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Backdoor Broadcasting Company
Contact / Enquiries
Renaissance lives from the archives: grime, crime and a pirate
Room G04
43 Gordon Sq
Birkbeck School of Arts
Birkbeck University of London
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Birkbeck School of Arts Presents:
Birkbeck Arts Week 2017
How can we reconstruct the lives of Renaissance people from the archives? Panellists including Molly Murray (Columbia University), and Birkbeck’s Anthony Bale, Sue Jones and Robert Maniura examine fragments, trial transcripts, testimony and the crimes and misdemeanours that got the underclass noticed. Look out for a lawyer and a pirate. There will be an opportunity to talk to staff from Birkbeck’s MA Renaissance Studies.
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Benny Kong
Nintendo, #SwitchCorps, Retro
Switch-Ins
#SwitchList
BK’s Thoughts
HomeDiddy Kong
Posts tagged: Diddy Kong
My Pickups for Wii U, Wii, GC and a New Platform in May 2019
by Benny with No Comment .
As already introduced in my My Physical Additions to the Nintendo Switch Library in May 2019 blog post, I’d like to share with you which games I picked up for my other Nintendo systems on a monthly basis.
For the time being, I’ll separate my Nintendo Switch pickups from the other Nintendo platform additions to underline my efforts in the #SwitchCorps community – but I’m also happy to change this in case you think it makes more sense to have a consolidated post.
Let me know in the comments section below what you prefer!
Which Wii U & Wii Games Did I Get in May?
In May, I was lucky to find a brand new Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash at a very reasonable price in a brick and mortar store (Saturn), but the current prices on Amazon are not that bad either.
In the course of the month, I snagged additionally two sealed Wii U copies on Amazon: LEGO Star Wars: Das Erwachen der Macht as well as Mighty No.9 – Ray-Edition. I have not play them yet, but since I assume prices will slowly increase for Wii U games in the near future, it might be a good idea to add games to the collection while the prices are relatively modest. All three, brand-new and sealed Wii U games did cost me less than €30, which I think is a good price point for the kind of quality all of them are offering individually.
But more importantly: I’m looking forward to giving them a play at some point.
My two Wii additions (used condition) are games that I bought in a GameStop while being on a trip. On both journeys of the trip I picked up a little game: 2 journeys, 2 games:
… and another one for my #Wii collection:#GermanysNextTopModel2010– recommended by Sara Nuru.
I’m back home again & to summarize; I picked up a little Wii game from @GameStop_Zing on both journeys of the trip.
2 journeys, 2 games.https://t.co/7bOBxpvS4B#SkyPic pic.twitter.com/g86M8zC4wZ
— Benny Kong (@BennyKong64) May 18, 2019
What’s Retro?
During my trip I also discussed on Twitter with @TheWaffinator, @daithiPgh, @Goldmario791, @VANAMING or @WoodmanFLG, at which point we consider a game a retro game:
In general, so I started the conversation, has a retro game to be older than 10 years, or at least the launch date of the platform its released on should be older than 10 years. In the course of the conversation we stated that the 10 years rule would categorize Wii games as retro games, but the 15 years rule would not (since the Wii launched in 2006). Other interesting aspects such as the specific lifecycle of consoles or a two console-generation-distance-approach brought as to the conclusion, that retro with Nintendo starts at the GameCube:
Have to agree with Mario. As far as Nintendo goes, retro begins at the GC. Which would also make, with that in mind, the PS2 and Xbox the line for retro on their respective manufacturers
— Davy (@daithiPgh) May 17, 2019
My Retro Additions
As I will probably showcase all of my three GameCube games that I bought via eBay also in the retro section of my blog, I will not further discuss them here. What will be covered in my retro section is the 4th GameCube addition that comes in this special, golden NTSC GameCube box that you might have spotted already.
A New Platform Addition
Finally I did it! I bought a New Nintendo 2DS XL! Since years I’m thinking that the system would be a cool addition to my Nintendo collection. As Big N is not supporting the platform with any new games as of lately anymore, I figured that now might be the right time to make a purchase. And I was lucky! In May, one of my favorite stores for video games, Saturn, ran a special promotion that included two free games as a gift! All bundles came with Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowsers Schergen and Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer.
Definitely an offer that I could not refuse. Free Nintendo 3 DS games!
With my New Nintendo 2DS XL, I’m ready to play some wonderful games I have not played on yet, such as Mario Kart 7, Diddy Kong Racing DS or The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds.
I’ll let you know which games I will get in the upcoming months!
What You See Is Not What You Get
Last but not least: I’m pretty sure many of you can relate to this when buying video games online: You don’t get what you ordered! What you see is not what you get.
In my case, I did order twice a Wii U game from different sellers on Amazon (shipped via Amazon), but did get instead of the German packaging with the USK logo on it, an Italian version with the Pegi logo.
Two Wii Games that I ordered on eBay were not the ones I had in mind while ordering: One game came in bad condition (yellowed and very used case), whereas the other game came in the international packaging instead of the German one.
But that’s just the monthly struggle of any video game collector I suppose.
How was your May – besides your Nintendo Switch purchases? Let me know in the comments section or directly on Twitter or Instagram via my @BennyKong64 handle.
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Home Gaming Nintendo Switch Could Soon Get Netflix and YouTube
Nintendo Switch Could Soon Get Netflix and YouTube
Varun Mirchandani -
Varun Mirchandani
For those of you who already own a Nintendo Switch, you would well be aware that the 2-in-1 console is one of the best inventions in recent times, bridging the gap between portability and entertainment. Apart from offering a seamless gaming experience, the Nintendo Switch comes with full capabilities to be your entertainment powerhouse as well. And now, it seems as if those capabilities might just be expanded.
While the Nintendo Switch comes with WiFi capabilities along with a web browser, it has lacked support for streaming applications. In the context of major streamers out there, only Hulu is available on the Switch console. Add to that the fact that despite being available on the console since November 2017, it is only available for users in US or Japan. However, it seems like the biggest names in the field might be coming for the Nintendo Switch.
As reported by a Redditor DevCakes, the BestBuy listing for Nintendo Switch shows that Netflix, YouTube, and Hulu are available on the 2-in-1 console. While the listing has since been removed, you can check out the screenshot below:
Despite being quite speculative in nature, we’ve had previous cases of online retailers leaking the details of upcoming products. Furthermore, the addition of Netflix and YouTube would always be a welcome addition, since these 2 are the most famous sources of streaming content online.
We expect to hear more about this during Nintendo’s E3 2018 keynote, which is due in a few hours. Apart from the aforementioned streaming platforms, the Battle Royale sensation that is Fortnite is also expected to get a release for the Nintendo Switch platform. Stay tuned for more news on the Nintendo Switch by following our coverage of E3 2018.
VIATheNextWeb
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Rajesh Mishra - Jan 17, 2020
How to Get Windows Startup Sound Back in Windows 10
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AaronGleeman.com
Twins trade J.J. Hardy to Orioles for James Hoey and Brett Jacobson
Speculation about trading J.J. Hardy steadily increased after the Twins placed the high bid for exclusive negotiating rights to Japanese infielder Tsuyoshi Nishioka last month and yesterday they pulled the trigger, sending Hardy, Brendan Harris, and $500,000 to the Orioles for minor-league relievers James Hoey and Brett Jacobson. Nishioka and the Twins are negotiating, but moving Hardy shows they're very confident in signing him before the December 26 deadline.
However, even with Nishioka expected to sign shortly the decision to part with Hardy is a very questionable one for several reasons. First and foremost is that Hardy is simply a good player at a key position and tends to be underrated by those who don't recognize the full value of his defense, don't appreciate the lack of offensive production generally found in shortstops across baseball, or focus solely on the time he missed with a wrist injury.
Hardy is certainly not without flaws and some of them are prominent, but a deeper look at his performance clearly shows an above-average shortstop the Twins could have retained without having to make a multi-year commitment. He hit .268/.320/.394, which may not look like much but is actually better than the MLB average for shortstops of .262/.319/.371. And after coming back from the wrist injury Hardy hit .302/.356/.436 in 64 games.
Among the 28 shortstops to play at least 100 games this season Hardy ranked 11th in batting average, 13th in on-base percentage, 10th in slugging percentage, and 11th in OPS, making him above average for the position offensively no matter how you slice it. Toss in outstanding defense that Ultimate Zone Rating pegged as MLB's best at 12.8 runs above average per 150 games and Hardy was one of the top 12 shortstops in baseball even while missing 60 games.
Beyond underrating Hardy relative to other shortstops the trade also shows a level of faith in both Nishioka and Alexi Casilla that makes me nervous. Investing about $15 million for three years of Nishioka is a sound move, but like previous Japanese imports he's a question mark at the plate and is also coming off a career-year above his track record. And while he won a Gold Glove at shortstop in Japan, opinions are mixed at best on if he can thrive there in the majors.
Casilla is also an option at shortstop after faring well there in limited action subbing for Hardy, but he hasn't played the position regularly since 2007 at Triple-A and has never even graded out strongly at second base. He's also far from reliable offensively, or at least far from reliably good offensively. Casilla has hit well at times, but owns a career line of .249/.306/.327 in 1,073 plate appearances. To put that in some context, Nick Punto is a career .247/.321/.322 hitter.
Turning over the middle infield to Nishioka and Casilla has the potential for disaster, especially given that the primary backup options at this moment are Matt Tolbert and Trevor Plouffe. It doesn't shock me that the Twins have undervalued Hardy, but unless there's another move up their sleeve it does surprise me that they're so willing to go into 2011 with a pair of question marks atop the depth chart and a pair of replacement-level players as fallback options.
In speaking about the trade yesterday general manager Bill Smith made it very clear that the move was made largely because Ron Gardenhire wants to add more speed to the lineup and Hardy, despite his excellent range defensively, is one of the slowest shortstops in baseball. In a vacuum adding more speed is obviously a good thing, but in this case adding the speed may come with getting worse on both sides of the ball and being faster isn't that vital to winning.
Of course, the deal wasn't just about dumping Hardy and in fact the Twins chose to tender him an arbitration offer last week specifically because they felt confident about getting something in return for him via trade. Smith admitted to discussing Hardy with at least six teams and the decision to settle on the Orioles' offer of Hoey and Jacobson makes the Twins' targets in those talks crystal clear. They wanted bullpen help for 2011 and beyond in the form of power arms.
For the most part the Twins' longstanding, organization-wide focus on drafting and developing pitchers with better control and command than raw stuff has served them well, but at times it has also left them short on the flame-throwing relievers many other teams prefer to rely on in late-inning roles. Neither pitcher acquired from Baltimore fits the Twins' typical mold, as Hoey and Jacobson are both big guys with power fastballs and shaky command.
Jacobson was the Tigers' fourth-round pick in 2008 and was traded to the Orioles for Aubrey Huff in mid-2009. He spent this season repeating high Single-A at age 23, making his 2.79 ERA and 67-to-24 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 71 innings less impressive than it looks. His first crack at high Single-A included a 4.13 ERA and 55/26 K/BB ratio in 65 innings, so while being 6-foot-6 with mid-90s velocity gives Jacobson some upside his performance so far hasn't been special.
I'll need to study up on Jacobson before determining a ranking, but if he cracks my annual list of the Twins' top 40 prospects it'll likely be just barely. Hoey has fewer than 50 career innings in the majors and has spent the past two seasons exclusively in the minors, so technically he meets my qualification for "prospect" status too, but he also turns 28 years old in a few weeks and made his big-league debut way back in 2006. He's more of a project than a prospect.
Hoey was selected by the Orioles in the 13th round of the 2003 draft and emerged as a top relief prospect after putting up some incredible minor-league numbers in 2006 and 2007, but then blew out his shoulder and missed all of 2008 following surgery. He initially struggled so much after coming back in 2009 that the Orioles dropped Hoey from the 40-man roster and he passed through waivers unclaimed.
He remained in the Orioles' organization at Double-A and put together a decent 2009 despite struggling to throw strikes, but was left off the 40-man roster last offseason and wasn't picked in the Rule 5 draft. Hoey began this year back at Double-A, but earned a midseason promotion to Triple-A and combined for a 3.25 ERA, .196 opponents' batting average, and 70 strikeouts in 53 innings between the two levels.
His control was awful with 34 walks in 53 innings and the great numbers aren't much different than what Anthony Slama has done in the high minors, but Hoey's velocity has bounced back enough post-surgery that his raw stuff is superior to Slama's. As a 28-year-old "prospect" with a surgically repaired arm he's by definition a long shot, but Hoey's numbers this year show the potential for dominance and unlike Slama he has the mid-90s heat and power slider to match.
Hardy and Nishioka starting with Casilla as a backup would've been the best chance to win in 2011. Instead they focused on Hardy's flaws, trading an above-average shortstop under team control at a palatable one-year price and turning to two question marks in the name of getting faster. It makes them worse in the short term, perhaps by a lot, and the haul from Baltimore isn't impressive, but clearing Harris' salary off the books is nice and at least Hoey is intriguing.
Comments (55) ∞ Permalink ∞ @AaronGleeman on Twitter ∞ "Gleeman and The Geek" Podcast
Brendan Harris
Brett Jacobson
James Hoey
Tsuyoshi Nishioka
The Twins decided to cut bait on Hardy after one partial year (what? 102 games) because, while he is strong on Defense, his bat and speed are lacking, and his durability is in question. Maybe he deserves $6+ Million, but, long term that ain’t going to cut it, and they already have a JJ in the wings named Trevor Plouffe. So, they take a chance on some speedy MIs, knowing they got a kid who gives them everything JJ had, and maybe a little more at a lot less $$$. I don’t understand all the hand-wringing on Hardy. He had a year to prove himself, and frankly, all things considered, he was average, with an above average salary. Maybe we in the modern baseball era have become jaded, but, I remember when a $6 million dollar man was a high-tech, cutting edge televison series — not a league average shortstop.
Comment by Old Twins Cap — December 9, 2010 @ 8:43 pm
while I agree that this trade is something that short term hurts the twins. Hardy is a head case and had a very fragile psyche. The twins will miss him. but maybe not as bad as it seems.
Comment by boynk — December 9, 2010 @ 9:02 pm
Aaron — regarding this —
He hit .268/.320/.394, which may not look like much but is actually better than the MLB average for shortstops of .262/.319/.371.
Is that among starting shortstops or all players who got at-bats at the position?
Comment by Rob McMillin — December 9, 2010 @ 9:02 pm
I’ve already made any cogent statements I can make, so I’ll just say “boooooooooooooooooooooooooo”. Epic fail.
Comment by mike wants wins — December 9, 2010 @ 9:21 pm
Why gleeman has such a hard-on for Hardy, we may never know.
What we do know is while this trade isnt flashy, and you can argue what exactly the Twins got in return, it does free up around 7M Hardy would’ve gotten through arbitration, and the Twins get some power arms and will find out really what kind of player Casilla is. I dont see the harm in that.
Sure Hardy can field and hit (sometimes), but 60 games is a significant portion of games to be without his services. He wasnt that great, and was not missed all that much when he was on the dl.
Good riddance jj herpes. The servers at toby keith’s will miss you.
Comment by Brooklyn Twins Fan — December 9, 2010 @ 9:59 pm
Ummm, the Twins aren’t the Royals; they aren’t in the middle of rebuilding, they are trying to compete. And downgrading at two positions so that you can find out what kind of player Casilla is does not help the team get to the World Series. Also, Casilla isn’t much of a mystery anymore, in 1000+ PA, he has managed a meager 249/306/327 hitter and been a mediocre-to-average fielder.
Comment by Ted — December 9, 2010 @ 10:40 pm
This is what happens in the “New Joe Mauer Era”. You are not going to get a really good team in Minnesota with a $23 million contract for one player…unless that $23 million is going for a true game-changer and difference maker. Pujolis, Hamilton, or Cabrerra-like production would justify that type of salary in Minnesota. Mauer-type production for $23 million definitely doesn not.
This contract will hamstring the Twins for a decade. 2010 will go down as the best Twins’ season for a long time. For $23 million you need much more in return. Minnesota isn’t New York or Boston.
Comment by rover27 — December 9, 2010 @ 10:41 pm
I hope you “Hardy stinks” guys will come back here when Yoshi’s struggling to hit major league pitching and Casilla sucks (again) and admit you were wrong. Hardy’s not great but be careful what you wish for.
Comment by KC — December 9, 2010 @ 10:45 pm
It doesn’t shock me that the Twins have undervalued Hardy
Have you considered that you overvalue Hardy? 6 teams were interested. The market dictated what he was worth.
underrated by those who don’t recognize the full value of his defense, don’t appreciate the lack of offensive production generally found in shortstops across baseball
You seriously think the Twins are incapable of evaluating his talent? He’s worth what teams are willing to give up. We now know the best package that a team was willing to trade for him.
Comment by Hank Gleen — December 9, 2010 @ 11:07 pm
@ TED
Yea, because Hardy put the team on his shoulders in october vs. the yanks, do’k!
Downgrading at 2 positions? What is the other one?
If october taught the twins anything, it should’ve taught them that a left-handed intensive hitting lineup, with mediocre “control” pitchers, and light-throwing bullpen arms will NOT get the job done.
Yanks are poised to add another lefty in Lee, and IF the Twins happened to play them again with their current roster? Pack a lunch, again.
JJ Hardy will NOT be missed this season. You think Milwaukee misses him either? Shah.
Comment by Brooklyn Twins Fan — December 9, 2010 @ 11:45 pm
Maybe he deserves $6+ Million, but, long term that ain’t going to cut it, and they already have a JJ in the wings named Trevor Plouffe.
Plouffe is going to be 25, has yet to show much ability to be a successfull hitter in the minors, and the few comments I’ve heard about his defense aren’t all that flattering. the Twins really have little infield depth in the system, apart from run-of-the-mill utility types like Plouffe, tolbert, etc.
i think the Twins lack of assigning proper value to Hardy has more to do with clubhouse issues and positional stereotypes by Managment than scouting reports and statistics. I think Hardy detractors fail to assess that wrist injuries tend to nag for awhile, effect power, and is probably what fueled Hardy’s much-derided request for days off.
Comment by Steve Johnson — December 9, 2010 @ 11:57 pm
Brooklyn Twins Fan: You are right, the Twins should make all personnel decisions based on three games in October. How silly of me.
Two positions: SS and 2B. Hardy and Nishioka was probably the best middle infield option. Nishioka at SS (or 2B) and Casilla at 2B (or SS) downgrades both positions both defensively and offensively.
Comment by Ted — December 10, 2010 @ 12:10 am
The Twins weren’t going to compete with or without Hardy, so why pay him? Subbing in mediocre middle infielders may help you get to the playoffs, but you’re not going to go any further without the arms of the Giants or some real offense at 3B/SS/2B.
Comment by David Burden — December 10, 2010 @ 12:40 am
Apparently no one bothered to read Aaron’s sound case on Hardy.
Comment by Gendo — December 10, 2010 @ 1:00 am
I love the picture at the top of this post.
Also, I will miss Hardy. Just like I will miss Hudson, and probably Pavano and Thome (I say probably because I expect them to be gone, not because I doubt their contributions).
This team cannot afford to part with so much talent and expect to compete. Not possible.
Comment by Ted — December 10, 2010 @ 2:03 am
Toss in outstanding defense that Ultimate Zone Rating pegged as MLB’s best at 12.8 runs above average per 150 games and Hardy was one of the top 12 shortstops in baseball even while missing 60 games.
Hmmm. That means JJ would be a potential upgrade for about 15 or 20 teams. Why didn’t one of them swoop in and trump the Baltimore offer?
Comment by Fran — December 10, 2010 @ 5:34 am
Bill Smith = Brad Childress
Enough said. This clown made 1 good trade in 5 years? Gomez for Hardy. Now the dips___t trades away Hardy for nothing.
Comment by Dean — December 10, 2010 @ 6:35 am
I have to commend you for being evenhanded and relatively unbiased in your comments. To say the least, I thought your review of the trade was… “generous”.
