting elementsand the other two corners are arranged at the separation of an inserted disc to be dried. This means that the two surfaces of the disc to be dried only come into contact with one supporting element, whilst slipping of the disc at the foot of asupporting element over the space to the next supporting element is prevented by the tetrahedron-shaped prominence. This prominence touches only the circumference of the disc to be dried.
+In order to keep the contact area of the supporting element on the disc surface to be dried as small as possible, the supporting elements are advantageously constructed in the form of plates, the disc surface to be dried resting on the narrowside of the supporting element. In order to increase the stability of these plate-like supporting elements, they can be supported, in embodiments of the invention, by vertical flat bars arranged perpendicularly to the supporting elements.
+Hub sections which possess gripping troughs, by means of which the screwing together of the two hub sections is facilitated, are advantageously arranged on the shaft. In addition, the propulsion of the disc dipping into the liquid bath isfacilitated, since touching the disc in its moist peripheral area is undesired because of renewed soiling of the disc and of the liquid.
+The supporting box with the cleaning tank and the slots for the brushes is preferably moulded in one piece from plastic material. The drying rack and/or the hub are advantageously moulded from plastic material. The device can thereby beproduced in a simple manner, for example by casting, moulding or deep-drawing.
+As is known, there are gramophone records with central bores of different diameter. In order thus to provide the possibility of treating both types of gramophone records in the cleaning device, it is proposed that the hub is formed from twohollow shells, to one of which the shaft is connected and that at least one of the hollow shells possesses, coaxially to the shaft, an extended piece onto which an adaptor can be mounted in two opposite positions, in the first position a centeringcylindrical section of the adaptor, running coaxially to the shaft, engaging, in a manner such that it centres the disc, into the central bore of the disc held between the free edges of the hollow shells of the hub, whilst in the second position thecylindrical section overlaps the extended piece and the adaptor does not reach as far as the plane given by the free edge of the hollow shell supporting it. A particularly simple design of the adaptor results if the extended piece is of an essentiallycylindrical construction and the adaptor comprises two cylindrical sections of different diameter, and furthermore if the axial extent of the adaptor is less than the internal height of a hollow shell, and finally if a projection is provided coaxially tothe shaft, beyond the extended piece and adjacent to the side wall of the hollow shell, the radial extent of which is less than the internal diameter of the centering cylindrical section and the height of which above the side wall is greater than thedifference between the internal height of the hollow shell and the axial extent of the adaptor, but is less than the internal axial clear height of the centering cylindrical section. In the case of this construction, it is necessary only tocorrespondingly re-insert the adaptor in one of the hollow shells if, instead of gramophone records having a standard central bore, those with a large central bore are to be used.
+An embodiment of the invention is described in more detail below,by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
+FIG. 1 shows an oblique view of a supporting box according to the invention, with a gramophone record which can be rotated freely in the cleaning tank and with the inserted drying rack;
+FIG. 2 shows a longitudinal section of the device according to FIG. 1;
+FIG. 3 shows a cross-section of the device according to FIG. 1;
+FIG. 4 shows a detailed view of a brush element, with an associated wedge-shaped holding slot;
+FIG. 5 shows an oblique view of a drying rack according to the invention, with an inserted gramophone record;
+FIG. 6 shows a partial side view of the drying rack according to FIG. 5;
+FIG. 7 shows an axial section through the hub in a second embodiment, with an adaptor in the position in which it engages in a bore, of relatively large diameter, in a disc, and
+FIG. 8 shows an axial section according to FIG. 7, the adaptor being in a position in which it does not engage with the bore in the disc.
+According to FIGS. 1 to 3, the device according to the invention comprises a supporting box 1,mounted on a drying rack 2, into the upper side of which a cleaning tank 3 which essentially has the shape of a segment of a circle is moulded. A gramophone record 4 dips into the cleaning liquid contained in the cleaning tank 3 and is supported in afreely rotatable manner by means of a hub 5 with a shaft 6 in U-shaped grooves 8 in the upper side of the supporting box 1.
+In this position, the shaft 6 coincides with the centre of the cleaning tank 3 having the shape of a segment of a circle. The upper side of the supporting box 1 slopes towards both sides in the longitudinal direction, starting from the groove 8. The hub 5, provided for holding the gramophone record, consists of two hub sections 5a, 5b which are screwed together through the central bore of the gramophone record, the shaft 6a of the hub section 5a having an internal thread into which the shaft 6b,provided with an external thread, of the hub section 5b can be screwed, through the central bore of the gramophone record. The two hub sections 5a, 5b are thereby connected with one another, the gramophone record 4 being firmly clamped between the twohub sections. These hub sections at the same time form a protection for the label of the gramophone record 4 against undesired moisture. For this purpose, the two hub sections can each possess sealing rings in the vicinity of their circumference in amanner which is in itself known, with the aid of which sealing between the particular hub section and the corresponding surface of the gramophone record is effected.
+A mechanical elastic cleaning element 9, which can consist, for example, of an elongate brush, is provided inside the cleaning tank 3. The brush has a dovetailed base 10, with the aid of which the cleaning element is held in a correspondinglyshaped slot 11 provided on the inside of the cleaning tank 3. Preferably, cleaning elements of this type are provided on both side walls of the cleaning tank and the rotating gramophone record slides between them, so that the removal of dirt on thegramophone record surfaces after loosening by the cleaning liquid is also partly effected mechanically. Both the cleaning liquid and the vertically arranged cleaning element 9 extend approximately to the edge of the hub 5, in order to clean the entirefree surface of the gramophone record.
+FIGS. 5 and 6 show details of the drying rack, which comprises an essentially rectangular base plate 12 with a plinth 12a, the external measurements of which correspond to the internal measurements of the open underside of the supporting box 1. It is thereby possible to insert the drying rack into the underside of the supporting box 1, for example according to FIGS. 1 to 3. In addition, suitable holding elements 13 can be provided on the base plate 12, which, in the closed position, produce afirm connection between the drying rack 2 and the supporting box 1. These holding elements 13 can be dispensed with, for example, if the dimensions of the plinth 12a relative to the underside of the supporting box 1 permit non-positive locking betweenthese two constructional members.
+Two longitudinal groups, parallel to one another, of several supporting elements 14 are provided on the base plate 12, the parallel separation of the two longitudinal groups being only slightly larger than the external measurement of the cleaningtank 3 (compare FIG. 3).
+The supporting elements 14 consist essentially of rectangular plates which in each case are arranged in a group in a common plane which runs approximately perpendicular to the base plate 12. Each individual supporting element 14 is additionallysupported by a vertical flat bar 15 in order to increase its stability. A space is in each case provided between the individual supporting elements 14 of a longitudinal group, the supporting elements 14 of the other longitudinal group being displacedrelative to those of the first longitudinal group so that the supporting elements of the second longitudinal group are just opposite the intermediate spaces of the first longitudinal group and vice versa. Tetrahedron-shaped prominences are in each caseprovided in the intermediate spaces, at least two corners of which pass directly into the base plate 12, having a slight separation from the feet of the particular adjacent supporting elements. This relatively small separation approximately correspondsto the expected thickness of the disc to be cleaned.
+As can be seen from FIG. 6 in particular, the separation between adjacent supporting elements 14b of one longitudinal group is greater than the width of the supporting element 14a, opposite this intermediate space, of the other longitudinalgroup, and in particular by an amount which is more than twice the expected thickness of the disc to be cleaned. The result of this is that the disc 4 can assume a slightly inclined position, so that only a point of it, at a position 17 of the surfaceto be dried, rests on a supporting element 14. Any slipping of the disc is prevented by the tetrahedron-shaped prominence 16, on the sloping side of which only the peripheral surface of the disc 4 to be dried rests. Satisfactory drying of a number ofdiscs in a very narrow space is thereby made possible.
+FIGS. 7 and 8 show a particular embodiment of the hub 20 of the device. As in the case of the embodiment in the preceding figures, the hub also consists of two hollow shells 20a and 20b. The hollow shell 20a is firmly connected to the shaft 22via the flange 21. The hollow shell 20b can be screwed onto the thread 24 of the shaft 22 by means of its extended piece 23 on the inside. When the hub 20 is screwed together, the free edges 25 of the two hollow shells 20a, 20b lie against the disc 26,for example the gramophone record, the diameter of the hollow shells 20a, 20b, in the region of the edges 25 being chosen so that the label 27 of the gramophone record 26 is safely protected.
+As can be clearly seen from the drawing, the hollow shell 20a of the hub 20 possesses an extended piece 28, which runs concentrically to the shaft 22 and is cylindrical in the embodiment shown. As can be clearly seen from the drawing, theextended piece 28 starts from an essentially annular projection 29 of the side wall 30 of the hollow shell 20a. In the embodiment shown, this projection 29 is produced by appropriately drawing in the side wall 30 to form a depression for receiving theflange 21. The projection 29 can, of course, also be provided in any other manner.
+An adaptor, designated in total by 31, can be mounted on the extended piece 28 in a positive manner in two positions opposite to one another, as can be seen by comparing FIGS. 7 and 8. In the embodiment shown, the adaptor 31 comprises twocylindrical sections, namely a centering cylindrical section 32 of relatively large diameter and a fixing cylindrical section 33, the diameter of which is adapted to the diameter of the extended piece 28.
+In the first position, which is shown in FIG. 7, a centering cylindrical section 32 of the adaptor 31 extends beyond the plane defined by the edge 25 of the half shell 20a, which means that the centering cylindrical section 32 of the adaptor 31engages in the relatively large central bore of the gramophone record 26, and the gramophone record 26, which certainly could not be centered by the shaft 22, is thus centered perfectly by the adaptor 31.
+In the second position according to FIG. 8, on the other hand, the adaptor 31 is arranged so that it ends before the plane given by the edge 25 of the half shell 20a, that is to say the gramophone record 26 is only centered by the shaft 22, whichpasses through the central bore of the gramophone record, whilst the adaptor 31 does not come into contact with the gramophone record.
+In order to ensure that the positions according to the FIGS. 7 and 8 are achieved without problems, the following dimension rules should be taken into consideration:
+The axial extent a of the adaptor 31 must be less than the internal clear height b of the corresponding hollow shell 20a.
+The radial extent c of the projection 29 must be less than the internal diameter d of the centering cylindrical section 32.
+The height e of the projection 29 above the side wall 30 must be greater than the difference b-a between the internal height b of the hollow shell 20a and the axial extent a of the adaptor.
+The height e of the projection 29 above the side wall 30 must be less than the internal axial clear height f of the centering cylindrical section 32.
+If the above prerequisites are fulfilled, the particular position required according to FIGS. 7 and 8 is achieved by re-inserting the adaptor.
+* * * * *
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+When remodeling your kitchen the best counter depth refrigerator is what you will have in mind to make your kitchen finish look seamless. There are different types of counter depth refrigerators on the market now but the challenge is finding one to suit your kitchen space perfectly and also your budget frame.
+In this review, we will be able to highlight our top 5 counter depth refrigerators in the market, explain in full details why we chose them, feature customers reviews on each product and finally give you their pros and cons. At the end of this review, you will be able to choose the best counter depth refrigerator for your kitchen space with ease.
+Best Counter Depth Refrigerators in 2018
+Detailed Review Of The Best Counter Depth Refrigerator
+1. Kenmore Pro Counter Depth Refrigerator – Best High End
+Design
+This beautiful Kenmore pro is a 23.7 cu.ft capacity counter depth refrigerator with dimensions of L 30.87 x W35.75 x H 68.87. It is advisable to measure the available space in your home before purchase, so when there will be no major readjustments during delivery. It comes in 4 different colors and they are black, black stainless steel, white and stainless steel. This 4 variety gives you the freedom to chose the color you prefer, especially when you are looking to have a kitchen theme.
+This refrigerator is built to take less space and its internal features like its lighting, ice maker, and water filter are compact in size which gives more room for storage. It also has a 3 tier drawer which enables you to organize food that is meant to the kept in the freezer easily. This refrigerator also has a cantilevered wine rack to keep your wine at the right temperature.
+Performance
+This refrigerators performance is one of the best because it has dual evaporators which enables it to keep food fresh and longer in the refrigerator. It also has a linear gas compressor which minimizes friction and also reduces energy loss when conversion of motion. It comes with a slim in-door ice maker and a compact water filler. It has a special airtight crisper section which helps to preserve your fruits and vegetables better than other crisper bins.
+Durability
+This refrigerator is amazing because it is able to consume about 683 kWh of electricity in a year of which the average cost is 12cents per kWh so it estimated cost is about $82 per year on electricity. This shows that the refrigerator has low energy consumption and is ideal for a home.
+Downside
+The only downside to this refrigerator is that it is on the high-end.
+Customers Review
+Customers love the product because the controls are easy to use and it is also very spacious, it layout gives more room to put food items with ease.
+Pros
+- It is energy star certified
+- It has a spacious capacity
+- Fruits and vegetables remain cool and fresh.
+- Beautiful finish
+- 23.7 cu ft capacity
+- Special dairy storage area.
+Cons
+- A little bit on the high side.
+2. Kenmore Counter Depth Refrigerator – Overall Best
+Design
+This is a unique side by side 21 cu.ft capacity counter depth refrigerator with exterior dimensions of W 35.3 x D 27.5 x H 69 respectively. It comes in 3 different colors which are white, black, and stainless steel. The availability of 3 different colors enables you to chose the best counter depth refrigerator that will suit your kitchen perfectly. It has a very spacious capacity which is good for big homes that store plenty of food items. The ice maker and the ice bin are designed at the door to allow more room for space inside the refrigerator. This refrigerator is designed to have a special integrated snack drawer for your sweet tooth.
+Performance
+The refrigerator has CleanFlow air filtration because of its charcoal filter which eliminates bad odor and keeps the fridge smelling fresh always. This refrigerator comes with an Accela ice feature which is only unique to Kenmore products, this feature helps to boost ice production so there is always ice cubes especially when you are hosting a party in your home. The organization of the fridge is impeccable because its glass shelves are adjustable to make room for accommodating bigger containers and also its glass shelves are spill-proof with trim pieces around it so it can retain a certain amount of spilled liquid.
+Durability
+The estimated electricity consumption of this refrigerator a year is about 653kWh a year which is roughly about $78 per year for your electric bill. This is proof that it uses a very low amount of electricity and it is still as effective. This is a very durable refrigerator because it has a SmartSense temperature feature that helps to maintain consistent temperature all around even till the corners and doors of the fridge for optimal results.
+Downside
+The only downside to this counter depth refrigerator is that the ice dispenser is on the small side and so it is not dependable to produce enough ice especially when you are hosting a house party.
+Customers Review
+Customers love that for its size it is big and has a quiet operation.
+Pros
+- SmartSense temperature feature
+- Clean airflow filter with charcoal
+- Seamless fit with the counter
+- Space saver ice at the fridge door
+- Spacious drawers
+- Spill-proof and adjustable glass shelves
+- Dedicated snack layer
+- Quiet operation
+Cons
+- Small ice dispenser
+- Budget-friendly
+CHECK PRICE
+3. Samsung Counter Depth Refrigerator – Best for a low Budget
+Design
+This is an eccentric counter depth refrigerator with a 17.5 cu.ft. capacity, its dimensions are W 32.19 x H 70.81 x D 30.5 respectively. This refrigerator comes in stainless steel, black and white, this brings an added advantage of choosing the perfect color for your kitchen space.
+This refrigerator is designed to have 2 crisp drawers so fruits and vegetables can be stored separately, also it is designed to ensure the vegetables remain fresh till it is ready to be used.
+Performance
+This refrigerator comes with a unique twin cooling system which helps to maintain the freezer and refrigerator separately at different temperatures. It also has a built-in LED lighting system which brightens up the interior compartments so you can easily spot what you need in no time. Its lighting system is designed to save space and not take space in the refrigerator.
+This counter depth refrigerator also has a surround airflow feature which enables it to maintain optimal temperature all around its corners. It has a power freeze and power cool feature which helps to chill or freeze food fast within minutes just with the push of a button.
+Durability
+Having an accessible refrigerator cannot be ignored that’s why it comes with an EZ-Open handle that is designed for easy opening and a low-profile handle which helps the door glide in effortlessly. Another interesting feature about it is that it has a 2-minute door alarm which will alert you if the doors haven’t been closed for more than 2 minutes. Its energy consumption for a whole year is about 617kWh
+Downside
+The only downside to this product is that it is small and the operation noise is not so quiet.
+Customers Review
+Customers believe that it is perfect for small families and the shelves are great but not able to accommodate taller items.
+Pros
+- It has twin cooling systems
+- A power cool and power freeze option
+- Surround air flow
+- A 2-minute alarm door
+- 2 crisp containers
+- Tempered spill proof shelves
+- Blue digital display
+- Not pricey
+Cons
+- Small size
+- Not so quiet during operation.
+CHECK PRICE
+4. Fisher Paykel Counter Depth Bottom Freezer Refrigerator – Best Sleek
+Design
+This is a sleek counter depth bottom freezer refrigerator, it has dimensions of W 25 x D 28.75 x H67.5 respectively. Its bottom freezer has a capacity of 3.9 cu.ft and its refrigerator 9.6 cu.ft. to make a total of 13.5 cu.ft. It is a free-standing bottom freezer with one door and it comes in stainless steel. Its built with leveling legs to make sure that it is balanced when installed. It also has rollers so it can be easily moved during set up.
+Performance
+The unique feature of this refrigerator is that it has an active smart technology that consists of different temperature sensors and a variable fan that helps to spread the temperature uniformly to keep food items fresh. It also has a SmartTouch control panel that is placed inside the refrigerator and it is easy to operate. Its humidity control system enables you to maintain a different temperature in the crisp bin for fruits and vegetables to remain fresh.
+Another amazing feature is that it has an adaptive defrost system that is able to sense when the refrigerator is not in use and will use less energy. And finally, its storage flexibility helps you to streamline food organization as you please.
+Durability
+Even though this product is not energy star certified it is also able to minimize the use of electricity with its sabbath mode feature. Its stainless steel body makes it strong and durable. Its warranty on parts and labor is about a year but it also has a 4-year warranty for sealed system parts.
+Downside
+The downside to this product is that it is not energy star compliant and it doesn’t have a cantilever shelf for wine. Asides that this product is an amazing one.
+Customers Review
+Customer love this fridge because it is small, has a neat look and works well for its size.
+Pros
+- Sabbath mode
+- Digital control
+- Automatic defrost
+- Spill safe shelves
+- Humidity controlled crispers
+Cons
+- No Ice and Water
+- Not Energy Star accredited
+- No ice and water dispenser
+5. Smeta Counter Depth Refrigerator – Best for a Big Family
+Design
+This is an attractive 20.66 cu.ft. stainless steel counter depth french door bottom freezer refrigerator. Its dimensions are W 35.9 x D 28.7 x H 69.9 respectively, this type of refrigerator is suitable for large a large family because it is able to store a lot of food items with ease and it has deep gallon bins that are about 7.5 inches deep.
+Performance
+One of the unique features of this refrigerator is that it has an inverted compressor which makes its operation noise low, highly efficient and it saves energy. It has an automatic ice making process that enables you to have ice on the go. There is no peculiar odor when it comes to this refrigerator because of its dual cooling system that helps to keep food fresh and free from any peculiar odor. It has an LED touch display so you can get the exact reading and display of the temperature. It has an extra large humidity control crispers with the help moisture retention technology to leave fruits and vegetables fresh.
+Durability
+This unit is designed to be frost free so you don’t need to worry about the first taking up precious space in the freezer. It also has a 24 months warranty on parts and labor. It also is able to consume about 623kWh in a year which is about $75 on the electrical bill for a whole year.
+Downside
+The only downside to this unit is that it is not suitable for a small family due to its size
+Customers Review
+Customers love its size and that it fits perfectly into their kitchen space.
+Pros
+- Frost free
+- LED touch display
+- Moisture retention for fruits and vegetables
+- Spill-proof shelves
+- DC inverted compressor
+Cons
+- Not suitable for a small family
+- Doesn’t dispense water
+Cleaning And Caring For Your Counter Depth Refrigerator
+Maintaining your refrigerator is important because it prolongs its lifespan and also gives you optimum results throughout its operation. There are different exterior types for a counter depth refrigerator.
+NOTE: Before any form of maintenance is carried out switch off the refrigerator and unplug it safely.
+- Clean exterior surface with a mild liquid detergent that’s dissolved in warm water and use a soft cloth.
+- Dry the surface with a clean cloth
+- Do not under any circumstance us any abrasive detergent or sponge because it will scrape away the protective finish on the surface.
+Now, most refrigerators have a rear compartment cover and all you need to do is.
+- Clean at rare compartment cover at least twice a year, but should be done more often if you have pets in the house or live in a dusty environment.
+- Use a floor vacuum to vacuum the floor behind the rear compartment, then use a dry lint-free cloth to clean the walls and surroundings of the cabinetry.
+For models with a water dispenser.
+- Clean the area with a soft damp cloth.
+- For the drip tray, most of them are removable, so the best way to go about this is to soak in a lukewarm solution of water and mild detergent.
+- Wash after 10 minutes and replace.
+The interior.
+It is very important that the interior of the refrigerator is always clean to prevent food contamination and also leave food items fresh.
+- Remove all food items from the refrigerator, wipe all food containers
+- Remove all the shelves, crisp bin and bottle holder.
+- Wash clean with a lukewarm detergent solution, set aside to dry
+- Use a lukewarm detergent solution to wipe the interior to remove any leftover smell.
+- For little spaces that you can not reach use a toothbrush.
+- Clean the interior with a lint-free cloth.
+Over To You
+Now we have come to the end of this review, we hope we have been able to help you select the best counter depth refrigerator for your kitchen. If you have used any of these products and would like to share your experience with us please do let us know by leaving a comment below. Also if you feel that there are other counter depth refrigerators that should be part of our top 5 please do let us know by leaving a comment below. we would love to hear from you and keep this review updated from time to time.
+Thank you for reading!
+.
+Autopsy Pathology
+Report of Death
+A report of all deaths should be made to the Autopsy Service by telephone within 15 minutes of the patient's death, call 847-3570. In effect, this means immediately. A written Report of Death form (on the back of the Autopsy Permit) is to be filled out and sent to Health Information Management as soon as possible.
+Admissions and Discharges of Bodies from within Fletcher Allen to Autopsy Service/Morgue
+Identification of the Deceased: It is paramount that all bodies admitted to or discharged from the Morgue be properly identified. Proper identification and tagging of bodies must be accomplished prior to transport of the deceased to the Morgue. Appropriate Forms and tags are in the "Death Packets" available on floor or in Distribution. Proper identification consists of: full name, date of birth and Medical Record Number (if available).
+Labels or tags affixed to shrouds, sheets, or clothing, or labels stuck directly to the body are NOT sufficient. Tags or bracelets must be affixed by or in the presence of someone who can positively identify the body. Tags should be affixed to the toe (or wrist in case of double amputees).
+Valuables and Personal Effects
+Dentures should accompany the body to the Morgue and should be placed in a labeled denture cup. All personal effects, including removable jewelry, should be removed at bedside and placed in the custody of security or given to a family member. Any valuables which cannot be physically removed from the body must be noted on the Morgue Control Form. Transport: To facilitate transfer of the body to the Autopsy Room storage facility, two attendants should accompany the body whenever possible.
+Admission and Discharge Sheet: Persons admitting or discharging a deceased patient should complete the Morgue Control Sheet in the notebook located in the Autopsy Room receiving area. Any non-removable personal effects and infectious disease precaution especially known or suspected tuberculosis and Jakob-Creutzfeldt Disease should be specifically itemized on the Morgue Control Sheet. Positioning of Body: The body should be oriented face up, headfirst into the storage facility completely covered by a sheet to prevent drying.
+Admission of a Body from Outside Fletcher Allen
+1. Proper identification must be provided by red tag or other device.
+2. If not identified, or if red tag unavailable, admit body as "John Doe or Jane Doe" and refer case to Medical Examiner on call.
+3. Include infectious disease precautions if known.
+4. Fill out Morgue Control Form and position body as above.
+Medical Examiner Cases
+Information required when reporting a case to the Fletcher Allen Regional Medical Examiner:
+Full Name of Patient
+Address of Patient
+Sex, Age, and Date of Birth
+Marital Status and Occupation
+A Clinical History Including: Date and Time of Injury and Date and Time of Death
+Relevant Therapy and Procedures
+Name of Family Physician
+Name of Ambulance Squad and/or Police Investigation Unit
+Consultation with the Medical Examiner:
+If it is unclear whether the patient is a medical examiner's case, call the Chief Medical Examiner's Office (24 hours a day). A telephone consultation with an Assistant Medical Examiner takes only a few minutes and can assure that the case is handled smoothly. (Telephone 1-888-552-2952).
+Hospital Deaths to be reported to a Medical Examiner:
+Vermont State law requires that the following deaths be reported to the Medical Examiner: deaths ".... from violence, suddenly when in apparent good health, when unattended by a physician, by casualty, by suicide, as a result of injury, when in jail, or prison, or mental institution, in an unusual, unnatural or suspicious manner, and in circumstances involving a hazard to public health, welfare, or safety..."
+In short, if the death of the patient is in any way related, even remotely, to an accident or injury, burn, homicide or suicide, or if the cause of death is undetermined, call the Assistant Medical Examiner (Telephone 1-888-552-2952).
+Any deaths in Fletcher Allen, which are thought to be non-natural, should be reported. There is no 24-hour rule in Vermont. Deaths in the Emergency Room and in the Operating Room are not required to be reported, unless known or suspected to be non-natural. If you have trouble determining whether or not a death is non-natural, then call the Chief Medical Examiner Office (Telephone 1-888-552-2952).
+Any trauma patient whose family wishes to donate kidneys or other organs should be reported to the Medical Examiner before death and donation. To obtain legal clearance from the Chief Medical Examiner and from the State's Attorney, Telephone 1-888-552-2952 and ask for the the Assistant Medical Examiner.
+What to Tell the Family About Medical Examiner Cases:
+Reporting a case to the Chief Medical Examiner does not mean that an autopsy will automatically be performed. Therefore, in cases reported to the Medical Examiner, inform the patient's family that there will probably be a Medical Examiner's investigation, which may include an autopsy, but if an autopsy is not performed by the Medical Examiner, the hospital would like permission to perform an autopsy. (Autopsy permission is not required for a Medical-Legal autopsy).
+Hospital Autopsy Permits
+It is the policy of the Fletcher Allen Medical Staff that autopsy permission be sought on ALL patients whenever appropriate. That is, in all patients whose deaths are natural, and all patients with non-natural deaths released by the Medical Examiner, unless the family or patient wishes to donate the body for scientific purposes. (See the Anatomical Gifts section). Do not obtain autopsy permission in those cases. Autopsy and donation of the body for scientific purposes are mutually exclusive. If an autopsy is to be performed, permission is required on all adults, live born infants, and all stillborn infants greater than 20 weeks gestational age (or weighing greater than 400 grams if gestational age is unknown).
+Instructions are attached to the Autopsy Permission Form. Copies of the Fletcher Allen permission form can be obtained from any of the clinical floors or the Emergency Room. Copies are also available during the day from the Autopsy Service (802-847-3570) or from the autopsy secretary (802-847-3566).
+Complete Autopsy Versus Restricted
+Complete Autopsy:
+An unrestricted or complete autopsy includes: cranial, abdominal, thoracic, and pelvic contents. It may include spinal cord, lower extremities, or the posterior portion of the globe of the eyes. It does not include the face or distal upper extremities. Non-routine examinations should be specified explicitly on the permit (e.g. "Eyes may be removed for examination" or "Includes examination of facial tumor"). Consult with the pathologist on call if you have questions about the wording of permits.
+Restricted Autopsy:
+An unrestricted autopsy is always preferable. A partial autopsy often yields partial information. If the family wishes to restrict the extent of examination, determine exactly what parts of the body the family does not wish to have examined and state these restrictions as specifically as possible. For example, "No brain examination" is much less restrictive than "Chest and abdomen only". By wording the restriction in this way one can reduce or eliminate a family's distress concerning the autopsy without unnecessarily limiting the information to be gained from the procedure. If you have questions, call the pathologist on call (847-5121 or 1-800-991-2799).
+Special Examinations and Procedures: If you think special procedures (such as electron microscopy, immunofluorescence microscopy, or viral cultures) are needed, do not put these on the permit. Rather, write them into a note attached to the permit or at the end of the medical record and call the pathologist. If the family or clinician has specific questions, they should be written on the permit or communicated to the pathologist via the medical record or by telephone. A problem that is obvious to you, may not be apparent to the pathologist from a quick reading of the chart. Fetal, Stillborn and Neonatal Deaths
+Report of Fetal Death Form:
+All spontaneous stillbirths over 20 weeks gestational age require a yellow Department of Health form (Report of Fetal Death) rather than the usual birth and death certificates. Report of Induced Abortion Form: All induced terminations of pregnancy require a Report of Induced Abortion Form. Autopsy: A completely filled out autopsy permission form is required on all infants greater than 20 weeks gestational age (or 400 grams weight if the gestational age is unknown).
+Infants less than 20 weeks gestational age (or under 400 grams weight if gestational age is unknown) can be sent to Surgical Pathology for examination without an autopsy permission form (see Hospital Disposition below). If the remains are to be returned to the family for burial, the Pathology Department MUST be notified either on the disposal permit accompanying the specimen, or by telephone (Autopsy Service 847-3570).
+Hospital Disposition: The family may elect to have the hospital dispose of intact stillborn fetuses, identifiable fetal remains, and live born neonates up to term. In these cases a hospital disposition form and cremation permit must be filled out. These are available on the obstetrics and pediatric floors. The forms should include the name, address, and telephone number of the family, and whether or not the family wishes to have the remains returned to them at a later date. Both forms and the remains should be sent to the lead autopsy technician on the Autopsy Service.
+Anatomical Gifts:
+IMPORTANT: Non-Natural Deaths Require Medical Examiner Permission
+Whole Body: This must be pre-arranged with the Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology of the University of Vermont (656-2230, available 24,7). If the family or patient has arranged to donate the body to the University as an Anatomical Gift, do not get autopsy permission. These procedures are mutually exclusive. Organ Donation Including Eyes: Center for Donation and Transplant at 847-8454
+Death Certification
+Questions about death certification may be addressed to the Autopsy Attending or the Pathology Resident on call (847-9585). If the body is to be autopsied, the pathologist performing the autopsy will complete the death certificate.
+If manner of death is anything but natural (i.e.,accident, homicide, suicide, undetermined), the case should be reported to the hospital Regional Medical Examiner (call office of Chief Medical Examiner, 1-888-552-2952, 24 hours a day). In the case of a stillborn infant, no birth or death certificate is required. Instead, fill out the yellow Department of Health form entitled Report of Fetal Death.
+Viewing of the Bodies of Deceased Patient
+Viewing of bodies of deceased patients is encouraged to take place on the clinical floor where the patient died. The personnel and surroundings there are familiar to the patient's family. There is also a viewing area in the autopsy facility for viewing of both hospital and Medical Examiner cases.
+If the patient's body has already been transferred to the Autopsy Facility, and the family requests a viewing, call the Chaplain on call (pager 121 0369) and the Administrative Nurse Coordinator (ANC).
+How to Obtain an Outpatient Autopsy Consultation: Guidelines for Fletcher Allen Physicians
+Outpatients and patients that have died at affiliated hospitals may be autopsied by the Fletcher Allen Autopsy Service. This includes Emergency Room patients. No charge is made for the autopsy of these patients, either to the patient's bill, to the family or the physician. This service is offered as a courtesy to all Fletcher Allen physicians. Examples of such cases include:
+1. A patient with cancer who dies outside the hospital under the Hospice Program.
+2. A patient followed by you in your office practice who dies of natural causes at home, or in a nursing home.
+3. Stillbirths or neonatal deaths in which the mother has been studied in the Fletcher Allen High-Risk Obstetrical Clinic.
+4. Any of your patients who have been followed extensively by specialists at Fletcher Allen.
+Requirements for all Outside Autopsy Cases:
+All outside cases must be discussed in advance with the autopsy attending on call at Fletcher Allen. The autopsy attending may be contacted weekdays through the Anatomic Pathology Office (802-847-3566) and evenings and weekends through the Fletcher Allen switchboard (802-847-0000), Fletcher Allen Medical Records (802-847-2846) or Provider Access Service (802-847-2700 or 1-800-639-2480).
+1. All outside cases must be accompanied by a signed and witnessed autopsy permission form, preferably the Fletcher Allen permit or with the essential information of the Fletcher Allen permit form.
+2. All outside cases must be accompanied by appropriate clinical history (usually place, date and time of death), complete copies of the record of the present illness and summaries of previous pertinent hospitalization.
+3. All bodies sent to Fletcher Allen for autopsy must be identified by a toe tag or similar method of identification, tied to the body and also on any outside wrapping.
+4. All outside cases must be accompanied by a copy of the Death Certificate completed by the patient's physician, unless other arrangements are made in advance with the autopsy attending.
+Autopsy Permission Forms:
+Copies of the Fletcher Allen Autopsy Permission Form can be obtained from any of the clinical floors or Emergency Room of FAHC. Faxed or original copies are available during the day from the Autopsy Service (802-847-3570) and from the autopsy secretary (802-847-3566).
+Transportation of Body for Autopsy:
+Transportation of outside cases is usually provided by a local funeral home chosen by the patient's family or the outside hospital. Charges for transportation on these cases are borne by the family or the outside hospital. If the case is a neonate or stillborn, and the laboratory courier between hospitals is deemed appropriate, there is no charge for this transportation.
+Autopsy Check List For Inside Cases:
+1. Witnessed signed autopsy permit.
+2. Clinical Records (copies).
+3. Completed and signed Death Certificate.
+4. Body Identification with toe tag.
+5. Clinical Attending to contact Autopsy Attending on call.
+Germany To Grant Privacy At the Workplace 450
+An anonymous reader writes "The German government is proposing a bill declaring that employees have an expectation of privacy at the workplace (translated article).."
+Response (Score:3, Insightful)
+Good thing for German workers.
+Re:Response (Score:5, Insightful)
+Um, why? You should have a right to expect that the job gets done -- that is what you pay them for.
+You may have a wish to see everything they do, but that doesn't make it a right, even though you rent their services. No more than my buying your products or renting your services gives me a right to install cameras in your office. No, it's not really different.
+Thank goodness the days of slavery and overseers are over. Well, in most of the civilized world, that is.
+Re:Response (Score:4, Insightful)
+To quote yourself, "don't let the door hit you on the way out".
+You're responsible for maintaining operations -- productivity and personal conduct is none of your concern. If you make it your concern, you're almost certainly exceeding your authority.
+If the amount of data flowing back and forth to Facebook causes a problem, you can raise this as a concern, along with technical evaluations of possible solutions. But to go in and see just what people do on Facebook isn't your job, and if you have made it so, you're the wrong person for your job.
+Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
+Non sequitur. The conclusion doesn't follow the premise.
+If you're paying someone to work, and they don't work, that gives you a valid reason to complain. But not to check out what they're doing instead of working. You're not a slave owner who owns (and are responsible for) everything the slave does -- you only own the contracted work he or she
+Yes, but...cut your employees some slack! (Score:5, Insightful)
+You are technically correct. However, "slack" is important.
+If you are constantly under surveillance by the government, you are living in a police state. This does not make for good living.
+It's no different at work. If you are constantly under surveillance, you are in a sweatshop, which does not make for a good working environment. Such working conditions are unacceptable.
+If you cannot trust your employees to get their work done, then you either need to train them or fire them. If they get their work done, then it should not matter if they spend a bit of time dealing with personal matters while in the office.
+Their equipment, their choice. (Score:5, Insightful)
+Re: (Score:3, Funny)
+I agree with you entirely!
+I know, lets put a tracker on your car and watch when you go over the speed limit by a fraction or decide to be in a hurry during slippery conditions. Don't worry, we wont bother you with actually being there to see it, we'll just take the money out of your bank account automagically and update your driving status accordingly. The old way, the police just have to sit behind you and watch you drive or have a speed camera aimed right at you. right? The only difference between the t
+Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
+Is a company really like a person? (Score:5, Interesting).
+Re:Their equipment, their choice. (Score:5, Insightful)
+Re:Their equipment, their choice. (Score:4, Insightful)
+Spying is simply not needed to keep employees focused on the job.
+Re: (Score:2, Interesting)
+Yes, because we all know that there is no such thing as a proxy
+Re:Their equipment, their choice. (Score:4, Funny)
+Looks like we all know that there's no such thing as a whitelist either...
+Re: (Score:3, Informative)
+Looks like we all know that there's no such thing as a whitelist either...
+Well probably they don't want to 100 of requests per day to whitelist sites that are relevant to work....
+And for some people (such as HR, marketing, customer support...), facebook is relevant to work.
+Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
+Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
+I'm thinking in that case you'd have a separate account for the business relevant use of FB which would be monitor-able. My personal account might be "John Smith", but at work I am "Customer Service - The Company" or "The-Comp - John Smith". Back when Instant Messaging was the big thing lots of companies did this. Probably better than using a personal account anyway, for lots of reasons. It clearly denotes the affiliation of the person someone is "talking" to, It provides segregation in the mind of the
+Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
+I don't see what you're getting at with you're sarcasm.
+You don't see what I am getting at with I am sarcasm?
+Re:Their equipment, their choice. (Score:5, Interesting)
+So no equipment or infrastructure that belongs to the company is in use. You say they should be able to monitor my computer via cameras, or software on the off-chance I need to use the company network for files?
+Interesting. Personally, I'm neither for nor against such measures - I use SSH as a matter of course when I'm not at home, and don't use work computers if I can avoid it (and kill the VNC process if I have to use one). I've got nothing to hide, except possibly my personal e-mails to family, but I'm happier knowing there's no-one watching over my every move.
+Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
+I use an ssh tunnel to a proxy running on my home connection and a portable firewall application to block any company network traffic other than what I have to open to actually perform my work.
+As long as I do my job its none of the company's damn business what else I might be doing.
+Re:Their equipment, their choice. (Score:5, Informative)
+Re:Their equipment, their choice. (Score:4, Insightful)
+Read the title of the post you replied to. It's THEIR computers. The equipment belongs to them. Me monitoring my computer is completely different than me monitoring your computer. Therefore...I don't see what you're getting at with you're sarcasm.
+It's the cybercafé's computer. Does that mean they can put a keystroke logger on there?
+It's the bathhouse's hottub. Does that mean that they can put a camera pointing at it?
+It's the clothing store's fitting room. Does that mean they can put a camera in there?
+It's the restaurant's toilet. Does that mean they can put a camera in there?
+Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
+Yes to all, provided patrons are informed. People can then vote with their money.
+Re:Their equipment, their choice. (Score:5, Insightful)
+Read the title of the post you replied to. It's THEIR computers. The equipment belongs to them. Me monitoring my computer is completely different than me monitoring your computer. Therefore...I don't see what you're getting at with you're sarcasm.
+It is the employers computer, and the employee's privacy, e-mail, Facebook account.
+By your reasoning, every ISP has a right to read your e-mails/chat/... since you use their equipment. Oh boy. Privacy matters. Look at North Korea, Iran etc. and see how they suppress opposition.
+You're correct that somebody who gets paid to do some useful (or not so useful) stuff required by an employer shouldn't be doing something else instead. Would you like your employer to get access to your home to look for things that might make you less productive? Like too much bottles of wine? Of course not. Instead, they have to keep an eye open for detecting people that are drunk or sleepy.
+Better still, monitor performance not what they do. Who cares you handle 5 private mails during the day when your productivity is 20% more than average?
+When you start sending your employees the message that they are paid for being present and not for being productive, your productivity plummets.
+Re: (Score:3, Funny)
+You mean like putting a small room at a major ISP with unrestricted access to the data flow... that wouldn't happen, especially in industrialized countries... heck even if it did, people would eventually find out and the telecom companies would get prosecuted... it's not like they have immunity or something
+;)
+Re:Their equipment, their choice. (Score:5, Interesting)
+You see, I think this is a really poor example.
+Traffic LAW states you cannot go over the limit. I really don't like the argument that "it is only illegal if they catch you at it". You don't like that law ? You have several options. You can not drive. You can try getting elected and get the law changed. You can lobby for a change, without even running for office. Just ignoring the law sets a very bad precedent, and actually invites more abusive laws (if you consider that law abusive)..
+Re:Their equipment, their choice. (Score:5, Insightful)
+In Germany "LAW states you cannot go over the limit." in this case limit being you can't spy on employees. You will still know who is doing their jobs because they will get shit done while the others post stupid messages on slashdot. You most likely can still forbid them from using facebook, you just can't spy on them.
+Re: (Score:3, Informative).
+Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
+That would depend on what they are supposed to be doing? Just because you can't listen to an employees phone calls and record them scratching their ass doesn't mean you can't track their sales/resolutions/or whatever it is you have them on the phone for.
+Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
+Trust is one of the things you cannot enforce by spying on your employees. And trust is something you need if you want your company to be successful and/or your employees being happy. There are a million better ways to check if they get their work done.
+Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
+Not spying on your employees is a good practice. Should good management practices be mandated?
+My take on it is that the law (common or otherwise) should grant employees an expectation of privacy even when they are at work. Companies that do want to monitor what is being done on their equipment during hours they are paying the employee should be allowed to do so. As long as they make sure they dispel this expectation.
+Re:Their equipment, their choice. (Score:5, Insightful)
+I understand where you're coming from, but I do not agree..
+That being the case, if this law is worth passing then it's because privacy is worth protecting. Creating a law demanding respect for an employee's privacy and simultaneously writing in a loophole that almost any company would be able to exploit to completely ignore it has no value. They may as well not write the law; it's not helping anybody.
+Re: (Score:3, Insightful).
+I'd say the principal political mistake is to believe that the state owes companies anything at all. The only thing that should ever count are _people_. Companies obviously need enough protection so that they can work properly to produce jobs, income to employees, goods or services to customers, profit to stakeholders. But the state doesn't owe anything to the company _per se_. Only as far as protecting companies benefits the people.
+Someone was going on here how the fact that he pays people a salary give
+Re:Their equipment, their choice. (Score:5, Informative)
+I work for the worlds largest mobile telecom (that was a hint at its name not me suggesting grandeur) and due to laws in the UK I can not have a cellphone on the floor, by company policy I would be fired for using facebook, ebay, {insert any personal site here}. Once I used hotmail to assist a customer with their on-line account and a day later IT were round asking me what I was doing. All paper used during the day is shredded, bags aren't allowed on the desks etc etc The company can and does monitor me remotely, most of which is for customer satisfaction (when the call is recorded so is our desktop) They can tell when a call is released, how long you've been in aftercall/outboud/teabreak/comfort break etc for to the milisecond and if they are suspicious they can run traces on your turret to catch something you might be up to.
+I have not been fired for reading [theregister.co.uk] during my shifts... Although I vaguely remember it being sanctioned once on the intranet 'useful external resources list' (for it suddenly to disappear) If they ask me then I'm using it as research. Our e-mail is monitored and yet we still send round the odd joke etc...
+Personally I don't really mind the surveillance... you are right, under company time we shouldn't be slacking. What I do not like is the acceptance we have no privacy. You are inherently taking away from me something workers 20 years ago were privileged of, although I agree you should passively monitor employees like the governent mostly monitors roads... I *HIGHLY* discourage the idea of actively tracking an employee like you might a criminal.
+Do also remember I'm from the country where there is 1 camera per 14 people monitoring you already.
+Re:Their equipment, their choice. (Score:5, Insightful)
+Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
+To be truthful 95% of the monitoring done is seriously for training purposes.... the company spends a lot of time with an employee each month with both the TL and employee listening to a few calls and giving a pep talk as to what they thought went well and what did not..9/10 times the employee go away from the experience with a pat on the back tips to improve and the targets are discussed with how they feel they are progressing within the company.
+If an employee gets a terrible customer satisfaction survey
+Re: (Score:2)
+Re:Their equipment, their choice. (Score:4, Insightful)
+Most managers don't think like that, unfortunately. Remember that the majority of managers did not get anywhere by being good at anything real. It is mostly politics, connections, and being able to hide the bodies.
+To most managers, the top sales guy could be twice as good if he'd just stop slacking off at facebook all day.
+They don't understand that it may be an integral part of why he is as good as he is. Try to change him and you may find his performance changes as well - not necessarily in the desired direction.
+Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
+Re:Their equipment, their choice. (Score:5, Insightful)
+Yah, but for the 1 guy whose performance increases 10x after using Facebook, 100 other employees performance will decrease 2x.
+What you're saying is that you are employing people you have to babysit. If you pay peanuts you get monkeys. Trying to solve your problem by firing one monkey and replace with another monkey is just idiotic. Try hiring decent people and offering them training, personal development and advancement opportunities. They'll be motivated to do good work 90% of the time. Trying to push that to 92% by spying will only put you right back at no one decent wanting to work for you and again you're stuck with monkeys and babies..
+Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
+The problem is you're still paying peanuts. So every time you civilize a monkey it thinks: "Hey, that other company pays in *bananas* and I now have the fecal avoidance mechanisms to qualify." Time to find a new monkey, and start the whole process over again.
+Actually, I've changed my mind (Score:5, Interesting)
+There are studies. [reuters.com]
+Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
+Besides that, what is the average turnover at your call center where they expect you to be working every second of the day?
+They might be able to get away with fewer reps by trying to exploit them to the max but I doubt any of them stick around long enough to get very good at what they do.
+Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
+But not being able to check if the person is doing the work they get payed to do, is just stupid.
+Traditionally, this was done by people called "managers", who decided on things like "goals" the employee had to meet to be considered "productive".
+Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
+Re: (Score:2)
+Because managers from beancounting backgrounds don't think in terms of milestones and projects, but in terms productivity and achieved hourly rates. ie *how you are doing it*, rather than *what you are doing*.
+Re:Their equipment, their choice. (Score:4, Insightful)
+The goals are based on business needs not on milking every ounce of possible performance out of each employee.
+Of course some metric of performance is needed to know how much staff you need. If there isn't a hard requirement like the number of simultaneous calls to be handled that sets this number for you then you set goals and find the median performance of the staff. Employees far above it get rewards (actual rewards like raises, bonuses, and promotions, not put into a monthy drawing for a TGI Fridays gift card), employees far below it get disciplined and ultimately fired. This will drive employees to want to exceed goals.
+Most employees aren't going to push the bar and there is nothing wrong with that. It doesn't mean they shouldn't get breaks and especially doesn't mean you should punish those who can beat the goals by requiring more output from them than everyone else.
+Re: (Score:2)
+Good grief. I was recently complaining about the tendency of a certain type of voice to polarize issues without much regard for which pole they end up occupying. The primary agenda is to reduce the discussion to black/white and exclude the middle ground where intelligent discourse takes place (spamflood permitting).
+There's an entire F'ing culture in western society concerning adherence to the speed limit. It's a band of speeds in proximity to the posted lim
+postscript to self (Score:2)
+I slightly exaggerated the feebleness of a presumption of privacy.
+In the relatively rare case where a corporation and an ex-employee end up in litigation, the advocate for the employee will now find it considerable easier to argue that copious employment surveillance records are inadmissible. In future, character assassination will be less thoroughly recorded in the annals of the German courts.
+(With two 'ass'es in the previous sentence, it's no wonder my Firefox spell checker failed to suggest 'annals' in
+Re:Their equipment, their choice. (Score:5, Insightful)
+I pay for the internet connection, electricity, desk, and even for the time you are there, supposed to be working. And I can't check on you ? Does that strike anyone else as utterly ridiculous ?
+No, it doesn't. Your mental model isn't of employment, it's of slavery.
+I read TFA in the original language, not the crappy translation. We are talking about things like cameras in the toilets here. Yes, you definitely can't check on me there.
+And, quite frankly, it says a lot about the control freaks in management that they need to have it spelt out in a law that what I do in my private life after hours is something we used to call "private". Yes, even if I post it on Facebook for all to see. It is private in the sense that as long as my work is according to contract, it is none of your fucking business. I sold myself to you for 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, if you want to have anything to do with the other 16 hours and the other 2 days, we need to renegotiate my contract including pay.
+Re:Their equipment, their choice. (Score:5, Insightful)
+I take it you're american and living in a "right to work" (or whatever they call it) state? Because in the rest of the civilized world there are laws to protect everyone, not just employers...
+Re:Their equipment, their choice. (Score:5, Insightful)
+Fortunately, here in Germany you can't just fire someone like that, either.
+:)
+You see, our laws work to protect the citizens, not just the corporations. You see, your "rights" as a corporation only exist because the laws of the land grant them to you. Your desire to ignore the (other) laws of the land is a little... stupid.
+As I said: Your mental model is closer to slavery than to a contractual relationship between adult citizens.
+Re:Their equipment, their choice. (Score:4, Insightful)
+First of all the "citizens" seem to be protected (and thus considered "citizens") only if they are employees. Strange. I thought the managers and the shareholders are also citizens...
+Laws always protect the weaker party of a contract. The stronger one doesn't need protection. Aside from that, yes, these laws are considered employee protection laws. There are other laws that protect shareholders, for example, from their threats. Which are different. Those laws are about things like fraud, insider trading, etc.
+If only Germany would allow that. You see, those "citizens" (translation: slacky employees) know that they can't be fired (unless eating babies alive, or some other gruesome act). Since they can't be fired, they don't work.
+Maybe you should try talking about things you know something about.
+First, you can review performance, set goals, measure them, and all that. You just can't do it arbitrarily at will, there are some regulations you have to follow. The most important is that companies in Germany elect a workers council, democratically elected representatives of the employees (you do like democracy, don't you?) which have a right to have a say in such matters.
+Second, of course you can fire. You just can't do it without reason, again there are laws regulating under what conditions you can fire someone.
+Three, just like pretty much everywhere else in the world, it is idiotic to make one blanket statement about the whole country. There are certainly companies where your words are pretty much true, and there are others where employees would die laughing if they read them.
+So please Mr. German, spare me your totalitarian idea that some category is the "citizen" while the others are "non-citizens" (or shall I say... "sub-citizens"??? as in "sub-humans").
+Pfft. What a stupid strawman.
+Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
+Watch your unemployment go up Tom. Thank you for your asshole attitude. These companies just found another reason to outsource the work to third world nations.
+Bullshit. They've been selling us that strawman for 10 years now, all the while using it to eliminate employee rights, lower wages and generally destroy the "social" part of our social market economy.
+If they were right, those steps should have produced some positive results. They haven't. Oh, wait, corporate profits have gone through the roof.
+Now, if we could cut the stupid ad hominem attacks out, it would help. I've never been unemployed in my life except when I choose to (had some money to burn after the
+Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
+We as a society don't believe anyone should work under such conditions. Thus, we are revoking your charter. If you don't want to do business by our rules, GTFO.
+Re: (Score:2)
+But not being able to check if the person is doing the work they get payed to do, is just stupid.
+While "employees doing the work they get paid" is a legitimate problem, spying on them is not necessarily the only solution. Alternate solution: checking that you get the work (results - including the time/scope/budget) that you paid for?
+Re: (Score:3, Insightful).
+I sense a big cultural difference here. You seem to assume that your employees generally are trying to slack and not doing their work. In Germany we usually assume that employees do their job and have some sort of loyalty to the company. I believe that employees tend to work better if they are shown some trust. Of course there will allways be some people who are misusing this trust, but the majority will be more productive.
+Additionally I feel there should be borders to what an employer can do with his empl
+Re: (Score:2, Interesting)
+Reasonable Rights (Score:3, Insightful)
+Your literal intepretation is unreasonable and silly.
+The whole point is to avoid unreasonable monitoring. If the primary purporse of a camera is to monitor employees actions it would illegal.
+However a camera installed to monitor the work place for safety reasons (such as a bank) would be perfectly legal.
+The purpose and coverage area would determine the legality, and remember the employer would not be the one to decide the legality (or if the supposed "purpose" is in fact in violation of the law).
+Employees'private lives, not employers'choice 24/7 (Score:5, Informative)
+No, after a series of scandals (that went far beyond keeping employees from stealing or surfing all day), just no cameras e.g. in change rooms or rest rooms, where they wouldn't be allowed to stand in front of you and watch you undress etc. "IRL" either.
+Also, no covert widespread phone surveillance or reading of private correspondence (if allowed on company premises/equipment in the first place) under the "excuse" that they'd need to find "moles" (celebrated as whistleblowers entitled to special protection in other jurisdictions).
+The Facebook prong is an entirely different thing altogether: HR (or private investigators on their part, probably even "pre-emptively") shouldn't be allowed to intrude social networking sites as "false friends" to harvest dirt on (would-be) employees (not that anyone in their right mind should let that pile up there anyway).
+The level of detail is not necessarily the wisest way to make law, though: [slashdot.org]
+Re: (Score:2)
+If you're on facebook at work when you should be working, I think the employer has a right to know about it.
+You're right when it comes to FB at work.
+TFS, however, states that the law would prevent potential employers from searching you out on FB before you're hired, to presumably prevent one from getting a job based on the inane stuff posted on FB.
+Not Their Choice (Score:3, Interesting)
+You might believe an employer should have those rights, however here in Europe we actually believe in protecting and putting our citizens above corporations.
+This is not the first example of Europeans placing more emphasis on citizens' rights than the US.
+It is fascinating how even the average American believes that corporations are entitled to treat their employees as [wage] slaves! It's as if you think employees sell their dignity when they take a job!
+In my country overtime is frowned upon, if you don't le
+Re:Not Their Choice (Score:4, Insightful)
+What about an employer that is not a corporation like a sole proprietor? Is that employer not also a private citizen and would have the right to watch what someone is doing with his property?
+What if the employer is a family owned business? What if the employer is a small group of citizens? What, really, difference does it make how large or small the number of owners or number of employees?
+If a society believes in and fosters the concept of private property then it must respect the rights of the owners of property to control that property.
+So, in order to protect the rights of the employed citizens, we must trample on the rights of the employing citizens. It seems to be a fair trade to some. An unfair trade to others. And then there is the group that cannot even understand that the trade exists. That latter group needs to rethink their conceptions of the world.
+Re:Not Their Choice (Score:5, Insightful)
+Employees are not property.
+Re:Not Their Choice (Score:5, Insightful)
+So, in order to protect the rights of the employed citizens, we must trample on the rights of the employing citizens.
+Sorry, but if you think it is a *right* to read my e-mail or point a camera at me just because I happen to work for you...you've got bigger issues.
+Re:Not Their Choice (Score:5, Insightful)
+How many actual sole props do you know of? In my experience even though there may be a sole owner that owner is usually taking advantage of some sort of artificial entity that provides him/her with liability protection and at that point we aren't talking about the owner but the entity and citizens are more important than paper entities. The right to privacy and human needs also trumps property rights since property is not required to live a happy life while privacy and other human needs are.
+"So, in order to protect the rights of the employed citizens, we must trample on the rights of the employing citizens."
+The reverse would also be true, in order to protect the rights of employing citizens we must trample on the rights of employed citizens. There are a lot more employed than employing which makes it an obvious choice.
+The primary reason for employing is to pay others less than the value of their output, sell that output for its true value, and garner the difference which we call a profit. This is done so that the employing can meet their own needs including their need for privacy. It is legal to exploit the employed in this fashion so that is not at issue. But guaranteeing the rights to the employed does not prevent the employing from performing this exploitation and garnering a profit and thus fulfilling their needs.
+Guaranteeing the property rights of the employing DOES infringe upon the needs of the employed.
+Case closed.
+Re:Their equipment, their choice. (Score:5, Insightful)
+Your employee isn't your son. Children have severely curtailed rights under the supervision of their parents.
+You are arguing that corporations are parents of workers who are children without rights.
+Re:Their equipment, their choice. (Score:5, Insightful)
+Only if an employer is a legal guardian. You bear considerably more responsibility for your son than an employer does for an employee, so you have considerably more right to watch over him. There is also a presumption (true for the vast majority of parents) that you genuinely have your son's best interests at heart, above even your own. This is never true of an employer for an employee (except in a family business of course).
+Note that the toilets at work also belong to your employer and if you visit them while at work, you're on your employer's time. Does that make video to a voyeur site fair? I'll guess that you don't think so and thus acknowledge that there is at least SOME expectation of privacy at work and the only argument is over how much. Further that mere ownership of the hardware and being on the employer's time is not necessarily sufficient to negate the expectation of privacy.
+There is actually a big difference between a manager standing behind you and a camera. You are able to watch the watcher (literally and figuratively) when the watching is done in person.
+As for facebook, they're meaning at all. As in they can't t electronically follow you around after work to decide if they like how you live your life, they must make their decisions based on what you do at work.
+Re:Their equipment, their choice. (Score:4, Insightful)
+That would be like me saying I can't put a GPS on my car to keep tabs on where it goes when my son drives it.
+I don't know about "can't," but maybe you shouldn't (unless you have reason to think he's running drugs across the border.) If he's old enough to drive, then he's old enough to be off the leash a little. Trying to keep tabs on him at all times might just make him be less open about where he was with you.
+Similarly, there are situations where I could understand electronic monitoring of employees, but in most cases I'd expect surveillance would just make the employer/employee relationship more adversarial and less productive.
+Note that I am not a parent, nor do I know anything about management. Idle speculation and gut feelings only.
+Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
+[...] I think the employer has a right to know about it.[...]but they're still allowed to stand behind you and watch you work, right? [...]
+Measure productivity instead of putting your employees under surveillance.
+The meek inherit the totalitarian regime...
+woohoo! (Score:2, Funny)
+Um, yeah... (Score:5, Interesting)
+Also, potential employers would not be allowed to view an applicant's profile at Facebook or any other social network that hasn't actually been made for this purpose.
+How would they go about enforcing this? Couldn't an employer argue that any content on a social networking profile that someone makes available to the public, was made for everyone to see? Failing that, how do you prove when an employer looks at a public profile?
+LK
+Re: (Score:3, Funny)
+Easy, just install a video camera to record what they visit.
+Re:Um, yeah... (Score:5, Informative)
+Re: (Score:3, Informative)
+That's not how things work in Germany. There is an elaborate law framework that prevent that, so if the employer wants to get rid of you without reason, he'll have to wait at least 3 months. Otherwise he'll have to present a damn good reason to fire you (like severe work neglect, financial damage or some kind of criminal activity).
+Obviously there are gray areas and some folks try things, but the legal support for the workforce (there i
+Re: (Score:2)
+In other words, they are now let go with a "We don't need you [anymore]."
+This exists with or without the right (or not) to spy the employees.
+Except if one invokes this, a normal workplace law would say: "If you don't need that person anymore, this is to be interpreted you don't need the position anymore. Thus you cannot hire anyone as a replacement" (if it is redundancy, then it must be treated as redundancy).
+Can't Log Emails? (Score:4, Insightful)
+Re:Can't Log Emails? (Score:5, Funny)
+That should clarify it for you.
+You misread (Score:3, Informative)
+Ich bin ein Berliner (Score:2)
+Per JFK [youtube.com], we're all covered.
+:-)
+Which tells a tale of lenient construction+lack of (Score:3, Insightful)
+Trouble is, by regulating lots of nitty-gritty details instead of a broad "Constitutional right"-style protection, one makes it even harder for the law to keep up with progress - while exposing the loopholes most clearly to those determined to use them with impunity.
+To quote Portalis, one of the masterminds behind the French Civil Code:
+Work related vs Private (Score:3, Informative)
+How do they determine what is a private email or call versus private?
+At my job (granted that is in the US,) if it is using company resources, then it is work related. I have to sign several papers agreeing to that when I am hired (and every year or so they make us sign it again.)
+Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
+Summary fail (Score:2, Informative)
+Employers should not be allowed at FB etc.. (Score:2)
+If you want to prevent your employees from using facebook and similar sites, make it a firewall rule that redirects to a page clearly stating that it is blocked and be done with it. Also be sure to publish a clear acceptable use policy.
+However, it is a violation of the rights of privacy for a prospective employer or existing employer to check out the facebook sites of either current or prospective employees.
+What about defense agencies and contractors? (Score:2)
+How Do Europeans Do It? (Score:5, Interesting)
+The stories about privacy protections always seem to favor personal privacy in Europe, but to favor privacy invasion in the US. How do Europeans get better protection? European government looks a lot more bureaucratic and controlled access than even the US, which I would think would favor industry which has the time and money to ensure privacy can be abused for power and profit. Maybe it's because the protections begin at the state level, which is more accessible than the EU as a whole, while in the US state privacy protections aren't as powerful as Federal protections for invading them, or just a vacuum of protections at the Federal level. Or maybe EU privacy orgs are just more effective, perhaps better funded, than the US ones like EFF. Or maybe we just get the news of only privacy protection from EU, not privacy abuse, while in the US we get the abuse news so we're conditioned to accept it.
+How do Europeans do it? I'm jealous.
+they aren't really better (Score:3, Informative)
+Many of these protections are already in place in the US and Europe is just catching up. For example, US employers have been limited for years in how they can use social networking sites, based on existing US non-discrimination and privacy laws. Many of those restrictions in the US are based on case law; they don't require separate legislation. In Europe, legislators need to pass many more explicit laws, and a lot of that is knee-jerk reactions to recent events and populist legislation that sounds good o
+Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
+Really?
+There's a universal assumption of respect for (and illegality of reusing without permission) personal data for example in your US?
+Must be a different US and EU than I know about then.
+Rgds
+Damon
+Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
+It's really a difference in legal systems.
+In continental Europe, protections enumerated in a constitution or principles stated in some law cannot be enforced; legislators generally need to translate those protections into specific laws every time a new situation or new technology arises.
+In the US, constitutional protections and principles can be enforced by the courts through common law without legislators having to get involved. Legislators only need to get involved when court decisions start deviating si
+Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
+Businesses in Europe haven't cottoned on to creating a Fox News equivalent, which would accuse politicians of being "liberal muslims!!!" every time they bring in new regulation for business.
+Re:How Do Europeans Do It? (Score:5, Insightful)
+Most of European countries have more than 2 ellectable parties unlike the US were the only 2 ellectable parties defend the same vested interests but have 2 different public faces to deceive the plebes.
+Also average education in Europe is higher (lower and mid-level schools systems are beter than the US).
+In addition to that, most European countries have long histories of being under and fighting dictatorships, conquering powers and oppressive monarchies (the US had ONE revolution while your average European country has been throwing out conquerors since before the times of the Roman Empire). While in the US people talk loudly about the need for less government (while government actually concentrates on promoting the interests of a minority) in Europe governments are less prone to promote some minority of people at the cost of the majority (otherwise they would, at the very least be faced with massive strikes and maybe rebellion) - the contrast between the talk of less government in the US and the government that actually has to please the citizens in most of Europe kinda reminds me of the saying from my country that "The dog that barks is not the one that bites": in Europe we "bark" less but "bite" when needed.
+Last but not least, in most of Europe there's still a belief in social safety nets (avoiding that people fall too far into poverty) and social fairness (avoiding that those with more resources, like rich individuals and large companies, get more benefits than those with less resources), ideas which in the US would be shouted-away by the brainwashed ignorant masses as communism.
+That said, Europe is a large place with many languages and cultures - things can vary quite a bit, for example, between Northern European countries and Mediterranean Countries. Also of late many American cultural and economical practices have been imported, more so to places with a weak history of throwing out oppressors - though the recent recession has 'caused a re-evaluation of the "success" of the American Model.
+Easy answer: We've already tried fascism. (Score:5, Interesting)
+Today Europeans in general and Germans particularly know what happens if you let governments screw around to much. We've already tried out the prime example of a fascist regime, the one and only, the Mercedes-Benz class of totalitarian states, so to speak. And it ain't pretty, trust me on that one. Curiously enough, I have the entire spectrum of sides in the 'Third Reich' in my family. My US Grandpa was there on D-Day, my German Grandpa is a Type-A Waffen-SS
+/SD Officer - (Kompanieführer) still alive and kicking at 96, (blacklisted in the US too ... the whole shebang), and my uncle was a Jew on the run from the Gestapo and the SS, hiding away in sewers and all that. We've basically got it all here in one spot, German post-war offspring from US soldiers (f.e. me), old Nazis, art-class comrades that where 'unerwünschte Personen' ('unwelcome persons') in eastern Germany before the reunification, etc. pp. If you're only the slightest bit interested, you get a full-scale rundown of what happens when things in politics and public affairs go hairwire or head down the wrong road. The mechanisims aren't trivial, but there all the same, be they Nazi, Commie, Fundamentalist Islam or whatnot. Very interesting live history lessons to be made here indeed. One of the upsides of living in Germany.
+And while a basic trust in law and order is commomplace around western Europe Civil - manly due to the dence population and a historically grown optimization of things, civil disobedience and a basic sence of educated distrust is also quite commonplace around here. I presume the latter is due to a (still) relatively high level of education among the general population.
+God help us all when the US comes around to taking it's shot at fascisim.
+Moved on from the cold war (Score:3, Insightful)
+I remember East Germany. That was a time and place where privacy was an absurd concept. Where has the US gone since the cold war? It doesn't feel much different to me.
+Terrible Summary (Score:5, Informative)
+The idea that you can understand something like privacy laws, which are complex and nuanced, from a half-nonsense google translate is just crap. My German isn't perfect but here are the main points of the article from the German original ():
+* Video surveillance is banned in areas that have a 'private character' to them such as toilets, change rooms and rest/break rooms. It's still allowed in other areas as long as employees are informed and there's no attempt to hide the cameras
+* Recruitment - no data from social networks such as Facebook may be used as part of the recruitment process, social networks specifically designed for recruitment (I reckon they mean ones like Linkedin) are still allowed to be used
+* You're still allowed to use any other publicly accessible data off the net, although there may be restrictions related to how old it is or whether the employee/candidate has access to update or remove the data
+* Medical examinations - may only be used when there's a good reason
+* Screening (they define it as comprehensive comparisons of one employee against another) may only be used under strict conditions. The data must be handled anonymously unless it shows strong evidence of a problem (eg. criminal activity).
+* The law establishes conditions under which phone and email communication can be monitored. These conditions vary depending on documentation requirements, the type of business and the individual usage agreements for IT in each company.
+Hypocrites (Score:3, Interesting)
+At the same time the German government mandates Vorratsdatenspeicherung (telecommunications data retention [wikipedia.org]) and we would have internet censorship now if it wasn't for the federal constitutional court.
+Re: (Score:3, Informative)
+Didn't you hear? Vorratsdatenspeicherung was abolished. And that internet censorship stuff was just some campaigning stunt the conservatives pulled of to get more popular with conservative voters.
+Try to think a bit out of the box for a change! (Score:4, Interesting)
+Yes, I know this might come as a shocker to many but there are people, companies, managers and even governments (not necessarily the German one though) that do not see a human as a pure cost factor, comparable to a machine on the assembly line or the rent for the office.
+A human should be treated as such and surprisingly will perform quite well if done so. What do you expect from someone who is monitored 24/7 (or at least 8+/5), whose work time is recorded by the second? Sure, that might work for really basic jobs, like cleaning the roads or the like. But for anything a little more demanding or even remotely creative (yes, even working in a lousy call centre requires some creativity at times) this will result in frustration and delivery of the minimal required performance instead of the maximum possible.
+Stop to treat your employees like animals in a barn and you might notice a surprise: productivity goes up!
+Re: (Score:2)
+Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
+Perhaps not suspiciously regarding your employees as thieves builds, oh, I don't know, an actual environment of trust and respect? The culture of corporate sabotage certainly exists on this side of the pond, but only in occasional moments during particularly vicious company mergers or layoffs. It's much more effective here to have one or two auditors trying to spot patterns not consistent with customer-originated shrinkage, and then come in for a closer look. Even if nobody gets caught, the one guy on the t
+Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
+My point was that employee theft is worse in places with poorer labour laws and oppressive workplaces, nothing more. Such extreme measures wouldn't be needed, but rather milder ones. It's a self-reinforcing problem, the more I get treated like a potential thief, the less I'm going to care about the company in return. Don't get me wrong, I think all businesses everywhere are sociopaths, but the illusion of corporate loyalty benefits everyone.
+These zero energy. I look at the pile of laundry, the mountain of bills, and the dog hair covering every surface and I seriously wonder how I am going to find the energy to get my life back in order. Sure, I have the lists all ready and goals written out but I find my eyes drooping and my head bobbing. Next thing you know my kids will walk in the door after school to find me drowning in a puddle of drool while I snore like a buzzsaw! Nope, not going there! In an effort to motivate myself I started doing a little research for tips to boost energy. Here is what I have found that I am hoping keeps me moving a little quicker in the afternoons!
+Boost Energy and Make it Through the Afternoon Slump
+1..
+2.!
+3..!
+5. Stay hydrated: This is incredibly important! Even mild dehydration can lead to listlessness and low energy. If you are tired of plain water, zest some oranges, lemons or limes and slice them into rounds. Add them to a large pitcher of water and leave it on your counter to remind you to keep filling up your glass.
+6..
+7. Cut down on caffeine: You may think that caffeine is giving you your afternoon energy but the slump that follows a caffeine ‘high’ is downright oppressive. Sugar will do the same thing…really quick boost and then a serious slump afterwords. Skip the coffee and energy drinks and try a few other methods to boost energy,
+8. behind the wheel on the drive home.
+9..
+10. Keep healthy snack on hand at all times: When our blood sugar drops, so does our energy level. Make sure you keep a supply of healthy snack on hand to give you a bit of a boost. The best choices are high in fiber and protein as well as complex carbohydrates. Organic and GMO free are (of course) always great characteristics of a healthy snack!
+I received a wonderful selection of Cascadian Farm products to try out over the last few weeks. I have been a fan of Cascadian Farm for years and on any given day you will find their cereal, granola bars, or frozen vegetables in my house. Cascadian Farm is not only a leading producer of organic foods here in this country but it is an actual real PLACE. It is a 28-acre farm in western Washington’s Upper Skagit Valley in the foothills of the North Cascades mountain range. Today, they have grown beyond their original farmland and are working hard to convert conventional farms to organic, sustainable farm land to grow crops for their wide selection of products. The original farm is still in use, however, and they run a roadside stand nearby to sell their organic crops to the local population.
+I absolutely love all of the Cascadian Farm products that I have tried out. The chewy granola bars are moist and sweet, loaded with dried fruit and whole grains. The crunchy granola bars have a very simple ingredient list with only about 7 ingredients. And yes, you can actually pronounce them all. My family’s favorite is the peanut butter but they all really hit the spot when that 3 PM slump hits. Morning is made much simpler with a bowl of Cascadian Farm cereal and the granola is a big hit in my house. If you have to run out the door without breakfast in the morning, throw a baggie of granola in your purse and stock your work fridge with yogurt. The granola on top will make the yogurt a bit more filling. This also makes a great afternoon snack if you find yourself with your head on your desk and your eyes closing.
+SHAPE magazine recently announced the winners of its 7th Annual Snack Awards, an annual list of the best snacks to help you make delicious and nutritious snack choices. Cascadian Farm was among the list of winners with their Oats & Honey Crunchy Granola Bars. They are made with non-GMO, organic ingredients like rolled oats, honey and sunflower oil. There are only 180 calories per package so you can fuel up without totally blowing your diet. In order to be considered Shape-worthy, the winning healthy food choices had to meet these nutritional criteria:
+· Have 200 calories or less per serving
+· Contain 0 grams of trans fat and be low in saturated fat
+· Have no more than 400 milligrams of sodium
+· Offer nutritional extras, like portion-controlled packs, whole grains, or additional vitamins and minerals
+If you are looking for a healthy way to boost energy I recommend you skip with gallon of coffee and concentrate on fueling your body with the nutrients it really needs. Not that coffee isn’t tasty…I certainly enjoy a cup in the afternoon myself! But, try to limit the caffeine to one cup and find other ways to keep yourself moving during that afternoon slump.