Comment by Chris Kruschke — December 10, 2010 @ 6:43 am
Aaron, you have to hammer them on this one. the twins now have nobody to play ss or 2b. we know casilla is terrible and if nishioka is better than kaz matsui, i will jump up and down.
ultimately, if they need to save 7M, fine. i just hope they don’t put it in to a two year 15 million dollar deal for thome. he’ll regress and we’ll eat it all, but with carlos pena getting 10M, i can’t imagine what thome is looking at.
also, keeping him will DESTROY our newfound team speed.
Comment by JB — December 10, 2010 @ 7:29 am
Brooklyn, the Twins downgraded at both SS and 2B. And re: the Yankees, JJ is a RH bat with some pop.
You realize you are saying Alexi Casilla is going to outperform JJ Hardy next year, right? Just want to be sure.
Comment by Arnold4321 — December 10, 2010 @ 8:06 am
I think Steve Johnson nailed it… Gardy couldn’t stand Hardy’s whining for days of, so “he gone”. His numbers don’t matter… Gardy doesn’t care about that. He only knows Hardy drove him crazy, so he went to Bill Smith with a demand. Get him out of here.
I can understand that, sometimes you’ve got to get rid of people with good results when they have poor behavior that can negatively impact your other good performers.
Comment by liner — December 10, 2010 @ 8:11 am
I dont think it is a matter of if the middle infield fails, but how soon in the season it all falls apart. We all know what we got in Casilla, a good utility guy but somone who is not suited to be an everyday player. I believe Nisho is an even bigger question mark than Casilla. Would the Twins ever consider trying to make a move to get Brendon Ryan from the Cardinals, I think he is on the trading block since they aquired Theriot.
Comment by Jeff — December 10, 2010 @ 8:25 am
‘Ultimate Zone Rating pegged as MLB’s best at 12.8 runs above average per 150 games and Hardy was one of the top 12 shortstops in baseball even while missing 60 games.’
Right, but he was only on the field for 102 games so dropping UZR/150 is moot.
I have to say John Bonnes’ post in the Strib is more convincing than AG’s. Of course, the fact is that Hardy can’t be trusted to stay healthy and there is an adjustment he needs to make in his plate approach and swing. He’s solid and all, but $7 million is for a 12.8 run AVERAGE and not actual runs.
Comment by TMW — December 10, 2010 @ 8:28 am
Everyone’s wrong here.
Bill Smith is the GM of the Year after watching how teams tripped over eachother this winter to give too many years and too much money to good but not great players ie Werth & Crawford. Maurer’s deal looks better with every FA signing. Congrats to Bill Smith and the Twins.
Second.
Hardy’s decent but not good. All you need to know is Milwaukee dumped him for Carlos Gomez. The Twins dumped him for two minor league long shots.
If Casilla fails, Plouffe can’t do it, the japanesse guy doesn’t hit, and Punto is playing in Philly, all the Twins need to do is go trade for an Orlando Caberra type midseason. These guys will certainly be available and predictabily for very little in exchange.
Also, if trading Hardy keeps Pavano in the Twins uniform then I’m all for it.
Go Twins.
Comment by pk — December 10, 2010 @ 8:58 am
I know Im in the minority, but I think the twins are going to look hard at Plouffe. He’s still very young, and has spent 3 years at AAA. Think about that, he was in AAA at 22. Lets just see more of him in spring training and such.
Comment by scott — December 10, 2010 @ 9:28 am
I agree with Scott. I think the circumstances with which they gave Danny Valencia a chance and he ran with it makes me think the Twins might be more willing to try this Hughes and/or Plouffe around June 1 if Casilla doesn’t get the job done.
Bottom Line: Twins were 63-38 with J.J. Hardy in the lineup, 31-30 without him. Tell me again how some of us are overrating what Hardy brought to the team and that this isn’t a bad trade?!? I’d rather have Hardy than Pav’s. Instead of limiting the questions and holes in the lineup and on defense, the Twins are creating more.
Comment by Steve L. — December 10, 2010 @ 9:35 am
Bill is GM of the Year for not offering contracts he can’t afford to players he doesn’t want? You, my friend, need to drastically adjust your expectations for a general manager. Then you promote signing an aging pitcher to a ridiculously overpriced contract.
You can disguise your name, Bill, but we know it’s you.
It’s amazing how many people can’t look beyond their own personal biases and even make ridiculous comments that prove they didn’t even read your post. Hardy was the BEST defensive shortstop in baseball based on UZR this year. And while that’s not the end all, I challenge you to find any person directly involved in MLB or even any knowledgeable sportswriters who will not agree that at minimum, he’s a well above average defensive shortstop. And by all reports, Casilla is even a terrible defender at second base meaning he’s likely worse at shortstop. Oh yeah, and he hit .302 with a .446 SLG in the second half when his wrist started to feel better. And two seasons with unrelated injuries does not make you injury prone – besides, 102 games is still almost two thirds of the year. If he stays healthy and repeats his second half numbers next year, he’s a top five shortstop in all of baseball. And lest we forget, even mediocre shortstops do not grow on trees. Hardy’s one of the best we’ve ever had at the position. And for that, we got two guys who’ll likely never contribute anything at the Major League level. And calling the potential replacements in house “replacement level” players is extremely generous. I’d say they are way below replacement level. If it’s speed they so craved, why did they trade the fastest player in the league for Hardy in the first place?!!! Especially since Gomez is a great defensive outfielder and our outfield defense was in actuality the teams biggest weakness in 2010. I’m so incredibly angry with this trade, not just because I think Hardy is extremely undervalued (not talking money), but because this organization has hit a new low of stupidity.
Comment by Chris — December 10, 2010 @ 9:53 am
I always wonder if the people that say Hardy wasn’t good last year actually look at the statistics generated by other Shortstops? What, exactly, are people comparing Hardy to that they don’t think he’s good?
Comment by mike wants WINS — December 10, 2010 @ 9:59 am
Hardy/Casilla infield in 2011 = 6-7 mil total. Casilla/Nishi infield in 2011 = 5 mil plus 500k for Casilla plus 3 mil (estimated) for Nishi =8.5 mil. If Hardy stays healthy there is potential for him to hit .275-.280 with 20 hr’s. My estimate is Casilla hits .255 with 3 hr’s and Nishi hits like .265. Where are we hiding these 2 in the BA? 8 and 9? 2 and 9?
Comment by Large Canine — December 10, 2010 @ 10:02 am
This is a salary dump. Twins are devaluing the SS position with their collection of utility guys (Casilla, Tolbert) and minor league shortstop (Plouffe). Whatever else you think of him, Hardy is a major league shortstop. The Twins are back to square one.
Comment by Dave T — December 10, 2010 @ 10:27 am
if the Twins have to “take a hard look at Plouffe”, things will have gone quite badly indeed. It will mean that either/both Nishi and Casilla have flopped and the club is kicking the tires on a guy who’s only minor league noteworthyness is the excuse, “he’s been young for his league”, ala Luis Rivas.
..and picking up O-Cab again would from a talent perspective be fairly indistinguishable from simply letting Tolbert start.
Hardy was without question the best realistic option at short this season. Casilla\Nishioka were the plan B. Now Plan A is an erratic former prospect and a guy who is comming off a highwater season playing against a level of competition skilled somewhere between double and triple-A. Plan B currently is now essentially replacement level players in the infield.
The Twins traded away from a position where they have very tenuous depth. While the relievers they recieved in return are intriguing, they have a number of other relief options internally and on the market. It further makes the Ramos\Capps situation look like confused missmanagement.
Comment by Steve Johnson — December 10, 2010 @ 10:28 am
Bill Smith is a complete idiot. Giving Pavano any type of contract is a complete lack of foresight again by Bill Smith. Those high draft picks are like gold. We should have never traded Santana, but instead taken the draft picks. In the 3 years since he has been gone, those 2 first round draft picks would be here right now ready to contribute.
We’re talking about giving a starting pitcher who is 35 years old a multiple year deal? Idiotic. Stupid. Dumb. Ridiculous.
Comment by Kunza — December 10, 2010 @ 10:31 am
Someone brought up a point earlier that I think is telling in all this–Milwaukee traded him to the Twins for Gomez, and now the Twins have traded him basically for a middle reliever. Two teams have unloaded him in less than a year for parts, despite the fact he puts up decent stats. That’s a big hint that he’s got some issues. Maybe they’re health related, maybe he’s got a bad attitude, maybe he’s bad in the locker room, whatever it is, two teams have decided that he’s more trouble than he’s worth, no matter his UZR.
Comment by Tom — December 10, 2010 @ 10:40 am
Tom, it is certainly true that there may be something going on that we don’t know about, but since we don’t know about it, we can’t really comment on it.
As for your other point: You may be making a bad logical leap. Trading a guy does not imply that you think the guy is bad. It is possible that Milwaukee thought the combination of Gomez and their new SS was better than Hardy plus their old CF. As an example, did the Twins trading Santana mean they thought he wasn’t any good? Does anyone think that Carlso Gonzalez wasn’t good just because he was traded?
Comment by mike wants WINS — December 10, 2010 @ 10:55 am
Clearly this is a case of Gardy dictating the roster. Gardy wants speed guys in the middle of the infield, guys that fit his image of what a SS/2B are, and so Bill Smith is giving him what he wants. This is telling about who is calling the shots on the baseball side.
And I think it’s a bad sign. Gardy has serious flaws as a manager, but they are ones that can be camouflaged/reduced by good roster management. Letting the manager dictate who is on the roster just doubles the pain. (I’m now expecting an offer to Punto for 2 more years at 3M per any day now)
I could live with this trade a little better if I had more confidence about the bullpen arms that are coming back. Hoey’s lack of command is worrisome, but if that’s just a symptom of his coming back from a serious injury, maybe he’s the power arm we need. But he’s still a question mark. Jacobson is a longshot. I have to wonder if we couldn’t have done better with an asset like Hardy.
Dumping Harris is a nice treat; he’s turned into a disaster, but his contract and “veteran status” would cause him to get opportunities in camp and there would be pressure to keep him on the roster. While he might have been able to produce in a limited role, Gardy’s managing style doesn’t fit well to putting guys in limited roles. I figure the $500K was akin to a buyout on his contract, so we’re still getting roster flexibility.
It sounds like the Twins wanted the money they were going to spend on Hardy to cover their costs on Nishioka, or to free up money for a multi-year offer on Pavano. If it turns out they drop $30M on Pavano over 3 years the offseason just gets worse. because while Pavano might be worth it next year…I doubt he will in year 2 and definitely not in year 3.
I was really hoping we’d keep Hardy (who plays excellent defense and has some pop in his bat from the right side) to pair with Nishioka, with Casilia as the utility guy. Let Pavano go somewhere else for too much money, and use the savings to bring back Thome, find a RH-platoon partner for Kubel and a couple of decent bullpen arms.
Comment by Josh — December 10, 2010 @ 11:12 am
you’re saving $1.25M on Harris. Hardy is going to get $7M or so in arbitration. You got a couple of other pieces that may or may not work out, but have some value. How much is having Hardy worth? because unless it’s $12M+, I don’t see how this trade is lopsided one way.
I think it’s probably right around $10M, mostly because there’s a scenario where he goes 0.300/0.350/0.450, stays healthy, and nets you draft pick compensation next year when he leaves. But that’s a 1 in 10 scenario.
Comment by Brian — December 10, 2010 @ 11:50 am
If you never pay for quality, and deal it when you are “contending”, how do you get over the top? I mean, if you aren’t going to keep a guy like Hardy when you are supposedly entering the heyday of your payroll, and your C and 1B are superstars in their prime, when will this team ever keep a guy like Hardy?
btw, exercising the option on Cuddeyer pre-maturely looks worse and worse right now….imagine keeping Hardy and saving even more money on Cuddy…
Comment by mike wants WINS — December 10, 2010 @ 12:34 pm
This is one of those times when people can get so caught up in their numbers that they fail to step back and look at the big picture. And that big picture is, this isn’t that big a deal. Some people are acting like they just traded Babe Ruth. JJ Hardy isn’t Babe Ruth. He’s a good-not-great shortstop. In 10 years, when we look at the history of Twins trades, this one will be remembered in the same breath as the Roy Smalley to the Yankees trade. In other words, it won’t.
Comment by Tom — December 10, 2010 @ 4:22 pm
Adding speed to the lineup is fine, but the knee jerk reaction of “we need more speed!” due to how TF played in 2010 is stupid. Especially considering the Twins had a fantastic home record. If this money is being cleared for a good move, I’m fine with it. Extending Pavano is not a good move. The talk of extending Pavano, and then trading Slowey is completely stupid. Slowey will give you pretty much the same value as Pavano over the next three years for probably 1/3 the salary.
The team is still the class of the Central, but I don’t forsee any deep playoff runs with the Manager/Front Office making stupid decisions like this. There’s no points for degree of difficulty, guys.
Comment by Zack — December 10, 2010 @ 5:46 pm
No, we are acting like they traded a legit top 10 SS for two middle relievers, when they have a guy that has 1000 PAs and been bad, a guy coming over from Japan, and a bunch of AAA/AAAA players behind them. No one is saying that this cost the Twins their season. We (many of us) are saying it was a bad trade.*
*it would be a good trade if they also dealt Kubel, and then acquired a legit, in his prime, RF/LF who was RH and could hit and play D…..or traded slowey, blackburn and a prospect for a legit ace type and used the money saved to sign him….but the odds of those happening are tiny. super tiny.
Comment by mike wants wins — December 10, 2010 @ 9:05 pm
@ Boynk, speaking of fragile phyches and headcases, I would like for the Twins to avoid going after Grienke this offseason. His issues are well documented and he seems like a flash in the pan to me.
Comment by Hinkseams — December 10, 2010 @ 9:14 pm
@Hank Gleen
Your dedication to the simplest and most easily undermined concepts of market economics is remarkable.
Comment by haplito — December 11, 2010 @ 1:27 am
First, let me start by stating up front that I am not much of a stat-head. I like reading blogs by those who do, but I just have the time to devote to such thorough analysis. Therefore, what I am going to say next needs to be read with that context.
Those who are claiming that this trade is “Gardy’s fault” boggle my mind. I realize second-guessing a coach is the new national pastime, but this is ridiculous. Casilla has been in the dog house for years. The common complaint against Gardy is that he babies his favorite, “scrappy”, light-hitting middle infielders. Yet, Casilla has been benched, demoted, and heavily criticized by Gardy in the media for being lazy and stubborn. If anything, Gardy has openly ripped Casilla (as much as Gardy rips any of his players). Also, it is ludicrous to suggest a solid shortstop would be traded JUST because the coach wants speedier guys on base. I mean, give these guys SOME credit.
The Twins need to make a bold move, but they ain’t got a lot to work with (money or trade bait). Like it or not, the Twins are swinging for the fences with Nishioka. Personally, I think they can gamble a bit with the middle infielders, largely because that is not the strength of the team. The Twins’ hopes lie almost entirely with Mauer, Morneau and (hopefully) a resurgent starting pitching rotation. If those ingredients fail, so do the Twins. I realize every position is important, but neither short or second is critical to the Twins’ success in 2011. Rolling the dice with Nishioka is a gamble, admittedly, but something has to change. Last year’s formula didn’t work.
So why not try a more proven formula, such as securing an ace starter through another trade or free agency? Because those options don’t really exist. PLEASE stop suggesting we trade Young for Halladay, Santana and Babe Ruth, or that we sign “an ace starter” without naming said mythical being. Over the past decade, who was the best free agent signing the Twins acquired? Pavano? Nice signing, but more luck than craft.
If the Twins kept Hardy, they would start the season with Hardy at short and Casilla at second – a lesser combo than we had last year with Hudson. We all know how that season played out. Is the current strategy going to be a bust? Perhaps. But at least we are taking a chance with a part of our roster that is relatively expendable.
Lastly, Smith is working on a roster that has life beyond next year. Hardy would be gone in a year, regardless. What would be the plan for 2012? The Twins can’t afford solid free agents (especially with the Mauer contract), so they either have to draft well or get lucky. If they avoid the temptation to sign Pavano, they will have a better chance with the drafting portion, and Nishioka could prove the be a fortunate move.
Comment by ismist — December 11, 2010 @ 9:24 pm
“Hardy and Nishioka starting with Casilla as a backup would’ve been the best chance to win in 2011.”
I wish you would say “win more games” or “win the division,” AG, for clarity. A lot of people here might think that you are full of hubris.
Oh I forgot. There are many who persist in thinking you are talking about the World Series.
Comment by brian — December 11, 2010 @ 10:44 pm
“For the most part the Twins’ longstanding, organization-wide focus on drafting and developing pitchers with better control and command than raw stuff has served them well, but at times it has also left them short on the flame-throwing relievers many other teams prefer to rely on in late-inning roles. Neither pitcher acquired from Baltimore fits the Twins’ typical mold, as Hoey and Jacobson are both big guys with power fastballs and shaky command.”
This is why I love this trade. Finally they bring in some power arms; now here’s hoping they do the same with their starting rotation.
Comment by Kurt — December 11, 2010 @ 11:00 pm
Kurt: power are easy to find. Really, they are. It is the power arms with control, the guys who actually, you know, get people out, that are hard to find. And nothing suggests that either of these pitchers is the latter sort; they are, as most have suggested, long shots.
Now the Twins are looking at Brendan Ryan. I bet it takes more than a couple middling relievers to get him.
@Kurt: if you don’t win the division, or a playoff series is doesn’t matter how well you’re built for the World Series. if you build your team to try and win a crap-shoot short series, I think you’re probably never going to get there.
Also, the power arms are nice, but if they can’t throw strikes they won’t be pitching for the Twins. Come on, do you really think Rick Anderson & Gardy are going to call on a guy they think might consistently grant a free pass to 1B? (Let me be clear: I tend to agree with them on this point. Walks will haunt you, as the Dome scoreboard used to say all the time) So unless Hoey discovers some control they’re not going to pitch him.
ismit: ? I think most of us are arguing for Hardy and Nishi, not Hardy and Casilla. Casilla should be the utility guy in that situation, not Tolbert.
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The Big 50: The Men and Moments that Made the Minnesota Twins
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Only On 7: Belmont turns off red light cameras
BELMONT, Calif.
Belmont's red light cameras are at two intersections: heavily-traveled Ralston Avenue and El Camino and the second set at Ralston and Old County Road. Tuesday night, the city council voted 3-1 to shut them down. Councilmember Dave Warden has been a vocal critic right from the start.
"That's what we pay our police to do. We pay our police to enforce our laws and I don't think these cameras are doing any good at all," said Warden.
The cameras made by Redflex Traffic Systems averaged about 170 citations a month, mostly for rolling stops when making right turns. Belmont Police Chief Dan Desmidt believes the cameras were able to accomplish for public safety what his officers could not.
"Because of the geographical layout of those intersections, it was difficult to have officers there. So we felt in that way, it reached our goal," said Desmidt.
The department monitored the two intersections. There were very few straight-on collisions either before or after the cameras were installed. But according to red light monitoring group Safe Streets, at El Camino and Ralston there were seven more rear-end collisions 20 months after the cameras were installed than the same time before. Twenty months before the cameras were installed there were 12 and after there were 19. At the other intersection, rear-enders dubbed "panic braking" doubled after the cameras existed from two to four.
Councilmember Coralin Feierbach also voted against the cameras. She pointed out that Redflex is in the midst of a corruption scandal in one of its biggest client cities -- Chicago. Company officials have been accused of secretly giving lavish gifts to a former city official.
"I don't think a city, a public city, a city that's public, should have to do anything with a company that has had corruptions scandals," said Feierbach.
Most of the folks we spoke said no to the cameras, just like Belmont motorist Hortensia Machicado. She said, "I think it's a good idea to do that because I already got a ticket for that. So, I am so happy about that one."
Belmont motorist Rafael Sivug disagrees. He said, "Late at night, there's a lot of people just passing red lights, so I think they should put it back."