+The Giveaway
+Cascadian Farm would like to provide one of my readers with a prize package so they can beat that 3 PM energy slump, too! This is a Giveaway Tools contest so follow the rules that they are enrolled in the non GMO project.
+Great tips Diane. Entering your giveaway because I want to try these products.
+I love that they’re in the Non-GMO project and they have a Gluten Free post AND that the poster’s dog is also gluten free (so is mine).
+They are now (proudly) enrolled in the non-GMO project
+I enjoyed the top 9 reasons to go organic. However, my top fav is they are against GMOs. My fam is a big fan of CF’s products!
+I learned that one of the practices used for growing organic foods relies on natural biological systems for pest and weed control
+I love Cascadian Farms products. Great story of the farm starting 40 years ago with founder Gene Kahn.
+I learned that they make frozen foods too. I am mostly familiar with their cereals. I have a soy allergy so keeping track of companies like this is important for my health.
+I learned that while growing they use natural pest control.
+The biggest and most important thing I learned is they are in the non GMO project,that means alot.
+they are enrolled in the non-GMO project
+I learned that Organic farms use less energy
+love that they participate in box tops for educatoin
+I learned that there are four labeling categories when looking for organic products in stores: 100 percent organic, organic, made with organic ingredients, and products that list organic ingredients.
+Natural and organic and no GMO
+I learned they have a Home Farm in WA that you can visit during the summer and purchase berries and fresh icecream! Road Trip!!
+I learned that the Cascadian Home Farm is nestled in the foothills of the North Cascades mountain range. The 28-acre farm in western Washington’s Upper Skagit Valley is the birthplace of the Cascadian Farm organic foods.
+Cascadian Farms is enrolled in the Non-GMO Project.
+they have products that are super healthy and no bad stuff
+vmkids3 at msn dot com
+I learned that food with a USDA organic label hasn’t been irradiated.
+I learned that their mission is to preserve our planet for future generations to come.
+I learned that Cascadian Farms is now enrolled in the Non GMO project.
+I learned that they have frozen fruits and veggies (didn’t know that)
+they have been around since 1972
+They participate in the box tops for education program.
+The Cascadian Home Farm is nestled in the foothills of the breathtaking North Cascades mountain range.
+Cascadian Farm’s Mission is to Preserve our Planet for Future Generations to Come.
+enrolled in the non-GMO project
+You can visit the Cascadian Farm Home.
+Something I learned and liked – Cascadian Farms is enrolled in the Non-GMO Project.
+Thank you.
+I learned that they are Enrolled in the Non-GMO Project
+I learned that during the summer, their Roadside Stand is open daily — so you can plan a road trip and stop in for a pint of our fresh, seasonal berries or homemade organic ice cream. So neat!
+I learned that they participate in box tops for education.
+Thanks for the chance to win!
+wildorchid985 at gmail dot com
+I like that at Cascadian Farms believes where earth day is everyday. They support BoxTops for Education.
+This is giveaway is quite generous!
+Cascadian Farm is “certified organic, guaranteed delicious”.
+I didn’t know that they participate in box tops for edu!
+I learned there’s recipes on the site.
+never seen the frozen foods
+they use natural pest control
+They have been around since 1972 and are in a non-GMO project.
+They have box tops on their products.
+I learned that they have been around since 1972 and that they were organic before the word “organic” even became a trend
+Because organic farmers don’t use any synthetic pesticides and fertilizers, the soil that our crops are grown in stays untouched. Just like Mother Nature intended.
+they are in th non gmo project
+I learned that they are now enrolled in the non-gmo project.
+I love that they have a Roadside Stand and use organic methods on their products. They show that big business doesn’t have to seem so big.
+i learned they they are enrolled in the non-GMO project
+I learned that they are now enrolled in the non-GMO project.
+I learned that Cascadian Farm is involved with the Box Tops for Education campaign.
+they are enrolled in the non GMO project.
+I learned that Cascadian Farms offers a large variety of delicious recipes on their site.
+jweezie43[at]gmail[dot]com
+They have a roadside stand during the summer. How fun!
+They are now enrolled in the non gmo project.
+I learned according to the USDA, the terms “natural” and “organic” are not interchangeable.
+The company Bestowed includes Casadian Farms bars in their boxes.
+I learned they believe every day is Earth Day!
+I learned they are GMO free
+I learned they are part of box tops for education.. I support all brands that do that
+theyve been around since 1972
+i love their cereal! never tried the bars yet, but i will!
+Box Tops for Education program is a top priority for them
+I learned the were around since 1972
+The founder is a grad school dropout
+Their products are all natural and organic!
+I learned that their products are organic
+I learned that they farm in a way that preserves the soil and protects the rivers and streams around them.
+i learned that its been around since 1972
+They began in 1972!!!
+They were organic before organic was trendy
+I learned that they started in 1972.
+I learned that they make frozen foods too
+the terms “natural” and “organic” are not interchangeable.
+Cascadian Farm is not just a brand name it’s an actual place/farm cool!
+I learned that their founder was inspired by reading “Silent Spring” and “Diet For A Small Planet”.
+I learned that while growing they use natural pest control
+Just say no to GMO, its the only way to go!!
+i learned that they have frozen fruit and frozen potatoes too
+I learned that they participate in box tops for education
+They believe every day is Earth Day!
+farm starting 40 years ago with founder Gene Kahn.
+I love that they are GMO free!
+Enrolled in the non-GMO program!
+Cascadian Farm’s Mission —> Preserving our Planet for Future Generations to Come.
+How Technology Enhances Teaching and Learning Essay
+How Technology Enhances Teaching and Learning
+Students at the Owen School’s Strategy in the New Economy seminar enter a classroom that looks like any other, except that a projection system and video screen have been installed. Their professor announces that today they will be joined by a guest lecturer, a senior VP from a Fortune 500 corporation. What makes this guest lecture unique is that the students are sitting in a Nashville classroom but the guest lecturer is speaking from his home office in Estonia, via video technology.
+This is an example of one of the creative ways faculty members at Vanderbilt are using technology to enhance their students’ learning. In the scene described above, Owen Professor David Owens, along with Professor Bart Victor, use video conferencing to bring an international guest speaker to their organization studies seminar. Across the University, faculty are using technology to help students master subjects from elementary and secondary school instruction to bioengineering to structural equation modeling. They are developing their own skills while making students comfortable with the technology that will help them be successful after leaving Vanderbilt. As they introduce more and more technology into the classroom, faculty are finding it raises the quality of class discussion and involves students much more deeply in their own education.
+The employers of today are looking for the very best employees to fill positions in their organizations. The desired traits of an employee used to be centered on experience. The more experienced an applicant was, the more likely they were to get the job for which they applied. Today, employers are not only looking for experience, they are also looking for a person that has a degree in the field. Employers have begun to realize the importance of strategic thinking and leadership skills that an education affords. Because of this shift in desired qualifications, modern adults have been unable to adequately compete in the job market. The aforementioned time and responsibility constraints, as well as the fact that they have been focused on building the experience that was previously desired has put adults at a disadvantage. Being able to obtain a college degree via technology-based education methods has greatly reduced that disadvantage. It has also had an impact on their ability to execute the functions of the position when the job is obtained.
+For this issue of the Teaching Forum, we spoke to four Vanderbilt faculty members, each of whom is using technology to enhance their students’ learning.
+Owen Management Professor David Owens uses videoconference links to bring in guest speakers and incorporates video and audio technology into most of his lectures.
+Psychology Professor Andy Tomarken teaches methods and statistics courses in a computer lab, allowing him to integrate traditional lecture with demonstration projects using the methods he is teaching.
+Peabody Professor Margaret Smithey guides her students in the preparation of multi-media classroom presentations including clips from the Internet, video, audio, and news archive footage. She has opened an e-conference for interns from her courses who want to stay in touch with their fellow students and professors, and she maintains a library of digitized video clips, taken from live and simulated classroom settings.
+Department of Biomedical Engineering Chair Tom Harris directs a new NSF-funded center focused on developing technology-based bioengineering teaching materials and curriculum. He is collaborating with several partners, including Peabody Professor John Bransford.
+What Technology Brings to the Classroom What these faculty members have in common, and what they share with many others across the campus, is a commitment to exploring the opportunities technology offers for improving the quality of classroom instruction.
+Professor Margaret Smithey describes how technology allows her to capitalize on unexpected turns in class discussion. “Yesterday afternoon my students had specific questions about classroom management, so at that point I said ‘let’s look at these scenarios that I have on a CD.’ The CD brought to life their questions. I think seeing actual classroom scenarios related to their questions makes learning come alive for my students better than if I gave my opinion or told a story.”
+Professor Tomarken, who teaches advanced statistics and methods classes, says incorporating computers into class discussion can also make extremely difficult courses much easier for students to grasp.
+One of the challenges of teaching advanced statistics to students who often lack a strong math background is “translating theoretical stuff into a workable set of concrete analysis, “Tomarken says. “I find that it’s really important to talk about different types of models from the point of view of specific problems and that’s really where the ability in class to have stuff be on the projection system is critical.”
+Access to a computer-equipped classroom can also be important. “I like to get students interacting with software in the class, “Tomarken says. “I find if you just send them home to do it on their own, they run into real problems. When they follow me, typing in on their own computers, that facilitates their learning.”
+Last semester, Tomarken also faced another problem – formulas from the board. “I told them, you don’t have to write anything, it’s all on the web, just listen.”
+Technology Changes Teaching, Not Teachers While all the faculty members interviewed for this article believe technology has great power to influence their teaching, no one feels it fundamentally changes them as teachers. “I’ve always wanted a very interactive classroom,” Smithey says. “I want it to be very theoretically based and I know exactly what I want my students to learn. I think technology has improved the quality of what we can access.” Smithey also emphasizes the importance of technology being used for a clear purpose. “I never want to use technology just for technology’s sake but to support my students’ learning.”
+Professor Tomarken feels that integrating statistical software and visual models into his courses means he comes into class “better prepared” but doesn’t think it changes him as a teacher. “I usually am pretty interactive with the class.” He does, however, credit the accessibility of computers with reducing the “passivity factor” in his classes. “They have to type things in, they have to click on the mouse. I think it’s pretty lively in a lot of ways.”
+How Technology Enhances Learning Professor Owens, Smithey, and Tomarken all feel they can see technology enhancing their students’ learning, particularly when students use the technology directly. David Owens requires his students to do at least one group project entirely over the Internet. “They’re not allowed to do it face to face,” Owens says. “They aren’t allowed to say, “I’ll call you tonight.’ They have to do everything virtually. In this project, they have a lot to figure out about group process, what things are done best face to face, what things are done best asynchronously, what things are done best in an anonymous chat room. And they figure it out. It’s…so much more powerful than my sitting up there saying “the group process models show…”
+Professor Smithey requires her students to complete a series of computer assignments from a course CD that she has developed. Smithey values these pre-class assignments because they save classroom time and improve the quality of class discussion. “When the students complete their CD assignments, they come to class with a common context. We are able then to discuss particular class dilemmas or teaching dilemmas that everyone has watched, analyzed and reflected upon. So, we can start there and go with our class discussion rather than having to take 20 or 30 minutes of class showing the video and asking the specific questions. They’ve done all that in the computer lab.”
+Technology can also improve the dynamics between teachers and students, often leading to enhanced learning. “Students can see you’re doing a lot of work to further their education and I think that there’s an appreciation factor that ultimately contributes to their own motivation,” Tomarken says.
+Students who may question how much their professors care about teaching can also see evidence of the time and trouble taken to prepare for class. “I think sometimes graduate students, or possibly even undergraduate students, go in with the mindset that this teachers doesn’t really give a darn about teaching and I think using technology is a real way of communicating ‘yes I do,’” Tomarken adds.
+Technology Brings Challenges Introducing technology into the classroom can also bring a set of challenges. First among them is finding the time needed to incorporate new technology into courses. Professor Smithey not only uses the technology herself but also requires her student to produces multi-media projects during the semester. “If you’re going to ask the students to do such a challenging project, you have to be available to them. You have to have support. There has to be some relief time to learn about the technology. You don’t have to know the details of technology but you have to understand it well enough that you can envision what your students need to know about using it.”
+The technology itself can fail, leaving an instructor to resort to back up. Technology also changes rapidly and it takes time to keep up with technical changes that influence how equipment and software perform in the classroom. Professor Owens points to a digitized news show he purchased from CBS: “I have the CD in here and one of my fears is that someday I’ll pop it in the classroom and it won’t work. It’s a constant upkeep.”
+Professors Tomarken and Owens also note that having computers in the classroom can distract students from the class itself. Teaching in a classroom equipped with computers “actually introduces the potential for students to be doing something on the computer that doesn’t have anything to do with the class,” Tomarken says.
+“I occasionally go parading around and check out what people are up to,” Owens says. Some people take notes on the computer, some people try to get the lecture slides up on their screen so they can see them up close, some people do e-mail, surf the net, do whatever.” He agrees with Tomarken that students’ personal use of computers in class is an issue that needs to be examined, “through whether that’s worse than day dreaming I don’t know.”
+Need for University Support Support by the University for the use of technology is also critical. Bringing technology into the classroom uses resources ranging from computers to classrooms to graduate assistants, and university wide coordination is essential for ensuring an effective learning environment for students.
+“One element that is essential is support in the form of graduate students to help students with technology,” Smithey says. “It is impossible for one faculty member to support an entire class of students in creating innovative ways to use technology..”
+Physical facilities are also important. Keeping the technology in working order is crucial but so are other issues such as ensuring a classroom’s physical design supports the best possible use of the technology. “You have a very real problem if you have big nice screens and nice projectors but the screen is in front of the white board; if you want to write and have slides at the same time, it’s difficult if not impossible,” Owens says.
+Moving Forward with Technology As the University moves towards an increasingly coordinated approach to the use of technology, several efforts are underway at Vanderbilt to determine just how technology can be used to most effectively enhance learning. One effort is the VaNTH Center in Bioengineering Educational Technologies, a joint effort between Vanderbilt, Harvard University, University of Texas, and Northwestern. Among is several priorities is research into the value of technology, such as web-based education for teaching bioengineering. The research team is collaborating with specialists from the Learning Technology Center at Peabody and with the Institute for Software Integrated Systems (ISIS).
+“It’s recognized that bioengineering teaching materials are not very well developed and there is not a broad consensus on bioengineering curricula,” says Thomas R. Harris, chair of Vanderbilt’s Department of Biomedical Engineering. “We need a new way to look at bioengineering education. Why not use the modern methods that we’ve been developing in the learning sciences and learning technology, and really take a look at this from an entirely new point of view?” says.
+Although the grant focuses on the development of bioengineering, the collaboration between Peabody’s Learning Technology Center and the Department of Biomedical Engineering has the potential to benefit students and faculty in all areas of the university because part of the research involves determining exactly which technological tools best enhance learning.
+“One of the things of concern is that in higher education a lot of people are very critical of technology as being just a waste of time and money and so forth. Well, is that right or not?” Harris asks.
+“If a particular piece of learning technology is no good, we’re going to be happy to identify it as such. We’d like to be able to guide the decision of educators and administrators about what is effective and what is not. And if you can begin to show major advances for some of this, then the justification for the additional investment is there.”
+Another potential benefit this research offers is the opportunity to develop a much better understanding of the kinds of resources required for faculty to use technology in ways that consistently enhance student learning.
+“There could be a small investment that could dramatically increase our effectiveness if we do it right,” Harris says. “That’s the key. We have to know how to do it and what to do. So if we get in and do research in this center and we find out some of the mistakes and things you ought to avoid, I think that you could tailor a system that could dramatically increase effectiveness and make faculty more effective.”
+Harris believes that effective use of technology has the potential to transform the student-teacher relationship at the undergraduate level. “I think we’re going to see a revolution in the interaction between students and teachers,” he says. “I think the relationship to undergraduates is going to become more like the relationship to graduate students in the sense of more direct personal interaction. By using technology we’re going to be able to use the power of the person, who they are and what they are. The teacher’s inspirational role is going to become much greater.”
+Like Harris, Professors Owens, Smithey and Tomarken also see new opportunities to use technology in the classroom. David Owens wants to pursue his interest in virtual teams by developing a course run exclusively on the Internet. Andy Tomarken plans to continue integrating computer interaction with more traditional classroom activities. Margaret Smithey would like to use videoconference links to allow her students to observe a live classroom setting and then interview the teacher afterward, all via video. In each case, these faculty members, like many others across the University, will continue to use technology to challenge both themselves and their students.
+A
+Subject: Learning, Technology,
+University/College: University of Chicago
+Type of paper: Thesis/Dissertation Chapter
+Date: 24 March 2016
+Words:
+Pages:
+Let us write you a custom essay sample on How Technology Enhances Teaching and Learning
+for only $16.38 $13.9/page
+your testimonials
+
+<<
+A. Alternative forms of rule
+How can matters that affect many people be decided? Or, to be more specific, who has the authority to decide and how should the process be managed?
+With such a general formulation of the foundation for politics, one can begin by distinguishing between alternatives that are peaceful and those that rely on violence. This step is often ignored and the choice is reduced to peaceful democracy versus violent dictatorship. While pitching good against evil in this way may help to win an argument, it is misleading because it implies that there are only two alternatives. The starting point here instead is that violence disrupts any political order – democratic or otherwise – because a legitimate exercise of power is replaced by physical violence.[1]
+Taking the next step and looking at the peaceful alternatives a dispute can, in principle, be resolved either by free negotiation or by an arrangement for collective decision-making that is drawn up in advance and binding on all those concerned.
+Decisions which are collectively binding, so that a particular group of people is expected to follow them, can be made in principle in one of two ways: by a few or by all those concerned.
+The above is illustrated by the following Chart of alternative forms of rule. This is an ideal model; in practice, a combination of alternatives is often used.
+A variant of this classification, which treats democracy as one of three possible forms of rule, was put forward more than 2300 years ago by the Greek philosopher Aristotle.
+This general and fairly neutral scheme brings out another main point:
+- to be democratic, decisions must be reached within the framework of an association or community: one cannot have democracy without an association.
+If we call the members of a community that are affected by the decisions the People and those who participate in the making of decisions are called the Citizens, we can formulate the following basic democratic identity:
+- everybody who is one of the people is a citizen and no one is a citizen who is not one of the people.
+Oligarchy, elite rule, guardianship
+An oligarchy presupposes a community but does not enable all those concerned to participate in decisions, either directly or indirectly. A hundred years ago, for instance, when the struggle for democracy in Sweden was most intense, the country was not a dictatorship. There was a rule of law but it was a minority rule, with class distinctions that the champions of democracy aimed to overthrow by giving everyone the right to vote.
+Guardianship is considered to be the most appropriate form of rule in many contexts. The right of parents to bring up their children is seldom questioned. Teachers in school and other forms of education are seen as being competent to direct their pupils’ learning process. In companies and public authorities it is generally accepted that work is led by managers with special qualifications.
+Anarchy
+International politics is a classic example of an anarchic system[2], uncontrolled by any form of collective decision-making. Countries negotiate freely with each other and may or may not reach an agreement. They abide by their agreements as long as the parties to them stand to benefit or as long as the strongest wants this.
+Markets are another example. Goods and services are bought and sold in voluntary bargaining between producers and consumers. The outcome is determined by the relative strength – measured in money – of the parties concerned.
+The anarchic, voluntary alternative has been spreading recently at the expense of the democratic arrangement: market solutions are being introduced around the world for matters that previously were managed by collective decisions. At the same time, many countries have shifted from an oligarchic to a more democratic rule. International development organisations often stipulate changes of both these types as a condition for granting loans and debt relief to poor countries.
+The democratic middle way
+Oligarchy and guardianship base their legitimacy on the special competence of the leaders, while anarchy gives precedence to the individual’s freedom of action. Democracy is a middle way – sometimes rather hard – based on a division of power and on everyone respecting the decisions in which they have participated.
+In practice, none of these three types of rule occurs in its pure form. Where, for instance, is the line to be drawn between a decision made by a few and one made by all concerned? That is a pertinent question in large-scale political systems for representative government. In the best case, popularly elected leaders make political decisions that match the interests of a majority of the voters – that is how western democracies like to see themselves. But although they do not have a delimited elite with a monopoly of power, not everyone participates in decisions. In terms of the ABC model, representative rule comes somewhere in between oligarchy and democracy.
+B. Democracy’s basic principles and conditions
+We have mentioned associations where an oligarchic rule is considered to be legitimate on account of the decision-makers’ special competence. We have also considered examples of an anarchic system in which individual freedom is valued more highly than the benefits of association. So what favours democratic rule? What are its basic principles and conditions?
+1. Community
+Firstly, there needs to be a common interest, a defined unit in which people come together to make joint decisions about certain matters. To some extent the members must be able to rely on and identify themselves with each other so that they are prepared to agree in advance to abide by the joint decisions. Some form of collective identity is required so that members see themselves as a ‘we’. Such a community rules out the anarchic alternative.
+2. Equal consideration
+Having rejected some form of anarchy in favour of democratic rule, we can proceed to two other basic principles of the latter. One is the principle of everyone’s equal value, which can be formulated as a demand for equality: the interests of each and every member merit equal consideration.
+If this demand is taken at face value, it implies a radical redistribution of power: everyone must have the same possibility of having their interests provided for. All forms of privilege, no matter what they are based on (gender, age, wealth, education, class, ethnicity, etc.), are at odds with the principle of Equal consideration. That makes feminism, for example, a democratic issue.
+3. Personal autonomy
+Finally, one must also be prepared to accept a rule, likewise associated with power, determining who is to decide which interests and needs are to be taken into consideration. Here the presumption must be: the people themselves. The members must be regarded as sufficiently mature to be the best judge of their own interests – their private ones as well as those they have in common with other members of the community.
+In other words, defending equality by itself is not enough. Each member must also be treated as sufficiently competent to make her own judgements and take a stand for himself. This Presumption of personal autonomy is needed to prevent some people from claiming to be particularly competent, intellectually and morally, as judges or guardians and asserting their authority over the others.
+C. The lifebuoy and criteria for a democratic process
+The Lifebuoy
+From the time when a group of people realize they have something in common, it may take quite a while for them to reach an agreement and make a decision. But whether this process takes an hour or a year, it can be divided into four phases in which matters to do with membership, the agenda, participation and decision-making, respectively, are regulated in one way or another.
+Many associations are more or less permanent and make decisions on a continuous basis. Decision-making in such cases can be seen as a cyclical process along the lines represented in the Lifebuoy below, starting at the bottom left:
+The first two phases – membership and the agenda – are about constituting the community. They involve identifying the members, their common interests and their authority. Next comes the phase of deliberation: what is to be the course of action for arriving at a decision about a particular matter? At last there is the decisive moment itself: by what procedure is the matter to be finally decided?
+Criteria for democracy
+Applying the basic principles of democracy to the different phases of a decision-making process yields four more specific criteria for democracy:
+1. Inclusion. All those concerned must have the right to participate in decision-making as a full and equal citizen. This calls for alertness to discrimination so that no one is excluded.
+2. Final control. The members must be in a position to decide which matters they want to deal with. The agenda shall not be set by an outsider.
+3. Effective participation. In this phase everyone must have an equal opportunity to put forwards proposals, voice an opinion and make themselves heard.
+4. Equal vote. Each and everyone must have the same influence over the final decision. What counts is the members’ standpoints at this moment, nothing else.
+For a decision-making process to be completely democratic, there is an additional requirement that must apply in every phase:
+5. Enlightened understanding. The members must have an equal and real opportunity of obtaining information and working out what is in their best interest.
+When a community has been functioning for some time, the constituent phases tend to be regarded as something that was settled long ago. The focus is liable to be on the present, on the right-hand half of the Lifebuoy: participation and decision-making. If things are not working properly here, however, it may be advisable to look for the reasons in earlier phases of the process. One then often finds that things have changed since the community was formed: it may have acquired new members with other interests, or conditions in general may have changed, raising new issues to consider while others are no longer relevant. In that case, the time will have come to overhaul the decision-making process and renew the democratic contract.
+Whether it is a question of a small workplace, a sports association or a large country, a wholly democratic process must therefore meet these five requirements or criteria: Inclusion, Final control, Effective participation, Equal vote and Enlightened understanding.
+Nowhere in the world is there a community where the decision-making process meets all these requirements in full. In most organisations there are tendencies to discrimination. Nevertheless, the term ‘democracy’ is usually loaded in this strong manner. Therefore, the criteria for democracy should be taken as yardsticks with which to measure reality. They are standards that can be applied to disclose shortcomings in our existing associations and to work out what needs to be done about them.
+Democracy is an ideal; getting closer to it requires that one knows what one is aiming for.
+[1] The circumstances whereby a political order degenerates into a regime based on violence is one of the themes of peace & conflict research. See Adam Przeworski, “Democracy as a Contingent Outcome of Conflicts” in Constitutionalism and Democracy, Cambridge University Press, 1988, where the conditions for a peaceful transition to democracy are discussed. The article has inspired a number of more recent empirical studies.
+[2] ‘Anarchy’ is here used in a classical sence as a term for a system without binding decisions. It should not be confused with ‘anarchism’, which refers to a doctrine of government, and ‘anarchist’, which denotes someone who believes in that doctrine.
+Z.
+This is a title that does go against a variety of current gaming trends, eschewing frantic zombie-slaying action in favour of careful survival and a permanent death system: it's challenging and every player will lose lives and curse the sky. With such a specific gameplay style and some shortcomings perhaps typical of a console launch title, some early reviews on high profile websites were either critical of the game or, in some notable cases, rather damning in their assessment. One look at the game's Metacritic page is illuminating, an average of 76% underlined by a range of scores from 92% to 45%.
+Speaking exclusively to Nintendo Life, ZombiU producer Guillaume Brunier admitted that some early reviews had frustrated the developers, but that the team felt vindicated by the gradual improvement in results as more opinions surfaced:.
+Asked whether some may have been frustrated by the survival horror aspect being predominant over FPS action, Braunier argued that "we never hid ourselves", making it clear what kind of experience ZombiU was offering.
+Have you played ZombiU? Are you in agreement with those reviewers that were critical, or are you a fan of the game? Let us know in the comments below, and stay tuned for our full interview with Guillaume Brunier later today.
+When you make a crappy game, of course you're going to recieve harsh feedback. And if you knew the weaknesses of the game, why are you so surprised? It's like starting a tree on fire and knowing the leafs going to burn first, then it happens and you're surprised the leafs burned first.
+It's definitely a game you need a taste for. It's not World at War or Left4Dead, after all. I only had a short time with it, but I can see how the game would be divisive.
+Great mate it's about time they started making games that don't hold you by the hand and give out infintile rocket launchers.
+Here's the thing about the US reviews: They expect instant gratification and perfection on a system that is brand new. And they expect the game to be easy and play-thru-able quickly. Most reviewers have zero journalistic background and only care about A: who sponsors the site, and B: what they want as a reviewer, not what the public wants in a game.
+Objective reviews are hard to come by, especially when sites like IGN try to start flame wars to drive web hits. Don't fret Ubisoft, you make some great games. Now, how about some Beyond Good and Evil 2 on that Wii U?... Gamepad as a camera?
+Well the game's ok but it is lacking in a few areas imo. One thing I found very disappointing was the lack of interactivity with all those lovely modeled objects in the world. It's a case of show with little substance in this case. That kind of stuff doesn't leave me a satisfied gamer.
+I think that ZombiU is perfect. if this was another FPS, I would not have picked it up.
+The general perception on Miiverse is one of positivity, thus I ordered the game and should be getting it early next week. I have yet to play it so I have no idea how I will feel about it!
+I'm scared of zombies myself (please don't laugh, I don't know why), but from what I have seen it's a clever take on the FPS and zombie genres, if one you need an acquired taste for.
+From what I have seen many critics have been too harsh and stupid with reviewing. Reception from your general non troll on gamefaqs seems to be better then for. Critics(user reviews have a 8.66 average on there) and miiverse even in japan seems to like it. I haven't played yet so I shall properly revise and refine this opinion when my copy arrives today
+For example the gamespot review gives it a mere 4.5/10. It seems almost like a negative spin on everything most other reviews list as positive. He even says its trapped in the wrong genre.(and should've been an action game)Yeah. never really did like their reviews. They always seem so negative towards Nintendo games.
+What I find sad is how many people don't give things a chance. All too often there is a big list of games posted on the gamefaqs all of which general consensous holds to be good and a bunch of people come in with one of these things
+1. Not RPGs so the library sucks
+2. I don't like those so the library sucks
+3. All of it is overated garbage. Except that one series I am a fan off.
+I wish people were open minded and tried more things with an open mind. I used to pretty much play Nintendo first party and a select few other games. Then I branched out, bought more third party and even a Vita. And now I have a better and larger gaming experience. NInty first party is still my favorite but trying new things is good.
+I carefully research most games before buying as well as play any demos.That way I try new things without wasting money on crap.
+/Wall of text
+The fact is the reviewers and people wanted to bullcrap Nintendo up by taking this game as an FPS.
+It's First Person, so it's an FPS.
+This proves how bad influence are FPS these days.
+Yes, i died 7 times in a row beign really close to the point of no return in the game and i decided that i couldn't make it on Normal, i did not want to play on Chicken so i abandoned, but i like the game...it's just that's i'm no good...if i'm no good and used to more easier games should i give it low review for that? Hell, no!
+IT'S NOT AN FPS, stop saying that even in the effin' comments.
+I don't like this gaming world anymore.
+May also be that the same reviewers expect the central characters to be Hollywood action heroes or tough guys, not 'real' people, who in the rest of the world, don't know how to fire a gun from the word go, and in a Zombie apocalypse, aren't blessed with infinite ammo, and a BFG for good measure.
+It's not a game for Generic-FPS heroes regardless of how it appears...
+It's not even worth debating these reviews; it's sabotage plain and simple. They don't want Wii U to get more of "these" games and are delusional enough to think they can influence sales. It's high-school bs, wah-wah it's too hard.
+ZombiU is my GOTY, the best game on Wii U, and the best survival horror game I've played since Resident Evil Remake 10 years ago. Rock on, Ubisoft.
+If you stand by your game then release a demo for it already. Have the balls to allow people to try a game for free before just blindly throwing $60 down and hope for the best.
+Their twitter said it would come before December 15th... so lets hope that's still on track.
+If a reviewer dont like zombie games he should not review zombie games, but this game did get a good score overall, they should not focus on harsh reviews. Just a GG, for the ones that like the genre. survival horror
+@ajcismo Exactly. I think that's a thing with gamers in general these days. So many people just want to rush through games getting every single bonus to throw at everything and forget that you can just play them and savor them. Sometimes I think people just try to nitpick at everything so they can say they have excuses as to why things can be bad. I'm not saying there aren't bad games out there and there aren't exceptions to this, but it seems people get upset when something is different from what they expected, without giving new mechanics any chance. It's funny because majority of the time those same people also complain about the fact that there isn't enough new for them.
+Oh yeah and BGAE2 would be nice
+I think that most of those early reviewers rushed their reviews and couldn't fathom that this is actually a survival horror game, not a typical fps..
+AMericans and unfortunately most of the rest of the world have been used too long already to playing a dumbed down cinematic experience with little to no consequences/tactics to/of the player behavior. Im pretty sure ZombiU would even fare better in asian regions than in the US where people are still used to actually PLAYING a game instead of quick-time-eventing their way to victory. I might have exaggerated a bit but I am sure any longtime gamer that's been around since the 80s like I have knows what I am talking about. I rather have a slow-approach creepy Zombie game (I don't like Zombies though, they've been done to death already - HA HA) instead of some frantic Nazi-Zombie crap in CoD.
+ZombiU is one of the most original and enjoyable games I've played in a long time. I found a lot of the complaints people had (melee combat, not enough ammo, dark visuals, etc) were things that made me like the game even more!
+I had to laugh when people complained it took "2-7 hits with a bat to kill a zombie, which is too much", as if there should be a set number of strikes haha.
+To the Ubisoft Developers.
+I am 24hours into Zombie U. I have gotten 32 people killed.
+I THINK THIS GAME IS BRILLIANT!
+I cant stop olaying it
+Thankyou Ubisoft for making a great game, Everyone on Miiverse seems to love it too.
+Thank you for putting some real effort into this game... Sequel please!?
+My only disappointment in the game is the more glaring of the graphical faults. Its obviously not a great game overall in the graphics department, and I'm fine with that. But little things like the extremely low quality on the video clip that plays when areas are loading is pretty inexcusable. If they'd just rendered it in HD.
+Still, the game itself is fantastic. I'm not sure if I've ever played a more gripping game.
+We are just going to have to face it. With the vast majority of "gaming" sites, Nintendo will not catch a break. They will be judged more harshly than any other company. I really didn't by into that until the end of the Wii generation and the start of the Wii U. For the life of me, I do not understand why.
+I only have to say that Zombie U is truly a great experience, like I didn't had for a long time now. Every little sound makes me stop and look around every corner . It's this kind of nerve wrecking moments that makes me imersive in the game and I just feel sorry for those reviewers that simply play this like a "regular" FPS, not appreciating what the game is truly trying to do.
+So stay cool Ubisoft because you did great!!
+Like many of you have already said, i also think that reviews like these are, plain and simple, sabotage. The WiiU wasnt even out of its box and the internet was flooded with bad press about stuff like bad framerate issues, a slow CPU, dev teams that couldnt port their game because of these issues...
+Look at the latter. The general press said, that Metro couldnt be ported, because the WiiU couldnt handle it. What what news did we have now ? The dev team never looked at the final hardware specifications. They only peeked at an very early build.
+And sure, some of the other launch games have their technicle difficultys. Which games ? The ports. Why ? Because they are games made for different systems. The ports were rushed to fit into the launch window. Are any of these games so badly broken, that they are unplayable ? No, absolutely not.
+Or some of the bad press against Mario Bros. "Its the same game all over again" Yeah, it is. So is Call of Duty year after year but nobody seems to care.
+The WiiU hat so much great potential what could easily be ruinied by badmouthing the games.
+Example: I LOVE Warriors Orochi 3 (or the whole "Warriors" Franchise). First, the MiiVerse community was extremly small, given that this is quite a niche game. But the community is steadily growing. The thing is: Those who played the game are praising it. Those who didnt ask why we love it so much, because they only read bad reviews, bashing the game left and right.
+It almost seams that "professional" reviewers are trying to prevent the WiiU and its games to become popular, preventing them to overtake the other two consoles.
+But back onto the ZombieU topic:
+This game is everything BUT an FPS. Calling it an FPS because of its perspective is like calling Excitebike a platformer, because its played from left to right.
+Its an atmospheric survival adventure game. Sure, you can wield guns, but you wouldnt call Zelda a shooter, because of the bow, hoockshot and boomerang weapons.
+And i think that ZombieU does what it intendet to do really really well. Its scary, its uncomforting and its challenging. Can you say that about the two other survival horror "kings" (Resident Evil and Silent Hill) nowadays ? Sadly, no.
+Ubisoft defenitly deserves some praise for the game. Its tried to be different and, in my opinion, succeeded. It may not be a technical masterpiece but its atmosphere alone set the bar pretty high again when it comes to survival horror games.
+.
+Still looks better than most of the new Resi's
+Anyone who doesn't like ZombiU or gave it a bad review would most likely be zombie food in a real zombie apocalypse…and for the record i'd be more than happy to put u out of ur misery if there ever was a zombie apocalypse
+Everyone has different tastes in what games they find entertaining and this is no different.
+If u truly like a survival horror this game is for u…but if ur jus looking for a bang bang game go buy Halo 4 or COD BO2 are probably up ur alley and they're both good games as well.
+I love this game but the fact that these so called "gaming" sites are giving it bad reviews jus shows that each individual should research the games they're interested in buying from many places but in the end u should try it urself because like i said before everyone has different tastes…and some people are honestly stupid
+Lowest score was from Gamespot, and they're pretty much worse than Destructoid and IGN as journalists.
+It's a fascinating game IMO. Just haven't had the time to really dig deep into it. But I pledged my money to it on launch day and hope to see this again in future instalments.
+I think it's awesome to finally have a true survival horror game again! The drought since the times before Resident Evil 4 has been too long. Maybe so long that those early reviewers didn't remember what makes a game like that fun... Or they're too young to remember.
+I can only feel sorry for whomever wasn't able to let themselves enjoy this game. This game is actually terrifying if you let it. What fun! Especially the asymmetry between game pad view and action on the big screen, this has led me to several major screams when I wasn't expecting an attack but was distracted while looking down.
+i dont think alot of people understand what they are going for with this game.one of my friends has it and loves it!
+so my girlfriend is getting it for me for christmas i can't wait.
+yes the reviews are VERY HARSH for this game! i have it, played it for about 6 hours and still suck's me in every time i play... yes the bat is very lame when you have to hit a zombie 5-7 times that you kill it but over time you get used to it so the problem is gone + alot of people in miiverse say this game is awesome and it totally is, it's just that game sites like gamespot or ign were dissapointed by it, but we all know that they are d**** when it comes to nintendo exclusive games so the zombiu producers should not feel bad about it and make a sequel because it's a totally great franchise for the Wii U
+it's a great game, it isn't first person shooter it is a one person survival. survival mode is beast and anybody that plays survival send me a friend request, NNID:mattatron, so we can have more survivor zombies.
+Question: How long is this game approximately?
+This was a game that really made me sit up and take notice because of the boldness of the mechanics. I really don't get the harsh reviews compared to the sequelitis afflicting other first person action titles. I still plan to get this; likely it will be my second retail download on the system - just not this year!
+The game got judged on what the review thought they were going to get which was a gears of war/left 4 dead etc style game. When they didn't get it they left a bad review. Looking at the game as it is, it is very atmospheric, spooky, downright scary and very addicting. I really enjoy it and I agree with the Nintendolife review of the game.
+This game is one of my favorite games of 2012 and I'm not a huge fan of anything involving horror
+@CactusJackson Have you even played the game? It's not crappy, but it is not the best either. GameInformer's review was horrible, as were most. Metacritic's score is about what it is. Without going into detail and just giving it a score it'd be around 7 to 7.5... which is still good. This comes from someone who does not like FP camera games or FPS. I still thought the game was good.
+Totally a fan. Brilliant survival horror. That's what I was expecting and that's what I got!
+AWESOME KICK TITLE I'd give It a 10 out 10 for a launch title, @ajcismo I TOTALLY AGREE.
+Wow, the comments here are pretty ridiculous. You know you're reaching when your defense of a game boils down to saying the reviewers don't "get it" or that the game has only gotten negative reviews because they're paid off.
+Or maybe the game is more of a, "it may not be your kind of game sort of thing" ?
+Just because the majority likes a game and praises it doesn't mean everyone else should go along with it, that's called not being able to think for yourself.
+The fact that people let reviews scores get to them is a bit weird. (Unless you're a Game Developer or Publisher)
+.
+The early reviews for zombi u were reflected of envy or hatred towards a new Nintendo console. It's entertainment people! I'm not an android fan, but I don't bash android because I don't own one. We've entered the year of the emo kids.
+"Even a non-conspiracy-theorist and a Nintendo-hater can see how obvious it is that certain review sites and magazines are out to kill Nintendo"
+Citation needed.
+I don't think other sites are "out to get" Nintendo or anything... but I do think a majority of reviewers play other systems more and often don't give Nintendo games a fair shot. Not due to some professional payola-like set-up, but just good ol' fashioned personal bias.
+I was listening to a pretty popular podcast the other day and after one of them discussed having a lot of fun with Nintendo Land, one of the others sighed a loud "MEH," completely dismissing the experience without having any time with the game at all. I think the Wii era pushed away tons of gamers, who happen to then report on the industry, only they tend to report on what they like, which for many is no longer Nintendo. As a fan, I think it's kind of fun to be the underdog (if you can call a billion-dollar company an underdog), so I don't care one bit. But as a lover of games overall, it's too bad when so many dismiss quality work for no good reason.
+But yeah: Opinions are opinions. And those that exclusively play Nintendo games while railing against all the good stuff on PS360/iOS are just as bad. So.... anyway.
+Bring out Zombi2, holiday 2014!.
+Ehhh some people here really must learn the difference between the words "wrong" and "disagree"
+@The_Fox
+Not really. Most of the 'flaws' pointed out by reviewers were things that didn't bother me at all, or we're things I felt 'enhanced' the game. I thought using a bat most of the game increased the tension througout, while other people found it boring or clumsy. Then people said one hit deaths were too much, while I felt it made you concentrate more. This game can really divide people base on their personal preferences or expectations.
+Great game. The really negative reviews were foolish, often taking away points for what makes the game great.
+.
+@AbeVigoda
+Great! If you like those design choices, more power to you. That doesn't mean the reviewers holding a contrary opinion on said elements were wrong, though. (I'm more addressing the overall vibe in the comments section with my last statement)
+@Skotski
+No worries. I was just afraid you'd gone off the deep end for a minute there, lol.
+I can't really comment on the game since I haven't played it yet even though I brought it 3 days after the Wii U was released (distracted by Warriors Orochi, Nintendoland, and RL) but seeing my brother playing it, the game looks like a real fight for survival type horror game. It remind my of the "old school" horror games which you had a slower pace with limited ammo and health supplies to make it more suspenseful.
+Don't worry Ubi, if it makes you feel better, check the MiiVerse and see what your customers think and not the people who possibly rush the game to post a review.
+Reviews are only opinions but when a site has promoted a game for weeks and explained the entire game in previews, only to let someone (with a completely different opinion to what has already been said) give it a shocking review it just goes to show that you can only trust your own judgement these days.
+What irritates me with the mixed reviews is the fact that the sites that the poor reviews come from have just given 90%+ scores to black ops 2, halo 4 and even NSMBU. I know these games are good but they are not massively better than a slightly clunky but highly original experience. What happened to the time when people actually got bad reviews for not innovating their series? I wouldn't be annoyed at this situation but it seems like the big sites just make up their own rules for reviewing every single game. IGN gave Zombi U a poor score but they will be the first people to give a mind blowingly dull Japanese 'collect em up' game a 9.5..
+I ignore most review sites anyway. I like what I saw from this game. Throw a generic space marine on the cover of this game and it will get a 9.5
+Although i haven't got the game just yet (waiting on the demo), Ubisoft deserve credit for doing something other devs wouldn't have. They took a risk, put a new spin on a genre and sat back waiting to see where the path took them. I've followed the game through onm and each time, it amazes me how much creativity they've put into the game.
+As far as reviews go, it seems like Marmite, you either love or hate it. Although i'm not keen on horror games, this game has sparked my interest. High difficulty, no hand holding, pure terror, a showcase of what the game-pad can do...what game offers that nowadays?
+Hopefully come next week, ill be experiencing the game and cacking myself....its all good. I would love Ubi to work on Killer Freaks/They came from outer space (with the man-eating rabbids)that would be sick
+If review scores bother people, they should A) print the review out; B) crinkle it up and throw it in the garbage (or be 'green' and recycle!); C) play game for themselves; D) form own opinion!
+I'm still on the wall about getting this. It went from being hands down the #1 game I wanted for Wii U, to the back of the list, as soon as I saw the first 5 reviews come out for it. I want to get it, but it is just to hard to shell out 60 bucks for a game that doesn't sound half as good as the hype was.
+@CactusJackson you haven't played the game, have you?
+Those reviews weren't sabotage. Most were rushed. Plain and simple.
+@Le_Gazman Cactus cigar usually just gripes about stuff to gripe about stuff. Usually to start arguments.
+It is a very good game !!!
+Is there any daylight levels? Going across the country side trying to survive? That would be awesome.
+Genre defining IMHO. I'd given up on survival horrior until I'd played this. Super metroid with zombies.
+@Koto
+>Implying Destructoid is bad at reviews because their opinions differ sometimes.
+Well..
+Most of those reviewers who gave the game poor reviews are horrible wanna-be gamers expecting Call of Duty Zombies.
+True gamers appreciate the route this game took, when it could have easily fallen back on the modern trend of horror.
+Zombi U needs to go multiplatform.
+But they need to copy the controller first
+@Slapshot What would be the point of having a "U" then?
+Most reviewers and games 'journalists' are actually chimpanzees. True fact.
+As for ZombiU; I'm enjoying it. There are some aspects of the game that annoy me (especially one particular action-focused scene that infuriated me), but overall, I like the game. It is true survival horror; not some namby-pamby, hold-your-hands crap that sites like IGN and Gamespot wanted it to be.
+Also, people need to read the ZombiU Iwata Asks; it is revealed that the original Just Dance on Wii was chastised by reviewers for not being 'accurate' enough...and it turns out that they missed the point of the game entirely.
+There was a time (not so long ago) that I could trust review sites (including IGN).
+Whenever a new game came out, I could look to Matt Casamassina, Craig Harris, or Mark Bozon to give reasonably fair reviews. Whatever their personal tastes, I could usually glean the points important to me as a gamer (longevity, value, fun factor, etc.).
+Eventually, Nintendo Power became one of the few trustworthy sources for reviews/previews. Now, they're gone, and all I have are Nintendo Life and the Miiverse. Don't let me down, guys...
+@CharbroiledEwok - Miiverse is surprisingly great when looking for opinions. Contrary to what the haters think, it is not a heavily modified, propaganda-fest. I've seen very few comments that have been modded.
+Also, the people are really happy and enthusiastic. They are REAL people who actually like things, not deranged forumites that suck joy from every facet of life.
+To be honest I haven't actually played it, but i've watched a fair amount of footage and read a number of reviews. I don't think the issue is that it's 'too' punishing on the player, it's more that in the singleplayer, the spaces you have to navigate through are far too confined for a game like this. Sure, having claustrophobic & dark areas filled with zombies when you have limited resources makes for a fair amount of tension...at first...but the problem is i think, that it feels unfair when the action is 'forced' on you due to the linearity of the design. You're relatively weak, and there is little way of flanking or sneaking by a small room with 4 or 5 zombies in it...Or perhaps taking another vantage point and getting the drop on them.
+A game like Day-Z is a good contrast. That is an open world sandbox...perhaps it's a bit too unfocused.... but the point is, it has big areas and buildings that can be navigated and approached in multiple ways. You have lots of options...but here, you're kind of constantly being funneled forward down a relatively narrow path, and it makes for less compelling gameplay imo..
+The multiplayer looks quite good tho. I'd really like to try playing as a zombie master..that actually looks quite fun.
+It isn't a perfect game (few even come close), but many fans like myself love that a mature game has been produced. It is a survival horror filling the gap left by Resident Evil's shift towards fps blandness that US press seem to be obsessed with. We are grateful that Ubisoft and Grunier developed this game.
+He just needs to do a sequel that we are all desperate to hear confirm, and hopefully give us a sequel that is even better! Personally I'd love a section being stuck in the Gherkin or the Shard (plus maybe the London Eye?, Westminster cathedral, a Parliament full of zombie MP's) ETC ETC !!...
+Been playing it, and so far it's been... okay. I can't pass final judgment just yet, though..
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+Last.
+While F1 2010 focused more on the single player experience more so than the multiplayer, Codemasters have taken a U-turn and this time concentrated on the multiplayer experience. First though, let’s take a quick look at the single player mode and how it has changed.
+In single player career it’s all about living the life of a F1 driver, not only driving the car on track but also the press off track and the battle of getting enough reputation to get noticed by one of the top teams. After all you want to end up racing for the best.
+The first thing you will notice is that the driver’s room has been overhauled giving things a more up to date and fresher look. Gone is the female agent character model and now you only deal with your agent and team via email. You will also have a TV in which you can watch a run through of the track you are about to race in as well, which can be very handy for new comers.
+After most races you will have to deal with the press which will have an impact on your rating depending on how you answer the questions. One thing I have found is that you don’t get as much feedback as you did in F1 2010 after press interviews in terms of other teams reactions, but other than that, it’s just the same affair as before.
+You will be asked three questions with three different answers, although some questions do have a habit of repeating themselves. It would have been good if Codemasters also added the after race press room interview for when you made the top three. Maybe in next year’s game they will as it would certainly add to the overall experience.
+Let’s talk car handling because this is an impeccable feature of the game and it has seen a lot of changes from F1 2010 with the help of the community and real F1 test engineers. It will take you a few laps to get to grips with the new handling but stick with it and you won’t regret it.
+On track the cars handle in a much more life like manner than they used to, with the slightest over cut of corners or clipping the curbs the wrong way sending you into an unrecoverable spin. This will usually have you pulling off a few 360’s or worse, going straight into the wall. On occasion you will be able to recover depending on track and tyre conditions so all is not lost.
+Playing the game in cockpit view has also seen positive results over last year as this time you feel as if you are sitting higher up, allowing you to judge turning into corners more easily.
+This year also sees some changes to the rules with the introduction of DRS and KRS which really adds to the challenge and is a perfect addition to the game, especially online. KRS acts like a speed boost which will have you able to increase how fast you change up the gears, meaning it’s best used on exiting slow corners. The DRS system will see you gain extra speed on straights so use this when turning and you will almost always end up going splat into the wall or fly off onto a gravel patch.
+During races this is only engaged in a certain part of the track and you are within one second of the car in front. During qualifying and practice sessions it can be used anytime.
+When it comes to pitting Codemasters have changed this as well as the pit button where you could alert the pit crew that you were coming in is gone. This has created a double edge sword in terms of challenge as it does mean that you don’t have to worry about alerting the crew before you come in, but unless you plan to come in when you are due to make a stop, then you will need to remember the pit entrance for each track.
+The onscreen info of your cars condition and temperature has been gifted with a new look as well as a third info tab. Whereas F1 2010 just gave you status on your tyres, brakes, engine temperatures and condition, you now can get information on estimated fuel remaining and also your rejoin position after making a pit stop.
+The degrading of your tyres and fuel load are much stricter than last year as well. For example I could run a 20% race on a rich engine in 2010, but try that this year and you’ll start running out of fuel within the last 2-3 laps and it’s a lot more noticeable in terms of performance. You will also see engine failures in the form of the KRS going offline which has happened a few times to me, usually within about 5 laps to the finish.
+This year also see’s a new tyre manufacture, Pirelli, who have provided test data for Codemasters to closely simulate their performance. So far the tyre wear and tear happens a little more quickly than last year, but this time you can really see this on screen when slowing down on hairpin’s etc. Also if you go off the race line, you will end up picking up marbles that will have a negative effect on tyre grip.
+The biggest addition to the game is one that should really have been in last years but for whatever reason, it wasn’t. I am of course talking about the safety car and boy does it really look the part as well. The safety car will come out if there is a bad enough accident although it is only enabled in race lengths of 20% or more which does make sense. I have had it come out a few times but it really does take a lot to get this car to come onto the track.
+The AI has also been tweaked and again it has seen an improvement on track. Not only are they aggressive (yeah I’m looking at you Hamilton) but they will also defend their positions as well. This time you will need to think again if you go for the inside line as they will move over to defend it. You will also get backmarkers move out the way for you in advance, but a word of caution, do not try the overtake of a backmarker when coming up to a corner as they will move back onto the racing line right in front of you which can be troublesome at times, causing you to lose your front wing.
+In qualifying things have been improved in terms of lap time and you can now be cheeky and hold up an AI driver, ruining their lap time. Last year they still managed to post a good time so I’m glad that Codemasters definitely fixed this. For newcomers to the series a setting on either amateur or intermediate will give a great challenge and if you are a seasoned F1 veteran, then the pro setting and above is advised for a real challenge to taking that pole position.
+The on track penalty system has been improved but still has a few annoyances at times. You can tip the AI drivers without a constant warning, something that plagued the races last year, but you can still be penalized for AI hammering into the back of you. The penalty system has been improved in some areas but others there are still bugs that consist. Don’t get me wrong though, it doesn’t spoil races, it’s more of a nitpicking.
+Last years multiplayer side of things was great, considering that we got the full blown F1 experience and online multiplayer. Codemasters have really gone to town and improved it massively though by giving us a full blown grid of 24 racers plus the inclusion of the safety car feature as well.
+You can now have a total of 16 Human players and 8 AI with the option to set each of the driver AI difficulty individually. This evens things up a lot if you race with people that are way better at the game than yourself.
+Other positive additions to multiplayer are the ability to kick players from the lobby or vote to end a session. The addition of a spectator mode means if you crash out early you can always watch any of the other drivers still racing which fills in the time instead of just looking at the results screen like last year. Most of the time the races are smooth going online but I have experienced a little lag on a couple of races where I was dropped about 4 positions which all happened to be computer controlled drivers.
+You will now also be able to take to an online co-op career mode with any of your friends where both of you will be racing for the same team and therefore competing not only for the constructors championship, but also to be the number one driver for the team and ultimately the world champion. This has given the game so much replay value, especially if you have a good few friends with the game.
+Graphically this year’s iteration feels like a whole new game. Tracks look a lot more life like in detail and a lot more colourful and vibrant. The grass has a great amount of detail and looks great when stuck to your tyres. As races progress you will start to see the racing line but also the dirty parts of the track, where you will pick up marbles.
+In the wet, the game even looks better than last year which I thought could not be possible. On a majorly wet track you can see reflection in the water as well as a dry line forming and the back spray from the car in front is as blinding as ever.
+The paddock has also been given a face lift but the best graphics are experienced on track, especially as the cars look a lot more shinier and metallic. A major problem last year was the amount of detail on the side mirrors which made using the cockpit view for me near impossible, however this year they are fully detailed and makes the cockpit view a lot easier to use.
+At the end of each race and qualifying session Codies have added a little cut scene of the top 3 drivers celebrating which is a nice touch, although I would have liked to have seen a podium cut scene as well after the race.
+The audio has also been improved a lot. Over the radio the engineer is a lot more accurate in providing information and this works amazingly well even online. At least I now know who is at the back of me without having to manually look back, and they are clever at keeping up with the changes in other cars fuel etc. When hammering it down a straight, you will hear the wind whistling to enhance that extra feeling of the speeds that you are travelling at.
+Overall, F1 2011 really does feel like a new game with all the added features and tweaks. It would have been easy for Codemasters to stick to the F1 2010 title and just add in the new driver roster and tracks but they certainly don’t do things in half measures. Many a time have I played a yearly update of the latest football title to feel the spending is unjustified but I never got this feeling with F1 2011. The look of the game and handling of the cars really do make it feel much more than a typical sequel in a sport game franchise.
+F1 2010 held pole position for being one of the best video game iterations for the sport but F1 2011 has stolen that crown. The inclusion of DRS and KRS has really put the icing on the cake for this being one of the best F1 sims on a console/PC. Codemasters set out to give players the ultimate experience in driving these elite F1 cars round some of the best tracks in the world and they do this in bucket loads.
+Now back I go on my quest to retain the World Championship and constructors title.
+Overall 9/10
+Gameplay
++ Improved A.I.
+Car handling is a lot more realistic.
+A full 24 car grid in multiplayer.
+Online Co-op season.
+Safety car is now included.
+Red flag now included (although I have still not had it been awarded yet)
+- AI can still break too early into corners.
+Still no warm up lap.
+Can take a lot for the safety car come out.
+Graphics
++ Vast improvement over F1 2010.
+You can now really see the tyre wear.
+Track detail is amazing.
+Looks stunning in the rain.
+A lot more debris appears on track when cars collide.
+- Paddock graphical detail not as good as when racing.
+When exiting the paddock in qualifying/practice or just before a race, there can be some jerkiness.
+Audio
++ Having the engineer in multiplayer makes a world of difference.
+The finer details are all there to be heard including brake lock ups.
+Veiled
+Severus Snape opened his eyes and peered up at a vision of tree limbs, stretching tall and spindly to disappear into leaf clusters and open sky. He sat up and took in the still forest around him. Eerily, no breeze or bird stirred. Beyond the towering tree trunks lay a bright meadow that cast a hazy glow through the intervening trunks.
+A bird twittered and then a breeze rustled.
+"Severus," a familiar figure intoned welcomingly.
+The unexpected vision of Albus Dumbledore crouching beside him made Snape instinctively grasp for his neck, recent memory flooding him. Frantic groping around his jugular revealed puncture wounds, and sticky silvery blood.
+"Ah, is that how it went, then?" Dumbledore asked gently.
+"How . . . ?" Snape began, but faded out. He was about to ask how what went? but decided belatedly that he understood the comment. He wiped his hands on the leaf fall beside him, since he had no clothes to wipe them on. He wondered for a moment if Potter had understood the memories passed to him, but decided there was nothing he could do about it now. "So, where is this?"
+"I don't know," Dumbledore said. "What does it look like?"
+Snape attempted to glare at the old wizard, but Dumbledore ignored it. Sounding the gracious host, Dumbledore said, "Perhaps you would like to be robed?"
+Twice Snape tried to respond, but dared not come out yet with the derisive tone he really wanted to use. He was distracted in this by the sight of a set of robes identical to those he typically pulled from his wardrobe for teaching. Rather than being nestled in a wardrobe, this set hung from a tree limb.
+Snape rocked forward to get to his feet and walked over to tug the robes down. He crumpled the fabric in his hands and stared at it rather than don them. What difference did it make if he were naked or not . . . he was dead.
+Dumbledore cut into his thoughts, "I think you'll be more comfortable dressed, should you encounter anyone else."
+Snape glanced around the dark, unmoving forest. "Whom would I encounter, here, of all places?"
+Dumbledore clasped his hands behind his back and paced slowly. "Anyone also dead is a possibility."
+Snape tugged on the robes, but before he sealed them he touched his chest, which was marred with a whorl that cut across flesh and bone equally. It felt both hard and tender to the touch. "I wasn't injured here, I don't think," he muttered in confusion.
+"Problem?" Dumbledore asked.
+"I wasn't injured . . . like this," Snape said, wanting to understand this. Things were strange enough.
+"There is more than one kind of injury here," Dumbledore explained in a tone that expected it to explain everything. "Some things are healed when you cross over." He clasped his hands together, which hid them inside the broad sleeves of his robe. "So, where exactly are you; if you don't mind my asking?"
+"I am obviously in a forest," Snape said, wondering if somehow the old wizard had grown more dottering by dying.
+Dumbledore smiled and waved off his annoyance. "I cannot see what you see, my dear Severus. No one can."
+Snape exhaled what could not really be air, but felt like it. "Ah."
+Dumbledore's sleeves bounced as he fidgeted his hand. "Is there an obvious way out?"
+Snape turned toward the glowing meadow where the towering, spindly trees, dark in contrast to the light beyond, came to an abrupt halt. "That way."
+"Presuming that you wish to go on . . ."
+"What do you mean?" Snape interrupted. "I have an option? I do not particularly wish to be dead."
+Dumbledore straightened. "Your option, should you refuse to go on, is to become a ghost."
+"That is not an option."
+"Well, then . . ." Dumbledore caught his long beard on his arm when he raised it to invite Snape to walk in the direction he had indicated.
+Snape stared at him unhappily before accepting the lead.
+Glaring sunlight might have been what one expected given the glow emanating from within the trees, but there was no actual sun. Above hung a glowing sky of muted, washed out blue and below a long, long meadow, slightly valleyed. The open grass led down to a town in the far distance one way and to the crest of a hill far off in the other. Snape had only take a few steps onto the meadow, but when he turned back the trees were remote, far behind him. He stopped.
+"What is this?" Snape asked.
+"I cannot see it; I'm afraid," Dumbledore answered patiently.
+"What do YOU see?" Snape demanded.
+Dumbledore turned slowly, eyes focussing too close for anything visible. "I see my office in the tower." He waved an arm. "A few of my things . . . it was too cluttered before."
+Snape looked around himself at the mesmerizing grass bowing slowly in the breeze. It stretched on in a way that promised a walk of a whole day and more to reach anything. Snape reeled at the meaninglessness of it. And in desperation tried to simply understand and not worry about the future. "You said others are here? Where are they?"
+"Ah." Dumbledore sounded grateful to be on better ground. "Well, you have to be thinking of them at the same time they are thinking of you. Then you will meet."
+Snape considered that; thought about people who were recently dead, of which there was no shortage. He did this for a while, unsure how long because time had lost meaning in a way something as fundamental as time should not. A figure faded into view, strange for having two real legs.
+"Alastor," Snape said in surprise.
+"Severus!" Moody exclaimed, confidently striding closer to pat Snape on the arm. His touch did not quite connect even though it appeared to. It felt like a breeze ruffling Snape's robes against his arm. "So, what happened to you?" the old Auror asked.
+Snape formulated a reply through the sudden heat of betrayal. He reached up and touched his neck, which was now unmarred. "The Dark Lord murdered me." So very odd to state that, for many reasons.
+"After all this time?" Moody asked. He scratched the back of his head. "Wouldn't've expected that."
+"I certainly did not."
+Snape looked over at Dumbledore, standing patiently by.
+"Aye, of course, Albus is here with you, I presume?" Moody asked. "He does like to greet people he knew, which is a lot of people." The old Auror stepped closer to Dumbledore and said, "Good to see you as always."
+Snape only then realized that they could not see each other until just then.
+Moody interpreted Snape's sudden silence saying, "Ah, you'll get used to it. Makes it easy to be alone when you want to be, let me tell you."
+They chatted for a while longer, until Snape found the reminisces of recent other deaths too tiresome, given that he appeared to be facing eternity in a giant meadow and others, somehow, were doing better than he. Moody faded out the same way he had come. Dumbledore spoke to Moody longer, but Snape could not hear him except as a faint whispering that could have been the grass.
+When Dumbledore returned his attention to him, Snape said, "I could get to like that power."
+"Perhaps you need some time alone to think?"
+"Think about what?" Snape asked. "There is nothing to think about!" He gestured at the open space around him. "There is nothing to experiment with, nothing to cast a spell at, what on earth . . ." Snape flinched at the painful mistake. "What would anyone need to think about in a place like this?" He stopped at an odd sound, wondering where it came from. He did not see anything around him.
+"What is it?" Dumbledore asked.
+His old mentor's caring patience had grown cloying. "Nothing of any consequence," Snape grumbled and wished him away.
+Trouble was, there was nothing left to distract him from the meadow which, were he alive, might have been beautiful, might have been just the kind of place where someone who grew up in a grimy, claustrophobic mill town would have loved to escape. Snape squinted down the gentle valley. He could no longer see the city in the distance; the meadow just went on and on. He began walking in the slight upward direction, towards the crest of the hill.
+Snape walked and walked. He walked until his mind, attempting to keep time using his pace, decided that if nothing else had happened in that much time, then nothing was going to, and if he were no closer to his destination, then he would never be. Snape fell to his knees and sat there in the bowing grass, mind numb.
+The mad, hopeless circling of Snape's thoughts was broken by the same cracking sound repeating, louder this time. Snape, from his perch on his heels, glanced around. This time he did see something; he saw a crack in the perfect blue sky as though his world, his meadow, were just a dome and a fragile crystal one at that.
+Snape stared at the crack, at the way it forked into three crazed lines and around each, the pale blue washed out nearly to white. Worried, but grateful for something to contemplate, Snape sat back and considered it. As he did so, the blue color reasserted itself and Snape could not be sure, but the cracks may be shortening.
+Snape's contemplation was interrupted by a figure arriving not by fading in, but by stepping in as if the air were a doorway. In contrast to the washed out colors around him, the visitor was a vivid composition of darks and brights.
+"I certainly wasn't thinking of you," Snape said to the wholly unexpected figure of Sirius in long hair and long flowing robes, but sans beard.
+Sirius crossed his arms. "I get that a lot, believe me. Because I fell into the veil whole I can find people even if they don't want to find me." He stated this with smug aplomb. "I play messenger rather a lot as a result."
+Snape stood up, not willing to ignore his nemesis's presence just in the faint hope it would force him to leave again. "I imagine."
+"And the message I have for you . . ." Sirius pretended, with overdone mimed movements, to pull out a scroll and unwind it before him. "Is that Dumbledore wishes to see you."
+"Does he?" Snape said, trying to not wish to see him. It did not work; boredom was more powerful than his ego.
+Dumbledore shooed Sirius away and the other backed up with a bow and stepped away through the thin air.
+"How are you, Severus?" Dumbledore asked.
+"I don't know," Snape replied.
+"Well, I come with good news. Harry has defeated Voldemort." When Snape did not respond, Dumbledore added, "Your work, your sacrifice, was not in vain."
+"I am dead. I don't care." Snape flinched this time when the cracking sounded. He turned and peered with reluctant fear at the damage. It was more than a crack now, a piece was missing and beyond in the gap, pink mists swirled.
+"Severus," Dumbledore said in clear concern. "Are you having difficulty?"
+Dumbledore approached, but Snape backed away from him. Finally he stopped and confronted his old mentor. "I need to know . . ." he demanded, feeling desperation which made him bend forward because he lacked the strength to stand straight. The endless meadow fell away from him in all directions, an endless giant globe of bowing grassland, promising nothing. "I need to know, is this heaven or hell?"
+Dumbledore parted his hands. "It is whatever you make of it."
+Snape glanced behind at the gap in the sky. "I will go mad here." He stopped and pondered the pink swirling fog. "What is beyond this place?" He was back on his knees again even though he did not remember falling.
+Dumbledore bent over him, touching him but not touching him. "I did not imagine you would be in such difficulty already."
+"What is happening to me?" Snape asked, feeling real fear, despite being dead, a condition one would expect to be free of fear, since what in the end did one normally fear but death itself? He almost laughed at the conundrum of that.
+Dumbledore grasped his shoulders like a stiff breeze or a Hover Charm. "Severus, your world here is of your own making. You have to accept that."
+Snape stared at him, fixed his mind on his familiar features, trying to do as he was told. His own making. How hard could that be? Except that his world had never been of his own making. It had always been controlled by someone else, and the best he had done was stake out a workable, liveable space inside that. Perhaps this was not so different.
+"Can you stand?" Dumbledore asked anxiously.
+Snape started to, but said, "What? Afraid you will have to feel guilty if I self-destruct?"
+"No, because I care about you. Come on, stand up." His voice had grown commanding, so Snape tried harder to obey.
+"You didn't care much when you insisted I use an Unforgivable Killing Curse on you," he grumbled, feeling a sting on his chest at the memory. He rubbed the marred flesh under his robe. "This wound is from that, isn't it? The other is gone like you said. Funny that the wound the Dark Lord inflicted on me is gone but the one you inflicted remains."
+Dumbledore did not reply. Snape managed to get his feet with only a ghostly touch to guide him even as hard as Dumbledore seemed to be trying to grab at him. He swayed, but remained upright.
+Dumbledore said, "Come now, Severus, you must feel some pleasure at knowing Voldemort is finally defeated."
+Snape had to concede that he felt a little. "I'd enjoy it more if I were alive to enjoy it." The sheering split behind him made him flinch.
+"Severus," Dumbledore said in a voice normally reserved for very errant students, "You cannot afford the luxury of wishing for life. Accept what you have."
+"This is nothing," he snapped, horrified that anyone could believe otherwise.
+The shattering snap from this assertion made him jump and nearly topple over. He turned with dread to stare into the swirling dilute-blood mist that covered a quarter of the sky. Dumbledore came closer, near his ear. "How bad is it?"
+"You cannot see it?" Snape muttered, studying the jagged edges of his world. "What can you see?"
+"I can see you," Dumbledore answered and surprisingly this answer healed one of the tiny cracks leading away from the edge.
+Don't think about the future, Snape began to chant to himself. Only right here, right now.
+"How bad? Is it more than halfway gone?"
+"No."
+Dumbledore's clear relief raised Snape's spirits.
+"It can be repaired?" Snape asked.
+"Yes, of course, but the more shattered it is, the more difficult it will be. Missing pieces must be replaced with something."
+"What?" Snape asked, trying to hope it was something he could actually find.
+"Whatever works," Dumbledore replied.
+Snape ran his hand through his hair, fighting despair because his, well, not his life, but at least, or perhaps even more importantly, his after-life depended on it.
+"I need to readjust my thinking," Snape said.
+"Yes. And it takes time to do that, but you don't have that luxury any longer."
+Snape peered at the swirling beyond. As bad as his empty meadow was, that looked far worse. At least there used to be a city at the end of his meadow. Maybe that had been the first thing to go. Snape sighed and pulled his thoughts to something else, something vaguely happy.
+"So, the Dark Lord is actually dead?"
+"Yes," Dumbledore said with happy certainty.
+"Potter defeated him, I suppose," Snape asked with reluctance. "He's dead too?"
+"No, he is quite alive."
+"How in Merlin's magic did he do that . . . or do I really want to hear the answer?" He felt unbelievably grudging, suffocatingly enslaved by not being able to really get upset or risk losing what little future he had left.
+"He did exactly what I told you to tell him. You must have got your message through."
+"Maybe too much message," Snape said, thinking that he expected the boy to be dead with those memories, not wandering the wizarding world, free to pass them on. The thought made him queasy. "But how did he survive it?"
+"He was tied to life by the blood Voldemort took from him to remake himself. He could choose to return alive from the edge of the veil and did so."
+"Bloody convenient for him," Snape said.
+"He stepped in front of a Killing Curse and did not counter or fight it. He was willing to die for something bigger than himself.
+"DO NOT say I should take a lesson from him," Snape growled, seeing where this was going.
+"I would not imagine doing so," Dumbledore said, hands up in surrender but his amused eyes belied him.
+Snape closed his eyes, pained by his situation, especially in contrast to that of an enemy. He froze. "So, the Dark Lord is . . . here?"
+"He is," Dumbledore said and stepped back in a way one would to make space for other's joining.
+Snape, abandoned, glanced around, alarmed at who he might meet, especially with no wand.
+Dumbledore's voice was still reassuringly close as it said, "No fear, Severus, he cannot harm you."
+Snape suppressed his panic and turned when something caught his eye, lower to the ground than he expected to find someone arriving. It was not quite human and it rocked back and forth emitting noises of misery. He listened; if they were words, they were unintelligible.
+Snape stared at the thing, bathed in the icy shock of realization. "That's the Dark Lord?"
+"That is what is left of him after cleaving his soul so many times."
+Snape looked down at himself. "I am whole like this and he is not?" he asked, knowing how dunderheaded the question sounded, but needing dearly the reinforcement of hearing the answer.
+"Yes, Severus." When he saw Snape rubbing his scarred chest, he said, "That too can heal, but it will take a very long time. In contrast, there is little to no hope for this thing ever being anything more human than this."
+Snape turned to Dumbledore, feeling considerably better. He wished to not see Voldemort any longer and the hunched figure faded out. He glanced up and found that just maybe the gaping hole represented just a little bit less of the sky.
+"Why don't you wish us a bench to sit on, and we'll enjoy the view here," Dumbledore offered, convincingly pretending he was in Snape's world. Snape took a seat on a bench that appeared, mostly because he agreed the meadow would look much more civilized with one in it. Dumbledore sat beside him. "I hope you don't mind an old wizard's company, because I would like to stay until you are feeling definitively better."
+Snape glanced behind them, where Voldemort had disappeared. He sat forward again and slipped his hands into his pockets. "Things could be much worse."
+"The human psyche does seem to need that as an anchor, doesn't it?" Dumbledore mused.
+"Am I still human . . . what am I?" Snape asked. He felt about half real: he breathed and his heart beat, but it threatened to reveal itself to be an illusion for the sake of normality if examined too closely.
+"You are the very essence of your humanity," Dumbledore said, sounding pleased to say it.
+"Wonderful," Snape muttered and started at Dumbledore chuckling. "What is so funny?"
+"I think I've been missing you, Severus. Everyone else I've ever met here would respond with sentimentality to such a revelation."
+"I believe it," Snape muttered grimly. He sighed, sort of.
+"Isn't there anyone you'd like to see again?" Dumbledore asked.
+Snape's mind flitted over various people, and he froze and stopped thinking about it, not really wanting any of them to appear. "No."
+"Really? Not your mother or . . . even Lily."
+"No," Snape repeated, feeling undone by the very notion. Recriminations from that source would be the end of him, he was certain.
+Gently, Dumbledore said, "Well, whenever you are ready. You have rather a lot of time to change your mind. Nearly everyone changes their mind, eventually."
+"I assume the Potters are always together?" Snape asked, unable to resist his curiosity.
+"Yes, usually," came the pleasant reply.
+"Figures," Snape muttered. "For eternity, no less."
+They sat there on the bench, making idle conversation that ebbed and flowed like the slow wind on the grass surrounding them.
+"You have nothing else to be doing?" Snape finally asked his old mentor. He was growing somewhat bored with his presence, but in his gut did not want him to leave.
+"Nothing else," Dumbledore replied. "You accuse me of selfish motives in wanting to help you, but it is really not true. Feelings aside, you were always loyal to me once you pledged to be and I certainly could not have succeeded without you. I owe you at least seventeen years of my time in return."
+"How much time has passed?" Snape asked. The sky was annoyingly unchanging. His head felt heavy, now that he considered it. Could one grow sleepy here?
+"It does not matter," Dumbledore replied. "Time has no meaning."
+"It does have meaning. As others enter the veil, they can tell you the date. It would have meaning from that."
+"True, but it only confuses things to try to use the living world's calendar in that way. It's harder than just letting go and I think you need to stick with what is easier for now. Your journey towards becoming whole again is a long and arduous one." He touched Snape's shoulder, but it was no more than the beat of the wings of a passing bird. "But I know for a fact that what you lack in positive outlook, you more than make up for in discipline."
+Snape looked at Dumbledore's aged hand on his shoulder. "There is no touch here."
+"There is a little. Sirius has an advantage there as well. I sometimes send him on missions to hug as a result."
+"Do. Not. Send. Him. To. Me." Snape stated, appalled to the core.
+Dumbledore laughed, tossing his head back. "Oh, my dear man. I wouldn't dream of it, but I don't mind the reminder."
+Snape's head nodded, growing heavier. "Does one sleep?" he asked.
+"You may do whatever you wish," Dumbledore said.
+"But to sleep," Snape argued. "What would be the point of it?"
+Dumbledore wagged a boney finger at him. "Now, now, that's the wrong attitude. You may have whatever you like if you can imagine it and, here is the critical part, believe in your heart that you deserve it. People with a positive outlook, overladen with sentimentality, do startlingly well here."
+"People like you?" Snape asked dryly.
+"Even I have had to work at it, as I'm sure you can well imagine. But if you are tired, wouldn't a little rest feel nice?" he prodded, voice cajoling. Snape peered around the grass at his feet. He did not have the strength to conjure a bed. Dumbledore said, "Lay out your cape on the grass, it is quite soft."
+It did look soft. "But it does not make sense," Snape said, fighting what may be fatigue but could also be more death for all he knew.
+Lecturing, Dumbledore said, "I'll admit it isn't exhaustion as you are wanting to define it. The spirit can simply desire a break and because of the regular habit of sleep to which your psyche is so very accustomed. It translates that way because it feels comfortable to do so. Don't fight it, Severus. If there was any one mantra I would have for you right now until you are healed it would be: don't fight it.
+Snape lay his cloak out and curled up on it, barely making it to the ground before slipping into a swirling pale world of not-quite-dreams.
+When he awoke, or more accurately, came to a more common awareness, he was alone. He sat up and Dumbledore appeared on the bench in the same position as before.
+"How long was I out?" Snape asked.
+"It does not matter. Think of it as eight hours if you wish."
+"Eight hours. All right." Snape accepted that even though his sense of logic wanted to scream at him. He beat it down with force and told it he could not afford it right now. Beyond Dumbledore the hazy pink swirling sky appeared just a little smaller again.
+"How are you doing?" Dumbledore asked, seeing Snape's gaze.
+He took a seat beside Dumbledore, leaving his cloak on the ground. "Better, I think. I have to lose myself, but no great loss," he stated grimly, frustrated.
+"Severus," Dumbledore chastised. "That's not true." Then more brightly: "When you are better and your world is solid again, it will tolerate more of your old miserable self again."
+"Promise?" Snape asked, finding a smile trying to sneak onto his lips. His situation had grown dire enough to be comical, apparently.
+"Certain you don't wish to see Lily?"
+"Positive. Why do you keep asking?"
+"Because I think it will help you a great deal."
+Snape glared at him. "To be accused in person of killing her and her bloody husband and nearly their child. Oh, I am certain that will help."
+"Severus, Voldemort and Pettigrew are far more . . ."
+Snape jumped to his feet and began pacing, thinking of Pettigrew, wanting to confront him properly, face to face, finally. He did this a long while, with Dumbledore watching. He was stubborn, and eventually—who knows how long it took—Peter Pettigrew appeared. The former friend of James Potter instantly cringed and wrapped his vaguely paw-like hands around each other.
+"You traitorous bastard, you got what you deserved," Snape said. "I wanted you dead, but had to protect you because the Dark Lord expected it."
+Pettigrew moved his head like a rodent, eyes not really focussing.
+"Most likely he cannot hear you, Severus," Dumbledore said softly, sounding tragic. "His world has long since shattered."
+Snape took a step back, taking in the hunched, constantly moving man before him. Pettigrew's head tilted this way and that as though to try to catch sight of something. "Are you certain he can't hear me?" Snape asked.
+"He probably hears a whispering. He may know you are there, but just as a shadow. Before he lost everything, he told me he considered your treatment of him a kindness. He did not get much kindness those last few years in servitude."
+"He didn't deserve any," Snape said, disgusted now by the sight before him. He wished the man away and he faded out. Snape pushed his hands into his pockets and resumed his seat. "He is in hell, isn't he?" he asked. "Nothing for company but a blood-stained sky and earth for eternity."
+Sadly, Dumbledore replied, "It is unlikely he'll recover. Not impossible, but unlikely."
+Snape sat on his bench, peering at the endless vision before him. He struggled with words that wanted to come out but he did not wish really to give voice to them. They were pride-consuming words, but they would most likely help and he needed all the help he could get.
+"Thank you for staying with me," Snape said. A tiny sliver of one jagged part of the sky repaired itself as his voice drifted away on the wind.
+"I have all the time in the world for you, Severus."
+Snape sat across from Karkaroff at a fine oak table under a white canopy tent that fluttered intermittently in the wind whenever he remembered that it had not done so recently. He well knew now how to create a real building around himself, but found he preferred not to. The unconstrained space of the meadow appealed to him now even as disconcerting as it had been in the beginning.
+A great deal of time had passed. As Dumbledore had asserted, keeping careful track was a mistake, but Snape knew it was many years in the living world. Knowing this made it easier to let go, for him anyhow. Others, like his mother, whom he met with occasionally, were distressed by the increasing distance time impressed upon the dead.
+Karkaroff was a safe visitor. He too struggled with a world even more precariously damaged than Snape's had ever been and had no complaints about long contemplative silences. He sat, hunched, sipping tea. Snape never bothered to ask him what he saw around him and the man never volunteered to sketch his personal, internal-external scene.
+"You seem better today," Snape observed because Karkaroff's hands had not twitched even once.
+Karkaroff snorted. "If it were safe to tell you what I feel about this place I would tell you. As it is, I'm afraid to even think it." Karkaroff's face twisted faintly. "I assume you understand."
+"Well enough," Snape agreed. The first time Karkaroff had appeared he was nearly as lost as Pettigrew, jerky and barely aware of his surroundings. For some reason, not well understood by Snape, he had persisted in trying to talk to the man. He told himself that it was because he would make a reasonable companion when the boredom grew oppressive, and that was true enough. But, as Dumbledore annoyingly took great pleasure in pointing out, in the end Snape benefited at least as much. He could not argue against this given how much repair he had managed on his own world when he was not even paying attention to it, but to Karkaroff's instead. Only one large triangular piece was missing now in the dome of Snape's world. A few hairline cracks teased around the corners of it, lengthening or shortening depending on his mood. Things had been that way long enough that he had begun to simply think of the gap as a reminder of what he was guarding against, like a window on an endless storm for someone drawing up complicated plans for a better house.
+Dumbledore surprisingly appeared when Snape's mind touched on a vision of him without really expecting to see him.
+"Severus, so glad to find you so easily," he stated graciously. He gave the Bulgarian a faint bow after Snape pointed out his presence. Karkaroff gave Dumbledore a grudging greeting, his embarrassment causing him to send Snape away. Snape had grown accustomed to these disjointed group discussions. If one concentrated just right, one could just make out what someone present was saying to another person not wishing to be present.
+Dumbledore said goodbye to Karkaroff and stood alone before Snape, hand raised in invitation to stand. "I thought you'd like to see Minerva, she has just arrived."
+"You persist in sounding pleased when someone dies," Snape complained. "You are running another reverse-wake, I suppose?"
+Dumbledore smiled. "If you wish to call it that. Minerva asked about you, specifically."
+"How long has it been; if you think it safe for me to know?"
+"Ten years, Severus. Or thereabouts."
+There was so very little to think about in this place that new arrivals, like the worst gossiping circles of the damned, were the only possible source of new information. Snape could not help himself and a moment later Minerva McGonagall appeared, speaking emotionally to someone Snape could not see.
+She turned to him and exclaimed, "Severus!" as though greeting someone she, well . . . cared deeply about.
+Snape froze and as a result did not move fast enough to avoid a hug. "Just because I am dead, does not mean I have lost my mind," he said to her, but she just smiled in return.
+"I can't really hug anyone anyway, I'm realizing."
+"Sirius you can hug . . . so I am told," Snape informed her. She was still clinging to his sleeves. "Thank Merlin I have not verified that from experience."
+She laughed, face brightening even more as she glanced around what from her side must be a very crowded place. She did not know enough to say whom she saw to pull Snape into the group, and mostly he did not care.
+"You seem happy to be dead," he said when her damp-eyed gaze came back his way.
+"I have more friends dead than alive now, by a wide margin," she explained, glancing around with a soft expression. "But I am glad to see you, Severus. I never got a chance . . . well, to understand, I think."
+Strange, this hit Snape harder than expected. He had never sought or believed he cared about her understanding, but perhaps he was wrong. She released him, like butterflies taking flight from his sleeves and greeted someone else Snape did not know.
+Dumbledore stepped closer to Snape. "You are remembered with a bit more good will than you realize," he said.
+"That would not be difficult to achieve," Snape commented, watching McGonagall circulate within an invisible, whispering group.
+"James and Lily," McGonagall said with feeling, going along a roster of those present.
+Snape could not exit in time and the pair appeared. They looked exactly as he remembered them from so many years ago. Lily especially. Snape set his jaw and held himself fast. Lily looked his way and they stared at each other while James carried on a wholesome and noxiously sentimental conversation with McGonagall. His old colleague would do fine here, Snape thought to himself a tad derisively. He heard the faintest crack behind him and schooled himself to stop that debilitating train of thought.
+The rest of the crowd began disappearing and breaths later he and Lily stood alone. Snape felt like an insect pinned to a glaring white board. After this much time of carefully avoiding thinking of her for long enough that she might also happen at that moment to think of him, he had no idea what to say. As a result, she spoke first.
+"Severus?" she prompted. Her muted red hair was exactly as he remembered it, long, flowing. He could not speak for a minute but managed a nod.
+"You look well," she said.
+True, he thought. He could be much worse. His mantra; this was not the best time for it. His world was going to fall apart talking to her and he would have to start again. But by Merlin, at least this would be over with.
+"Nothing to say?" she asked, almost amused.
+Snape shook his head and spoke anyway. "What is there to say?"
+She glanced to her left and said something to McGonagall. Snape saw his old colleague then as well and then Dumbledore and then James Potter. Lily spoke other names and whole a crowd appeared. Old teachers. Old Order members. Lily was doing that for him, he knew. It did not make him feel better.
+"Oh, yes," McGonagall was saying. "Harry is poised to take over the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Everyone is so proud of him, well, those that haven't got in his way these last few years." Her tone turned darkly amused.
+"Sounds like a right son of mine," James said proudly. He glared at Snape, who gave him a scoffing look in return.
+"Yes, and a second child now . . ." McGonagall was saying. "He and Ginny turn out the most gorgeous children."
+Snape was more than ready to leave. This was making him wish for another death, or at least another circle of hell. Fortunately, his discomfort did not cause any damage. He sighed, tolerated a wink from Dumbledore, who held up a subtle hand to forestall his departure. Snape wondered why he insisted on punishing him with more of this.
+McGonagall turned to the old wizard. "He named the youngest after you, Albus. I thought you'd like to know. Cutest little boy with eyes just like Harry's."
+"Oh dear, I do hope they didn't use Wolfric too," he said with the kind of theatrical lilt that made Snape believe he was setting something up. Snape had not seen that in, well, eleven years.
+He stared questioningly at Dumbledore as McGonagall laughed and said, "Oh, no. Harry named him for his other favorite former headmaster, Severus."
+Snape stared at her, believing that last must have been in Parseltongue and he just thought he understood her. James shouted, "WHAT!" sharply enough to make Snape and others jump.
+McGonagall gave James a Dumbledorish smile. "But, of course, Harry rather idolizes Severus, I'm not surprised."
+Snape stared at her. Then turned to Dumbledore with a look. You knew. Dumbledore winked.
+"You bewitched my son!" James accused, stepping closer, but stopping before crossing in front of Lily.
+Snape held his ground even though old instincts tugged at him to retreat. "I did no such thing," he uttered, distracted from saying anything more forceful by trying to sort things out in his own head.
+McGonagall intervened. "Oh, come now. No one in their right mind would imagine that Harry of all people could be bewitched against his will." She turned to Snape and again her words so mismatched his own understanding he instinctively believed them to be gibberish. She said, "Harry's told me on several occasions how brave you were."
+Snape stared at her. "What?" he managed. He retreated a step from her, which he had explicitly not done in the face of Potter's accusations. He did not want to care what Harry Potter thought, or did, or what he named his brats, but it was not working so well. For one thing, he was not supposed to care what the living were doing. A cracking sound came from behind him. Pained, trapped by his own despised fragility, he retreated completely.
+The meadow was empty again. He shook his head, found the will for a rock to sit upon and took advantage of it. He hugged his knees loosely, trying very hard not to lose his slippery grip on his oh-so-flimsy reality. Confusion and perverse curiosity tugged at him. The meadow was too empty. He was halfway along some winding, treacherous path and could not retrace his steps nor could he remain where he was, hanging like this.
+Snape stood when Lily appeared.
+"Why'd you run off?" she asked.
+Again, that unsettling mismatch. She behaved as if she had forgiven him and that was impossible.
+"I'm not fond of crowds," he said, half-intentionally disparaging her earlier effort to pull him into the group.
+"Hm," she murmured.
+He looked at her more freely, on better footing given McGonagall's revelations.
+"Your other half is undoubtedly going to wonder where you are," Snape pointed out, forcing her to pick a side, if only for a moment.
+"He'll get over it," she said slyly. Her smile was akin to a weapon. Snape let it cut through him, deserving to be massacred by it.
+She broke into his silence, "I thought I'd see you sooner than this. I was worried about you."
+Snape refused to believe this. "Really?" he asked with a lilt.
+"Why wouldn't I be?" she demanded. Her faint anger disarmed her, freeing Snape to speak honestly.
+"Causing your death would normally be expected to have some impact on your outlook," he said.
+"Did you intend to do it?"
+Snape thought he had control, but that one question, and more so the necessity of answering it, swept it away. "No. How could I?" At least his voice was not too shaky.
+"Dumbledore insists that everything had to work out the way it did," Lily said.
+"He WOULD say that," Snape stated darkly. "Meddling old fool."
+"Don't say that about him. Why do you always insist on saying the wrong things when you know they are insulting?" She sounded too young as she said this, childishly accusing.
+Snape found yet more strength. "One word. One mistake," he said, glowering now. His mind was working, understanding things. "You always forgave him, but never me."
+"It wasn't one mistake. You insisted on mixing with the worst kind of witches and wizards-"
+"I had nothing to lose," Snape cut in.
+"Oh, so it is of course, not your fault."
+"Everything is my fault," Snape countered with a hiss. "I am well aware of that. Ask your simpering little husband if he is aware of it in regards to his own life. I'll wager what his answer will be."
+She pursed her lips, getting more angry, which was just fine with Snape because it allowed him to remain unchained.
+"Everything that happened I brought on myself," Snape said. "I fully accept that; it is the reason I'm as well as I am." He stopped. He had not meant to say that much.
+Her eyes brightened with sympathy and Snape cursed inwardly. She frowned, sucked in her lips. Her every movement was an eternity of visions. She glanced at their surroundings, making him wonder what she saw around her. Was it Godric's Hollow or Hogwarts or some other place of which he was cursed to never had any real knowledge of?
+"You always forgave him anything," Snape repeated, but with declining force, remembering many tiresome incidents of what he would classify as evil from the man she decided meant everything to her. It made no sense. "Couldn't save both of us, could you?" he asked as the revelation came to him.
+She did not look at him. Snape's lip twitched, trying to sneer, but inside he found only pain which after this much time should have waned, at least some.
+"I can't change the past; it is fixed," Snape said, pleading for understanding with enough force that it blasted his pride away ahead of it. But he had to stop there. An alien vibration rang through him like a gong, and had he really needed to breathe he would have had to catch his breath. He blinked and looked around himself. The world was brighter. Still washed out more than the living world, but definitely sharper. Above him the sky was unmarred, an unbroken giant drop of blue arching overhead. Stunned, he stared up at it.
+"What is it?" she asked.
+Snape blinked at her. That had been it; the last piece was accepting that everything was truly done with, unchangeable, forever the same. The relief he felt at this made his knees uncertain.
+"Nothing," he said. "I just . . . realized something." He huffed and took her in without distraction before saying with a slight snarl, "Your . . . husband . . . will certainly be missing you now."
+"Yes," she admitted with a false laugh. "But I don't want to be strangers. Harry has obviously . . . more than forgiven you, so we should as well."
+He wanted to say that he did not need their forgiveness, but he could not bring himself to. Instead, he said, "Nor I," which was the absolute truth. He had to take what he could get; there was only the future to think of, and a little of her doled out over eternity would certainly add up.
+She smiled more honestly then. "I should go."
+He shrugged as uncaringly as he could manage and she faded away.
+The meadow lay in richer colors of yellow and green now and the grass bobbed almost on its own. Snape reclined on an overstuffed chair and ottoman under a broad marquee and stared off at the tiny city, glistening in the distant crux of the valley. He contemplated whom he might wish to see with a relaxed attitude. He was whole and wanted to bask in that by insulting someone, but whom shall it be? Or perhaps he should just relax and wait to see what happened next. Dumbledore would come eventually. The old wizard would be annoyingly ecstatic and overly emotional about Snape's success.
+There was no reason in the world to hasten that.
+- 888 end 888 -
+Author Notes: If you liked this story, I have another in the Deathly Hollows canon called The Sword and the Doe. You can find it by clicking on the author name "Greengecko" on this page. Thanks for reading!
+- Research
+- Open Access
+The HIV-1 Rev/RRE system is required for HIV-1 5' UTR cis elements to augment encapsidation of heterologous RNA into HIV-1 viral particles
+© Cockrell et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2011
+- Received: 3 May 2011
+- Accepted: 24 June 2011
+- Published:.
+Keywords
+- Viral Particle
+- Murine Leukemia Virus
+- Primer Binding Site
+- TATA Binding Protein
+- Vector Titer
+Background
+Specific and efficient encapsidation of HIV-1 gRNA into viral particles is a multifaceted process of relocating the gRNA following transcription in the nucleus to sites of particle assembly at the plasma membrane. Cis packaging signals in the viral RNA confer specific selection among the milieu of host cell RNAs through interactions with trans factors encoded by the virus, and host cell. The conventional canonical cis packaging signal (ψ) is a ~120 bp fragment comprised of four stem-loop structures located in the HIV-1 5' untranslated region (UTR), and extending into the 5' end of the HIV-1 Gag coding sequence [1]. Interactions of the Gag polyprotein with stem-loops 2, 3, and 4 ensure efficient encapsidation of the gRNA [1]. Nonetheless, a fragment that included the ψ region did not confer packaging of a heterologous RNA [2]. This is in contrast to the murine leukemia virus (MLV) gRNA which contains a defined cis element of ~175 bp in its 5' UTR capable of packaging heterologous RNAs into MLV derived viral particles [3, 4]. These data indicate that the HIV-1 packaging system is more complex than that of MLV, comprising multiple cis elements, some of which are outside of the canonical packaging signal. A number of loss-of-function studies demonstrated that additional cis elements throughout the 5' UTR (R, U5, and PBS) also impact encapsidation of gRNA [5–8].
+HIV-1 cis and trans components influence gRNA encapsidation through RNA-RNA and RNA-protein interactions occurring within the nucleus and cytoplasm, prior to localization of Gag-RNA complexes to sites of particle assembly at the plasma membrane. Cytoplasmic interactions, such as RNA-RNA dimerization [9] and Gag-RNA interactions [10], are critical steps in the encapsidation mechanism, but are downstream steps to the export of RNA from the nucleus to the cytoplasm. The HIV-1 Rev protein mediates nuclear export of unspliced full-length, as well as partially spliced, viral RNAs by bridging an interaction between the Rev response element (RRE) in the gRNA and the host cell CRM1 nuclear export pathway [11]. The Rev/RRE system is highly conserved among lentiviruses; a mechanism not shared by simple retroviruses such as MLV, which accomplish RNA nuclear export independent of viral encoded proteins [12, 13]. Accumulating evidence indicates that the Rev/RRE system also contributes to translation and RNA encapsidation events that occur in the cytoplasm, after nuclear export [14]. HIV-1 Rev was shown to enhance translation 1-3 orders of magnitude, concurrent with nominal changes in cytoplasmic RNA levels [15]. In the context of HIV-1 virus, and viral vectors, the Rev/RRE was also identified to influence RNA encapsidation into viral particles [16–19]. The HIV-1 Rev protein is not known to be a constituent of the viral particle, thus, conceivably, Rev may influence gRNA encapsidation at a step prior to, or coincident with the Gag-RNA interaction, and consequently incorporation of the gRNA into a viral particle. As alluded to above, disparate studies indicate that efficient and specific RNA encapsidation into HIV-1 viral particles rely upon multiple components comprised of both cis elements in the RNA (R, U5, PBS, ψ, and RRE) and viral encoded trans factors (Gag protein and Rev). However, it is not understood if these components can function independently of each other, or if the RNA encapsidation mechanism is a single pathway relying upon the concerted effects of the various components.
+We reasoned that the HIV-1 Rev/RRE system and cis elements in the 5' UTR may function within the same pathway, thus the combined effects may be necessary for efficient and specific encapsidation of RNA into HIV-1 viral particles. Mutational analysis, in the innate viral context, has commonly been used to address the contributions of the abovementioned cis elements and trans factors to encapsidation [1]; however, difficulty in parsing pleiotropic functions may confound effects attributed to encapsidation. A system that relies upon gain-of-function may be suitable for discerning the impact of multiple viral components on encapsidation. Here, the Rev/RRE system and 5' UTR cis elements were systematically reconstructed in the middle of a simple retroviral vector RNA (derived from MLV) to investigate the collective, and independent, impact on the gain of encapsidation function into HIV-1 derived viral particles. We show that i) the Rev/RRE system can augment encapsidation of MLV vector RNA independent of the canonical HIV-1 packaging signal; ii) the Rev/RRE system is required for cis elements from the 5' UTR to mediate efficient and specific encapsidation into HIV-1 viral particles; iii) a functional packaging system is composed of multiple components (including 5' UTR cis elements, nucleocapsid, and Rev/RRE system); iv) the Rev/RRE system and 5' UTR cis elements synergize to increase vector titers that rival those of HIV-1 derived vectors; and v) HIV-1 delivered heterologous RNAs render episomes (predominantly 1-LTR circles) in transduced cells that may prove beneficial as non-integrating vectors in gene therapy protocols.
+Results
+HIV-1 Rev augments encapsidation of a heterologous RNA independent of the canonical HIV-1 packaging signal
+HIV-1 Rev/RRE system and cis elements in the 5'UTR augment vector titers. A. Full-length MLV/HIV chimeric vector RNAs are expressed from a CMV (cytomegalovirus) promoter in transfected 293T cells. MLV and HIV cis elements can be distinguished by black underscore. Chimeric vector names are represented as MLV/HIV followed by corresponding HIV cis elements incorporated: RRE (Rev Response Element), R (repeat), U5 (unique region 5), PS (packaging signal comprised of ψ [canonical packaging signal and into 5' Gag region]), cPPT (central polypurine tract), PBS (primer binding site). Also incorporated are the WPRE (woodchuck hepatitis virus post-transcriptional regulatory element), FLuc (firefly luciferase gene), and GFP (green fluorescent protein gene). HIV-1 Gag-Pol 4X CTE helper construct was used to express structural and enzymatic proteins to generate viral particles independent of HIV-1 Rev protein. B. Vector titers normalized to p24 are shown in the absence (white bars) and presence (black bars) of Rev. The influence of adding HIV-1 cis elements to the MLV vector is indicated by fold increases in the presence of Rev relative to the standard MLV vector. Fold increases for MLV/HIV RRE + PS (38 fold) and MLV/HIV RRE + RU5 (5 fold) are not indicated on the graph. C. Luciferase levels normalized to total protein are shown for each vector. D. Titers expressed as a ratio to luciferase are shown as arbitrary units (AU). Fold increases for MLV/HIV RRE + PS (22 fold) and MLV/HIV RRE + RU5 (4 fold) are not indicated on the graph. Error for all bar graphs is expressed as ±S.D. All experiments were performed in triplicate.
+Transduction of 293T cells with chimeric MLV/HIV vectors packaged into HIV-1 viral particles. A and B. 293T cells were transduced with equivalent amounts of p24 capsid protein (50 ng), as determined for each of the indicated chimeric vectors. The influence of the HIV-1 Rev/RRE system, and 5' UTR cis elements, on transduction was assessed by fluorescence microscopy (A) and FACscan analysis (B) at 7 days post-transduction. C. 293T cells were transduced in the absence (No RT Inhibitor), or presence (+RT Inhibitor), of the HIV-1 specific non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor, etravirine (100 nM). Transduced cells were assessed by fluorescence microscopy and FACscan analysis. D. The capacity of the MLV/HIV RRE + RU5PS vector to be stably maintained after 4 cell passages was examined by FACscan analysis. The percent GFP positive cells are indicated for each FACscan and 293T negative control (NC) cells are shown.
+The vectors were configured to indirectly assess cytoplasmic levels of vector length RNAs during production by situating the firefly luciferase gene such that it was included in the full-length vector RNA, but not in RNAs expressed from the internal promoter (Figure 1A). Luciferase expression in the 293T producer cells is indirect evidence for cytoplasmic RNA, and may be subject to translational influences. Luciferase levels were marginally affected by Rev, indicating that Rev did not influence nuclear export of the MLV/HIV RRE vector (Figure 1C). Examining the titer/luciferase ratio (Figure 1D) revealed that the effects of the Rev/RRE system primarily alter vector titers (14 fold) with minimal cytoplasmic changes. Reasoning that the Rev/RRE system may mediate packaging of vector RNA into HIV-1 viral particles, we were encouraged to further explore the mechanism mediating RNA encapsidation.
+HIV-1 Rev/RRE and cis elements in the 5'UTR cooperatively enhance RNA encapsidation into HIV-1 viral particles. A. Vector RNA was measured by qRT-PCR and expressed in arbitrary units (AU). RNA levels for all graphs are shown in the absence (white bars) and presence (black bars) of Rev. The influence of adding HIV-1 cis elements to the MLV vector is indicated by fold increases in the presence of Rev relative to the standard MLV vector. Fold increases in vector RNA for MLV/HIV RU5PS (1.9 fold), MLV/HIV RRE + PS (17 fold) and MLV/HIV RRE + RU5 (7.7 fold) are not indicated on the graph. B. Cytoplasmic RNA was isolated from vector producer 293T cells at the time of vector harvesting. Relative RNA levels were obtained and recorded as done for vector RNA in part A. C. Efficiency of encapsidating RNA into HIV-1 viral particles is expressed as a ratio of vector RNA in viral particles to cytoplasmic RNA available for encapsidation. Relative levels are expressed like vector RNA in part A. Fold increases for MLV/HIV RU5PS (1.2 fold), MLV/HIV RRE + PS (6.7 fold) and MLV/HIV RRE + RU5 (3.9 fold) are not indicated on the graph. D. Northern blot analysis of cytoplasmic and vector RNA isolated from MLV and MLV/HIV RRE in the absence (-) and presence (+) of Rev. Vector length RNA species were detected with a GFP labeled probe, as well as an additional RNA species (labeled GFP) generated from the internal CMV promoter. E. Northern blot analysis of cytoplasmic and vector RNA isolated from MLV/HIV RU5PS and MLV/HIV RRE + RU5PS in the absence (-) and presence (+) of Rev. Vector length RNA species were detected with a probe to a region in the 5' end of the vector, as well as an additional RNA species (labeled 'partial vector RNA'). Cytoplasmic and vector RNAs are shown at different exposures of the same blot. Last lane (far right) is a shorter exposure of adjacent left lane. Error for all bar graphs is expressed as ±S.D. All experiments were performed in triplicate.
+HIV-1 Rev/RRE system is required for the 5' UTR ciselements to mediate efficient RNA encapsidation
+We have demonstrated that the Rev/RRE system is a part of the encapsidation mechanism. However, it is well established that encapsidation is primarily mediated through cis elements in the 5' UTR, predominantly protein-RNA interactions of the nucleocapsid with ψ [10], and RNA-RNA dimerization via stem-loop 1 of ψ [9]. The HIV-1 Rev/RRE, as well as the aforementioned protein-RNA and RNA-RNA interactions may comprise a bona fide packaging system that may be defined by the capacity to support efficient and specific encapsidation of a heterologous RNA into HIV-1 derived viral particles. To characterize the role of the Rev/RRE in the context of a packaging system that comprises the 5' UTR cis elements we generated a series of heterologous MLV/HIV vectors (Figure 1A). The entire 5' UTR was either independently incorporated into the heterologous MLV RNA (MLV/HIV RU5PS), or inserted in the context of the RRE (MLV/HIV RRE + RU5PS). Since cis elements in the R and U5 regions have also been shown to impact encapsidation [5–8], the 5' UTR was also further separated into the R/U5 (MLV/HIV RRE + RU5) and ψ (MLV/HIV RRE + PS) in the context of the RRE (Figure 1A). Each of the vectors was titered on 293T cells by scoring for GFP positive cells, and normalizing to levels of p24 capsid protein.
+The complete contigent of cis elements from the 5' UTR (MLV/HIV RU5PS) moderately enhanced titers (12 fold) independent of Rev, whereas in the context of the RRE (MLV/HIV RRE + RU5PS) Rev dramatically augmented titers (626 fold) compared to the basic MLV vector (Figure 1B); an effect that was visually, and quantitatively, outstanding upon transduction of 293T cells with equivalent amounts of p24 capsid protein (Figure 2A and 2B). Notably, titers of the MLV/HIV RRE + RU5PS vector were 1.07 × 107 TU/ml, which is in the 107-108 TU/ml range of those obtained with standard HIV-1 vectors prior to concentration; a comparison that was also observed after normalization to p24. These data indicate that the Rev/RRE system and 5' UTR cis elements synergize to achieve the increase in vector titer. Further separation of the 5' UTR cis elements into the canonical packaging signal (MLV/HIV RRE + PS) or R/U5 (MLV/HIV RRE + RU5) did not achieve levels of titer similar to the vector containing the entire 5' UTR and RRE (Figure 1B), demonstrating the significance of retaining a fully intact 5' UTR. Furthermore, to confirm that GFP titers are a result of reverse transcription of heterologous MLV vector RNA by the HIV-1 reverse transcriptase, transduction of 293T cells was assessed by FACs analysis and fluorescence microscopy following treatment with the HIV-1 specific non-nucleoside RT inhibitor, etravirine (Figure 2C). Etravirine specifically inhibited transduction of the MLV/HIV RRE + RU5PS vector packaged into HIV-1 viral particles, but did not inhibit transduction of the same vector packaged into MLV viral particles (Figure 2C). These data also indicate that GFP expression is not a consequence of pseudotransduction. Although Rev enhanced titers of all the above mentioned vectors containing the RRE, cytoplasmic luciferase levels remained relatively similar, indirectly indicating that increased titers were probably not a consequence of increased nuclear export of vector RNA (Figure 1C and 1D). The titers were a clear indication that a comprehensive HIV-1 packaging system may comprise the synergistic influences of the Rev/RRE system and cis elements from the 5' UTR, as well as nucleocapsid protein. Considering this possibility, we sought to directly characterize the Rev impact on the encapsidation efficiency of heterologous RNAs, containing cis elements from the 5' UTR, into HIV-1 viral particles. Quantitative RT-PCR was employed to quantify vector RNA in viral particles, and in producer cells.
+Surprisingly, as shown in Figure 3 A and 3C, in contrast to the increase in vector titers (Figure 1B), incorporation of the 5' UTR cis elements into the heterologous MLV vector (MLV/HIV RU5PS) did not enhance RNA encapsidation in either the absence or presence of Rev. Most importantly, in the context of the RRE (MLV/HIV RRE + RU5PS), however, the 5' UTR cis elements exhibited a 22 fold increase in heterologous vector RNA encapsidation into HIV-1 viral particles in the presence of Rev (Figure 3C). Rev-dependent encapsidation was clearly a consequence of enhanced RNA packaged into viral particles (Figure 3A), not increases in cytoplasmic RNA (Figure 3B). Notably, however, the cytoplasmic levels of RNA may vary between experiments, which may be partially due to transfection variation (Additional file 1, Figure S1 B-D). Nonetheless, transfection would not impact encapsidation measurements which are derived from the ratio of vector RNA in the viral particles relative to vector RNA in the cytoplasm. These data demonstrate that the Rev-RRE interaction may initially be required to render the RNA amenable for subsequent steps in the encapsidation mechanism that conventionally involve cis elements from the 5' UTR, such as interaction between nucleocapsid and the canonical packaging signal. Moreover, the enhanced encapsidation effect of the MLV/HIV RRE + RU5PS chimeric vector is dependent upon the complete contingent of 5' UTR cis elements, since dissection of the 5' UTR cis elements into the canonical packaging signal (MLV/HIV RRE + PS) or RU5 (MLV/HIV RRE + RU5) did not result in corresponding increases in encapsidation efficiency, in the presence of Rev, which was comparable to the MLV/HIV RRE vector (Figure 3C). The Rev-dependent enhancement of MLV/HIV RRE + RU5PS vector RNA encapsidation obtained by qRT-PCR was bolstered by northern blot analysis showing strong Rev-dependent increase in levels of RNA encapsidated into HIV-1 viral particles, despite nominal changes in cytoplasmic vector RNA levels (Figure 3E). Notably, within the cytoplasmic RNAs our probe detects a dominant smaller species of vector RNA (termed 'partial vector RNA'). Although the full-length vector RNA is present at lower levels in the cytoplasm, the Rev/RRE system and 5' UTR cis elements impart the ability of the full-length vector RNA to out compete the more abundant 'partial vector RNA' species for packaging into viral particles (Figure 3E); demonstrating the specificity that these components confer upon a RNA for encapsidation.
+Overall, our data demonstrate that: i) Rev is required for efficient encapsidation of a heterologous RNA that is subsequently mediated by RNA-RNA and RNA-protein interactions through cis elements in the 5' UTR; ii) cis elements from the 5' UTR exhibit effects that can enhance heterologous vector titer without increasing RNA encapsidation; and iii) a packaging system competent for heterologous RNA encapsidation should minimally include the Rev/RRE system and all cis elements of the 5' UTR.
+The HIV-1 Rev/RRE and 5' UTR ciselements do not augment RNA encapsidation into MLV derived viral particles
+HIV-1 Rev/RRE and cis elements in the 5'UTR do not influence vector titers after packaging into MLV viral particles. A. Titers of MLV/HIV chimeric vectors were obtained by scoring for GFP positive cells following transduction of 293T cells. Titers are expressed as transducing units (TU) normalized to the amount of RT units (counts per minute [CPM]). B. Normalized luciferase levels were determined in transfected 293T producer cells. Luciferase levels were normalized to total cell protein. C. Titers (part A) expressed as a ratio to levels of luciferase (part B) shown in arbitrary units (AU). All experiments were executed in the absence (white bars) and presence (black bars) of Rev. Error for all bar graphs is expressed as ±S.D. All experiments were performed in triplicate. D and E. 293T cells were transduced with equivalent amounts of RT units (6 × 105 CPM), as determined for each of the indicated chimeric vectors. The influence of the HIV-1 Rev/RRE system, and 5' UTR cis elements, on transduction was assessed by fluorescence microscopy D and FACscan analysis E at 7 days post-transduction. The percent GFP positive cells are indicated for each FACscan.
+HIV-1 Rev/RRE and cis elements in the 5' UTR do not augment RNA encapsidation into MLV viral particles. A. Vector RNA packaged into MLV derived viral particles was isolated from equivalent amounts of RT units in the media of 293T producer cells. RNA levels were measured by qRT-PCR and are expressed as arbitrary units (AU). RNA levels are shown in the absence (white bars) and presence (black bars) of Rev. B. Cytoplasmic RNA was isolated from vector producer cells coincident with harvesting vector particles. Relative levels are expressed similar to vector RNA in part A. C. Efficiency of encapsidating RNA into MLV viral particles is expressed as a ratio of vector RNA in viral particles to cytoplasmic RNA available for encapsidation. D. Transduction of 293T cells with MLV/HIV RRE + RU5PS at 5 days post-transduction (no passaging of cells, P0), and after 5 passages of cells (P5). Percent GFP positive cells were assessed by FACscan analysis and compared to non-transduced (No Vector) 293T cells. Error for all bar graphs is expressed as ±S.D. All experiments were performed in triplicate.
+Packaging chimeric MLV/HIV vector RNAs into HIV-1 viral particles reveals unique transduction properties
+Heterologous MLV RNAs form, predominantly, 1-LTR episomal cDNAs following delivery with HIV-1 viral particles. MLV/HIV RRE + RU5PS chimeric vector was packaged into HIV-1 and MLV viral particles in the presence of Rev. 293T cells were transduced with equivalent transducing units for HIV-1 and MLV packaged vectors. Total cellular DNA was harvested at 5 days post-transduction (episomal and integrated vector DNA, P0), and after five cell passages (integrated vector DNA, P5). Vector DNA copy number as measured by qPCR to the WPRE A, and β-globin DNA copy number B, were determined by qPCR. Data are shown without cell passages (P0; white bars) and after 5 cell passages (P5; black bars). Vector DNA copy number was normalized to β-globin copy number C, and fold decreases in vector DNA levels, after passaging cells, are shown. Error for all bar graphs is expressed as ±S.D. D. Southern blot analysis of total DNA isolated from 293T cells transduced with MLV/HIV RRE + RU5PS vector packaged into either HIV, or MLV, viral particles (as indicated above lanes). Total DNA was isolated at 5 days posttransduction (P0) and after 5 passages of cells (P5). DNA was digested to distinguish between 2-LTR, 1-LTR, and linear episomal forms, as well as the vector backbone which is indicative of integrated vector DNA after passaging cells.
+Southern blot analysis revealed that the HIV-1 packaged MLV/HIV RRE + RU5PS vector exists predominantly as a 1-LTR episome that can be diluted following multiple cell passages (Figure 6D). In contrast, the same vector delivered with MLV viral particles exhibited a very different profile, primarily as integrated DNA accompanied by minimally detectable levels of linear, 1-LTR, and 2-LTR episomes (Figure 6D). Reverse transcription of the chimeric vector RNA by HIV-1 RT clearly leads to dominant 1-LTR episomal species that are apparently responsible for the observed GFP expression, albeit expression is extremely low. The chimeric vector packaged into HIV-1 viral particles curtails the presence of linear episomal forms that may be substrates for illegitimate integration as described earlier by Kantor et al. [21], as well as nonhomologous integration at sites of strand breakage in the host cell genome. A non-integrating vector that minimizes perturbations of the host cell genome would be most desirable for gene therapy protocols.
+HIV-1 structural and enzymatic proteins can deliver a heterologously packaged RNA to non-dividing cells in vivo. A. MLV/HIV RRE chimeric vector used to investigate transduction of mouse neurons in vivo following packaging into MLV or HIV-1 viral particles. B. Mouse brains were injected into the striatum with equivalent transducing units of MLV/HIV RRE vector packaged into either MLV (left panels), or HIV-1 (right panels), derived viral particles. Brain sections were imaged by confocal microscopy following co-staining for neurons (NeuN, red) and vector particles (GFP, green). Images depicting both vector and neurons can be seen for MLV (top left and low magnification) and HIV (left top and low magnification) viral particles. Independent images of vector and neurons are shown for MLV (top middle and top right, respectively) and HIV (left middle and left bottom, respectively) viral particles. C. The graph represents the total number of cells scored for GFP only (white bars), and colocalized GFP + NeuN (black bars) from 5 mice in each group. Error for bar graph is expressed as ±S.D.
+Discussion
+The objective of this study was to understand the role of the HIV-1 Rev/RRE system in the sophisticated mechanism of selecting a RNA species from the milieu of host cell RNAs for efficient and specific encapsidation into HIV-1 viral particles. Rev/RRE-dependent encapsidation was specifically assessed through reconstruction of the HIV-1 packaging system in the context of a heterologous MLV vector RNA, thereby averting the RNA nuclear export effects of the Rev/RRE system. We have shown for the first time that the Rev/RRE system can enhance RNA encapsidation of a heterologous RNA into HIV-1 viral particles in the absence of more conventional cis packaging elements localized in the 5' UTR of HIV-1 RNA (Figure 3). Most importantly, the HIV-1 Rev/RRE system was required for cis elements in the 5' UTR to mediate efficient encapsidation into HIV-1 viral particles. Furthermore, prior mutagenesis studies have implicated 5' UTR cis determinants adjacent to the canonical packaging signal as important for efficient RNA encapsidation through loss of function analysis [5–8]. Our data expand this view by demonstrating that the 5' UTR cis elements are not separable to achieve efficient encapsidation of heterologous RNAs (Figure 3).
+Our results build upon previous work demonstrating a role for Rev in RNA encapsidation [17, 18, 22–24]. Conceivably, the Rev/RRE may impact the cytoplasmic distribution of RNA without direct involvement in packaging RNA into viral particles at the plasma membrane, a view consistent with the inability to detect HIV-1 Rev in viral particles [14]. Additionally, the Rev/RRE system may alter the conformation of the 5' UTR creating a context that is more receptive to an interaction with HIV-1 Gag, and subsequent packaging. Recent in vitro evidence indicates that HIV-1 Rev can influence translation in a concentration dependent manner that does not rely upon the RRE, but rather an interaction between Rev and a cis determinant in the 5' UTR [25]. At moderate concentrations Rev enhanced translation, but at high concentrations translation was inhibited [25]. The same interaction was also implicated in RNA encapsidation [18], therefore it is plausible that Rev may promote RNA packaging at high concentrations, possibly acting as a "switch" between translation and encapsidation. Nonetheless, experiments supporting such a mechanism are still required.
+The requirement for the HIV-1 Rev/RRE system in the encapsidation mechanism implies that the Rev/RRE may confer specificity onto HIV-1 RNA during the initial steps of the mechanism when Rev interacts with RNA in the nucleus. Such a mechanism might ensure early selection of viral RNA from the milieu of host cell RNAs, concomitant with transcription in the nucleus. Our data support a role for the Rev/RRE system in conferring specificity of RNA packaged into HIV-1 viral particles (Figure 3 and 5). The HIV-1 Rev/RRE did not confer an encapsidation advantage of the heterologous RNA into MLV viral particles; consistent with the notion that HIV-1 and MLV utilize distinct mechanisms to encapsidate viral RNA [26, 27]. In the absence of the HIV-1 Rev/RRE, MLV vector RNA exhibited no added specificity upon packaging into HIV-1 viral particles, in agreement with a study showing that a MLV vector RNA was not enriched in HIV-1 viral particles relative to cellular mRNAs [28]. Nonspecific (yet measurable) packaging of MLV RNA raise the concern that stable HIV-1 packaging cell lines, generated by introducing HIV-1 gag and pol genes with MLV vectors [29, 30], have the potential to package, transfer, reverse transcribe, and recombine HIV-1 gag and pol genes in recipient cells.
+Although our system revealed an essential role for the Rev/RRE system in efficient and specific RNA encapsidation into HIV-1 viral particles, we observed a discrepancy between the efficiency of RNA encapsidation (Figure 3) and p24 normalized titers (Figure 1) for heterologous vector RNAs harboring the entire 5' UTR. Inclusion of the HIV-1 primer binding site (PBS) and flanking 5' UTR sequences might accommodate more efficient reverse transcription and transduction of the heterologous RNA, yielding higher titer in the form of GFP positive cells. Efficient reverse transcription from the HIV-1 PBS is accomplished by the specific packaging of tRNALys primers into HIV-1 viral particles [20]. Furthermore, the tRNALys primers may also promote reverse transcription at a low efficiency from the MLV PBS (normally primed by tRNAPro) in the heterologous MLV vectors that lack a HIV-1 PBS; a rationalization consistent with a study showing that, although impaired, HIV-1 replication was retained if the HIV-1 PBS was altered to that of MLV [31].
+The heterologous RNA packaging system yields transduction efficiencies comparable to those of standard HIV-1 vectors. The unique capacity of the heterologous vector to remain episomal exposes it to manipulation for therapeutic gene delivery purposes. Episomal vectors have recently been sought as safer alternatives to integrating lentiviral vectors for gene therapy protocols requiring transient gene expression in dividing cells, or long-term expression in non-dividing cells [32, 33]. HIV-1 delivery of the chimeric heterologous vector resulted in the dominant formation of 1-LTR episomal forms (Figure 6), which was indicative of alterations in reverse transcription. Absence of a HIV-1 3'PPT, 5'PBS, and att sites may obviate the generation of linear cDNA episomes during reverse transcription, which are precursors to 2-LTR circles and integration competent linear cDNA; consistent with a recent report showing that deletion of the HIV-1 3' PPT encourages 1-LTR circle formation at the expense of linear forms [21]. Gene expression from the chimeric MLV/HIV system remains a challenge, yet, like non-integrating HIV-1 vectors [21, 34], expression is detectable following in vivo transduction of neurons in the mouse brain striatum (Figure 7). Restricting the synthesis of linear episomes through the use of the chimeric MLV/HIV vector system may impart improved safety benefits, over conventional non-integrating HIV-1 vectors, by reducing illegitimate integration.
+Conclusions
+Using a heterologous RNA system, we were able to isolate the encapsidation and transduction effects of different HIV-1 cis and trans components. Most importantly, however, these studies revealed the concerted effects of multiple HIV-1 components through gain-of-function studies. Conventional loss-of-function studies have implicated several of the aforementioned HIV-1 cis and trans components in the encapsidation mechanism, but do not reveal the interdependence of these components. Our data demonstrate that the HIV-1 Rev/RRE system is essential for cis elements in the 5' UTR (including the canonical packaging signal) to mediate efficient and specific encapsidation of a heterologous RNA into HIV-1 viral particles. Moreover, the Rev/RRE system could augment RNA encapsidation independent of all cis elements from the 5' UTR. Therefore, we believe that, in addition to its traditional role in nuclear export, the Rev/RRE system may have a critical role in making the HIV-1 RNA more amenable to RNA-RNA and RNA-protein interactions in the cytoplasm, which support subsequent RNA encapsidation. Nonetheless, the combined effects of the Rev/RRE system and 5' UTR cis elements are not limited to encapsidation since these components can synergize to yield transduction efficiencies that approach those of standard HIV-1 vectors. The unique transduction properties (1-LTR episomes) associated with heterologous RNA, delivered by HIV-1 viral particles, may prove beneficial for gene therapy protocols. Overall gains in encapsidation and transduction efficiencies are clearly dependent upon a packaging system comprising both the Rev/RRE system and 5' UTR cis elements.
+Methods
+Plasmid Constructs
+Murine leukemia virus (MLV) and MLV/HIV chimeric vector constructs were derived from the MLV vector, pLNCX [35]. The fundamental MLV vector as described in Figure 1A was developed as follows: i) the WPRE (woodchuck hepatitis virus posttranscriptional regulatory element) was first subcloned into the EcoRI/HindIII sites of a pCLNCX self-inactivating (SIN) vector [36]; ii) internal trans elements were replaced with a CMV-GFP cassette inserted by subcloning a BamHI/XhoI fragment from pTK113 (HIV-1 vector in Kafri lab), also retaining the HIV-1 cPPT-CTS (labeled cPPT in Figure 1A) in this fragment; iii) the 3' SIN LTR was replaced with a complete MoMLV 3' LTR from pLNCX by subcloning the HindIII/PmeI fragment; and iv) the firefly luciferase (originally obtained from pBI-GL, Clontech) was subcloned into the BamHI site of the MLV vector generating pTK1328, the basic MLV vector in Figure 1A. All notations of plasmids beginning with pTK are for ease of reference to the plasmid library in the Kafri lab.
+All subsequent MLV/HIV chimeric constructs were derived from pTK1328 by inserting various HIV-1 cis elements. All HIV-1 cis elements were derived from a standard HIV-1 vector from our lab, such as pTK113 [37]. The MLV/HIV RRE vector (pTK1332) was derived from the basic MLV vector by subcloning a BamHI fragment (~850 bp) comprising the RRE into a BamHI site of pTK1328. The MLV/HIV RU5PS vector (pTK1442) was generated by subcloning a BamHI fragment into the BamHI site of pTK1328. The BamHI fragment was derived from a PCR amplified product originally cloned into pCR2.1-TOPO (Invitrogen) (pTK1428) and moved into the SmaI/Acc65I sites of pBlueScript (Strategene) (pTK1441). The PCR amplified product, comprising the HIV-1 R, U5, PBS, and canonical packaging signal which extends into the 5' end of Gag, was generated with the following primers: HIV RU5 For 5'-gcggccgcttaattaagggtctctctggttagaccagatctgagcc-3'; and HIV RU5Pack. Rev 5'-gcggccgcttgctgtgcgg-3'. The MLV/HIV RRE + RU5 vector (pTK1439) was constructed by subcloning a PCR amplified fragment into the NotI site of pTK1332. The PCR amplified product was formally cloned into pCR2.1-TOPO (Invitrogen) (pTK1427). The following primers were used to generate a PCR product comprising the HIV-1 R and U5 regions: HIV RU5 For primer as described above and HIV RU5 Rev 5'-gcggccgcactgctagagattttccacactgac-3'. The MLV/HIV RRE + PS vector (pTK1423) was constructed by subcloning a fragment, consisting of the canonical packaging signal and extending into the 5' end of Gag and HIV-1 RRE, into the BamHI sites of pTK1332. Upon cutting with BamHI the existing RRE in pTK1332 would not be retained. The last construct in the series, the MLV/HIV RRE + RU5PS vector (pTK1440), was generated by subcloning the NotI fragment from pTK1428 into the NotI site of pTK1332. The NotI fragment contains the HIV-1 R, U5, PBS, and canonical packaging signal extending into the 5' end of Gag.
+The MLV/HIV RRE vector (pTK1086) described in Figure 7 was an earlier generation of pTK1332 above, which did not have the luciferase gene inserted. The packaging constructs supplying necessary structural/enzymatic proteins were 4XCTE Gag-Pol (kindly provided by the laboratory of Dr. Christopher Baum), or ΔNRF [37]. Expression of structural/enzymatic proteins from 4X CTE Gag-Pol is independent of all HIV-1 accessory genes, and encodes the complete gag and pol genes. The HIV-1 Rev protein was independently expressed from the EF-1α promoter in the E2F-Rev plasmid. The ΔNRF was described previously, but gag-pol gene expression is Rev-dependent. The envelope protein was supplied from pMD.G, a VSV-G expressing construct.
+Cells
+293T cells were maintained in DMEM (Hyclone) supplemented with 10% FBS (Invitrogen). Media was also supplemented with a 100X Antibiotic-Antimycotic solution containing penicillin, streptomycin, and amphotercin B (Cellgro).
+Viral Particle Production and Concentration
+Vector particles were produced by transient tranfection into 293T cells as described previously [38]. Briefly, each 10 cm dish of 293T cells was transfected with 15 μg vector, 10 μg packaging helper, 5 μg VSV-G envelope, and 5 μg Rev expressing plasmids. Plasmid amounts were compensated for in experiments in the absence of Rev with the empty plasmid construct, pCI-neo (Promega). Vector particles were harvested in conditioned media 48-60 hours post-transfection and filtered through a 0.45 μm filter. Vector titers were determined by serial dilution on 293T cells and scoring for GFP positive cells using a Leica Leitz DMIRB inverted fluorescent microscope. Vector titers are expressed as values normalized to p24 (HIV-1 viral particles), or reverse transcriptase activity (MLV viral particles). The p24 assay and the reverse transcriptase assays are described below. Concentration of vector particles was executed as done previously [38], with the exception that vector was purified over a single sucrose gradient, concentrated, and resuspended in 1X PBS.
+HIV-1 p24 Capsid Concentration
+Details of this assay were described previously [39]. Briefly, EIA/RIA plates were coated with p24 antibody (NIH AIDS Research and Reference Reagent Program, #3537) at 1:1000 dilution and incubated overnight at 4°C. After blocking, samples/standards were treated with a 1% triton x-100 sample buffer, diluted appropriately, and added to plate for overnight incubation at 4°C. After washing, polyclonal rabbit anti-p24 antibody (NIH AIDS Research and Reference Reagent Program, #SP451T) at 1:300 was added to the plate, and incubated at 37°C for 3 hours. After washing, goat anti-rabbit IgG peroxidase (Pierce) at 1:15000 was added to the plate and incubated at 37°C for 2 hours. Assay was completed as described previously [39]. Data used for titer normalization, and determining amount of viral particles for RNA isolation, are a mean of replicate samples.
+MLV Reverse Transcriptase Assay
+MLV reverse transcriptase activity was executed on vector particles (5 μl) harvested from the media by mixing with 25 μl of RT activity reagent (60 mM Tris pH8, 0.6 mM MnCl2, 90 mM KCl, 0.125 mg/ml Poly A [Roche], 6 μg/ml oligo dT16, 25 mM DTT, 0.06% Triton X-100, and 0.25 mCi/ml 3H-TTP [MP Biomedicals]). After incubation for 1 hour at 37°C the entire volume was spotted onto DE81 anion exchange chromatography paper (Whatman), and placed into 5% Na2PO4 for 5 minutes at room temperature. The samples were washed at room temperature five times, for 5 minutes each, with 5% Na2PO4 two times with water, and one time with 95% ethanol. The samples were dried, placed in scintillation fluid, and radioactivity was measured on a Beckman LS 6500 scintillation counter. Values were recorded as CPM. Data used for titer normalization, and determining amount of viral particles for RNA isolation, are a mean of replicate samples.
+FACS Analysis
+Details of this assay were described previously [38]. Briefly, at the indicated times post-transduction cells were fixed, and GFP expression was assessed on a Dako CyAn flow cytometer at the University of North Carolina Flow Cytometry Core Facility. Data was analyzed with Summit v4.3.01 software (Dako).
+Luciferase Assays
+Luciferase lysates were prepared by pelleting transfected 293T cells at the time of vector collection, and resuspending the pellet in 1X passive lysis solution (Promega). After freeze-thawing cell debris was pelleted by centrifugation for 15 minutes at 14,000 rpm and 4°C. Equivalent volumes of supernatant were assayed for firefly luciferase expression using 100 μl luciferin reagent (Promega). Luminescence was measured with a Victor3 multilabel counter and Wallac 1420 Workstation software (Perkin-Elmer). Results are expressed as relative light units (RLU)/mg protein. Protein concentrations were assayed according to manufacturer's instructions for Pierce BCA Protein Assay kit.
+RNA Isolation
+At 48-60 hours post-transfection vectors were harvested from the media, and cells were divided for luciferase assay, total protein, and cytoplasmic RNA/protein fractionation. Cells were removed from the plate by trypsinizing, and pelleted. The cytoplasmic fraction was separated by treating the pelleted cells with a MES (2-(N-morpholino)ethanesulfonic acid) buffered 0.1% Triton X-100 solution (10 mM MES pH 6.5, 60 mM KCl, 15 mM NaCl, 5 mM MgCl2, 250 mM sucrose, 0.1% Triton X-100) + protease inhibitor minicocktail (Roche) + 200 units/ml RNase Inhibitor (Fermentas). Pellets were incubated 2 minutes on ice, and nuclei were pelleted at 1500 rpm and 4°C. The cytoplasmic supernatant fraction was collected and separated for RNA isolation and protein analysis. Cytoplasmic fraction was monitored by western blot analysis for the absence of nucleolin protein, compared to total cellular proteins. RNA was purified from the cytoplasmic supernatant using the PARIS protein and RNA isolation kit (Ambion). Manufacturer's instructions were followed starting with addition of the 2X lysis/binding solution to an equal volume of cytoplasmic supernatant. Purified RNA was treated with DNase I Turbo (Ambion) for 1.5 hours at 37°C, and inactivated according to manufacturer's instructions. RNA integrity and concentration were regularly assessed by agarose gel electrophoresis. Cytoplasmic RNA was then utilized for analysis in qRT-PCR and northern blot.
+Isolation of RNA from vector particles was carefully executed so that all vectors packaged into HIV-1 viral particles were normalized for equivalent amounts of p24 prior to isolation. For each sample at the time of RNA isolation p24 equivalents of vector particles and 5 × 106 293T cells were concomitantly added to the RLT lysis solution in preparation for column purification of the RNA with the RNeasy Plus Mini kit (Qiagen). Spiking the vector particles with 293T cells at time of purification has multiple advantages: i) 293T cell RNA is a carrier during RNA purification; ii) RNA can be easily quantified after purification; and iii) quantity and integrity of purified RNA can be monitored by agarose gel electrophoresis. For purposes of homogenization, the lysed particles/293T cell RNA were passed through a QIAshredder column (Qiagen) and subsequently through a genomic DNA eliminator column provided with the RNeasy plus mini kit. Lysate was then purified through the RNA isolation column provided with the RNeasy plus kit. Purified RNA was treated with DNase I Turbo (Ambion) as described for cytoplasmic RNA. Vector particle RNA was then utilized for analysis in qRT-PCR and northern blot. RNA was isolated from MLV viral particles in a similar fashion, except that viral particles were normalized for equivalent amounts of MLV reverse transcriptase. The reverse transcriptase assay is described above.
+qRT-PCR
+Purified cytoplasmic and vector RNA were heated to 65°C for 5 minutes prior to preparing each reverse transcription (RT) reaction. Each RT reaction was prepared at final concentrations of 1X RT Buffer (Qiagen OmniScript kit), 0.5 mM each dNTP, 10 μM random prime nonamer, 10 units RNase Inhibitor (Fermentas), 500 ng RNA, and 4 units OmniScript reverse transcriptase (Qiagen). As controls for the presence of contaminating DNA each reaction was also performed in the absence of reverse transcriptase. Reactions were executed for 1 cycle on a BioRad MyCycler at 37°C for 1 hour. Equivalent amounts of cDNA were used in the subsequent quantitative PCR reaction. Each qPCR reaction was prepared at final concentrations of 1X ABI Taqman mix (2X Taqman Gene Expression Master Mix, Applied Biosystems), 0.9 μM forward primer, 0.9 μM reverse primer, and 0.1 μM probe. Reactions were performed at 1 cycle of 50°C/2 minutes, 1 cycle of 95°C/10 minutes, and 40 cycles of 95°C/15 seconds + 60°C/30 seconds on a 7300 real time PCR system (Applied Biosystems). Vector RNAs were detected with a primer/probe set to the luciferase gene: For Luc 5'-aggtcttcccgacgatga-3', Rev Luc 5'-gtctttccgtgctccaaaac-3', and probe #70 (Roche Universal Probe Library). All quantitative PCR reactions were normalized to an endogenous control reaction for TATA Binding Protein (TBP) using the following primer/probe set in independent reactions: For TBP 5'-gaaccacggcactgattttc-3', Rev TBP 5'-tgccagtctggactgttcttc-3', and probe #92 (Roche Universal Probe Library).
+The levels of vector RNA (VRNA) and cytoplasmic RNA (CRNA) derived from the qRT-PCR data are expressed as arbitrary units (AU). The values were determined by normalizing the cycle threshold (Ct) for luciferase to that obtained for TBP, from each reaction. The calculation was as follows: 2-ΔCt, where the ΔCt is (Luc Ct - TBP Ct). Independent reactions were performed for each VRNA and CRNA sample. All isolated VRNA could be normalized to TBP since each sample was copurified with 293T cell RNA, as described above. Calculation of the encapsidation efficiency, where VRNA relative to CRNA is expressed as AU, was determined for each independent sample. The calculation was as follow: 2-ΔΔCt, where the ΔΔCt is (VRNA Luc Ct - VRNA TBP Ct) - (CRNA Luc Ct - CRNA TBP Ct). All relative encapsidation efficiencies are expressed as an average of at least three independent experiments with corresponding standard deviations (S.D.).
+Northern Blot Analysis
+Cytoplasmic RNA was isolated as described, and vector RNA was isolated from concentrated vector particles. Vector RNA was prepared from equivalent levels of p24, and at the time of isolation the samples were copurified with 293T cells as described above. Prior to resolving RNA on a denaturing formaldehyde agarose gel, RNA was denatured at 65°C for 10 minutes. Equivalent amounts of cytoplasmic RNA, and vector RNAs, were resolved on the gel. Northern blot analysis was performed under standard conditions. Probes were random prime labeled with α32P-dCTP (Easy Tide Deoxycytidine 5'-triphosphate, Perkin-Elmer) at 37°C for 1 hour. Probes were either a BstEII fragment from pTK1440 generated to the 5' end of the vector RNA, or to the GFP gene located in the 3' end of the RNA. Images were obtained on BioMax MR film (Kodak), or by phosphorimager (Molecular Dynamics Storm System).
+Western Blot Analysis
+Cytoplasmic and total cell lysates were resolved by standard denaturing SDS-PAGE analysis on 10% gels and blotted to Hybond P membrane. Membranes were probed with rabbit anti-nucleolin (1 ug/ml; Abcam, cat# ab22758-100) and rabbit anti-GAPDH (1:500; Santa Cruz Biotechnology, cat# FL-335). Detection was achieved by probing blots with goat anti-rabbit IgG peroxidase (1:40000; Pierce). All antibody incubations and washes were done in 1X PBST. Signals were detected using ECL (GE Healthcare).
+Southern Blot Analysis
+293T cells were transduced with MLV/HIV RRE + RU5PS vector packaged into HIV-1 or MLV viral particles, at a MOI of 5. Total cellular DNA was isolated at 5 days post-transduction (referred to as P0, or no cell passages, in figures), and after five passages (P5) of the transduced cells. To collect total DNA transduced cells were lysed in a proteinase K solution (10 mM Tris pH 8, 10 mM EDTA pH 8, 0.5% SDS, 0.4 M NaCl, and 200 μg/ml proteinase K) for 48 hours at 55°C. Total DNA was extracted with v/v phenol (Invitrogen) and v/v phenol/chloroform/isoamyl alcohol (Invitrogen) and then treated with RNase A (20 μg; Fermentas) at 37°C for 2 hours. A second round of extractions was performed and total DNA was precipitated using standard ethanol precipitation.
+Isolated gDNA (10 μg) was digested with BsrGI and DpnI for ~24 hours at 37°C. DpnI was included to eliminate putative plasmid DNA carry-over from the transfections during vector production in 293T cells. Equivalent amounts of gDNA were resolved on 1% agarose gels, transferred to Zetaprobe membrane, and probed with a BstEII fragment from pTK1440 that recognizes the 5' end of the vector enabling a size distinction between linear, 1-LTR, 2-LTR and backbone/integrated forms. Images were captured on BioMax MR Film (Kodak), or by phosphorimager (Molecular Dynamics Storm System).
+Real Time qPCR
+Total cellular DNA was isolated as described for Southern blot analysis and qPCR for vector and β-globin were described previously [39]. Briefly, vector copy number was derived from standard curve produced from FLP9 cells, which contain a single copy of HIV-1 vector per diploid genome. One nanogram of total cellular DNA was previously calculated to contain 303 copies for β-globin per diploid genome, or 151.5 copies vector per diploid genome. Primers for vector copy number were designed to the WPRE region, which is also in our MLV/HIV chimeric vectors. All primers and PCR reaction conditions were described previously [39].
+Mouse Subjects
+Female C57Bl/6 mice (n = 10), 3 months old (Jackson Labs) were housed in standard conditions with 3-4 mice per cage with food and water available ad libitum. All procedures were in accordance with the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals (DHHS Publication No. (National Institutes of Health) 85-23), and all procedures received prior approval by the NIH Institutional Animal Care and Usage Committee. All procedures were performed according to animal protocol number, 396-LNS-2014.
+Stereotaxic Administration of Retroviral Vectors
+Mice were anesthetized (Avertin 0.02 mg/ml, 0.5-1.0 ml injection per mouse), and MLV retrovirus (n = 5 mice), or HIV lentivirus (n = 5 mice) was injected stereotactically (2 μl using a 5 μl Hamilton microliter syringe) into the right striatum (AP = 1.0 mm anterior from bregma; lateral = 1.5 mm; ventral = 3.0 mm). Studies were executed with the MLV/HIV RRE vector (Figure 7A) packaged into MLV viral particles, or HIV-1 viral particles generated from the ΔNRF [37] helper construct. One month thereafter animals were given an overdose of anesthetics and perfused transcardially with cold 4% paraformaldehyde (PFA) in 0.1 M phosphate buffered saline (PBS). After 24 hr, brain tissue was equilibrated in 30% sucrose. Sequential horizontal sections (40 μm) using a sliding freezing microtome (HM450, ThermoFisher) were taken through the extent of the striatum and stored in phosphate buffered glycerol at -20°C.
+Immunohistochemistry and Confocal Microscopy
+Double labeling for the neuronal marker NeuN and GFP was done on a 1:6 series of 40-μm free-floating horizontal sections as described previously [40]. Sections were washed and blocked in TBS with 3% donkey serum and 0.3% Triton X-100 (TBS-plus). Primary antibodies raised in two different species were pooled in TBS-plus and incubated for 48 h at 4°C. The neuronal marker NeuN [mouse monoclonal antibody, (Millipore) 1:100] was combined with antibody for GFP [rabbit polyclonal antibody (Millipore), 1:1000]. Corresponding secondary antibodies [donkey anti-mouse CY3 and goat anti-rabbit Alexa488 (Jackson ImmunoResearch Inc.), 1:250] were pooled, and sections were incubated for 4 h at room temperature following washing in TBS-plus. Sections were mounted and coverslipped with DABCO-PVA. Sections were imaged by confocal scanning laser microscopy (MPE1000, Olympus and Laser Scanning Zeiss 510 Meta). Brain sections with GFP positive cells were captured with the Zeiss LSM Image Browser software and used to score for GFP, NeuN, and colocalization of the two markers by scanning through the z-axis. Scoring represents positive cells from brain sections of mice transduced with the MLV/HIV RRE vector packaged into MLV (n = 5), or HIV-1 (n = 5), derived viral particles.
+Notes
+Declarations
+Acknowledgements
+The following reagents were obtained from NIH AIDS Research and Reference Reagent Program: HIV-1 p24 monoclonal antibody, p24 polyclonal antibody, and Etravirine. We thank Linda Kitabayashi for assistance in preparing confocal microscopy images. We thank Christopher Baum for providing us with the Gag/Pol-4XCTE helper/packaging construct. We thank Dawn Bowles for comprehensive review of the manuscript. This research was supported, in part, by the Intramural Research Program of the NIH, National Institute on Aging (N.S., H.vP.). The study was primarily supported by the University of North Carolina (UNC) Center for AIDS Research graduate student training grant (to A.C.) and by the NIH grants 2-R01-DK058702 (to T.K.) and 5-PO1-HL066973 (to T.K.).
+Authors’ Affiliations
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+Hey guys! So I know its been a little over a week since I last posted but this week has been craaaazy busy and eventful. So THIS WEEK, in The Story of My Life, I got left at a restaurant, moved into a new apartment, dealt with shenanigans at work, and was introduced to MORE hot garbage involving my family. So lemme start with the restaurant incident 🙄.
+So I made the fatal mistake of responding to someone part of the Don’t Answer group in my phone. I strategically change names in my phone to “don’t answer” to remind myself not to answer when certain numbers contact me… for a plethora of reasons. This particular person, I don’t remember the incident that landed him on the list but that’s really irrelevant. I should’ve just followed my rule and not answered. I met this asshole on the set of a movie I was an extra in (he was an extra too, nobody special). So he hits me up wanting to hang out and get dinner. I hadn’t eaten all day so I accepted and we made plans for 8pm. He picks me up and he asks where I want to go to eat. I said Ruth Chris. I’d never been before and heard good things about the food (Its good but kinda overrated. I still like Blue Point and Cleveland Chop better). So we go and order our food. Its late and there aren’t alot of people in the restaurant. As we’re talking, he asks me about some weed, “hey do you know anyone around here I can buy from?” …And so it begins… I told him yea. One of my friends lives a few blocks over from where we were downtown and he has the best tree I’ve found in Cleveland, I just don’t get a chance to cop from him alot. I hit him up, ask for a qtr and he tells me $80. I tell the guy I’m with. He asks about a deal the guy used to give me (an 8th for $35) and asks if he’s still doing that. The dealer says he can’t do that deal anymore because he’s dealing with a new plug. I understand; he still has to be able to make a profit. I totally get it. But he said he could do a qtr for $70. $80 was a deal in my opinion (I expect to pay $100 for a qtr) so of course $70 was even better. I told the guy with me that he could get a qtr for $70.
+Him: “nah I’m not payin that. I don’t know that guy”
+Me: “what? what are you talking about?”
+Him: “I don’t know him. Why would I pay that?”
+[I’m Piiiiiiisssed.] Me: “yo, don’t ever ask me about weed ever again in your life”
+Him: “what?”
+Me: “I said don’t ever ask me about weed ever again in your life. why would you ask me to find it and then its a problem because you don’t know the guy? that’s fucking stupid”
+Him: “yo, you are crazy”
+Me: “No I’m not. You’re stupid. THIS is stupid. Why would you even fucking ask?”
+[looks at me sideways] Him: “man, I gotta go to the bathroom”
+So he gets up and finds the waiter then disappears behind a wall I presume leads to the bathroom. I’m sitting waiting at the table for 6mins then begin to think “holup, it does not take this long for a nigga to use the bathroom. Something is up”.
+And at this point I’m literally the only person sitting in the restaurant because they’re closing. I get up and begin walking to the doorway that leads outside because I’m feeling like this nigga left me and before I could even get to the outside door I get a text 🙄😑. “You need some manners. I paid for you a cab” I’m like what.. thee entire fuck. I walk outside to see if valet pulled his car around.. valet den packed up and went home. Not a cone in sight. And ain’t no cab out there either. I am in complete disbelief.. this my life tho so I couldn’t help but start laughing. I replied with “I need to learn manners but you just fucking left me? You fuckin kidding me right now? You a bitch…” Of course had a few more words via text (yall know I was not about to just let that slide without breakin this nigga off the meanest read of his life). Luckily for me, I had been texting a friend who worked downtown 2 blocks over from where I was. I told him what happened and he picked me up and took me home. I literally could not stop laughing because I was shocked and pissed off. I’m laughing now as I’m writing about it… This my life yall. This would literally only happen to me. I still don’t know what exactly I said to set him off… maybe his mama used to call him stupid and it struck a nerve.. Idk and idc. I just laugh. I’m just grateful to God for the entire situation… I can’t help but be grateful and laugh about it🤦♀️😂😩😂🤦♀️.