Another big reason why council members voted against the red light cameras is that they felt it was bad public relations for the city. They got a lot of angry emails from people who got tickets from making those right turns, people who said they would never come back to Belmont to shop again.
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Denise Bookwalter – Spandrel
Denise Bookwalter - Spandrel quantity
Categories: limited edition artists' books, Regional South Atlantic
Spandrel uses traditional and non-traditional processes to play with the reading of a poem. One poem is on the first page and slowly transforms through the 150 pages into the second poem, which is on the last page. In the middle of the book the text is unreadable but as the viewer nears the end the text comes back into focus. The project was a two year project that was a collaboration between Frank Giampietro and Denise Bookwalter. The entire book draws from the architectural term spandrel.
Denise Bookwalter works in a range of print media including traditional and digital processes, artist’s books, installations and dimensional prints. Her artists’ books utilize old and new print technologies to create collaborative artists’ books. Her work has been exhibited in a variety of venues nationally as well as internationally. She received her BA from Northwestern University and her MFA from Indiana University in Printmaking. Denise currently lives in Tallahassee, Florida and is an Assistant Professor of Art at Florida State University where she teaches printmaking and is Area Head of the Printmaking Department. She is the director and a founding member of Florida State University’s artists’ book press, Small Craft Advisory Press.
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Beata Wehr – Paszport
Karen Kunc – On This Land
Elsi Vassdal Ellis – Aἰτήματα Postulates – SPECIAL ORDER ITEM
Thomas Parker Williams – NO LONGER AVAILABLE
by Alicia Bailey time to read: 1 min
Amelia Bird – Walden Marginalia
Macy Chadwick – Cell Memory
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Film Crit Hulk Smash
Film Crit Hulk SMASH: That Wonderful WONDER WOMAN
A quick look at the core functionality of DC's latest victory.
By Film Crit Hulk Jun. 08, 2017
Just a quick take on this one.
There are many things to talk about with Wonder Woman. There's the fact that DC finally seems to have gotten its act together and built something somewhat functional and good hearted. There's the fact that both Gal Gadot and Chris Pine are outrageously good in the film. There's the lauding we can lavish upon Patty Jenkins and the production team. There's an entire dialogue we can have about women being starved for non-sexualized heroic images and the way this film finally taps into that need. There's also all the valid conversations we can have about the various shortcomings of the the film too in terms of representation or race. But there are many authors who are much better at those conversations and I'll happily leave it to them and listen attentively. For me, I always want to zoom in on the level of function within story.
What's may seem weird about Wonder Woman is that for a film as universally liked as this, there's a lot of tangible story problems present. The first 17 minutes are sort of nightmare, full of tell-not-show, confusing conjecture, and vague telegraphic utterings of purpose (we have to stop doing this. Either give information outright or misdirect; stop thinking we can cryptically allude to "true purposes" likes it's something the audience won't get immediately). It all sets up a Themyscira that feels far too postured and never truly lived in, something critical to setting up the stakes of both the the threat and the leaving.
But as soon as Chris Pine arrives and they're off on the adventure, this becomes the rare studio film in which the second act is the absolute best. The same clunky posturing problems rear their head again in the third act where the math of the Ares reveal never makes sense (dramatic or otherwise), all before slipping into just another CGI slugfest (we also have to stop doing this. People don't want this. They want the end of Kill Bill Vol. II. They want it personal, intimate, and meaningful). And so, the overwrought nature of the fight makes us desperately cling to the emotional beats that work within it. And the glaring truth is that these problems are pronounced enough that they would normally kill a lot of other films.
And yet, despite all this, when that last title hits and Diana leaps off into the skyline of Paris, there is no doubting that it all still works. No, gentle red piller, it's not part of some political leaning. It about how we still hear her echoing the words about choosing love in the duality of man's folly, helping us realize that what really makes the film work is a simple and undeniable commitment to theme. For at the core of Wonder Woman is the notion that purity matters, especially in the face of cynicism. That what many would call naive is in fact just the continued choice to care about our collective survival. It's the heart of empathy. And with this film, the sincere commitment to empathy is ingrained into nearly every moment. It's in every step of Diana's characterization. Every gesture. From the love of discovering ice cream, to the unveiling across the depths of No Man's Land. And it is even ingrained right into the clunky, posturing aspects of the film itself. And so when those end credits hit there is only thing I am really sure of... that Diana, Princess of Themyscira, I believe in you. I look up to you. And I love you.
And I love what you believe in most of all.
<3 HULK
Battle-ready Wonder Woman Doll
Toy | Mattel
FILM CRIT HULK WAS CREATED IN A CHAOTIC LAB EXPERIMENT INVOLVING GAMMA RADIATION, TELEPODS, AND THE GHOST OF PAULINE KAEL. NOW HULK HAVE DEEP AND ABIDING LOVE CINEMA.
The WONDER WOMAN 1984 Trailer Is Here To Whip Up Some Fun
Steve Trevor can’t tell art from a trashcan.
Patty Jenkins Kicked Off The WONDER WOMAN 1984 Campaign A Bit Early
By Amelia Emberwing, Jun 05, 2019
Gee, that suit looks familiar.
SDCC 2018: First WONDER WOMAN 1984 Footage Is Fun, Bright, Maybe Even A Little Silly
By Evan Saathoff, Jul 21, 2018
Wonder Woman kicks ass in a mall, y’all.
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The Dark Eye: Drakensang
Written by Mark Mackay
Tags: #drakensang #the-dark-eye
Companies: #eidos
1 - Drakensang PC Review 2 - Drakensang PC - Gameplay 3 - Drakensang - Graphics and Final Thoughts
Platform: PC exclusive
UK Price (as reviewed): £26.93 (inc. VAT)
US Price (as reviewed): $27.99 (ex. Tax)
One of the many brilliant ancient Greek videogames philosophers once commented that most hardcore RPG players spend their lives in one of two modes. The first mode is addiction, where he or she is currently addicted to and thoroughly enjoying a good RPG. The second mode is one where the player spends time searching for a new RPG to fill that massive, empty void of nothingness which appears the instant an RPG is finished.
If you’re anything like me then you’ll be so desperate for that next RPG hit that you'll flick through the manual while the game installs, waiting until nobody is looking and then pressing the pages to your nose to get an actual sniff of those character statistics. Mmm - new game smell!
As you entertain yourself with this ritual and turn through the pages it may become abundantly clear that Drakensang’s character development system is complex to the point of super-sanity. Most experienced RPG players will appreciate that fact, obviously - and if it's complexity you're after then Drakensang will have you covered.
The story for the game starts with you getting a letter from a friend. Your old pal needs your help as he's become entangled in a cliché plot straight out of some kind of fantasy RPG - pfft, imagine that! Your first task is to make your way to the nearby city of Ferdok to meet up and help him out of his terrible blight.
Ferdok is a city widely known for its famous female lancers and beer which – unlike the real world – apparently helps to instil an atmosphere of peace and tranquillity among the city inhabitants. However, it seems that not all the inhabitants are happy drunks as a recent string of murders has the city up in arms - a series of events that inexorably draws you in.
The aptly named world of Aventuria is a remarkably pretty and detailed one, much of which probably stems from the fact that it's based on a pen-and-paper RPG system that's apparently as popular as Dungeons and Dragons in some countries. The graphics have been craftily and lucidly put together and the art has obviously come from a team that's intimately familiar with the original PnP, but unfortunately that doesn't do a lot to hide the fact that the story is constructed mainly from obvious RPG cliches.
These tired RPG stalwarts don't stop at the contrivances of the plot either - you can expect to bump into characters such as Granny Goodbeet, Traveller Trueman, Alchemist Aurilia and of course, good old Pracelot Shufflewick. No, we didn’t make that up, it is actually in the game.
The plus side to this though is that players are at the very least right at home in the game world in some ways, especially when it comes to processes like loot collecting - animals and foes often drop their loot handily on the floor for you to pick up and the animals have even had the foresight to lop off their own limbs and place them for you in wooden spinets upon death.
Mass Effect 2 formally announced
EA and BioWare have officially announced the release date and platforms for Mass Effect 2.
The skies are clearing and we can just about make out another gritty Russian adventure on the horizon. Will Clear Sky be as beautifully broken as the first game though, or is this a wholly better form of PC shooter? We venture into the zone and find out...
The Witcher Enhanced Edition dated
The Witcher: Enhanced Edition has been officially detailed and dated by developer CD Projekt Red.
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Home NEWS Live At The Kasbah: Richard Branson Hosts Marrakesh Blockchain Summit
Live At The Kasbah: Richard Branson Hosts Marrakesh Blockchain Summit
British business entrepreneur and founder of Virgin is now to host a major blockchain summit at his home in Marrakesh, writes Forbes.
The summit is normally held at Branson’s personal offshore home on Necker Island in the British Virgin Islands. However, it was devastated by last year’s Category Five storms which tore through the island, destroying numerous private residences.
In view of this, an alternative location needed to be found for the high-profile conference, which was responsible for the forming of the Blockchain Alliance which now includes 36 government agencies and the Global Blockchain Business Council, with members from 35 countries.
This year, the founder of the annual event, investor Bill Tai, announced that the event would be held at Branson’s Kasbah Tamadot in Marrakesh, Morocco, with eminent guests Google co-founder Sergey Brin and Kenya cabinet secretary Joseph Mucheru, along with 30 speakers. Building blockchain in Africa is reported to be the central focus of this year’s conference.
Tai commented:
“The whole continent is a bit of an unknown to a lot of folks because they just don’t get much exposure to it, I think getting a lot of people together that are knowledgeable, with reach, and high profile, that collectively can form a view about what are the opportunities at hand can both serve philanthropic and commercial interests.”
Blockchain in Africa is developing slowly but surely. Ghana-based Bitland and Kenya-based Land Layby are working to use blockchain to create formally-recognized infrastructures for proving land ownership, and the technology is increasingly being used in logistics to track goods from growth to table. Many small businesses are getting much-needed support from NGOs and private companies integrating blockchain projects into a range of sectors across the continent.
Tai has his own project in mind which he says he is due to announce, called Barking Dog. The project is reportedly designed to help governments without land titling in place to use blockchain to assure citizens and governments of their rights to land and, once established, to tokenize the assets.
The World Economic Forum estimates that 90% of Africa’s land is “completely” undocumented and Tia maintains blockchain could become a major factor in effecting the necessary changes to the status quo.
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TagsAfricaBarking DogBlockchain AllianceBritish Virgin IslandsGhanaGlobal Blockchain Business CouncilKasbah TamadotKenyaLand laybyNecker Island
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Robeson County Railroads
When Sherman’s troops invaded Robeson County by K….
Charles Hunter- Robeson County Early Black Educator by…
Burneys built Lumberton Landmarks By K. Blake Tyner
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Home Blog A Century of Service by K. Blake Tyner
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A Century of Service by K. Blake Tyner
written by admin March 9, 2018
Who would have thought that when Joe Sugar was driving his wagon to Raleigh in 1916 and stopped to check out a store in St. Pauls, NC that 100 years later his grandson and namesake would still be operating the family business. The journey took many twist and turns from his immigration to store owner. Joe Sugar was born January 10, 1889 in Ariogala, Lithuania. His birth name was Tsukera, the Russian word for Sugar. He arrived at the Locust Point dock in Baltimore on May 15, 1906 aboard the ship The Main. His son, Stanly, said of his father “he couldn’t read or write English, but someone forgot to tell him he was poverty stricken and he went to work making two dollars a week.”
Baltimore was home to a large Jewish Immigrant community and like many young Jewish males Joe started selling goods on consignment for the Baltimore Bargain House. He peddled clothing through the Carolinas on foot with a pack on his back until he raised enough money to purchase a horse and buggy. He slept many nights with the stars for his lights and the sky for a roof.
In October 1911 Joe and three of his brothers opened Joe Sugar & Co. in Bennettsville, SC. Joe made a trip to Baltimore to secure goods and visit his family. He met Anne Leviton and began courting her. They were married three weeks later and she returned to Bennettsville with him. Their first child Emanuel was born July 1914. By 1916 he realized that the business was not big enough to support four Sugar brothers. Joe and his small family were headed to Raleigh when he stopped in St. Pauls and heard that the Townsend Brothers had a store for sale that was making $50 a Saturday. They had found a new business and a new home. Daughter Beatrice was born in 1917 with Stanly following in 1924 and Leon in 1928.
Left to right: Joe, Stanly, Anne, Emanuel, Beatrice and Leon
Each of the Sugar children began working in the store. Sugar eventually opened a store in Lumberton that was later purchased by his son, Emanuel. His daughter, Beatrice, and her husband, Ernest Fleishman, operated a lady’s store in Lumberton and son, Leon, operated a store in Lumberton before opening his store in Fayetteville. Stanly returned from World War II and helped manage the St. Pauls store.
Stanley Sugar grew up working with his father and mother from the time he was ten in their general merchandise store. Stanley convinced his parents to change the store to focus just on clothing for the entire family. He said many times it was the best move. In 1960 Stanley made another a bold move and began to stock the men’s section with clothing for Big and Tall men as well as the short man.
It all started when a customer walked in with his hard-to-fit 12-year-old who was already 6’4”. Stanley knew he had found the store’s future. Under one roof he brought together 177 sizes of sport coats and suits from a 35 extra short to a 70 long portly. Pants from a 28 waist to a 76, which two average size people could easily fit.
He told a reporter in 1987 “I’m over inventoried. I’m always over inventoried. What built my business is having the merchandise. Most stores are scared to death to buy the way I buy.”
Stanly in his trademark red hat with Joe, who is standing in one leg of a size 70 dress pants.
He use to not be able to sleep at night at the thought of ordering 500 Ultrasuede coasts in 15 sherbet shades or buying $150,000 worth of clothes in three hours. Stanley said “But it’s always worked out.”
Stanley closed the children’s department after his youngest daughter grew out of those sizes into young women’s sizes. Then in January 1974 a newspaper advertisement announced the Sugar’s would be closing the ladies clothing department.
In 1985 Stanley was named Retailer of the Year by the Men’s Apparel Club at the 45th Annual Anniversary Ball. At that time the store was 6,500 square feet with a work force of 18. Stock included 8,000 shirts, 7,000 slacks, 2,500 sport coats and 3,500 suits.
Stanley said in a 1986 interview that he always had the moral support of his wife, Annette, whom he met in Seattle while in the Navy. “Soon as I married her, I brought her down to North Carolina to dry her off and see what she looked like. She’d been in the fog all her life. When she first came, she hated the climate, but now you couldn’t run her out with a shotgun.” The Sugar’s three daughters – Fran, Jackie and JoAnn, known to everyone as The Sugar Lumps, grew up working in the store with their grandparents and father.
The present-day Joe Sugar, son of Leon and Mickey Fleishman Sugar, grew up in Fayetteville. His mother debated long and hard to find a name for her son. Mickey’s father had recently died and she wanted to honor her father by naming him Leon but did not want him as a Jr. So, she thought using the L and calling him Larry but her Aunt Dot said “Larry Sugar is not a good name that honors no one. She said your father-in-law just passed away too. Call the boy Joe and give him Lawrence as a middle name.” Aunt Dot also told her niece that who knows he might end up down there at that store one day.
Did Aunt Dot signal the future for infant Joe? Or maybe it was when he started working with his father at his clothing store? Maybe it was destiny he does decent from three Jewish clothing merchant families – the Sugars of St. Pauls and Fayetteville; the Fleishmans of Fayetteville and his grandmother Fleishman was a Weinstein, niece of Lumberton merchant Aaron Weinstein. Young Joe did not think he would find himself in the clothing business.
After graduating from NC State, he entered the financial world. He was working as a stock broker when he called his Uncle Stanley in August 1986. He had a stock he wanted to sell Stanley. He recalls “Stanley told me ‘Listen, I’ve got some stock to sell you’ ” Stanley was looking for someone to take over the then seventy-year-old family business. One selling point Stanley told him was that Joe had the right name and would not have to spend money on a new sign. Joe drove down to the store to look around. After meeting the personnel, he liked what he saw. He talked to his family and decided that Joe Sugar’s of St. Pauls is where he belong.
Joe Sugar descendants gathered for centennial event. Photo courtesy Ponce Photography
Joe like his predecessors has made his own mark on the business. He issued a catalog for the business for several years. He has taken the business to the internet establishing a website and promoting the business using social media. His biggest mark came when Hurricane Floyd ripped the roof of the building in 1999. He enlarged the business into the next two buildings and redesigned the exterior of the buildings. He continues to provide quality clothing and service as his family has for over a century.
When Sherman’s troops invaded Robeson County by K. Blake Tyner
Fairmont – Pittman Drug Co
Carolina College
Small Stone Marks at Large Life by K....
When Sherman’s troops invaded Robeson County by K....
Red Springs the Saratoga of the South by...
Robeson County’s Brigadoon by K. Blake Tyner
Maxton – Eliza McQueen
Robeson County Railroads – pt 2
Charles Hunter- Robeson County Early Black Educator by...
Ken Clements March 10, 2018 - 2:13 pm
Great article and moving tribute to the Sugar clan. Stanley’s middle daughter, Jackie, is my sister-in-law.
admin March 11, 2018 - 9:07 pm
Jackie and the family are so special.
Linda Yarnell May 1, 2019 - 3:53 pm
My name is Mary Linda McNett Yarnell. My grandfather was Dr. Charles Graves Vardell. My sister Elizabeth Vardell McNett graduated from Flora Macdonald College. (Sorry I’m bad about dates, but you can probably look it up faster than I!) She was Maid of Honor for the May Day celebration. Thanks for your diligent research! Very interesting writing!
Joyce Gordon September 22, 2019 - 12:41 pm
I remember mr. & mrs. sugar very well. She made the best pickles. Leon and Stanley use to come to Pages Lake to swim with my mom, Ottalee.
John Willis – Founder of Lumberton, NC
Robeson County May Day Celebrations
Robeson County African Americans
Joyce Gordon on A Century of Service by K. Blake Tyner
Charlotte Meshaw on Swiss National Library Source of East Lumberton Photographs
Patricia McNeill Shelton on Robeson County African Americans
Watch My Latest Video Here
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDcIkOZXZJY
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On Oscar Night Everyone's a Grownup!
By Lorrie Lynch , March 02, 2014 08:26 PM
Even the weather gods know that you don't mess around with Oscar. A rainy afternoon in Los Angeles gave way to sun in time for the Annual Academy Awards Sunday and the glamour teams who get the stars ready for the glitzy ceremony must have exhaled in unison. Fashion dominated the red carpet conversation and age had nothing to do with the great grownup looks. Here, a few of the best.
THE LEGENDARY Liza Minnelli, 67, in cobalt blue matched by a streak in her hair, was with her siblings - Judy Garland's other two children Lorna Luft and Joey Luft. They were on hand to celebrate the 75th anniversary of their mother's iconic film, The Wizard of Oz.
Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP.
AMY ADAMS, who made Baby Boomers of a certain age relive the 70s in American Hustle, looks nothing but modern as a Best Actress nominee wearing Gucci Couture.
NOMINEE June Squibb, 84, in emerald green Tadashi Shoji, was delighted that the designer made the dress "just for me."
BETTE MIDLER wore Lebanese designer Reem Acra for her red carpet walk but she changed for her first-ever performance at the Oscars (though she has presented and been a nominee) of her signature "Wind Beneath My Wings."
THE DERNS - nominee for Nebraska Bruce Dern with actress daughter Laura Dern and wife Andrea - made it a family affair. Dern, 77, won an AARP Movies for Grownups award last month.
SANDRA BULLOCK, nominated for Gravity, was stunningly out of this world on the red carpet in Alexander McQueen.
MATTHEW MCCONAUGHEY, who won Best Actor for Dallas Buyers Club, arrived with his mother Mary Kathlene McCabe and his model wife Camila Alves and paid tribute to his family in his acceptance speech.
MERYL STREEP, a red carpet veteran after 18 nominations, arrived ready to have fun and was game for all of host Ellen DeGeneres's shenanigans - from taking selfies to eating pizza.