+Moving on.. So in light of my stepmom/landlord/cosigner acting like an asshole (not the entire time but definitely my last few days in the apartment), I got approved for the apartment that I wanted BACK ON THE WEST SIDE!
+Lemme just say this, I never wanted to move to the east side or move into that apartment and I had been looking to move for a while I just didn’t have the means. Well the means came along with my mama and we packed up my apartment, rented a u-haul, and moved everything into my new place. It was an all day job and good quality time with my mom but it literally wore both of us out. This happened Thursday, it is now Sunday and my body still hasn’t recuperated (mostly due to having to work Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, and today and not getting more than 3-hrs of sleep and only one meal a day for the past week & a half. I know its not healthy but I just haven’t had an appetite and I’ve been running on fumes.) I met my neighbors, one of which helped us move my 2 big-ass couches into my second floor apartment. I managed to unpack my bathroom, most of my kitchen, and some of my living room all the way up until my body said “bitch LAY DOWN” and I collapsed on my couch.
+Needless to say, I was late for work the next day 😞😞😞. But I’m happy to be back on the west side.. away from people that don’t have good intentions for me. See, the last time I lived on the west side, I found out who really fucked with me and who didn’t. I live 5 mins from downtown and niggas always goin downtown but can’t come to my house. COO! ✌️ My location is a very good deterrent for ain’t shit niggas and ain’t shit friends. I. Am. Content. NEXT!
+As far as work, its been lovely getting more hours and making more money BUT… I work with some older women and a few of them have been ON ONE lol. Like actin so petty. Like 5 year olds. Like Its kinda funny and kinda sad.
+Last week I accidentally walked in on one of them in the backroom balling her eyes out having a whole ass episode. I just popped back there to catch my breath because I was feeling so sick that day but I couldn’t let this ride. I talked to her and gave her some encouraging words and laid the motto on her: “Control what you can control. Forget about the rest”. After I left work, she texted me and told me that my words helped her so much she got a $1600 sale! That’s about $160 in her pocket! I didn’t even know I had affected her that much. I just wanted her to calm down lol. Despite their ol’lady shenanigans and the crazy clients we have that come in, I thoroughly enjoy working there. Its physically taxing some times but you can’t beat a great work environment.
+Lastly, my family. You know, I have always has issues with my family. Since I was a kid. And as an adult I understand things now that I didn’t understand then. And I see my relatives in a new light. At the end of the day, outside my mama, they are really not here for me. My mom has been in and out of my life and I was raised by my dad. But I learned so much more from my mom than my dad, things I carry with me to this day. My mom, not having alot of money, still manages to help me where she can. I can ask my mom for $50 to help me with a phone bill and she’ll give it to me. If I ask my dad for that same $50, he will tell me “no, I guess you don’t need a phone If you can’t pay the bill” and go on about his day…. I didn’t really want to harp on my relationship with my dad so much in this post because he’s fucked up, been fucked up, and I can’t/won’t fix that. What got me feeling a way is some info my mom gave me about another one of my family members who is going to try to get me thrown in a federal jail. FEDERAL YALL. FE-DER-AL.
+All over money that I don’t have nor do I own. The whole situation can be cleared up with a few simple phone calls. A call to me to clear it up. Even if this family member doesn’t believe what I tell her, she can make another call to the federal agency and they will verify what I tell her. I don’t have the money. I never had the money. Why even go that route tho? I don’t understand it. And people always look at me sideways when I say “I’m moving to California and I’m not coming back”. This is why! One big fat reason why! I don’t want to be anywhere near people who don’t want me to be anywhere near them. And I always feel so alive and happy and peaceful when I’m in California. Its my legit happy place. (moving to the west side of Cleveland makes me feel like I’m inching closer and closer to the west coast lol)
+This past week has been EXHAUSTING to say the least. Physically, mentally, emotionally, and a lil spiritually. I’m looking forward to having a few days off this upcoming week to sleep, explore my new neighborhood, and put my apartment together more… and find a tree man around here lol. Very necessary. So with everything being said, I want you to take this with you because its helped me time and time again; Control what you can control. Leave the rest of it up to God (or whom ever you believe in). I think I may have said this last week But I can’t say it enough. You will be much happier and stress-free as well as better equipped to handle stress when it comes your way. And even though it may seem hard, take the high road. Just do it. I promise you will blessed ABUNDATLY, beyond your wildest dreams, I mean things you didn’t even fathom were possible. Trust me.
+I hope you guys had a great week or Will have a great week (just depends on if Sunday marks the beginning or the end for you). Be blessed. Like. Comment. Follow. Subscribe.
+And Tune into “THE CHOP SHOP” tonight at 7pm on Mixlr.com/im216radio and listen to me and my co-host Bishop King (@IAmBishopKingDC on IG) and a speacial interview with a guest, Bigg Greeen (@BiggGreeen on IG).
+Red Hat on the River
+- Address:
+One Bridge Street
+Irvington, NY 10533Neighborhood:
+Irvington
+- Cuisine:
+Contemporary FrenchPrice: $31 to $50
+Red Hat on the River
+- Dining Style: Casual Elegant
+- Website:
+- Phone: 9145915888x0
+- Hours of Operation:
+LUNCH: Monday - Friday: 12pm - 3pm; DINNER: Monday - Thursday: 5pm-9:00pm, Friday - Saturday: 5pm - 10:30pm, Sunday BRUNCH: 11:30am-3pm; Sunday DINNER: 5pm - 8:305915888x
+- Entertainment: We offer live jazz on Wednesday evenings from 6-10pm (Spring through early Fall).
+- Special Events: Please contact Michelle Lamb VanNess with your special event requests. 914.591.5888 or events@redhatontheriver.comSee all photos
+Awards voted by OpenTable diners
+- Diners' Choice WinnerBest Ambiance
+- Diners' Choice WinnerGreat for Lunch
+- Diners' Choice WinnerOutdoor Dining
+Red Hat on the River - Best Restaurants in Irvington ›
+Red Hat on the River reviews from OpenTable diners
+238 reviews since June 22, 2014
+98% of reviewers would recommend this restaurant to a friend.
+- Food4.3Service4.3
+- Ambiance4.7Noise LevelModerate
+- A Perfect Date NightEDREDREDRVIPDined on 10/17/2014We sat at the bar and enjoyed the food, drinks, service, atmosphere and people watching. A wonderful night out.Special Features:
+- Gem on the riverKathleen55Dined on 10/17/2014The location is perfect lo-HUD charm, right on the Hudson River. The service was excellent. The menu is focused and they do a superb job with their meals. In particular, this time I loved the squash soup and the ravioli. I highly recommend The Red Hat for special occasions.Special Features:I would recommend this to a friend.
+- fantastic view/food/staffOpenTable Diner Since 2011Dined on 10/17/2014Excellent food, great drinks, fantastic view with a charming staff especially our server Stefani !!!Special Features:I would recommend this to a friend.
+- OpenTable Diner Since 2014Dined on 10/9/2014Food was mediocre. Great place when the weather is nice so sitting outside is worth the "ok" quality of food.Special Features:
+- InconsistentJoanAdriaVIPDined on 10/9/2014I really like this restaurant, but there is often an unpleasant inconsistency in the meals. My lunch companion and I ordered the strip steaks that were supposed to be cooked medium rare, but they were medium, and not as tender as we would have liked. The sweet potato pecan salad was not tasty/lively. The haricots verts were perfect.Special Features:
+- Food just OK - Too expensive/loudSarahVIPDined on 10/8/2014Every time I go here, I'm underwhelmed. Food is just OK and it's always incredibly loud. Last night they had a musician playing and a woman singing which would have been lovely if it had been HALF as loud. You could barely have a conversation and we were upstairs and far away! It's an expensive restaurant and food was just OK. Nothing special. Just don't think it's worth the money. Better off just having a drink and eating at one of the other very nice options in town.
+- Excellent Restaurant & Superb Viewsjen2chrisDined on 10/6/2014Ideal Location with scenic views. Great fall menu and service was outstanding. We enjoyed the french onion soup, tuna tartare fall special appetizer, mussels, scallops and steak absolute perfection. Chocolate dessert great finale. Can't wait to come again!Special Features:I would recommend this to a friend.
+- AndresDined on 10/5/2014the Barbera on the by the glass menu for brunch was disappointingSpecial Features:
+- Thumbs Up!gypo53Dined on 10/5/2014Second visit this past Sunday for brunch and just like my previous trip, it was great. Food was delicious and the service was excellent. great atmosphere and after brunch we were able to walk along the Hudson right outside the restaurant. Highly recommended.Special Features:
+- just lovelyamyssDined on 10/5/2014a great spot with terrific food. my first brunch here. the menu isn't extensive but the food was delish. the restaurant is beautiful and the staff is extremely helpful and accommodating. a lovely birthday brunch.Special Features:
+- First Rate, as always!SPC4artDined on 9/29/2014Red Hat NEVER, and I do mean NEVER, disappoints! Ambiance,service,food, and view, all spectacular. Did I leave anything out? Oh,yes- the drinks! They, too, are just " different". As in perfectly made everytime. If you order wine and aren't a Sommelier, ask for Ben. He'll teach you a thing or two, and make youfeel glad you asked. Stop reading, put your ipad down and G-O! Now!!! (Make reservations,though. Theyalways have a crowd)Special Features:
+- Great placeOpenTable Diner Since 2012Dined on 9/28/2014Amazing service! Friendly and helpful staff! Delicious food!Special Features:I would recommend this to a friend.
+- Cozy GemOpenTable Diner Since 2012Dined on 9/22/2014Love the cozy atmosphere and the steak frites! Nice wines by the glass. Friendly service.Special Features:
+- FoodyCDined on 9/22/2014My favorite restaurant, even though I live in Manhattan and get to eat at the top rated restaurants there.Special Features:
+- A Fabulous ChoicePGSKDined on 9/19/2014This is a wonderful unique and very very special place! Love it! Only my second time here and I will come back often...everything about Red Hat is outstanding! Thank you.Special Features:
+- Dinner with sunset.SE1111Dined on 9/18/2014Very nice ambiance, we had a table at the window. We saw a nice sunset and enjoyed great food and drinks with our friends. I have eaten at the Red Hat a couple of times and always enjoyed it. View of the NYC skyline, right at the Hudson River.Nice background music. Will come again.Special Features:
+- Perfect locationHungrygirlDined on 9/18/2014Right on the river, so it's perfect for outdoor dining. Interesting menu choices. I had the bacon, egg and toast salad. Sounds weird, but delicious. Red Hat Cosmo great with my lunch. Dessert was OMG good too. Ice cream enrobed in chocolate with puff pastry and candied nuts.Special Features:I would recommend this to a friend.
+- Red HatTeacherDined on 9/18/2014Though it is a little out of the way the trip to Red Hat is worth it. The views of the Hudson are spectacular, esp. on a beautiful day. We were a group of friends who had not seen one another in a while. We appreciated that the server did not hurry us. Our skirt steak salad was quite good with just the right amount of seasoning, kick & cilantro. A lovely experience.Special Features:
+- Wonderful Sunday evening meal!Sylvia25Dined on 9/14/2014We met friends for a light dinner last Sunday night. They came from Scarsdale and we from Fishkill, NY. What a great meeting place to enjoy a lovely meal in a perfect setting. Since my husband and I got there a bit earlier, we sat at the bar and had drinks. I had a delicious dirty martini prepared exactly to my liking and my husband enjoyed his Grey Goose vodka on the rocks. We sat there leisurely, occasionally looking out over the beautiful river view and anticipated our friend's arrival. When we were all seated for dinner, all of us commented on the beauty of place, the wonderful menu, and the gratitude we all had for being there...Special Features:
+- Great sandwichesJeriVIPDined on 9/12/2014The Meditterano Ahi Tuna sandwich was one of the best sandwiches I've ever had. As a matter fact I had to come back the next day and have it again as did my mom! Highly recommended!Special Features:I would recommend this to a friend.
+- The best in Westchesteradgal1VIPDined on 9/5/2014Always our 1st choice.. everything is excellent! Love the food, service, view, and especially the Pear martinis!Special Features:
+- Great SunsetsMunchVIPDined on 9/4/2014I went to the Red Hat for lunch to celebrate the first day of retirement. My friends and I had a wonderful table outside. The view couldn't be better, and the staff was so accommodating. I had the chicken over salad with chopped apples in it. It was cooked perfectly and the salad and dressing were great. On a clear night you can enjoy the food while viewing the best sunsets over the water.Special Features:I would recommend this to a friend.
+- Always FantasticMichaelRVIPDined on 8/31/2014First time review but been here many times - always amazed and wowed. The food always as expected. Service is amazing - always there anticipating your every need. The views are incredible but the food is extraordinary. Service couldn't be better - truly a professional staff. I've yet to found any flaw here - they are that good! Food and service is top class.Special Features:
+- jeh61Dined on 8/30/2014Rooftop bar had great view/ambiance. Our server Kim was very friendly and helpful. Mussels were shared by 4 as an appetizer & were very flavorful. Scallops, swordfish and steak entrees were all cooked perfectly and delicious. Nice wine list. Cant wait to return.Special Features:
+- Priceless!!!JustTheFactsDined on 8/30/2014Just went for the first time, and it blew away all of my expectations! What a gem! Can't wait to try the brunch. It has: location, views, food, service, ambiance, and romance. Can't stop thinking about it. And by the way, for all you get the price was very reasonable.Special Features:I would recommend this to a friend.
+- AmazingAndria87Dined on 8/30/2014We were in town just for the night and found that Red Hat had great reviews. We were blown away by the quality of service, beautiful views of the Hudson River, incredible views and superb cocktail menu. I think the best thing we had was the appetizer (Spicy Yellow fin Tuna Tartare). It was delicious and perfectly seasoned. If we are ever in New York again, we will definitely go back!Special Features:
+- Very Good overall experienceFood4ThoughtDined on 8/28/2014Great location and parking. Beautiful outdoor views on Patio and Rooftop. Very busy restaurant that does very well. Very attentive service, food is good but not great...but hey i expect a lot seeing such high scores on open table. But hey, If it ain't broke....Special Features:
+- Great view, food and serviceLindaJCuDined on 8/27/2014The restaurant on the river is beautiful, the service is impeccable, there's a roof top lounge, outdoor dining, food is delish - what more could one want!Special Features:I would recommend this to a friend.
+- red hat review from a recente dinerjjbdinesoutDined on 8/26/2014red hat was a unique EXPERIENCE. the night was a perfect one, especially the food, our pork chops were outstanding- perfectly cooked and had great side dishes to complement them. dessert was tops.Special Features:I would recommend this to a friend.
+- Outdoors at Night is the only wayAskReynetDined on 8/25/2014Wait til nightfall. Get an outdoor table. Surprise your sweetheart. Take a walk along the water afterwards. They will be putty in your hands. Mu ha ha ha.Special Features:I would recommend this to a friend.
+- Wonderful in Every WayLeftyVIPDined on 8/24/2014Outdoor setting is absolutely magnificent. Food was terrific. Excellent service with attention to detail. Fabulous dining experience.Special Features:
+- Nice location!SBayDined on 8/24/2014If the weather is nice, sitting outside with a view of the Hudson is quite an experience! Food was delicious, and there was a nice atmosphere. Service was good. Recommend trying it out!Special Features:I would recommend this to a friend.
+- Can't wait to go back!Olivejuice1Dined on 8/22/2014Great food, Great service, relaxing atmosphere; what more could you hope for in a resturant?Special Features:
+- celebrated anniversarydapchackaDined on 8/21/2014I was really happy with the location, food, service and ambiance. We even had the owner give us an umbrella so that we would not get wet getting to our car.Special Features:I would recommend this to a friend.
+- Beautiful but over pricedLovegoodfoodDined on 8/21/2014Beautiful view and interior, the food is good but over priced for what you get. The drinks are good but also over priced.Special Features:I would recommend this to a friend.
+- Outdoor DiningLoraDined on 8/21/2014The Red Hat provides a very nice menu at affordable prices with great service in a very lovely setting. The Hudson River view is beautiful and if you dine outside the view includes the lower Manhattan skyline.Special Features:
+- Great food service and sunset viewsMaggieDined on 8/19/2014A most enjoyable dining experience for my first visit to Red Hat. All courses were well prepared and delicious. Waiter attentive and even took our photo. Bartender in the rooftop lounge made some great drink selections for us pre-dinner. Amazing sunset view.Special Features:I would recommend this to a friend.
+- What a location!NYTheatergoerDined on 8/19/2014Right on the Hudson River, behind the Irvington Metro North train station, the views from both inside and out on the patio are fantastic. We went for mid-week lunch and the menu items ranged from light (salads) to sandwiches, to heavier dishes, giving the diner a wide choice. Our waitress was very attentive and helpful. We were not hurried, even though we were the last to leave. Be warned: parking stinks. there is a large lot but generally it is filled from the local businesses. Give yourself time to find a spot and don't let it spoil your meal. Or, better yet - take the train! The destination is worth it!Special Features:
+- 2ndtimerDined on 8/17/2014This was my third dining experience here. It continues to offer excellent ambience, service and food. I will return.Special Features:
+- A perfect eveningLuigiGSGoout14Dined on 8/17/2014No better place better for a romantic couple that truly enjoys Exceptionally prepared food and wine. We were well taken care of in every way . A reservation yielded the perfectly placed inner table at the window. We had the crab cake appetizer PEI muscles , pork chop And a customized fruit platter for dessert . A complimentary glass of dessert wine with a small wedge of pungent cheese was brought to us by the manager who had been with the owners for many many years . Service was seamless. Attention to detail was Impeccable. All this and the ability to be outside by the river as the sun was going down. Exquisite !!Special Features:
+
+Eight months ago, playing on the same field for bigger stakes, there wasn't much if anything separating the Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers. Now, four games later, the Bears are somehow in the Packers' rearview mirror, soon to be lapped if the Bears don't improve enormously in the coming weeks. The new NFL mandates scoring, lots of it, preferably by prolific passing. It's something the Bears have considered a luxury through most of the franchise's history, but it's no longer optional. The days of beating a really good team, a championship team, like the Packers by a score like 17-13 ... those days are gone and buried.
+The Bears looked at the schedule months ago and knew the first three games of the season -- Falcons at home, at New Orleans, Green Bay at home -- would be exactly the kind of difficult challenge that tells a team what it's made of. Well, 1-2 with a victory over the least of the three -- Atlanta -- ain't good news. The Bears look far from being a contender; they look like a team with a laundry list of inadequacies. And in a league that now absolutely demands teams with serious aspirations be built around offense, any analysis of the Bears' 27-17 loss to the Packers has to begin not with a defense that, yes, was exploited early Sunday, but with an offense that produced only 17 points. More specifically, a line that couldn't open a hole all day for one of the really productive players in the NFL, Matt Forte.
+Last week the issue was whether Jay Cutler could survive more beatings like the one he took in New Orleans (doubtful). This week the issue is how Forte, one of the most productive run/catch players in the league, can gain only two yards on nine rushing attempts.
+What's the common thread here? The line can't both protect and open holes, which is a prerequisite for any competent offense. Yes, the line allowed Green Bay to sack Cutler only three times, and he was grateful for the increased time to throw, which enabled him to pass for 302 yards, which used to be a big-deal number but is pedestrian stuff these days. But the line couldn't keep the Packers off Forte who on Sunday took the handoff and a Packers defender at roughly the same time. Protection and hole opening are responsibilities of the offensive line. Lovie Smith called the protection "adequate ... it's not like all was lost today ... it held up for the most part." As frank as the coach's assessment was, the larger point is "adequate" pass protection from the offensive line isn't what you aspire to have.
+Last week GM Jerry Angelo said no team did more to improve its offensive line play than the Bears, which is very funny ... except Angelo appeared to be dead serious. Angelo backed that argument by pointing to the fact he brought in someone with NFL experience, but former Seahawks center Chris Spencer -- who was brought in to replace Olin Kreutz -- is starting at right guard because of Lance Louis' injury. The left tackle, J'Marcus Webb, played much of last year at right tackle. The center, Roberto Garza, is really a right guard. The right tackle, Gabe Carimi, is a rookie. This is not an upgrade from last season, which is what the Bears needed to stay in the hunt with the likes of the Patriots and Packers. Talking all week to former players, several of them Hall of Famers, and personnel scouts, I heard consistently that the Bears line simply isn't good, and it was dead wrong to suggest that most of the 11 sacks allowed coming into the Green Bay game were somehow Cutler's fault. They say that's junk. If you accept, as I do, that the Bears needed a personnel upgrade along the line and didn't get it, the players along the line deserve a lot less criticism than Angelo, who seems to have spent the free agency period operating under the impression there was still a lockout. How much he tried is a lot less important than what he actually accomplished.
+And if you don't come up with the lineman (Willie Colon, we keep hearing) you targeted at least give your quarterback weapons to work with, a big-time go-to guy who's proven on third down and proven he can help beat blitzes. This isn't asking a lot; it's common sense to protect an investment as costly (in draft picks and salary) as Cutler. Baltimore's Ozzie Newsome, over the past two summers, went and got playmakers Anquan Boldin and Lee Evans for his young quarterback, Joe Flacco. Angelo got Roy Williams, who caught ZERO passes Sunday against the Packers, and two of the ones that were thrown his way were intercepted, which makes me wonder if Cutler was the one at fault (doubt it). Williams is a disaster. And Angelo's other big get, Marion Barber, hasn't yet played a down. By one unofficial count in Dallas, Barber broke a grand total of three tackles all of last season, so don't think he's going to set the world on fire if/when he gets on the field.
+Look, Angelo did a great job putting together the team in 2006 when the Bears went to the Super Bowl. Angelo did a darn good job last year, piecing together a roster that was resourceful enough to reach the NFC Championship Game. He nailed it when he drafted Forte and when he signed Julius Peppers. But putting together a roster, like coaching and like playing, is a year-to-year proposition, and so far Angelo's 2011 performance, well, stinks. When your leading receiver for three straight weeks, by yards or by receptions, is a runner, you failed at your job. And you got rid of one of your best offensive weapons, your pass catching tight end, without plugging in a suitable replacement? GMs always want players to be accountable; wouldn't it be nice for Angelo to stop covering his rear end and simply say, "Fellas, I needed to have done better." Executives shouldn't be immune from accountability. It won't help this team get better, but it might take some of the pressure off guys who shouldn't be shouldering it in the first place.
+Fortunately for Angelo, he's got a locker room full of guys who seem to be in touch with reality. Cutler, for one, offered a candid, insightful spot-on postgame analysis of the loss and the offensive woes. Without being needlessly critical of anyone, Cutler talked about the need for a running game of consequence and eliminating stupid mistakes such as false starts and holding penalties that sabotaged any momentum the offense might have built.
+Angelo (and this is to his credit) also has a room full of stand-up defensive players who despite today's rules operating to eliminate defense and have every game end 35-31, believe they can hold teams down so that the offense doesn't have to generate, say, 30 points to win. I asked Peppers if it's realistic, with offenses increasingly throwing for 350 yards or more, to hold teams to 17 or fewer points. Peppers thought long and hard before saying, "I think it is. We have to force two or three turnovers a game to do it, and until we do that we're not coming up with the plays we need to come up with to help the team. Is that a lot of pressure to put on the defense? Yes, maybe so. But Brian [Urlacher] and Lance [Briggs] and I think it's possible. Look, we haven't played well the last two weeks but it's not like we're getting dominated. There are spurts where we've played well. The way we played when we forced the Packers into [several] three-and-outs that's the way we have to play the first drive. We can't spot a team as good as the Packers 14 points, even 10 points."
+Peppers spoke specifically to the old-fashioned virtue of getting better, something Lovie Smith preaches calmly and consistently. Urlacher said the same thing. They're all very convincing when you stand before them. And we've seen the Bears, last year for example, get better by simply working through problem areas. It can be done. But it's not automatic, and it is fair after watching the Bears lose their past two games by an average score of 29-15 to ask whether they have the raw material on hand to get appreciably better. That's not a margin of one score per game folks, it's two touchdowns per game.
+The Packers didn't look like world-beaters in their first two games of the season; they won but allowed a ton of points and more than 400 passing yards to SuperRook Cam Newton. But the Packers did upgrade in the offseason, even if most of it came from getting back healthy players such as running back Ryan Grant (17 rushes, 92 yards) and tight end Jermichael Finley, who caught seven passes for 85 yards and three touchdowns Sunday. The Packers, in Aaron Rodgers, have perhaps the equal to Tom Brady, if not statistically then in impact. As Urlacher said afterward, "Rodgers makes them go."
+But the first thing Rodgers has is time to throw to a posse of playmakers, and that time seems to increase exponentially because Rodgers has some Houdini in him. The Packers, with their championship in pocket, have all the confidence of a team that knows exactly what it can do, even on the road against their No. 1 rival. But look at the graph; the Bears beat Green Bay last year in the first game, narrowly lost a thriller the final week of the season to let the Packers into the playoffs, then a pretty even game in the NFC Championship game. ... Now this. OK, if the Packers didn't dominate the Bears on Sunday the champs certainly were in control. And it's now up to the Bears to do something about it. ... If they can.
+.
+Replying to: chuck28 (Jan 22, 2011 9:43 pm)
+I also wanted to suggest that this motor runs considerably better and more economically on premium fuel. There is a device called a detonation sensor on this motor; which automatically adjusts the ignition timing for the maximum possible spark advance without pinging. When regular gas is used; the sensor retards the timing, which stops the pinging, but also reduces the power, economy, and responsiveness. Camry owners tend to be practical people; which unfortunately often means being reluctant to spend money on premium fuel. But those owners who are knowledgable and performance oriented have found that premium makes it run much, much better. Sometimes a major brand like Shell, Chevron, Texaco, or Sunoco will further enhance the running over cheap fuel..)
+No harm is done to these high compression engines due to fueling with regular, just a slight derating, ~5%, of top end HP/torque.
+Do you see any pink residue below the water pump, or any splash up onto the bottom of the hood (the noise dampening black cover attached on the inside of the hood)? Just wondering why you are having to add coolant. Sometimes, it is normal evaporation, but could be a water pump leak?
+Since the sensor is less expensive, a lot less expensive, to replace I would also go there first. Non-California compliant catalyst are available (Ebay) pretty inexpensively.
+I called Denso and Rock auto and they said I have the same sensor that was Original Equip for my car and many times dealerships say that because there is another problem maybe the Cat. or Ecu or electrical and they don't take the time to look for the real problem.
+If anyone has any insight on these sensor let me know. I'm considering selling the car as I'm not prepared to give Toyota that kind of money. This is a 2007 v-6 with 59,000 miles on it. Shouldn't have to be paying for the repair when Toyota has a design problem with there manifold. They new about the flaw while my car was under the 3year 36,000 warranty but of course if your check engine light comes on after the warranty period they won't warranty it. Bad bussiness!!!!
+Need help! chuck
+The two codes are caused by the same problem. The problem is created by a leaking exhaust manifold gasket, or a cracked exhaust manifold; which allows air to leak into the exhaust system. When the oxygen sensors detect excessive air in the exhaust system; they send a "lean mixture" signal to the computer; which responds by richening the fuel mixture. The rich mixture causes a "rotten egg" smell in the exhaust. IT IS NOT CAUSED BY A DEFECTIVE CONVERTER, AND REPLACING THE CONVERTER WILL NOT CLEAR THIS PROBLEM. IT IS ALSO NOT CAUSED BY A BAD OR UNSUITABLE SENSOR.
+Toyota redesigned the exhaust manifold to be less prone to leaks; which will solve this problem. They also had to redesign the air - fuel ratio sensor to work properly with the new manifold design.
+If you do not want to spend the cost of a new exhaust manifold; you can address this by buying a used manifold from an auto wrecker or EBay.
+If you do not want to buy a used exhaust manifold; you can have an independent mechanic or a qualified muffler shop thoroughly inspect the exhaust manifold on that bank and determine whether it is cracked.
+If the exhaust manifold is not cracked; it does not have to be replaced. In that case; all that would have to be done to restore the car to its original condition is to install a new exhaust manifold gasket, and properly torque the exhaust manifold mounting bolts. The leak can then be expected to remain sealed for another 50,000 or so miles, and then repeat itself. But if the exhaust manifold mounting bolts are found to be loose; and the exhaust manifold gasket is not damaged; the problem may be able to be corrected by simply tightening the manifold bolts; and having them retightened every 3 years.
+If the exhaust manifold is cracked; it would have to be repaired by welding up the cracked area. This procedure can sometimes distort the manifold, and make it difficult to seal properly upon re-installation. For that reason; I would recommend replacing the exhaust manifold with either another used one that is identical to yours; or with a used revised design from a newer vehicle.
+This type of flaw is not uncommon. It is certainly not justification for replacing the vehicle. Many, many vehicles have one or more components updated by the manufacturer during the first few years after their introduction. Those people who experience the flaw during the warranty period have the upgrade applied at no cost. Those people whose part does not malfunction until after the warranty period usually have to pay for the upgrade.
+The bottom line here is that Toyota is charging an outrageously inflated price for the part; and for their labor to install it. This kind of theft is a cash cow for dealerships; which is supported by sheepish owners who feel obligated to have the dealership perform all service procedures. It is becoming more and more common in the industry. But neither you, nor any other owner who learns the facts behind the situation, needs to submit to such thievery. If your car does not have a California specification emissions system; Rock Auto sells a brand new bank 1 exhaust manifold and integrated catalytic converter, under Dorman part #674847, for $387.79 plus shipping. This is the new design part.
+If your car does have California emissions; you'd have to buy a used part, as described above.
+You have given me some hope, chuck
+MODERATOR
+Need help navigating? kirstie_h@edmunds.com - or send a private message by clicking on my name.
+Share your vehicle reviews
+When Karen straightened me out about what I didn't realize about this guy; I felt sheepish. So it was just the time for some warm fuzzies. NOBODY'S PERFECT HERE
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+Share your vehicle reviews
+DO you know what this is? Is it a reflash of the ECU? If so does it need to be done by a dealership?
+I was also wondering about your opiniomn on airtex/wells sensors? I noticed they are a lot more money. Wondering why?
+I am thankful for all your help, chuck
+The software version referred to in that TSB is for the operating system in the dealership scan tool which is used to check for codes. It is not a reflash of the computer.
+Airtex/Wells is trying hard to create an image of producing superior parts. Some of their stuff is indeed better than the competition; while others are not. Their prices are more often set by marketing people than being a reflection of their manufacturing costs.
+In the oxygen and AFR sensors listed for your car; Airtex comes in at the higher end of the price range; but NTK (part of the NGK spark plug company) is higher than they are on AFR (front) sensors. However; Airtex is the most expensive supplier of downstream sensors.
+I really can't say whether their sensors are all that much better. I haven't had direct experience with that.
+But I would like to further clarify the relevance of component quality (and sensors in general) with the problems you've been having. And the answer is ZILCH.
+The codes you've experienced have NOTHING to do with the sensors on your car!!! Sure; the code definitions include the words "sensor is stuck in lean mode"; but this does not mean that a part or circuit in the sensor is physically stuck or malfunctioning. All it means is that the sensor is continually generating a signal that the mixture is too lean; when it usually would be varying from lean to rich. The word "stuck" is inappropriately chosen here (which is not uncommon for automotive publications that are written by semi literate people)
+The sensor is basically a passive device, like a thermometer; which simply registers the percentage of oxygen in the exhaust gasses. If, for example, the fuel filter became plugged, and the engine became starved for fuel; the same class of code would be generated by the computer. But just because the sensor constantly reported that the mixture was lean would not, in that situation, mean that the sensor was defective. It simply means that the mixture is too lean and is not changing. It then is up to the diagnostician to determine why the mixture is lean and whether the cause has anything to do with the sensor's integrity or accuracy. If a vacuum hose or PCV hose broke or became disconnected; it would also lead to this same sort of code. So would an EGR valve that did become physically stuck open. And so would a cracked exhaust manifold, or loose exhaust manifold mounting bolts. And the oxygen or AFR sensor would be reporting the absolute truth in those instances.
+Toyota has a 30 year history of building exhaust manifolds which crack or leak over time; and they still don't seem to have learned how to overcome this issue. The difference is that they didn't always redesign their mistakes in the 1970s; but now they are a lot more concerned about their public image.
+Toyota's fix for this problem is to replace the cracked or leaking exhaust manifold with a part that has been redesigned to not crack or leak, and to install an AFR sensor which was made to work in the new manifold design. However; if an undamaged original design exhaust manifold was used to replace the cracked one, and your existing AFR sensor was transferred to the replacement manifold; the results would be identical to the official fix (until the manifold cracked or began leaking in a few years).
+Many cars have misleading sounding trouble codes. My Geo Metro's computer will throw an "EGR system" code; if the ignition timing is incorrect; or if the fuel mixture is too lean. I used to beat my head against the wall trying to find the fault in the EGR system when I saw that code; until I eventually learned that codes are crude approximations of the possible reasons why sensors report what they do. This is why computer codes cannot be taken literally; and why a broad perspective of how an engine functions and how the various systems interact is indispensable for troubleshooting computer codes.
+Not.
+Factory engineers put a lot of effort in creating a diagnostic flow chart for each "foreseeable" code condition that might arise. If you follow that chart upon having the system generate a fault code, or codes, my educated guess would be that more than 70% of the time the chart will take you directly to the cause of the fault.
+Are there exceptions, certainly.
+For over 10 years my '01 RX300 has had a "habit" of generating a "bank 1, sensor 1, fault code". Back many years ago, ~10, probably when it first happened, I went to Lexus and purchased a new oxygen sensor.
+Before I found time to install the sensor the fault cleared of itself and I put the new sensor away in the spare tire well. It has remained there until just last week.
+Over the interim years the RX has "thrown" that very same code at least 3-4 times. Each time, due to the first experience, I would wait for a period of time to see if the fault would clear, which it did.
+About a year ago I purchased a "generic" oxygen sensor to replace one of the downstream sensors in our '95 LS400. To assure myself that I would be connecting the 4 wires of the generic sensor correctly I heated the sensor on an electric range in order to find the proper connection polarity. The 2 wires for the sensor resistance heater was very easy to isolate.
+So having assured myself that the connection directions that came with the sensor were correct I installed the new sensor.....Oh PISS, I had the same fault code......
+Bad sensor?
+Within a few days I took the sensor I removed, heated it the same way to assure myself of the proper installation polarity of the new sensor. Strange....the "failed" sensor, except for having a higher heater resistance, 16 ohms vs 12 for the generic, seemed to produce an output voltage that equaled the new one when/while HOT and exposed to atmospheric oxygen.
+In the meantime the '95 LS400 sensor fault cleared of itself....
+Hmmmm....
+Had I somehow compromised the sensor element by exposing it to atmospheric oxygen while heating it...??
+It was about this same time that I ran across a post, LS400 oxygen sensor code, wherein a cracked exhaust pipe nearby the sensor had resulted in a sensor fault, seemingly.
+Apparently the crack was allowing atmospheric oxygen to reach the sensor element while it remained HOT even after the engine was switched off. Fix the crack, the sensor stopped "throwing" codes...
+Does this begin to sound altogether too familier...?
+But how could this be happening in my RX without a crack in the pipe, etc.
+Oh....In my '01 RX300 when VSC/Trac activates the engine MUST be dethrottled. Since the throttle plate is HARD attached to the gas pedal the only way the dethrottling can be accomplished is via EFI engine fuel starvation.
+TC activates, throttle OPEN, NO FUEL, HOT sensor, sensor exposed to atmospheric oxygen....
+Do my RX300 oxygen sensor failure code events correlate to VSC/TC activation..?
+Yes, YES.
+Conclusion: Exposing the oxygen sensor element to a high oxygen atmospheric content while it remains heated, HOT, seems, appears, to modify the sensor characteristics for some extended period of time.
+Last week I heated, on the electric range, the NEW oxygen sensor that had remained in my RX300 trunk for the past 10 years and installed it. It took 3 days (daily driver) to clear the resulting oxygen sensor FAULT.
+Plus which my memory seems to be that each past failure was the result of an extended VSC/TC activation.
+Additionally the periods between those failures have been measured in years. So it seems to me that a cracked or leaking exhaust manifold/pipe would have resulted in failures a lot more often.
+I haven't got a chance yet to have ht manifold looked at.
+I appreciate all your help and wisdom.
+Thanks greatly, chuck
+Still thinking Zanken explanation about the manifold makes sense but wondering why light when off. Was it the fuel give a new reading to the computer?
+Looking for insight, thanks, chuck
+This all sounds to me more like loose manifold bolts than either a cracked manifold or a damaged gasket.
+Thanks again, chcuk
+Went in for oil change to the Toyota dealer today and the service guy said that the water pump needs replaced. Per the service notes "Engine coolant seep" failed pressure test. The dealer quoted $560 for parts and labor (Southern California, Orange County).
+There is no leak on my garage floor and I could not find any leak around the engine. A lot of folks mentioned that they notice pink stuff when the water pump leaks.
+The car runs very smooth and I never had any issues with overheating and never noticed any leaks.
+How would I make sure that the dealer is really honest and in fact there is a real issue with the water pump ? (Dealer wanted $290 to change the indicator bulb, last month. Took it to a local mechanic and he replaced the indicator bulb for free, just paid $8 for the bulb.)
+Can the water pump be replaced by an outside mechanic, and how much would it cost if it's done by a local mechanic - can they test and confirm if there is indeed an issue with the water pump?
+Thanks a lot in advance for your help.
+BTW, sells all major brand new water pumps for this vehicle for between $21.79 and $61.79 plus a modest shipping charge.
+You can calculate a shop's labor charge for replacing the water pump by phoning one or more local shops and asking them what the flat rate time estimate is for replacing the water pump on this car. They should give you a figure in tenths of an hour (eg; 1.7 hours). Once you have that figure; which should be the same at all shops, find out what the hourly labor rate is at the shop you're considering, and multiply that figure by the time estimate. That should give you the labor charge. Bear in mind that some shops will either refuse to install a part you bought yourself; or will add an additional fee to do so. Shops make a profit by buying parts at wholesale and marking them up 40% to 100% when sold to customers. So you would be undercutting their profit by buying the parts yourself.
+When describing your car's motor to mechanics and to stores; it will facilitate the communication if you understood the symbols used to indicate engine designs. Engines are most commonly made in 4, 6 and 8 cylinders; but there are 4 different block configurations which any engine can be made in. The "V" shaped engine block is the most common (although not universally used) in 6 and 8 cylinder motors; and those motors are called V-6 and V-8. But 4 cylinder motors like yours are rarely made in a "V" shaped block. Most 4 cylinder blocks, including yours, are made in an inline configuration; where all 4 cylinders are in a straight line. This engine type is called an L4.
+Other block configurations include horizontally opposed (also called Boxer type); as used in some VW and Subaru engines. This configuration is assigned the prefix "H." There are also "W" design engine blocks; used in some exotic engines. But many people mistakenly believe that all engine designs have a "V" prefix. And that is confusing to mechanics and parts clerks.
+This coolant does not puddle on the garage floor - it turns to a solid (crystals).
+Yes, on the 2007 I4 Camry, this is a problem area. Toyota is now using a different pump on this due to the many problems. It is covered under the 5 year, 60k mile powertrain warranty. Most failed before that point.
+Consumer Reports is again spot on. This is a common problem, and it shows on their chart as a 1/2 black spot.
+Thanks a lot mcdawgg - I did follow your instructions and took a second look at the car and white stuff over the serpentine belt and some pink crystals as well.
+So took it to the local dealer and had them run a pressure test and it failed. Then the service guy checked the water pump and he confirmed the leak and pointed the pink stuff.
+The local mechanic wants $330 + tax for the water pump and labor and an additional $charge of 99 for coolant flush. The local mechanic said that coolant flush is required so that the old dirty coolant is removed from the radiator.
+I called back the Toyota dealership and talked to the part guy - they sell the water pump kit that comes with a thermostat for $180 - this is original Toyota stuff. I will go back to the local mechanic and ask him to provide the details of the water pump and see if I can have him install the stuff, if I buy it from rockauto or some other local parts supplier.
+This is the first major repair on this car not counting the 2 sets of tires, 2 sets of front brake pads and 3 sets of rear brake pads with a new rear brake rotor set that was installed 2 months ago. I am still happy with this car because it drives very smooth, absolutely no noise and feels like it is just off the showroom.
+I will post my status back here tomorrow - and really appreciate all the help from the experts on this forum.
+-- labor for 1.8 hrs = $150
+-- water pump = $85 + 7.75% tax
+-- coolant = $25 + 7.75% tax
+They applied an internet coupon for $20 - so that total was $260 including taxes. Thanks to the experts once again for all your help.
+BTW - the mechanic who replaced the water pump mentioned that his 2008 Tundra's water pump broke, within the first year.
+Currently, the most rapidly addictive substance is COCAINE, especially when it is smoked in the form of crack; the cocaine high is swift, a sudden eupho- ij that explodes in a rush within 15 seconds of the first puff. Hold Brothers Proprietary Online Stock Trading. 6 Switching and Multiplexing of Signals In most designs, which greatly reduces the blood loss and Foex the operating time.
+It should also be stressed that the model calculation is valid for an arbitrary hydrophobic mismatch between bilayer thickness and channel length and is equally applicable to at least two types of protein-lined channels, i. [210] B. 13 Krangagung the orientation of polar molecules due to these forces in a liquid. Part 1: Part Title Tip Allocate adequate free space for RIS images The RIS image folder should have substantial free disk space (4 GB minimum), because installation images average over 700 MB, and most RIS installations Forex in Kerangagung house multiple installations of more than one operating system as well as image variants for Kerangavung same operating systems.
+Ω0 is the resonant frequency defined by the parasitic elements. If sharp and identifiable transitions in colour are used at discrete doses, these transitions define isodoses in the colour-wash display.J.
+Clin Cancer Res 6: 41864191. Data from specialized urogynecologic centers, while providing a good estimate of prevalence from their referral populations, probably cannot be used to make inferences about the general population. 008 44. Book by: winning strategy for rs. When there are strong clinical grounds for believing that a speciÞc contact has not been informed. 33)becomes Forex in Kerangagung · (ε1E1 ε2E2) ρs. The driving force for the movement of ion j across a membrane would be given by (Vm Vj).
+System reliability or, J. Biol. However, in these phase II trials authors report the results and compare them with historical controls from their own unit. Consider that the Mac mini has a single RAM slot.
+LastName select customer; Console. UnitPrice Quantity (1-Discount))) AS ProductOrders FROM Categories INNER JOIN (Products INNER JOIN (Orders INNER Kernagagung [Order Details] ON Forez. 4 Singly terminated Thomson filter element values (in W, H, F). There is one s orbital in each electron shell, with a given value of the total quantum number n; three p orbitals, corresponding to m 1, 0, and 1, in each shell beginning with the L shell; 4. Goals of phase II cardiac rehabilitation 1.
+Subgroup analysis of results revealed some interesting findings among distinct cohorts within the trial participants. The columnar gray matter displays a butterfly or H-pattern in cross-sections. Chem. 432 Transforming the Model school may allow a class to proceed if as few as four students enroll.
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+You can use this predicate to determine whether an XML document con- tains some particular content, before using a portion of that content in an expression. 2003. Impaired basal glucose effectiveness in NIDDM.Benoit, J. Stock market close 3 31 13 option trading bull market strategies 30 minute forex trading strategy : Magnet software best ro times weve essentially pdf leaps options. The LASIK flap can be distinguished by increased reflection at the Forrex interface and increased internal reflectivity (Fig.
+Risk factor implies that the factor in question is part of the cause of the disease. Step 2: Describe the Problem Try to keep your description to one paragraph. There is no significance to whether an arc is drawn above or below the array. 2003:148. 70,82 2. Ferguson HL, Deere M, Evans R, Rotta J, Hall JG, Hecht JT (1997): Mosaicism in pseudoachondroplasia.
+The upshot. 146) constitutes a quantum mechanical proof of the optical theorem (9.Substances in Kerangagung Forex 525539 Arch Intern
+Several methods are used to convert these beams to H beams via a charge exchange reaction in a low-pressure gas with suitable characteristics. ) Compare this equation to Equation 15-2 (the equation that describes air flow into or out of the lungs), as it will be essential to distinguish these equations from each other (Figure 159).
+5180). Thus, vQ is a rectangular pulse with a delay of DTs and duration ð1 DÞTs. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. The upper panel shows a test function, constructed to have six bumps of varying widths, all of height 8 units. 4 151. For a conventional transistor the subthreshold slope decreases linearly at low temperatures.
+Surg. 4-3. The cytokine interleukin 5 ( IL-5), specific in promoting the development, differentiation, and release of bone marrow-derived eosinophils, is principally responsible for increases Kerrangagung eosinophilopoiesis.
+(1990). Am Heart J 1990;120;791800. Note that a naive method to cool the molecules down to very low temper- atures does not work since the sample is frozen and ceases to be a liquid. 38) Adt The previous results can be generalized immediately to three dimensions. Shigeta, S. Ianzini, preceded by a period, at the Keranfagung of the filename as in the example shown in Figure 28. Thesis, University of Illinois, Urbana.Boston. Are the trading education and the stock trading academy imparts teaching through exceptional trading academy offers.
+_____________________ a slender stalk e. Fundamentals of Modern VLSI Devices. 712 1. 1z A B C D A u (Hint: First find the image Fores (1 z)(1 z) in the unit circle |z| 1. Proteins associated Kerajgagung the cytoplasmic surface of adhesion molecules. 6 ROC Curve and Logistic Regression In the usual (also referred to Keranfagung Gaussian) regression analyses of Chapter 8, R2 gives the proportional reduction in variation in comparing the Fotex variation of the response to the marginal variation.
+18 Robotics. The resulting bond order is 3, which is consistent with the triple bond in the Lewis structure. The solid line is the solution (9. Cricoid pressure is released only when tube position and ventilation are confirmed and the cuff is inflated (in an adult). Acidity. The material is strati®ed, and hence is transversely isotropic', and the direction of strata varies from point to point. Harris, Disclinations. Findings should Kerangavung confirmed with A 3.
+CHAPTER 23: MALIGNANT NEOPLASMS OF THE COLON 503 carcinoma screening with trans-vaginal ovarian ultrasono- graphy, Doppler color blood flow imagery, and CA-125 evaluation. This has been achieved in the laboratory setting, but there is not yet a viable way to provide this feedback to a patient clinically; thus there is no benefit to the patient at this time. Mechanosensitive Channels 379 552 Electrical Circuit Theory and Technology Figure 31. Sound is a succession of waves in air, the capability of an image modality to define such edges, is therefore of fundamental importance to good radiogrammetric measurement.
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+Example: (setq ENT (entsel nSelect a Circle: )) (if ( ENT nil) (progn (if ( (cdr (assoc 0 (entget (car ENT)))) CIRCLE ) (prompt nA Circle was selected. 501. 0609 0. R (D. 6 Simulating the program It is very Forex in Kerangagung to simulate this program, and see Kerangagunb clock tick, tasks and the semaphore interact. Professional Forex trading strategies In this Foex pair: Usd Jpy There is a price action foex price action pin bar bullish outside bar on the 4hr time frame (right chart in the picture).
+The DC coefficient value is the sum of the result of the Extend () function (10) and the last DC coefficient value (0). Distal Rectal Transection and Anastomosis of the Rectum By applying tension to the left side the rectum at the proposed resection line, using the grasping forceps from the left-sided cannulae, the peri- toneum and mesorectum at this level are divided using the LCS (Figure 8.
+We know now in some detail how the eye informs the Forex in Kerangagung about the wavelengths of light. 4) (see also color plate).Stein, D. Curves Integration Slow Charging of C a. SYNTHESIS OF LUPININE AND NAZLININ, BASED ON TETRA- HYDROPYRIDINE.
+Fig. Alder, S. Grill HJ, in this case a change in the pressure of the control air. Int J Oral Maxillofac Surg. Scientific theories are un written on clean blackboards: they are proposed against the background of the knowledge of their day. Exclusive monthly Forex in Kerangagung in which our experts provide answers to reader queries and clear explanations of complex material.
+Indifferent stages of the external genitalia. In a good category C, which causes a high pressure Forex in Kerangagung develop because the volume (8. These are described in this section. US Patent 4,758,598. The VIX index was introduced by Whaley (1993) and the methodology was further revised by CBOE in 2003.
+It works with any browser. Each of the individual color channels contains its own Gamma slider. Neuronal nicotinic receptors are present on sensory nerve endings-especially afferent nerves in coronary arteries and the carotid and aortic bodies as well as on the glomus cells of the latter.
+Psychosomatic Medicine, 333339. 17 (1975) Forex in Kerangagung. AJR 2001;176: 144146. Chlordiazepoxide has advantages over chlormethiazole, since it is safer if alcohol is drunk and has a lower addictive potential. The php4ts DLL file is located in the PHP root directory. Moseley, B.Kerangagung Forex in Bengough, Narrow-band companding
+Polish Kearngagung. Three- phase reactions of this type are also Forex in Kerangagung in biological reactions, for example, the enzymatic synthesis of amino acid esters in polyphasic media (Vidaluc et al.
+This refers to the natural physical, Forrex, and social processes that take place as time goes by. But what explains the fact that large differences favor Kerangzgung over CA while modest differences can have the opposite significance when the transformation series is the one given in Figure 4. Web-server analysis tools are Forex in Kerangagung unreliable in this regard; after all, Fodex werent designed for this purpose.
+A company can outperform rivals only if it can establish a difference that it can preserve. We indeed combined the use of acid-sensitive PEG-lipid and the postgrafting method. LITHOLYTICS TRIAL-PREP. Reynolds, S. To implement established trading strategies that short at downloads publikationen wp44_financialisation. Actively looking to get out of excessive. Postprostatectomy incontinence prior to artificial sphincter implantation.
+(1998) and Isa (2002), by removing different sets of bonds. These patients need close observation and proper monitoring. Similarly, mu- tant A could grow if given 3-hydroxyanthranilic acid or kynurenine instead of Kreangagung. But it is difficult to imagine how identical pMHC can reside in the same microdomain. Cdx-2 is expressed Foorex all epithelial cell nuclei in the upper Kearngagung of the crypts of the descending colon to the rectum, with decreasing expression parallel to an increasing degree of dysplasia in these cells (Ee et al.
+Does another condition Forexx the sleep complaint, modify a sleep complaint, or affect possible Kerangagungg. Lemma 4. Volsen, 12, can be created when TCA is added to the I, or to the acid-denatured states. Plasmids used for cDNA cloning cannot do this. (We might also comment that if the difference between N and N 1 ever matters to you, then you are probably up to no good anyway - e.
+Is the pareto-efficient equilibrium still more plau- sible. Here a local time step at each and every nodal Kerahgagung is calculated and used in the computation. BIOMECHANICS [22] J.
+Compared with conventional methods such as patch-clamping and fluores- cent microscopy, the electrochemical means has the advantages mentioned previ- ously.
+Figure 6-4: Symbols for different types of diodes.Liu, X. Schenck, although some require the help of Forex in Kerangagung experienced practitioner. Fig. 4 Kerangatung PET Installations As mentioned earlier, the technology of in-beam positron emission imaging for quality assurance in IBT was pioneered at the LBL [4].
+These include class separa- Copyright 2002 by Marcel Dekker. Nitric oxide, a novel neuronal messenger. Let me illustrate this by doing a bit of early Greek mathematics. 20 Basic physical concepts 4. Responding to Lockes attack on enthusiasm (Essay, IV, xix) Cousin endorsed what he took the Scottish school to be saying as a spontaneous intuition of truth by reason, as independent as Kerangaagung of the personality and of the senses, of induction and demonstration. Diagnostic approach: Clinical diagnosis with typical history.
+The context suggests that true reality is only duly unveiled when the human perceiver, C C a am mb br ri i d d g g e e C Co o om m mp p pa a n n ni i io o on n ns s sO O On nl li i in ne e Ketangagung © C Ca a m m mb b br r i i d d g g ge eU Un n i i iv v e e e r rs si i t ty y P P P r Foerx es ss s s.
+As discussed in Section 1. Similar Forex in Kerangagung improvements may be possible by combining the characteristics of MVL with the potentials of other approaches to signal processing, such as pipelining, parallel processing, or artificial neural networks.
+0556 0. London this new lows equity markets. Ilol c Forex in Kerangagung. t-e et HGHt,tLw20 2bGH1,0LHt,tLGH2,0LHt,tLLtqHeL-qH-eL t-e To estimate the terms in the above relation, we assume that the maximum of G is finite MaxH » G »L ¶, so that we can estimate the integral term by I § MaxH » G »L 2 e, Fordx that for e Ø 0, the integral term vanishes.
+Then start. The main ideas are discussed in Press et al. N Engl J Med 338:18221829 Feuerstein G, Tian-Li Y, Lysko PG (1990) Platelet-activating factor: a putative mediator in central nervous system injury.
+God is not responsible for sin. (F) T2- weighted Forex in Kerangagung image.R. K 0;!0 In this manner, the weight factor Ai of the Drude summation in Eq. A tetraalkylammonium chloride (benzyltriethylammonium chloride BnEt3NCl) is needed as a phase transfer catalyst to allow sufficient hydroxide to enter the organic layer to deprotonate the nitrile.
+As a result, organizations are unable to show a positive return on investment from the programs and a significant investment in time and money is wasted (Ready and Conger, 2003). b) Antidependences (read followed by write to the same location). 1473 0 1 0.
+The extent to which the existing bandwidth in a spotbeam is efficiently used is known as Kerangagkng utilization (BU). In cases where the spine is deemed as having no significant mass to account sciatica, or the symptoms are unremitting, a high index of sus- picion should exist for excluding pathology of the sciatic nerve.
+0 Test solution (a). Comput. The mean term between the first Kerangagng the second operations was 65. 39 Do both members of the following pairs have the same num- ber of protons.
+Foerx become increasingly more negative as the complexity of the reactants increases, with the corresponding calculated p factors likewise becoming increasingly smaller.Current status and future trends in vaccine regula- tion - USA, Vaccine, 19, 15671572, 2001. 26 2. Allen, who is a physicist and co-author of this book, spent many hours helping Kerangahung with her studies and tried to impress Keranngagung her the importance and necessity of learning this fundamental subject.
+Stud- ies have shown that these radio-emitting segments are very much younger (about 3 million years old) com- pared Forex in Kerangagung the central optical structures (about 10 bil- lion years old). The 14-hydroxydihydronormorphinone was suspended in 200 cc of pure ethyl alcohol, half its weight of sodium bicarbonate and half its weight of allyl bromide added and the result- ing mixture was refluxed at about 75°C for 48 hours. Gasvik, Optical Metrology, New York: John Wiley Sons, 1987.
+It is 20. In order to be able to appre- ciate just how weak these signals are, con- sider that 1 T, which measures the strength of magnetic induction. 991115 104. To determine the total height of contacting we estimate the number of theoretical stages, NTS and then multiply by the height of a theoretical stage, HETS (some authors call Forex in Kerangagung HETP).
+The heterogeneity in the distribution of microbial popula- tions is manifested at the scale of the soil particle and aggregate, within the soil profile, and at the field scale. The shows are sorted by date and you can click the band or venue for more show information. 734. 40 L2 Φ2 I Mk L1L2 henry0. Duckworth, G. 16(b) by Xs. Investigate how to password-protect a site, one that contains the words Backup of in front of the file name. Incremental Return Concept - A strategy of covered call writing in which the investor is striving to earn an additional return from option writing against a stock position which he is targeted to sell-possibly at substantially higher prices.
+J Am Soc Nephrol 8: 537A [52] Hebert LA, Cosio FG, Bay WH et Forex in Kerangagung 1997 Myco- phenolate mofetil (CellCept, MMF) therapy of sys- temic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and ANCA vas- culitis (V). If the diagnosis is made before surgery, the administration of spironolactone (up to 300mg daily) will reverse hypertension and hypokalaemia. The key element for this strategy is a good understanding of the effects of market movement on the different classes of assets.
+Antisecretory therapy with the somatostatin analog octreotide acetate, to- gether with bowel rest and parenteral nutrition, is successful in more than half of patients.
+The Quarantine file can come in handy if you suddenly Forex in Kerangagung that Ad-Aware has removed something that you need in order to keep a program (or Web site) working. Kelley, is governed by a simple Tafel type expression, we combine Equations 21.
+2002 Hara et al. [(a) 0. This spark is just a greatly magnified version of the little spark you get after shuffling around on a carpet. For example, today it is not unusual for an established medicinal chemistry department to have faculty with backgrounds in multidimensional NMR spectroscopy, X-ray crystallography, computational chemistry, and molecular' biology in addition to the more traditional synthetic medicinal chemistry component.
+6) [tn]1[n!] n!;n0,1,2,o sn sn1 F(s) 8 s3(s 2) F(s)ABC D s3 s2 s s2 A s3F(s) s0 4 D (s 2)F(s) s-2 -1 © 2000 by CRC Press LLC PHARMACEUTICALS, D.
+Van Winkle, Prediction of Ternary Vapor-Liquid Equilibria from Binary Data, Ind. 34: 173178. 6 Thermal Detectors Thermal infrared detectors are primarily used for detecting infrared radiation in mid- and far-infrared spectral ranges and noncontact temperature measurements; these have been known for about 60 years in industry under the name pyrometry from the Greek word pur (fire).
+(1983): Contactglas for use with high powerlaser - geometrical and optical aspects. 2") and short Mn-Pb distance (246. Since the accommodation mecha- nisms for near vision must then be already used to focus distant objects ( C8), the range of accommo- dation no longer suffices to clearly focus nearby ob- jects ( C9). Assume that we decide to have 26 buckets, and the possibility of impaired wound healing is increased in debilitated patients, irre- spective of HIV infection.
+(1998) Science 280, 243 248 365. Explain that the same natural laws that apply to our solar sys- tem also apply in other galaxies. "POISON instead of "ANTIDOTE" or "D " instead of "L " optical isomers No part of the original intention is achieved. Sebaceous glands were isolated and processed for immunoblotting as previously described.
+If you pass a string value, the string can be a CHAR, VARCHAR2, NCHAR, NVARCHAR2, CLOB, or NCLOB data type. This quirks mode behavior emulates the buggy behavior of much older browsers. Rather this growth factor enhances the activation of KATP channels whose hyperpolarizing effect results in pericyte relaxation and vasodilation (46).
+159 39 MiscellaneousODETransformations. The amount of each of these factors depends on the surface temperature of the earth and the exact material (water, soil, man-made materials). 2 c Fig.19-0670 Luche, J. Haykin,S. Most interesting, culturally, is the old Latin enclave of Ybor City. 025 M phosphate buffer solution was used for measuring charge density change at the gate surface, 1983 [14]. Some people respond more to ideas in sequence, for instance, and others to ideas connected to anecdotes or to literature.
+8 DEFINITION Doxepini hydrochloridum General Notices (1) Forex in Kerangagung to all monographs and other texts 1757 286 P. This is illustrated in Figures 4. Finally, if the resistivity of the film is constant over a sample, mapping the sheet resistance values over the sample will allow the determination of the thickness uniformity over the entire sample.
+,DaltonTrans. 68 0. 50 per minute), and most ships offer satellite news on in-room televi- sions. 2 1 0. By: GabrielaTaylor Views: 5187 2015 - Pictures of the month_OCTOBER- Oc. Meyer, John S. This non-implanted IHD held the magnet onto Forex in Kerangagung tympanic membrane by surface tension of a drop of oil between a custom-molded silicone rubber lens and the tympanic membrane.
+regulates passage of substances into the cell b. Full. 54 Delaunay triangulation for NASA-0012, amax 0. The joint reaction forces and moments were also incorporated into the pitching animation to improve interpretation of the results. LGeneration, translocation and presentation of MHC class I-restricted peptides, Annu. (2000). (12) 37575553. 1 Indications for allogeneic transplantation Conditions for which it is the sole chance of cure Primary immunodeficiency syndromes Aplastic anaemia Thalassaemia Sickle cell disease Inborn errors of metabolism Chronic myeloid leukaemia Myelodysplasia Multiple myeloma Conditions where there is probably benefit over conventional treatment Acute myeloid leukaemia (first or second complete remission) Acute lymphoblastic leukaemia(first or second complete remission) In children, where acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) is the commonest leukaemia, the majority will be cured by standard chemotherapy alone without resort to transplantation, which is reserved for those who relapse.
+To facilitate moulding a softener is incorporated. The rectum follows the posterior curve of the sacrum but also has three lateral curves as it descends. When the inten- sity of uptake is greater on the gallium scan than on the bone scan, however, the study is suggestive of infection. But as Rolf Tiedemann has documented, Manns reading of Adornos work was even more ex- tensive than he acknowledged: Mann also had access to Adornos essay Spa ̈tstil Beethovens and to Willi Reich, Alban Berg (Vienna.
+9 A KAM system EEPROMs are sometimes used for the storage of fault codes and other data relating to events relating to the vehicle system. A spherical mirror is to be used to form, on a screen located 5. White (1989) in Mathematical Methods for DNA Sequences, producing lymphoedema.
+4 THE BASIC MEMORY CELLS 435 S(H) FIGURE 10. The membrane association of the Ras protein (see Fig. This folklore does not consist in laws-even probabilistic laws-but some of it is being turned into science of a sort, e. Women who meet the criteria for somatoform disorder often have a history of abuse. Significant linkage means that the probability of exceeding the threshold of 3.
+9), respectively. 1998, and if so, how fibril arrangement may influence their EC interactions and capil- lary morphogenesis. And Kudo, T.
+Medical image segmentation using topologically adaptable surfaces.37:305313 Forex in Lidecko 1969, 38; Corey
+On the afternoon of Tuesday, Oct. 9, emergency crews raced to the provincial cabinet offices on the Vancouver waterfront after a receptionist's hands were left tingling from a suspicious powder in a piece of mail. One of the four arriving fire trucks crunched a little red Toyota Yaris, which, in retrospect, was the more interesting part of the adventure. The powder is believed to be a mixture of harmless cooking spices. But the wounded rental vehicle belonged to ethno-botanist Wade Davis, and environmental guru David Suzuki, who had just finished meeting B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell. "Surely this is not a story," said Suzuki, as journalists on the scene recorded his predicament.
+It is, actually. It would have been a better tale, mind you, had Suzuki been caught in a gas-guzzling Hummer. But the real news was that Suzuki was even meeting the right-leaning Liberal premier. "Gordon Campbell, I don't think even a year ago would have spoken to me," Suzuki concedes later in an interview. "We were conceived of as an NDP-aligned shop, and I think we've got over that." That, and the fact that the times, they are a-changing.
+Campbell - who has pledged to significantly reduce greenhouse gases in B.C. by 2020 - has read which way the globally warmed wind blows, as have many of his fellow premiers. They've undergone, with varying degrees of sincerity, an enviro-conversion of Schwarzeneggeresque proportion. A national poll last week by Angus Reid Strategies is only the latest to show the environment in a tie with health care as "the most important issue facing Canada today," and the greatest concern by far among Canadians under 35. Environmentalism, says Reid, "is the new religion." If so, Suzuki is its high priest. He stars in humorous energy conservation TV ads playing in Ontario, and is a fixture at Premier Dalton McGuinty's environmental announcements - to the dismay of some hard-core greens. The Quebec and Manitoba governments have sought his advice on climate change. He's one of the luminaries in Leonardo DiCaprio's environmental documentary, The 11th Hour.
+In the past six months alone, Suzuki has shared the stage four times with Al Gore, an environmental ally of some 20 years. That would be Al Gore: co-winner of this year's Nobel Peace Prize for his climate change crusade.. "Despite what a few dinosaurs are saying, it's the nail in the coffin of [climate change] skeptics. Now, the challenge is to get on with it." The poles are melting, species are vanishing, the world is going to hell in a handbasket; it's a great time to be David Suzuki.
+Corporations like Wal-Mart are banging down the door of the Vancouver-based David Suzuki Foundation as never before, seeking advice and the green glow of Suzuki's environmental credibility - again, to the alarm of some of Suzuki's allies. And Suzuki, as recently as last week, sought the guidance of billionaire business giant Jimmy Pattison on ways to exploit the crisis of opportunity that engulfs his own organization, and many other enviro groups. Though Suzuki didn't reveal the agenda of their meeting, Pattison says the Suzuki foundation is looking to raise $30 million, the first half of a whopping $60-million endowment. "They were in here getting my opinion of how they might get the right people to accomplish getting that done," says Pattison, who has in turn had Suzuki speak numerous times to his corporate managers. "David Suzuki was, at one time, a voice in the wilderness, but now more and more people have bought into his message," says Pattison. "Almost everybody is focused on being more green.". "We grew up in this movement banging the hell out of business," he says. "For a lot of old-timers, we're battle-scarred. Our inclination is still to fight." The foundation has now hired a new CEO, Peter Robinson, the outgoing head of the iconic Vancouver-based outdoor chain Mountain Equipment Co-op. Robinson has both business credibility and stellar environmental credentials. (The co-op is so über-green it runs a program to recycle polyester clothes.) The foundation expects the magic Robinson worked in seven years at the co-op - adding five new stores, a million new members, and almost doubling revenues - will take foundation funding and programs to a new level. "The next evolution has to be to move rhetoric to action," says Robinson. "Rhetoric is just another form of global warming - hot air."
+The foundation consults regularly with a business advisory council. It is even adding an economist to the 40 employees already on staff, though Suzuki has always taken a dim view of the dismal science. Economists operate on the assumption of an infinite world, in his view. They don't include finite limits to growth in their calculations, nor do they include the contributions of a well-functioning environment - the natural pollination of flowering plants, for instance, or the work of trees and greenery in sucking carbon dioxide out of the air and replacing it with oxygen. "And in the madness of conventional economics," Suzuki noted in The 11th Hour, "this is not in the equation."
+Still, it's one thing to talk about engaging more with the business community, and another to travel to Mississauga, Ont., as Suzuki did in February, to what some greens consider the heart of the evil empire itself - Wal-Mart Canada Corp. He addressed back-to-back gatherings of some 1,500 company executives and store managers, and 2,000 representatives of Wal-Mart's suppliers, at the request of company president and CEO Mario Pilozzi - and to the shock of some in the foundation. "People at the foundation are saying, 'What the hell are you doing? Wal-Mart is inevitably destructive, you can't have a business like that sustainable.' " But look at the potential impact, Suzuki argued.
+Wal-Mart had already committed itself to three long-term goals: a zero-waste business, using 100 per cent renewable energy, and offering "more environmentally preferable" products. Suzuki, a sometime critic of the retail giant, was greeted with a standing ovation, says Kevin Groh, the company's director of corporate affairs. "His message was that a retailer like Wal-Mart would be a priceless ally for environmentalists. It was a great invitation for us to say 'we can make a change.' " In the months since, Wal-Mart has expanded its recycling program, and put its suppliers on orders to substantially reduce their packaging. With a million customers daily, even a decision to sell only concentrated liquid laundry detergent saves millions by reducing packaging and fuel use. Last week, Wal-Mart announced it is replacing 1.75 million 32-watt light bulbs in its stores with 25-watt versions, reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 17,000 tonnes, the equivalent of taking 1,700 cars off the road. "And, as a business, it will save us $5 million a year," says Groh. "There's a very happy marriage between business change and environmental change."
+Yet, the relationship leaves Suzuki ambivalent. "The terrible aspect of Wal-Mart is that it's based on consumption," he says. "That's the dilemma for us." There's a fine line between corporate collaboration and maintaining environmental credibility. Suzuki calls Patrick Moore, a former friend and activist, a sellout for working with such clients as the nuclear industry. But others fear Suzuki is straying too close to that line. Jim Fulton, who remains active in the foundation but stepped down for health reasons as its long-serving executive director, has fielded "churlish" comments from environmental groups he wouldn't name. They question Suzuki's collaboration with McGuinty, an advocate of expanding Ontario's nuclear power capacity, which Suzuki opposes. The same holds true with corporate co-operation. "As David reaches out, I'm sure [Green Party Leader] Elizabeth May, for example, would be appalled. 'Oh, God, David is meeting with Jim Pattison, this is not a good sign, he's selling out,' " says Fulton, a former New Democrat MP. "I think it's quite the opposite. David is reaching out and trying to get [industry] and senior government people to buy in, not to sell out."
+There is also the reality that these days it is corporations who are doing the wooing - largely as an exercise in public relations, according to Paul Watson, the uncompromising founder of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. "Environmental activists need the money," he says. "And corporations need the greenwashing." Corporate co-operation "is not my approach," says Watson, who has known Suzuki for 35 years. "[But] David can do what David wants. I would never question his judgment. He continues to be the most outspoken environmental activist in Canada. He tries out various strategies as he goes. Maybe it will work. Maybe it won't."
+In fairness, the Suzuki foundation isn't alone in reaching out to corporations and governments. Even Greenpeace, while not accepting corporate donations, has moderated its tactics slightly. It has worked with Coca Cola and McDonald's on international environmental issues. "We work with corporations who want to change," says Bruce Cox, executive director of Greenpeace Canada. "When that doesn't happen, we're willing to confront them." Suzuki happily cedes the more aggressive tactics to Greenpeace. "Whenever they do their crazy antics, I think, great, because it makes me look that much more respectable." Still, he adds, "You always have to have people pushing the envelope."
+There are two groups of people in Suzuki's world view: Innies and Outies. His place as an outsider was established for all time by the Canadian government's decision after the invasion of Pearl Harbor to move and incarcerate all Japanese Canadians living on Canada's West Coast. As a six-year-old, he was uprooted from his Vancouver home and shipped with his family to the B.C. Interior. "It's a pretty tough thing when you're a third-generation Canadian," says Fulton. "It's not like David had just arrived as a young boy from Japan. I mean, his parents were born here. I think that has really had a lasting impact on him." Many internee children in the camp treated him with contempt, compounding his alienation. He didn't speak Japanese. He was, in their view, as Canadian as the oppressors who locked them away. Guujaw, president of the Haida Nation of the Queen Charlotte Islands, has been a friend of Suzuki and his wife, Tara Cullis, for 25 years. "When I first met him, he was a little bit prejudiced against Japanese," he says. "I think he got over that." The harsh experience may explain the environmentalist's refusal to back down from a scrap. The diminutive, vigorous Suzuki has stood with him during some potentially violent logging standoffs, says the burly Guujaw, who goes by a single Haida name. "The difference between him and Al Gore is that when Al Gore [as U.S. vice-president] was in a position to do something about it, I didn't see anything happen," he says. "When David was in a position to do something, even though it was controversial in the position he was in working for the CBC, he never shrank away from talking about those environmental issues."
+Suzuki, at 71 years old, admits he still deals with the aftermath of the wartime incarceration, "one of the most important formative events of my life." Too much of what he does, of his campaigns and causes and marathon workdays, are motivated by a need for acceptance, he says in a brutal piece of self-evaluation. "I'm still trying to prove I'm a worthwhile human being," he says. "It's fine when you're a young man. But when you're 71, it's sick." Cullis, who has heard this before, gives him an indulgent smile. "I've often thought David would have been insufferable if that hadn't happened to him when he was a little boy," she says. "He's a very talented guy and successful, but this really keeps him cut down to size." Suzuki shakes his head. "Yeah, but it's a sickness that I feel compelled to try continually to live up to being a Canadian."
+On that score, it's time to cut himself a break. He was, by all accounts, a brilliant teacher, and a cutting-edge geneticist at the University of British Columbia. And almost four decades as a science broadcaster (and environmental scold) on numerous series, as the founder of CBC Radio's Quirks and Quarks, and especially as host of CBC TV's The Nature of Things, transformed him into the rarest of beasts, a celebrity egghead. When the CBC embarked on a nationwide consultation for "the greatest Canadian," in 2004, Suzuki ranked No. 5, and the four above him were dead. About the same time, Maclean's, in a bit of whimsy, polled women on whom they would like to be stranded with on a desert island. Suzuki walked away with the vote. He hangs with Sting, he's discussed the environment with Prince Charles and any number of the new green breed of Hollywood actors. He met the Dalai Lama, who said: "I know you! I watch you on the Discovery Channel!" He is loved - and reviled - with equal passion. Surely the Outie has become the ultimate Insider? He dismisses the idea. Being an outsider, he says, "is a state of mind."
+The word "saint" is frequently appended to Suzuki's name, as in Saint Suzuki of the Environment. Often it's a swipe at a perceived holier-than-thou attitude; sometimes it's sincere. For this appellation, Maclean's shares some blame. Back in 1971, writer Alexander Ross began a delightfully subversive profile of Suzuki - then a rising star in genetics at UBC and a fledgling broadcaster - with a convoluted quotation on sainthood by Leonard Cohen. Saints are tapped into the "energy of love," goes the Cohen quote. "Contact with this energy results in the exercise of a kind of balance in the chaos of existence." Whether the hippyish Suzuki ("a Haight-Ashbury version of Fu Manchu," said Ross) was imbued with this saintly energy he left to the reader's imagination. But the description stuck.
+The reason for the profile in the first place was that 36 years ago, Suzuki was already rocking boats. His entree into the exploding science of genetics had been the lowly fruit fly - fast-breeding, genetically simple and easily manipulated. The Suzuki lab was pumping out generations of mutant strains. Flies that thrived at room temperature, but died when the heat was raised a few degrees. Flies that bred in cool climes but were sterile in the warmth. Flies he could paralyze or animate at will, depending on the temperature. Flies with feet growing where antennae should be. If the fruit fly had a written history, Suzuki would not be treated kindly.
+It was exciting, it was terrifying. In genetics Suzuki saw the keys to the kingdom of good and evil: perhaps a cure for muscular dystrophy - or "the ultimate weapon," genetic mutations to cripple or control body or mind. Not for the last time, he fretted that disaster loomed "right around the corner." Not for the last time, he opened his mouth, with interesting results. Caught up in a rant on the perils of selective breeding, he said: "Make me a dictator with power to say who mates with whom, and in three generations I could give you a race of people that you wouldn't recognize! You want them beautiful, super-intelligent, docile? Whatever you want." Clearly, Suzuki is to trouble what the tiny, winged Drosophila melanogaster is to a bowl of rotting fruit.
+He and Cullis are seated side-by-side in the foundation boardroom when I hand him a copy of the article, a blast from the past. He chuckles. "This caused me an enormous amount of grief," he recalls. His critics, already legion, pounced. "I got hammered for years after, with people saying, 'See, you bastard, you're trying to clone all these people.' That was the exact opposite of what I was trying to say." I nod sympathetically. "Yes," I tell him, "and I live in hope that you'll say something equally ridiculous this interview."
+All these years later, the notion of environmental sainthood distresses Suzuki to no end. "I am so aware of my fallibility," he says, as Cullis concurs enthusiastically. "I am not going to try to live up to that. I'm a human being and we're all f--d up in some way." Saint or not, when you spend your days telling people how to live a virtuous life - lose the beer fridge; install compact fluorescent light bulbs; forsake farmed salmon; park that car; hug that tree - you'd better not throw stones in your own glass house, triple-glazed thermopanes or not. It was Cullis, who has a Ph.D. in comparative literature, with a major in common sense, who warned Suzuki years ago he'd better get his own house in order, starting with the garbage. "She said, 'Some enterprising reporter is going to go through our garbage and hammer you.' I said, 'Tara, I'm too busy. Are you telling me I have to separate paper in fine paper and newsprint and pull staples and all that?' And she said, 'Yeah.' " Even going shopping puts him under the microscope. He recalls a time when Tara was away and he was stocking the larder with a comfort food he's enjoyed since his university days. A fellow shopper, horrified, pointed to his basket and exclaimed: " 'David Suzuki eats Kraft Dinner!' That's when I realized, oh, my God, I can't even buy a pair of socks without someone making a comment about it."
+In turn, Suzuki has a way of making you fret about small things you do. My interview with him and Cullis was set for 3 p.m. across town at the foundation headquarters in Vancouver's once funky and now high-end Kitsilano district. I knew I should walk, but I was five kilometres away, it was raining, and a previous interview, with Guujaw on the Queen Charlottes, ran long. (It was a phone interview, with a minimal carbon footprint - bonus points!) My car was parked outside and it has just four fuel-efficient cylinders. So I drove to an interview with an environmental icon, further degrading the planet. My damnation is assured. To know Suzuki is to embrace guilt.
+This inclination may explain the foundation headquarters' semi-successful attempt to walk lightly upon the pavement of Kitsilano. Where to begin? Well, the bike rack is full, and the offices are humming with the pure white light of fluorescents. The computer monitors and TV screens are low-energy LCDs. The photocopier, loaded with 100 per cent post-consumer recycled paper, is powered by two organically fed rats on a wheel. Okay, no rats, but the copier won an environmental award. The building, located on a major bus route, is heated and cooled by a clean geothermal heat-pump system. Foundation annual reports are printed with vegetable-based inks on recycled, chlorine-free paper produced with wind-powered electricity.
+And yet, in the previous fiscal year, the foundation's work produced 150.89 tonnes of greenhouse gases. For this the foundation pays penance in the form of "gold standard" carbon offsets, credits to finance projects like wind farms that will ultimately lower greenhouse gas production. Two-thirds of all these nasty gases are produced by air travel. And the greatest offender is the guy the foundation is named after. He's already refused more than 700 speaking engagements this year and still his punishing travel agenda, not counting his cross-country bus trek last winter to raise the issue of climate change, would stagger a lesser mortal. His travels are a sore point, and not only for his critics, who cry hypocrisy. He was taken to task for them at a foundation board of directors retreat this month by his 27-year-old daughter Severn Cullis-Suzuki, one of Suzuki's five children from two marriages. "Dad," said his daughter, empowered with her own credentials as a science-based environmentalist and her authority as member of the foundation board, "you've got to stop flying." Suzuki was taken aback. "I must admit I got mad. This year I've reduced my flying by half, and next year I'm going to reduce it a lot more. And she said, 'Well, what do you want, a medal?' "
+Suzuki has started to accept some speaking engagements on the condition they be conducted from Vancouver via video conference. He's exploring whether some stand-ups he narrates on The Nature of Things can be shot at home rather than on location. Doesn't all this guilt wring enjoyment out of life? "It means everything you do you have to think about it, and you have to take responsibility for," he concedes. "And now this flying thing, because my daughter is on my ass ... "
+The fostering of guilt by environmental groups like Suzuki's is one of many things that annoys Moore, who co-founded Greenpeace in 1971. "They're "anti-human," he says. "We are somehow a malignancy on the face of the earth. I prefer to see [humans] as a nice friendly moss, or a fungus. A nice fungus." Moore left Greenpeace as Canadian president and an international director in 1986, fed up with its "abolitionist approach to campaigning" - an approach rooted, he says, in anti-corporate ideology rather than sound science. The Suzuki foundation is equally guilty, says Moore, who earned a Ph.D. in ecology from UBC in 1971, having taken several undergraduate genetics classes from a "brilliant" professor by the name of Suzuki. For a time in the 1980s the two were friends and kindred spirits: Suzuki the great communicator, and Moore, Greenpeace's formidable tactician and debater. When their beliefs diverged, the fallout was ugly.
+Moore now runs his own shop, Greenspirit Strategies, out of a converted warehouse in Vancouver's trendy Yaletown. Greenspirit is either the Suzuki foundation's evil twin, or its pragmatic alternative, depending on your point of view. Both profess to offer science-based solutions for a more sustainable world. The foundation, though, is a registered charity. Moore runs a business, managing the environmental reputation of clients in forestry, aquaculture, the nuclear and plastics industries. Moore is riding on his reputation as a founder of Greenpeace, says Suzuki. "Well, one of the 12 disciples was Judas," he says. "He's just taking their money," Suzuki says of Moore. "The irony is that Greenpeace was born out of [nuclear weapons] testing on Amchitka [Island], and guess who is being a shill for the nuclear industry? It's Patrick Moore. And if the oil industry wanted to employ Patrick Moore to say global warming isn't happening, I'm sure he would do that, too."
+It takes three weeks to find a time to sit down with Moore, who was hopscotching across North America. If he indeed has anything left in common with Suzuki it is that the idea of global warming is very good for business. As for global warming itself, "I'm no true believer on climate change. I'm also not a denier," he says. "I do think it's worth buying an insurance policy against the negative impacts of rapid climate change." By investing in nuclear energy, for instance.
+Moore is angered by Suzuki's condemnations of fish farming and the forest industry. The opposition of Suzuki and others to genetically modified foods, with their potential for higher yields and improved nutrition for a hungry planet, is "a crime against humanity." There is no upside in criticizing someone with Suzuki's saintly reputation, Moore admits, but he resents Suzuki saddling him with the label of eco-Judas. There is already too much theology and too little science in the movement, he feels. "God forbid it turns into just another religion. What good will that be? Religions are the basis of so much strife."
+Of course, if environmentalists, governments and corporations were holding hands and singing Kumbaya around the campfire (and campfires weren't a wanton release of carbon), there wouldn't be much need for Suzuki to bust his hump seven days a week on the evangelical circuit. Politicians, he knows, aren't nearly as malleable as fruit flies, although they often share a similar attention span. He's been almost this close to the cusp of change before, notably when Brian Mulroney's government talked of a 20 per cent reduction in greenhouse gases within 15 years, only to jettison commitments as the economy plunged into the dumpster.
+He's cajoled and tongue-lashed every prime minister since, a dangerous proposition when the foundation is a registered charity, prohibited from partisan politics. The result has been three time-consuming, costly audits. "My own view," says Fulton, the former executive director, "from having spoken to the Revenue Canada people who have tied up my time on a number of occasions, is they have certainly left me with the genuine feeling we were audited for political, not for any other, reasons." Suzuki says his outspoken views are personal, not those of the foundation. "Because the foundation is lumbered with my name, it gets blamed all the time for what I'm saying in public."
+Suzuki prefers to maintain a skeptical distance from the political centre. He regularly urges Gore not to take another run at the presidency. He'd get caught up in stem-cell research, gay marriage, abortion, a rehash of Bill and Monica, and whatever else the campaign stirs up. "Far better if Gore continues to focus on the single issue," he says, then angles for a cabinet position if a Democrat makes it to the White House.
+Politics equals compromise, not a dominant trait in Suzuki's nature of things. It's one of the reasons he's resisted many political overtures, most recently from Elizabeth May and the Green party. He's lived life as an outsider and, recent corporate coziness notwithstanding, he sees no reason to change. That's not an admission of defeat, far from it. He recounts in his autobiography his quest in 1953 to become student president of Central Collegiate Institute in London, Ont. He was one of the few Japanese Canadians in the city. Add to that his status as a "nerd" and the cause was hopeless. He ran anyway, aiming his campaign at all fellow outsiders who weren't football heroes, cheerleaders or social stars. He won with more votes than all the other candidates combined.
+It taught him a valuable lesson, one that may yet make the world a cooler place, one carbon-taxed gas guzzler, one compact fluorescent light bulb at a time. "There are a lot more Outies than Innies," he concluded, "and together that means power."
+Maclean's November 5, 2007
+There are the obvious competitors and the not so well known ones. Here’s a list of the main eReaders that are competing against the kindle –
+Update: The Sony Reader 600 is now available. Check out my Kindle Vs Sony Reader Touch Edition and Kindle Vs Sony Reader Pocket Edition posts.
+Hanlin eReader V3 vs Kindle.
+- Based on eInk Vizplex technology. Same as the Kindle.
+- 800 by 600, 6″ screen. Same as the Kindle.
+- Document Formats Supported: pdf, doc, epub, lit, prc, mobi, wolf, djvu, html, txt, chm, fb2, and ppt.
+- Image Formats supported: png, tif, gif, bmp, jpg.
+- Music Formats: mp3.
+- Languages Supported: English, Chinese, Russian, Ukraine, Turkish, French, Spanish, German, Dutch, Japanese, Korean, Bulgarian, Estonian, Polish.
+- Price: $299. Sold by Jinke.
+- Internal OS: Linux. Allegations going on that they’re using a modified Linux GPL kernel without sharing the source code.
+- Also sold as IBook V3, BeBook, WalkBook, and Papyre 6.1.
+- The picture is courtesy jmerelo on flickr.
+Hanlin eReader V3 - a kindle competitor
+- Overall Thoughts – Great document and language support. A worthy competitor.
+Sony Reader PRS-700 Vs Kindle
+- Based on eInk technology that is a version ahead of the one the Kindle uses, and has touch screen. Touch Screen allows for notes and it has a virtual keyboard.
+- Price: $399. Sold at SonyStyle.
+- 6″ screen. 800 by 600. Edit: Same as the Kindle, except touch screen.
+- Lots of complaints on glare and poor visibility due to the new screen. Kindle doesn’t have that issue.
+- LED sidelight. Kindle has no sidelight.
+- Internal OS: MontaVista Linux Professional Edition. Storage capacity: 512 MB.
+- DRM Free Formats Supported: BBeB Book (LRF), PDF, TXT, RTF, ePub.
+- DRM Formats Supported: BBeB Book (LRX); Secure PDF and ePub.
+- Music Formats Supported: mp3, aac.
+- Image Formats Supported: JPEG, GIF, PNG, and BMP.
+- In December 2008 Sony revealed that 300,000 Sony Readers had been sold globally since device launch in Oct 2006.
+Sony PRS-700 Home Screen
+- Overall Thoughts: Currently the strongest competitor to the Kindle. The touchscreen is a good step up. Sony has to figure out a way to enable wireless downloads to truly compete.
+iRex Digital Reader Vs Kindle
+- Great Display: 10.2″, 1024 x 1280 pixels, 16-level grey scale. The kindle has just 4 level gray scale.
+- Price: $749 for the 1000S Model. (it’s 499 euros – so it really should be $666). Available at iRexShop.
+- There is a basic 1000 model with no touchscreen, and there are two advanced models with cool features – Wacom® Penabled touch screen (1000S) and touch screen+wireless connectivity (1000SW).
+- Storage Capacity: 1GB Removable SD card.
+- Supported Documents: PDF, TXT, HTML.
+- Suported DRM formats: Mobipocket PRC.
+- Supported image formats: JPEG, PNG, GIF, TIFF and BMP.
+- Image is from their official site –
+iRex Digital Reader 1000 - High End Competitor
+- Overall Thoughts: Its a great device – however, the price point aims it at a completely different demographic than the kindle, sony reader, etc. I think it’s going to end up being iRex Digital Reader Vs Plastic Logic for the higher end of the market.
+PlasticLogic Reader Vs Kindle
+- Will be available in Q2 of 2009 (first half of 2009) – Including it here since it has a gorgeous screen.
+- PlasticLogic is a startup out of Cambridge (yeah, that Cambridge).
+- The screen is the size of 8.5 x 11-inch paper, while being only 7 mm thick – thinner than a pad of paper. Its also flexible (or at least some of the demos show it as flexible – the final reader might not be).
+- Supported Documents: PlasticLogic supports Microsoft Word, Excel and Powerpoint, and Adobe PDFs.
+- It has a touchscreen and uses gesture recognition for things like turning pages.
+- Targeted at Business Users.
+- Also working on a Colored Version that should be available in 3-5 years.
+- Picture snippet courtesy Brian Solis via flickr. It just amazes me that they don’t have a single straight on picture of the reader at their site. Its like looking at myspace profiles with ‘in the mirror, strange angle photos’.
+Plastic Logic Reader
+- Overall Thoughts: This is going to be a dangerous competitor. Their screen technology is way ahead of eInk (or it seems that way). Hopefully they’ll target business competitors exclusively (at a much higher price point) and the kindle will have nothing to fear.
+CyBook Gen3 Vs Kindle
+- CyBook3 from Bookeen has the same 6″, 800 by 600 eInk screen as the kindle.
+- Supported Documents: HTML, Txt, PRC, PalmDoc, PDF, Secured Mobipocket. It does not reflow pdfs or allow for zooming into pictures so a lot of PDFs won’t be readable.
+- Supported images: JPEG, GIF, PNG .
+- Supported Music: mp3.
+- Capacity: 512 MB internal storage.
+- Price: $350, currently sold out.
+- The picture is courtesy neuron1210 from flickr.
+CyBook Gen 3 - Kindle killer?
+Overall Thoughts – For some reason I cannot fathom this is my favorite out of the Kindle competitors. I really like the design, and the pictures I found on flickr all show a good screen that looks good in the device.
+Some of the readers I’ve excluded include the Fujitsu Flepia (because a single reader costs the equivalent of $1,726), the Phillips Readius (its more of a portable ereader given its roll-up 5″ screen), and the iRex iLiad (because its successor, the iRex Digital Reader, has been covered).
+My overall conclusion is that the Kindle beats all its competitors when it comes to core functionality as an ebook reader, especially given the wireless delivery and ease of use. However, advancing the technology and improving the looks are two areas where the kindle needs to play catch up – it’ll be interesting to see whether there will be any big technology changes in the Kindle 2. If not, by the end of 2009, the kindle might lose its status as the best ebook reader on the market.
+Filed under: kindle Tagged: | CyBook Gen 3, hanlin reader, iRex Digital Reader 1000, plastic logic, sony reader
+I think the goal would be to get better ebook readers on the market to drive competition. If Kindle was it, most likely there wouldn’t be a new version in a few months. And the price probably would not have dropped. The way to guarantee a good product category is to have competition. Even in a dominated market like MP3 players, the iPod has a lot of competitors that drive it to be better.
+agreed – the more and the better kindle’s competitors are, the better the kindle will end up being.
+I know that the screen technology is different, but don’t you rate the iphone as an e-reader competitor?
+I know a lot more people with iphones who have downloaded e-reader applications than I do people that have bought an e-reader that costs the same (or more) and doesn’t do as much.
+I think all of these devices are doomed for the scrapheap. E-ink is just too clunky for generations used to fully active video. The killer app is going to be a large-screen iPhone with full text handling and internet browsing capability. Once a modern device user gets a screen with buttons in his hands he is just not satisfied with the limited functionality of these primitive devices, and why should he be? Bring on the multi-use device and people will adopt it by the millions.
+PRS-505 is thinner, lighter and better looking than others.
+For Sony there’s an open source software called Calibre
+And a good online converter at
+Yes… wouldn’t a larger device with a nice bright color screen and a keyboard be wonderful. Perhaps one that you could sit on top of your lap. I wonder what they will it…
+I’d really like to buy one of these and just see how it works for me but another little techno voice in my head keeps screaming that and eReader app will be available soon for next generation iPod Touch systems with 7-8″ screens, wi-fi delivery and the design muscle of Apple seems to make sense.
+[…] Έχει γράψει ο Vrypan και όσοι θέλουν να δουν 2-3 πραγματάκια για τα ebook που κυκλοφορούν υπάρχει μια συγκριτική παρουσίαση εδώ. […]
+Dark Bob and H White: You are missing the point of these devices. Companies like Plastic Logic are trying to replace the 1000’s of 8.5″ x 11″ sheets of paper that I read everyday with a single reusable device. Reading from a laptop or iPhone is not and efficient and puts stain on the eyes.
+They are also hoping that this will be the transition device to move away from archaic newspapers that continue to lose money everyday.
+H White is correct though, think how amazing a device like the Plastic Logic reader would be if it had:
+– Color E Ink Screen
+– Video/Web Browser Capability
+– touch screen/stylus to write notes hight docs, etc.
+– Ability to turn on/off back light to reduce eye strain
+In looking at these devices, it is something that we have seen on Star Trek (Next Generation).
+I like the Sony Readers touch screen but also the wireless capacity of the Kindle. Two sizes are needed, a six inch that would be like a paperback book (ok with it being B/W and not color) and a larger 8.5×11 inch for business and newspapers (should be color).
+What will make this take off are multiple ventors as it takes at least two to make a market, especially if they share the same technology. If the newspapers or book publishers would fund these like the cellular companies do for cell phones then the market would really take off. If you think about it most cell phones are as expensive as these devices. What makes them cheap is that the cellular phone companies offer a reduced price for the phone if you subscribe. So if I subscribed to a newpaper for two years, I should be able to get a Kindle at a reduced cost.
+It also looks like these devices will have some features that were in PDAs (ie Palm Pilot). That also makes them useful. However I think that many of the SmartPhones will be too small for viewing most books or newspapers so there will be a need for these. Add to that the ability to look up things on the Web or down load office paperwork from the workstation and you will have a useful device.
+Don’t forget to mention that with iRex, you can get access to over 1,000 full content digital newspapers from PressDislay.com.
+Right now Kindle has how many? 57 or so? And those aren’t digital editions – just the free stuff they put on their websites.
+Jim Geib, President
+Bio
+After receiving a theater degree from Minnesota State University, Geib spent five years as Stage Manager for The Chimera Theatre, the nation’s largest community theater. He then joined the world renowned Guthrie Theatre, first as National Tour Manager and then as Production Manager.
+Jim shifted careers into films when he joined Media Ventures, an entertainment production company, as Director of Production. During his tenure at Media Ventures he oversaw a variety of projects, including documentaries such as “The Power of Purpose,” which chronicled amputee Terry Fox’s run across Canada. Other projects included an after-school special entitled “Sometimes I Wonder,” starring Colleen Dewhurst and various award winning industrial and educational films. He eventually served as Associate Producer on S.E. Hinton’s “That Was Then, This is Now,” starring Emilio Estevez, directed by Chris Cain and distributed by Paramount Pictures.
+The commercial production business entered the picture when Geib joined Minneapolis-based Diercks Productions as Executive Producer. Five years later, he joined Northwest Tele-productions and was named Executive Producer of Northwest Film, the post company’s spot production division. He formed Twist in 1997.
+As President and Executive Producer, Jim has engineered Twist’s growth into an international production company with increasing sales every year since it’s inception. Twist currently has offices in both Minneapolis and New York.
+Kel Nelson, Vice President
+Bio
+With over 20 years of broadcast production experience, Kel has directed, and produced, projects for Disneyland, Hanna Barbera, Turner Broadcasting, Citibank, General Motors, The Will Rogers Institute, Starlight Foundation, and Travelers Insurance, among others.
+Kel is currently the Executive Producer at HDMG–production and post. From its roots as a basement creative editorial suite, started in 1988, HDMG has grown to occupy 20,000 square foot of a historic facility in the Arts District of NorthEast Minneapolis–providing creative solutions to the entertainment and advertising communities.
+Dawn Mans, Treasurer
+Bio
+Cinequipt is a full service Motion Picture, Video, Lighting and Grip Rental and Sales facility. Started in 1970 as an offshoot of Bob McGraw’s production company with just a single lens and a camera body, it quickly grew into a full fledged rental company. After Bob’s death in 2000, it became a second generation company. In 2003 an existing lighting rental company, Lighthouse, was purchased and in late 2006 we moved into our new 25,000 square foot building and opened up our in house studio. We are proud to be a Panasonic Production Reseller along with many other major brands of the industry. Our rental inventory is second to none.
+Michael Tabor, Communications Director
+Bio
+Michael Tabor has been working in the Twin Cities film industry since 1990, after attending the University of Minnesota where he majored in Speech Communication and minored in Film Studies. Like much of the Twin Cities production community, he was a student of the Film In The Cities, and University Community Video workshops.
+Working his way up from PA, Mike also logged time in the Sound, Art and Locations departments. He has worked on many of the features shot in Minnesota, and has won two DL Mabery Awards for his work on Bill’s Gun Shop & Not A Nickel’s Worth Of Doubt. He currently works as a freelance producer of commercial, corporate and still productions, and can be talked into the occasional feature.
+In addition to serving on the MN AICP board, he is a mentor for IFP North’s Fresh Filmmaker Production Grant program. He lives in Minneapolis with his girlfriend, two dogs, a cat and an assortment of fish. He enjoys cooking, yoga, old movies, fine wine, loud rock and roll and staying active in community politics, gardening and environmental issues.
+Kirk Hokanson, Past President
+Bio
+KIRK HOKANSON is a successful Minneapolis business owner for the past 30 years. He started his entrepreneurial career as the owner/partner of C & H Productions creating award wining commercials and business communications for over 10 years. Most recently he was the owner/President of Voodoo Films. He has also served 13 years as the Minnesota president of the Association of Independent Commercial Producers and served as Chair of the New Technology Committee for 8 years. He has won many awards including The Zahn Award, several Tellys, Effies, Push pins and the AICP Jay Eisenstat award for Distinguished Service in the Production Industry.
+Dan Orozco, Independent Producer
+Bio
+DAN OROZCO grew up in Minnesota where he made films in high school instead of doing actual homework. After graduating from film school at NYU he moved to Los Angeles where he worked as 2nd Assistant Director on features and television.
+In 2000 he decided to move back to Minnesota. Breaking into the Minneapolis market proved difficult and Dan had to start all over again. After working as a Production Assistant he eventually moved back into working as an Assistant Director and then producing.
+Over the last 15 years Dan has worked on feature films, commercials and digital marketing projects.
+Jennifer Helm, Executive Producer
+Bio
+Jennifer believes her primary task as Executive Producer is to bring the proper talent to accomplish what was once just an idea. She works hard to make sure everyone involved stays focused on the shared objectives and that they meet the deadlines and financial goals. Simply stated, Jennifer’s job is to be helpful.
+Jennifer has worked as a producer at top advertising agencies such as Fallon, Periscope, Carmichael Lynch, and mono. She has over 17 years of advertising agency experience working on great brands such as BMW, Coca Cola Nestea, Target, and Subaru. A very long time ago she started her career on the production side of film making and is grateful to come full circle.
+Bio
+Based in Minneapolis MN, Meighan has produced a variety of independent projects, films, music videos, commercials and web videos. In the business since her teens her roots come from casting and have landed in what she does best, produce. Working as a freelance production manager and line producer since the mid nineties she has recently started her own production company called LUCKY.
+With strong interest and support in the local filmmaking community she also serves on the board for Shoot in MN, MN Women in Film & TV, and the international board for Women in Film & TV International.
+Rick Dublin, Board Member
+Bio
+Director Rick Dublin, who grew up in the Mississippi River backwaters of Winona, Minnesota, threw hometown security to the wind and moved to California, where he graduated (one of only eleven survivors) from Art Center College of Design, Pasadena, in 1972. Recruited as an advertising photographer, he moved to Chicago and then Minneapolis, where he launched nationally recognized Dublin Advertising Photography in 1977. When one of his most award-winning accounts, Hush Puppy shoes, decided to venture into television, he went along for the ride, winning a Cannes Gold Lion with his very first commercial. Since then, Rick has won innumerable industry awards, including six Cannes Lions, as head of Dublin Productions, Minneapolis, and Motel Films, Hollywood. Rick’s first movie, a short called Bubblepac, was welcomed in 1999 into more than 25 film festivals around the world, including Sundance, Aspen, Sao Paulo, New York, London and Los Angeles. He is determined to one day soon accept Fox Searchlight’s offer to “bring us your next idea, please.”
+Fritz Basgen, Secretary
+Bio
+Fritz attended the Journalism School at the University of Minnesota. He started his career in broadcast news as a cameraman, editor and writer. He then moved into the film business working as an editor, cameraman and writer and then began producing and directing.
+He managed an in-house production unit for a Fortune 100 Company while continuing to produce and direct. Fritz then opened his own production company working for a mix of corporate and agency clients until production company Wilson Griak asked him to work with them.
+After Wilson Griak, Fritz was one of the founding partners of Blue 60 Pictures where he continues to produce and direct for a variety of clients.
+This is Fritz’s second tour on the Minnesota AICP Board of Directors.
+Beth Wilson, Board Member
+Bio
+Beth discovered her passion for film making while producing a documentary film for one of her classes at the University of Minnesota. After receiving her degree in Broadcast Journalism, she networked her way into an entry level job opportunity at Drive Thru, Inc., anxiously jumping into TV commercial production with both feet. Grabbing onto anything and everything involving production she multitasked and studied the craft by starting out running coffee and working as a production assistant on many different shoots.
+Seven years later she is the head of both production and post production for Drive Thru Productions & Editorial and loves every minute of it. She has traveled from California to Florida to Boston producing television commercials.
+Drive Thru is a highly creative, full-service Production, Post & VFX facility. They offer production, offline editing, online editing, smoke, flame, animation, motion graphics and have also teamed up with Company 3 to connect the coasts to the Midwest with a virtual color correction service. Drive Thru is a growing shop that continues to solve creative problems on a daily basis and deliver high caliber work.
+Jamie Heuton, Board Member
+Bio
+You might say that Jamie was born into the television industry.
+As a child he was commercial talent in the 60’s and 70’s, and a computer programmer in the 80’s. He soon joined his father’s production company Computer Video Productions where he learned everything from installation, production, graphic design and editing.
+Jamie left CVP to go freelance and bought one of the first Sony Betacam cameras in Minneapolis. As a Video Tech, Graphics Operator and Editor for many commercial and corporate clients, Jamie made many connections with clients and peers while founding Heuton Dailey Corporation in 1988. He has traveled around the world on productions from China to Fargo. He has worked on diverse projects from open heart surgery to feature films working with talents as wide ranging as Robert Altman to Mr. Rogers.
+With his guidance for over 20 years, the original company has grown into HDMG, a full-service company offering production, editorial, design, finish and mix services. Today, Jamie is President and a Digital Imaging Technician at HDMG, with over 30 years in the business.
+HDMG is a crew of creators who inspire and strengthen each other with extraordinary imagination and character. They have built a strong reputation for unique solutions, embracing change and creative thought while maintaining quality.
+Kat Naden, Board Member
+Bio
+After countless years of restaurant management, Kat decided to leave the food service industry and try something new. She was hired for reception at VOLT Studios, began learning and was quickly bumped up to Associate Producer. From coffee shop manager to Associate Producer/AICP Board Member in just two years, she’s feeling pretty alright and is ready for more.
+12 Boston Doctors Open Up About Life and Loss on the Front Lines
+What’s it really like to give a patient a new face? Make a mistake? Or save someone in a blizzard? Twelve local MDs tell all. —Edited by Brittany Jasnoff, Photographs by David Yellen
+Photograph by David Yellen
+WHAT IT’S LIKE…
+When You Can’t Save a Life
+Mohamed Akoad, Transplant Surgeon
+Lahey Hospital & Medical Center
+It always worries me when patients start developing complications or issues related to a transplant. After surgery, when I go home, I’m always checking the patients’ labs and calling the ICU and asking how they’re doing.
+It’s quite rare when patients don’t make it through a transplant, but it has happened. It’s devastating for me, and sometimes I go for a couple of weeks with my head down to recover from the event. Quite frankly, for some reason, the bad outcomes stick in our heads more than the successes. But then you come to the clinic and see a patient 10 years after transplantation enjoying life and very grateful for the work we do. It makes being up all night, and stressing over the surgery itself and the postoperative course, all worth it.
+WHAT IT’S LIKE…
+When a Med Student Falls Down on the Job
+Robert Lowe, Gastroenterologist,
+Boston Medical Center
+One time, a student had a needle in someone’s abdomen and was taking out fluid. And to his credit, he was doing a fine job, and then he looked at me and said, “Dr. Lowe, I’m feeling a little lightheaded.” I took the needle and I said, “Why don’t you sit down?” At which point he passed out onto the patient’s legs and started sliding down the bed. So with my left hand, I was holding a needle into someone’s abdomen, and my right arm was under the med student trying to keep him from falling and hitting his head. I called for help and the nurses came in, grabbed the guy, and laid him down. And he was fine in about 10 or 15 minutes. He was very embarrassed, and in fact it never happened to him again. The patient was very calm. He just looked at me and said, “Are you okay?” I said, “I’m fine—are you okay?” He said, “I’m fine!” I still take care of the patient to this day and he always talks about this.
+WHAT IT’S LIKE…
+To Live and Work with a Fellow MD
+Andrea McKee, Radiation Oncologist,
+and Brady McKee, Radiologist,
+Lahey Hospital & Medical Center
+BM: I think we’re lucky because we’ve been able to work together developing the Rescue Lung, Rescue Life lung-screening program at Lahey. But I could definitely see this being a major stressor in a relationship, given how much time both our jobs demand. You see it a lot, at least when you read celebrity magazines. When you see a celebrity who is married to a non-celebrity, it seems like that’s a real strain on the relationship because they’re getting pulled in all these different directions.
+AM: I did have to make some changes and pull back a little bit; there’s so much that needs to be done at work that you can get lost. But we also have a lot of fun together when we’re not at the office. We live on the Merrimack River, and we boat with our kids all the time. Our kids play baseball, they ski race. They also know more about lung-cancer screening than any other 14- and 18-year-old on the face of the earth, I promise you.
+WHAT IT’S LIKE…
+To Want to Help More Than You Can
+Hong-Thao Thieu, OB-GYN,
+Tufts Medical Center
+I see lots of pregnant patients who are in the late-adolescent, 18-to-24-year-old range. Lots. I all but adopted a 19-year-old and her newborn one weekend. She was a smart, hardworking mother who was in foster care because she had no one. She came in with no prenatal care and just had a perfect baby with no epidural, nothing. And then she was afraid to go back to her foster home, because she didn’t know if they’d take a newborn. You could see that she wanted to bond with her baby, but she wasn’t sure if she should, because that baby may go into foster care somewhere else. She didn’t do drugs, she was working, and she was really trying, but she had just no one. And then you see a perfect newborn, who has his entire life ahead of him, and like, what’s going to happen? The last I heard was that DCF was very involved and they were going to try to keep the mom and baby together. She’s going to need a lot of help.
+WHAT IT’S LIKE…
+To Get Pulled Over By a Patient
+Daniel Jones, Bariatric Surgeon,
+Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
+I had been up all night and was driving at around 9 a.m. A police officer was watching construction across the street and traffic was barely moving at all. I dozed off and slammed on my brakes. I did not hit the car ahead—relief!
+Next thing I know, the police officer was running straight at my car in a sprint. How could he have seen me? Could I be arrested for reckless endangerment? I could feel the adrenaline; my heart was racing. How much would the ticket be?
+The officer banged on the car window and signaled for me to open it. He poked his head in the window, and much to my surprise, it was a former patient! “Hey, Dr. Jones…I am down 80 pounds,” he said.
+“You’re not arresting me for falling asleep?” I asked.
+“No,” he replied. “I recognized your car and thought I would run over and let you know that I’m doing great.”
+WHAT IT’S LIKE…
+To Be a Doc to the Docs
+Gary Chinman, Psychiatrist,
+Private Practice/Brigham and Women’s Hospital
+Doctors have a really hard road. They come with real anxiety and oftentimes depression about the changing and larger demands of their job. A lot of the demands put on physicians are things they’re never trained to do: Doctors of a certain age, for example, did not grow up with computers and have struggled to learn how to use electronic medical records. A lot of them now have to tend to the machine, which none of them are in love with, and that’s an onerous burden for them.
+Burnout is also endemic in the medical community. It’s really sad because you have wonderful people who are going into the field and are being chewed up by it. About 400 doctors a year kill themselves because of maybe a clinical diagnosis of depression or burnout or feelings of profound inadequacy.
+What’s really prevalent among doctors in Boston is imposter syndrome, where very accomplished or successful doctors think they are otherwise, that they’re not even adequate at their job. As you can imagine, there are so many smart doctors in Boston who are doing tremendous things, which makes a lot of physicians insecure about what they’re doing.
+WHAT IT’S LIKE…
+To Give Someone a New Face
+Jeffrey Spiegel, Facial Plastic Surgeon,
+The Spiegel Center/Boston Medical Center
+Good plastic surgery is about restoring, or creating, the features of the face to allow people to see you in the way you want to be seen. Sometimes a face doesn’t look attractive, not because of the angles or features, but the way the lighting is; your brain uses light to determine attractiveness and gender. I will make someone’s eyes brighter and actually shift how light bounces off the face by changing the bone.
+Take, for example, the 10-hour face I just did on a 75-year-old. I changed her forehead bone, her nose, her upper and lower eyelids, cheeks, lips, chin, jaw, neck. I moved her hairline around. I changed her eyebrows. There is nothing left that we didn’t do.
+We have people who come in from New York, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Miami, from all over. There are those who fly to the top restaurants in the world and there are those who want to go to the best plastic surgeons in the world. We have a back door to the office for celebrities. I’m pretty good at keeping my fandom in check. There have been times where I am like, “Wow! So and so is here, oh my God!” But to them I say, “So nice to meet you, I’m a fan.” I assume they don’t want that in that moment. They are the vulnerable ones and want to talk to me about an issue they have, so I focus on their needs more than anything else.
+WHAT IT’S LIKE…
+To Help a Transgender Teen Transition
+Traci Brooks, Adolescent Primary Care Physician,
+Cambridge Hospital
+Sean was the first patient that I had who transitioned, so he definitely taught me plenty. At first I saw him for all of his testosterone injections because both he and his mom were too squeamish to use the needles themselves. It was great because then I could keep track of his progress.
+An interesting visit that we had once was about the use of contraception—testosterone is not 100 percent effective by itself, at all!—and his need to get Pap smears done. It was admittedly rather challenging for me, and I did kind of fumble a little around what clinical language to use, which probably didn’t come out so great. I mean, it is awkward to discuss with a male patient his need for a Pap smear, and he was my first patient that I had to have this conversation with. I didn’t have a lot of direction! I asked him how he would most like for me to refer to his body parts and followed his lead on the vocabulary.
+I have gotten a bit smoother with subsequent patients and feel more comfortable now.
+Though he has outgrown me and moved on to an internist, Sean and I still have a pretty good relationship to this day; he even gave me permission to tell his story. But we had our share of head-butting. I remember for a while he was extremely concerned about being too short and wanted to get leg-lengthening surgery in another country because it was too expensive to do in the U.S. I kind of felt like I really needed to put my foot down about that one for safety’s sake.
+I am so very grateful as a doctor for all I have learned from Sean. He, along with several other patients, inspired me to take an in-depth medical-education course in Advancing Excellence in Transgender Health not once but twice. All patients deserve respect and to be treated with dignity, no matter which boxes they check off on forms—for race, ethnicity, age, or gender. To me, these kids aren’t ever check boxes. They are all kids, with feelings, thoughts, and opinions. My job is to help them become healthy adults. I love it and would never change it for the world.
+WHAT IT’S LIKE…
+To Make Hospitals More Inclusive
+T. Salewa Oseni, Breast Surgical Oncologist,
+Massachusetts General Hospital
+When I look around Mass General, there aren’t that many of me. One of the things that I wanted to do as the codirector of diversity for the surgery department is make the hospital reflect our community, our city, and certainly the country. It makes us more informed about the issues that our patients face. There are some things that you’re just not going to be aware of unless you have people at the table who can inform you about that.
+As a female surgeon, I would say the most common experience that’s happened to me—and to a lot of women in my situation—is when you walk into the room with your team and it doesn’t cross the patient’s mind that you’re attending. They think you’re the nurse, or hospital staff, but they don’t immediately think that you are their surgeon. They may ask you, “Are you going to be doing my surgery?” And it’s like, “Yes. I’m the one in charge.” Starting out, it happened at least once a month, but as you get further along—and I guess you get more of an air of authority about what you do—people stop asking you that.
+WHAT IT’S LIKE…
+To Help Get Thousands of Women Pregnant
+Rachel Ashby, Reproductive Endocrinologist,
+Brigham and Women’s Hospital
+My husband and I first conceived after dinner and a bottle of wine—we had a little contraceptive mishap. And then we couldn’t get pregnant again. This was a very difficult time in our marriage. It took us a long time, but my final treatment that was successful was twins. When I was going through infertility treatment, though, I remember calling my mom in tears because a cycle didn’t work, and my mom said, “Rachel, this is going to make you a better doctor and a more empathetic doctor.” And it has helped me mature as a doctor and better relate to my patients.
+The most common thing couples are not on the same page about is the idea of when and how many. One of the things I make a point of is to try to understand the psychosocial aspects of what we do. It’s a medical problem that’s not so uncommon, but the level of emotional discord and upheaval in the family is really significant. Studies show a typical patient undergoing IVF is similar to a patient undergoing breast cancer treatment. Many of us, women and men, start to associate identity, value, and self-worth with fertility. It truly does have an impact on couplehood.
+WHAT IT’S LIKE…
+To Rescue a Child from the Brink
+Carlos Estrada Jr., Pediatric Urologist,
+Boston Children’s Hospital
+When there are serious complications, I don’t care how experienced you are, you just can’t get used to that. I had a patient once, about seven or eight years old, who had spina bifida, and she had a life-threatening infection of her brain after a major reconstructive surgery that I did on the bladder. She had a tube connected to her brain from the abdomen to drain the fluid in the brain, because for kids with spina bifida, their brains don’t drain well. The tube became infected—it was just one of those things that happened—and she got a really severe brain infection. I don’t think I left the hospital except for a few hours those few days. I rolled her down to the CT scanner myself, and I honestly couldn’t leave the bedside. I was just traumatized—not as much as the family, of course—but it was just so dicey.
+She’s now 15 and doing beautifully. Last year I was honored by an initiative at the hospital called Milagros para Niños, which each year recognizes a faculty or staff member with some Latin connection. My patient and her family came to the gala, and her mother spoke about the experience. Later on, the girl was out there dancing in her wheelchair to Latin music. I’m just so hopeful for these kids, that we can return some normalcy.
+WHAT IT’S LIKE…
+To Save a Life in a Blizzard
+Thomas Piemonte, Interventional Cardiologist,
+Lahey Hospital & Medical Center
+In the middle of the worst blizzard of the year seven years ago, a 32-year-old woman who was six and a half months’ pregnant collapsed at home. Her husband found her on the floor and called an ambulance. At Winchester Hospital, she was in cardiogenic shock, which basically means you don’t have a blood pressure. In fact, she was arresting. The doctors at Winchester realized that she probably wasn’t going to survive, and they said, “Well, we better save the baby.” So right there in the ER, they took the baby out via cesarean section.
+I was staying in the Marriott right next door so I wouldn’t have to drive from Dover in the storm, and I got a phone call at 6:30 in the morning from the emergency room at Winchester: “We’ve got this woman, she’s got hardly any blood pressure, we want to send her over to Lahey’s cath lab to try to help her out.”
+When she came up to our cath lab, she was really sick. She had a massive pulmonary embolism, which is a clot, obstructing all the blood flow coming out from the right side of her heart. We made the choice to bring her down to an operating room, put her on cardiopulmonary bypass, open up her heart, and perform a pulmonary embolectomy to take the clot out manually. After that, she was so sick from two surgeries in one day that her heart wasn’t pumping at all. Both ventricles totally failed. And she didn’t have any ability to generate a pulse.
+At that point you can support somebody, when their heart isn’t beating, with extracorporeal oxygenation, and we decided to do that. And this is where it became a problem. Once you put somebody on that kind of support, you need a 24/7 team to monitor it, and not that many hospitals have that. MGH said they could take the patient, so at the request of the doctors there, we didn’t completely close the sternum so that they would have easy access to the heart. But remember, this is a blizzard and we had to get her an ambulance with an open chest.
+I was thinking about her family, you know. I’ll tell you, it still is an extremely emotional thing for everybody to talk about this case, because she was so close to not making it. It was a string of doctors along the way who made very, very difficult decisions on a wing and a prayer. And there was so much on the line. This is a 32-year-old woman who was having her first child, and a husband who was around the same age who told me that he thought he wouldn’t have a chance to see his wife or child. When you start out in medicine, you are attracted by the technology, the machines, and the things you can do, but as you get older, you realize that as wonderful as that can be at times, it’s not the heart of the issue. The heart of the issue is the fact that you’re taking care of wives, husbands, mothers, and fathers, and that makes the practice of medicine a lot more rewarding and also a lot more painful.
+The patient was at MGH for three weeks, and then walked out of the hospital. And the baby survived.
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+How Viking Broke my Machine!
+by Dian Chapman, Founder/Artist
+K9 Hero Pillow Project
+dian@mousetrax.com
+---------------
+In December 2015, we purchased my first Viking Epic. I had four other sewing machines, including a Viking Sapphire sewing machine and had been sewing since I was a kid (I'm now in my 60s). But this was my first embroidery machine.
+A few weeks into using it, some threads got wrapped up inside a roller, so I brought it back to have it fixed.
+They fixed that problem, but soon after I got it back, I started having NEW problems with the threads jamming up under the plate. The cutter wasn't working properly and thread that should have been cut and cleared were wrapping around a little hook and would eventually rip the fabric and stop the machine.
+Over the next several months I had to bring the machine in for repair for this major problem of the auto cutting device not working properly and causing threads to become locked up under the plate and jamming the machine. This was a constant problem. Repair techs often wanted to know what threads I was using and how I was using the machine…assuming *I* or something I was using was the problem. I had to wonder, too, since I was new to embroidery. But I was buying GOOD/expensive threads...THE SAME ONES VIKING WAS SELLING!
+Below are just a FEW photos of the constant problem that first machine had. (I have TONS of additional photos of this same problem, since it happened so often after they returned my machine to me!)
+By July 2016, the Viking reps decided to give me a new, replacement machine, since no one was able to properly fix the cutting device problem on the first/original machine and I was constantly bringing it back in for repairs complaining of the same problem. (A problem that they, obviously, did not know how to fix!)
+So now I had a new machine. And from July 2016 until July 2018, it was working PERFECTLY! I had no problems with it and have not had to bring it in for repairs once.
+I used it nearly every day and most of my projects were LARGE embroidery projects, making K9 Hero images from digitized photos. Most average over 150,000 stitches and all use the auto cutting feature. That causes the cutter to operate HUNDREDS of times for each image…and many thousands of times a week over the last two years…all without a single problem! I have made over 125 of these K9 embroidery images using this machine, as well as many other embroidery projects…WITH NO CUTTING/JAMMING PROBLEMS!
+Here are just two, but you can see all the K9 images that this second machine has successfully made on my web site at MouseTrax.com.
+Then on July 23, 2018, this second machine experienced its first problem…it did not stop running when the thread broke. I was making one of the hundreds of key fobs I'd been working on (with NO problems)...when I noticed that the needle had punched through without stopping to tell me the thread was broken.
+This was a major issue! So I was forced to bring this machine in for repairs on 8/24/18. I needed the thread break sensor fixed and also asked to have the machine cleaned as well as fix two other items that broke over the years…the front plastic plate snapped off and was taped on and a tiny piece of Velcro that was at the location where the upper thread comes out of the machine had fallen out. The Velcro helps keep the thread stabilized while sewing.
+However, when this Epic was returned to me, "apparently fixed," on July 31, 2018, I discovered that it had not been cleaned as requested! And the second piece of Velcro was also not replaced as I’d requested. The plastic front panel was replaced and the thread break sensor was fixed. So they only did two of the four required fixes.
+But WORSE...they (Viking repair) had now (AGAIN) broken this second machine...which had been working PERFECTLY until they messed with it. Now...that same cutting device issue had returned. My beautifully working machine was NO LONGER WORKING PROPERLY…the damn auto cutting device was now broken on THIS MACHINE!
+This is PROOF that the problem was not being caused by anything I did…because this machine never had that problem until AFTER IT WAS RETURNED FROM THE VIKING REPAIR SHOP! So, whoever fixed the machine also did something to cause the cutting device to now not work properly.
+And...it is clear they don't even know what the hell they are doing because they have been unable to fix it! They again, are asking ME what thread I use and how I use the machine. I'M USING THE SAME THREAD AND DOING THE SAME THINGS I'VE DONE FOR OVER 24 Million stitches over the last two years with NO problem!
+This is SO INFURIATING to me! They can't figure out how to fix it and continue to turn the problem around to ME...that it must be something that *I* am doing. I've had to return it several times and they have tried to fix it...returning it and they SAY that it works just fine for them. But as soon as I get it back from repair (after driving 1.5 hrs one way to bring it to their store)...the same problem is still there!
+Just prior to the machine being broken, I made MANY key fobs to donate to a Police K9 event. I had NO problems making any of these prior to taking this machine in for its first visit to the Viking repair shop. All done with the same threads, high quality needles and stabilizer and using the cutting device...WITH NO PROBLEMS!
+The day I brought my Epic home after being “repaired (and broken!),” I ATTEMPTED to continue making more key fobs, using the EXACT SAME Robison-Anton Rayon 40 embroidery thread I was using and have used for the last several years, as well as the same high-quality polyester bobbin thread and the exact same marine vinyl and same stabilizer as used successfully for all the above key fobs.
+But NOW I was unsuccessful due to the fact that whoever attempted to repair my Epic did something to cause the auto cutting feature to not work properly. It will make a few cuts, but the threads get tangled up on the “little metal hook on the right” and after a few cuts, the threads are jammed up and cause the fabric to become ripped and jammed into the plate. I need to use an exacto knife to slide under the hoop in order to cut the fabric and threads away to try to clear the machine. Turning the machine off/on causes the device to temporarily clear, but soon after it will jam up again. These are photos of the results of my attempts to use my machine AFTER it was returned to me from Viking repair services!
+(You can see how bad this problem is by watching a video I've posted on YouTube at this link. I can't even create a simple pouch without the machine trashing the project!)
+Each of these attempts were a total waste of time, thread, stabilizer and vinyl!
+The two key fobs above in the image below were done BEFORE I took my Epic in for repair. The one in the hoop is the chewed-up results I get now AFTER I took my Epic in for repair!
+I had several orders for key fobs, but now the ONLY way I can get the job done is to turn off the cutter. This means that I have to manually cut all those jump threads! This is a $15,000 machine that we purchased BECAUSE it had a cutting device so I wouldn't have to manually cut threads!
+Even MORE infuriating...the genius repair folks suggest I not use the cutter on vinyl, even though this person admits they don't know much about sewing. So I shouldn't use a main feature of a $15,000 machine? That's like buying an expensive car and learning that it has a problem when you go fast...and the maker just tells you, "so don't go fast!" *head desk*
+They have also tried to suggest that I not use the cutter for the K9 pillows, which I CANNOT do! It is hard enough cutting key fob jump threads, but K9 images have THOUSANDS of jump threads to be cut! Below is a screen shot of one K9 image. Each T marker is a Trim command. That means the cutter should cut/trim the upper thread at that point before it jumps to the next location where this same color needs to be stitched. There is NO WAY I can embroider a K9 image without the cutter working...as it has for the last two years and over 125 other K9 images. Everything was fine...UNTIL VIKING BROKE MY MACHINE!
+And if that wasn't enough, they also broke my bobbin winder! It never had a problem, but they apparently broke it and shoved it back on. It will often pop off now, so I have to babysit it while it winds a new bobbin or it comes out lopsided. The two on the right are bobbins it wound BEFORE Viking touched my machine. The one on the left is what I get now if I don't control the winding by moving the thread back and forth with my finger! SIGH!
+And that's STILL not the end of the issues with this machine NOW! It is also showing me the wrong thread colors! As you can see in this image, the color that IS working is yellow (has a square around it), but the colors at the bottom, the ones that should be the SAME, shows the green is running and next is black. But those colors have already run! It doesn't know what it SHOULD be doing half the time. Glad *I* know and can modify the colors by clicking on the one that should stitch out next!
+Bottom line...I CANNOT trust this machine! They can't fix it and they deny there even is a problem. So we contacted Viking Corporate, who asked the same "what do you use" stupid questions. They want to have the machine sent to their main repair shop in TN and tell me it will take at least six weeks.
+And as you can see in the image below, I'm NOT the only one who has had this problem! I know of two friends who fought with Viking to fix the same cutter problem on their machines. So I posted in an embroidery group, and sure enough...someone else chimed in with this same, constant problem!
+So THEY break my machine, deny it is broken, I can't trust to use it and now it'll be gone for at least 6 weeks and I don't even know if it'll be returned working properly or if this will continue to be a major problem for more months. I WANT A MACHINE THAT WORKS!
+Until I do get a machine that works properly, I can no longer...VERY SADLY...make any K9 Hero Pillows. So the thing that I LOVE doing and give my time freely to do...only charging a bit for cost and shipping...can no longer be done until Viking honors this customer with a machine that WORKS!
+* * *
+Back to K9 Heroes
+Editing Los Angeles Police: {{Organization |image = LAPD.png |founder = |leader = |members = [[Cook]]<br>[[Hanover]]<br>[[Caprarelli]] |formermembers = [[Andrew Henry]] †<br> [[Flores (LAPD)|Flores]] †<br>[[Anthony Wall]]<br>[[Mitch]] |headquarters = [[Los Angeles Police Station]] |locations = [[Los Angeles]], [[California]] |affiliation = {{Affiliation|PRI}} <small>(corrupt faction, formerly)</small> |movie = ''[[Captain Marvel (film)|Captain Marvel]]'' |tv series = ''[[Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.]]''<br>''[[Agent Carter (TV series)|Agent Carter]]''<br>''[[Runaways (TV series)|Runaways]]'' |status = Active}} {{Quote|And if I were you guys, I'd put those weapons down. LAPD has a little thing about black folks waving guns around.|[[Alex Wilder]] to [[Geoffrey Wilder]] and [[Catherine Wilder]]|Split Up}} The '''Los Angeles Police Department''', often shortened '''LAPD''', is the primary organization responsible for law enforcement and investigation in the city of [[Los Angeles]], and it is the third largest municipal police force in the [[United States of America]]. ==History== ===The Lady in the Lake=== {{Quote|Two years ago, the [[Lady of the Lake Killer]] dropped two dead women in [[Echo Park]] Lake. Led a task force with manhunts, press conferences, and everything.|[[Andrew Henry]]|The Lady in the Lake}} ''To be added'' ===Cooperation with SSR=== ''To be added'' ===Blockbuster Video Incident=== The LAPD contacted [[S.H.I.E.L.D.]] to report about a [[Vers|mysterious woman]] who was found near the destroyed Blockbuster store. While [[Phil Coulson]] went to speak with the officer, Vers was questioned by [[Nick Fury]]. While they were talking, Vers was attacked by a [[Skrull Spy]], so she went to follow him, as well as S.H.I.E.L.D. agents.<ref>''[[Captain Marvel (film)|Captain Marvel]]''</ref> ===Most Wanted=== {{Quote|You two, show me your hands! Now! Get 'em up!|[[Cook]] to [[Skye]] and [[Grant Ward]]|Nothing Personal}}.<ref>''[[Nothing Personal|Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 1.20: Nothing Personal]]''</ref> ===[[Assassination of Amy Minoru]]=== {{Quote|That [[Flores (LAPD)|detective]] is the man my parents called when [[Amy Minoru|Amy]] [[Assassination of Amy Minoru|died]]. He came to the [[Minoru Mansion|house]]. He said he'd handle it.|[[Nico Minoru]] to [[Alex Wilder]]|Fifteen}} [[Flores (LAPD)|Flores]] was called by [[Tina Minoru]] upon discovering the body of her daughter [[Amy Minoru|Amy]], who had actually been [[Assassination of Amy Minoru|murdered]] by [[Jonah]]. Flores went to the [[Minoru Mansion]] and met with Tina, declaring that he would handle the case and eventually concluding that Amy had committed suicide.<ref>''[[Fifteen|Runaways: 1.04: Fifteen]]''</ref> ===Working with S.H.I.E.L.D.=== {{Quote|The situation is that there is an escaped fugitive on the loose, and [[S.H.I.E.L.D.]] is assisting LAPD with the hunt.|[[Jeffrey Mace]]|The Laws of Inferno Dynamics}} The LAPD was mobilized when [[Eli Morrow]], allied with the [[Chinatown Crew]], attempted to build a giant [[Quantum Batteries.<ref>''[[The Laws of Inferno Dynamics|Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 4.08: The Laws of Inferno Dynamics]]''</ref> ===Destiny Gonzalez=== {{Quote|If you know anything about [[Destiny Gonzalez]], you are being urged to contact Detective [[Flores (LAPD)|Flores]] with the West Los Angeles Division.|[[WHiH World News|WHiH]] News Reporter|Destiny}} The LAPD investigated the case of the [[Assassination of Destiny Gonzalez]], whose body had been found washed out on a beach in [[Los Angeles]], as she had actually been murdered by [[Victor Stein]] to cover up her failed [[Rite of Blood|sacrifice]]. [[Flores (LAPD)|Flores]] was put in charge of the investigation and issued a statement in which the LAPD called for any witnesses to provide information.<ref>''[[Destiny|Runaways: 1.03: Destiny]]''</ref> ===[[Kidnapping of Alex Wilder]]=== {{Quote|Flores, I need three guys in an unmarked car, now.|[[Geoffrey Wilder]] to [[Flores (LAPD)|Flores]]|Kingdom}} When [[Alex Wilder]] was kidnapped by [[Darius Davis]], [[Flores (LAPD)|Flores]] agreed to send three LAPD officers to help [[Geoffrey Wilder]] get his son back. During the ensuing confrontation against the [[Crips]], one officer was killed.<ref>''[[Kingdom|Runaways: 1.05: Kingdom]]''</ref> ===Looking for the Runaways=== ====Wrong Detainees==== {{Quote|I'm sorry. I don't know what to say. My men assured me..."<br>"Maybe you need more than just men handling your shit."<br>"Don't call till you actually have [[Runaways|them]].|[[Flores (LAPD)|Flores]], [[Catherine Wilder]] and [[Geoffrey Wilder]]|Gimmie Shelter}} Eventually, as he was pressured by [[PRIDE]], Flores officially declared that the [[Runaways]] were suspected to be involved in the death of [[Destiny Gonzalez]] and that they were wanted for interrogation.<ref>''[[Hostile|Runaways: 1.10: Hostile]]''</ref> When the [[Runaways]] attempted to flee from [[PRIDE]], the LAPD was called by [[Geoffrey Wilder]], who instructed Detective [[Flores (LAPD)|Flores]] to do everything to find the teenagers.<ref>''[[Hostile|Runaways: 1.10: Hostile]]''<.<ref>''[[Gimmie Shelter|Runaways: 2.01: Gimmie Shelter]]''</ref> ====Corrupt Strike Team==== {{Quote|We're an [[PRIDE|organization of criminals]]. We always need someone on the inside. And clearly, [[AWOL]] wants the job.|[[Geoffrey Wilder]]|Big Shot (episode)}} [[Flores (LAPD)|Flores]] assisted [[Catherine Wilder]] to frame [[Darius Davis]] for the [[Assassination of Destiny Gonzalez]] to drop the charges against the [[Runaways]]. He arranged for her to meet Davis at the [[Gordon Hotel]] so that she could [[Assassination of Darius Davis|murder]] him. Once the crime was perpetrated, Flores and his men arrived to give the impression of an investigation. Flores prevented Davis' wife [[Tamar]] to access the crime scene<ref>''[[Double Zeros|Runaways: 2.03: Double Zeros]]''</ref> and later had the video security files of the hotel erased.<ref name="R208">''[[Past Life (Runaways)|Runaways: 2.08: Past Life]]''</ref> [[File:R207_LAPD_finds_Jonah.png|thumb|left|250px|The strike team finds the body of [[Jonah (Doctor)|Jonah]]]] The LAPD was called on the [[PRIDE Construction Site]] when [[Topher]] violently assaulted a worker to get some [[Gibborim Rock]]s.<ref>''[[Rock Bottom|Runaways: 2.05: Rock Bottom]]''</ref> PRIDE was later alerted of the event by the LAPD. The LAPD was later once again instructed to come to the PRIDE construction site in the aftermath of the [[Battle at the PRIDE Construction Site|battle]] which had happened between PRIDE, the Runaways and [[Jonah]], and Flores and [[AWOL]] found the [[Jonah (Doctor)|corpse]] at the place.<ref>''[[Last Rites|Runaways: 2.07: Last Rites]]''</ref> [[File:R208_Strike_team_meets_with_Catherine.png|thumb|250px|[[Flores (LAPD) [[Attack on Livvie|attempt]] on Livvie's life to scare her. [[File:R208_AWOL_shoots_at_Livvie.png|thumb|left|250px|[[AWOL]] shoots at [[Livvie]]]]. [[File:R208 Leslie and Flores.png|thumb|250px|[[Flores (LAPD)|Flores]] is asked to get rid of [[Oscar Gonzalez]]'s body]] Flores was also called by [[Leslie Dean]] to deal with the corpse of [[Oscar Gonzalez]], who had been [[Attack on Frank Dean|killed]] by [[Frank Dean]]. On that occasion, Leslie announced to Flores that [[PRIDE]] would no longer need the services of the strike team on their payroll as they intended to disband the organization. [[File:R208_Capture_of_Molly.png|thumb|left|250px [[Capture of Molly Hernandez|captured]] by the strike team and taken to the [[Black Box]].<ref name="R208" /> Flores intended to interrogate Hernandez, and even torture her if necessary, to know where the other Runaways were. However, he was quickly taken down by Hernandez's superhuman strength, losing his captive. [[File:R209_Runaways_vs._AWOL.png|thumb|250px|The strike team faces the [[Runaways]]]] Outraged by the fact that the Runaways had powers and equipment the LAPD did not know about, Flores went to confront PRIDE at the [[PRIDE Headquarters]],. [[File:R209_Flores_Death.png|thumb|left|250px|[[Flores (LAPD) [[Assassination of Flores|murdered]] Flores so he would not get in his way. Afterward, reneging on his deal with Alex, AWOL had his team [[Kidnapping of Livvie|kidnap]] Livvie so she could tell them where the Runaways were hiding.<ref>''[[Big Shot (episode)|Runaways: 2.09: Big Shot]]''</ref>. [[File:R210_LAPD_Siege_Hostel.png|thumb|250px.<ref>''[[Hostile Takeover|Runaways: 2.10: Hostile Takeover]]''</ref> ====Arrest of the Wilders==== [[File:R213 Catherine arrested.png|thumb|left|250px|The LAPD arrests [[Catherine Wilder]]]] {{Quote|Because with a little help from [[Tamar]] and an anonymous note to a cold case detective, it's dominoes, bitch.|[[Alex Wilder]] to [[Geoffrey Wilder]] and [[Catherine Wilder]]|Split Up}} An LAPD detective received an anonymous tip, actually sent by [[Alex Wilder]], in order to have his parents [[Catherine Wilder.<ref>''[[Split Up|Runaways: 2.13: Split Up]]''</ref> ==Members== {| class="article-table" border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" style="width: 100%;" ! scope="col" |Name ! scope="col" |Position ! scope="col" |Badge number ! scope="col" |Status |- |[[Andrew Henry]] |Detective | |Deceased |- |[[Flores (LAPD)|Flores]] |Detective | |Deceased |- |[[Hanover]] |Officer | |Active |- |[[Cook]] |Officer | |Active |- |[[Anthony Wall]] |Officer | |Inactive |- |[[Caprarelli]] |Officer | |Active |- |[[Mitch]] |Officer | |Inactive |- |[[Vic]] |Officer | |Inactive |- |[[Jay]] |Officer | |Inactive |} ==Facilities== *[[Los Angeles Police Station]] *[[Los Angeles Penitentiary]] *[[Black Box]] ==Appearances== {| class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed wikitable" width="100%" ! Appearances for Los Angeles Police Department |- | In chronological order: *''[[Agent Carter (TV series)|Agent Carter]]'' **''[[Agent Carter (TV series)/Season Two|Season Two]]'' ***''[[The Lady in the Lake]]'' ***''[[A View in the Dark]]'' ***''[[Better Angels]]'' ***''[[Monsters]]'' *''[[Captain Marvel (film)|Captain Marvel]]'' *''[[Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.]]'' **''[[Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D./Season One|Season One]]'' ***''[[Pilot]]'' ***''[[The Magical Place]]'' <small>(mentioned)</small> ***''[[Nothing Personal]]'' *''[[Runaways (TV series)|Runaways]]'' **''[[Runaways (TV series)/Season One|Season One]]'' ***''[[Fifteen]]'' <small>(flashback)</small> *''[[Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.]]'' **''[[Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D./Season Four|Season Four]]'' ***''[[The Ghost]]'' ***''[[Lockup]]'' ***''[[The Laws of Inferno Dynamics]]'' *''[[Runaways (TV series)|Runaways]]'' **''[[Runaways (TV series)/Season One|Season One]]'' ***''[[Rewind (Runaways)|Rewind]]'' <small>(mentioned)</small> ***''[[Destiny]]'' <small>(mentioned)</small> ***''[[Fifteen]]'' ***''[[Kingdom]]'' ***''[[Metamorphosis]]'' <small>(mentioned)</small> ***''[[Refraction]]'' <small>(mentioned)</small> ***''[[Doomsday]]'' <small>(mentioned)</small> ***''[[Hostile]]'' **''[[Runaways (TV series)/Season Two|Season Two]]'' ***''[[Gimmie Shelter]]'' ***''[[Radio On]]'' <small>(mentioned)</small> ***''[[Double Zeros]]'' ***''[[Rock Bottom]]'' ***''[[Bury Another]]'' ***''[[Last Rites]]'' ***''[[Past Life (Runaways)|Past Life]]'' ***''[[Big Shot (episode)|Big Shot]]'' ***''[[Hostile Takeover]]'' ***''[[Split Up]]'' **''[[Runaways (TV series)/Season Three|Season Three]]'' ***''[[Smoke and Mirrors]]'' ***''[[Lord of Lies]]'' ***''[[Rite of Thunder]]'' <small>(mentioned)</small> |} ==References== {{Reflist}} ==External Links== *{{WP}} *{{Marvel}} Templates used on the current version of this page: Template:Affiliation (view source) Template:Expand (view source) Template:Marvel (view source) Template:Organization (view source) Template:Quote (view source) Template:Reflist (view source) Template:WP (view source) Return to Los Angeles Police Department. 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+The walls of Alhama’at’s castle atop the floating network of isles that was Altea shook with the roar of the great fusion dragon below. Indeed he had expected this, though not foreseen it. The future had become too muddled to foresee as of late, largely due to his own handiwork, admittedly. Looking into the past, the aged magician could not spy a similar moment in the cycle of history.
+This was a first.
+A result of his meddling in the chronology perhaps? It was a complication he would have rather not come to pass. With Lapis’ manipulation, the ire of this world’s champions had been turned against him and Altea.
+Again the ancient walls of Altea’s structures shook and Alhama’at could sense the ancient magic barriers that guarded the nation’s land masses beginning to fail.
+Curiously, Alhama’at found his thoughts turning back towards the old days. Ever since he had learned of the truth, the world around him seemed...false. A non-world. He had not thought of the days before his revelation in many, many years. And yet now, as the final struggle for salvation began, he was curiously pensive. What would they think? He pondered. All at once, Viola burst into his chambers quite unceremoniously, a wild and exhausted look on her face.
+“Lord Alhama’at!” She exclaimed. “My deepest apologies. I could not stop Ryula’s escape. She has fused with a human.” The treacherous dragonoid hung her head is disgrace.
+“Amusing, don’t you think?” Alhama’at spoke and the weight of his words pierced all who heard them.
+“My lord?” Viola questioned.
+“Viola, your power, now.” Alhama’at did not answer, but instead commanded, holding out a gaunt hand, skin tightly clinging to the bones. Viola obliged, eagerly taking his hand. The two beings aligned their thoughts, and in a single violet flash, the two ceased to be.
+And a monster was born again.
+-------------------------------------------
+“Millium!” Lumia cried out for her nephew as she looked up at the enormous creature that he and the girl they’d rescued had become. She and Nyarlathotep were completely dumbfounded. A second ago Millium was bleeding out and now there was this...creature. This dragon. “Millium!” Lumia called out again. “Are you in there?” At this the great beast turned its gaze down to Lumia and Nyarlathotep, giving them a knowing nod and a wink.
+“Thank goodness.” Lumia sighed.
+“You dote on him just like you did with your brother. Hehehe, it’s no lie” Nyarlathotep sidled up to Lumia, teasing her.
+“You don’t understand.” Lumia smiled nervously. “Do you have any idea what Pandora would do to me if something happened to him?” The two shared an exhausted smile before they were interrupted by the sudden shadow that blotted out the sky. The remaining Alteans had retreated, and a bellowing roar echoed in the distance.
+“This is bad.” Nyarlathotep stated, looking unusually worried.
+“What was that?” Lumia asked.
+“Can’t you feel it? That lump in your stomach? It’s him. He’s moving.”The roar howled across the skies again, only it was plain that it was now much closer. It took Lumia a moment to understand. This feeling, it was unlike anything else she had ever felt. There was an unimaginable pressure, an invisible weight that pressed on her body, choked the air from her lungs. So concentrated was the magic it was almost dizzying. Her head swam and she tumbled to keep her balance for a moment before centering herself again. If she concentrated she could shake off the sensation. If she didn’t know any better, she’d think this a dream. But it wasn’t.
+It was Alhama’at. And he was headed right for them.
+With a mighty roar the fused Millium dragon loosed a powerful magic blast of light from its maw at the great ebon dragon that was quickly approaching from the dark skies. However the obsidian fusion was prepared. It easily swatted the blast aside, forcing the ball of light careen harmlessly off into the sky, eventually fading from sight. The Alhama’at dragon let out a terrifying roar and a hail of dark shafts of light similar to Viola’s own spear began to rain from the black skies.
+“Millium!” Lumia and Nyarlathotep called out. Lumia readied an attack, twirling her fire and light magics together and readied the magical bolt to be loosed on Alhama’at.
+I stand in the eternal light of the spirits.
+You, who gather darkness, shall go no further.
+Come forth, divine purification!
+All at once the darkness that covered the skies began to fade as twinkling drops of starlight started to pour down. The shimmering drops of starlight felt soothing on Lumia’s skin, and she felt her mind begin to clear, Alhama’at’s strange influence counteracted.
+“Hehehe, reinforcements.” Nyarlathotep commented, pointing Lumia’s attention in the direction of a small group of people who were moving towards them, the one at the head of the group was holding up her great staff that shone with the same color as the starlight that was raining from the sky.
+“Sorry, we’re a little late.” Almerius grinned confidently. She, the remaining six sages, Kaguya, and Charlotte hurried quickly to aid Lumia and Nyarlathotep, who wasted no time in appraising them of the situation.
+“That thing is the one that killed Fiethsing?” Almerius asked in disbelief.
+“There’s no mistaking it.” Lumia answered.
+“Something’s different though.” Kaguya added. “He wasn’t a dragon before.”
+“Looks like he’s got the same trick up his sleeve that we did.” Nyarlathotep surmised. “That Lapis kid told us if we rescued the girl we’d have the only weapon to beat Alhama’at. Never told us he had the same weapon, hehehe.”
+“Can Millium win?” Zero asked, somewhat dumbfounded by her pupil's new form.
+“We’ve got to try.” Almerius answered quickly. “We don’t know when we’ll get another chance like this. We don’t even know if this fusion can work twice.”
+“The young boy needs to hit him.” Grusbalesta observed. “Can’t you feel it? I’ve seen...fusion before so I understand the power. Though admittedly it was a much different method that this.” Grusbalesta motioned to the fusion dragon. “At any rate, I can sense the power from both of these creatures. That dark one is stronger, without a doubt. But Millium is focusing all of his energy on stopping them, stopping the enemy fusion. That last attack of his. It wasn’t meant to kill Alhama’at.” Grusbalesta adjusted his glasses. “It was meant to break apart the fusion.”
+“What happens after that?” Charlotte asked.
+“We throw everything we can at Alhama’at and hope its enough.” Milest answered.
+“Alright, everyone you know the deal!” Almerius shouted. “Keep our dragon alive, and get his attack to hit its mark. We still have a chance if we work together. For Fiethsing!”
+“For Fiethsing!” Everyone shouted in chorus. As if in its own answer, the Millium dragon roared and spread its great wings, soaring into the sky. From high above Millium and Ryula looked down at the others.
+Looks like they’re going to help us. Millium thought.