STAR WARS PILOT Harrison Ford, who walked the red carpet with wife Calista Flockhart, introduced the Best Picture nominees with a warning to "fasten your seat belts."
Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP.
BLUE JASMINE'S Cate Blanchett stunned fashionistas in an Armani gown she confessed was heavy thanks to the beading but may have been the night's best dress - and the perfect dress for the Best Actress.
JULIA ROBERTS, Best Supporting Actress nominee for August Osage County, wowed the crowd in Givenchy.
HOUSE OF CARDS star Kevin Spacey, a two-time Oscar winner, looked just as dapper as a presenter at the Oscars as he does in fictional Washington, D.C.
LUPITA NYONG'O may have been the youngest nominee - and an eloquent winner for 12 Years A Slave - but she was every bit the grownup star and beautiful in what she called a "Nairobi blue" gown.
ONCE INSIDE, Hollywood Glamour Couple Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie took on presenter duties and Pitt's production 12 Years A Slave took Best Picture honors.
U2, at the Oscar ceremony to sing the nominated song from Mandela:Long Walk to Freedom, traveled the red carpet as the great ensemble they are.
CHEWITEL EJIOFOR, a gracious Best Actor nominee, arrived on the arm of girlfriend Sari Mercer.
Photo by John Shearer/Invision/AP.
HOST Ellen DeGeneres wore several suits during the broadcast but her good witch tribute to the Wizard of Oz drew the most applause.
84th Academy Awards movies for grownups EFG oscars
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Home>Alexa News>Your Top Questions About Alexa Data and Ranks, Answered
Your Top Questions About Alexa Data and Ranks, Answered
We answer questions everyday about Alexa’s data, how it’s measured, and how we calculate ranks. In this special Q&A, we address some of the most common questions regarding these topics, and more.
Q: What is the “data panel”?
A: Alexa’s data panel is the sample of global internet traffic that is used to calculate Alexa Ranks and estimate non-Certified metrics. The panel is comprised of millions of internet users using one of over 25,000 different browser extensions.
Q: Does Alexa directly measure website traffic too?
A: Yes. Alexa also measures traffic directly from sites that choose to install a special Alexa script and certify their metrics. The unique combination of data from our panel, plus data from directly measured sources, filtered through our advanced statistical models, enable us to provide you with the most robust metrics.
Q: How are Alexa’s Traffic Ranks determined?
A: Traffic estimates and ranks are based on the browsing behavior of people in our global data panel by default. The rank is calculated using a proprietary methodology that combines a site’s average of daily unique visitors and its number of pageviews over the past 3 months. The site with the highest combination of unique visitors and pageviews is ranked #1.
Q: How often are ranks updated?
A: Daily.
Q: Does Alexa rank subpages and subdomains?
A: Alexa Traffic Ranks are only provided for top-level domains (e.g., domain.com). We do not provide separate rankings for subpages within a domain (e.g. domain.com/subpage) or subdomains (subdomain.domain.com), unless we are able to identify them as a personal home page, hosted site, or blog. An example of this are those hosted on sites like Blogger (blogspot.com). In this case, these sites will have individual traffic ranks, separate from their host domains.
Q: You mentioned unique visitors. What are these and how are they different from visits?
A: Great question! Unique visitors are determined by the number of unique users who visit a site on a given day. In other words, it is the number of people that visited your site over a selected time period. A person visiting the site multiple times during the time period is only counted once. Visits, on the other hand, are single browsing sessions. If a visitor views another page on your site within 30 minutes of the last pageview it is counted as the same visit. A visitor returning to your site 30 minutes after the last pageview is counted as a separate visit.
Q: What is a pageview?
A: A pageview is recorded whenever a full page of your website is viewed or refreshed. The count of pageviews is the total number of times the pages of your website were viewed or refreshed in the selected time period.
Q: I recently saw fluctuations in my Alexa Rank. Did something change about how sites are ranked?
A: No. Nothing changed about how ranks are determined. However, we recently increased the size of our data panel significantly. This is why you might be seeing changes in your site’s rank. Changes in the data panel are a natural occurrence due to the evolution of internet audiences and usage, as well as improvements by Alexa to capture the new resulting traffic data. Regardless, nothing has changed about the way Alexa actually determines ranks.
Q: But my site’s traffic is getting better. Why is my rank worse?
A: Any ranking system that ranks you is relative to others. In other words, The Alexa Traffic Rank ranks your site relative to all other sites in the world. A good analogy is running a race. Let’s say you run a race today and finish in 3rd place. If you race again tomorrow and have a faster time, you could still finish in 4th place if 3 other people run faster than you. Even though you ran a faster race, your ‘ranking’ got worse because other people ran even faster.
Q: So there’s an increase in the size of Alexa’s data panel. What does this mean for me?
A: A larger data panel is great news! This means we have more robust global traffic coverage and can therefore make better estimates, resulting in more accurate rankings, traffic metrics, and actionable recommendations for you as a customer. Ultimately, you’ll be able to take a deeper, more insightful look at web analytics for both you and your competitors.
Q: Are there other factors that can affect my data?
A: Alexa strives to calculate unbiased estimates of the actual web traffic to all sites on the internet. However, we do understand that biases exist and we frequently adjust our statistical models to account for them. In addition, the number, composition, and usage patterns of Web users can make it difficult to estimate rankings for sites with fewer than 1,000 monthly users. If we don’t have enough data to make an estimate, we won’t display it.
Q: How can I get the most accurate metrics for my site(s)?
A: The best way to get the most accurate metrics is to Certify your site’s metrics. If your site’s metrics are Certified you can choose to publicly display directly measured Global and Country ranks for your site, even if there is not enough data from our panel to rank your site. Further, site owners with certified metrics can choose to publish directly measured unique visitors and pageviews for the rank instead.
Q: Does Alexa assign better ranks for paid subscribers?
Q: Are Alexa ranks partial to particular websites or interests?
A: Absolutely not. Alexa is an impartial measurement service. For over 15 years we have worked to fine-tune our methodologies in order to provide companies with the most accurate metrics and insights to make more informed business decisions.
If you’re ready to start benchmarking against your closest competitors, certify and start your free trial today.
Still have questions? All of this information and more can be found on our FAQ page.
Announcing a Faster, Easier Way to Find Growth Opportunities from Competitors
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Alexa News Alexa Partners with the San Francisco American Mar…
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The Derwent Art Prize 2020 – Call for Entries From British and International Artists, Prizes Total £12,500
7th June 2019 Derwentart Competition, Derwent Art Prize, News
Derwent, internationally renowned fine art brand, are proud to announce that the fifth instalment of the Derwent Art Prize is now open for entries.
The Derwent Art Prize was conceived in 2012 and aims to reward excellence by showcasing the very best 2D & 3D artworks created in any pencil or coloured pencil as well as water soluble, pastel, graphite and charcoal. Since the Derwent Art Prize began, the competition has attracted more than 10,000 entries from almost 70 countries, with the 2018 edition of the opportunity receiving 3,231 entries from 1,275 artists worldwide.
From the total artworks submitted, approximately fifty will be selected for display at the gallery@oxo, London from 22nd April – 4th May 2020. Prizes totalling £12,500 plus a box of 100 Lightfast Pencils will be awarded in a private awards ceremony on the opening night of the exhibition. We are delighted to announce the introduction of a number of special incentives for young artists: a Young Artist First Prize of £4,000, a Young Artist Second Prize of £2,000, and a reduced entry fee for young artists – just £5 per work. The two Young Artist winners will also receive additional prizes, details of which will be confirmed shortly.
Sitting on this year’s distinguished judging panel are: the artist Charles Avery; the Director of Turner Contemporary Victoria Pomeroy OBE; and the writer and art critic Alice Rawsthorn.
‘With each instalment of the Derwent Art Prize we strive to respond to a particular area of need in the contemporary art world. This year, following feedback from previous entrants/exhibitors and in response to the ever-increasing cost of art education, we have created two new prizes for young artists, significantly reduced the submission fee, and extended the competition deadline so as to avoid a clash with art students’ degree shows.’ (Nicola Shepherd, Marketing Director, Derwent)
Following the success of two French artists – France Bizot, First Prize and Emma Bertin Sanabria, Young Artist Prize – in 2018, the Derwent Art Prize 2020 will be shown in Paris, which will be the first time that the exhibition has travelled abroad. It will be available to view at 20 Rue Saint Claude from 12th – 17th May 2020.
The deadline for entries to the competition is 17th February 2020, 5pm. Artists may submit up to six works that are both original and created in pencil. To enter and for further details including full terms and conditions on entry requirements, please visit:
www.derwent-artprize.com
For press enquiries, please contact Emma Walker at Parker Harris:
E: emmaw@parkerharris.co.uk
For all other enquiries, please email Parker Harris on derwent@parkerharris.co.uk or call the office on 020 3653 0896.
To keep up to date with the latest news and announcements, follow us on social media and join the conversation using #DerwentArtPrize.
Twitter: @derwentart
Facebook: @derwentartofficial; @derwentartprize
Instagram: @derwentartofficial
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Previous Post:Discovering Cornwall with Dave Wright and Derwent
Next Post:Introducing the new 36 Lightfast colours with Isobel Buckley
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CyberheistNews Vol 8 #37 Scam Of The Week: "The Boss Needs iTunes Gift Cards for Customers...NOW"
CyberheistNews Vol 8 #37
Scam Of The Week: "The Boss Needs iTunes Gift Cards for Customers...NOW"
If you ever wondered if those iTunes gift card phishes really work, see the below email exchange.
Yep, that overzealous employee actually drove around town from store to store picking up iTunes gift cards for the bad guys because there was a limit on the number of cards that could be bought at any one store at one time.
All told, poor Emily bought TWENTY $100.00 iTunes gift cards for these criminals. Still worse, she put them ON HER OWN PERSONAL CREDIT CARD!
Wonder if her company will reimburse her? Kinda feel sorry for her. Sometimes it helps to get security awareness training from your organization. Emily was not trained. Don't be Emily. :-)
Here is the email exchange in chronological order. Note the time stamps are the originals and from different time zones. Names are changed to protect the innocent. John Carpenter is the C-level executive of "distracted . com" and was spoofed by the bad guys. We even have pictures of the gift cards. Blow-by-blow at the blog: https://blog.knowbe4.com/scam-of-the-week-the-boss-needs-itunes-gift-cards-for-customers...-now
RELATED TOP POSTS THIS WEEK:
[ALERT] CEO Fraud Escalates. Bad Guys Now Go After Employee Personal Address and Phone Number:
https://blog.knowbe4.com/alert-ceo-fraud-escalates.-bad-guys-now-go-after-employee-personal-address-and-phone-number
Phishing Warning: One in Every One Hundred Emails Is Now a Hacking Attempt:
https://blog.knowbe4.com/phishing-warning-one-in-every-one-hundred-emails-is-now-a-hacking-attempt
[VIDEO] How Fast Can Your Domain Admin Password Be Cracked?
A surprising 19% of employees of small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) share their passwords with coworkers, according to a study by Switchfast. These shared passwords are usually very weak and are rarely changed, leaving them vulnerable to brute-force attacks. Passwords are usually shared for convenience, but the practice drastically increases the likelihood that a critical account will be breached.
Not that *you* will share your domain admin password with anyone, but watch this brand-new video and shiver.
Watch This Video That Shows How Fast a 17-character Password Can Be Cracked:
https://blog.knowbe4.com/video-password-sharing-means-not-caring
Brand-New Ransomware Simulator Tool Now With Cryptomining Scenario
Bad guys are constantly coming out with new malware versions to evade detection. That’s why we’ve updated our Ransomware Simulated tool “RanSim” to include a new cryptomining scenario!
This new cryptomining scenario simulates a Monero cryptocurrency-mining operation on the local machine. Monero mining is the most popular cryptocurrency mined by real-world malware and takes a lot of CPU and GPU cycles to process the data necessary to generate the currencies.
Try KnowBe4’s NEW Ransomware Simulator tool and get a quick look at the effectiveness of your existing network protection against the latest threats. RanSim will simulate 13 ransomware infection scenarios and 1 cryptomining infection scenario to show you if a workstation is vulnerable.
Here's how RanSim works:
✔ 100% harmless simulation of real ransomware and cryptomining infection scenarios
✔ Does not use any of your own files
✔ Tests 14 different types of infection scenarios
✔ Just download the install and run it
✔ Results in a few minutes!
This is complementary and will take you 5 minutes max. RanSim may give you some insights about your endpoint security you never expected!
https://info.knowbe4.com/ransomware-simulator-tool-1chn
Live Webinar: The Quantum Computing Break Is Coming... Will You Be Ready?
Quantum computing is a game-changer and will have a huge impact on the way we do business, safeguard data, explore space, and even predict weather events. Yet, some experts say in the not so distant future quantum computers will break existing public key cryptography forever.
Join Roger Grimes, KnowBe4 Data-Driven Defense Evangelist, as he explores the way bad guys will be able to use more secrets against you than ever before, especially in increasingly sophisticated spear phishing attacks.
Attend this exclusive event to learn what you can do to prepare.
Why quantum computing is different than traditional binary computing
How close quantum computers are to breaking traditional public key cryptography
What defenses you can deploy after public key cryptography is broken
How to prepare your users - your best, last line of defense
The quantum computing break is coming. Will you be ready?
Date/Time: Wednesday, September 19th at 2:00 PM (ET)
Save My Spot!
https://event.on24.com/wcc/r/1821427/3A886010593824B331BCAB5200E83308?partnerref=CHN
Try This Weak Password Test for a Chance to Win a Nintendo Switch
Are your users’ passwords…P@ssw0rd? Verizon's Data Breach Report showed that 81% of hacking-related breaches used either stolen and/or weak passwords. Employees are the weakest link in your network security.
KnowBe4's no-charge Weak Password Test checks your Active Directory for 10 different types of weak password related threats and reports any fails so that you can take action. Plus you’ll be entered to win a Nintendo Switch!
This will take you 5 minutes and may give you some insights you never expected.
https://info.knowbe4.com/wpt-sweepstakes-092018
KnowBe4, Inc
"Nothing is impossible, the word itself says 'I'm possible'" - Audrey Hepburn
"It always seems impossible until it's done." - Nelson Mandela
Thanks for reading CyberheistNews
Hackbusters - Where Can You Discuss All Things Social Engineering?
The KnowBe4 Hackbuster’s Forum is an online community dedicated to stopping the bad guys that use social engineering to hack your organization. Our Hackbusters discussion forum is a moderated, spam-free forum primarily for KnowBe4 clients (but also inclusive of your peers interested in social engineering.)
HackBusters contains thousands of messages from KnowBe4 users and our staff. Forum members can post messages to the community or just read through existing threads and Q/A.
Topics: Phishing, Ransomware, Social Engineering, Security Awareness Training Best Practices, Scripting Tools and Other Topics.
We even have some fun by following the latest social engineering shows on TV and in film. Our favorite is Mr. Robot. Rumor has it that we could see Mr. Robot season 4 in November! You're invited to join the discussion:
https://discuss.hackbusters.com/
The Evolution of "Friendly Name" Spoofing During Phishing Attacks
Our friends at Bleepingcomputer had a great article written by Ionut Ilascu I think you will like: "While phishing continues to be the prevalent threat in malware-less email-based attacks, cybercriminals refine their methods by adding an impersonation component to increase the success rate against company employees.
Impersonation attacks, also known as CEO fraud and business email compromise (BEC), are somewhat targeted and require the threat actor to do some reconnaissance about the recipient or the company they work for. This method is more difficult to detect by traditional security solutions because it typically does not follow a pattern. Continue and learn how the bad guys have moved the way they spoof email addresses:
https://blog.knowbe4.com/the-evolution-of-friendly-name-spoofing
Here’s Why Business Email Compromise Is Still Driving Executive Identity Theft
All it took was access to a lawyer’s email, and suddenly, almost $532,000 was in the wrong hands.
This business email compromise (BEC) scam began simply: A criminal in Los Angeles named Ochenetchouwe Adegor Ederaine, Jr. gained access to a real estate lawyer’s email and sent fake messages to a buyer, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Soon after, the purchaser sent that six-figure payment to a bank account controlled by Ederaine — one of 23 he had set up at various California financial institutions using six different false identities.
He used this same kind of attack over and over between March 2016 and November 2017 before federal authorities caught up with him. The scheme worked for as long as it did because the criminal didn’t compromise just any email accounts — he carefully selected his targets to maximize his chances for success.
A Persistent Problem
Impostors are tricking workers into sending money to rogue bank accounts at an alarming rate. From December 2016 to May 2018, the FBI observed a 136 percent increase in losses to BEC scams. This type of attack has been reported in all 50 states and in 150 countries.
The real estate sector is particularly at risk, and criminals like Ederaine are making off with huge sums. From 2015 to 2017, the number of real estate transaction incidents increased by more than 1,110 percent, and losses reported to the FBI ballooned by almost 2,000 percent.
The basic strategy is simple and, according to another FBI report, the crime has been observed in five basic flavors:
Invoice schemes — Criminals pretend to be suppliers, create a mock invoice and trick firms into payment.
Account compromise — Criminals impersonate an authority figure in an organization and order someone to make a payment.
Attorney impersonations — Criminals convince victims to remit payment to a bogus account.
CEO fraud — This is similar to an account compromise, but with the added heft of an order appearing to come from the top position in an organization.
Data theft — Criminals target human resources workers and trick them into coughing up tax statements and other personal information.
Why Business Email Compromise Is Less Obvious Than You Think
Like many scams, BEC often appears obvious in hindsight. A person reading a story about an incident is already in an anti-fraud mindset, but busy workers are often targeted at just the wrong time, and anyone can suffer a momentary lapse. That’s why defense against BEC requires multiple layers. Story continued at:
https://securityintelligence.com/heres-why-business-email-compromise-is-still-driving-executive-identity-theft/
Mobile Attack Rates up 24% Globally, 44% in US
One-third of all fraud targets are mobile, a growing source of all digital transactions.
The proportion of mobile-vs.-desktop transactions has nearly tripled in the last three years, and instances of mobile fraud and cyberattacks have grown as attackers go where their victims are.
More than half (58%) of digital transactions now originate from mobile devices, ThreatMetrix researchers discovered in their Q2 Cybercrime Report 2018. One-third of all fraud now targets mobile, with global attacks up 24% compared with the first half of 2017. The United States saw a far higher growth rate: Mobile cyberattacks increased 44% during the same time period.
The financial services sector has been hit hard with the growth of mobile cybercrime. Of the 81 million attacks to hit the industry in the first half of 2018, 27 million targeted mobile devices as fraudsters capitalize on the rise of mobile banking adoption. The biggest threat to financial services, researchers report, comes from device spoofing.
Attackers attempt to trick banks into thinking fraudulent login attempts are coming from new customer devices. Identity spoofing is a broad problem, especially on social networks and dating websites, which have the highest mobile footprint across industries: 85% of total transactions, and 88% of account creations, for social sites happened on mobile devices.
Identity spoofing makes up 13.3% of attacks on this sector; attackers often use proxy servers to trick their victims into thinking they're geographically closer than they are. Read more details here:
https://www.darkreading.com/mobile/mobile-attack-rates-up-24--globally-44--in-us/d/d-id/1332798
Scam Calls Expected to Account for Almost Half of US Mobile Traffic by 2019
A new study, just released by First Orion, predicts that by next year nearly half of US mobile phone calls will be scams. The company, which is in the call protection business, analyzed more than 50 billion calls made to its customers over the last year and a half.
Their analysis led them to project that, if things continue as they have, almost fifty percent of calls to mobile phones in the US will involve some form of fraud. Recent trends are depressing. First Orion’s results suggest that 3.7% of all calls in 2017 were fraudulent, and that this total has risen to 28.2% in 2018.
They extrapolate the scam fraction to an unpleasant 44.6% by early next year. Such trends represent an educated guess, of course, but they're certainly consistent with the experience many people have with their phones. One of the more common forms of fraud the study saw was neighborhood spoofing: a scammer disguises their phone number to appear as a local number on the recipient's caller ID.