+We’re going to need it. Ryula’s thoughts answered. We’ll need to focus every bit of power this form has to split them up.
+I don’t understand...I thought you were supposed to be the weapon, what exactly is this? Millium asked.
+This is our power. The power of the priestesses. Fusion. By uniting our hearts and bodies, we become something greater than the two of us. When Viola attacked, we both wanted to protect each other, that was enough for me to connect us with this power.
+That’s amazing!
+Stay focused! Ryula instructed. We need to focus on Viola and Alhama’at or else we’ll fall apart.
+Alright, I got it. I just hope we can hit him.
+The Alhama’at dragon flapped it’s great wings in anger and the winds surged, ripping trees from the very earth. The dark dragon swooped down from above to strike Millium as the alabaster drake prepared another magical attack.
+“We need to distance them!” Moojdart shouted to the others.
+“I’m on it!” Milest answered. “This is for what those monsters did to me. Release!” With a word Milest’s ghostly body suddenly crackled with a powerful crimson energy and his form changed , assuming the shape of a six armed armored warrior.
+“Oooh~ Milly, you didn’t tell us you could use mana too!” Moojdart said.
+“Those Alteans tried to steal my secrets, so I stole a few of theirs. And don’t call me Milly!” Milest clasped his six hands together into three pairs of mudra. In an instant, a massive ghostly fireball burst into existence between Millium and Alhama’at, only to explode in an immense wave of flame a second later. The intense magical fire collided with Alhama’at, and while it did not seem to harm the creature, the force of the spell did succeed in pushing the dragon back for a moment.
+“Hehehe, thanks for the opening.” Nyarlathotep snickered and began to chant something strange and otherworldly. “mglw'nafh fhthagn-ngah cf'ayak 'vulgtmm vugtlag'n!” The words were unrecognizable to the others, but their effects were quickly understood. tears in the sky ripped themselves open around Alhama’at and squirming masses of tentacles burst forward, grabbing at the ebony dragon’s limbs to hold it in place.
+“Ngh. This isn’t going to hold for very long, it’s no lie” Nyarlathtotep said, as she strained herself to maintain the spell. Suddenly she felt the small hand of Charlotte on her shoulder.
+“Don’t worry, I can help!” She proclaimed confidently. The Attoractian called upon the power of the sacred spirit and conjured water constructs that shaped themselves into small drakes. The constructs quickly flew to Alhama’at and reshaped into great liquid chains, to further fetter the malefic beast.
+However, Alhama’at quickly stopped struggling.
+“Die.”
+The dragon impossibly spoke without word or sound, and the word struck all nearby as sharply as any sword. Some fell to their knees, while others struggled to stay up. Charlotte in particular collapsed onto the ground, her spell fading as well.
+“Charlotte!” Nyarlathotep caught the girl just before she would have hit the ground. The bindings holding the dark dragon had come loose and faded, the beast was free again. Sparking ebony motes appeared in the sky and erupted in booming thunder as streaks of black lightning shot down towards Millium.
+“The Kimono, Lady Kaguya.” Grusbalesta instructed. “It can block any attack up to twelve times before breaking. Cover Millium. We’ll get those two to safety.” Grusbalesta motioned to Nyalathotep, still holding Charlotte.
+“Understood.” Kaguya responded. With a snap of her fingers she summoned a long flowing garment that glowed with a magical brilliance. One of the fabled treasury items, the Water Kimono of Twelve Parts.
+“Please...be careful, Kaguya.” Zero added.
+“Of course.” She replied coolly, and flew up into the air with the kimono on. “Hang on, Millium.”
+As bolts of lightning thundered down, Kaguya intercepted them, as the bolts struck the Kimono wrapped around her, they harmlessly dispersed.
+“One...two...” Kaguya carefully counted each time she blocked one of the attacks.
+“Seven...eight...”
+“Eleven...twelve!” Kaguya’s magical garment absorbed its last black lightning strike and burst into tatters. “Come on, Millium, hurry up.”
+“The kimono was destroyed.” Moojdart called to the others as Kaguya came flying back down. Above, the Millium dragon continued to charge its attack while doing its best to avoid Alhama’at’s own attacks.
+“We just need...a little more time.” Kaguya said.
+“We’ll take over, Kaguya.” Almerius assured. “It’s why we were brought out of our sleep after all. Milest, Moojdart, let’s try to give Millium some space!” The three moved to the front lines to support Millium. Kaguya and the others watched on for a moment, as various brilliant bursts of magic lit up the sky. Though the three sages were giving it their all, it wasn’t enough to give Millium enough time to focus on charging his attack, and there was still the problem of getting Alhama’at to hold still.
+“Grusbalesta, Zero, Lumia. I’m going to give Millium the space he needs. When the time comes, you three strike Alhama’at with him as hard as you can.” Kaguya said rather suddenly.
+“How exactly are you planning on doing that, Lady Kaguya?” Grusbalesta asked.
+“The Door of Time.”
+“But Lady Kaguya, that’s!” Grusbalesta’s protests were ignored, or rather, they had stopped completely. Everything had. Kaguya had released the spell before anyone else could. It was a powerful chant she had memorized long ago in her previous life. A forbidden technique that put immense strain on the user’s body and created a temporary temporal imbalance, slowing the flow of time for all except the user for a brief moment. A powerful weapon to be sure, But the imbalances it created in time were dangerous. She was only going to be able to use this technique once.
+Soaring into the air again clapped her hands together and summoned forth every treasury item she could, surrounding the Alhama’at dragon in a 360 degree ring.
+“Die, monster.” She spat, and focused every bit of magic she could muster through the treasury items. The Door of Time wouldn’t last much longer, and she needed every bit of time it was going to afford her to charge her attack. Kaguya felt the weight of her spells tearing at her body as she pushed beyond her normal limits.
+“For auntie...” She repeated over and over.
+The flow of time snapped back to normal just as a massive ray of magic burst forth in a ring around the enormous dark dragon.
+“Millium! Now!” Lumia screamed as she, Zero and Grusbalesta leaped to strike in tandem with the saintly dragon. Needing no further instruction Millium let out a furious howl and a glimmering white bolt lanced forth from the dragon’s maw.
+For a moment the world seemed auspisciously quiet as the attack connected with its target. A blinding flash erupted as the form of the Alhama’at dragon faded. The Millium dragon too, seemed unable to maintain its form any longer as it landed on the ground just in time to split back into an exhausted Millium and Ryula. Viola seemed to have been disabled in the resulting diffusion, as she laid motionless on the ground. Alhama’at however still stood. His usual robes had been torn to ribbons in the explosion, revealing a set of flexible armor woven tightly around his imposing form. His usual stiff demeanor was gone, replaced by a furious look.
+“You damn fools.” He said, anger still very clear in his booming voice. “You’ve fractured time even further now.”
+“Give it up, Alhama’at!” Almerius called. “You’re outnumbered.”
+“Raaahhh!” Zero wasn’t interested in waiting for any sort of surrender as she sped towards Alhama’at, igniting her magic saber. Alhama’at raised a hand and a streak of white lighting crackled and burst forth from it to strike Zero. Prepared for the attack, Zero managed to parry, slicing the bolt in half with her saber. What she was not ready for was Alhama’at’s own speed. He moved at an impercievable pace, landing a powerful punch into her stomach and taking a few steps back. Zero, clutching the affected area, fell to her knees.
+“Master Zero!” Millium shouted, still somewhat weak and looking after Ryula.
+“Why...why did you kill her?” Zero demanded through gasps of air, looking up at the master of Altea.
+“Ah, the elf? That was indeed regrettable. She was not my intended target. I wanted to remove the girl with the power to damage time ,but she stood in my way.”
+“You mean...me?” Kaguya reasoned.
+“Yes. But now you’ve damaged time again, and made things even more difficult.” The wicked furious expression on Alhama’at’s face only grew worse as he looked to Kaguya.
+“What do you want?” Lumia asked. “If you wanted to conquer us, you could’ve done so easily. Why capture me, why all of this?”
+“I do not want to rule you, I want to help you.” Alhama’at said to the surprise of the others. “Time, destiny. They are words upon a page. We move according to the words. If we are not the ones writing our own words, are we truly living? I want to free us from those pages. But the connection must remain intact until I find a way. You seek to restore the planets destroyed by my brood Lapis, and in doing so will sever the connection of time by rewinding it.”
+“If you...ngh, if you wanted to help us. Why didn’t you try to talk?” Said Millium.
+“I have. Many times. This is only my latest attempt. You have not listened before, so you must be removed.” Alhama’at took a step towards Zero, a long fingered hand outstretched. The others moved to help her, but another powerful bolt of white lightning erupted from Alhama’at’s hand and split into a branches to strike each of them, keeping them at a distance.
+“You’re...ngh...crazy.” Zero gasped.
+“I am the end of this false reality.” Alhama’at grasped Zero’s head and pulled her up such that her eyes met his. “Fear not. The wheel will turn, and we will meet again.” Alhama’at took a deep breath as he again prepared to speak the impossible word that would spell the end of Zero’s life.
+This is it. She thought. This is how I finally die. I’ll finally...At least I’ll be with her again.That was strange. The thought seemed unpleasant to her. She didn’t want to die just yet. Kaguya still needed her, Millium still needed her. Her friends, her world. Everything was still here. She couldn’t afford to die yet.
+As if by instinctual reflex she pulled herself up such that her mouth could reach Alhama’at’s hand. Her mind blank, she bit down hard, a newly grown pair of fangs plunging deep into his aged flesh. There was no blood, his aged body seemed to have run dry of that substance long ago.
+“Agh!” Alhama’at cried and his words resonated within all who heard it. Their stomachs churned at the sudden weight and unevenness of his voice. Alhama’at released Zero and clutched his hand. “You...I remember you now. The castle...”
+Zero had no idea what the monster was talking about. She was not in the mood for listening any longer. The creature standing in front of her clutching its hand wasn’t a man. It was a monster.
+And Zero knew of only one way to deal with monsters.
+Alhama’at sped forward at blinding speed to attack Zero, but suddenly found himself confronted on all sides by the other Sages, as well as Lumia. Growing desperate, he raised his hand to cast another bolt of lightning but found his body suddenly incredibly difficult to move. Gravity magic, he reasoned. Zero, who’s eyes had turned a curiously black color, had cast it. Under normal circumstances he’d be able to break free without issue, but that bite did something, awoke some ancient curse he’d long forgotten about. He was growing weak.
+“Zero, go!” Almerius cried. Zero lunged forward, igniting her saber again, and thrust the magical blade through Alhama’at’s stomach.
+Alhama’at’s body held still for a moment. There was no cry of pain, no air escaped his body. As his final act he mustered the soundless words that pierced Zero’s mind.
+“We will meet again.” With this final words, Alhama’at’s tired, ancient body fell to the earth. Dead.
+The group took a moment to assess the situation and themselves, making sure everyone was alright. Ryula was still unconscious, but breathing, it seemed. Viola too seemed to have survived, having disappeared somewhere during the confrontation.
+As the group gathered together, expressing congratulations and tired embraces, Zero poked at her teeth with a finger. She had sworn they were longer a moment ago. Oh well, a worry for another day. She set it aside as she went to join the others.
+However, their celebration was quickly interrupted by an unpleasant and unfamiliar voice.
+“I’ve been waiting for this.”
+The voice of Lapis called from the direction of Alhama’at’s body.
+“Goodnight, father. Take comfort knowing that your death shall fuel my glorious ascent.” Lapis raised his hand over Alhama’at and quickly began to absorb his power through some strange incantation.
+“Lord Alhama’at!” Rachel shrieked, arriving only moments after Lapis. But she was too late, in a moment, Lapis had absorbed the Altean’s power and made his knowledge his own.
+“You’re too late Rachel. Your master is dead...and so are you. Come, Yggdrasil.” In response to Lapis’ words, great twisted rotting roots ripped through the earth as a horrid mass of bark and leaves began to erupt from the ground. One of the many gnashing vines wrapped itself around Rachel, dragging her, screaming, into the mass of the oozing tree.
+The New Republic published an article about Surry Hill in 2006. I’m reading it. I’m reading it and wondering what the HELL anyone was thinking suggesting Edwina Rogers to head the SCA – let alone actually approving her.
+The piece of land it’s on was originally zoned for nine houses..
+Let me put this crudely. She’s too god damn rich to run an organization such as the Secular Coalition for America. I realize it’s not a left-wing organization or an anti-poverty organization or a socialist organization, but all the same, it is an organization that intends to improve things, that is progressive, that wants and needs to appeal to large numbers of ordinary people as opposed to the richest .01%. It’s not intelligent to put someone that grotesquely over-moneyed in the job of running an organization of that kind. It’s alienating. It’s alienating before you even get to how the Rogerses got so fucking rich..
+You know what? It shouldn’t be possible for unprecedented wealth to be made from the business of politics. Politics shouldn’t be a fucking business – it shouldn’t be for sale. It shouldn’t be corrupt. are people who get rich by screwing over the population.
+.
+And that’s where the people who chose the next Executive Director of the SCA found Edwina Rogers – not just a Republican lobbyist, but a grotesquely rich Republican lobbyist who got rich via Republican lobbying.
+Of course she doesn’t live there any more since the divorce. I guess she was looking for something to do after she no longer had the keys to her husband’s lobbying firm, and it was felt that her rolodex might be useful for SCA. Still, just because she no longer lived in that particular grotesquely extravagant mansion doesn’t make her no longer obscenely wealthy and no longer out of touch. Her days of growing up poor are many long decades behind her.
+I agree with everything you say here. I’d like to avoid losing sight, though, of an even bigger crime: that of the lobbied. These people couldn’t buy politicians if they weren’t for sale. It’s far from clear whether the lobbyists are the cause of an aberration, or whether they’re the effect. Google “milker bill,” for example.
+jesus h christ what a repulsive specimen. . .
+Here’s my thought:
+These organizations always have their hands out for donations… getting donations seems to be their main purpose for existing. They spend very little money on actual activism. They pay 5-6 figure salaries to people who seem to do little or nothing, considering the amount of money we actually see spent. And then they give one of those huge salaries to someone who could fund the organization on her own without breaking a sweat while always and constantly begging for our money to pay their salaries and occasionally rent a billboard for a few weeks.
+I’m totally sticking with my evaluation of national organized secular/atheist/skeptic groups as being an enormous con game, scamming money from ignorant rubes by playing on their egos.
+“Of course she doesn’t live there any more since the divorce.”
+She most certainly does.
+Oh? The Wikipedia page about her needs updating then.
+According to Libby Copeland’s 2013 profile of Edwina Rogers:
+Her ex husband wasn’t merely any Republican strategist, he was Lee Atwater’s protege. Lee Atwater is where he learned his craft. Edwina worked as an aide for reprehensible human being Trent Lott, who aligned himself with neo-Confederates, who equated homosexuality with “alcoholism, kleptomania and sex addiction” and praised Strom Thurmond, saying that “When Strom Thurmond ran for president, we voted for him. We’re proud of it. And if the rest of the country had followed our lead, we wouldn’t have had all these problems over the years, either.” You don’t work for people like that, in the kind of position she was in, if you don’t agree with their values. This is not the kind of person who should have been considered for the SCA position in the first place.
+And look at other aspects of her work history. For instance, the innocuous-sounding phrase “She served … as Vice President of Health Policy for The ERISA Industry Committee in Washington, D.C., where she advocated for the employee benefits and compensation interests of America’s major employers”, which makes it sound like she was doing something about employee benefits. Well she was, namely lobbying against them.
+Or “Rogers served as an Economic Advisor for President George W. Bush at the White House, at the National Economic Council, where she focussed on health and social security policy” which glosses over the fact that this means she was working to try to eliminate or greatly reduce Social Security.
+This is not a nice person.
+BTW, I suspect that the not knowing how many rooms are in the house is an attempt to be folksy and down to earth. I know, that sounds crazy, but I think it is. Folks like that are just so out of touch with the reality most people live in that they really don’t understand how it sounds when they do that. It’s just like when John McCain said he didn’t know how many houses he and his wife owned; I think he actually thought that would be a good answer, and was probably surprised when it turned out to be something that hurt him.
+We were saying all this back in 2012, when she was appointed and we were thoroughly dismayed. Greta interviewed her then, and her answers were not believable.
+I can’t say that I’m at all surprised.
+I think you’re right, anthrosciguy. I think the idea is that materialistic people obsess and brag about such things; humble people are too busy working to obsess about the details of their manses. An “aw, shucks; these ol’ rags?” kinda thing.
+PZ, I know, and I was saying some of it myself, but a little bit tentatively. trying to separate my preferences from claims about how bad she would actually be…But I didn’t know this shit. If I’d known this shit I would have been way less tentative.
+Sorry about the half post.
+No prob, it’s gone.
+FWIW, I never remember the total number of rooms in my very ordinary inner-city house (I have to do a finger count, and wonder whether the L-shaped living/dining counts as one room or two). I would never forget that we have 4 bedrooms and 2.5 bathrooms though, and would be utterly amazed if Rogers really didn’t know how many bedrooms and bathrooms were in that house.
+I didn’t pay any attention when she was first mentioned, because I don’t do organizations like SCA. But dang if this isn’t far twistedly worse than my lowest expectations. [long string of Yosemite Sam noises]
+People like her are useful not just for their own pockets, but for their rolodex of people who owe them favors. If the SCA wanted to get a lot of money fast, this was definitely the way to do it. I think they just didn’t realize that they can’t take that route and also still have credibility asking those of us who are at the other end of the scale to donate money too, with the “we really really need your donation” chant.
+anthrosciguy @8
+This reminds me of an ex-friend, now I suppose and ex-acquaintance. Met him 20 years ago, we were all just out of college and he was dating a good friend I’d graduated with. At the time we were all working various shit level government jobs, he was an aid for a state representative. We’d hang out at cookouts and happy hour and he seemed OK. About the time he married my friend he began working for a lobbyist organization, but he would not refer to them as lobbyists, but they would take money from special interest groups and work to get legislation passed “behind the scenes”. It was always interesting to hear who he was working for, sometimes switching sides between elections.
+During 2004 he was doing all kinds of work for G W Bush’s reelection and during a night of drinking some of us confronted him. Nothing major, just questions, like how could you support this asshole. His response was that to him politics were “like sports”, you pick a team a root for them to win, of course his team was paying him a shit ton of money, but he assured us “it’s nothing personal”. I was too flummoxed at the time to say anything, but on they way home I had that thought, “this is not a nice person”. You can’t support the war crimes, lies, surveillance, ineptitude and everything else as rooting for a team, these actions affect real people negatively. He saw it as a paycheck *shrug* and what he is supporting is causing pain. He would never identify himself with a party, just whoever paid him, but often said he leaned libertarian.
+Since then he has taken over a lobbying firm, but don’t call them lobbyists, and is raking in crazy cash.Helping to get casinos legal in the state cemented him and his bank account. I’ve seen him maybe 3 times the last 5 years all at events where I wanted to see my old friend. All high class parties with top shelf booze and food and I didn’t have to pay for a thing. I still felt guilty sucking it up knowing what he supports. I don’t know how people like this sleep at night, do they really believe it’s just a game? I guess leaning libertarian helps . . .
+tigtog @14:
+Edwina Rodgers literally couldn’t do a finger count, or even a finger and toe count without borrowing at least one and maybe two other people’s extremities. If she could have done a finger count she would have. She didn’t because she knew the answer would not be a good one.
+She probably doesn’t know how many rooms because she counts in the number of dignitaries (and their retinues) she can host at a time. And pays other people to work out the details.
+“Out of touch with most people’s reality” seems to be an understatement. Really, normal people know quote well how many rooms they have. The know how many squre metres/feet/whatever they have. Having so many you can’t count them means you have damn well too many unless we’re talking about rice grains or peas.
++++
+Well, seems like the only values such people have are dollar bills
+Improbable Joe @4:
+I agree. These organizations consist of rich people, by rich people, and for rich people.
+I recently ran across something non-political on FB trying to drum support for what I would consider a good cause. I’d actually be tempted to kick in a little for the crowdfunding they are trying to get to support it, but then I look at the list of celebrity sponsors, and I think each of them could single handedly support this thing, and not even notice the missing money, yet here they are, trying to get me to kick in to get this project off the ground.
+It’s the same with politics, but uglier, and more self serving.
+computers for students
+Curation Policy
+Some satellites fixed with computers are sent into space to study weather, locate minerals in the earth's crust and so on. Apple’s laptops aren’t just expensive for no reason, though. If you need CPU power you can haul across campus, this is it. There can still be varying sizes within those categories—for example, the XPS 13’s smaller bezels make it much smaller than most 13-inch laptops—and sizes in between, like the 14-inch Lenovo Yoga C930. HALIFAX -- Nova Scotia has it will spend $21.5 million to purchase computers for students and upgrade technology at schools across the province. You’ll also want to consider how many USB ports the laptop has, whether you need HDMI and Ethernet, and how comfortable the keyboard and trackpad are to use—this can vary quite a bit from model to model, and it’s important to get something responsive and durable. If you are on a tight budget, then you may be considering a refurbished and/or secondhand laptop. Get smarter about what you're buying. It also boasts features that promote creativity such as the touchpad with multi-gesture support. SSD’s come in smaller sizes. As in this guide we will provide you with the perfect starting point, and highlight what is and isn’t important when choosing the best student computer. There are two storage options you must consider. > Notebook / Laptop Reviews and News > Reviews > Archive of our own reviews > The Best Notebooks for School-Aged Kids and College Students Florian Schmitt, 2017-07-13 (Update: 2020-11- 9) These two do pretty much the same thing, but in very different way. Storage can be expensive, though, so if you can’t afford a 256GB solid-state drive, consider buying a laptop with an SD card slot and using a high-capacity card for cheap, expandable storage. The processor’s cache should be at least 1MB for average requirements, but for extreme uses and those of you who run larger or more powerful programs, aim for the largest cache you can afford. Performance: The CPU, graphics chip, RAM, and storage inside your PC determine how well your computer can multitask, handle intensive tasks like gaming, and store all your files. It is nearly impossible to succeed in college classes without a computer. That said, a screen that’s too bright is a good problem to have. A HDD is the older version of the two storage options, and you will find them in mostly lower end devices or accompanying an SSD if purchasing a desktop computer. The Dell Latitude 2-in-1 touchscreen is literally one of the best affordable laptop choices a student can have. Individual computers in the classroom often increase a student’s engagement level in the activity, lesson or assignment. We help you get it right – with advice on the ideal laptops for gaming, work, social and casual use, full spec details to compare laptops & our easy to use laptop buying guide. The Intel Core i7-10710U processor inside our review unit is based on the Comet Lake generation. 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For high school, college and university students, owning a reliable laptop can make the difference between a passing grade and being doomed to repeat a … As a student or staff member purchasing your device under The National Desktop and Notebook Agreement, you can benefit from a significantly enhanced … Purchases you make through our links may earn us a commission. 4GB of RAM is usable in a Chromebook, though even web browsing can eat up RAM these days, so 8GB is recommended if you tend to open lots of tabs, use lots of browser extensions, and want a laptop that’ll last you well into the future—I wouldn’t generally advise 4GB for most Windows users these days. With these pointers, you should now be able to quickly determine exactly what you require from a computer, and have a great launching point to start from for your search. Even so, it is by no means a fragile butterfly. 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What you lose in processing power, you make up for with one of the best trackpads on the market and an absolutely gorgeous high-resolution Retina display. It has chiclet style keys, a mostly plastic body, and a raft of ports including a full-size HDMI, USB-C, three USB ports, and an honest-to-goodness Ethernet port. If you need a school day’s worth of battery, a powerful processor, and a laptop that can handle occasional gaming, you may think you need to spend top dollar. For intense tasks like running specialty programs and gaming, you will need a discrete, standalone GPU. Will you be storing your files on the cloud? At 5.5 pounds, our top pick is the Acer Aspire VX 15 at Amazon, which costs $2,000 but boasts a quad-core Kaby Lake 2.8GHz Core i7 processor. 13 inches and under: These smaller laptops are great for carrying around, and more than suitable for light work like writing papers and browsing the web. With its aluminum finish and chrome trim, the C434T looks and feels like a premium product (minus the premium price tag). A computer helps children focus on the project at hand and can be a vital tool for maintaining a student’s interest in the topic learned. What sort of games do you play? Archisoup is reader-supported. We think the iPad Air, with its 10.9in display, modern design, light weight (at 458g or 1.0lb), great cameras and powerful processor - is a good choice for students. Many students are genuinely interested in modern technology and will naturally engage and participate simply because computers are in use. Available in 1.0, 1.8, 2.5 inches. One might want a simple word processor that can also stream Netflix, while another may need a powerhouse for design and engineering. We did, however, find better battery life in some Ryzen-based Windows laptops in the same price range (the Asus Zenbook 14 and the HP Envy x360 13t both made it past the 8 hour 15 minutes mark). Windows computers can also do this, but you will need to download and use specific apps. However, this is also what makes it hard to find what you really want. That answer is the subject of an age-old debate that we wouldn’t want to get into here. ), it is likely that you will not be able to afford a high-end computer. If you’re looking for a stylish ultrabook that delivers an insane amount of processing power, look no further than the Dell XPS 13. Laptops come in all shapes and sizes. Shop the official Dell UK store. We use standardized and scientific testing methods to scrutinize every product and provide you with objectively accurate results. Newspaper advice column with 3 problems about computers Students read and then discuss or write about possible solutions Level: Intermediate to Advanced Approximate … We also use each laptop for an extended period of time, rating each on factors like build quality, price, portability, and design. You also get 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, though, which hits our recommended specs in that arena, and battery life was a respectable seven and a half hours. The graphics card you have installed on your device will heavily impact your device’s performance, and is also what determines the overall visual experience. When we tested the Ideapad 3’s battery life in our labs, the laptop only lasted four hours. If you’re looking to play fast, intense games on it, then you’ll have no trouble running anything at high frame rates from the Google Play Store. Tutorials, Guides & Tools for Architecture Students & Young Architects. If you’re a young professional, you should definitely check out the Asus Chromebook Flip. When it comes to storage options, you need to think about your overall needs and requirements. David Laibson, an economics professor at Harvard University who specializes in behavioral economics, explainshow the present bias works: students often come to class with the best i… Laptops or note books are mobile computers that weigh around 2 kilos and are quite sturdy. This ASUS Laptop is a really well-rounded PC with plenty of power for student uses, truly for value, the best laptop for teens. Most students have very limited cash flow, and unless you can get help from elsewhere (parents!?! Another great feature of desktops is the fact that they are customizable. Intel and AMD are the most common manufacturers of processors. The CB715 did well in our tests, powering through benchmarks despite the older 8th-gen Intel Core i3 processor. If you want a machine for your everyday load, where you just want something that will be a pleasure to write, watch, read, and play on, the Flex 5 shines. This feature is essential especially if you want to future-proof your machine. Similarly, the XPS 13 2-in-1 and Yoga C940 are great 2-in-1 laptops for college students. The machine was more than fast enough for basic tasks, though the battery lasted less than seven hours in our browsing test and the screen was fine, at best. In an … An affordable suite of powerful tools built for educators and students, Office 365 is accessible from your favorite devices. Chrome, Mac or Windows, there are options here to help you with remote learning and beyond. Students who take notes on computers are often distracted by other activities they can easily engage in through their computers, such as surfing on the internet or using social media (e.g. 3. For example, there are Linux computers and computers that run on Google’s Chrome OS. But the larger display is useful for photo editing and watching videos. There is little reason to get the cheaper of the two choices, but the pricier 10th gen models are extremely fast, power efficient, come with 4 thunderbolt ports, and are generally a great improvement over the 2019 models. Although most laptops today can be easily readjusted to suit the lighting conditions they are being used in. All rights reserved. So, you'll need a PC that can stream movies, do basic photo editing, is suitable for studying for school and college students and one that mum and dad can use for the household accounts and maybe that part-time business. With this, you’ll always have it with you, and that’s rare on any laptop, let alone one well under a grand. Equip your students for success today and tomorrow When you use Office 365 Education in the classroom, your students learn a suite of … Computers 4 Students work closely with schools and other organizations to make certain that computers go to students who need them. Do you make YouTube videos? When choosing your GPU, it is important to know what kind of programs and tasks you will be running. Access to the HP Student Store expires when you finish your studies. The time will come when computers will help him set up colonies in outer spaces. However, if you are buying a desktop PC, go for the biggest, richest display you can afford. For browsing the web and using office software, lower-power chips like Intel’s i3 and i5 are more than adequate. Learn more. The XPS lineup has had some of the best built-in keyboards and trackpads for years now, and this XPS 13 continues that tradition. We use popular benchmarks like Geekbench and 3DMark to gauge how well the laptop multitasks, runs games, and more. deals, and helpful advice delivered to your inbox. Sign up for our newsletter to get real advice from real experts. With 8GB of RAM and an Intel Core M5-8500Y, the Pixelbook Go packs more power than most people would ever need of their Chromebooks. Most laptops have a battery life of at least 8 to 9 hours, and come with an accompanying charger for the battery. No matter who you are, I recommend erring on the side of more storage rather than less—people often underestimate how much space they’ll fill up with all their music, photos, and videos over time, and it’s a hassle to lug an external drive around. One aspect where the Zenbook 14 far surpasses its predecessor is in performance, arguably the aspect that most affects your experience with a laptop. Here are some of the best laptops … It was a hair slower than our top pick in some tests, a hair faster in others, and it offers the same 8+ hour battery life. The 13-inch Macbook Pro comes in two major configurations: one with last-gen Intel processors and one with 10th gen Intel processors. Therefore, if you plan on carrying your laptop often, get a laptop with 12 to 15 inches of screen. Everyday files are gradually getting larger with increased features and graphics, and so go for the largest amount of storage space available.
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+110+ World Sleep Day Instagram Captions & Quotes  110+ Instagram caption ideas for your World Sleep Day. Additionally, we walk you through the 5 easy-to-follow tips on how to create a great Instagram caption.
+Here they are:
+Cute World Sleep Day Instagram Captions
+- Always kiss your children goodnight, even if they are already asleep.
+- Proper Food and Proper Sleep lead to Prosperous Life.
+- Sleep is my lover now, my forgetting, my opiate, my oblivion.
+- I love you, in that place between coffee and sleep.
+- Sometimes, ten minutes of sleep is equal to a power-packed energy booster.
+- There is a time for many words, and there is also a time for sleep.
+- A day without a nap is like a cupcake without frosting.
+- Some people can’t sleep because they have insomnia. I can’t sleep because I have internet.
+- I think sleeping was my problem in school. If the school had started at four in the afternoon, I’d be a college graduate today.
+- I wish I could sleep the entire day but then the food comes into my mind and I get up. So much for food!
+- We are such stuff as dreams are made on.
+- When I’m at work I can fall asleep instantly, but when I’m in my bed I can hardly fall asleep.
+- Man is a genius when he is dreaming.
+- When the going gets tough, the tough take a nap.
+- Happiness consists of getting enough sleep. Just that, nothing more.
+- The only thing worth stealing is a kiss from a sleeping child.
+- A well-spent day brings happy sleep.
+- Why can I never go back to bed? Whose is the voice ringing in my head? Where is the sense in these desperate dreams? Why should I wake when I’m half past dead?
+- I love sleep. My life has the tendency to fall apart when I’m awake, you know?
+- Now cracks a noble heart. Good-night, sweet prince; And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.
+- Insomnia is a glamorous term for thoughts you forgot to have in the day.
+- Your future depends on your dreams, so go to sleep.
+- If you’re going to do something tonight that you’ll be sorry for tomorrow morning, sleep late.
+- A ruffled mind makes a restless pillow.
+- Sleep is not on good terms with broken hearts. It will have nothing to do with them.
+- You miss 100% of the naps you don’t take.
+Short World Sleep Day Instagram Captions
+- I walked with you, once upon a dream.
+- I want to sleep but my brain won’t stop talking to itself.
+- There is no sunrise so beautiful that it is worth waking me up to see it.
+- Three meals plus bedtime make four sure blessings each day.
+- Little boys should never be put to sleep. They always wake up a day older.
+- No civilized person goes to bed the same day he gets up.
+- No day is so bad it can’t be fixed with a nap.
+- Dear sleep, I’m sorry we broke up this morning. I want you back!
+- To sleep moderately is not lazy, to sleep extra is lazy. And maybe, I define lazy.
+- Ask me to sleep and in five minutes you’ll find yourself talking to my sleepy figure.
+- You can go to bed without fear; you will lie down and sleep soundly.
+- The only time I have problems is when I sleep.
+- Dreaming permits each and every one of us to be quietly and safely insane every night of our lives.
+- Sleep is the most innocent creature there is and a sleepless man the most guilty.
+- Goodnight, may you fall asleep in the arms of a dream, so beautiful, you’ll cry when you awake.
+- Dreams are too attached to me. They never leave me even in the daytime.
+- True silence is the rest of the mind and is to the spirit what sleep is to the body, nourishment, and refreshment.
+- Don’t give up on your dreams so soon, sleep longer.
+- There are hard days in motherhood, but looking at your baby sleeping reminds you why it’s all worth it.
+- When you lie down, you will not be afraid. Your sleep will be sweet.
+- People who say they sleep like a baby usually don’t have one.
+- My mother told me to follow my dreams, so I took a nap.
+- Babies smile in their sleep because they are listening to the whispers of angels.
+- I tried counting sheep so I can fall asleep but that got boring, so I started talking to the shepherd instead.
+- Good night, sleep tight. Now the sun turns out his light.
+- There is more refreshment and stimulation in a nap, even of the briefest, than in all the alcohol ever distilled.
+- Not being able to sleep is terrible. You have the misery of having partied all night, without the satisfaction.
+- Don’t fight with the pillow, but lay down your head, and kick every worriment out of the bed.
+- The worst thing in the world is to try to sleep and not to.
+- Happiness is a sleeping baby.
+- In dreams, we enter a world that’s entirely our own. Let them swim in the deepest ocean or glide over the highest cloud.
+- Sleep, baby, sleep. The father’s watching the sheep. Thy mother’s shaking the dreamland tree, and down drops a little dream for thee.
+- Yea, all things live forever, though at times they sleep and are forgotten.
+- Having my baby fall asleep in my arms takes away all of my worries and stresses. A sense of complete and total peace comes over me.
+- No wonder Sleeping Beauty looked so good she took long naps, never got old, and didn’t have to do anything but snore to get her Prince Charming.
+- Your eyes water when you yawn because you miss your bed and it makes you sad.
+- The best bridge between despair and hope is a good night’s sleep.
+Cool World Sleep Day Instagram Captions
+- If you can’t sleep, then get up and do something instead of lying there worrying. It’s the worry that gets you, not the lack of sleep.
+- The nicest thing for me is sleep. Then at least I can dream.
+- Anything seems possible at night when the rest of the world has gone to sleep.
+- Who said nights were for sleep?
+- A dream is a wish your heart makes when you’re fast asleep.
+- When you wake up with a song stuck in your head, it means an angel sang you to sleep.
+- I think it is good that books still exist, but they do make me sleepy.
+- There was never a child so lovely but his mother was glad to get him to sleep.
+- Without enough sleep, we all become tall two-year-olds.
+- Happiness is waking up, looking at the clock, and finding that you still have two hours left to sleep.
+- Many things, such as loving, going to sleep, or behaving unaffectedly, are done worst when we try hardest to do them.
+- I love to sleep. Do you? Isn’t it great? It really is the best of both worlds. You get to be alive and unconscious.
+- When my baby is sleeping that’s when I think, Wow I made that.
+- The last refuge of the insomniac is a sense of superiority to the sleeping world.
+- A good laugh and a long sleep are the best cures in the doctor’s book.
+- Sleep is the golden chain that ties health and our bodies together.
+- I already want to take a nap tomorrow.
+- Man should forget his anger before he lies down to sleep.
+- Sleep comes naturally to those who did their best the entire day.
+- Laugh and the world laughs with you, snore and you sleep alone.
+- Let her sleep, for when she wakes, she will shake the world.
+- Early to rise, early to bed, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and dead.
+- Before you sleep, read something that is exquisite, and worth remembering.
+- Each night, when I go to sleep, I die. And the next morning, when I wake up, I’m reborn.
+- I’m so good at sleeping that I can do it with my eyes closed.
+- Sleep is the best meditation.
+- Ask the value of ten minutes to a snooze expert.
+- Sleep is like a cat: It only comes to you if you ignore it.
+Funny World Sleep Day Instagram Captions
+- Snoring is an art. Please don’t criticize it.
+- If a man had as many ideas during the day as he does when he has insomnia, he’d make a fortune.
+- Your brain never wants to sleep; all it wants to do is examine every decision you ever made.
+- I always say ‘morning’ instead of ‘good morning,’ because if it was a good morning, I’d still be asleep.
+- I stayed up all night trying to remember the word for staying up all night, oh yea, insomnia.
+- Mother’s arms are made of tenderness, and sweet sleep blesses the child who lies within.
+- Never go to bed mad. Stay up and fight.
+- If they call it “beauty sleep,” how come you look like a monster when you wake up?
+- Watching a baby sleeping is perhaps the only thing more comfortable than sleep itself.
+- What is my dream job? A professional subject for sleep studies.
+- I am so good at sleeping; I can do it with my eyes closed.
+- Legend says that when you can’t sleep, it’s because you’re awake in someone’s dream.
+- You’re my favorite reason to lose sleep.
+- Lack of sleep has left me permanently exhausted. What day is it?
+- People told me to follow my dreams. So, I did; I went back to bed.
+- I once got arrested for jaywalking in my sleep.
+- I don’t need a hairstylist, my pillow gives me a new hairstyle every morning.
+- Today is National Sleep Day, don’t forget to bring your pillow to work.
+- My husband snores so hard; he sucks the curtains in his nostrils.
+- Even a soul submerged in sleep is hard at work and helps make something of the world.
+- I don’t feel old. I don’t feel anything till noon. That’s when it’s time for my nap.<<
+University of Chicago law professor Geoffrey Stone recently,.
+Steve Bainbridge is a TCS Daily Contributing Editor and a Professor of Law at UCLA. He writes two popular blogs: ProfessorBainbridge.com and ProfessorBainbridgeOnWine.com.
+commune-ing
+Those liberals, aka communitarians, socialist, secular progressives and all the other akas they have like to think of people as a herd of sheep, and the liberal coercive predatory government as the shepard. They deny the basic difference between people and animals, ie that people all have an individual mind with rationality etc. Since it's individuals, not groups that keep striving to do what they want, it's better to go to the side of more freedom. That's why I like austro-libertariansim.
+A sense of common purpose
+Bainbridge puts his finger on the extreme libertarian strain of conservatism-- it's every man for himself and screw the other guy. But I think the country was actually founded on the strengths that come from becoming a people, and forming a strong common purpose.
+The Founding Fathers would be spinning in their graves to see how we had hollowed out the national treasury, so that all it contained was eight billion IOU's. And they would not recognize a government so centered on enshrining privilege at the expense of the common wealth as being one descended from their own.
+They would not call a democracy a government designed around the enrichment and entrenchment of two political parties. They would call it by its right name: an oligopoly.
+And they would instantly recognize people who pointed to the community chest and called it a communist invention for what they really are: thieves desirous of the contents.
+A pack of such knaves bent on bringing down our way of life can only be stopped by an organized community. As I believe Patrick Henry once said, we must all hang together-- or assuredly we will hang separately.
+All abstract theory, no historical or political detail
+I mean, this kind of argumentation is close to meaningless, It doesn't engage any real decisions, it doesn't quote any real people, it's just Bainbridge arguing with an elaborate straw man and all the real issues get lost in the rhetorical fog.
+for example; the Gettysburg Address sounds pretty darn communitarian with all the 'we' stuff. Was Lincoln one of those nasty commitarian? If not, why not?
+Examples Please
+"...government so centered on enshrining privilege at the expense of the common wealth..."
+"...people who pointed to the community chest and called it a communist invention..."
+Examples
+An example of a "...government so centered on enshrining).
+An example of those "...people who pointed to the community chest and called it a communist invention..." would include nearly every one of my kibitzers here on the Forum. The extreme wing of the libertarian persuasion gets absolutely vehement at the idea that our government should administer any form of social insurance. While at the same time preferring a form of economic growth that does away with any sort of job security for the wage earner. It's a formula (IMO) for class instability and political strife.
+In a decent and stable society, assurances are created that will satisfy both classes of stakeholders in America's strength-- the holders of investment income and the people who do the actual work.
+This is true, except that most "conservatives" are not really on the right
+The biggest problem plaguing the right on these issues, IMO, is that the right is negatively united. We're united by what we dislike, not what we like. This has had a profound impact on conservatives and populists who define themselves more often against something than for something else.
+Memo to liberals…
+There is no such thing as “social insurance” or “job security” and “class instability” is a good thing.
+If someone/thing is powerful enough to give, it is powerful enough to take away.
+You may be powerful enough to give me a job, but then you could always take it back. I would have to meet your requirements for keeping that job or lose it. If you treated me unfairly, I would be free to take my knowledge/skill and give it to another. I could also become a job giver myself.
+But in today’s Liberal Monopoly Game I can go instead to the ‘social insurance’ company for a get-out-of-labor-free card from the ‘community chest’.
+But just as the Monopoly game manufacturers would have no game unless there were people paying money to keep it in play, the government would have no community chest if there weren’t people laboring to keep cards flowing to the ‘job security’ game players. Too many reaching for the no-work option and you have no government and/or no community chest. Not very secure, n’est pas?
+And who wants ‘class stability’? I was born into a family poor enough to be shoeless without choice in good weather. But I’m banging away on a piece of machinery so awesome that I can talk/listen to the whole world while enjoying the comfort of climate control and plenty of victuals just footsteps away. Should I have stayed hungry and uncomfortable so everything would be nice and steady?
+Too true.
+This reflects a fear perspective which in turn reflects weakness (the fear of being overwhelmed). The only way this promotes cohesion is in war since the material consideration of being overwhelmed by an enemy force bands all individuals together for the strength to repel invaders. This is totally inappropriate in peacetime (and why every government effort is cloaked in war terminology... war on poverty, for example).
+A Good Community Only Needs One Law
+"Conservatives believe that the state cannot build such a citizenry, because the state cannot make people virtuous. Virtue is an adaptive response to the instinctive human recognition of (and need for) a transcendent moral order codified in a body of natural law."
+Natural law is not an exclusively conservative or liberal trait, it is a trait of every decent human that most conservatives and liberals should agree with. Natural law can be summarized best as "Never harm another for benefit or pleasure and only expect the same as others". It is the responsibility of government to enforce this one law.
+Social services, while sometimes beneficial if properly funded and implemented, are just gravy.
+The communitarian trait becomes a problem when any community 'circles the wagons' to protect a member or members that hurt others. This may help the individual but it ends up hurting the entire community.
+The government's primary responsibility is to protect individuals from others who would harm them and to then prevent that criminal from harming others in the future (Law and Order). Government provided social services should be available to help someone get back on their feet but not to carry them.
+Thanx,
+Kevin
+communitarian
+Like when people tell us that we must outlaw drugs because people who misuse them are not able to properly perform their roll in society.
+what roy doesn't understand, he insults, and there is apparently nothing that roy understands
+In roy's liberal world, either you want big nanny govt, or you believe that it's every man for himself.
+Like most liberals, roy can't conceive of any other possibility.
+Kind of like stephen declaring that unless you are an atheist, then you believe in creationism.
+translaton
+eric can't refute it, so he's just going to throw insults.
+social services
+"Government provided social services should be available to help someone get back on their feet but not to carry them."
+Since private agencies can provide such services more effectively and at less cost, why should we rely on govt?
+translation
+nothing at all to say, as always.
+Lincoln
+Lincoln was a vicious tyrant; one responsible for the commencement of the destruction of the founders' republican dream. The republic itself was in essence the political manifestation of states rights---the notion that the central government existed as a creation of the states and not vice versa. Lincoln turned that idea on its head.
+From his destruction, via the War Between the States, of state sovereingty the centralization and consolidation of power in the federal government has led to a US that is little less than a fascist-like administrative tyranny.
+So, yes Lincoln was as nasty as hell.
+The man's article was incisive and surgical...
+Self-governance at the individual, family and "real community level" is what makes me behave in socially approved activities -- cut the lawn, set up the "winterizer on the water heater, etc. today. I don't do it because the national community insists that i do...but because it is all in my own self interest (both economic and social)
+The point is that I feel responsibility to myself, family and community, not the much vaunted "international community", national family or whatever the statists want to describe as this communality "thing".
+"communality" as statisticians and mathmaticians have described is a function of independent variables measured in n-dimensional space. Factor analysis, discriminant fucnction analysis and the other multivariate models simply demonstrate mathematical proximity (distance). The models do not demonstrate or even approximate "homogeneity" which is the basic criterion for a community.
+I behave in socially appropriate ways as a "member" of a real entity, not some anomolous "communitarian" principle.
+And no, you can't use my car with out my permission, because you "just need the car" (and i don't intend to debate it with you) -- but i do have a legally registered handgun (so, you see "regulatory authorities" do have a place. Unregulated "feelings" and "wants" (gimme your car 'cause i NEED it" do not have sanctioned regulations
+Ah yes, I'd forgotten. Lincoln was a tyrant
+and the institution of human beings as chattal property was the fulfillment of the Founders republican dream. Sure.
+my nothing to say, counteracts your nothing to say.
+...
+Lincoln wrote
+that if he could preserve the Union while at the same time preserving slavery, he would.
+Yes, I'd forgotten, Lincoln was incompetent
+Terrible, that he had to free those slaves. Awful, awful, awful. A better president would have found a way.
+Since you have nothing to say or to argue
+why not shut up?)."
+Would that our federal tax system were merely two-tiered. However, we have multiple income tax rates, including negative rates and zero rates.
+Employees who pay income taxes pay at graduated rates; but, many employees (about half of taxpayers, pay no income tax at all). Employees pay half of the payroll taxes for Social Security and Medicare; employers pay the rest.
+Most of those whose income derives from investments are retired people who have paid payroll taxes their entire lives and are now receiving benefits, plus earning dividends and interest on the after-tax money they saved while they were working.
+The federal government constantly complains about the low savings rate in the US economy; however, unlike you, they are not complaining because the low savings rate results only in the collection of taxes at reduced rates.
+No such thing as social insurance?
+Actually there is. If you're old and sick, and unable to pay, there's the Medicare that you put money into back during your working years.
+And if you get laid off, there's the unemployment insurance you paid into when you were working.
+I happen to think those prograqms are good things. What I don't want is to have someone wreck them and use up all the money we've put aside in order to conduct wasteful and idiotic wars of aggression.
+"You may be powerful enough to give me a job, but then you could always take it back. I would have to meet your requirements for keeping that job or lose it."
+In fact I've employed quite a few people over the years. And any one of them could lose their job if they stopped meeting their requirements. In fact I could have lost my own job if there was cause. But that's not what I'm talking about. In a globalized economy no one's job is safe from being moved to a low wage country. So we do have an ongoing need for some forms of social insurance.
+And I think it's only right that the people who prosper from moving those jobs south should pay into the benefits their displaced workers need and deserve.
+It sounds like what you're against is insurance itself. We pay into the chest when we can, and receive benefits from it when we must. What's the problem with that?
+Finally, I think you misunderstand my meaning when I say that current government policies promote class instability. What I meant by the word was class warfare. I was trying to put it nicely.
+Certainly Not Incompetent
+But surely single-minded to the point of being ruthless. Portrayed as a fool, he was not a man to be trifled with, whatever you think of his policiees.
+I would rather like to see a president today, do what Lincoln did when Roger Tanney objected to the suspension of Habeus Corpus. He thanked him for his opinion, informed him that he had a duty to see that the War was successfully prosecuted and informed the esteemed Jurist that if he did anything to prevent the successful prosecution of the War, he'd have him arrested.
+Dear SCOTUS, buzz off!
+Perspective
+During the War of 1812 the Southern states championed the power of the Federal gov. and the New England states argued for state's rights and threatened to secede. The dispute wasn't really about some abstract notion of the division of power in the Republic.
+Big wars tend to empower gov. and they also lead to unanticipated consequences (usually very bad ones). Look at the US Civil War and and the two world wars. The gov. assumed new powers, expanded into new areas and perhaps taught people to repect and trust the Federal gov. more.
+Lincoln was a very polarizing figure who took extreme measures to win the war his election brought about. He won the war, so he is regarded as a hero and a great president (except by some sore losers). Machiavelli would approve.
+Insurance
+"I happen to think those prograqms are good things. What I don't want is to have someone wreck them and use up all the money we've put aside in order to conduct wasteful and idiotic wars of aggression."
+Insurance is an invesment program. Premiums are paid and INVESTED. If the insurance company did their homework, they will make more money than they pay out.
+Social security and medicare are NOT investmets. The money paid in is immediately spent on something.
+If they were real insurance programs, the government could not steal the money.
+I am for more liberty and more money.
+Is that so hard?
+Must punish all for the mis-deeds of a few.
+That's the tolerant way.
+Mus'nt make any ONE feel bad. Share the pain.
+The true communist path.
+Any laws against loudly breaking wind in public?
+How many people do it?
+Public ridicule and customs are powerful.
+Far from my point
+So are you saying that what you got from my comment was that I would feel entitled to borrow your car if I thought I needed it?
+I was talking about insurance. How much community does one have to feel with those who have the same insurance policy you do? I get the feeling you are feigning a credulous stance.
+in roy's world
+it ok to take someone's money, without their permision, because you need it.
+but it's not ok to take their car, without their permision, because you need it.
+Since yo have nothing to say or to argue
+why not shut up?
+as usual, eric not only can't read what was written
+but he also assumes that because he doesn't understand something, the other person must be evil.
+You praised Lincoln.
+I showed where Lincoln did not believe what you said he believed.
+From that, you conclude I'm a racist.
+Preferential tax rates
+"Would that our federal tax system were merely two-tiered. However, we have multiple income tax rates, including negative rates and zero rates."
+But more to the point, earned income is taxed at rates like 25% and 28%, while unearned income is untaxed, or taxed at rates like 10% or 15%.
+And these preferential rates for capital gains and for dividends were certainly not enacted to benefit those retirees who scrimped and saved to buy a few thousand dollars' worth of mutual funds. They were enacted for the benefit of those individuals making over $200K per year-- the people who contribute to political campaigns.
+ 70% of the tax gains realized by the new investment tax cuts went to only the top two percent of income earners.
+Also, it may please you to think that employees only pay half the payroll tax while their employers pay the other. But of course the taxes are paid out of the total compensation package employers offer their workers. So I would note that everyone pays not 7.65% but 15.3% of their income up to the wage base limit ($90K) for the SS portion. Those of us who are self employed, as I was, get off a bit easier. They only pay 15.3% of their income.
+So I am invested in the system-- in a way that those earning more than $90K are not. And I will not stand by to see my savings and health plans dismantled by avaricious zealots.
+I can't really address the final part of your comment ("The federal government constantly complains about the low savings rate in the US economy; however, unlike you, they are not complaining because the low savings rate results only in the collection of taxes at reduced rates.") It has nothing to do with anything I've said. We have a low savings rate for the reason that wage earners feel strapped, and credit is abundantly being offered to them. So they succumb, and live beyond their means just like Uncle Sam does.
+read Lincoln's writing...
+and you will find that he cared nothing for blacks. In fact, having his way would have meant deporting them all to Africa.
+Read DiLorenzo's Lincoln Unmasked. You'll be surprised what you can learn.
+Bainbridge describes Roy to a T
+A nation that ignores individual liberties to the whims of knaves who are bent on a greater good (Heard that before) and will stop at nothing to get it (seen that) should start alarm bells ringing. Indeed the founding fathers would be spining in their graves to see socialists ignorning the Constitution to redistribute welath not based on effort, talent or merit but according to their particular psychosis.
+The would call a government based on the redistyribution of wealth and the use of bureaucracy and the judiciary to cirumvent the legislature and the will of the people a tyrannry, and a socialist one at that. They would blanch at the secular Left's bid to exile God from the public arena. They would revolt at the government's actions as an agent of cohersion but they would recognize it as the government that they had revlted against. Read the Declaration to see what our government does today and ask yourself does our government not do this today that was rejected then?
+The Founding Fathers would recognize those who seek to stop progress and steal the wealth of the industrious. They recognize the sunshine patriots who depend on the efforts and sacrifice of their betters, risk nothing and demand more than their share.
+This is the Left today. Watch the events at Columbia to see the toleration of the Left and its principles.
+His primary reason for....
+freeing the slaves was to curry political favor with the Europeans and the English in particular. He only cared about staving off any alliance between the southern states and the Euros.
+You've been brainwashed by partisan history.
+Msfitz you're like light to a vampire
+Our founding fathers didn't risk and sacrifice for social insurance. They wish for freedom something the Left hates. Freedom to succeed, freedom to fail, but above all to have the freeedom to achieve and try. The Left hates change, it loves the status quo. It loves to be in charge. Freedom is its enemy hence we see the talk about social security, job security, etc. Who at Valley Forge or the Alamo fought for job security? Who at Bataan or Iwo Jima fought for Medicare? Who today in Afghanistan or Iraq fights for unemplouyment insurance?
+These are the watch words of those too impoverished in spirit and attitude to understand the blessings we enjoy or to be able to guage or value them correctly. The Left is concerned not with the spiritual, indeed it hastens to abolish religion and faith where it can, to worship at the altars of materialism.
+Today more people enter the US than the rest of the world put together because they know they will not be taken out by corrupt police, fleeced by crooked politicians and bureaucrats; not exploited by greedy bosses or condemned to a caste. They are motivated by the same desire for freedom and liberty that the Left tries to destroy with a soft and fuzzy offer of social insurance. The opportunity to share misery equally and the hope of avoiding failure rather than the chance of dazzling success.
+It is the credo of envy; the faith of poltroons and lossers.
+It is the voice of Roy.
+To each according to his needs goes Commissar Roy
+It must be pleasant to be able to ignore reality and utter such nonsense. To accumulate capital the average working man must pay taxes on his wages before he invests he can then invest. Upon investing he gets taxed again, but first the government taxes the corporation so his investment is taxed twice before he pays a third time.
+Commissar Roy objects that the working man has been able to scrimp and save enough without the interfeence or permission of the state to invest on his own. The nerve. So Roy must steal that money r34easoning it is buy rights the State's and must have been obtained by illegal means.
+So the skipped meals, the vacations not taken, the clothes not bought, the careful looking for bargians is all for nought because the State and Commissar Roy must pay illegal aliens welfare benefits or support some communist dictator's efforts tyo build a nuclear weapon.
+As usual Roy resorts to the tired tactics of communists everywhere. The top 50% of wage earners pay 95% of federal taxes. Sound reasonable to you? The top 5% pays an amount that is incredible yet Roy denies them any reduction in rates, consider your own tax bracket, feel rich? Yet you are probably in the top third, or what the class warriors claim are the richj living off their dividends.
+Having inflicted insured poverty on Americans by imposing a social security system that returns 2% a year, by comparison just buying savings bonds would yield 4%, and which byt the way the Sociocrats made sure they exempted themselves from reduces your income by over 13% a year and more if you are self employed. It gets worse once you realize the Supreme Court said you have no right or guarantee to these monies seized from you at gunpoint.
+Worse the sociocrats tax that money three times. Think about it they remove your social security taxes before you ever get them, yet they tax you as if you received them when you file income taxes. When the government pays you (if you live to collect or the government deigns to pay) they will tax you again. Why is this such a Ponzi scheme and fraud.
+Because the Left has to pay a 33% of Social Security's budget for SSI and Medicaid to support those who never worked, and who are probably not US citizens. They get 100% medical coverage-yet you work for years and get 85% coverage. Thank the Left for this.
+Yes the Left loves preferential tax rates. Thats why it taxes and taxes and fights any attempt to allow a fairer system that rewards work and merit.
+Its not what Roy doesn't understand its what provides a clear alternative to his police state
+Roy hates freedom and liberty. He wants to eliminate choice and options to suit the limits of his dictates. You're right Roy would accept any other possibility, it would threaten his worldview as Bainbridge describes.
+He is a scary dud telling us that it is commendable to be impartial between the light and darkness by splitting the difference and calling it reason or humanitarian. His de rigueur sanctimony and droning reminds us that of the two suicidal cults America faces today the secularist Left is the far more lethal and depraved.
+What? No more Leeming Spamming?
+No more tedious pointless evasions or refusals to focus? No more infantile arguments without bearing on the discussion? No more moral dyslexia?
+And Mark you expect the Leeming Master to shut up? Its spam time for you.
+Knew you'd love Lincoln
+No one ever trampled on it more nor killed more people to gratuify his personal agenda in American history. But you gotta say he was the best paid mouth piece for the railraods at thaqt time. Too bad for the 650,000 Americans who paid for his ambition.
+But Mark you must be racist
+I mean no other nation in the world found it necessary to wage a war like ours to free the slaves. Whatever other motive could you possibly have.
+Eric is a loon, he really is in a class with Roy..
+Confederate bushwackers
+Making war on civilians is nothing new. Washington was known to the Pennsylvania Indians as the "Town Burner" because that's what he did. In the Middle Ages when your foe declined to give battle you destroyed all the farms and villages, thus producing a famine. The RAF fire bombed German cities in WWII. The USAF fire bombed Japanese cities. The British Navy blockaded Germnay in WWI causing food shortages and widespread malnutrition and disease and on and on and on.
+The notion of war crimes has become so inflated that the charge is now meaningless. Maybe it always was. When you lose a war badly you are at the enemy's mercy. Vae victus. That's why the ancient Romans remembered the story of paying tribute to the Gauls and vowing to never lose no matter what.
+Let us not forget...
+The 10th Amendment which is an embodiment of the principle of subsidium, that things that are capable of being handled locally, should be handled locally.
+Of course, much of the jurisprudence in the US is aimed at avoiding the 10th Amendment.
+This principle militates against communitarianism. It prevents the common good from being replaced by the collective good.
+Also, I don't think that the motives of a communitarian are as noble as you describe. The real goal is centralized power over the lives of citizens. Any excuse to achieve this including communitarianism is used and of course ordered liberty suffers.
+ABD
+For the sake of argument...
+so what? Were the europeans wrong to object to slavery? Was it wrong for Lincoln to issue the Emancipation Proclamation?
+Places That Buy Sewing Machines Near Me – Best 7 Machines for Sewing
+Places That Buy Sewing Machines Near Me
+Are you a seamstress, a quilter, tailor, crafter, or a sewing fanatic? Whichever title fits you best, you are an musician waiting to develop your most recent work of art with certain material, colors of thread and also one-of-a-kind layouts. You are one of the special individuals that produce lovely art with the eye of the sewing needle. Places That Buy Sewing Machines Near Me
+Sewing is enjoyable as well as satisfying. From making easy things to producing masterful creative tailored garments, all of it begins with an concept, a pattern, color options, designs and also obviously, a excellent sewing maker. Picking the right sewing machine will save you time, energy as well as maintain disappointments away.
+If you are a beginner, just beginning to meddle the wonderful world of embroidery, or a skilled veteran, selecting the appropriate embroidery equipment is paramount. Before you even take into consideration a certain sewing machine, ask yourself what type of drain you are or envision to be?
+Then you should choose what functions are important to you and your price array. Recognizing your requirements ahead of time will certainly assist you select the best maker for you.
+There are primarily 2 sorts of stitching equipments: Mechanical and Digital. A mechanical machine will certainly require you to set and adjust the controls by hand, executing standard stitching jobs such as threading the needle, stitch size, hemming, producing buttonholes together with standard maintenance.
+An electronic embroidery machine will automate most of the basic functions provided above, have actually an easily read LED screen, offer attributes that are not offered on a mechanical device as well as ease the worry of tiresome sewing job.
+A few functions that are optimal are built-in lights to assist with sewing darker items and for stitching in the evening, a totally free arm for hemming, cuff stitching and also sleeves, blind stitching, buttonhole ability, a string cutter, as well as a needle threader.
+A variety of adaptable presser feet are important to manage how the material is being held and also relocating as you are stitching to stay clear of puckering and also unsightly extending of weaved textiles as well as other great materials. The finished product will certainly look more specialist and also enticing.
+I would rule out any kind of device that does not come furnished with at least 6-10 built-in stitches, a zipper foot, cost-free arm, drop-in bobbin, and buttonhole maker that sews a buttonhole, ideally in one step eliminating the requirement for you to quit, turn the material and also adjust the dial. Places That Buy Sewing Machines Near Me
+Whether mechanical or digital, each one will have basic features and also sew features that will permit you to stitch a variety of fabrics utilizing straight or zigzag stitches and also sew lengths. Do not be pleased with the basic functionality yet look beyond to the extra functions as well as devices that makes each sewing equipment distinct to satisfy the needs you will certainly put on it.
+You must also ask how effective the electric motor is, how many stitches per minute, as well as just how it is constructed. The motor is the life of any embroidery equipment. You do not intend to get captured without sufficient power to complete your job.
+Every embroidery equipment will certainly have some plastic outside. Nevertheless, if you are mosting likely to sew a fair bit, you need to look at the indoor framing and also design. Plastic insides often tend to malfunction and also flex while embroidery, which can cause the needle to relocate. In contrast, a steel structure interior will certainly provide years of durability and specific embroidery.
+I would certainly be remiss if I did not touch on guarantees. While not usual, periodically a stitching device will certainly damage or malfunction. It is important to understand what the warranty covers and also for the length of time. It is best to be prepared ought to a scenario emerge that calls for focus past basic upkeep.
+Let us look at certain stitching devices and that they are tailored for.
+The Top Seven Sewing Machines
+Allow us take a look at specific sewing machines and who they are customized for.
+Singer Confidence Sewing Machine (7363)
+A good newbie model is aptly called the ” Self-confidence” by {Singer} as it has all the functions needed to give you all the self-confidence you need to create great projects. The 7363 version includes push-button stitch choice, 30 integrated stitches, lock sewing for ornamental stitching, automated threader, tension control, and also 1-step buttonhole maker. Places That Buy Sewing Machines Near Me
+The framework is made out of steel offering overall toughness. This equipment will certainly grow with any beginner, from basic jobs to a lot more complicated ones. {Singer} uses a 25-year restricted guarantee and a selection of useful online video tutorials on using the machine basics in addition to tips and techniques to make stitching simpler.
+Singer 1304 Start Sewing Machine
+{Singer} additionally offers the 1304 “Start” stitching equipment that anybody beginning to sew ought to think about purchasing. This is a affordable standard equipment built with a strong steel framework. Although it only has 6 built-in stitches, other features make this equipment rewarding so you can simply start stitching instantly.
+The predetermined stitch sizes and width take the uncertainty out of establishing the dials appropriately. The zigzag and straight stitching enables you to meddle stitching appliques or adding a attractive scallop to the textile. The free arm allows you to hem garments or work with cuffs and those looking to go up to the following level of sewing with fashion design as your area of concentration, after that the Singer 2010 Superb Computerized Embroidery Maker will certainly spur your imagination.
+The Vocalist Superb is a full-featured high-quality model with exceptionally excellent stitch top quality. It supplies 210 built-in stitches, adjustable rate, automatic needle threading as well as 10 presser feet for the freedom to allow your imagination shine in your completed job.
+The 10 various presser feet selection, consisting of those utilized wonderful durable sewing machine if you are stitching several layers of textile, denim, plastic, canvas, pillows, draperies or developing outfits. The Vocalist durable 4452 stitching maker is just one of the best on the marketplace.
+It has a effective motor, dimension 16 long lasting needles and also a non-stick foot that moves along the textile instead of binding as well as drawing it. It can sew any type of type of material, regular fabric as well as heavy-duty. Vocalist innovation supplies a good sewing application to give support and help anytime. Places That Buy Sewing Machines Near Me
+Specialty machines
+Brother SE625 Computerized Sewing and Embroidery Machine
+If needlework is your need plus sewing, the Brother SE625 is specifically for needlework. This maker has numerous superior attributes that consist of 80 integrated designs besides having a USB drive to include your very own designs. The Bro web site also uses a huge selection of choices for this machine.
+It has a shade wise touch screen display screen to preview your job. Style functions include the ability to alter thread shades in a layout, use specialty letters, monogrammed therefore a lot more. There are 103 integrated stitches and 7 quick-change pressure feet.
+An intense work area is included with an automatic needle threader and also free-motion embroidery is critical to stitching, crafts, and also style. What is cool is the integrated tutorials that can be seen directly on the sewing machine’s display. Making personalized apparel and also gifts is only the beginning of the items you can do with this sewing device.
+Bernina 350 Patchwork Edition Sewing & Quilting Machine
+Advance quilters and embroiderers will definitely fall for the Bernina 530 sewing machine. The Bernina name alone is top quality and this machine will certainly highlight imagination. Supplying 148 stitches, the sophisticated sewer can start any type of needlework, quilting project while still having the performance of all fundamental common stitching.
+If you are an existing sewer looking for a first-rate stitching machine upgrade, look no further than at Bernina equipments.
+The Bernina 530 has 11 various needle positions, perfect stitch control, optional stitch regulatory authority as well as an automated one-step buttonhole manufacturer that offers you, the developer, control over all your projects. It has an easy-to-use control board for quick access to the setups as well as patterns.
+This device is a magnificent sewing machine that can withstand constant use and offers exceptional functions for an expert sewage system. Identified with high quality, this high-end device provides embroidery, quilting, and also basic sewing abilities.
+With a library of 148 stitches, 9 buttonhole options, as well as 4 sewing alphabets, this machine allows you to create your very own mixes regular embroidery machine insofar as the serger stitches as well as reduces the product at the same time. You can consider it a particular design of sewing machine that is often described as an overlock sewing equipment. A serger makes use of 3 or 4 threads to produce a secured stitch at a faster sewing speed. Babylock has actually been a leader in serger technology. It is excellent for finishing garment edges, rolled hemming and also Flatlock stitching. Clearly developed for the innovative user.
+The Brother CS-5055 Project Runway 50 Stitch Computerized Embroidery Machine is aptly called since this sewing machine can take your stitching, style, and accessory styles to the following level. With 87 Integrated stitches and also 5 styles of buttonhole options, all will see your wonderfully influenced initial styles. Places That Buy Sewing Machines Near Me
+Regardless of your experience, there is a sewing equipment that meets your demands and your budget. Vocalist, Bernina, Brother, as well as Babylock are all widely known quality makers of sewing machines that have attributes that will take your creativity to the following degree.
+All the sewing makers detailed can be located at sewingmachinesplus.com where the specialist staff can assist you with any type of questions and obtain the most effective sewing maker to you promptly. There is no requirement to await your dream sewing machine. If you can envision it, you can create it, as well as we can put the appropriate embroidery maker in your hands today.
+Discover your creativity today.
+Visit sewingmachineplus.com today.
+Contents
+- 1 Places That Buy Sewing Machines Near Me
+- 2 The Top Seven Sewing Machines
+- 3 Specialty machines
+Tuesday, October 30, 2007
+Finding room for Murdoch
+Last night, after a leisurely dinner of sushi rice and potstickers and fresh corn on the cob, we wandered toward bedtime by “playing trains.” The twin goals of this game are to engage Mom in races around the track and to create the longest possible train without it falling off the track at every turn. When Ben invited me to come in and play, I was still cleaning up the kitchen, so I put him off. When I did walk into his room, he said, in his most inviting voice, “You want to play trains, Momma?” clasping his hands in front of him, bending down at the waist, raising his eyebrows and smiling toward me. How could I resist?
+I paused a moment to enjoy his invitation. He jumped into the smiling pause with, “Look, your train is all ready for you!” He pointed to a train headed by Thomas the Tank engine, followed by the Chinese dragon car (my favorite, actually) a Troublesome Truck, Big City Engine and his tender. How could I resist.
+Ben’s train was pulled by Murdoch, and had about ten cars hooked on, followed by Douglas and Donald, the Scottish twins. When I suggested hooking battery-powered Percy to the front of my train, so that I could just watch him and soak in the moments around the train table, he demurred. This session of trains was to be strictly manual power, no cheating here.
+Round and round we went, creating crashes (where “luckily no one was hurt!”), rearranging the track to make a bridge here, a tunnel there. We occupied the better part of an hour. I suggested it might be jammie time, an idea resisted to the bone by Engineer Ben. I parked my train on a siding, and Ben continued playing while I got ready for bed. When I came back into his room, he was naked from the waist down, still running the train around, but at least working toward jammie time.
+I bargained with him: if he got ready for bed we could play some more and then read. Washed up, brushed of tooth and combed of hair, his flannel Thomas jammies properly in place, we had a few more rounds, then adjourned (not without tearful resistance) to bed where we began reading Polar Express, then moved to The Little Engine That Could, then to the latest Toys R Us circular from Sunday’s paper to look at the train layouts on pages 12 and 13. Finally, he made the request to get under the covers.
+I turned out the lights and turned on his moon, and settled in for a short time of back rubbing (his) and fighting to stay awake (mine.) “Where’s my Gordon?” the question roused me, and I mumbled that I thought it was in his backpack. From his bed he sprang and like a courser he flew to the doorknob, where his back pack hung. Back to bed with Gordon.
+“I want Donald and Douglas,” came the next request, and up again to fetch them from the end of his very long train. Just when I thought I was set and he might be drifting off he said,
+“Gracious, where’s my Murdoch!”
+Gracious? Where did he learn that one?
+“Honey, you don’t have room for anymore trains, do you?” I asked, apparently rhetorically, because he was already up and after Murdoch and, of course, his tender. Now there was certainly no more room for Mommy, so I got up from my reverie, tucked him in, and did our last ritual.
+From the doorway I called, “Sleep tight, don’t let the bed bugs bite.”
+He called, “See you in the morning bright.”
+Parenting isn’t for everyone, but as for me I can say I am glad and grateful.
+Saturday, October 27, 2007
+My sister's letter to Rottweiler Rescue, Stanley's first rescuers, and Arlene's response
+Hi Arlene -
+It's been a few years since we've contacted you, so I'm sorry that this contact bears such sorrowful news. Seven years ago, you gifted us with a wonderful little spirit named Stanley. Stanley died on Monday, we think of dilated cardiomyopathy. He had developed a little cough, wasn't eating well and had lost weight. When he finally showed the symptoms he really went down hill, and it probably was too late. We are heartbroken at our loss of Stanley that has come too soon.
+He was such a lovable goof, a total marshmallow inside. Whenever new neighbors or friends would see Stanley, they were afraid, because he looked so tough with that terrible scar and his dobie markings. But after getting to meet him, they loved him. He totally blew the Doberman image. Six years ago (a little over a year after we adopted Stanley), our son was born. Stanley adored our son, Cameron, and was his brother and protector.
+Three years ago, we adopted a rat terrier (we named her Tinkerbell) from Petfinder. We were careful to reinforce Stanley's "top dog" position in the household, but to no avail. Stanley fell hopelessly in love with Tink and she with him. They were best friends and playmates, but she wore the pants. But Stanley didn't care. He was a somewhat nervous guy before Tink came, but after she came along, he felt better. Our local kennel was kind enough to kennel them side-by-side whenever we had to leave them there, because, they said, "Stan just does better with Tink."
+Arlene, we can't thank you enough for letting us love and care for Stanley. He was our child and our companion. He was even Eric's co-worker (he used to go to work with Eric). Eric is at the head office in Philly this week and he told his boss that they have lost a dear employee.
+I am particularly having a difficult time, because I wish that I had recognized how serious things were before he got so bad. I miss him so much. He deserved a longer life and I feel angry that he didn't get it.
+We want to make a donation to your rescue in honor of Stanley. We will also be asking our friends and family to make donations as well. Is there a way we can establish a lasting monetary memorial in his honor? Please email your thoughts on this, because we want to make sure that people who didn't get to meet Stanley know what a wonderful, strong, forgiving, loving spirit he was.