This may seem an obvious form of social engineering, but it seems effective: people are more likely to pick up if they think the caller is from the same area code and shares their three-digit prefix. They answer and they receive a robocall. A lot of the spoofed numbers belong to actual neighbors, and they're victims, too.
They get call-backs, complaints, and other nuisance interactions. There are partial technical fixes for this problem on offer. But organizations can help their employees handle fraudulent calls with some effective, interactive awareness training. Alert users can deflect scams.
The robocall will still be irritating, but at least your people will stand a good chance of not sharing their passwords with that serious-sounding young man who offers greetings of the day and then tells them their Windows computer is infected with malware, etc. And trust us: the widow of a Nigerian prince is unlikely to be using the phone number of the retired nurse who lives down the block.
BetaNews has the story: https://betanews.com/2018/09/12/mobile-scam-calls/
Why Bother with Malware When You Can Go Phish?
A survey of senior IT security professionals in the UK reports that 50% of CISOs say their biggest security incident over the past year was caused by phished credentials, not malware or exploitation of unpatched systems.
Phishing caused 48% of the breaches their organizations sustained. Malware accounted for 22%. Malware and exploitation of unpatched systems combined still came in second, at only 41%.
Phishing for credentials is the preferred method of both criminals and nation-state intelligence services. It is, of course, a form of social engineering. That's a human problem and therefore a problem that isn't going away. But it can be helped with effective, interactive awareness training. Help Net Security has the story:
https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2018/09/13/phished-credentials/
Want to Know How to Break Into a Henhouse? Hire a Fox
Red teaming starts with research. So does social engineering. Red teaming is the practice of thinking and acting like an attacker to test an organization’s defenses, according to security consultant and penetration tester Justin White.
White recently spoke with Joe Carrigan for the CyberWire’s Hacking Humans podcast, where he explained the type of work he does as a professional red teamer. White defines red teaming as an “object-driven security assessment penetration test that's very broadly scoped,” which typically involves a physical break-in and using social engineering tactics to manipulate employees.
The first step in this process is open-source intelligence gathering, where White and his team will scour the Internet, particularly social media, for information about the company and its employees. White will then use this information to ingratiate himself with the company’s employees and win their trust.
“I'm always just trying to get little bits of information from different individuals that I can take and pivot to other individuals or other places. And I can use that to my advantage to sound more convincing that I am who I say I am or I'm here to do what I said to do because, you know, I know this name.
I know about this thing that's going on at the company. Did you see what happened at the holiday party? That was crazy. You know, I've got little anecdotes like that to tell to make myself just sound more legitimate.”
White says that, in most cases, the most difficult obstacles he encounters while red teaming are organizations with sound security policies and employees who follow those policies:
“Usually it comes down to they're just following the rules. I'm sorry, sir. I really want to help you, but our policy is this and this. And, you know, that's a good thing and a bad thing. It's a good thing for the company.
It's a bad thing for me. But also, that - what it tells me is that companies really need to be sure that their policies are sensible because the employees for the most part will follow policies. However, sometimes we find that their policies have gaps in them. And it's possible just following the policies that exist that you can exploit information from them. So you have to have good policies.”
When asked for his advice on how to avoid falling victim to social engineering, White replied that the best practice is to be diligent and remain aware of the circumstances. When the company’s policy is unclear, employees should follow up on the situation and make sure others are informed, rather than letting someone into the office based on trust.
“That's why this whole social engineering works in the first place,” he explains, “It's human nature to want to help people.” One of the best ways to increase employees’ awareness is through interactive training that allows them to face social engineering practices in a safe environment before they encounter it in the real world. Hacking Humans has the story:
https://thecyberwire.com/podcasts/cw-podcasts-hh-2018-08-30.html
Want to get the best pen-testers in the world? Hire Kevin Mitnick's Ghost Team:
https://www.mitnicksecurity.com/security/information/penetration-testing
What KnowBe4 Customers Say
"So far we are really impressed with the product and the support/attention of your staff. It was challenging to get non-technical managers to see this as a training program and not an audit before we actually started the program.
We had our quarterly IT steering committee meeting last week and it was awesome to see everyone in the room including the CEO start to light up with what this product can do for us. Thanks.
- E.G. Chief Information Officer, VP
"Thank you very much for following up. We've been using the phishing service as well as the training content. I have been very happy with the service and quality of the content as well as the account executives I deal with. I do appreciate them checking in with me monthly as it helps with increasing my engagement with the solution and ensures I get exposed to new features and content.
We are also a Compliance Manager customer and I have been very happy with that as well. We have really started to dive into it and plan to expand its use and look forward to the release of the Risk Management tool.
I've also been told that a vendor management solution is on the roadmap and look forward to seeing what that has to offer. We implemented a vendor management solution here about six months ago and the more time I spend in it, the less happy with the purchase I am.
We've been very pleased with the product and I've shared that with my peers on more than one occasion. I'm always happy to see a locally based organization do well, and from everything I've seen and read, your organization is on the right track. Thank you again for the follow-up." - P.M., Director of IT Security
PS, If you want to see KnowBe4 compared to other products in an objective, legit platform that makes sure the reviews are fully vetted, check Gartner Peer Insights:
https://www.gartner.com/reviews/market/security-awareness-computer-based-training
The 10 Interesting News Items This Week
Wanted: Data Breach Risk Assessments. Now here is a great new concept!:
https://www.csoonline.com/article/3304286/data-breach/data-risk-ratings-because-not-all-data-breaches-are-equal.html
Cyber attacks cost German industry almost $50 billion. Study:
http://www.oann.com/cyber-attacks-cost-german-industry-almost-50-billion-study/
Phished credentials caused twice as many breaches than malware in the past year:
Making an Impact With Security Awareness Training: Continuous Contextual Content:
http://securosis.com/blog/14945
KnowBe4 Wins Channelnomics Security Award for Best Security Training:
https://www.knowbe4.com/press/knowbe4-wins-channelnomics-security-award-for-best-security-training
Understanding Russian Information Operations:
https://www.afcea.org/content/understanding-russian-information-operations
The Trump administration hopes to change the ‘entire ecosystem’ of cybersecurity norms:
https://www.fifthdomain.com/civilian/dhs/2018/09/07/the-trump-administration-hopes-to-change-the-entire-ecosystem-of-cybersecurity-norms/
Can there be such a thing as a "cyber moonshot?":
https://thecyberwire.com/events/9thBillCSSummit/can-there-be-such-a-thin-as-a-cyber-moonshot.html
How Hackers Slipped by British Airways' Defenses:
https://www.wired.com/story/british-airways-hack-detaeils/
An EU copyright bill could force YouTube-style filtering across the Web:
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2018/09/an-eu-copyright-bill-could-force-youtube-style-filtering-across-the-web/
Prepared in cooperation with the CyberWire research team.
Cyberheist 'Fave' Links
This Week's Links We Like, Tips, Hints and Fun Stuff
Weather Channel reporter acts like hurricane Florence is about to blow him over... while two guys casually stroll by in the background. EPIC FAIL:
https://www.flixxy.com/fake-news-on-the-weather-channel.htm?utm_source=4
Here is how to do it right. Check out that fantastic CGI virtual weather!
https://www.inverse.com/article/49022-how-the-tech-in-the-viral-weather-channel-graphic-will-change-newscasting
[VIDEO] How Easy/Fast It Is To Crack Your Domain Admin Password:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-96JmC2AkE&feature=youtu.be
Why We Say 'OK'. How a cheesy joke from the 1830s became the most widely spoken word in the world:
https://www.flixxy.com/why-we-say-ok.htm?utm_source=4
This Rust-Wrapped Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat Is Making Me Have a True Existential Debate:
https://jalopnik.com/this-rust-wrapped-dodge-challenger-srt-hellcat-is-makin-1828859170
Recently Digitized Journals Grant Visitors Access to Leonardo da Vinci’s Detailed Engineering Schematics and Musings:
https://www.thisiscolossal.com/2018/09/recently-digitized-journals-by-leonardo-da-vinci/
You Can Drink Champagne In Space—Yes, Really:
https://www.wired.com/story/you-can-drink-champagne-in-space/
A New Robotic Fly Dips And Dives Like The Real Thing:
https://media.wired.com/clips/5b99a3b5eeaf330b6fd5a503/master/pass/inline-clip.mp4
Why the U.S. Is Backing Killer Robots. Hmmmm. Check out the link: "Campaign to Stop Killer Robots":
https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/research/a23133118/us-ai-robots-warfare/
World's Fastest Female Cyclist - 147 mph (236 km/h). Denise Mueller-Korenek set the women's paced bicycle speed record in 2016, pedaling to 147 miles per hour:
https://www.flixxy.com/worlds-fastest-woman-on-a-bicycle-147mph-236-kmh.htm?utm_source=4
Data Science Glossary | Data Science Blog:
https://dimensionless.in/data-science-glossary/
FOLLOW US ON: Twitter | LinkedIn | Google | YouTube
Copyright © 2014-2018 KnowBe4, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Электронная книга: Jacques Lamon «Processing and Properties of Advanced Ceramics and Composites II»
Three international symposia“Innovative Processing and Synthesis of Ceramics, Glasses and Composites”, “Ceramic Matrix Composites”, and “Microwave Processing of Ceramics” were held during Materials Science&Technology 2009 Conference&Exhibition (MS&T’09), Pittsburgh, PA, October 25-29, 2009. These symposia provided an international forum for scientists, engineers, and technologists to discuss and exchange state-of-the-art ideas, information, and technology on advanced methods and approaches for processing, synthesis and characterization of ceramics, glasses, and composites. A total of 83 papers, including 20 invited talks, were presented in the form of oral and poster presentations. Authors from 19 countries (Austria, Belarus, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Egypt, France, Germany, India, Iran, Italy, Japan, Russia, South Korea, Taiwan, Turkey, U.K., and the United States) participated. The speakers represented universities, industries, and government research laboratories.
Издательство: "John Wiley&Sons Limited"
Купить за 11814.72 руб и скачать на Litres
Jacques Lamon Processing and Properties of Advanced Ceramics and Composites IV With contributed papers from the 2011 Materials Science and Technology symposia, this is a useful one-stop resource for understanding the most important issues in the processing and properties of… — @John Wiley&Sons Limited, @ @ @
10733.4 электронная книга
Gary Pickrell Processing and Properties of Advanced Ceramics and Composites V Contains contributed 38 papers from the following seven symposia held during the 2012 Materials Science and Technology (MS&T’12) meeting: Innovative Processing and Synthesis of Ceramics, Glasses and… — @John Wiley&Sons Limited, @ @ @
10269.66 электронная книга
Dongming Zhu Processing and Properties of Advanced Ceramics and Composites VII This volume contains 40 papers from the following 10 Materials Science and Technology (MS&T'14) symposia: Rustum Roy Memorial Symposium: Processing and Performance of Materials Using Microwaves… — @John Wiley&Sons Limited, @ @ @
Kathy Lu Processing and Properties of Advanced Ceramics and Composites VI. Ceramic Transactions, Volume 249 Contains 32 papers from the following seven 2013 Materials Science and Technology (MS&T'13) symposia: Innovative Processing and Synthesis of Ceramics, Glasses and Composites Advances in Ceramic… — @John Wiley&Sons Limited, @ @ @
Jacques Lamon Processing and Properties of Advanced Ceramics and Composites III This book contains 17 papers from the Innovative Processing and Synthesis of Ceramics, Glasses and Composites and Advances in Ceramic Matrix Composites symposia held during the 2010 Materials Science… — @John Wiley&Sons Limited, @ @ @
Michael Jenkins Processing, Properties, and Design of Advanced Ceramics and Composites II Processing, Properties, and Design of Advanced Ceramics and Composites II, Ceramic Transactions Volume 261 Narottam P. Bansal, Ricardo H. R. Castro, Michael Jenkins, Amit Bandyopadhyay, Susmita Bose… — @John Wiley&Sons Limited, @ @ @
Boccaccini Aldo R. Ceramics and Composites Processing Methods Examines the latest processing and fabrication methods There is increasing interest in the application of advanced ceramic materials in diverse areas such as transportation, energy, environmental… — @John Wiley&Sons Limited, @ @ @
Dongming Zhu Processing, Properties, and Design of Advanced Ceramics and Composites This proceedings volume contains a collection of 34 papers from the following symposia held during the 2015 Materials Science and Technology (MS&T'15) meeting: Innovative Processing and Synthesis of… — @John Wiley&Sons Limited, @ @ @
Mrityunjay Singh Advanced Processing and Manufacturing Technologies for Nanostructured and Multifunctional Materials II The Ceramic Engineering and Science Proceeding has been published by The American Ceramic Society since 1980. This series contains a collection of papers dealing with issues in both traditional… — @John Wiley&Sons Limited, @ @ @
Tatsuki Ohji Mechanical Properties and Performance of Engineering Ceramics and Composites V This volume is a compilation of papers presented in the Mechanical Behavior and Performance of Ceramics&Composites symposium during the 34th International Conference&Exposition on Advanced Ceramics… — @John Wiley&Sons Limited, @ @ @
7717.99 электронная книга
Jonathan Salem Mechanical Properties and Performance of Engineering Ceramics and Composites VI This book is a collection of papers from The American Ceramic Society's 35th International Conference on Advanced Ceramics and Composites, held in Daytona Beach, Florida, January 23-28, 2011. This… — @John Wiley&Sons Limited, @ @ @
Kalin Mitjan Tribology of Ceramics and Composites. Materials Science Perspective This book helps students and practicing scientists alike understand that a comprehensive knowledge about the friction and wear properties of advanced materials is essential to further design and… — @John Wiley&Sons Limited, @ @ @
Basu Bikramjit Advanced Structural Ceramics This book covers the area of advanced ceramic composites broadly, providing important introductory chapters to fundamentals, processing, and applications of advanced ceramic composites. Within each… — @John Wiley&Sons Limited, @ @ @
Ashutosh Tiwari Advanced Ceramic Materials Ceramic materials are inorganic and non-metallic porcelains, tiles, enamels, cements, glasses and refractory bricks. Today,«ceramics» has gained a wider meaning as a new generation of materials… — @John Wiley&Sons Limited, @ @ @
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Barnes&Noble.com - $49.99
Karl Moore's Visual Basic .NET: The Tutorials
Karl Moore
Apress, Apr 25, 2002 - Computers - 600 pages
Most programming books are about as exciting as Bill Gates' left ear. But with this latest eye-opening release, technology author Karl Moore shows it doesn't have to be quite so dull and uninspiring. Split into eight dynamic parts, Karl Moore's Visual Basic .NET covers every key area of real-life computer developmentand promises to turn even newbie programmers into VB .NET wizards, quicker than anyone else. It's a perfect tutorial guide for those learning VB .NET from scratch or moving from VB6.
Karl Moore's Visual Basic .NET: The Tutorials consists of a number of key tutorials, each dealing with a specific, "real-life" area of programming. The tutorials are broken down into easily digestible 10-page installments, with an accompanying FAQ and review sheet at the close. Numerous "top tips" are also distributed throughout the texts to aid understanding.
Karl Moore lives in Yorkshire, England. He is author of Karl Moore's Visual Basic .NET: The Tutorials and runs his own international consultancy group, White Cliff Computing Ltd. Karl regularly presents at industry conferences and is featured in leading development magazines, plus he's a frequent voice on BBC Radio. You can visit his official website at http://www.karlmoore.com.
Title Karl Moore's Visual Basic .NET: The Tutorials
Apresspod Series
Books for professionals by professionals
Expert's voice
Author Karl Moore
Publisher Apress, 2002
Computers / Software Development & Engineering / General
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JAN 13 1931 – HS +NTS – Ex
+S-AA
I N HAL T.
–I-Abhandlung. J. Schipper: The Poems of Walter Kennedy edited with introductions,
various readings, and notes. II. Abhandlung Berthold Laufer: Aus den Geschichten und Liedern des Milaraspa.
- III. Abhandlung. Constantin Jireček: Die Romanen in den Städten Dalmatiens während des Mittelalters. I. Theil. A
–IV. Abhandlung. Friedrich Kenner: Die römische Niederlassung in Hallstatt (Ober
österreich). Mit 1 Tafel und 14 Abbildungen im Texte.
The reign of King James IV of Scotland was, it is well known, the golden age of Scottish Poesy. It would be superfluous to dwell upon the causes of this fact here, which have been frequently explained, not only by the writer of these lines, but more fully by earlier and later Scotch and English scholars as well. Gavin Douglas and William Dunbar were undoubtedly the two most eminent poets that adorned the Scotch court during the end of the XV" and the beginning of the XVI" centuries, but the latter writer mentions in his Lament for the Makaris, written about 1507, a considerable number of other Scotch poets, who had either died shortly before, or were then still living. Very little, however, or nothing at all has become known of the lives or writings of most of these poets, with the exception of Walter Kennedy, whom Dunbar mentions towards the end of the poem in the following stanza (the last but two) as a dying man: Gud Maistir Walter Kennedy In poynt of deth lyis verely; Grit rewth it wer that so suld be; Timor Mortis conturbat me.
These verses are of interest still in yet another respect, as the epithet gud shows that Dunbar felt no lasting enmity or aversion against Kennedy, with whom he had fought that famous literary duel of coarse raillery and invective which is known in English Literature as 'The Flyting of Dunbar and Kennedy. Nor is it likely that Kennedy had any
Cf. William Dunbar, sein Leben und seine Gedichte in Analysen und ausgewählten Uebersetzungen nebst einem Abriss der altschottischen Poesie. Ein Beitrag zur schottisch-englischen Literatur- und Culturgeschichte von Dr. J. Schipper, ordentl. Professor der englischen Philologie an der k. k. Universität in Wien. Berlin, Verlag von Robert Oppenheim, 1884 (nun Strassburg, Verlag von C. J. Trübner), 8°. – William Dunbar (1460–1520), A Study in the Poetry and History of Scotland. By AE. J. G. Mackay. Scottish Text Society, vol. 16, Wm Blackwood and Sons, Edinburgh 1889, 89. – William Dunbar, By Oliphant Smeaton. Famous Scots Series. Published by Oliphant Anderson and Ferrier, Edinburgh and London (no date), 8°.
Denkschriften der phil.-hist. Classe. XLVIII. Bd. I. Abh. 1
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Published Wed, Jun 20, 1990
Variety Club Women of Tent 7 will celebrate its 40th anniversary at a luncheon at noon Saturday in the clubrooms.
Billy Meads and Lynn Holland of Widmer Wines will give the program.
South Shore Country Club women golfers will have a member-member tournament Saturday and Sunday at the club. Tee-offs will be at 11:30 a.m. Luncheon will be served Sunday.
Judy Mazur is chairwoman and Jeanne Celotto is co-chairwoman.
Jeanne Moore will be installed president of Catholic Business Women's Club Saturday at 12:30 p.m. in Hotel Lenox. Other officers to be installed are vice president, Amelia Moses; treasurer, Mary Casper; recording secretary, Rose Pascale; corresponding secretary, Mary Downey.
"Golf Safari" is the theme of the 35th two-day invitational golf tournament of Brookfield Country Club women 18-hole golfers to be played Tuesday and June 27 at the club.
Continental breakfast and luncheon will be served each day. Rose Quinn and Sandra Walczak are chairwomen. Alice McLaughlin and Dorothy Katz are in charge of reservations and pairings.
Charles W. Beinhauer, attorney and novelist, will entertain residents of the United Church Home with stories and readings Tuesday at 7 p.m. in the home on Amherst Street.
The program is being arranged by the home's Lydia Guild, which will serve refreshments and make plans for a July picnic supper at the home.
Orleans Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, will have open houses at its chapter house, a national landmark built in the 1840s, June 27, 7 to 9 p.m.; July 7, 2 to 5 p.m.; July 18, 7 to 9 p.m.; Aug. 4 and 18, 2 to 5 p.m.
Hamburg Christian Women's Club will have a "teacher appreciation" luncheon June 28 at 11:30 a.m. in Ilio DiPaolo's restaurant. Bob Jordan of Elizabeth Teas will speak on "ABC's of Teas" and Carol Teale of Ephrata, Pa., will speak on "Passing Life's Tests." Irene Oden will provide music.
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Australia to receive 10th anniversary tour
Journey Across Oz to visit several locations
Originally reported on Nintendo Australia
This local article reports on an event in a specific geographical location. It may not be relevant for all readers.
[url=//bulbanews.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Australia_to_receive_10th_anniversary_tour] Australia to receive 10th anniversary tour[/url]
<a href="//bulbanews.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Australia_to_receive_10th_anniversary_tour"> Australia to receive 10th anniversary tour</a>
Nintendo Australia has announced the Pokémon 10th Anniversary Journey Across Oz tour. It will be visiting shopping centers in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth starting in September.
So far it has been revealed that the tour will host a Pokémon Trading Card Game play area as well as the Pokémon Video Game Championships. Tour dates are as follows:
Sept. 16: Melbourne, Chadstone Shopping Centre
Sept. 17: Melbourne, Westfield Fountain Gate
Sept. 30: Sydney, Westfield Chatswood
Oct. 1: Sydney, Westfield Burwood
Oct. 7: Brisbane, Indooroopilly Shopping Centre
Oct. 8: Brisbane, Logan Hyperdome
Oct. 14: Perth, Centro Galleria
Smaller events will be held in selected Toys "R" Us stores in New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and South Australia[1].
Retrieved from "https://bulbanews.bulbagarden.net/w/index.php?title=Australia_to_receive_10th_anniversary_tour&oldid=53201"
August '06 Events
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DailyPay Announces Partnership with Tosca
Tosca is now offering an innovative way for its employees to receive their earned but unpaid wages, before payday
NEW YORK (August 21, 2019) - DailyPay, the leading provider of the daily pay benefit — a benefit offered through employers that allows employees to receive instant access to their earned wages, today announced a partnership with Tosca, a leading provider of reusable plastic containers and supply chain solutions. Through this partnership, Tosca has made DailyPay available to more than 550 team members across the United States. Tosca team members now have the flexibility to make secure, instant transfers of earned but unpaid wages any day of the year.
By offering DailyPay, Tosca is demonstrating the company's willingness to take an innovative and forward-looking approach to improve team member engagement and reduce turnover. With DailyPay, Tosca is committed to providing employee-focused benefits that empower and provide greater financial freedom to their team members.
“At Tosca, we are laser-focused on ensuring that we provide the highest level of food safety to our customers all along the supply chain,” Tosca’s Chief Operating Officer, Mike Wasson, said. “In order to do that effectively, we need to start by taking care of our own team members, since they are the ones who carry out this mission. By offering DailyPay, we are providing access to their earned wages when needed, allowing them to avoid late fees and overdraft charges, or worse, resort to payday loans. We are proud to partner with DailyPay who has been there to support us every step of the way.”
With DailyPay, employees can transfer their accrued but unpaid wages to any bank account, pay card, or debit card prior to their next payday. Employees can also keep track of their accumulated earnings each pay period using the available balance feature. In this way, DailyPay provides Tosca team members with a safeguard against unexpected expenses, and an incentive to work scheduled or even additional shifts to increase their available earned balance.
“Tosca is innovating the way perishable foods are shipped with reusable plastic containers that reduce waste and reduce costs,” DailyPay Chief Executive Officer, Jason Lee, said. “By offering DailyPay, Tosca is also proving to be innovative in the way it responds to paycheck-to-paycheck employee financial stress because team members now have a way to instantly access their earned wages, ahead of their next payday. That’s a benefit that helps Tosca and its employees.”
DailyPay is the only instant pay technology that is fully compliant in all 50 states and can be implemented at no cost to businesses that choose to offer it.
To learn more about offering a daily pay benefit to your employees, schedule a time to talk about how DailyPay can help your business.
About DailyPay
DailyPay, the leading provider of the daily pay benefit — a benefit offered through employers that allows employees to receive instant access to their earned wages, works across a wide range of industries, including quick service restaurants, hospitality, retail, healthcare and other services. One in six Americans now has access to DailyPay through our trusted payroll service partners like Paycor, ADP, SmartLinx, Netspend and other HR and payroll technology providers who offer the daily pay product to their customers. With DailyPay, employees can pay bills on time and avoid late fees, helping them to reach their financial goals. Companies have reported that DailyPay increases employee engagement and retention and helps to support recruitment. DailyPay is backed by leading venture capital firms and world-class strategic investors. The company is headquartered in New York.
For more information about DailyPay, visit dailypay.com or follow @DailyPay on Twitter.
About Tosca
Tosca is a leading provider of reusable packaging and supply chain solutions across a diverse range of markets including eggs, case-ready meat, poultry, produce, and cheese. Tosca’s proven RPC system is a smarter way to move fresh product safely from source to shelf, substantially reducing shrink and labor cost, maintaining product quality, and optimizing overall supply chain efficiency for retailers, growers, and suppliers. To learn more about Tosca, visit www.toscaltd.com.
Boudin Partners with DailyPay to Offer Employees a Sweet Solution to Access Earned Wages NEXT
[Webinar] 5 Ways DailyPay Helps with Employee Retention and Engagement
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City Mapper
City Mapper is an amazing and very popular journey planner that provides the most efficient information on how to get from A to B while in the capital. Transport in London can sometimes be a nightmare, but with a detailed breakdown of transport options, routes and prices, the site does all the hard work for you. All that’s left down to you is choosing how quickly and at what price you want to arrive at your destination. The app has won several awards including the Best Overall Mobile App 2014 at the Mobile World Congress GSMA. The only downside is the minimal contact information in case you need assistance, and the sometimes confusing layout.
Modern, colourful website
Map feature presents you with best value route and means of getting to your destination
Shows current prices for all transport options, as well as estimated petrol cost
Has predicted times so that you can plan your route accordingly
Routes by foot, bicycle, car and rail
Search suggestions to help you find exactly what you’re looking for
City Mapper App available on Google Play and App Store
Twitter and Facebook pages for constant updates
Can print route as well as send the destination to your phone
Meet Me Somewhere feature allows you to send directions to family and friends
Continuous rail and tube updates to prevent you getting stuck on your way to work
The app serves several big cities around the world such as London, New York, Paris, Berlin, Washington DC, Madrid, Boston, Barcelona, Chicago and more
Contact information is minimal, with the only option available to leave a message
Site can be difficult to navigate at first
Don’t forget to make an account to benefit from a personalised dashboard, the ability to sync to your phone, and back up your data
If you’re walking or cycling, always take advantage of the calorie counter feature to work out exactly how many you’re burning off!
Share the site with all your friends and family with the easy Twitter and Facebook sharing widgets
Whether you’re at home or on the go, City Mapper can help due to its capability on multiple platforms. For all you BrokeinLondoner’s who still aren’t quite sure on the quickest, easiest, or more importantly cheapest ways to get to where you’re going, the site will soon set you straight.
Go back to our Cheap Train Tickets category for more tips and advice on how to get around London on a budget
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About The CRN
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Music Professor Juan Diego Díaz and his wife, Yerina Rock, moved to Davis on Nov. 30 with transition help from the Capital Resource Network. (Gregory Urquiaga/UC Davis)
Capital Resource Network Offers Newly Hired Employees the Support Needed for a Smooth Transition
Originally posted by Jocelyn Anderson at www.ucdavis.edu
When Linda Assadian came back to the United States three years ago, she had 30 moves behind her over the previous 18 years. Her family had lived in five countries, sometimes conducting housing searches on their way to the airport.
Assadian knows the anxiety involved in relocation. She’s now helping newly recruited employees at UC Davis minimize the stress through her position as director of the Capital Resource Network.
Capital Resource Network provides transition help for a fee paid by the new hires’ departments. Assadian and her staff of two offer assistance with housing, dual-career support for spouses and partners, local resources such as schools and health care information, and many more specialized services.
“The kinds of things we do for people is bespoke to them,” said Assadian. “It’s absolutely based on the client’s priorities.”
Such a program also benefits the university by enhancing recruitment and encouraging long-term retention. By making connections and answering questions, CRN removes some of the unknown that comes with moving and aims to make UC Davis a more competitive employer. CRN has the added asset of promoting diversity. The team regularly provides resources to clients with diverse needs, such as international, LGBTQIA and STEM-affiliated groups.
The program was originally funded by a supplemental ADVANCE grant from the National Science Foundation, and is hosted by the Office of the Vice Provost for Academic Affairs. The program is 31 percent self-supported from the fee-for-service model, and the remaining budget comes from the Office of the Provost.
1-of-a-kind concierge program
The pilot for what would become CRN began in 2015. The team built its resources, including creating an advisory council of business leaders in the region who gave feedback on the model.
“We didn’t want to do this in a bubble; we wanted the feedback from the advisory council on how this program would look,” Assadian said.
With the connections of this network, the program now offers its full referral services for a $3,000 program fee for six months or up to 20 hours of service. (External clients pay $4,000.) Initial consultations are also available, starting at $200 for a one-hour orientation. And through March, these consultations — conducted via phone, video conferencing or in-person — are being offered for free.
CRN clients have included a celebrity hairstylist, a nuclear physicist and a blind, avid skier. The team’s specialized services include everything from helping secure housing rentals and identifying networking opportunities to locating pharmacies for hard-to-find medications and getting appointments at the Department of Motor Vehicles.
So far, Assadian estimates CRN has consulted with about 109 short-listed candidates and then extensively worked with about 110 recruited employees. Also, 50 clients have received dual-career support, of which 52 percent already have received employment.
Assadian said she’d like to grow the program into the best practice recruitment standard at UC Davis.
“I want this red-carpet recruitment program institutionalized as the face of UC Davis,” she said.
A five-star review
Juan Diego Díaz and Yerina Rock (Gregory Urquiaga/UC Davis)
Juan Diego Díaz and his wife, Yerina Rock, arrived in Davis on Nov. 30. Díaz has just started as an assistant professor and ethnomusicologist in the Department of Music. They spent the previous year in London, where Díaz was a post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Essex.
Their move to Davis, they knew, would be facilitated by the team at the Capital Resource Network.
In fact, CRN’s job started well before the couple arrived, as the team helped to secure housing. Via Skype, the duo was able to “tour” an apartment and ask questions of the property manager. CRN simplified the leasing process and made sure the deposit was received.
“Everything was in place by the time we got here,” said Rock. “Talking with others, we have realized how much grief and stress that saved us.”
Additional support included helping to navigate visa requirements and offering resources for driver’s education and licensing.
CRN extends its services to helping build community because the university recognizes that moving can be socially isolating, said Assadian. For Díaz and Rock, that meant sending a letter of introduction to their new neighbors and, with their permission, setting up a meet and greet in their new apartment.
“We’ve felt very looked after,” said Díaz.
Going forward, Rock, who is a trained social anthropologist, is at a career crossroads. Under the terms of her visa, she is unable to work until residency is established in one year. She will use the time to explore her options and develop new passions. And with the help of CRN, she already has new leads — classes, trainings and yoga studios — to investigate.
“We’ve been very keen to find a place where we could create more stable roots and settle down,” Rock said.
Added Díaz, “We are very happy to be here.”
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We are Anglian
We are Innovators
We're the UK's no.1 home improvements company. We've been delivering great quality, value and service to our customers for 50 years.
When you're looking to make improvements to your home, it's vital you pick a company that's got all the credentials needed to do the job and has a reputation for high quality craftsmanship. Find out more about our highly skilled craftspeople, why we make all our products here in Britain and what we think makes Anglian special.
We're proud to carry the ‘Made in Britain' marque – it tells you that the quality, craftsmanship and timeless design of the products you're looking for are made here in this country. Our guarantees underline our commitment to offering you the highest quality home improvements. We make everything individually, so we're confident that you won't find a better standard anywhere else.
We're extremely proud that 95% of our customers would recommend us to their friends and family and 42% of our weekly sales are from returning customers buying more home improvements products from us – what better endorsement of the quality of our craftsmanship and service can there be?
We are people with great stories
We celebrate every year our Long Service Awards with our people. Anglian recognises that it would not be an industry leading company it is today without the irreplaceably talented and highly skilled people. From Sales, through to Manufacturing, onto Operations and with the support of Head Office and ABP, the contribution and role of each person, especially those we award each year for their service, are highly respected and greatly appreciated. The Company acknowledges that the expertise in our people play such an integral and pivotal role in the growth and success of Anglian.
Just in 2016, our 50th year, we awarded over 100 long-service recognition awards to employees achieving 20, 25, 30 and 40 years-service – what Company do you know who can say that these days?! We are very proud that for many of our people, they have had a career for life.
Mrs Sheila Saunders
South East Operations
Sheila has worked for Anglian for over 20 years holds a Supervisory role within the South East. With a keen eye for detail and a calm and collected approach, Sheila is a well-respected member of the office team.
Miss Sarah Durrant
Sarah is a valued member of the finance function and held in high regard both within and outside of the department. Part of her role is that of Property Administrator. This requires great tenacity to solve problems and chase down information both internally and externally. Sarah excels at this whilst retaining the utmost integrity.
Mr John Fischer
John started his employment with Anglian at Bowthorpe and is a multi-skilled individual, he is very capable and enjoys the occasional site visit or delivery job at short notice to help the company when needed.
Mr Gerald Knowles
Gerald (aka Yogi) started his Anglian career in 1976 (aged 17) at Weston Hall doing general gardening & building works for George Williams. He has worked at most sites including; Mile Cross, St. Benedicts Garage & Fifers Lane Wood Shop. Yogi even worked as a Long Distance Driver for a few years.
We are Educators
Anglian is committed around improving the quality of learning & development of its people, through its L&D vision as set out in the HR and L&D Strategic Plan. Through a blended learning methodology towards educating, Anglian has created the platform for encouraging a learning culture through introducing learning technology into the organisation – The Learning Hub.
Julie first joined Anglian in 1996 working evenings and weekends in our “link Line” team which is now our Contact Centre. As her children got older, Julie grew her hours and responsibilities as she progressed to Team Leader. From here, Julie has had a number of roles within our Guarantees and Product Development Departments, to her current role as Marketing Communications. Julie is a well-respected member of our team with a fountain of knowledge.
Carl Moppett
Carl started working with Anglian on the backshift toughening glass and after two years in the plant applied for a supervisor roles. Since then, he studied a degree in Management Studies and was promoted to Area Manager.
Martin Browne
Liberator Road Factory
Martin started at Bowthorpe working on the sash cutting and prep work in the factory. Martin is now a mainframe saw operator and is very important to the production of the Factory.
Jonathan Hocking
Jonathan is a well trusted member of the team and is an inspiration to many of our new surveyors joining. During Jonathans longstanding career with Anglian, he has been hugely passionate about what he does, delivering excellent customer service to our customers, operations and sales colleagues.
Jason Metcalf
Jason started work at Anglian, developing his skills over the years within our Glass factory. Jason is a skilled operatives that helps supports our new colleagues in their early weeks of joining on how we glaze windows.
Keith Milligan
Regional Footcan Manager
Keith started working with Anglian in 2003, first as a Footcanvasser, then progressed to Telecanvasser Manager to his current role of Regional Footcan Manager. Keith is a very motivated person and has always encouraged his team to work to the best of their abilities and develop the skills needed to consistently deliver targets. He drives his team managers to always train and support new starters to become high performers. Keith's journey reflects the opportunity for progression within Anglian and says it is the perfect place to build a career, if that is what you want!
Forward thinking, diligent and always working towards helping you.
We are so proud of Anglian's Learning Hub – it offers an array of courses, including mandatory and role specific courses around EHS, customer service, management skills, & policy driven awareness such as Diversity Awareness but it goes beyond that too. Our people can develop their knowledge on a host of other courses from how to use Excel to how to eat healthy, and the best bit is that the learning can be done at a convenient time of the individual, at their own pace and it can be done anywhere – at home or at work, and on various devices. Learning has never been so easy and accessible.
Anglian is committed to the on-going development of its management structure within the Group - always looking for new talent ready for succession planning opportunities and with various specifically designed programmes, all with the common goal to enhance management skills, these programmes aim to create personal development plans encouraging people to become well rounded managers for our future business. Learning typically forms a blended approach incorporating coaching and workshops, some delivered internally and some in partnerships with external specialists.
NVQ's / Apprenticeship Levy
Anglian is always ahead of the game when it comes to changes in the world of NVQ's and more recently the introduction of the Apprenticeship Levy. We have a well-designed programme to ensure we maximise the use of our Levy pot to re-invest in our people across the business undertaking a variety of NVQ programmes.
Anglian takes on several Apprentices every year in its commitment to encourage young people into the business and in doing so, have forged excellent relationships with many local schools and colleges across the country.
We are committed to delivering the highest standard of training and development to our people and aspire to go beyond minimal technical competence. Working in partnership with the GQA, Anglian have been recognised as being a GQA approved training provider for our standards around competence and training towards our installers and surveyors. With the introduction of our Physical Training Centre and with our on-going commitment around improving quality of training towards our installers and surveyors, we can promote the Green Q logo as a mark of our recognised standards. This recognition sets us apart from other national competitors.
Furthermore, we also have the best in-house Sales Training team in the industry. Our team of trainers deliver a whole host of courses, around product knowledge, ethical sales techniques, how to treat customers fairly, Finance CBT and extensive induction programmes – all aimed to support our sales partners to achieve top sales in conjunction with ensuring our high standards are met and customers receive the best customer experience possible.
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← “Excited about being on the dark side.”
“I’ve learned a whole lot.” →
So near, and yet so far.
One thing I can’t help wondering about after reading this piece by Bill Shanks – okay, one thing after I wondered why the Macon Telegraph can’t find somebody who writes better than Bill Shanks – is would people be moaning about an 8-4 season in 2013 if C.J. Mosley hadn’t tipped that pass and Mitchell had come down with it to put last year’s Georgia squad in a national title game?
My point here isn’t to play woulda, coulda. I’m simply asking how much Georgia making a title game after winning the SEC would have changed your current perception of the program and Richt, assuming your feelings are similar to those of Shanks’. If your position is that it wouldn’t have and that 2013 reflects not so well on either, I respect your intellectual consistency. If, though, you admit that you wouldn’t feel nearly as harshly about both had Georgia faced Notre Dame, are you really saying that your disappointment boils down to a tipped pass?
Again, I’m not asking if you agree with Shanks’ arguments. I’m sure many of you do. I’m just curious how much you’d be complaining if Mosley hadn’t made a great play. Tell me in the comments.
171 responses to “So near, and yet so far.”
heyberto
I’ve been one that botches now an then about coaches, but I am all for this coaching staff staying in place. The only caveats are I really have my doubts about Lakatos being the right guy… And Grantham needs to show his ability to adapt in some of his coaching philosophies. But I see very little that isn’t fixable. Given the adversity the coaches and players have had to gace this year, it’s hard for me to bitch about 8-4, and the most maddening thing is that we had a real deal offense that could have gotten it done with a serviceable defense, which I really don’t think we had, even when healthy….. And I HATE that for Aaron Murray most of all. But the coaching turnaround Mark Richt did behind the scenes that led us to last year’s outcome and almost outcome, convinced me that we can’t ask for much more, IMO.
I had the same thought earlier this year when Murray’s legacy was being discussed. For the people that thought he was “pretty good” or “slightly above average” (yes, I heard plenty of it). The difference between “Legend” and “slightly above average” is supposed to be more than a fingertip.
Parrish Walton (@ParrishWalton)
The real question to ask is would this season have been a disappointment had the injuries been less intrusive? With a healthy Gurley UGA beats Vandy and Missouri. I firmly believe that. And with a healthy WR core I think we beat AUB. So would 10-2 or 11-1 be a disappointment? Some seasons are lost due to unforeseen issues. 2013 was one of those seasons. It sucks, but that’s life. But if 2013 is the final straw that breaks a fan’s back, that seems silly to me.