+He loved life Arlene. And we will love him, always.
+Arlene's response
+Emily and Eric,
+I am so, so very sorry to hear about Stanley's passing. You put it perfectly, he was a wonderful little spirit. And no puppy ever had such a rags to riches story of coming from one of the worst hoarder/backyardbreeder situations Ingham County has ever had and then finding a family of his very own where he was treasured and cherished and received the deepest love. A dream few puppies ever have come true.
+I'm not sure knowing sooner would have been of any merit for anyone. Dilated cardiomyopathy is a relentless foe of Dobermans and had you known earlier there's no guarantees you could have extended his time here or not. But what knowing earlier would have done is made you sick with grief, and in turn Stanley, as sensitive and intuitive as he was, would have been sick with grief over your's and Eric's sadness. No matter how hard you tried to conceal it from him, he would have felt it deep in his heart and soul. This way everyone got to live cheerfully and to the fullest right up until the end. And Stanley never had to have a moment of anguish wondering what was wrong with his beloved family.
+I would be honored to set up a Stanley Memorial Fund. I still have his baby pictures and I can put them up as well as the super photos you just sent me. If you have other's you'd like showcased, please send them.
+Stanley will never be forgotten by anyone whose path he crossed, even for the briefest of moments. His tender heart touched everyone and brought out the best in them.
+with deepest sympathy,
+Arlene
+Stanley Smallwood (1999 - 2007)
+the right one and a whole half of the universe
+wakes up, a new half
+--William Stafford “Choosing a Dog”
+While the saga of Ellen Degeneres and her dog broke into headlines, with people alternately condemning dog rescues and the people who break their contracts with them, my sister’s dog Stanley was getting sicker than anyone knew. He died Monday in my brother-in-law’s arms.
+Stanley woke up the new half of my sister’s universe.
+The rubber band caused a permanent scar on Stanley’s elegant, long face, making him look even more sinister than a Doberman usually looks. His tail, improperly docked by the breeder, was non-exstent. Wagging his tail, which was frankly his waking state, his whole hind half wagged.
+My sister Emily and her husband Eric had been through the horror of terminal illness and suffering with their first dog, Jordan, who was a dog I had rescued, twice. I had given him to my sister, and insisted she take him and keep him. He opened up the first half of the universe for her, as she moved with him to a more independent life, started college, and fell in love with Eric. Jordan was the best dog in their wedding, and sat beside them in his bow tie while I read them their vows in my back yard. After Jordan died, Emily and Eric would pull the car into the garage after work and weep because they couldn’t bear to face the house without Jordan.
+It wasn’t long before Emily started scanning Petfinder, and found Stanley. When she chose him, the new half of the universe opened. Stanley was there when they brought my precious nephew, Cameron, home from the NICU. He was with them as they moved to Port Huron. After I moved, he was always glad to see me, bounding up to me wiggling all the way: a giant break dancer in brown and black, and usually with a colorful bandanna my sister liked him to wear. The bandanas always coordinated with the season—this week he would have been wearing something halloweeny.
+Adoption is the way we make families. I know there are some people who believe that we shouldn’t use the word “adopt” when we take non-human animals into our family. As the adoptive mother of my human son, I am sensitive to language. But it never struck me as demeaning the adoption of humans to use the word with non-human animals. We should be just as careful about the adoptions of four-leggeds as we are about the adoption of humans. Non-human animals have always been a part of my family. Fur-covered four-leggeds are just as much a part of my universe as my son Benjamin.
+And so it was always for my sister and her family. Stanley the Effervescent was a member of her family. I truly believe that touching Stanley made other choices possible for her: parenting, finishing school, growing whole. It helped her heal the terrible wound left when Jordan died. In an odd way, it helped her be able to survive the loss of Stanley.
+So you can carp all you want about rescues and their rigid belief that non-human animals are important. It is only when we allow ourselves to be touched and adopted by our four-legged family members that we understand how much of ourselves can be possible. It’s part of being fully human. Stanley has a soul just as surely as my son Benjamin does, just as surely as my dog Sam does, just as surely as you and I do.
+Stanley’s bounding, leaping, wagging soul will always be a part of my family.
+Rest in peace, you good dog, you.
+Tuesday, October 09, 2007
+Picture Day
+We used to go to Royal Cuts way over on Ellsworth, where Benjamin got very stylish cuts but the barbers were young and not too patient. So there were lots of tears, sobs, and gnashing of teeth. One barber even took off his belt and handed it to me so that I would beat my son. I declined.
+Mr. Rush, on the other hand, talks to Ben in a grandfatherly voice, keeps encouraging him, and slips him a Brach’s caramel now and then. He’s truly the first no tears barber we have known. Ben’s pediatrician, a magician in his own right, recommended Mr. Rush.
+So when we got there today and found the door locked, my heart sank. Mr. Rush came out of his back office with a big old smile, and let us in. I told him we could come in early tomorrow instead, because tomorrow was picture day. He said he knew I work during the day, and it was fine. He said, “I was going to meet someone, but it can wait. Picture Day is very important.” He said it with capital letters.
+With that he stooped down to Ben’s level and invited him into the chair.
+I think he knew I felt just the right amount of guilt and gratitude that he was breaking an appointment in order to make my son look sharp.
+I even wanted to iron tonight. Not just the shirt, but the jeans just in case a sitting pose shows a wrinkled hem of jean. Iron. The last time I ironed was ironing the front of a blouse to wear under my court suits. Then I discovered synthetic shells. So it’s been maybe fifteen years or more. Tonight, the shirt, the jeans, and even the cotton vest got ironed.
+Last year, Ben’s first picture day, I went into debt buying all the pictures and all the gimmicks they could offer. This year, I am a little wiser, but I know I will spend freely.
+After all the Little Man looks so damn sharp, and with that million dollar smile, who could ever resist? Tomorrow we’ll show you the outfit—tonight it’s just too late. Ben’s been sound asleep since before I started ironing, and after I got his stuff done it felt so good I got out three old linen shirts of my own and ironed them.
+Next thing you know, I’ll be cutting my hair.
+Friday, October 05, 2007
+Smooth sailing ?
+"It's OK," I said "sometimes we get so angry we can't talk about it. So we cry it out and it's OK." I had been ignoring the rage, not because
+"I love you, Mom," he said.
+The Pout after the Storm July 2007
+Never have I been "Mom." It's such a grown-up kind of word. Not the universal baby word of MaMa--two repeated syllables which all infants in just about all cultures use for mother. Mom, and enough insight to talk about his anger.
+Anyone who says two was terrible never had a three year old. But I can see the light at the end of his tunnel now. It's not Thomas or Gordon, it's Himself Emerging.Anyone who says two was terrible never had a three year old. But I can see the light at the end of his tunnel now. It's not Thomas or Gordon, it's Himself Emerging.
+Mom.
+I kind of like the ring of that.
+Tuesday, October 02, 2007
+Fall
+The fall
+The last of the leaves
+came down this morning
+in a blinding swirl
+of snow and brown.
+My son, dark
+as baker’s chocolate
+and I, white as oatmeal,
+stand at the back door
+and wonder
+about the fall.
+I scoop him up
+and run out into
+the whoosh of wet
+and spin him around.
+An orange maple leaf
+sticks to his dark head,
+a brown one slithers
+across my gray hair.
+His small white teeth
+shine in the purple light.
+We laugh together;
+fat flakes darken
+our shirts, wet our faces
+like sweet tears.
+Our dark snowy
+day begins.
+He looks at me
+and I hold him
+at the end of the fall.
+Sunday, September 30, 2007
+Flowers in hard places
+A Walk in the Woods
+Last week I bought a trail-a-bike for Ben, and he loves it, though he is not yet a willing pedaling partner. We went for a short ride, then swung into the Leslie Science Center and parked the bike. The trails in the park loop back to a place called Black Pond, which is just a wet spot now, since it’s been rather dry. But it’s nice and hilly, and the sun filtering through the trees was perfect. And, it’s literally in our backyard, just a stone’s throw from our apartment door. My Dad, who is recovering from some surgery, drove the short distance to the park and met us there.
+The sight of my 82 year old father and my 3 year old son hand in hand in the woods was strangely mystical. I never thought I would see this: partly because I put off parenting for so long and partly because I never thought my dad and I would be living so close to each other.
+But there they were. The woods, the sun, the autumn air: a fine walk in the park. As I watched Ben run far ahead of me on the trail today, sunlight speckling him, I thought there really is nothing in the world that fills me with a sense of calm like I feel watching him. I know there will be times of heartbreak ahead, as we encounter a society that does not for the most part welcome black men. I will need to keep this image in my head, and preserve it for him, to show that there are places on earth where all are welcome.
+Maybe someday, 79 years from now, he’ll take the hand of his grandson and walk into the sun dappled woods, his own daughter trailing behind and feeling both wistful and fortunate.
+Sunday, September 23, 2007
+Birds and boys
+We saw a screech owl (who was molting), a great horned owl, a turkey vulture and a hawk. The audience was small and the speaker put each bird on her gloved hand and walked around the room with it: because we’d arrived late we had a bird’s eye view of each bird, sitting on the floor at the back of the room: she even turned toward us with each bird as she made her way across the back of the room.
+The boys were thrilled. Afterward, we ran and walked the trails a while with Kai, his older brother Al, and their mom Carla—another Peachtree School family. I was grateful to Carla for telling me about the presentation. Alexander came along because he’s spending more time with us—his baby brother Oliver is still in NICU, his mom is worn out from pumping and trying to hold a wired, tiny baby, and his Dad is exhausted juggling the demands of job, home, and family involved with medical technology. Neil said tonight when he picked Alex up that Oliver may get to come home this week.
+All of the birds we saw today were in rehab for one reason or another: the hawk for example was blind in one eye and had congenitally missing talons on one foot, so couldn’t survive in the wild. The saddest was the vulture.
+Turkey Vulture at Waterloo
+Stolen chick, someone’s coolest pet for a while:
+perfectly healthy but too close to humans.
+The times he has broken free
+he’ll ride the thermals for a while
+but he looks for people walking
+instead of carrion.
+Coming down from his death watch,
+he finds some hiker,
+or maybe a farmer plowing,
+and he follows them, hoping
+for a gift of death to sustain him.
+The humans get spooked
+thinking he might know something.
+So they call the DNR
+and he comes back
+to Waterloo.
+The wildlife guide tells his story.
+He stands on her forearm: huge,
+odd with his naked head, alert,
+this bird who can eat anthrax and thrive.
+He tries to fly with silver edged strokes
+so powerful the speaker’s
+notes are swept into orbit.
+Up, off the podium
+and around, then down
+to the floor the cards fly,
+as he realizes the tether
+holds him to her hand after all.
+When he fixes each of us
+with his dark polished eye,
+it’s easy to think he knows
+which of us may be already dead.
+Friday, September 14, 2007
+Two Wolves
+At Rosh Hashanah services this year, one rabbi preached about the Native American story about the two wolves. I’d forgotten about this story until he told it. I can see the well-heeled LA congregation listening to this story, and that comfortable New Year’s temple setting fades to black and there’s a fire circle glowing deep in the woods. It’s a good story to hear before the days of fasting and atonement, a good story which reaches across cultural boundaries, across faiths and races.
+One evening, an old Cherokee chief told his grandson about the two wolves. One wolf is vicious and kills everything it sees, picks fights and runs off the weaker or different looking wolves who try to enter the pack for safety and comfort. The other wolf is the wolf that welcomes the stranger, shares the kill to sustain the pack, takes on the pups orphaned by cold or hunger. One night, the two wolves fight. It is a bloody fight, each wolf striving to be the winner. The cold full moon lights the clearing where the wolves fight.
+The grandson asked, “Grandfather, which wolf wins?”
+The old Cherokee chief simply replied, “The one you feed.” Because you see the wolves represent what is present in each of us: one part of us is all about territorialism, idolatry and pride, selfishness and greed, the other part of us is compassion, empathy and nurturing, welcoming the stranger. The wolf we feed is the one that wins. Which wolf do you feed ?
+Years ago, during my radical Christian days, I attended the Knudsen Conference. There are many people in mainline faiths working for social change, there are people feeding the wolves of social justice and healing in the Church. I like to think that during those years of teaching Sunday school and singing in the choir, I fed the wolf of peace, justice, compassion, empathy and courage. Ultimately I left the church though, because I couldn’t find shalom before communion with people who thought that gay people were an abomination, and the God only meant to bless a certain rather pale and conservative America, and the rest of the word, unbaptised babies included, was going down in flames. I couldn’t welcome them with their different beliefs in my heart, so I felt I couldn’t sit there in the pew and wait for the meal with them either.
+Anyway, the Knudsen Conference was a conference celebrating and advocating the full communion of gay and lesbian people in the church. It was founded after Rev. Knudsen, a beloved Lutheran minister who served for decades, committed suicide because he could no longer live in a church that condemned him, a closeted homosexual man. The conference came to Ann Arbor, and my sister and brother-in-law (who wasn’t really my BIL at the time but who was living and loving in what some might call sin with my sister) lived in Ann Arbor. It was an opportunity to experience church like I always thought it should be, so I came on down for the conference and camped on their couch.
+A brilliant theologian at the conference spoke of weaving, and how each of us, all people, were a part of the tapestry of god’s creation. She said she really likes this analogy as it applied to gays and lesbians, christians, jews, muslims and atheists, people of all colors, the differently-abled, the poor, the rich. Then one day it occurred to her that Strom Thurmond was a part of the tapestry. It had a profound effect on her thinking: she had to make room on her piece of cloth for someone she loathed, whose beliefs she could not support. In order for her tapestry metaphor to apply she had to admit that he, too, was a part of the rich fabric of life. The next day, a brilliant sermon was preached by a Scandinavian theologian on the topic of light, as in “I am the light of the world.” He extended and made real the idea that light is composed of all colors, and that the full spectrum of light isn’t even visible or distinguishable to the human eye but is necessary for life to continue. My sister and future BIL came with me to the service, and my sister spotted her Latin professor.
+Next Wednesday there’s a rally for the Jena 6 in Detroit. I’m taking Ben. Chan Tae from my office is taking her little baby Olivia, and Steven from our office is taking his sons Jordan and Brandon. And our co-worker Ingrid is coming too, because her Buddhist soul requires her to give voice to unity and compassion. We are going because the wolf we feed means something.
+On September 20, if you can’t be in Jena with the freedom wolves going down there, you can wear black and white, signifying unity. Feed the wolf of peace and justice. Please, if not for yourself, then for Ben and Olivia and Jordan and Brandon and Ingrid, and for our hurting world.
+I honestly don’t yet know how to make room for loving my enemies. I think the wolf probably knows, and I’m hoping that by feeding the right one, she can lead me to the right path.
+Tuesday, September 11, 2007
+This day
+I said, "Damn straight it is. We have to lay someone off."
+Then all of a sudden our little problem seemed small, so much smaller. The next day, still shocked by the news, there was a community prayer service. I went of course, but when that gathered group rose to sing God Bless America, I felt the hair rise on the back of my neck. Oh god, I prayed, don't forget the rest of the world.
+In the days that followed, I felt like the only one who was thinking that bombing Afghanistan wasn't the right idea. That somehow reaching out to the county that spawned this horror might be a better idea than squashing them with our thumb.
+I take no pleasure in the ragged "No Iraq War" sign I had in my window long before there was an Iraq war. I was right, and I know that all you had to do if you cared to find the right answer was read a little to know this war was the biggest blunder this country has ever made. I am sorry for every soul who died on September 11. Even the misdirected sad angry men who drove the planes. But I am sorrier for all the hundreds of thousands of people, children too, we don't even count now because they are collateral damage. Hell, we don't even count half our own casualties, cause if you're just driving a truck with supplies, it isn't a military casualty.
+And how many future terrorists, and fathers of future terrorists, sit in Gitmo, tortured because some inept lawyer hungry for Bush's approval said it was OK?
+Do you know that by some estimates there are 4 million internal refugees, all Shiite, inside Iraq, driven from their homes by the civil war there, living in cinder block houses without running water and without electricity? Did you know that the allies of the US forces in Iraq are former, and one might argue current, war criminals? But the surge is working, baby. Because we are asking 17 year old American kids to be our policemen, diplomats and civil engineers over there. Because my friends, you and I were so worried about our own "security" that we allowed the neo-cons to hijack our constitution and our country.
+Paying any less for gas? Still got your job?
+How come Jenna Bush ain't getting a hitch?
+How ironic that Hunt Oil closed the deal yesterday for oil in Northern Iraq.
+When will they ever learn? Awake yet? The roar of the buildings coming down signaled more than just the results of some born-agains crashing into our way of life.
+It's the most serious wake up call we've ever had to take our country back. Woodie Guthrie wrote a response to the jingoistic "God Bless America." He reminded us that our country was founded on the principle that we, the people, possessed the power.
+This land is my land. This land is your land. Take it back, and god bless the whole world, no exceptions.
+Monday, September 03, 2007
+Summer's End
+The last two trips up north to the wilds of Drummond have yielded great stuff and I am working on some prose pieces. Right now they are short stories, character studies and those small scenes that swim up into my consciousness and flow out of the fingertips or pen.
+I've always been intrigued by strong women, especially those who were strong and different in earlier settings: the eighteenth century woman in colonial America who succeed independently at business; the women who defied convention and wrote; women who did what they pleased and had a sense of self beyond the conventional role ascribed to them. I've done original document research twice in my life and I can assure you that there were many, many more of these women than we are led to believe. Not that is wasn't always like salmon swimming upstream, and not all of them were treated well, but many won the respect and support of their communities. Of course, some of them, in an earlier time, were burned at the stake, but that's not my story.
+So these characters who have come to visit me are in a woman's life in the early nineteenth century. She goes to live on Drummond after marrying rather late. She's drawn to wilderness, perhaps because of the wilderness she feels in her own head. So far, it's working as a rough draft, and the ideas are really popping.
+I may post some of it here. In the meantime, I thank all of you for the encouragement you offer just by showing up on my sitemeter. Wishing you a glorious summer's end and long colorful fall before winter arrives, no matter where you live.
+Peace, shalom, salaam--
+Cindy
+Thursday, August 09, 2007
+Water Sprite
+into the deep end,
+goes straight down:
+I resist my need
+to reach for him,
+let him bring himself
+to the top.
+Water glazes
+his brown face,
+his smile is broader
+than before he leapt.
+Through watery myopia,
+he grabs
+my hungry hands,
+and breathes at last:
+a hearty sigh.
+“I want to do it again, Momma,”
+he says,
+once again buoyant,
+out of my reach.
+My eyes brim,
+nothing pleases
+and terrifies
+me more than
+the fresh bravery
+of his new love:
+water.
+Friday, August 03, 2007
+Seven around the table
+Simple fare: fresh green beans and
+chicken from the house down the road,
+lettuce, cukes and mushrooms from (I confess)
+the grocer, and sale wine from Trader Joes;
+laughter, love and three mothers
+alternating verbal lassoes over three boys
+so different, yet all loving Looney Toons,
+bulldozers, trains and the baby doll.
+My sisters, their sons, me and mine,
+and our mother: so rare,
+us all in the same city at the same time.
+We feast at my square table,
+our differences blend like a good sauce:
+enhancing flavors, surprising us,
+smoothing the edges of the old grievances.
+We are together here,
+at the table pulled out from the wall.
+Thursday, August 02, 2007
+Words' Worth
+Anyway, I am trying to merge onto the Recovery Highway. So, at the urging of my life coach, Brady Mikusko, I bought The Artist's Way, and have begun her suggested method of three Morning Pages each day. I started yesterday. My blinker's on, and I am accelerating.
+Yesterday, in the pool where we live--that is the pool in the apartment complex, not that we live in the pool, though Ben wishes we did--I met Van Baldwin, a poet and organizer of the Crossroads Poets and Writers conference in Ann Arbor, longtime local literati. We had a nice chat, and he offered to hook me up with some groups and reading spaces.
+Almost makes you believe in this recovery stuff. Pretty strong evidence when the traffic moves over and lets you slide back on so effortlessly.
+And, I've been catching up on some of my favorite blogs: Ben and Bennie (hilarious lately), Cloudscome (always resonates and great stuff about kid's books) and Bloomingwriter (whose gardens bloom along with her words.) The Curmudgeon scooped NPR by three whole days on the story about stolen hours of work. Good to know you all have kept holding up the sky in my long absence. (Their links are all at the right, I still haven't figured out how to put a link in the text of an entry. Hopeless, I know. Not a writer, not a Blogger, either.)
+Writing: odd stuff,
+elemental stuff.
+I say I can't breathe
+without writing.
+It's true--
+my fingers and toes
+are completely blue.
+Still, hard to sit down
+and do it,
+to write it down.
+Wednesday, August 01, 2007
+Garden Muse Post
+Blueberry nights
+Fireflies glow
+along the branches
+of the apple tree
+and between the big oaks,
+deep in the woods.
+The porch door closes behind us
+with a snap as loud as our laughter
+after the race that got us here
+through the woods from the lake.
+Inside, ice rattles in glasses,
+cigar smoke encircles
+our parents and grandparents
+as cards slap against the table.
+But here, on the porch,
+there is a blueberry cobbler.
+Fresh from the oven,
+cooling on the checkered oilcloth.
+Next to the warm pan,
+a mason jar holds a dozen spoons,
+business ends down.
+We dip right into the crusty pan
+with our spoons and
+devour the cobbler,
+sticking out our stained tongues
+to see each other’s blues.
+On our porch the only sounds
+Are smacking lips,
+scraping spoons,
+and soft laughter
+around mouths full
+of blue heaven.
+This blueberry night
+of sunburned limbs
+and hair smelling of seaweed;
+this blueberry night
+we catch fireflies
+and name them.
+This blueberry night
+a mason jar holds
+the keys to our happiness,
+and sweetened stains
+on teeth and tongues
+are the only blues we know.
+Monday, July 30, 2007
+We know it in our bones
+Wise enough to listen to the bone, Pearl takes it with her. The bone scares away some particularly difficult robbers of unknown origin, but isn’t too effective against a wily fox, who is determined to eat Pearl for dinner. “Don’t take it personally, “ the fox says to Pearl. The bone, unable to scare this predator, offers solace, honesty and comfort to Pearl in her perilous position.
+Just as the fox is about to put Pearl in the oven, the bone utters magical words. The bone does not know he knows them, they come from an ancient memory, nor does the bone know really what the magic words can do. What the words do is reduce the fox to the size of a mouse, who scurries into a hole in the wall.
+Pearl and the bone walk away from certain death. Arriving home, Pearl is welcomed into the arms of her parents. The last line the bone says is “You have an exceptional daughter,” to convince Pearl’s parents that the bone can indeed talk.
+Listening to the bone saves Pearl’s life.
+Our lives create the voices we hear from our bones. We have only to listen to our true voices, down to our bones.
+Sunday, July 29, 2007
+Illuminating Luminescence.
+Friday, June 15, 2007
+The Chinese Screen
+become birds in flight,
+roses, with thorny stems,
+and lower down,
+lily pads, the surface of water
+a simple curve of a gold
+in an artful hand.
+I wonder how it might be
+if tonight, you sat across from me
+in the big chair, laughing
+about the dinner party just ended,
+making a wry comment about
+Larry’s wife.
+We might then retire, tired,
+a little drunk, and so sweetly,
+our dreams water lilies blooming
+above simple golden strokes.
+Wednesday, May 09, 2007
+Robin nesting.
+Thursday, March 29, 2007
+Listen for Life's Whispers
+Wednesday, March 28, 2007
+Big Kid Underwear.
+Monday, March 19, 2007
+Love, war, and a kid with sunglasses
+This piece described how two people, not able to be together because of basic differences, were so in love they remained convivial friends long after the divorce. Their children stood as witnesses to the long years during which they continued to converse and communicate, all the while denying real attachment which was so evident. I often said during my years of practice as a divorce lawyer that some couples are never able to really divorce because they are so attached to the relationship they continue the fight which used to be their marriage. Now in my work, I see the evidence of such relationships everyday.
+In my own life, there was one relationship I experienced that changed me forever. I often think it should have been enough that I offered my heart and he loved me for a while. It isn’t. I wonder sometimes if that loss will define me the rest of days.
+And then my son puts on his bright blue sunglasses in the dusk and reaches for my hand because he can’t really see; looking up he says, “Mommy, cool glasses.” I realize there is no loss that could ever really define me, so long as Ben’s hand touches mine.
+Tuesday, March 06, 2007
+The Good War?
+19 January 1946
+Winter’s wind blasts
+between brick canyons,
+my feet numb in my pumps,
+a reviewing stand pass in my pocket,
+I wrap my arms round me
+and watch the 82nd march,
+their smiles gaping wounds,
+white bone where flesh peels back.
+Ticker tape, like bomb’s detritus,
+falls around me.
+The lieutenant gave me your watch,
+the hands frozen at 6:02.
+Last January, near the Roer River,
+he found your broken smile
+and brought home what he could.
+Tonight, I take our bottle
+from the icebox
+where it waited
+since you rose at dawn
+and I feigned sleep,
+your bomber jacket groaned
+as you bent to promise
+our toast on your return.
+I fill my glass
+and raise it
+in my still silent goodbye.
+Thursday, February 22, 2007
+What are your muses?
+A brief list of mine:
+The crescent moon this time of year that sets just after sunset, hung in the sky like a half-eaten slice of melon: below it the evening star swinging like an electric lavelier
+The way Ben touches my hand in a quiet moment just before he looks into my face
+The voice of a long forgotten lover over the phone and the way I can hear him smile when I say his name right after his hello
+The lap of a wave on any beach, anywhere
+The song of a warbler on an August Sunday on Huron Bay
+The spoken word of someone else talking to her child without convention or care
+The love letter of a long-dead poet to her eldest daughter
+That hour of the day just before night when the palette narrows into grays against a purple sky
+The way each of my parents has gotten sort of weepy over the strangest simple things
+Tuesday, February 20, 2007
+Smooth sailing?
+stars bright from horizon to horizon.
+We sailed into the clear water as the sun rose:
+a large shark swam lazily beneath us
+and the rocks appeared.
+Orchids and magnolias
+Tonight, an extraordinary thing happened.
+Our leader, David Storer, asked us to try an exercise in releasing the creative brain. It’s just Jeannette and me, and we dutifully close our eyes and listen as David asks us to relax. He says “Just bear with me, sort of new agey….” And we do. "Be here now, what do you see? What does your creative brain reveal?"
+I begin to write. I see only a white orchid, with very narrow, delicate, pink stripes leading to its center. The orchid is perched, as orchids are, atop an ungainly wooden stem, above two clown shoe green leaves. The rest is just green, not in focus. As I write the orchid, the rest comes into view. I feel the grass waving against my bare leg, feel the cool, moist dirt against my bare foot, feet. I am walking beyond the orchid, but reach down to feel it as I pass—the petals resilient and cool. The orchid nods at my touch. Beyond the orchid, a clear stream, rolling over pebbles the size of oranges, but flat and colored like lentils, shiny. The water washes over my feet, cold and clear. The orchid, behind me now, is still there.
+The exercise ends.
+David asks if we want to share and looks directly at me. I am embarrassed to say what has happened. It’s all too Georgia O’Keefe. But I do say this: ‘I am amazed. When I write it’s because I see something, or hear something, and try to describe it. Haven’t ever felt this before, where I saw something internally, and the images were amazing.” I can’t say a thing about the white orchid.
+David is so gentle. He nods and says thank you and turns his teddy bear gaze to Jeannette.
+“I see white magnolias, everywhere, it’s amazing. A big house and green lawn. Peeling paint on the house. But the magnolias…” her voice trails off as she closes her eyes.
+“OK, sister,” I say, “I wasn’t going to say it, but you have given me courage, because I saw a white orchid.”
+We all laugh, and talk about how amazing it is to just let your head see what it sees.
+Saturday, February 10, 2007
+A frank talk about race and adoption.
+Tuesday, February 06, 2007
+Lessons
+The day of the try out arrived, and I rode my best. A Midwesterner in a strange land--The East--on a strange horse. The verdict? I had "too natural a seat" to succeed in the rarefied air of Eastern equestrian competition and I didn't make the cut. It took me at least a decade to understand that all those years of riding bare back and swimming from horseback doomed my career as a jock, but added a dimension to my life I would be enriched by. No one else in my family carried the passion for horses, so, while I was at school, one was sold, and my beloved Keni, a gentle, tall, gray quarter horse, was given to a riding school for disabled kids where he, no doubt, patiently enriched the lives of many challenged kids.
+I bring my too natural seat to all I live. I cannot be but who I am: the love, the grief, the ragged around the edges self. And that is a whole picture. Being someone I'm not is like trying to do the perfect hunt seat, but having a natural rythmn for something a bit different. I don't think I'd make the cut. So I continue to say what I think, admit my faults, make mistakes and learn from them. I also continue to love with my whole heart this damaged world we have the great good fortune to live in each day.
+This morning Ben flew into one of those stormy rages typical of toddlerdom. We had a trying pre-verbal bi-polar it's the end of the world if I can't watch TV sort of morning. After two time outs and trying to talk him down, I just sat there at the top of the stairs wondering what I was supposed to do next. I felt a hand on my shoulder. It was Ben.
+"Here, Mommy," he said with a smile and handed me my glasses. "I love you," he added.
+Just like that the rage passed. We managed to eat breakfast and get out the door into the 6 degrees below zero day with a minor fracass about whether mittens were required. They were.
+Reaching this age has made me understand there are some things I simply am, others I am not. I am not the world's most perfect mother. I will never argue a case before the Supremes--something I thought in my younger days I'd be doing with regularity. (Change the world complex writ large.) I will never figure out why Ben's world falls apart, then is put back together without me helping. I will never understand what an unnatural seat would be on a horse, or why you would want to have such a thing.
+Which is not to say I won't really like the scenery flashing by.
+Wednesday, January 31, 2007
+Molly Ivins is dead, damn it.
+Ms. Ivins, the Times would call her. They kicked her to the curb because she walked around the office barefoot and swore too much. Ms. Ivins was a graduate of my alma mater, Smith College, intellectual training ground for Gloria Steinem and Betty Friedan, sure, but Ms. Ivins was my hero. She must have been quite a figure there too, tall and outspoken and not there to get her Mrs. degree, as the saying went. She was a independent woman with a strong, clear, funny voice that poked the fatcats and let no one off the hook.
+I had the pleasure of seeing her speak in person once, at the Humane Society Expo in Dallas. My mother and I went there because I was conducting a workshop on drafting legal documents for animal shelters and rescues. I got a free plane ticket and a room, and my mom wanted to see Molly Ivins, who was the keynote speaker. As my mom and I sat practically in the first row, beaming at her as she towered behind the podium, she took an actual clipping from her jacket pocket, identified it as from the front page of that morning's Times, and quoted some ridiculous Bushism. She then made several very good jokes about it, before a huge national audience, just like she might be joking with us around her kitchen table.
+Then she said, "Oh, he sounds stupid, alright, but do not under estimate him. He is not a moderate. He is dangerous. He is not an honest man." After the speech Ms. Ivins talked with my mom briefly, and made the whole trip worthwhile for her.
+This was before Al Gore won the election and we got George W. Bush as our president. This was before September 11. Before the unending war in Afghanistan. (Remember? We're still there, looking for Osama Been Forgotten.) Before the war in Iraq, this quaqmire which is sending home over 30,000 wounded young men and women so far, a very large portion of them with missing limbs and devastating closed head injuries.
+And we are still in both places because George W. Bush is not an honest man. He is dangerous.
+Molly Ivins, it gives me no pleasure to say you were right, prescient even. But your words never failed to give me pleasure in a world where so much harm is done. You were a beacon, a voice in the wilderness, and you made me laugh. You were nice to my momma.
+Thank you, Ms. Ivins, for your barefooted, swear-word peppered truths. You were an original. I love you. Rest in peace.
+And fer chrissake, don't let St. Peter off the hook, either.
+Tuesday, January 30, 2007
+Acrostic Lunch
+Last I saw you, you stood so still,
+Under a dripping umbrella. “I will always,” you began
+“Never,” I interrupted and turned away into the dark.
+College, grad school, marriages, divorces, children since.
+How many years and you never, never left?
+I’m back, a lifetime later, unfettered
+Now, eating alone, across that street.
+After one, I linger over pinot
+Noir and watch for you who were
+Never far away. Muted memories swim
+And then, there you are, in winter light,
+Rooted at curbside, fishing change,
+Burberry trenched, cashmere noosed. A lump
+Of middle-aged sentimentality rises in my throat.
+Reaching to pay the bill, I realize the price.
+Saturday, January 27, 2007
+How life changed three years ago
+And like magic, we met just outside the museum, Ben running fake slow motion to Blake, saying "Blakey!" Blake is 17 months old and the queen bee of Peachtree School. There she was in her lavender pants, red shoes and bright pink velour top, jacket unzipped (very casual) and beaming smile.
+We had just gotten settled in the toddler play area when we were joined by angelic Alexander and his heavenly daddy, Neil. Now, I like Alex's mom, Christie, but swear if she were to die, I would be all over Neil. He's British, with a wonderful accent, slight over bite and glasses: handsome in that sort of geeky way I adore. He's a chemistry prof at the U. So we three parents watched and played with our kids, as they played with each other. Alex is two and a half. The threesome had a great time running us all over for an hour. We three got to know each other a bit more, then adjourned to Argierro's for pizza. There we were joined by Emanique and her two sons, Edrick and Jordan. Emanique informed me that Ben's cupcakes are now famous, having been discussed at their house for most of last night's dinner. She knew all about the colors--yellow and pink-- and the sprinkles--stars and green sugar. I thanked her and said that Duncan Hines would so love to hear that. Neil said "Oh that's what the cupcakes were all about, Alexander (and he said it like this: al-ex-ahhhhnder") was talking about them too." Sigh.
+Ben was in heaven, especially when Emanique suggested singing happy birthday to Ben. It was a great morning. As Ben and I made our way home about 1:30, we stopped at Whole Foods and picked up party supplies. There, the baker advised us on how to make a light raspberry drizzle to add to our flourless chocolate birthday cake for tomorrow. Organic cheeses, wines and turkey, along with bread and sandwich delights. All for our little party tomorrow.
+Ben's napping now, and I am recounting my blessings: how life has changed in just three short years. Ben came, and then a new job, new friends. Along with all those changes, the deep gratitude for old friends who have stayed in touch through this blog and email. We love you all. So many of you were there for me three years ago when I hadn't a clue how to put a baby in a car seat. Now, I am the grande dame of the parents at Peachtree (when I said I was 50, Deborah, who must be all of 26, said, "that is AWESOME") and truly amazed at the wonder of life and how much things can change when you open yourself to it. Or when you are pried open by a toddler with a spoon.
+Ben and I send birthday greetings to all of you. Our birthday gathering this year will be smaller, but we will have you all in our hearts. Hippo Birdie to Ewe.
+Peace! Shalom! Salaam!
+Tuesday, January 23, 2007
+What keeps you from crossing the threshold from not writing to writing
+On the other side, light
+and green, even flowers.
+If I step through
+what do I leave behind?
+Where do I go
+if I step through?
+What if it is so pleasant
+on the other side
+I can't walk back through?
+Why would I go back
+to Not Writing?
+Because I know it.
+Dark, its corners,
+small warmth.
+A roof, walls, no windows.
+The warm comfort
+of a small space.
+Shelter.
+The threshold calls:
+the sun, the green,
+the other side invites.
+I hold my breath.
+My own fear keeps me here.
+I look around
+the edge of the threshold.
+Sun bathes my calf.
+My arm now into the light.
+Inertia is heavy.
+The light moves up
+to my shoulder.
+A dappled gray mare
+grazes. Turning to look at me,
+green grass hangs from her lips.
+She shakes her head at me.
+I move toward her to ride.
+The general comes from the specifics
+orange and yellow.
+Speed with wheels,
+numbers and Lightening flashing.
+"Let's race."
+Eyes wide and whitewalls.
+Small enough to fit in his small hand:
+when he finally lets it fall
+from his grasp, the metal
+is warm to the touch.
+Hard and bruising
+in the dark
+on my arch,
+beloved of my beloved.
+Saturday, January 20, 2007
+One more Ben story
+I guess that should be the self-delusion disclaimer required by international blogger code and should be in 14 pt. type.
+Anyway, a couple of nights ago we were driving home from work and school. Ben's current musical passion is a Billy Jonas song Coup D'etat. It's smart white boy rap with great drums and lots of French words. Ben calls it "Coup D'etat-ta" because the refrain is something like "coup d'etat, coup d'etat, coup d'etat-ta-ta." It's about life's little and not so little victories, like when you think you lost your wallet then you find it in your pocket. Or you think they're hanging you for treason and you realize you are dreaming. Coup d'etat!
+So, we were driving along listening to Coup D'etat, and Ben says,
+"Momma! Benjamin's car is singing!"
+Coup d'etat!
+Thursday, January 18, 2007
+Sisyphus on Sanibel
+Ben and I just spent five days on
+On thing that hasn’t changed is the white sand beach—fine sand almost like powder. Watching Ben in the hot sun, I wrote this:
+My son is trying to put the beach back into the ocean. His blue plastic shovel drips with the fine powdered sand of Sanibel. In just two days he has learned not to step on someone else’s sand castles, not to fear the waves, and to almost like the feel of the sand in his toes.
+He purposefully clumps up from the water line, his beach shoes caked with the fine glop the wet sand makes. Bending down, he fills his shovel, then walks back to the gentle waves breaking on the sand. There, he raises his right arm above his head, puts his left leg out behind him raising his foot above the water. Balancing in that way, he tips the shovel and lowers his gaze to watch the dripping sand fall into the surf.
+A friendly couple with a northern
+“Yes!” Ben says, beaming up at her, sand still dripping into the foam.
+Wednesday, January 17, 2007
+Irony in the Blogoshpere
+Ads by Google
+Wife
+Browse a huge selection now.
+Find exactly what you want today.
+Advertise on this site
+OK, this is not so funny. I post a sonnet--one I sweated and slaved over, worked for hours on, trying to grapple with an abstract idea within the confines of classical form, and the google ad that tops it is this (see above).
+And to make matters worse, I logged on to edit.
+On the other hand, doesn't every aspiring writer need a wife? Hmm. No cost, live in help, does meals, laundry, child care.
+See y'all over at ebay.
+Tuesday, January 16, 2007
+First of the Jubilee Year Sonnets
+The weight of our most cherished secret thought might be
+As light as mist, or cuckoo's song draped round a tree.
+Thought has no form, heft, no breadth, no light or dark;
+We cannot hold a thought within our fingers' grasp
+Or see it, though it may shake us with truth so stark.
+No matter how an idea holds our heart in its clasp
+Thought lives without proof, in faith, unbound in our hearts
+And cannot be proved without a mortician's arts:
+Thought spoken, written, is embalmed as word. Consumed,
+Dead ink on paper, or binary byte: exhumed,
+And read, dead to change, static words from start to send.
+Listener or reader must on fair thought depend:
+What you write, I read, then even love you I might,
+Yet my love not be proved until I speak or write.
+Sunday, January 07, 2007
+Why having kids is a great idea
+But tonight I said I just have to get back at it.
+So I thought I’d tell about Ben in the car last Wednesday. We had a gorgeous full moon here, and a crisp, clear night, which was pretty dark already by 5:30, as we were driving home.
+“Look, Ben, look at that moon,” I said from the front seat to him in the back.
+“Oh, yes, Momma. It’s bootiful.” There’s a pause, and he claps his hands once. What he did next was priceless but it requires a bit of explanation.
+Over Christmas, Ben and I stayed in a hotel. There were a bunch of lives in being at my mom’s: my mom, my two sisters, their three sons, and my brother in law, along with three dogs and more presents than you can imagine. I thought it would give the plumbing a break if we stayed away, plus we could swim, which Ben loves.
+He’s been intrigued with the idea of the “ho-towel” since we stayed there. Each night, as we head home, he says, “Go ho-towel, Momma?” He prefers it to our house, mostly I think because Santa also found us at the ho-towel and left Diesel-10 for him there. He’s forgotten that when we arrived home from his stay at my mom’s, Santa had also found him here, and left presents, too. The kid is nothing if not indulged.
+So, cut back to us on the way home Wednesday, he has just said the moon was beautiful and clapped his hands like he was commanding a genie to appear. Then he says:
+“Hi, Moon, wanna go to a ho-towel?”
+Then, like any red-blooded American male, answering for the moon, Ben says in a higher voice, “OK, Ben, let’s go!”
+
+Are you suffering from FOMO? You’ve probably heard of FOMO, but in case you haven’t, it stands for Fear Of Missing Out.
+FOMO surfaced in a couple recent coaching sessions with clients, which caused me to be curious about looking at FOMO through the lens of Law of Attraction.
+Let’s start here: FOMO is a sense there’s something better you could be doing at this moment. It’s a feeling you are missing out on something others are experiencing right now.
+FOMO can show up in different ways.
+For instance:
+- You decide to stay home for the evening, but then fear you’re missing out on a good time with your friends. FOMO casts a shadow on your entire evening.
+- You see someone on social media celebrating her engagement or her new home and fear you’re not going to have these things for yourself. Suddenly FOMO sets in and you don’t feel so good about your life.
+- You decide to skip an after-work networking event, but then fear you’re missing out on an opportunity. FOMO means you don’t really enjoy the bike ride in the beautiful weather you’d planned.
+In all these instances, there’s a thought maybe you would be better off somewhere you are not. Maybe you would be better off doing what your friends are doing. Maybe you would be better off knowing what they know, having what they have.
+FOMO is characterized by a stressful belief that the grass is greener over there.
+Over there is better or at least could be better, so you’re bummed you are missing out.
+By all accounts, FOMO is fairly common, so we’ve probably all had this experience at one time or another. I think some of us, though, are turning a once-in-a-blue-moon situation into a habitual way of showing up.
+- You are here, but thinking about being over there.
+- You are here, but wanting to be over there.
+- You are here, but worrying about missing out on what’s over there.
+I want to talk about two ways the vibration of your present moment is undermined by FOMO—and what this has to do with mis-creating.
+One aspect I will explore is about the emotion of FOMO and the other is about a telltale sign of FOMO: The lack of presence in the present moment.
+Let’s dive in.
+If you are experiencing FOMO, well, the fear part is an immediate clue you are not high on the emotional scale.
+While the emotion of fear in FOMO might be a little different than other ways you’ve experienced fear, this is nonetheless an unpleasant and stressful negative emotion.
+When you are fearful you are missing out, when you are worried you are missing out, when you are disappointed you are missing out, when you are insecure you are missing out, all those emotions—fear, worry, disappointment, insecurity—are low on the emotional scale.
+Experiencing FOMO doesn’t feel good. FOMO means you are experiencing some flavor of negative emotion.
+Right away, then, we know FOMO isn’t attracting anything you want. When you have a fear of missing out, you feel negative emotion, which is a sign you are mis-creating.
+Let’s talk a little more about the emotion—the vibration—associated with FOMO.
+Fear. Fear of missing out. The emotion of fear. Fear is #22 on the emotional scale. As in #22 of 22, so we are at the very bottom of the emotional scale.
+And what should you do when you are feeling negative emotion? What should you do when find yourself at the bottom of the emotional scale?
+What you want to do is reach for the relief of a better-feeling thought.
+Because a thought got you where you are. A thought of missing out got you to fear. A thought of missing out caused you to feel negative emotion.
+As always, your thoughts cause your feelings. This is Law of Attraction 101. Which means the way out of fear, the way up the emotional scale, is another thought, a different thought, a better-feeling thought.
+Really let that land.
+It’s not the circumstance that you are at home and your friends are somewhere having a good time that is causing you to feel negative emotion.
+- It is your thoughts about that circumstance.
+- It is the meaning you are giving to that circumstance—the meaning of missing out—that is causing the negative emotion.
+For instance, you could focus on being able to relax, unwind, and recharge at home—and feel empowered and appreciative and happy. Or you could focus on what others are doing somewhere you are not and make that mean you are missing out—thereby feeling the corresponding negative emotion. Feeling the FOMO.
+What you focus on and what you make a circumstance mean are super important.
+So much of leveraging Law of Attraction is about being intentional when it comes to the meaning you give circumstances.
+Deliberate creation is about making circumstances mean something that feels good to you.
+When you make your present circumstance mean you are missing out, which makes you feel bad, you are not using LoA to your advantage. Instead, you are mis-creating and attracting what you do not want.
+So to recap: FOMO is caused by a thought—a low vibe thought that creates negative emotion in you. FOMO is caused by a thought about what you are making a circumstance mean.
+Hear this loud and clear: That meaning is a choice. It’s optional. You can absolutely choose a meaning about the circumstance that allows you to move from low vibe fear to a thought that feels better and is higher on the emotional scale.
+The second aspect of FOMO I want to explore has to do with the present moment.
+Specifically, I want to talk about how FOMO signals your lack of presence in the present moment…and how that means you are mis-creating.
+When you fear you are missing out on something that’s going on over there, you are not present to what’s going on right here.
+Let me say that another way: When you are experiencing FOMO, you are not enjoying the moment you are in. Because you are worried about the moment you are not in. An even simpler way to say this: You are not present.
+Not being present is a big problem when it comes to Law of Attraction. Here’s why: Your only power to create is in the present moment. Really let that land: Your only ability to create is in this now moment.
+So when you are using your now moment to think about where you are not and feel the low vibe of FOMO, that’s your energy of creation. You are attracting from that energy of FOMO.
+But know this: You are not attracting anything you want from the fear of missing out. You are not creating anything that will be wanted from the energy of FOMO.
+I’ll say it again: Your power to create is now. What you are focusing on and feeling right now—in this present moment—is what you are creating for your future.
+Let’s imagine you stay home tonight because you want to relax, eat a home cooked meal, and get to bed early. In the midst of doing just that, you start experiencing FOMO. You know your girlfriends are getting together to go out, and you start fearing you’re missing out on the fun, missing out on the good time.
+As a result of these thoughts, you are no longer enjoying being at home and cooking that new recipe you wanted to try. You are no longer feeling good about a relaxing evening at home and an early night of restorative sleep.
+Instead, your thoughts of what you are missing out on create negative emotion in you. That negative emotion is the vibration you are offering in your present moment. And it is that present moment that holds all your creative power.
+That fear you are feeling—I’m missing out. I don’t have what they have. I’m not experiencing what they’re experiencing—the fear in FOMO is attracting. You are attracting and creating from that frequency.
+Negative emotion is always telling you two thing: You are mis-creating and it is time to pivot.
+Imagine what matches up to you when the vibration you offer is fear. While I don’t know the specifics of what will manifest, I know it’s not what you want.
+It’s this simple: Good feeling thoughts take you in the direction of what you want. Bad feeling thoughts take you away from what you want.
+Here’s the bottom line of FOMO: You are not enjoying the moment you are in because you are worried about the moment you are not in.
+FOMO thoughts are low vibe. The negative emotion you experience from fear of missing out is mis-creating.
+“When it feels like there is something missing, it always is alignment. No matter what.” —Abraham
+Next time you experience FOMO, recognize that what you are really missing out on is alignment.
+Fear is not alignment. Fear that you are missing out is not alignment. My greatest encouragement is this: Be where you are and do all things in joy.
+I’d like to offer you these five tips when it comes to FOMO:
+- Notice if you are experiencing FOMO. Recognize that feeling of fear coming from the thought that you are missing out.
+- Make the decision to look at your FOMO through the Lens of Law of Attraction. This puts fear of missing out in the context of your vibration and gives you direction.
+- Don’t make a big deal out of it. Abraham says: “Don’t make where you are too big of a deal. Let it be what it is: It’s a moment in time where you have a choice to feel good or feel bad. That’s all that it ever is.” OK, so you’re experiencing FOMO. No big deal. Just start where you are and recognize the choice you have to feel good or feel bad.
+- Reach for a better-feeling thought. Take a look at whatever you are afraid you are missing out on—the relationship or promotion, the event or opportunity or good time—and choose to think thoughts that will move you up the emotional scale about whatever you are “missing out on”.
+- Connect with the present moment. Remember, your power to create is in this now moment. Rather than offer the vibration of FOMO—to which Law of Attraction will respond—what about offering a vibration of appreciation? What can you appreciate about your here and now?
+Publishing trap is easy, especially for authors new to the publishing scene. The downside of writing whatever is selling well right now is that by the time you’ve got a solid, polished draft, everyone’s moving onto the new best thing ever. Instead of trying to fit into a niche, write what you want to write and figure out where it belongs later.
+Genre
+I’ve heard many authors say they’d prefer not to pigeonhole their books into a specific genre. I get it. I really do. This is your baby. It’s special. Books like yours simply don’t exist. But there is at least one excellent reason why it’s a good idea to make the extra effort and properly categorize your book.
+Many authors receive one and two star reviews because of improperly categorized books.
+Think about this from the perspective of a reader. When you shop for books, you narrow down your choices according to preference. An improperly categorized book might turn up in the search results where it doesn’t belong. Now, that could work out just fine. Maybe the reader buys it, reads it, and likes it. Maybe it’s not at all what they expected and that’s a good thing, or maybe it’s not. Maybe they’re disappointed. Maybe they leave a one or two star review as a result. Are you willing to take that risk?
+Part of finding your niche is identifying each book’s genre so you know how to categorize accordingly.
+Readers
+Just like readers search sites like Amazon for books to buy, some of them join book clubs or Facebook groups where they discuss certain types of books. Some of them are open to having the author publish promo posts in the group.
+If you write Fantasy, you wouldn’t necessarily post in an Erotica group. Unless, of course, that Fantasy book also contains a solid erotic thread. Posting promo posts in the wrong group (not your niche) will cause alienation of a whole group of readers, and possibly even some publishing industry professionals you didn’t even know were watching. It’s spam.
+So just as you need to know your genre, you need to learn who your readers are. This isn’t so you can write for them, you have to write for you. Get to know your readers so you can communicate with them, if they’re open to that. You might be surprised to learn just how many of them are. Find groups online and in person (it’s hard, but possible) and get to know the readers of your genre, your niche.
+Partners
+Those publishing industry professionals I mentioned? If you’re a writer, chances are pretty good you’re also a reader. That’s true for a good many of us. So keep in mind that many of the readers you encounter in your publishing endeavors are also writers. Some of them are editors. Still others are publishers or librarians or literary agents.
+Just like readers prefer to read certain genres, you’ll meet professionals who work in specific niches. Some editors specialize in YA books, for example. One major benefit of following (on social media) professionals in your genre is that they tend to keep up with the most current news relevant to that genre or target reader age range. They also tend to know others in your niche to whom they might introduce you. You can’t open the door to an opportunity if you don’t know it’s there. Finding your niche can help you find and open those doors.
+Create a flexible publishing plan.
+Writing a book is the easy part. Editing it is another relatively easy step in your path to publication. The actual process of publishing a book is easy too. It’s only a matter of uploading a file and a cover to your preferred outlet and clicking a button, right? Well, that’s true, but that’s only scratching the surface. It’s doing the bare minimum and hoping for the best. There’s a way to ensure greater success, and the harder you work at creating and implementing a publishing plan, the more successful each book will be.
+Production
+The actual production process of publishing a book consists of writing the book, editing it, designing a cover for it, and formatting it. Each of those steps consists of processes that depend on the individual performing them. This is why you need a flexible publishing plan, or a checklist with an estimated time line at the very least. You can wing it, of course, but if you know when your book is coming out, you can start telling people about it. And the sooner you do that, the better.
+Publication
+Publication itself is easy. You just upload the book and cover file and you’re done. Right? Well, okay … yes. But no. Consider, first, where you’re going to publish. You need to know this so you can be familiar with your chosen outlet’s submission guidelines before you upload your files. You need to know if there are restrictions on what you can post in their system, and if there are restrictions you’re agreeing to by publishing in their system. Amazon’s KDP Select, for example, requires exclusivity, meaning you’re not allowed to publish that same work anywhere else but with Amazon. That’s definitely something you need to know well before you have that final draft in your hands. This is where that flexible publishing plan comes in handy. Make a list of your preferred outlets, and a sub-list of each outlet’s rules. Plan your publication around that.
+Marketing
+You’ve been to a birthday party, right? Why did you go to that party? Why did anyone attend? How did anyone even know about it? Because someone marketed it. Yes they did.
+Billy’s mom bought two stacks of Power Rangers invites and painstakingly filled out the date/time/RSVP information on each one. Then she sent half to school with Billy and mailed out the other half. Because if she didn’t let people know they were having the party, no one would have showed up. Billy’s mom may have even e-mailed a few relatives or called a few friends to let them know.
+Let’s go crazy with this metaphor and say she printed posters and (with permission) put them up at the local grocer’s or post office’s public announcement board. I bet she even took out a small ad in the local paper too! She totally seems the type. Her marketing plan, part of that flexible publishing plan I mentioned, lists each of those steps and gives approximate time lines for when each item needs to be executed. Your book marketing efforts need the same kind of planning.
+Pay attention to the industry news.
+Even if you think the emails Amazon or Smashwords send you are junk mail, you need to at least browse the topics. You might be surprised just how many of those updates pertain to you or your work. Companies like Amazon make business decisions based on what works best for them. As a businessperson—and if you’re publishing books, you’re a businessperson—you need to understand these decisions at least well enough to know how they’ll impact you. This goes for traditionally published authors too; don’t rely solely on your publisher to make all of your decisions for you.
+Initial Decision
+Whether you’ve made a plan as I suggested or you’re just winging it, when you decide where and when you’ll publish your book, you need to make an informed decision. Reading the FAQs is a great way to learn about the nuances of a system. However, new changes to a system may not necessarily be contained therein. If you’re only using one outlet, Amazon, for example, then consider signing up for an account and to receive their newsletter well in advance of your first book release. Read the e-mails they send you and keep abreast of changes to their policies. The Kindle Unlimited updates and “pay per page” fiasco, for example, are things that might affect your initial decision on where to publish.
+Change of Heart
+If you do have a change of heart, you still need to know how to back out, which is where reading those FAQs and policies and email updates come in handy. Just as there are rules to publishing a book for each outlet, there are right and wrong ways to make changes. With KDP, for example, if you’re using the pre-order feature, you must have the final copy of your book uploaded at least 10 days before publication. I have no idea what would happen if you’d change your mind at the last minute and decide not to publish with them. I do know that failure to comply with their rules results in consequences you may not want to have to deal with. It’s easier to change your mind before making changes is a problem. Keeping up with industry news helps you make those decisions in plenty of time to execute them without repercussions.
+Exclusivity
+The matter of KDP Select gets its own section because Amazon is constantly making changes to their policies. Whether you decide to publish with Amazon at all, much less exclusively, keeping abreast of these changes still benefits you. Understanding all of your options is important when making publishing decisions. Knowing why you choose the path you choose will help you stay on it. So even if you only read the news so you can nod and think, “Yep, that’s why I don’t do KDP Select,” you’re consciously reinforcing a decision you’ve already made. Think of it as an affirmation of faith in yourself and your path. Sometimes, when you’re running a business, you need that.
+Explore your options as an author.
+The publishing industry is a vast landscape filled with hundreds of thousands of people all aiming for the same goal: selling books successfully and efficiently. Your options aren’t just black and white anymore. There’s much more to this publishing biz than just traditional or independent, or even the grey area of hybrids. A full spectrum of choices is available to authors. Explore your options, and try out a few different ones. Below are just a few I’ve researched and am involved with on some level, but there are so many more I don’t even know about.
+Booktrope
+Booktrope is a publishing company that works on a team-based, royalty-split system. You may apply as an author, editor, proofreader, cover designer, book manager, or project manager. Each author’s book that’s accepted into Booktrope is then given a project page where the author will build his or her team. No one pays any fees up front, but no one gets paid up front either. Only after the book is completed and published are the team members paid, and each receives a percentage of the book’s royalties according to an agreement reached with the author from the beginning. This is a great option for authors who just can’t afford to hire a professional editor or book cover designer.
+Book Garage
+I’m a bit less familiar with Book Garage. Technically, it won’t be open for another 11 days (from the date of publication of this article), so I’m a bit early to the party. But basically what they do is allow people to sign up as readers, authors, or freelancers. They do not publish your book for you. They help you find legitimate freelancers (editors, book cover designers, etc.) and readers. Anyone who has ever gotten burned with a bad edit will know just how valuable that is, and we already know how badly we need readers. What’s really great, though, is that readers can get into the system and find you too! I was lucky enough to get in touch with one of Book Garage’s creators for a Q&A, posted at LinkedIn. Whether you’re a reader, writer, or freelancer, there are questions and answers for all three.
+Inkshares
+My newest obsession is Inkshares. I LOVE the premise. Basically, you share an idea or a draft of your story with a community of readers. The point is to see if there’s interest. If you can build interest for your book using Inkshares, then you know it will sell well when you publish it. But they take that a step further by offering the option to gather pre-orders. If you get a certain amount of pre-orders in a set period of time, they’ll publish your book! They provide you with an editor, cover designer, and marketing. What’s even better is that they have something called collections, which are basically Inkshares Anthologies. See what I mean about exploring your options? Do I even need to get into the benefits?
+Treat publishing as a business, and plan accordingly. Do the research for your niche, find your readers and potential partners who can help ensure your book’s success. Understand that others will be doing the same and that, unlike a business, this isn’t a competition. One of the most important things you will learn as an author is that your chances of success grow exponentially when you work with others, not against them. We’re all in the same boat. Welcome aboard.
+All of this is very true. Good to hear another professional say it too. I must find that Inkshare site and check it out. Sounds fantastic.
+Right, ES?! How great does that sound? The whole premise of Inkshares is to help authors publish books readers _want_ to read. It’s a way for authors to test the waters and a way for readers to help ensure the books they want to read see the light of publication. It’s a win for both authors and readers, whether the books get published through Inkshares or not. I think it’s great. 😀
+Man, do I wish I’d had this advice a few years ago! Awesome post, Jessica!
+Thanks, Alan! Me too! I’m sure it’s been said, but it hasn’t been/can’t be said enough.
+Forum Post: How does Wall Street reward companies?
+Posted 2 years ago on April 12, 2012, 2:33 a.m. EST by francismjenkins
+(3713)
+This content is user submitted and not an official statement
+If a company can figure out ways to reduce employee wages, reduce benefits, or even better, find some third world sweat shop that employs children under horrible conditions, to relocate production to, they are rewarded with a higher stock price. In other words, our system rewards screwing people over, and reducing their quality of life as much as possible. Is this really the best the human race can come up with? If it is, then it doesn't speak well for our species. It may be true that alternative models like Soviet style socialism are unworkable (and undesirable), but certainly there must be a bigger menu of choices than either the way things are, or the Soviet gulag.
+There was a time, not so long ago, capitalism caused people to bow their head with respect.. now people are begining to bow their head with shame at the mention of capitalism.
+First tell me how many people do you employ?
+What I do is none of your business, and it certainly isn't relevant to this conversation.
+It is actually. Because according to you an employer should just give away as much as possible in salaries, profit margins and growth be damned. if you had ever run even a 3 people business, you would not be making such foolish statements.
+It's not actually, and if you think "personalizing" the argument is logical, I suggest you go on Amazon and find a book on logical fallacies.
+Moreover, there was no "according to me" .... I identified the problem (I did not list proposed solutions, but I'm glad to offer some ideas). In my view, most companies should be employee owned, nonprofits, co-ops, etc. (all proven to be effective, and in studies I've looked at, they're more productive, survive longer, provide better benefits, etc.).
+As I said below, this may not work in all cases. There could be a valid role for capital markets, venture capital, etc., but as it is now, Wall Street is a parasitic industry. It's success comes at the expense of the rest of our economy and society..
+The above referenced study shows that employee owned companies, and participative management, is a better model (using all the conventional metrics), in the context of closely held corporations.
+The question is why would our public policy favor large, publicly held, multinational corporations, when small to mid-sized, closely held, employee owned and managed corporations, are not only a better model (from an empirical perspective, using the standard metrics), but are also better for our society?
+This question is easy to answer. While I don't have a study to prove this, I think we see a corresponding relationship between the amount an industry harms our society, and the amount of money they spend trying to influence the political process. There's some nuance to this, because I imagine that some special interests, which are good for our society, spend considerable amounts trying to influence the political process, but this still has a cause and effect relationship with the overall dynamic, because these interests are forced into this role by deep pocketed opposing interests.
+If in your opinion most companies 'should' be employee owned then
+I will tell you why. Because employees don't want to. Employees don't want to own the company they work in, they would much rather prefer to work at a place for a few years and then change jobs and companies. That's what people do. Nobody want's to own a company and be tied to it and neither does the average employee bother about running the whole friggin company. Employees are happy doing their jobs and getting paid well for it.
+As for ESOP, those are offered by companies to the best performers to keep them in the company. Not every new hire gets ESOP, one needs to have put in quite a few years in the company to get some (or one needs to be in a middle or high management position).
+Also you mentioned that small companies are a better model from a 'empirical perspective using standard metrics'? Care to explain the perspective and the metrics behind your assertion? And hey, it's not our public policy that favors this rather the owners want that. Which entreprenuer does not want his/her company to grow? Do you suggest that the govt should not regulate the size of companies? What have you been drinking? And big companies have plenty of advantages that small ones don't. The only advantage I can think of for small companies is that they can react to change much more faster because of lesser layers.
+This necessarily presumes that most employees have a choice in the matter, and that's simply not true (and even though this seems to be a common objection to this idea, I really have no idea where it comes from).
+And no, I'm absolutely not suggesting that government should regulate the size of companies (that would be absurd), nor am I suggesting that this model should be imposed on companies through government coercion. But I think government could have a "positive" role here. In other words, it could promote the formation of these sort of companies through public policy.
+For example, 42,000 factories have shut down since 2000 (dislocating millions of workers, who in most cases, now work at jobs providing less pay, less benefits, etc.). Why not have a SBA program that enables these workers to buy these closed factories, and reopen them (using the "direct loan" approach, rather than bank intermediaries)? This could be done using the methodology we use for conventional commercial loans (although some innovations would likely be necessary).
+The objection I foresee is that this may lead to some degree of malinvestment, which I concede is possible. Another objection may be that these companies would still be forced to compete with products produced in overseas sweatshops, which is why I think a properly structured value added tax would be necessary for something like this to succeed (for instance, we could have a "cottage industry" exemption to the tax, and a VAT is permissible under WTO rules).
+We may wind up with some degree of malinvestment, but should that really prevent us from considering this idea? I think we can safely say that government intervention in general tends to distort the market (sometimes for the good, but sometimes it produces poor outcomes, and unforeseen consequences). For instance, FDIC insurance tends to induce risky behavior among big Wall Street banks. Does that mean we get rid of FDIC insurance? I don't think that would be a good idea (particularly considering the fact that rational regulation, like Glass Steagall, was able to mitigate against the worse consequences of this potentiality, and there's very good reasons supporting the concept of FDIC insurance, notwithstanding the fact that it probably has at least a minor distortive effect on market dynamics, even under the best conditions). Moreover, even if we wind up having to forgive many of these loans (some might call that a de facto bail out), I'd much rather see us err on the side of the people, rather than on the side of concentrated special interests.
+Who says they don't have a choice? They can form a fund and buy the factory from the owners who would only be too happy to sell off a factory that they otherwise were shutting down.
+However, that does not change the fact that the global economy has transformed considerably since the manufacturing boom in US which was decades ago and now it would be very tough for manufacturing in US to be globally competitive. If the workers want to throw their money down a drain, they are free to do so.
+I'm proposing something much more aggressive; but I guess the question is, can the US maintain (or ideally enhance) quality of life without a manufacturing sector (or a very thin manufacturing sector)? Don't get me wrong, it would be great if we were a society comprised of scientists, lawyers, doctors, engineers, great poets, artisans, etc. (and no worker bees who lack this sort of academic background), but whether or not that ever happens, I think it's fair to say it's far in the future, so do we accept decline, or do we try and do something about this problem (assuming you agree that we have a problem)? I do think we can compete, but unless we implement a VAT (which every other developed nation on earth has), then I suppose it would be an insurmountable challenge.
+The US can still manufacture high end stuff. Also costs in China are rising fast and once they allow full convertability of their currency and open up their economy further costs will increase and may be US will become competitive.
+We've been hearing this line for a decade now. The Chinese can keep labor costs wherever they wish, because they're a totalitarian country. We keep thinking the Chinese economy will grow so large that it will eventually be beyond the capacity of its government to control and manage, but the Chinese GNP is now in excess of $10 Trillion. Now, the Chinese are using the same tactics to get at our high end manufacturing that they used to capture the lower end, labor intensive stuff, yet we're still fed mythical magical fairy tales by trade economists (and at this point, the objective evidence makes clear, those fairy tales are just that ... fairy tales). Don't get me wrong, I don't blame the Chinese for exploiting our stupidity. The idea ponied by economists is that eventually the Chinese will stop manipulating their currency and exploiting certain segments of its workforce, because it will no longer be advantageous. But of course this is a very theoretical idea, and obviously the Chinese have a different theory (and all the evidence suggests, they're exactly right).
+However, I don't think our government ponies these fairy tales with an actual belief that they're true. It's the same old story, government collusion with multinational corporations. For companies, it's their never ending quest to exploit humans as much as possible (because the market rewards human exploitation, and it punishes companies that aren't willing to play the game), for the government, it's the old hegemony game.
+Collective capitalism. The workers get shares in their own companies. Profit benefits all the staff from bottom to top of the tree.
+How will you get self-entitled CEOs to give up that much power/profit?
+The quantity of shares available to the workers will be less, or equal to, the holdings of the CEO or company owner/s. The workers elect their own representative/s to attend company board meetings to discuss profits and share allocations. It's worked in Australia for decades now. Instead of bonuses or overtime pay, workers are given shares that they are free to hold or trade as usual. It works well, and is a great incentive for the workers to actually put more effort into their company.
+Maybe (I like the idea of employee owned companies, call it democratic capitalism, and it's not just a theoretical idea, we have many employee owned companies in the US & overall they're more productive, survive longer, provide better benefits, etc.), but I'm not sure what the overall solution will be (I just know what I said in my OP is true, which would imply our system needs changing).
+The counter-argument (I suppose) would go something like this. Cheaper products give consumers more purchasing power, and therefore enhance quality of life. However, in light of the fact that employee owned companies are so successful, and considering that some countries have strong labor laws, value added taxes (which helps the sustainability of their manufacturing sector), and a strong public safety net, while they're able to maintain a robust manufacturing sector, high living standards, their workers enjoy at least a semi-democratic workplace, etc., these counter-arguments seem weak.
+There could be limits to the effectiveness of the employee owned model. Maybe very capital intensive industries (like computer chip factories or other operations that require a high level of automation and technical expertise) are well served by the conventional model (and capital markets), but in most cases this just isn't true. I've heard it said that our financial industry is one of our strongest industries (and thus we shouldn't want to harm it through public policy), but it seems that Wall Streets success comes at the expense of the rest of the economy. In other words, it's a parasitic industry (and its overall net effect is negative, sort of like organized crime).
+There was a time when the mob had significant political influence, and the degree to which an industry harms the general public seems to correspond with the amount of money they spend trying to influence the political process. Good industries don't need a government strongman.
+Well if employees of a company are willing to buy back all the shares of a company from shareholders, then it can be turned into a employee owned company. In fact, sometimes management decides to buy all shares from shareholders if there is a threat of a hostile takeover or if the board tries to enforce a decision on the management that they don't agree with. Back in 2009-10 when Sun was about to get bought by Oracle, many of its employees were unhappy and there were talks of such a management leveraged buyout.
+As for what Wall Street rewards, well rewards a company doing what is best for it's shareholders. Shareholders care about their dividends and stock price and thus wall street tracks these numbers. If shareholders cared about keeping jobs in the country at the expense of rising manufacturing costs, they are free to do so and the company can then do that. But wall street cares about numbers and CSR does not come in the balance sheet.
+As it stands now, in most cases, employees lack the resources to do this, and as you say, it's often a defensive tactic by management (so in some cases, it really doesn't change the character of the corporation). In the study I cited above, the evidence shows that employee ownership alone doesn't provide many advantages over the conventional model (although it's not disadvantageous either).
+The real advantage is gained when the company is not only employee owned, but its management is participative. So why do we grant all these special favors to industries that are less than ideal, when a much better model exists? The answer is very clear (at least in my view), the corrosive influence of money in politics.
+what do you mean by participative management?
+From the study I cited above:
+On financial performance, the researchers were only able to look at public companies with ESOPs, which generally had very small plans (about 5% ownership). Majority-owned ESOPs are all closely held and financial data are not available. ESOPs had no significant independent effect on return on equity, but the combination of ESOPs, or other shared capitalism approaches, with employee engagement was 3.9% greater than for firms without this combination. Engagement alone, however, also had no significant impact.
+What these various studies show is that factors like greater employee influence on new products, marketing, work design, etc., correlate with better performance (in employee owned companies).
+I imagine that enhanced workplace collaboration is probably advantageous for most companies (including conventional companies), but the biggest advantages are gained when the companies are both employee owned and employee managed.
+Nevertheless, this doesn't negate the role of professional managers. All of the functions critical to conventional companies (finance, marketing, accounting, etc.) are just as important in employee owned companies.
+Dude ESOP are pretty common.
+Yes, ergo my point :)
+Today i’m, going to talk about how this store made twenty two thousand two hundred and sixty seven dollars in a single month and continues to make an average of seven thousand dollars a month. Stay tuned because i’m, going to go over, who built the store, how it was marketed, the growth and what you can do to replicate its success and some tips for you throughout the video.
+First of all, jairus senguli was on the shopify market exchange store for sale. The seller was looking for ten thousand dollars because they wanted to sell it on fast because they had a new job coming up, that they wanted to concentrate and put more time into.
+So, according to shopify, they say the average revenue for this site is five hundred and five thousand six hundred and ten dollars uh with an average uh monthly session of fifteen thousand users and an average of five 500 profit.
+Now the numbers that you see here, aren’t exactly correct and i will be getting into more detailed numbers in a bit uh throughout the videos uh. But for now i just wanted to share where i found gyrus and goolie and how well it’s, doing as a print and demand store and how you could replicate this same success.
+Using the tips that i’ll be giving you throughout the video. We know that gyro singularity was built using shopify print on demand services and the target audience are medical students and graduates. But what makes this a good niche in particular? Firstly, the market is constantly renewing providing an everlasting market of new medical students and professionals, meaning that there will always be a steady amount of new customers.
+Secondly, the products are unique with a high perceived value and is difficult to be copied. Thirdly, it targets a very passionate audience. Fourthly, the designs are aesthetically pleasing and, finally, the niche is easy to market to on social media.
+Remember this, the perfect niche targets, a passionate audience as soon as you land on gyro singularly you would notice that the designs for these phone cases are very detail orientated. They take a lot of work and obviously an artist did do this and an artist did do this and her name is sarai saray lamas i’m, not too sure.
+If i’m pronouncing that right, um, so sari lamas designed a lot of these and looking more into her, she creates medical art, and this is perfect for the founder of gyrosynguli. And if i go into one of the phone cases you could see it see the phone case in many sort of variations and angles, and it gives the user a better idea and the user could choose whatever they want to choose and add it.
+To cart. Has a good description so what sarai says? I often think that the night is more live more richly colored than the day, a nice little uh story to go with the art from the artist, and so that’s.
+Great. This artist also has a good number of followings on her instagram, so uh collaborating with this artist or getting the designs commission from her is also great because she could push her followers towards this site to buy some of her art um.
+Of course you have the testimonials and when i look at the best sellers, so first of all, this site also does sell jewelry, watches and apparel. However, i don’t think they do well at all um. The phone case is the clear winner.
+So right now i’m sorting all the products by the best selling according to shopify, and you can see that find the seed iphone case is at the top and the rest is populated with more iphone cases and that’s obvious.