I get that. The problem is that most people have already made up their minds on Richt, so the injuries this year are similar to the injuries in Goff’s last year, in that detractors are overlooking their impact because their minds are already set.
Spot on. People see AUB winning and get pissed (as do I). But sometimes it’s harder to accept there isn’t much to be done. AUB is playing for a national title with a defense ranked 95th !!! in YPP. Think about that. You know how hard it is to pull that off? You need not just some luck, but an enormous amount of it. Georgia is in a better position than every school in the SEC except Bama moving forward. People need to understand that.
If we’re going to play “what if” with injuries, a healthy Gurley for the entire game, and certain and full game from 100% Gurely plus Malcom Mitchel and we’re talking about possibly not losing a game, even with a mess on D. (The Vandy and UT games aren’t close, and the Missouri and Auburn games look like the Sakerlina and LSU games.)
But that would be a mix of the luck to stay healthy, and Murray + Gurely carrying us.
As crappy as part of this season has been, the lackluster results will hopefully spark far more effort than making the title game with a lesser squad than 2012’s. (For example, the questioning of Friend and the OL is a lot less loud if we went 12-0 or 11-1.)
Bulldawg165
Saying that our disappointment boils down to a tipped pass is pretty simplistic. We had a heck of a break with the blocked FG returned for TD and we didn’t capitalize on it in the end. Without that play (that rivals Auburn’s FG returned for TD in every aspect except timing and final outcome) we’re down by 11 on our final drive (and possibly 14 if the FG is good).
We had the lucky break we always wanted but we didn’t play well enough the rest of the game to capitalize on it. That’s the difference between teams like us and teams like Auburn.
Again, I’m not asking you to vent (or, in your case, re-vent). I’m simply asking if Georgia had made the play at the end to win the game, would it affect your perception of the program?
If you don’t want to answer the question, that’s fine. But I really don’t want to hear the same old stuff rehashed in this thread. Thanks.
I assumed your question was at least a little rhetorical. How could someone NOT feel better about their team after a MNC?
If I’m asking for responses, I think you can assume the question wasn’t rhetorical.
Senator, if the tipped pass in the 2012 SECCG had been an isolated event I would agree with your premise. Unfortunately, it is not. Rather, the tipped pass is another in a long line of end of game failures/in game failures that the coaching staff and its defenders want to lay off as “bad luck.” Just like the tipped pass to the opposition in the ’13 Auburn game was “bad luck.” Just like the missed FG in the bowl against Michigan State was “bad luck.” I could go on and on and list a whole lot of similar events that cost us games during the CMR tenure but what’s the point? The truth is these all occurred as a direct result of end of game coaching errors. I don’t want CMR’s head. I want him to learn from his mistakes and start making decisions that win games rather than lose them. Ivy Leaguer had it right in a post yesterday. CMR needs to get an expert to analyze the reasons behind this and fix the problem but he appears to be in denial or too stubborn to do that.
How is the tipped pass a coaching failure? How is the Auburn play a coaching failure? The Barn QB threw the ball up into double (triple coverage). When the ball was released, every coach on that field thought the same thing: INC or INT, game over. The tipped pass was absurd. It was tipped in just the right way to fall to just the wrong person. Does it suck to come up short (in excruciating ways)? Damn right it does. But throwing the baby out with the bath water is a dangerous game. Ask Nebraska, Tennessee, Ole Miss, Alabama (pre Saban), etc…
Well, one could argue that the pass was tipped because Gurley didn’t step into Mosley like he was supposed to on the play. Or that throwing it to the front of the end zone rather than deeper into the end zone brings a tipped pass that is going to be caught short into play. But whatevs.
This. The pass was tipped because the RB didn’t meet Mosley at the LOS and instead let him into the backfield before picking up the block. Watch the replay on Youtube, folks.
Irwin R Fletcher
A segment of the Georgia fan base and Bill Shanks in a web chat circa 1863-
“Stonewall is a good general, but he’s not Robert E Lee. Why is he so stoic and reserved? He sure does win a lot of battles, but he’s never won the big one. His faith makes him soft. Can’t we get someone like Grant or Sherman that get angry when they lose? I want some emotion. And don’t tell me that getting shot by friendly fire isn’t bad leadership instead of luck? It’s always something with him…i got shot by friendly fire. I caught pneumonia after the amputation.”
I blame the Confederate pickets. What happened in Chancellorsville stays in Guinea Station. Sure, he had a combat reputation as a genius with no off-switch but what kind of offensive and defensive coordinator was he “as displayed by his weak and confused efforts during the Seven Days Battles around Richmond in 1862.” (¿Amirite wiki?)
Both you guys got it all wrong. Stonewall Jackson was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. It’s not his or the Confederate picket’s fault. Sh!t just happens. It’s fate, Kharma, whatever you want to call it, but it certainly isn’t anything that could have been avoided with better communication or planning. I for one am sick and tired of people like you 2 trying to blame what happened to Gen. Jackson on lack of preparation or some other controllable phenomena. It’s just bad luck. Quit trying to blame some innocent kid on sentry duty for killing the best General in the Confederate Army. How was he to know that the General was going to ride by at night? He did exactly as he was taught–shoot first and ask questions later. He just reacted instinctively. It is not necessary for him to think, he’s just a soldier not a commander. And Stonewall never could have foreseen that riding through combat lines at night might result in one of his own troops shooting him. How could anyone ever imagine such an unforeseeable thing? Next time the Kharmic Bitches will be on our side and Grant will get shot by HIS people. Just wait and see. This will all turn out fine for the South in the end. Let’s just keep on going like always–no changes. We are destined to win.
I don’t disagree. I think it was likely a freshman mistake, rather than a coaching error.
So every single failed play is a coaching failure? Got it.
JonDawg
Surely you’ve noticed that sign hanging around that dead horse’s neck that states just that..
Seriously. The tipped pass was a coaching error? It was a guy on the other team making a play.
I’d say, yes, it would affect it. Having a 3rd SEC title (by way of beating everyone’s favorite deity) and playing for (and most likely winning) the title would. However, I also think people need to realize how much luck goes into these things. Look at Auburn. Take the two games they won to close the reg season out of it. They still needed Mich St to beat Ohio State. They did nothing in 2013 Georgia didn’t do in 2002. Only difference is Ohio State converts a 4th and 7 against Purdue in 2002 and Michigan State beats the Buckeyes in 2013.
Then you have the tipped pass last year. You also have a different voting mindset this year compared to 2007, when many felt UGA was the best team to close the year, but was jumped by a team 4 places behind them due to not winning their division. The state of the program is much stronger than the debbie downers want to admit, but I get seeing your rivals win adds to that.
Especially in comparison to the Goff and Donnan years.
Jim Donnan’s last 4 years he was 35-13. That’s a winning percentage of 73%, which is almost exactly the same as CMR’s. Just sayin.’
And what was Donnans record against Tenn, Florida, Auburn and Tech those years?
Something like 6-12. (There were some games Tech, I believe, had to forfeit). There was an interesting article I read once about Donnan, talking about, in retrospect, what a good record he had in light of the fact that FU and UT were in the top 5-10 teams nationally the whole time Donnan was HC at Georgia, each winning a national championship during that span. Tech had O’Leary as its HC and had the best stretch it ever had since Bobby Dodd in the 50s, too. Donnan won the second most games in his 5 year tenure of any coach starting out at Georgia in history up to that time. The higher one was back in the 20s. Donnan didn’t get fired because of losing too many games. That’s a myth. He got fired because (1) he was a prick and (2) he refused to replace his son as QB coach when given a direct order to do so by Mike Adams. The “he had a bad record against our main rivals” argument was just used to justify to the masses Adams’ firing of Donnan.
And I would say it was Quincy Carter that got him fired. But Auburn was not a top 5-10 program at the time. And Tenn was still a top 5-10 program when Richt arrived in Ga. And Auburn has been one consistently in Richts tenure. Fact is, we fire Richt, we will get goff Redux. Then we will hire a coach who will have to work to get us to what Richt has us at now and then will have to be lucky where Richt has not been.
Who is saying fire Richt? I’m certainly not. I’m just saying that Donnan’s record isn’t as bad as some have portrayed it to be. P.S. Q: What do Billy Graham and Quincy Carter have in common? A: They both can get a stadium full of 100,000 people to jump to their feet in unison and scream, “JESUS!!!”
A blocked kick returned for a touchdown equates to a kid missing a 57 yarder and THAT being returned for a touchdown?
No. It Doesn’t.
That’s not even the entire story. Your question leaves out the timing of both plays.
The sequence of touchdowns in a close game is irrelevant because no single touchdown contributes to the final score any more than any other touchdown. The timing only magnifies the *perception* of the play. Auburn’s FG return for TD didn’t help them win any more than the first TD they scored during the game. If you flip the order of the TDs the end result is the same, the odds of the FG returned for TD is the same, but nobody is talking about “luck.”
ETennDawg
Valid point. But, do you think Auburn returns the kick if it were the 3rd qtr? I am thinking they would have watched it sail and taken the ball around midfield. Perhaps scoring, perhaps turning it over on downs, perhaps turning it over, perhaps losing Marshall to injury.
Point being, if Alabama attempts the FG sometime other than the end of the game – Auburn doesnt return it.
Tronan
This season would still be disappointing even if we’d won the 2012 SECCG and the BCSCG, mainly because of the injuries, but also because of the shafting in Nashville and the hand of Satan at Auburn. But, had we won out in 2012, at least the program wouldn’t seem as star-crossed as it does now.
I did not read the article because I do not want to give him the page hit. If his argument is that Richt has not gotten UGA to a BCS championship game and that makes him an inferior coach to Les Miles, then I ask. Richt lost 1 game in 2002 but did not play in the BCS championship because Ohio State completed a long 4th down pass to beat some Big ten team and stay undefeated. Miles got his crystal football with a 2 loss team and only got into the game because Pitt upset West Virginia. What coaching did Miles do that Richt would not have been able to do on behalf of Pitt to cause WVA to lose? What would Miles had done differently as coach of the Bulldogs in 2002 to make Ohio State miss that 4th down pass?
Corch Irvin Meyers was more fortunate with a 1 loss team in 2006 than we were with a 1 loss team in 2002. Meyers, WHILE BUSY COACHING IN THE SEC CC, made some brillant coaching moves on behalf of UCLA to cause UCLA to upset number 2 USC, The Shanks of the world say, “Meyer can get a team to the BCS. Richt cannot, as if Meyer woudl have personally intercepted Ohio State’s 4th down pass in 2002.
A few years ago Shanks’s bitching was that Richt had not beaten Florida enough. Now we have beaten it 3 ties in a row he has to complain about something else. If we win the playoffs in 2014 he will bitch that Richt cannot repeat and is no better than Chizik if we do not win again in 2015.
It’s actually worse that that…his argument is that Richt can’t coach because:
(a) he didn’t throw a tantrum in 2008 when Bama was killing them
(b) he is a bad coach because we don’t get the lucky breaks. Seriously…luck happens when you have a ‘special season’
Oh..and that South Carolina would have run off Spurrier if he went 10-19 against ranked opponents…which makes total sense because Spurrier didn’t start his first 5 seasons at Carolina with a sub .500 record in the SEC and has won tons of SEC titles while he has been there.
Exactly. SC NEVER has won an SEC title and only holds 1 conference title in THEIR ENTIRE HISTORY. SC began the whole trend of the “East” title
If Spurrier won even one SEC conference title for SC, Columbia would burn itself down in ebullent celebration before re-building the Capitol in his likeness.
I think it’d change our perceptions, of course, but not really change reality. We’ve got a great coach and program. My biggest concern is that we don’t and haven’t had a D that can win the dang game. It’s always up to the offense to win some last minute miracle or seal the deal because we sure as heck can’t count on the D winning it for us.
-Bama we led in the 4th (and by 11 in the 3rd)
-Clemson we led 21-7
-Vandy we led by 10 in the 4th
-Mizzou we pulled within 2 in the 4th and couldn’t stop a backup QB to get the ball back to our All-Conference kicker.
-Auburn…you know the story.
Win the game for us. Win it. Stop them. We’re ahead. We made the play. Stop them. Even against LSU, the offense had to go BACK down the field and score. When we scored I didn’t even celebrate because there was too much time left and we hadn’t stopped them all day.
Had Mosley not tipped that pass, we still wouldn’t have stopped them and that story would be the same, we’d just have a crystal football to go with it. And, I wonder if we can win with the style of ball we play if we just can’t stop people. Every D has games they can’t stop people. See LSU vs. us or Bama vs. A & M. But we never stop people. That bothers me. We never seem to have enough points. I’m always worried about that. Without the injuries this year, it might not matter. We might have just outscored folks. The two most disappointing moments for me were Mizzou and Tech. With a depleted roster in a huge game at home, coming off 3 straight wins when the offense carried us, we needed the D and Mizzou shredded us right out of the gate. Same thing at Tech. Back-up QB finding his footing, we need the D to stand up and keep us in this game…and they shred us. The D doesn’t seem to have a gas pedal, and I’m not sure what that means going forward.
We were babies back there, that’s for sure, and they’re going to get better. I believe that. I hope we have the staff over there to do it, but, frankly, I’m unsure. I’m hopeful Grantham surprises me.
Had Mosley not tipped that pass, we still wouldn’t have stopped them and that story would be the same, we’d just have a crystal football to go with it. And, I wonder if we can win with the style of ball we play if we just can’t stop people.
That’s a fair question. So is that how you feel about Auburn? Because Shanks obviously doesn’t.
This. Shanks says we should imulate auburn and then rants about the D. I could be wrong but I think our D was actually better than theirs this year.
I’m fully in favor of immolating Auburn.
It’s ready. Al from Dadeville has already cleared the foliage. The only thing to worry about now are the machine gun pillboxes on the TOOMER’S DRUGS® fortification and taking out the Forestry Department fire tower pickets
I think the difference is that Auburn is trying to score 50 every game and just rolls with it, and I’m not sure we are. I thought about them, because their D is wretched, and they didn’t stop us on that night on the Plains. Had we 10 more seconds, I think we win the game anyway.
It’s the style. We play kind of like Bama. We’re more explosive, but we’re not trying to go a hundred miles per hour the whole game and score 50. I’m okay with that. We play kind of hoping our D will put up some resistance, but we can’t.
For the record, I don’t think the Auburn ‘dynasty’ will last. I think FSU will smoke them. I think defenses will figure out that offense and game-plan and recruit to stop it. I think they’ll never have a good D there, and it will eventually cost them. What has happened with them this year is nearly unexplainable, as we all know. Like Tech, I don’t think they’re D will ever get a good look in practice to prepare them, which will end up costing them over the long haul.
No one can stop the Florida Marilins of the SEC West. Of course, no one can stop Jameis either.
What’s with all of this whining regarding 2002 and a 1 loss GA team not getting to play for the MNC? We’d have played for it with one loss in at LEAST 2006, 2007, 2008, 2011, 2012 and 2013.
Every SEC team that has won it since then either had an undefeated season or multiple seasons with only 1 loss. We’ve never had an undefeated season and we’ve only had ONE season with only 1 loss. Sorry folks, but the banter about our 2002 season should be dropped.
LSU won the SEC in ’07 with two losses.
And UGA can only blame themselves for that.
LSU also only lost once in 2004 and were undefeated in 2011, so my statement still stands. We should put together more than one good season before complaining about being unlucky, because every other SEC team that’s played for a MNC (or won) has done so.
Again, you’ve been there, done that with the luck stuff. Please give it a rest in this thread.
Half of the posts in this thread have some variation of “UGA was unlucky in 2002, 2007 and 2012.” This feeling has been re-hashed hundreds, if not thousands, of times on this blog. It really bothers you that I’m voicing a dissenting opinion for the second time?
165 is right. What’s good for the goose is good for the gander, Bluto. Almost all the Disney Dawg posts above are just regurgitating “bad luck, bad luck, bad luck” to the point of absurdity, and basically ignore the reasons behind why things happened.
If your reply is meant for my post above, I am not whining about not playing for the BCS NC in 2002. I was pointing out that factors beyond the control of the SEC champions’ coaches affect whether the SEC champ could get into the BCS CG.
If the complaint about Richt boils down to the fact that he was not able to get into the BCS game then the comparison between the teams above us not losing and the good fortune UF in 2006 or LSU in 2007 had shouldn’t “be dropped.”
By the way, the 2005 SEC champion had 2 loses, as well.
Both of those teams have put together multiple seasons like ours in 2002. We’ve only put together one. The more often you put yourself in position to take advantage of luck, the more lucky you will appear.
No, LSU has not put together multiple seasons as ours in 2002. It lost 2 games in 2007. It has 1 one loss BCS championship (2003). UF, it is true, does have has one more 1 loss SEC championship than us.
What is your response to the point of this thread? The question is, “If we had completed the last play pass for a TD and beaten Alabama and then beaten ND would your [perception of Richt and the program change for the better?” You have typed a bunch of words but have not answered the question.
I answered the question above. It’s a silly question and of course the answer is yes. I’m saying these things because the comments are flooded by disney dawgs who pretend like Georgia has had nothing but bad luck and other programs have nothing but good luck.
Oh, as far as 1 or 0 loss conference championships, Florida has FOUR in the past 20 years (1995, 1996, 2006 and 2008). LSU has TWO (2003 and 2011). Auburn has THREE (2004, 2010 and 2013).
Seems like putting together a good season more than once every blue moon tends to yield good results, huh?
Try to keep up 😉
Why is it a silly question to ask if a single play has much of an effect on how you view the program?
1) It assumes, pretty boldly, that the pass would have been a TD even though Malcom Mitchell was covered pretty tightly (and it just as likely could have been picked off)
2) Generally speaking, playing for a MNC is going to make anyone view their program better than playing in the Capital One bowl will, and
3) The question pretends like the tipped pass is the only reason we didn’t play for the MNC. We were only a tipped pass away because of how lucky we were to have a blocked field goal returned for a TD earlier in the game. How can you ignore this play but attribute so much to Auburn’s similar play against Bama? And then go on to talk about “intellectually consistency”…?
By the way, Bluto, what’s your answer to the question?
Which question is that? 😉
You’re missing the fucking point.
I’m not asking about luck. Say what you will about how Georgia got there, the fact remains that it was one play away from beating Alabama. For purposes of this one stinking post, I don’t care how Georgia put itself in position to pull that off, but the fact remains it was there. All I want to know is if it had been a Georgia player making a great play instead of Mosley, would Shanks have written the same column? And if your feelings about the program would be different, what does it say that one play can have such an impact on your view of things?
Why is this so hard for you to grasp? Others in this thread seem to have figured out what I’m interested in.
I grasp it, and I’ve answered your question (twice).
What’s your answer to the question?
You answered this?
And if your feelings about the program would be different, what does it say that one play can have such an impact on your view of things?
I must have missed it. Sorry.
It means I am the same as every other fan and care more about actual results than “coulda woulda shoulda.”
A single play can change everything. Except for Josh Harvey-Clemons knocking an INT (or drop) away from Tray Matthews, Alabama is playing FSU in the Natty, all else being equal. How much differently is Bama and Bama’s season viewed if they’re playing for 3 in a row in a few weeks?
Question I’d like to explore: If you KNEW you’d be playing in the Natty once every 5 years, would you accept 2 losing seasons in the 4 out years? My answer: hells yeah.
I think most fans would.
Went back and read your original post again and my question answers your question. Your premise: Pass isn’t tipped, Mitchell makes catch, UGA plays in Natty. I’ll extend the premise: UGA likely wins Natty against ND. So your question becomes, “Would people who are bitching about 8-4 be doing so if UGA won the Natty last year?” We agree that most fans would put up with 2 losing seasons in 5 just to PLAY in the Natty much less win it. Ergo, most fans would not be bitching about 8-4 if pass isn’t tipped and Mitchell makes play.