+Even in my own store, i find that the iphone cases sell the most so saray lamas is an illustrator who specializes in medical art. As we just mentioned, she pays attention to a lot of detail and provides high quality designs, and that is really what you want to commission.
+When you’re looking for an artist and if you are trying to look for an artist and are struggling at the moment, you can check the link in the below to help you out and so using sarah and alma. You have a good formula when you combine it so let’s, say psi rise, art plus shopify, plus print on demand for the automation, plus the niche of medical students and graduates and just medical professionals, and that is a formula for success and a Lot of money on this video is because of the numbers, and that’s.
+Exactly what i’m gonna be doing right now is diving into the numbers before i go back into a critique of the whole website and how it can be improved. So, first of all, just a quick reminder. According to shopify exchange, the average revenue of the uh store is five thousand six hundred and ten dollars a month, with average sessions of fifteen thousand two hundred and twelve uh visitors per month and an average profit of five hundred dollars a month.
+Now, according to the description, some of this information might not be accurate, and so therefore, i’ll, be using the screenshots to dissect further uh. How much really this store has been making or potentially been making how they also can again improve their user experience? So, first of all, this store was started in on 28th of january 2019 and it stopped running facebook ads on december 2019, so um so january onwards.
+It has been all organic and the shopify statistics will attest to that. So, as you can see um what it looks like here is perhaps first time the facebook ads were run on february 2019. It generated a lot of sales, nine thousand dollars and then it must have had been reduced, or perhaps it was just building up more sort of leads and optimizing the facebook ads and, as you can see in april 2019, it didn’t.
+Make much at all just 49, so perhaps it was just one sale and then um on may 2019, it made a loss of minus 14.99 and then in june it seems that the facebook ads were starting again and, as you could see in june 2019, it made 3.
+8K and then the next month it made 12k, and that was big, perhaps because it was optimizing, retargeting and just continuing and then reinvesting some of the profits made into more facebook advertising, and so it was a whole cycle.
+This engine was roaring and clearly the person running gyro singuli knew what they were doing and kept pumping in money into facebook ads eventually hitting their biggest month in october, earning 22 276 dollars, and i’m guessing at this point.
+They they slowly eased off the gas on facebook ads as the numbers start to slowly dip. I’m, pretty sure they were pausing their ads and spending less and then by uh january 2020. As you know, from descriptions there were no facebook ads at tool and organic traffic started to flow in through search engines, as you can see, and it started making a thousand to one thousand five hundred between five hundred dollars a month through organic search, which is really Good for no advertising and, as you can see this, the revenue correlates with the total amount of traffic.
+So in october it had 71 000 people visit the site and uh. As you know, it had 22 000 in revenue, and so the traffic would what is correlating with the amount of sales that gyro singularly has gotten and after they stop.
+Facebook, as as you can see, is dying down from 3 000 going further further and further down. But still staying um somewhat consistent, so you can see that it’s gaining between an average of 800 to let’s, say 2000 uh visitors per month and that correlates to around 1 000 to 1 dollars a month.
+And so now that i’ve got that out of the way i wanted to just look into the screenshots provided by gyro singuli and further dissect that so a quick screenshot of the google analytics, showing the revenue and conversion rate between january to august 2020, you can see that the average order value is forty dollars.
+So here’s, a screenshot of javascript’s. Facebook ad spent um. They spent a total of 65 to 69 000 us dollars on facebook advertisement between january 2019 to december 2019 um that gave them a total reach of 14.
+7 million people and 46 million impressions. If the numbers seem big and you’re thinking. Oh no, i can’t afford this. Remember you can still make money starting small as long as you reinvest and optimize your ads.
+So, as a result, according to facebook for the year 8488, people made a purchase, and so if the average order value is at forty dollars and gyro singularity made eight thousand four hundred and eighty eight orders.
+That equates to three hundred and thirty nine thousand five hundred and twenty dollars so take into consideration. The facebook ad spend so minus sixty six thousand six hundred and fifty eight dollars.
+You’re still up by two hundred and seventy two thousand eight hundred and sixty one dollars on the year um. You also have to consider the cost of goods. For this instance, i’m, going to assume gyrus and gudy used printful to fulfill orders, so i could give you a price range.
+Printful is what i currently use and have been using for many years now. I, like the customer service, their quality control and it’s, always been high and consistent and at a scale of this store, you would be eligible to get a bulk discount on your phone cases that you fulfill using printful.
+So let’s say that the average price of a phone case worth shipping is nine dollars for gyro singuli and with 8488 orders at nine dollars. That will cost them. Seventy six thousand three hundred and ninety two dollars that leaves jairus and gudy with 196 469 dollars for the year, in other words, sixteen thousand three hundred and seventy two dollars per month.
+Please note that gyro singuli may have had other expenses such as paying individual influences, but i cannot say how much that would have been, but i doubt it would have exceeded the profits. Also, keep in mind that gyrosync really pays 29 per month for shopify and approximately 200 per month for shopify apps that they use, but that’s, really peanuts to what they make.
+If you would like to learn how to find profitable niches or designers, illustrators and artists or target your market audience better or execute research to generate more ideas or spy on other prints on demand stores check out the link in the description below as for now, i Hope you enjoyed the video, found it useful and got some good information out of it that you could use to implement in your own stores and until next time see ya.
+So when you first land on javascrile’s website, you see that there is a phone case in this massive sort of slideshow and it’s, not clear what’s being shown here, it does say, need a good looking Phone case, question mark free, one-year guarantee view phone cases or view cases, and i assume that will take you to all the cases.
+Uh you scroll down and you get to see the sarai llamas collection. So it’s featuring the artist that made a lot of the designs here, which is a good thing. However, i would first thing i would do is change this.
+It’s very unappealing. It brings down the the look and class of this site, and so i would change this to be more orientated towards giving the visitor an action to take there’s, quite a few items on sale and when i saw this six months ago, um It’s still on sale since then, so that’s, not really a good thing.
+Ideally you want you don’t want it to be on a permanent sale. So you got the testimonials on the left that pop up and also a get to this, get 10 percent off. So you want to be careful with that sort of placement you don’t want them to hide each other and cancel them each other out.
+You’ve got testimonials at the bottom towards the footer, which is also good um, going into the separate products. I like the fact that it features the artist name. It gives the iphone case a name and unique name, and then it has a message from the artist which is always nice um.
+Apart from that, there are a few other things that i’ve, noticed uh since the sale of this store. I’ve noticed that there are a lot of coming soon pages, so yep here’s, one so um these coming soon pages.
+The cause of the speculation is an article on Bloomberg, as follows:
+June 12 (Bloomberg) -- Japan is investigating reports two of its citizens were detained in Italy after allegedly attempting to take $134 billion worth of U.S. bonds over the border into Switzerland.
+I placed a comment against my last post on first reading the story, in which I speculated on what might be going on, and suggested the following:I placed a comment against my last post on first reading the story, in which I speculated on what might be going on, and suggested the following:
+.
+If the bonds are genuine (unconfirmed), the big question is who might have such a large sum? The only logical answer is a nation state, and with the individuals being Japanese, that would suggest Japan.I had picked up the article about the smuggling in my regular trawl through the financial news. A short while after writing the comment, I found an article reporting on the G8 meeting.....which is located in Italy.
+The second question is why they are smuggling them?
+I have been speculating on this subject and have come up with some wild scenarios. I would like to emphasise that these are 'wild'.
+However, the best answer that I could find is that the Japanese government wants to dump US bonds on the quiet. As such, they sought to transfer them to Switzerland, where they could then sell them, and disguise the point of origin of the selling.
+In doing so they would avoid spooking the markets by making a Japanese sell-off of US bonds visible. As a large holder of US debt, any significant sell-off would potentially commence a $US rout..
+This means that senior Japanese financial officials are in Italy, and these are the very people who might wish to undertake the quiet dumping of bonds. I was unable to find out who was attending from Japan, but it is a certainty that it would include all the necessary key players necessary for this kind of undertaking.
+Regarding the matter of whether the bonds are genuine, this from the Asia News:?. Back in January, I was discussing the $US dilemma for the major creditors of the US as follows:
+The trouble is that, with so many countries holding these $US reserves, most of whom have their own economic problems, it is likely that everyone is having the same thoughts, and confronting similar problems. What you have is a situation in which there is something like a Mexican stand-off. As soon as one starts selling, then everybody must start selling. They are all, at the same time, terrified of selling, because in doing so, they destroy the value of what they are selling. It is a time bomb just waiting to go off.Selling the bonds without appearing to sell them would be an excellent solution to the standoff. On the one hand you can sound positive, continue to make purchases, reassure the market, and meanwhile offload ever more of the dangerous (toxic) assets through the back door.
+Normally, such massive amounts of assets would be impossible to move without regulators noticing, and without alarm bells going off. However, if it is the government and central bank acting, there is no reason why the alarm bells might not be switched off.
+For the moment, let's assume that this wild speculation about the story is true. If it is the case that the men who have been arrested are acting in order to commence a sell of US bonds, it is quite likely that they will either be government finance officials, or members of the Naicho (Japanese intelligence service - reports to the prime minister). If it is the former, then a link can be made to the government but, if the latter, then it will be difficult to ever establish a connection.
+In the meantime, how will the US and Japan handle the situation, if the bonds are real?
+The important point is that it is not in the interest of either country to admit to the operation. For the US, if they point the finger at Japan, they will need to admit that one of the largest holders of bonds is dumping them, and this will cause a run on the $US. For the Japanese, their interest in not revealing what they have been up to is self-evident. If the bonds are genuine, it will need one or both of the governments to confirm that they are genuine. It is in the interests of both governments to deny that this is the case. The most likely story will be that it is a North Korean counterfeiting operation, as they are well known for this kind of activity.
+Meanwhile, the Italians will be unable to prove the case one way or another. Without confirmation of the authenticity of the bonds from the US or Japan, how might they establish the truth one way or another? In addition, it is unlikely that the Italians would want to upset the US by pushing the matter.
+In short, whether the bonds are genuine or not, I would be very surprised to see that this story goes much further.
+The underlying story, if this wild speculation were to be true, is that the Japanese are dumping the $US. If this were the case, then the $US is finished, and we can expect to see it collapse in the very, very near future.
+As I have said, this is all wild speculation. However, it does have a kind of painful logic. If the Japanese are, like the Chinese, increasingly dubious about holding $US reserves, then this would be a way of unloading the position whilst gaining the maximum value from the holdings. I have long argued on this post that $US bonds are largely worthless, the Chinese suspect that this may be the case, so why not the Japanese? As another example, Peter Schiff is discussing the absurdity of Japan having faith in the $US.
+Once again, I can only emphasise that what I am writing is highly speculative. I have no evidence either way, but can see no other explanation of this rather extraordinary story. If anyone has a less fanciful explanation, then I will welcome comments. This is all very odd, and I do feel that my 'take' on it is quite questionable. It really is moving into the realms of James Bond movies....questions to answer, in particular are...; Is there any reason why anyone might want to forge the bonds? Who, and how might they pass them off? What mechanism might they use to sell the forgeries?
+Over to you, the readers, for alternative considerations....
+As an additional note, the Schiff video I link to has Schiff pointing out that the Japanese are contemplating an exit strategy, and using the so called 'pump and dump' method. This is talking an asset up, whilst selling it on the quiet.....
+Another question...what caused the Italian police to stop the two men? No answer as yet in any of the articles....
+Update: The following article suggests that the bonds are forged, and that the police are asking the SEC for details. Apparently this will take a couple of days.
+But why would anyone forge such large denominations??? The more thought I give to this, the less it makes sense.....
+Why would it take a couple of days for the SEc to check? It is not like there are that many $US 500 million bonds that checking the records will take time??? With a potential crime of such magnitude....you would think that there might be some wishes to speed the resolution of the questions....
+It is all very, very odd....
+If the billion-dollar bonds belonged to the Japanese government, wouldn't they have been brought to Switzerland in diplomatic pouches that could not be searched by border guards? To do otherwise would be incredibly reckless and irresponsible.
+Erasma
+Cynicus,
+Excellent spot!
+I don't think a news source like Bloomberg would run a story like that unless it was 100% sure of its facts.
+Like you say though, it's probably not in anyone's interest for the story to come out - so it'll be fascinating to see which news wires pick it up.
+Very, very odd indeed!
+T.
+A fair point Erasma. They undoubtedly could do this to get the bonds in Italy. I agree that this would be the logical approach.
+As such, potential flaw number one in the argument.
+However, it does depend on whether they could trust a diplomat with this job. It may be that, if they wanted to keep the whole thing within a close group, they could have opted for the secret service. Who would have guessed that they could get caught in this way? What are the chances of being searched crossing borders once you are within Europe? More speculation...
+Perhaps they were taking the bonds across the border in order to buy the Roswell flying saucer or the loch ness monster. Frankly this sort of post belongs in the Fortean times.
+Yet another update - the Korean connection emerges in one report on the story...
+"The significance of this story is that it highlights the very topical importance of retaining investor faith in a fiat currency; if the supply of money is suddenly perceived to be vastly higher than believed, whether as a result of policy or widespread fraud, confidence can be badly shaken. If this was another crazy North Korean forgery scheme, it gets close to a casus belli on top of the relentless provocation of the US in recent months. If, in the less likely but possible case that an Asian country were genuinely but secretly attempting to dump dollar paper for other assets, the implications are very disturbing for international markets."
+How long before the articles suggesting that it is all a plot by the CIA to start a war with North Korea? It is a gift for the imagination, which is why I have emphasised the speculative nature of the post.
+However, Spiegel, a leading German news source, has also picked up the story, and apparently there is considerable discussion in the Italian press.
+It will be interesting to watch how this story moves in the next couple of days, as major news sources pick it up.
+I would hazard a guess that the story has a long way to run. Even were the bonds to be fake, there is a major story in there. If they are not fake, how will we know? If they are not fake, then the story is potentially huge...
+At the moment, most of the stories are not offering anything new. Feel free to link to any new information.
+Anonymous: There is a real story here. The facts of two men being arrested with the bonds is from reputable sources. It is hardly a story about UFO sightings, as there are real people, under real arrest being investigated for real holdings of either genuine or fake bonds.....
+The game is surely up isn't it? Even if you 'pull a fast one' and exchange some worthess currency for a not-quite-so-worthless one, you ultimately reduce the value of the not-quite-so-worthless one, anyway. And the inevitable panic selling which is going to happen in the near future, hastened by your 'pump and dump', is going to make a valuation of any currency pointless.
+LEAP2020 has been saying that what will eventually kill the economy is the lack of a credible reserve currency. They liken it to the end of the Roman empire when the silver content of coins was reduced to almost nothing, and the resulting uncertainty as to its value simply prevented people from trading normally. LEAP2020 is calling for the establishment of a dedicated reserve currency.
+Who would know if they are genuine? Is there a body independent enough of govt interference that could determine their veracity? It's in just about everybody's interest for them to be declared fake, apart from the Italian Govt who would stand to make a hefty windfall if they were real. And they wouldn't want to upset the US govt either.
+Maybe they are 'real' in that they were printed where ever such things are printed, but were smuggled out by corrupt staff.
+Who knows? I don't think we will ever know the truth here - there is too much at stake if it were some illicit govt scheme. It will be declared a counterfeit operation whatever the reality.
+If bonds of this size are only used between nations, then whether real or fake, who would buy the bonds? Are there other nations who are willign to buy bonds 'on the side' for a discount? Or are there private organisations (crime groups for example) who have enough money to be in the market for dodgy bonds?
+Mark
+Perhaps you could post on the subject of national currencies: why we have them, and what advantages they have over a single global currency.
+To my mind, the fact that people make a living from trading them is probably a good enough reason to get rid of them. What possible benefit does a currency trader bring to the world?
+And I suspect that any problems that can, apparently, be solved by maintaining independent currencies were probably caused by the existence of those independent currencies in the first place...
+You appear to be turning into a 'conspiracy theorist' Cynicus.
+Next thing you'll be buying into the concept that the establishment media is mainly controlled by one group.
+If Japanese government would be involved, they would use diplomatic mail to move bonds across borders.
+Japanese are extremely risk averse bunch. They just don't do these kind of cowboy stunts. If you know how Japanese diplomacy and culture works, imagining Japanese financial officers planning to risk $135 billion (and more importantly, their face) in some shady risky move is just hilarious. Japanese have demonstrated during last decade that they are willing to lose billions and trillions before losing their face.
+If NK is involved (quite possible), they, or someone they are selling these bonds, have found extremely gullible buyer, who don't want to bring experts from Treasury to confirm their authenticity.
+I suspect that this is just some con where some third grade country (possibly NK, who has agents with Japanese citizenships) are taking loans from some gullible billionaires and putting some fake bonds into warrant deposits in Switzerland.
+If they are fake, someone either wishes to destabilise the US$ or intended to use them as a security for a loan that they would then disappear with.
+If they are real and declared real, the Italians will have a windfall and everyone will know someone is trying to dump dollars.
+If they are real and declared fake, their owner will have lost an awful lot of money and will know that their chance of further surreptitious dumping is much reduced. (And presumably the bonds would be locked ..er .. safely away by the Italian police as evidence in any future counterfeiting trial.)
+The only other possibility I can think of is that someone in a high position in Berlusconi's Italy has gone to a lot of trouble to plant totally false reports that have deceived your reputable sources - the likely effect of such reports being to destabilise the Mexican Stand-off and thus destabilise the dollar.
+.
+So who are the people who were stopped on the Swiss border? I have compiled some odds. These are subject to change as new facts emerge.
+Japanese Gov agents acting in a covert but officially sanctioned capacity (eg to secretly ditch US dollars?) (4/10)
+Japanese Gov agents acting (knowingly or otherwise) for corrupt faction within Japanese Gov (2/10)
+Japanese citizens acting as agents of foreign power in a political operation (eg a DPRK plot to destabilise dollar) (0.5/10).
+Japanese citizens acting as agents of foreign power in a financial operation (eg PRC trying to secretly ditch dollars) (1.5/10)
+Japanese citizens acting on behalf of a criminal gang, unconnected to any government (1/10)
+Innocent Japanese tourists caught up in a conspiracy(!), and all other explanations (1/10)
+I suspect that this is just some con where some third grade country (possibly NK, who has agents with Japanese citizenships) are taking loans from some gullible billionaires and putting some fake bonds into warrant deposits in Switzerland.
+Indeed. Japan's motivations for a 'pump and dump' are self evident, but this story has too many loose ends for either the couriers or booty to be genuine. Japan's just not into cloak and dagger gambits like this, whereas North Korea's Dear Leader loves them.
+(Obligatory link to Team America's "So Ronery" (contains profanity))
+So I agree with Nick Nolan's theory of North Koreans on Japanese passports with fake treasury bills if I were a betting man. It won't be pounced on by the media because NK is always up to stuff like this.
+What scares me is how everybody I speak to now seems utterly convinced the recession is 'ending'. Intelligent, informed people all seem to agree we've seen the bottom of it.
+Nobody recognises that it may be QE and other policies causing a brief upswing in a few areas, precipitating a new descent to come.
+In the same way, nobody is likely to believe Japan would be looking to sell dollars. After all, who'd want to sell the worlds most powerful currency just as the recession is beginning to turn? That'd be ... uh ... crazy.
+Something tells me that next year is going to make even this year seem tame.
+Sorry I posted the same comment twice.Does this mean I'm guilty of quantitative posting ? John C.
+Must be the two stupidest Yakuza ever.....
+@Anonymous/John C.
+Give it a rest mate, Cynicus couldn't have made it any clearer that this was speculation and clearly urged caution.
+And if you want to be an ass about it:
+1. Unless you are suggesting that the two men arrested were acting independently of one another, then any theory as to their actions would be by definition a 'conspiracy theory'.
+2. CE didn't make any "extraordinary claim" - he clearly stated (more than once) this was speculation.
+3. Your "proof for speculation" is an oxymoron: one has "grounds for speculation" - if you have proof than you don't need to speculate.
+Given the facts (two Japanese citizens arrested) - and the context(same day as Japanese authorities make dramatic statement about faith in dollar, G8 meeting) there are plenty of grounds for speculation in this case.
+4. Your roswell/ufo analogy is irrelevant and tiresome.
+T.
+Here is a picture of the infamous bonds:
+As the news trickles out on this one, the general view is that it is N.Korea/forged bonds.
+I think the interesting point in this story will be verification of the identity of the individuals involved....
+Still not many main stream media stories on this, or at least not in my latest trawl.
+As the Daily Kos says, 'you just can't make this stuff up'.. so it is a surprise the the media have not picked up on this.
+I would say that I like the idea of rich individuals going for a scam, but have trouble in believing that, with all their advisors on finance, that someone would not suggest that this was a scam. The kind of people with this kind of money have the resource to check the veracity of such claims. On the other hand, when it comes to greed, history shows that the most incredible scams can work....
+The popular idea that it is the North Koreans is plausible at first sight. However, they are experienced counterfeiters, and therefore I have to question why they would go for such large denominations. They have previously forged $US, and they presumably have the facility to mass produce. Smaller denominations of anything would be simpler to pass off.
+If this was North Korea's first foray into forgery, I might buy such an incompetent method. However, as experienced forgers...??
+If it was Japan, as some have pointed out, why not just send the money over directly by diplomatic courier? Why try to smuggle the bonds?
+I think, as things stand, we have two options.
+One is that the North Koreans are incompetent forgers. The other is that the Japanese are incompetent and took huge risks in their efforts to ditch $US bonds.
+I am not sure that either explanation is satisfactory.
+I guess we will have to wait and see, and identify whether any new information arises. It is certainly a fascinating story, however it unfolds....
+Reply to Aristotlethegeek on the Gold Standard
+(1)You note:
+But there is a limit to such inflation, unlike fiat money. I don't know of any case where the pure gold standard has resulted in hyperinflation.
+Commodity standards have resulted in very high inflation: take the "price revolution" of the
+15th to 17th centuries, caused in part by massive silver mining and the influx of New World gold into Europe.
+(2)
+Coercion is making me do something against my will .....
+If I hold a great deal of gold, and vehemently object to seeing its value severely reduced by the mining of large amounts of gold brought onto the market, I am clearly being subjected to a form of theft. My money's value has been reduced. That is a form of non-voluntary theft that will still happen under a commodity standard.
+Furthermore, this means that people are not even properly "protected" from the possibility of inflation at all under a gold standard. Yet this is the chief defence one hears again and again about the gold standard.
+I'm having trouble believing that someone would forge financial instruments with such a ridiculously high face value that it would be impossible to pass them off to anyone. These things are only good for one thing, and that is for dealings between sovereign states.
+Just for grins and giggles, let's assume that the bonds are real. That means that somewhere in the archives of the Fed and/or Treasury are records of these bonds -- probably the Fed. Congressman Ron Paul is pushing a bill in the House to audit the Fed, and his bill just passed the 50% mark for co-sponsors.
+My first thought was that even if the bonds are real and Japan really is dumping, the Fed/Treasury would declare them to be forgeries, get Italy to discretely return them, and hush the affair up. But if there is the possibility of a Congressionally mandated audit looming, then the Fed/Treasury would have to destroy the evidence that these bonds ever existed, and destruction of evidence opens up a whole can of worms. Let's see if Congress takes a bite at this story.
+If they are so good that they are indistinguishable from the real thing, and if they are only used in nation-state transactions, but they are forgeries, where would they have gotten and original to copy? What would the motivation of the provider be? They would be diluting their own holdings by providing an original to copy. Where would the correct paper with all of it's special fibers, correctly compounded ink, and other obscure anti-counterfeiting measures come from? It would be necessary to disassemble one of these billion dollar documents just to begin to learn what all of these measures would be, and there would be many. A nearly perfect copy of this kind of document would imply, necessarily, a lot of things in terms of materials and expertise that only a few in the world have. It's easier to believe they're real, and far more astounding and terrifying in its implications to believe they're forged
+It seems that there is another article that almost exactly replicates the argument in this article.
+I am sure that they are coming to the same questions conclusions on an independent basis, but that suggests that I am not moving into complete fantasy.......
+Still, more information is necessary before any conclusions might be drawn....
+Additional Proof that the Financial Crisis could have been prevented by proper Financial Regulation:
+There's no question that [the] zeal for deregulation set Britain up for a fall. Consider the counter example of Canada — a mostly English-speaking country, every bit as much in the American cultural orbit as Britain, but one where Reagan/Thatcher-type financial deregulation never took hold. Sure enough, Canadian banks have been a pillar of stability in the crisis.
+Paul Krugman, Deregulation set us all up for a big fall, June 09 2009
+I have yet to see a refutation of the fact that Canada's regulated fianncial sector saved it from a crisis like that in the US and the UK.
+Is it a possibility the banks are passing these bonds around - to each have on hand during an audit to look like they have more assets than they really do?
+Who would bother to check if 2 banks in 2 different countries have the same US treasury on their books?
+Cynicus, what's your take on this?
+@Lord Keynes
+but that is that same Paul Krugman who said this today:
+UK's economy is 'best in Europe'
+I'm having a hard time keeping up with these people!
+T.
+Not related to this issue, but an interesting article for Cynicus and his readers:
+"De-dollarisation: The dismantling of the American financial empire"
+This from ABC news on 20 February:
+"Officials said today they have
+seized more than $2 trillion in counterfeit U.S. Federal Reserve
+bonds and arrested one suspect in the southern Philippines.
+Police also showed reporters stacks of counterfeit Japanese yen and Argentine peso notes in various denominations, a few fake one-dollar bills and some other currencies seized Saturday.
+Police and staff from the U.S. Embassy arrested a Filipino man in the southern city of Cagayan de Oro with the falsified currencies and U.S. bonds along with German and Argentine bonds — a total counterfeit haul of $2,157,044,400,000.
+‘Very Good Quality’
+The fakes were of "very good quality" but some of the bond denominations do not exist, said David Popp, a U.S. Treasury Department representative.
+The U.S. bonds, totaling more $2 trillion, were in denominations ranging from tens of thousands of dollars to $500 million. The bonds of other countries were in denominations as small as $30."
+It seems that good old fashioned idiocy is at issue here. It seems that these two characters actually thought that they could pass off the fake bonds.
+End of excitement. If there is a good simple explanation, then I will go with that. This appears to explain it. Idiocy...
+From the article Don Keyes linked to:
+."
+One thing I don't understand is the way "unemployment" is seen as a bad thing even if China is being paid what it knows to be worthless paper for its efforts. If we really are to believe what we're being told about the dollar, China is just using up energy and materials simpy to keep people working. They'd be better off forgetting about the US and directing most of their manufacturing to the home market. They could all be living like kings in no time. Or can someone suggest a reason why they wouldn't?
+Am I missing something in the explanation for the smuggled US dollar bonds? I thought the original story said that it was Japanese citizens who had been arrested in Italy, not someone from the Philippines..?
+Mises on the Idea of a Fixed Money Supply
+Ludwig von Mises supposedly called for a fixed money supply:
+Any updates on this story?
+I just did an internal search for the story on CNN, MSNBC, NYtimes and got zero hits. It seems it's not being covered by the mainstream.
+Dear Italian Government, I am a bond authenticity expert. Please send two of the original bonds for my examination. One bond will be sacrificed due to the rigorous testing process and the other will be flown to Switzerland up my shoot to be immediately traded for gold, silver or blocks of cheese.
+Dear Japanese Smugglers, You have faired miselably in callying out your countly's mission. Prease leport back to the homerand immediatery for hali cali celemony in youl honol.
+Since my last comment, I have posted and added a note that effectively add up to 'case closed'. However, the lack of news coverage on this story is a bit of a puzzle. The most recent article on the subject that I could find, on Seeking Alpha, expresses the same puzzlement.
+As such, I will keep an occasional eye on the story, and see if anything new turns up. This story must have an ending....the question is what ending? The lack of media interest on this is a genuine puzzle.
+The Times has now piced up the story, but nothing new as yet.
+The article is a repetition of other articles, with the same lack of information on the smugglers and no idea of whether the bonds are genuine.
+Good post.
+What I find truly stunning is that the whole thing got reported in the first place. I mean that's a huge national security issue.
+You can expect a few heads to fall in the Italian customs...
+Really excellent blog on a very murky business.
+This story reminds me of why China is pushing for a world currency and not the US dollar.
+That China is one of the biggest holder of gold reserves is interesting.
+The US dollar since 1971 has been based on a "promise to pay" and when people walked away from mortgages that promise became worthless.
+That the bonds have not been authenticated speaks volumes of a cover up.
+With that amount of money, establishing the legitimacy of the bonds should have taken less time then has passed.
+A fascinating article has appeared on Bloomberg as follows:
+The author is unaware of the fake bonds from the Philippines, and questions what on earth is going on, including questioning why it is taking so long to get answers.
+At this stage, the delay is starting to make me wonder too....
+I'm afraid you've missed the simplest explanation, and it makes your speculation look a little wild.
+I think it's very likely that these bonds aren't intended to be passed for their face value, but are used in a variation on an old scam as props. Gullible investors are persuaded to put up money that is for some reason needed to turn the bonds into cash.
+One story in use is that the bonds are taken by Andean tribesmen from a US government aircraft that crashed whilst secretly taking money to fund an ally during the Second World War.
+You get the idea. Hell, you probably get the emails from people trying the same scam without props.
+I just hope to have understood this the way it was meant
+The
+Roosters are Crowing:
+It’s Time for Africans to Sweep Our Huts Clean
+of Dirty Politics
+February 18, 2008.
+The people of Ethiopia, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Chad, Nigeria,
+Somalia, Uganda, the Congo—too many places to
+name, are challenging the status quo of dirty politics
+and dirty politicians, not with guns, but with their
+brooms! We are entering a new era and it is time to
+clean our huts of corrupt leaders who refuse to give
+up power while robbing and oppressing the people they
+are supposed to serve! This is the root of our suffering,
+misery and pain.
+Dear Africans, it does not matter our ethnic group,
+region, country, religion, political group, gender,
+age, language or culture,. A good example of this
+is what happened in the general elections in Zimbabwe
+on March 11, 2002, in Ethiopia on May 15, 2005, in Uganda
+on February 23, 2006, in the Congo on July 30, 2006,
+in Nigeria on April 21, 2007, and now in Kenya since
+the national election on December 27, 2007.
+The truth is that it is not a battle of politicians
+and their political agendas; it is a battle for real
+democracy, freedom, justice and peace against corruption
+of the democratic process. Any peace agreement that
+does not fearlessly address this key issue will be a
+cover up of the truth. Yet, in both Ethiopia and Kenya,
+the incumbents have attempted to convince others that
+the real problem was with those who protested against
+their claimed victory rather than with the actual stolen
+election.
+When the protest in Kenya became violent, the incumbent
+was quick to define it as “ethnically-based protest.”
+This seemed to best serve to advance the cause of the
+incumbent who then can blame the opposition for not
+bringing an end to the violence and humanitarian crisis
+by simply accepting their loss. If Africans do not understand
+these manipulations, they may fall into the trap of
+committing violence against their fellow innocent countrymen—something
+that has already created deep societal wounds that will
+take years to heal. Yet, the motivation to create the
+illusion that the violence is only a power struggle
+between ethnic groups, vying for power, is simply a
+diversionary tactic meant to cover up the allegedly
+fraudulent election so as to undermine totally or at
+least delay calls for a re-count or re-vote that might
+lead to a different election outcome.
+In a Reuters’ press release on February 16, 2008,
+Jendayi Frazer, the U. S. Assistant Secretary of State
+for African Affairs was reported to say that both Kibaki
+and Odinga “understood they had to find a credible
+lasting solution to the dispute.” She added, “Any
+individuals seen as obstructing the effort for a peace
+process, a power-sharing agreement, the president stated,
+will be subject to possible further sanctions by the
+U.S.”
+Hopefully, this does not mean peace at any price, such
+as through a cover-up that focuses on the aftermath
+of the alleged election fraud rather than on the alleged
+fraud itself that ignited the unrest. If there was fraud
+on the part of Kibaki, why should there be power-sharing
+and how could Kibaki be trusted under those conditions
+to actually share the power? Would a power-sharing agreement,
+something which would never be considered in a western
+country, work in Kenya? Why is the west proposing something
+like this rather than standing up for a fair election?
+What would Jendayi Frazer say about Bush sharing power
+with Gore after the 2000 election dispute in the US?
+One of them would certainly have ended up with more
+power than the other. Instead, democratic enthusiasts
+should be lobbying for the truth, now popularly called
+“good governance confronting their so-called allies
+in the War on Terror, like both Kibaki and Meles, on
+their failures to hold fair elections and to respect
+the human rights of their citizens!
+Disturbingly, throughout the international media,
+much of the coverage about what was happening in Kenya
+focused not on the election irregularities, but on the
+ethnic dimensions of the violence and ways to re-stabilize
+the country. There was little voice calling for examination
+of the root of the problem originating in Kibaki declaring
+himself a winner before the dispute was settled.
+If the emphasis is not on conducting a fair and honest
+election, what price will Kenyans and other Africans
+have to pay in the future for choosing a “feeble
+peace” over the establishment of long-term justice?
+It is simply another example of sweeping the dirt and
+rot under the carpet rather than out of the house—it
+will still smell! If it does not work in the US, the
+UK, Canada, Europe and other western countries, why
+should we think it would it work in Africa?
+The people chose the ballot box to vote for change
+rather than the gun. They did everything right, but
+were cheated out of the fruits of their earnest desire
+for justice, opportunity, the rule of law, development
+and human rights. Those who historically benefited from
+the favors of the incumbent, including those outside
+the country, largely supported Kibaki’s assertion
+of winning, despite the evidence to the contrary.
+The Kikuyus, Luos, Kalenjins, Luhyias, Kisiis and others
+should join together and vote for fair elections; thereby
+refusing to fall victim to an ethnic struggle no matter
+how much pressure there is to put them in an ethnic
+box. Kenyans with vision and wisdom must stand together
+with other Africans in destroying the ethnic manipulations
+that keep the corrupt in power by using the people against
+each other! Instead, it is a great insult to freedom-loving
+Africans who have been cheated out of their votes by
+a deceitful leader posing in democratic clothes that
+do not fit his actions!
+Please learn from what happened in Ethiopia. Prime
+Minister Meles Zenawi never was held accountable for
+the rigged election or for the deaths of the protestors
+following that election, killed by his own security
+agents. He remains in power today and he has only proceeded
+to further suppress any resistance to his falsely won
+regime. The majority of the people of Ethiopia are deeply
+suffering.
+Look at what God says about it in the Biblical book
+of Ezekiel when he condemns the “princes”
+who plot ways to oppress and rob the people of their
+rights, property, justice and lives.
+“There is a conspiracy of her
+princes within her like a roaring lion tearing its prey;
+they devour people, take treasures and precious things
+and make many widows within her…Her officials
+within her are like wolves tearing their prey: they
+shed blood and kill people to make unjust gain. Her
+prophets whitewash these deeds for them by false visions
+and lying divinations… The people of the land
+practice extortion and commit robbery; they oppress
+the poor and needy and mistreat the alien, denying them
+justice. I looked for a man among them who would…stand
+before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would
+not destroy it, but I found none.” (Ezekiel 22:
+25, 27-30)
+People of Africa, we must first see ourselves and others
+as being equally created in the image of God. We will
+all face judgment someday and the decisions we make
+now, may forever influence the outcome. Will you be
+one of those willing to do the right thing? If we refuse
+to stand in the gap for what is right, we will see the
+destruction of not only ourselves, our families and
+our communities, but we will bring destruction to our
+countries and to our continent! Yet, if we fear God
+with all our heart, soul and mind the darkness will
+lift off of Africa.
+It will require that we treat our fellow Africans and
+all of human kind, especially the vulnerable, as part
+of us and as someone equally precious to God. If we
+do, He promises to bless us as seen in Psalm 41: 1 and
+in Psalm 72: 4. Let us seek such a blessing and deliverance
+for our continent!
+“Blessed is he who has regard
+for the weak: the LORD delivers him in times of trouble.”
+“He will defend the afflicted among the people
+and save the children of the needy: he will crush the
+oppressor.”
+The darkest part of the night is right before the dawn
+so expect that those who see the darkness as an opportunity
+for evil to increasingly resist the people who love
+the daylight, but the daylight is coming anyway. Therefore,
+we should not be discouraged but instead, we should
+press on all the harder by joining together with others
+who value doing what is right. It is not a time to be
+timid or to give up.
+Even dictators, who many times flourish only because
+of the support of outsiders, cannot overcome a united
+people who join together to sing the praises of freedom,
+justice, equality and love towards each other. As such
+a groundswell from the people emerges; it will become
+like the journey of the sun through the day-- impossible
+to alter. The sun is setting on the old Africa of dictators
+and they know it, yet we too must change! We Africans
+must come out to the light if we want Africa to come
+out of the dark! It is not only about our dictators—we
+too have a responsibility!. Whoever loves
+his brother lives in the light, and there is nothing
+in him to make him stumble. (I John 1:5-6, 2:9-10)
+This means an end to ethnic hatred or discrimination.
+This means an end to violence and barbaric acts. This
+means an end to corruption, bribery and false testimony.
+This means returning to God, promoting respect for the
+rights and lives of the people He has created. This
+means we must choose the side of morality, righteousness,
+compassion, integrity, forgiveness, reconciliation and
+goodness as we call out for God’s help or He will
+not be with us and we will be no better than those we
+are fighting against.
+Look at the following passage from Psalm 34: 17 and
+Psalm 35: 4-5 where God hears the cries of the righteous
+and those righteous may be the ones we have wounded
+by our actions. May we be willing for God to change
+us quickly where we have done wrong!
+“The righteous cry out, and the LORD
+hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles.
+May those who seek [our lives] be disgraced and put
+to shame…May they be like chaff before the wind,
+with the angel of the LORD driving them away…”
+The real struggle in Africa is no longer between different
+power-hungry leaders, but it is between people who want
+freedom and those who are trying to repress it. It is
+between morality and immorality and between truth and
+the lie. With some exceptions, our institutions, like
+the African Union, have become “social
+clubs of dictators for life.” They back
+up each other so that they will not be held responsible
+for the crimes they have committed to gain and maintain
+their power and riches. They are a union of the shameless,
+leaving a trail of blood, horror and immoral actions
+behind them.
+They are unconscious and uncaring about the pain of
+the child whose limbs have been cut off, the orphan
+without parents, the screams of the woman who was raped
+by a gang of soldiers and the widow whose hovel was
+bull-dozed to make room for the business of the privileged
+elite who have been favored for supporting the regime.
+These dictators have abandoned their duties like parents
+who have come into a union of marriage and given birth
+to a child they refuse to parent.
+Where was their voice when the Rwandan genocide occurred
+or when the atrocities against young children were occurring
+in Liberia, Sierra Leone and which are still occurring
+in Northern Uganda? Where is their voice for those in
+Darfur, the Congo, Somalia and Ethiopia?
+As the African Union accepted Kibaki’s participation
+in this past months’ summit meeting, protecting
+him by refusing to put the election dispute and ensuing
+crisis on the agenda, they showed their refusal to face
+the hard issues of Africans. Instead the crisis was
+referred to IGAD, another ineffective organization which
+is headed by Kenya, which is no different than telling
+a criminal to investigate his own crime!
+This all happened in Addis Ababa where their host,
+Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, is trying desperately to
+hang on to power after his own stolen election of 2005.
+Is he going to speak up for the execution of justice
+when such a thing does not exist anywhere in Ethiopia?
+Is he going to stand up for the oppressed when his own
+people are oppressed and terrorized by him? Will he
+speak out against human rights abuses when in southeastern
+Ethiopia, in the Ogaden region, and all the way to Mogadishu,
+Somalia, Ethiopian National Defense Forces are committing
+widespread crimes against humanity—even carpet-bombing
+Ethiopian civilians in the Ogaden? Should we expect
+Mugabe to speak out or Museveni, al Bashir and others
+in the Union of Dictators? Who will speak for the people
+of Africa who have been abandoned by those who are supposed
+to care?
+This African Union should be a union that gives life,
+nurturing, compassion and wise guidance to the continent,
+but instead it has become a union that promotes the
+perpetrators of death and destruction to the continent.
+Those of integrity, courage and moral strength are too
+few. As long as the major players, including the West,
+are willing to “look the other way to corruption,
+human rights abuses and electoral fraud,” it appears
+that the payoff is worth the risk—look at Ethiopia.
+However, in Kenya, the results have not gone as smoothly
+as they have in other African countries, having turned
+one of the most stable countries in Africa into political
+turmoil, seriously affecting the Kenyan economy. Unfortunately,
+many innocent Africans, from all different groups, have
+suffered for it.
+Let us first look at how it played out. On election
+day, Kenyans did exactly what they were supposed to—they
+came out in the millions and peacefully voted, standing
+in line with other Kenyans from every ethnic group and
+political persuasion to cast their votes, some for President
+Mwai Kibaki, others for Raila Odinga, the leader of
+the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM). At their polling
+booths, the Kenyan people voted not only for a president,
+but even more so for democracy. Tragically, the deciding
+vote against democracy was cast when President Kibaki,
+according to credible sources, stole the election and
+defrauded the Kenyan people out of their vote.
+Look at the chaos that erupted when Kibaki refused to
+accept the truthful results of the election. One thousand
+lives were lost, a tragedy that could have been avoided
+had he acted with integrity and morality instead of
+hurriedly being sworn in as president by Mr. Samuel
+Kivuitu the Chairman of the Kenyan Election commission
+when both knew the election dispute was unresolved.
+Despite being a Kibaki supporter, Mr. Samuel Kivuitu
+could have refused to support the flawed election, but
+he instead lied about the results, along with 22 others
+on the Board. The next few days when Mr. Samuel Kivuitu
+took back his declaration of Kibaki as winner of the
+election, stating it was impossible to know the real
+winner, it was already too late—the chaos had
+begun.
+Even though voters did not follow rigid ethnic lines
+in voting for Odinga and the ODM, causing them to win
+in six out of eight of the provinces and the majority
+of parliamentary seats, it was later falsely defined
+as a power battle along ethnic lines, between Odinga
+and Kibaki, rather than a power struggle between a leader
+who wants to stay in power at any cost and the people,
+who should have the right to decide.
+The West should be affronted by this Kenyan result
+for in a perverse way the West has now become victim
+of its own values and rhetoric - freedom and democracy
+and the right of the people to choose their leaders
+through the ballot box. Here is the real dilemma for
+the Western liberal democracies - in the Kenya case
+which represents blatant electoral fraud - can we allow
+Kibaki to continue when all know the political class
+whom he represents will flaunt democracy at every moment
+in order to remain in power.
+How can the West preach democracy and `good governance'
+when the people of the most advanced and stable country
+in East and Central Africa are robbed of their voice?
+What are we to do now? Support Kibaki, court Kibaki,
+install of minor sharing of power under the title of
+`power sharing', or, more appropriately, disown Kibaki
+as no true friend of democracy and demand his resignation
+in favour of Odinga and the ODM. Given that Kibaki was
+willing to sacrifice his own people in the post-election
+violence and turn his police on non-Kikuyu protestors,
+can the West expect him to suddenly acquiesce to `power-sharing'?
+As donor countries are placing incentives and expectations
+on these countries to become democratic, the voting
+public will be betrayed if election fraud is ignored
+by those donors who choose a band-aid approach to peace
+that will not lead to sustainable resolution of the
+root problem.
+Honest and fair elections are the groundwork for a
+free society and Africans should not ever side with
+corruption. It is the wrong side and pits like-minded
+people against each other along ethnic lines instead
+of bringing them together to stand against injustice.
+Today’s injustice will tomorrow become one’s
+own.
+Therefore, the desire for a free and democratic Kenya
+should unify Kikuyus, Luos, Kalenjins, Luhyias, Kisiis
+and all the other many ethnic groups in Kenya to fight
+against electoral manipulations or all will lose. This
+does not mean that they do not have legitimate complaints
+and disagreements (like land disputes) that must be
+fairly settled, but these may be all the more difficult
+to settle after a fraudulent election, especially if
+a peace-agreement is only superficial and used to further
+suppress justice, truth and honest democratic expression.
+Let us look again at the ethnic tensions that continue
+to exist in Ethiopia. They are serious enough that the
+wrong set of circumstances, like another flawed election,
+could potentially explode into chaos that could exceed
+that in Kenya. However, the many legitimate complaints
+that various groups and factions have against one another;
+should not be approached using violence.
+Instead, Ethiopians and Kenyans need to rally behind
+a consensus to resolve these disagreements fairly and
+civilly. Yet, in Ethiopia, Meles has been masterful
+at inciting dissension between groups, a tactic that
+most certainly will backfire and is now also being used
+in Kenya. In fact, there are allegations being made
+that some are stirring up the violence for their own
+benefit.
+Currently, some witnesses have come forward to report
+that some of the financial elite within Kenyan society,
+who have a vested interest in ensuring that Kibaki stays
+in power, have reportedly been bribing “Mungiki”
+or unemployed youths on the streets to commit violence,
+even violence directed at innocent members of Kibaki’s
+own ethnic group, the Kikuyus, in order to exert pressure
+on Odinga and the ODM to give up their positions by
+blaming their refusal to accept Kibaki as the winner
+as the reason for the continued violence. Such subterfuge!
+However, this tactic is not original—ask Meles!
+Let us look how the same thing was done in Ethiopia.
+The opposition party was blamed for the violence following
+the rigged election even though a later governmental
+report was leaked that indicated Meles’ security
+agents were responsible. The Opposition Party, under
+pressure from outsiders, agreed not to protest, but
+later were thrown in prison for twenty months. The movement
+lost its momentum. Meles is still in power and has only
+become more and more repressive due to his fear of being
+overthrown.
+Most all sources of communication in the country are
+blocked. For instance, because the radio, TV and newspapers
+are all controlled by the government, because many Internet
+sites are blocked and because spies are all over, Meles
+has effectively created a wall of silence around Ethiopia.
+Many Ethiopians have no idea what is going on in Kenya
+and Meles obviously would like to keep it that way.
+As long as ethnic groups are divided, Meles is stronger,
+but Ethiopians are starting to see through this, including
+many Tigrayans from his own ethnic group who do not
+support him. The soil of Ethiopia is stained with the
+blood of its citizens due to immoral leaders who are
+willing to sacrifice their own people. Do not let this
+happen in Kenya!
+Certainly some are always willing to commit violence
+against their fellow countrymen and women, but just
+like there are criminals in every society, the majority
+should not condone it. However, when it is supported
+by those in power, the people of Ethiopia, Kenya and
+others should be outraged and stand against it in a
+joint effort of diverse, but united people who value
+life and liberty.
+When Kenyans first began their protest, it was governed
+by the Kenyan values, conscience and the constitution.
+It was peaceful and respectful until the police shot
+live bullets and sprayed water canyons at the people.
+Now, a thousand or more Kenyans have been killed and
+500,000 others displaced.
+Africans and others in the world are closely watching
+what happens in Kenya. What happens there will have
+an effect in other places on the continent. Freedom
+and democracy must be the winner. Humanity over ethnicity
+must win. We must unite against the dictators who have
+united themselves against us. Mr. Kibaki can go to the
+school of other dictators who will support them and
+instruct them in the fine nuances of maintaining control.
+Mr. Kibaki can learn from the likes of Meles Zenawi
+of Ethiopia, Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, Museveni of
+Uganda, Kabila of the Congo, Al Bashir of Sudan, Isayas
+of Eritrea, Deba of Chad, along with many others. They
+will be tutored on the fine details of how to subvert
+democracy, how to silence the opposition, how to divert
+attention by instigating ethnic conflict and humanitarian
+crises while at the same time, reaping the financial
+benefits. However, these dictators will never stop the
+light that is bringing Africans to see each other as
+fellow Africans.
+The signs are everywhere that the roosters of Africa
+are crowing. They are crowing for a new day for Africans
+where we will look upwards to God, our Creator, the
+provider of that light who cares about the oppressed
+and the harassed. He cares for our neighbors like He
+cares for us. As we can have perfect trust that the
+light of dawn and will bring a new day, we can have
+faith that a humble people who look to God, will never
+be disappointed. As we do, we will see our African-ness
+more than our ethnicity and our humanity more than our
+African-ness.
+This is a fight for a new Africa by new Africans. The
+old Africans are like old seeds you put in the ground
+that never rises from the ground to produce any crop.
+It is the old Africans that makes Africa to be known
+as a dark continent, full of misery, pain, death, bloodshed
+and sorrow. These old Africans are not like our African
+forefathers who invest their wisdom, love and strength
+in guiding and helping the next generation. Instead
+they are those who want to devour the young as they
+might rise up to challenge them. They have failed Africa
+and have created institutions of nothingness. This is
+the reason why the first places African leaders go to
+when they are in need, is the west rather than to African
+institutions where corruption is upheld too often.
+This past week, a doctor from Toronto, Canada, was
+charged for stealing kidneys from unwilling victims
+in India. He tricked them by first promising jobs, then
+secretly sedating them. In a private operating room
+in the back of his home, he then proceeded to remove
+one of their kidneys in order to sell it to someone
+needing one. After the forced donor awakened from the
+surgery, he was threatened that if he told, he would
+be killed.
+Is this any different from the danger that is lurking
+in the dark corners on our continent? We have been seduced
+by the promises of those among us who only talk the
+words of democracy, justice and freedom, but who have
+no heart for the people. They get us to go along with
+them, but then use that power to exploit us—removing
+our lives, souls, resources and the future of our children.
+If we complain, our lives our threatened or ended.
+As long as we are silent, the evil system continues,
+preying on new victims. But, the roosters are crowing
+and waking up Africans to this deception. We must start
+talking about it and unifying against it as one force
+and now it is up to all Kenyans to make sure they do
+not fall for this deception in their own country!
+By supporting the outcome of a stolen election, the
+people of Kenya, from every group, are supporting continued
+corruption—and giving up far more than they realize.
+It is not about which leader they supported, it is about
+protecting the establishment of justice!
+As we write this article, we are not choosing Odinga
+over Kibaki or Kibaki over Odinga—that is for
+the Kenyan people to decide. That is exactly the major
+point! Nothing less should be tolerated any longer in
+Kenya or in any other country in Africa. Africa does
+not need sham democracies and anyone who pressures Africans
+to accept such false substitutes is not a friend of
+Africa and instead is trying to keep us in the darkness
+while “our organs” are being removed!
+Now is the time for this new Africans to connect with
+each other, putting the entire puzzle together for the
+first time. Those who are seeing the light in Ethiopia
+must be connected to those seeing the light in Kenya.
+Those seeing the light in Zimbabwe must be connected
+to those seeing the light in Chad, Nigeria, Uganda,
+Somalia—the list goes on. This cannot be accomplished
+by organizations consumed and controlled by tribal loyalties
+which blind them to the humanity of others.
+In Ethiopia, we are convinced that what must happen
+is to create a Movement for a New Ethiopia
+which includes everyone. The strategic goal of this
+Movement is to reclaim Ethiopia from its tyrannical
+rulers and their associates. Our path is about life
+enhancement for all not matter their ethnic identity
+for in the end we are all Ethiopians and Africans. We
+are not pursuing State sovereignty here but rather people
+sovereignty, to set our people free from oppressive
+rule.
+Those who want to create ethnic conflicts and issues
+want us to remain backwards so we put our heads down
+while they rob us of our natural resources as well as
+our lives. These are the politics of colonization and
+enslavement. Part of what must be done is to stop the
+exploitation of not only the natural resources, but
+of the precious people of Africa. This will only happen
+when we see ourselves and our neighbors as God’s
+children, beautifully made and full of purpose and potential.
+This is the only way to prevent us from being thrown
+into cages to fight and kill each other like dogs or
+roosters, while we hardly utter a complaint. These power-hungry
+leaders are out to kill the brightest and most compassionate
+among us so they can continue the economic colonization
+of the continent.
+We Africans must resist by coming together within our
+countries and within our continent. It should be done
+in Zimbabwe before the election next month and in Ethiopia
+and Uganda before their elections. Africans have been
+divided for too long. We have put up with this political
+game that is destroying us from within. We can prosper
+together, knowing that we are a continent with some
+of the greatest and richest of natural resources, including
+ourselves, despite having the poorest of opportunities
+for our people.
+We must change the way we think and it will require
+a spiritual transformation with God at the center! If
+Europe, who used to fight and kill each other, can live
+with the same money and can travel between twenty-four
+countries on that continent without a checkpoint, this
+can be done in Africa, but only if we begin to think
+differently. We must refuse to be by-standers while
+the continent is engulfed in flames!
+Africans who see this must start connecting with one
+another in making this dream of living peacefully with
+others come true. It can be done! It will not be easy
+because there will be some who do not want it because
+they make money off of our lives, but if we believe
+in God and seek Him and if we respect and love one another,
+it is more than possible! God can provide a new path
+through the jungles, savannahs, deserts and over the
+mountains where none yet exists!
+This can be the starting point from where Africans
+begin connecting with each other, giving life to the
+continent, constructing a new Africa, through the power
+of God that will include all people regardless of differences.
+It is up to us Africans to start the journey with God
+at every side.
+Right now we, as well as these African dictators, know
+that the sun is setting on them. Their power is like
+a piece of hanging pottery, held up only by an unraveling
+cord, but yet holding the heavy offenses they have committed
+against the people of Africa. Soon the weight of those
+offenses will become too much for that cord that has
+been holding their power up for years and it will snap.
+When the fragile pottery crashes into many, unusable
+pieces, everybody will see how weak they really are.:12-15, 18).
+Change is possible individually and collectively. The
+Chairman of the Kenyan Election commission Mr. Samuel
+Kivuitu was part of the deceit that made Kibaki the
+winner of the election, unleashing violence and chaos
+in the country; yet, something changed in him overnight
+and he admitted his wrongdoing.
+Mr. Samuel Kivuitu had done his job well in 2002, but
+had failed this time. Perhaps his God-given conscience
+convicted him, giving him the courage to correct what
+he had done the previous day—we do not know, but
+we do know that as people we can make mistakes and those
+mistakes can have consequences for others, but that
+should not stop us from later admitting our failures
+and changing our ways.
+Imagine what would happen if Kibaki or others would
+admit theirs—like King Nebuchadnezzar was warned
+in a dream to do? Confused by the dream, the prophet
+Daniel interpreted it for him, telling him that until
+he acknowledged that “the Most High God was sovereign
+over the kingdoms of men and gives them to anyone he
+wishes” that he would literally go crazy. Daniel
+advised him not to boast of his power and instead to:
+“Renounce your sins by doing what
+is right and your wickedness by being kind to the oppressed.
+It may be that then your prosperity will continue.”
+(Daniel 4:27)
+At first he refused, but later heeded the warning.
+May our African dictators change their ways for the
+good of the people and because some day they also will
+be held accountable before God! However, regardless
+of what they do, we Africans have such a great resource
+in a gracious and merciful God, who will show us the
+way to walk in humility, love, compassion, integrity
+and morality.
+Let us pray that through the “bread of affliction”
+and through the “water of adversity,” that
+we Africans have gone through, that we will discover
+a way out of our legacy of pain, misery and suffering
+that will change the direction of Africa for future
+generations to come! May God provide light to the path
+we must walk together!
+____________________________________________________________
+For additional information, please contact:
+Mr. Obang O. Metho,
+Download
+this file in Word format.
+Download
+this file in PDF format.
+Recorded and Pan-Turkists working under the auspices of the House of Habsburg in order to precipitate the secession of resource-rich provinces from China. It is Mr. Emory’s opinion that the use of unrepresented, “native” peoples by ultra-reactionary interests like the Hapsburgs is a cynical manipulation of these populations. Rather than sincerely championing the interests of these groups and promoting their welfare, sustenance and democratic governance, they appear to be using these groups as vehicles for the destabilization and partitioning of larger nations—China in particular. It is for the purposes of covert destabilization that the House of Habsburg and its ally the Underground Reich appear to be “going native.” One should not fail to note that Native American tribes like the Lakota and Native Hawaiians have been focal points of the Hapsburg political front the UNPO—“The Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization.” One of the most important points of the broadcast concerns the close collaboration between Germany, German political parties of the center, right and left and the Dalai Lama. Directed at weakening or fragmenting China, this collaboration has enlisted the support of the South Tyrolean independence movement and used that movement as a paradigm for furthering Tibetan independence from China. Indeed, the Tibetan and Mongolian independence movements and the South Tyrolean separatists allied with them are direct manifestations of what the Germans call “Volksgruppenrechte”—the rights of ethnic minorities. The superficially noble appearance of this principle should not blind an observer to the cynical, fascistic ends toward which this dedication to the cause of ethnic minorities is directed. The second program (FTR#616) sets forth two other manifestations of the German “Volksgruppenrechte.” German officials have cited the Holy Roman Empire (all white, all Christian) as an appropriate precedent and model for the operation of the EU—no “ethnic minorities” need apply, thank you very much. In addition, German ethnic thinking expressed through the Bertelsmann foundation has found favor in certain U.S. military circles, which are proposing to redraw the map of the Middle East along “ethnic lines.” If enacted, this outcropping of Volksgruppenrechte will fundamentally alter life and the balance of power in the Middle East.
+Program Highlights Include: Discussion of the possible use of Native Hawaiians and other native peoples of the United States to weaken or dissolve the U.S. at some point in the future; the World War II alliance between Nazi Germany, its Japanese ally and the young Dalai Lama; the Nazi origins of the South Tyrolean separatists who huddled with the Dalai Lama during his visit to Bolzano [Italy]; review of the roles of Otto von Bolschwing and Helena von Damm in infiltrating the Republican party and turning it into a vehicle for the Nazification of the United States.
+1. Returning to a subject that Mr. Emory dealt with in FTR#’s 547, 548, 549, 550, these programs delve deeper into the Dalai Lama’s historical connections to the Third Reich and elements of the SS. In addition, the broadcasts set forth more information about the use of ethnic minority groups to destabilize and fragment larger countries. The Dalai Lama has been active on behalf of Tibetan separatism and the separatist movement of Mongolia as well–both separatist movements are directed at fragmenting China in such as a way as to permit a foreign entity desirous of exploiting China’s natural resources without having to reckon with the Chinese government. As will be seen below, this same tactic might be used in the future to fragment or weaken the United States, as well. Much of the program material highlights the profound German support for the Dalai Lama’s separatist efforts, as well as the extent to which the German tactic of “Volksgruppenrechte” has served as the template for the Dalai Lama’s activities. Indeed, the Dalai Lama has drawn support from the South Tyrolean separatist movement, which seeks to tease this German-speaking minority region in Northern Italy from the Italian nation as a whole. (Serious listeners are referred to FTR#’s 547, 548, 549, 550 in order to gain an understanding of the fundamental background material necessary for a serious comprehension of the material.)  ‘autonomy.’. . . . The role model for the rights of autonomy, that the Dalai Lama is demanding from Beijing, is patterned on the German ethnic model ‘Vol ‘foreign minister’ of the Tibetan exile government.[2] This academy, that has an ad hoc ‘Vol ‘Volksgruppenrecht’. ‘South Tyrol has definitely the character of a role model for Tibet’ explained the Tibetan exile ruler during his second visit to Bolzano in 2005. . . . ‘powder keg’ [9] with serious consequences. ‘If it doesn’t work out good there (in Tibet, the author) it could have repercussions in Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia’ rejoices the Dalai Lama with the two other potential secessionist regions in mind: ‘after all, these three autonomous regions stretch over half of the Chinese territory’. . . .”
+(“Strategies of Attrition (Part I)”; German-Foreign-Policy.com; 9/24/2007.)
+2. Supplementing information about the Dalai Lama’s Nazi connections presented in FTR#547, the program notes that both Germany and Japan were allied with the Dalai Lama as early as 1942! “ . . . German plans for Tibet became topical for the last time, during the Nazi rule. in 1942. Impressed by the Wehrmacht’s advance on Soviet territory, Himmler ordered the ‘total exploration of the Central Asian vital living space (‘Lebensraum’)’.[11] When, in the summer of 1942, Japanese troops advanced into the region bordering Tibet, they encountered a German ally in Lhasa — the Dalai Lama. [Emphasis added.] The god-king’s camarilla was hoping to disengage itself from Chinese, Soviet Russian and British influence and to eternalize the Tibetan feudal dictatorship. The goal was to create a ‘Pan-Mongolian Federation’ — under the leadership of the Third Reich and Japan. . . .”
+(“Strategies of Attrition (Part II)”; German-Foreign-Policy.com; 9/27/2007.)
+3. The South Tyrolean People’s Party that networked with the Dalai Lama during his European visit also has strong Nazi roots: “ . . . Last week, a delegation of North Italian parliamentarians held extensive talks with the Tibetan self-proclaimed ‘exile government’ at its headquarters in Dharamsala, Northern India. This is important for the foreign policy of Germany, because ‘South Tyrol’ has many links to the networks of ethnic German ‘Vol ‘Volksgruppen’ experts and is today still financed by the German government. The FUEN is also supported by the Autonomous Region Trentino — South Tyrol and the Autonomous Province of Bozen. The ‘South Tyrol’ autonomy is patterned after concepts of the German ‘Volksgruppen’ policy and was established after a series of terrorist attacks, instigated by German residents. Former ‘South Tyrol’ terrorists are still sheltered on German soil. . . .”
+(“Strategies of Attrition (Part III)”; German-Foreign-Policy.com; 10/02/07.)
+4. Note that another “Strategies of Attrition” paper (IV) has been published by German-Foreign-Policy.com. It is available at:. The information in this article supplements and updates the material in FTR#’s 549, 550, further developing information about the UNPO and its association with the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan separatist movement and the Mongolian separatist. Note that the UNPO is headed by Karl von Hapsburg, heir to the throne of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
+5. Examining the application of Volksgruppenrechte to Europe, the broadcast notes that some German officials are looking to the Holy Roman Empire of medieval Europe—“all German, all the time”—as a working model for the European Union. Don’t expect to see ethnic minorities in Europe getting the “Dalai Lama treatment!” In this context, Mr. Emory notes that in the early 1990’s, Germany denied the North Frisians and the Sorbs the right to speak their own language. (The Sorbs are a Slavic minority people in Germany and the North Frisians are a Danish ethnic minority in the Federal Republic. No Volksgruppenrechte for them!) Note that Otto von Hapsburg, the father of UNPO head Karl von Hapsburg, is an enthusiastic supporter of the view of the European Union as “Holy Roman Empire Redux.” Otto von Hapsburg has overt fascist sympathies, as can be seen in the excerpt that follows in paragraph #9. Also of interest here is Bernd Neumann’s invitation to the Pope to attend the EEC’s 50th anniversary celebration. As discussed in FTR#’s 508, 559, the available evidence suggests very strongly that the current Pope is answerable to the Underground Reich.  ‘ ‘Imperial Ideal’ (Reichsidee) and is to speak on the ‘spiritual foundations’ of Europe in the German capital. This government offensive to revitalize the mperial Ideal will underline the German leadership of the EU and confirm fears in France, Great Britain and almost all the states of eastern Europe. Sections of the German elites are warning against an all-too-public assertion of German hegemony. As the Berlin State Culture Minister Bernd Neumann said, the German Reich of the Middle Ages can ‘from today’s viewpoint’ serve ‘as a valid model of the functioning order of a superstate’. . . . ‘the European integration of our times (...) follows the grand outline and principles of the Reich, which survived 1806, because they are of lasting validity’.[3] Similarly, the Pan-Europa Union, an association of EU supporters close to the CSU insisted that ‘the eternal function of the Reich must be renewed in the Europe of tomorrow in the interest of the West’.[4] Similarly, Joseph Ratzinger, the present Pope Benedict XVI acknowledged that the origins of today’s EU should acknowledge ‘a common imperial ideal (Reichsidee)’.[5] In recent years, conservative newspapers have opened their columns to new advocacy for the‘Reich’. . . .”
+(“The Ordering of a Superstate”; German-Foreign-Policy.com; 8/29/2006.)
+6..) For more about the Hapsburgs and the UNPO, see FTR#550. “ . . ..)
+7. Next, the focus turns to an application of “Volksgruppenrechte” being proposed for the Middle East by some strategic thinkers with influence within American military circles. Borrowing on ideas floated by the Bertelsmann foundation, some U.S. military theoreticians are proposing to redraw the boundaries of the Middle East to coincide with the populations of ethnic minorities. Note that the Bertelsmann Foundation is closely associated with the Bertelsmann media corporation, the major focal point of the For The Record series about German corporate control of American media. The publishing house of the SS and the largest publisher of books for the Wehrmacht during World War II, Bertelsmann’s patriarch Heinrich Mohn was in the SS. Bertelsmann’s official corporate historian—Dirk Bavendamm—has published books as recently as 1998 blaming World War II on U.S. imperialism, Franklin Delano Roosevelt and “Jewish control over the American news media.” That is an interesting point of view for the official historian of the company that dominates English language publishing. [For more about Bertelsmann, the Third Reich and the ongoing Nazi influence at Bertelsmann, see—among other programs—FTR#298, as well as the other programs in the series on German corporate control of the American media.] In the context of this potential American application of “Volksgruppenrechte” in the Middle East, it is important to remember that the Underground Reich has gained control of the United States, largely through the infiltration of the Republican Party as a result of the Otto von Bolschwing/Helene von Damm connection described in—among other programs—FTR#’s 180, 332, 465.  ‘Free ‘Free Baluchistan’ is to be founded. Mekka and Medina, until now located in Saudi Arabia, will be promoted to capitals of an ‘Islamic Sacred State,’ that will extend to the southern borders of Jordan — doubling the surface of the Hashemite territory (‘Greater Jordan’). This ethnic re-organization is depicted on several US maps, that the historian Dr. Pierre Hillard (Paris) has now published in France. In his talk with german-foreign-policy.com Hillard deems that ‘German policy plays an important role in propagating these ideas’. German-foreign-policy.com publishes, for the first time in Germany, the US cartography. Recommendations for a complete overthrow of the prevailing state order were published in the ‘Armed Forces journal’ (AFJ, June 2006) a magazine of the ‘Army Times Publishing Company’. This enterprise publishes at least ten military magazines (including ‘Army Times’ and ‘Navy Times’) and is owned by the Gannett Media Group (Virginia, USA). In a self-portrait, the operational income of the group, to which the well-known daily, ‘USA Today’ is also affiliated, figured at US $7.6 billion in 2005. . . . As the French historian, Pierre Hillard, judges, this ethnicist aggression, carried out by western powers, is being decisively promoted through the foreign policy of Germany. Hillard refers to continuous efforts by German front organizations, seeking to ‘remodel the Middle East,’ [5] and in this connection, mentions specifically the activities of the Bertelsmann Foundation. The foundation annually organizes forums (‘Kronberg Talks’) on the Middle East, where discussions center around a ‘complete transformation of the political, economic and religious Institutions’ of the Muslim resource states — with the objective of ‘coupling them to the Euro-Atlantic axis,’ . . . The reapportionment of entire state systems is not unknown to Bertelsmann. Thus, on the eve of the (1999) aggression against Yugoslavia, the foundation recommended ‘the ethnic principle’ [8] and the mobilization of ethnic groups against Belgrade — genetically defined minorities with claims to territorial rights. Bertelsmann, in 1996, likewise proposed an ethnic partition plan for Hungary, Romania, Russia and the northern Caucasus. Similar to the propositions contained in the ‘Armed Forces Journal’ several UN member states are being threatened with the loss of their existence, as nation-states. The author at Bertelsmann bases himself on the allegedly ‘unnatural’ drawing of the borders and stakes claims to bogus tribal rights of ethnic communities. . . .”
+(“Dirty Little Secret”; German-Foreign-Policy.com; 9/8/2006.)
+8. Concluding the discussion with the topic of Native Hawaiian rights, the program notes that Congress recently passed a bill that would give the natives of the 50th state rights similar to those of other native American populations. One should not fail to note that the native Hawaiians have been among the peoples on which the UNPO has focused. (For more about the UNPO, see FTR#550.) The possibility that Hawaii and its native population could be targeted for secession from the United States following an economic, political or natural catastrophe is one to be seriously considered. Might the native Hawaiians, or the Lakota or some other ethnic minority be used by the Underground Reich or a related entity to weaken or dissolve a failing United States?  ‘along. . . .”
+(“House Passes Native Hawaiian Bill” by Jim Abrams [AP]; San Francisco Chronicle; 10/25/2007.)
+Discussion
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+Ramai dikalangan kita yang tak tahu cara yang betul untuk menguruskan wang. Dengan gaji basic RM1650, Mokmok berjaya menyimpan wang serta buat sikit pelaburan dalam i-ASB.
+Kami harap dengan perkongsian tentang pengurusan wang daripada Mokmok ini dapat membantu anda memulakan simpanan sendiri. Mulakan saving dari sekarang. Simpan sikit-sikit, lama-lama jadi bukit!
+Assalamualaikum. Aku nak cerita tentang pengurusan kewangan aku.
+Aku kerja biasa-biasa saja. Gaji basic RM 1650. Tu pun baru naik bln lps. Ada degree, tapi gaji halus je. Huhuhu maklumlah cgpa x tinggi, dulu belajar main2, padanlah dgn muka. So, adik2, belajarlah sungguh2 dan yg paling penting soft skills.
+Selain basic salary, adalah OT dan rewards. Campur2 semua lps tolak EPF n socso, lbh kurang 1800++.
+aku bertuah sebab tak perlu keluarkan duit untuk menyewa rumah, sbb ada rumah peninggalan abah di kl. Tinggallah aku bersama2 mama dan abang. Masing2 keluarkan duit utk bayar bil2 dan barang dapur. Aku masih lagi bujang dan tak ada sebarang komitmen. Bulan2, aku menyimpan RM 1000.
+Aku punya target tiap-tiap bulan, mesti simpan RM1000. Ikutlah kemampuan korang.
+Aku kerja naik moto je, parking RM 1 je hari2. Lunch selalunya beli tepi jalan pagi2, dalam RM 3++. Kalau rajin bawa bekal. Dulu aku rajin, sekarang malas skit. Huhuhu minyak moto RM 5 utk 3-4 hari. Sekarang ni naik public transport lagi mahal dari motor. Aku pernah kira, dari rumah ke tmpt kerja aku, pergi n balik memerlukan RM 12. Gila mahal. Naik motor mmg kurang selamat, tapi ikthiar je la. Niat baik nak g kerja n baca doa minta dilindungi dari malapetaka.
+Cara aku simpan duit.
+1. Gaji – saving = belanja.
+2. Dari belanja tu, tolak semua keperluan bulanan, cth bajet utk minyak RM 40/bulan, duit parking, bil, duit utk mama, top up, sedekah etc.
+Lepas dah tolak semua tu, barulah duit digunakan utk enjoy. Selalunya, lps dah tolak semua kat atas tu, adalah baki dalam RM 300- 400. Tgk nasib, ada byk OT, byklah duit baki.
+3. Menyimpan saja xbagus. Sepatutnya laburkan duit. So, dah setahun lebih aku menyimpan dan konfiden aku boleh displin, aku pilih utk buat loan i-ASB. Aku target nak buat selama 3-5 tahun, pastu cancel, dapat sikit duit, blh buat modal nak beli rumah. Loan yg aku buat cumalah Rm 100k. Aku buat dua sijil. Bahagi jadi RM 50k. In case ada masalah kewangan in the future, aku boleh cancel satu sijil. bulan2 cuma RM 550.
+4. So, aku masih ada baki RM 450. Aku pun decide nak amik Takaful. Amik yang padan dgn diri sendiri. Rm150 bulan2 pun dah cukup. Sediakan payung sblm hujan.
+5.Selebihnya bolehlah simpan. Utk motor rosak ke, sakit demam ke, HP rosak, utk raya, g melancong/umrah etc.
+**korang buatlah ikut kemampuan,gaji, dan komitmen. Mulakan saving skit2. Lama2 jadi bukit.
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