Funny you should say that Senator because several of our posters just in the few days were waxing on eloquently about how UGA’s program under CMR is superior to Auburn because the Dawgs are more consistent–none of those ridiculous lows to balance off against those undeserved highs (like winning the BCSNC) as Auburn has done. “We’re better because we stay on an even keel.”
I used the word “most”, Mayor.
FWIW I agree with you on that point.
I honestly think that his articles screams “read me”. Maybe that is his plan, because everything that I have read in the past seems that way. If you break down the season this year, I honestly think that CMR may have done his best coaching job since he has been here. The team played hard every down. Luck is a big part of your season and record. This is probably the worst year as far as injuries….especially key injuries, that I have ever seen any college team have. In short, I was happy the way the team performed this year under the circumstances. I certainly was happy last year. Again, luck is a big part of it….Richt is the best coach the Dawgs have ever had. I am proud of the team.
The play of last year’s SECCG wasn’t the tipped pass, it was the fact that we didn’t stop Yelton on 3rd and 5 which gave them a first down. We hit him but Williams didn’t wrap up, and Yelton got the 1st by an inch. We all remember the next play where McCaron went up top for the score. THAT was the play that lost the game.
But that’s not what I’m asking about!
I’m beginning to sense that getting people to stay on topic is futile. 😉
Yeah but I don’t care. I enjoy hijacking the topic.
The answer from any sane person would be “yes, I feel better about our program after winning the SEC and National Titles. Even with all the problems associated with this year, it’s hard to repeat therefore I can accept the disaapointment of this season”.
“it’s hard to repeat therefore I can accept the disaapointment of this season”.”
I had a dream that I was in Auburn…
Like trying to herd cats….. OK I’ll jump in… from my perspective if we had won the SECCG (and most likely MNC) last year I think I would have the same level of frustration regarding how this season went, but may have cut the coaches additional slack because they proved they could get us to the mountain top.
66DAWGnNC
The problem with such a question dear Senator is you have too many “coaches” on this blog that know more about how to win both a SEC and National championship more than Mark Richt does. My advice to them: apply for the dang job! Surely some one out there is looking for a “coach” that has all the answers and can win all their games.
Right, only those “in the arena” should have an opinion, right?
Carolinadawg
“I ALMOST won the trial and kept my client off death row. If I had just remembered to call that one witness! Oh well, I’m still a great lawyer and next time I’ll do better!”
Yeah, right, that works just about as well.
Hard to give me a straight answer, eh?
Yes, I’d certainly feel differently about Richt and the status of the program if we had won the SEC championship game played for the BCS championship last year. Feel better?
Silliest question ever.
I have been a trial lawyer for 35 years this coming June (UGA Law class of 1979, proud to say.) I can tell you that I have seen juries rule against great lawyers. Lawyers cannot change the facts and sometimes crappy assistant D.A.s get convictions because their facts are just better. I have seen Bobby Lee Cook walk out of a courtroom after a jury convicted his client.
Bobby Lee Cook is a terrible lawyer who relies on luck and can’t win the big one. Nick Saban has never lost a case.
A couple of points Senator: I agree Shanks isn’t the greatest writer in the world, but the quality of his writing doesn’t diminish the purpose of his point which has been consistent for almost 6 years. He wants his alma mater to win a national title and doesn’t think Richt can get them there (an opinion that incidentally, he isn’t alone on). Is that really so horrible? He thinks Richt is sheltered from a lot of criticism because he’s a good man. That’s hard to prove for sure one way or the other, but I can see where he’s coming from there. He’s right about UGA fans selling the program short and the defeatist attitude of “who are you going to get that’s any better?” Five years ago, no one outside of Palo Alto knew who David Shaw was. Ten years ago, Gus Malzahn was coaching high school football in Arkansas. Fifteen years ago, Nick Saban was going 8-4 in the Big 10 and couldn’t get Michigan St. over the hump. To think that Mark Richt is the only football coach in the country that can win big at UGA is myopic to the point of absurdity.
Also, it’s time to get past the “tipped pass” story line. We didn’t lose to Alabama because of a tipped pass. We lost because Bama ran for 350. We lost because of timeout management in the second half (shocking development, I know). We lost because once we got up by 10, Alabama’s play sheet could have fit on a cocktail napkin and we couldn’t stop it. Garner never built any depth on the line, JJ and Kwame played with horrible technique, and Grantham never subbed for Tree and Robinson, even though he had Herrera and Wilson.
YMMV of course, but I personally don’t see a lot inappropriate with Shank’s comments. People can disagree of course, but it’s hard to dismiss out of hand as being completely off base.
To answer the Senator’s question I would say, “Yes” and you would say “No,” right?
Not that it’s on topic, but UGA gave up 512 yards in the SEC championship game last year. Auburn gave up 534 yards in the SEC championship game this year. Perhaps Malzahn is too Christian to have a good defense.
@gatriguy: Excellent post!
What you two mental midgets seem to be missing is that it DOESN’T MATTER HOW we got to the last play of the game last year. How does the result of that one play in a vacuum color your perception of the program and Coach Richt?
This is not a hard question yet the two of you can’t seem to come up with a straight answer. Let me answer for you: If we had won the SEC and MNC last year the two of you would be crowing from the highest peaks about how awesome “WE” are and how “WE” won (even though the two of “you” didn’t do squat). You would wear something that says “UGA 2012 National Champions” everyday and your car/truck/moped would be covered in every sticker imaginable. But the reality is that pass was tipped and we didn’t win, so you sit here and bitch and moan about everything associated with the program. Funny how one tipped pass can change everything for small minded people.
Awww. Poor Disney rocket dawg haz hurt fee fees. Only sunshine and rainbows about our dogs until he stops PMS’ing.
What a drama queen. Heaven forbid someone put forth an opinion different from yours. Geeze.
D.N. Nation
“I agree Shanks isn’t the greatest writer in the world”
Here we should note that Bill Shanks was a huge supporter of Jeff Francoeur, and that Charlie Weis is better at his job than St. Jeffy is at his. Moving on.
“He thinks Richt is sheltered from a lot of criticism because he’s a good man.”
“Five years ago, no one outside of Palo Alto knew who David Shaw was. Ten years ago, Gus Malzahn was coaching high school football in Arkansas. Fifteen years ago, Nick Saban was going 8-4 in the Big 10 and couldn’t get Michigan St. over the hump. To think that Mark Richt is the only football coach in the country that can win big at UGA is myopic to the point of absurdity.”
Sure, but getting rid of a good-to-great coach for (enter hot new sh*t here) seems to be what the derp portion of the UGA fanbase so desperately desires, and to that, we put up a big picture of Dan Mullen and call it a day. Richt is the devil we know, and it isn’t 2009-2010 anymore. That would’ve been the time to move on. He’s gotten us to within a whisker of the national championship since. You fire him now, and who….exactly…..would want to come coach? At a program that cans coaches to the whim of Internet Fanboys? Keep in mind that Papa John was initially wary of coming to Florida because they sacked the Zooker after only three seasons.
“Also, it’s time to get past the ‘tipped pass’ story line. We didn’t lose to Alabama because of a tipped pass.”
We lost to Alabama for a number of reasons, one of which is a tipped pass. That’s brought up a lot because of how small the thing was that kept us from knocking off the champs. That’s *important*. If you don’t see that, then you’ve already made up your mind about Richt.
“We lost because of timeout management in the second half (shocking development, I know).”
If anything, the team that botched timeouts was Alabama, when Saint Saban apparently thought he could take his TOs to the second half and boned his team out of a potential TD drive to end the first half. (Also, Alabama was called for delay of game on a fake punt. And gave up a fake punt. And a long FG return for a TD. If there was any team that looked shaken and not particularly well coached that night, it was the one in crimson.)
“People can disagree of course, but it’s hard to dismiss out of hand as being completely off base.”
It’s red meat for morons. It matters squat to this program’s future. If that troubles you, there’s the door. Others (Will Trane, Ivy Leaguer) seem to have taken it, thankfully.
The Senator asked for opinions, I offered mine. You disagree. That’s fine, but not everyone does. I’m not anti-Richt. I’m not “anything” Richt. I’d like to see him win a national title at UGA, but that’s bc I want a NC. Conversely. If one side or the other decides it’s time for a change, I’m fine with that too.
Twistification
Honestly, after reading all this, we got the right guy with the wrong luck. Sometimes, the tips, regular season stars aligning and injuries don’t line up. Its tough to argue you need another coach with better luck, but my golly, after watching Auburn this year, maybe there is such a thing.
This is not to say that a good chunk of this isn’t on Richt. He’s made mistakes. But as maddening as this is for some to hear, his good character and the way he treats the kids has given him some padding.
If given a choice, I WANT to see us win with Richt. But I can’t say how I would feel if we broke it all up, grayshirted and oversigned a bunch of kids, then won the National Championship on the back of a starting QB who was kicked off Texas A&M after stealing a personally signed laptop from Johnny Football.
This is basically where I’m at too: I WANT Richt to get it done, but I honestly wouldn’t be disappointed if there was a change either.
I would, if it ensured a period of instability and turnover with no clear path to just getting back to where we are now. I don’t want to be Nebraska.
Why are you so certain we would get it wrong? Have we hired the ONLY coach in America that win at UGA?
What makes you so sure we would get it right? Hiring someone better than CMR is less than a coin flip…way less.
Would be interested to see a post on how a many programs in the last few years got it wrong vs got it right.
An uninformed guesstimate is
Alabama, LSU, South Carolina, Clemson, FSU, Miami, Texas A&M, Ohio State, Penn State, Duke, Ole Miss, Arizona State, Stanford, Oregon, Washington State, Vanderbilt, Iowa State, Auburn, Central Florida, Notre Dame, Oklahoma State, Oklahoma, Miss. State, North Carolina
Wrong:
Nebraska, Florida, Tennessee, Southern Cal, Georgia Tech, Arkansas, Virginia, Southern Miss, Cal, Pitt, Rutgers, South Florida, Maryland, Michigan
Even:
Kentucky, Navy
In fairness you should list FU as being both right and wrong.
And Auburn.
Whatevs? How do you not win a national championship with Andrew Luck? Harbaugh and Shaw suck.No excuse.
And Clemson? Dabo can’t even win the ACC.
Miami? Duke? North Carolina? See Clemson.
Ohio State hasn’t won a championship since 2002. They should have fired Tressell in 2003 and hired Saban. And Corch had it lined up and CHOKED! FIRE HIM!
Carolina hasn’t won the SEC. FIRE SPURRIER!
Oregon? Puh-leeze! With all that Nike money, they should be UNDEFEATED!
Miss State and Ole Miss? Huh? They can’t beat Bama! Losing to Bama by a lot is the sure sign your coach should be FIRED!
Throwin in some perspective there eh Irwin? Nice.
When you list Alabama as a got it right are you referring to offering the job to Rich Rodreguiz before offering it to Saban? Had Rich Rod said “Yes” Saban would be somewhere else.
The only moment I keep coming back to from this season is the end of the LSU game…I still well up watching Richt and Murray at the end of that game. That 4 game stretch was as difficult as any the Georgia program has had to go through in 40 years. And Georgia beat two top 10 teams and came within a field goal of beating three.
Before injuries, this was a team that was talented enough and coached well enough to win a championship. If you watched Georgia football this season and came away with the idea that Richt can’t coach, I don’t know what you were watching.
As far as not making the championship game, I don’t know how it would change my perspective if it were different. I know this…I watched a team that was that close to the mountaintop have its goals and dreams shattered by injuries, suspensions, and bad calls…and that team didn’t quit. It didn’t ever show any signs of quit, period. The fact that these kids were mentally able to mount the kind of comebacks that they did against Auburn and Tech is remarkable.
Exactly. If you told any one of us in the hot month of August that we would be sitting at the end of September 3-1, we’d have started reserving hotel rooms in Pasadena.
Our team had it all this season to be a contender for the crystal ball, which makes the rest of the season so damn frustrating October forward. We were decimated by injuries, and our defense was never there to help carry the load at the end. Still, but for our offensive injuries we win at least two more (2 of our 3 SEC losses, you pick) and are in the SEC Championship game.
No, it wouldn’t change my perception of Richt or the program, which is that we are consistently good, never great and we’re going to be perennially about the third best team in the conference. We played our hearts out against Bama but the difference between the two programs is a lot more than 5 yards. I also don’t understand why it’s a given we would have beaten Notre Dame. We most likely win a shootout but don’t kid yourself into thinking we would have dominated the golden domers the way Alabama did, especially without John Jenkins.
I think a better question might be how we would feel if 2009-2011 hadn’t have happened? If you take those outlier years out and I’m not sure there is much to debate.
There is no question but that the fire Richt crowd would have clammed up had we gotten to the BCS championship game, even if they would claim otherwise. After all, being unreasonable is sort of their specialty. I don’t think that, like Bill Shanks, that you can judge a coach on an isolated flop like the 2008 Bama game or last year’s USC game. I think you have to look at two things: 1) are we bringing in the talent necessary to compete at the highest level? 2) are the players buying in and playing hard for 4 quarters? I think that we’ve improved dramatically since we hit bottom a couple of years ago on both counts. Moreover, I don’t think people realize that the odds of the next coach being more successful are very, very low. Could it happen? Sure? Why just take a chance simply because you can? Especially when there is no reason we can’t be in the discussion for a playoff spot in 2014.
I’ve debated this several times with the people who have been on the ‘Fire Richt’ campaign since 2008. The response is about the same that this thread has garnered. I don’t think it would change my perception of the year or the program itself. This year was just frustrating and there’s just no way to overcome that sort of decimation we saw on the depth chart.. I’m not even sure Saban has recruited well enough to overcome that. My perception of the program overall wouldn’t change, which is that we have a really good coach and a really good program. Are we great? By no means. Have we had our moments? Absolutely.
I personally feel that we should consider ourselves fortunate to get as close as we did in 2012 considering what we were up against: a semi-professional franchise located in Tuscaloosa. Until our Athletics Dept and the Board ‘commit to the G’ in the same way the fan base, players and coaches do, we will always be what I described earlier. A good, but not great program/team with it’s fair share of moments (2002, 2007, 2012). The playing field is not level and what Richt has done in spite of that is one of the more impressive things I’ve seen.
Wow. I actually feel dumber for reading that. Thankfully I didn’t even know this guy existed until now. I guess he’s trying to take F-baum’s place.
“I’m just curious how much you’d be complaining if Mosley hadn’t made a great play.”
I would be bitching a lot more (if, in fact, that’s even possible) because an 8-4 would be a thermonuclear hotseat. After all, if you win the tournament once, why can’t you do it again stat!
Well, I’m not on the Fire Richt Bandwagon, so I’m not sure the question applies to me, but I’ll answer it. Of course an SEC title (and likely NC) last year would change my perception of the program. How could it not? And I would view anyone who says otherwise with skepticism, to say the least.
You are literally correct when you say that means one’s opinion comes down to a tipped pass, but that is a tad simplistic. That particular cat could be skinned many ways.
rampdawg
I live in the Macon area. I have to listen to Bill Stanks all the time. Bill is a spoiled sounding child of the me me me now now now era. Bill Stanks would have wanted Bobby Bowden and Tom Osborne fired. Why? Because FSU and Uof N didn’t win it all early or often enough. Forget all the good winning seasons they had. Bill wants it last year, this year or 8 years ago, or he’s gonna throw a hissy fit till he gets his way A lot the same can be said about a lot UGA fans on your site. Bobby and Tom were showed patience, and all the fans of the schools they coached for, were rewarded in time with multiple championships. I guess it’s the time we live in now. The rod was spared, and now we have to keep listening to whiny, big mouthed, spoiled brats who were given everything they wanted now, now, now.
Been a dawg for 52 yrs and I think Mark Richt best coach we have ever had. Dooley played a lot of bad teams every yr, but we only had two chances for a national championship. Herschel Walker yrs. Most yrs 7-3 6-4 or 8-2. Be thankful for what we have.
pcidoc
I’m sure I dont represent the mainstream opinion but the tipped pass doesn’t change my opinion of Richt or the program at all. It seems to me that Shanks and those who agree with him are wrong minded in feeling that the only successful season is one that ends with the MNC. That means 120 plus teams fail each season and only one is a success. I’d sure love for the Dawgs to get one but realize a successful season can’t be defined based on getting the crystal. That tipped pass meant to me that the team I love fought valiantly against a team that was heavily favored for the entire game, even after things went against them. I was extremely proud of that game even in the loss. Again I want my team to get that championship but playing with class, representing my University well on and off the field and not cheating matter as much to me.
Ho Lee Shit! Can’t believe all the Richt-supporting comments that question the author’s question. While it was alluded to by Shanks, the question should have been posed for Grantham, not Richt.
I don’t feel very down on Richt and the program right now, but If we had won that game I’d be swaggering around a little more, thinking that this year is just a little bump in the dynasty.
I find it hard to believe anybody wouldn’t sincerely feel better (or not as bad) about this year with Richt and the program, if we’d won that game and then beat ND last year.
Slaw Dawg
To answer your question directly, I would not be complaining as much if Mosley hadn’t made that play. Mitchell would have a TD and we’d have beaten ND like they stole something.
Mitchell did make the play and another team got to beat ND like they stole something. I never wanted our guys to get back to the SEC title game as badly as I did this year–I’m sure that’s true for other fans, not to mention the players and coaches. That made the year’s disappointments that much harder to take. And it does make me more skeptical of our program and its leadership.
In short, that tipped past is leading me slowly to the grim conclusion that our favorite program is one that chronically underachieves. Call it bad luck, call it bad staff, call it inadequate administrative support, call it whatever you want. We are the flagship program in a state flourishing with football talent–we have a better deal than any other SEC team in that regard. But our program continues to demonstrate maddening tendencies that I simply no longer believe will be corrected, because they haven’t been. I won’t rehash them, because we know what they are, and you’ve made it clear that’s not the question you’re asking.
Right now, all I have is a sort of diminishing hope that somehow next year all the lights will finally go “On.” But my actual expectations are well short of that, based on past experience that includes that fateful tipped past.
Boom! Pretty much nailed it.
Well said S.D.
I am pretty much where you are SD. Think back to when CMR first took over at UGA. He said: “There has been a lid on this program and we are going to blow that lid off.” (Or words to that effect.) It appears to me that the lid is back on the program.
I have thought that same thing many times during the latter part of this season.
stoopnagle
Sorry. Can’t give Shanks a click. He’s a troll.
Just because Football Jesus®* moved our luck and never smiles on us (except for having home rather than road games against USCe and LSU this past season) is there ever a regression to the mean for bad signs
*”Football Jesus (n.) — a separate, auxiliary Jesus maintained by America’s Christian God to handle all pre-, in-, and post-game prayer requests, as the big guy is kept somewhat busy with sick children, lost pets, failing crops, and what have you.”
http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/9599552/holly-anderson-college-football-grantland-dictionary
sethdavidmiller
I’ll admit that I’ve given that one play a lot of power over me in relation to my opinion of this coaching staff and the program as a whole. If it goes the other way, this season would still be brutal, but I’d be much more confident about the program.
Being honest with myself is hard, but I think it matters a ton and, sometimes, legacies are written (or changed) based on one, brief moment.
So it goes with Richt & the current UGA football program.
Seriously, Senator…throwing red meat out for the whiners? How charitable in this season of giving.
In the spirit of creating turmoil, let’s revisit a constant theme that is presented here quite often by both sides of the Richt argument…”with all of the talent in Georgia” we should de facto win a MNC as the flagship institution. This line of reasoning is the most flawed of all. Georgia turns-out some fantastic players and because of that, is also heavily recruited by all other schools. Texas, California, Florida, Louisiana and Pennsylvania also have tons of talent. There is no direct relationship to in-state high school talent and State U. winning the MNC. Yet this belief colors the perception of UGA’s program for far too many, including Mr. Shanks. If this “we have the in-state talent, why aren’t we doing better?” argument were valid, then why is it we only have 1980 to show for it since the 1960’s? You can’t blame Richt for this…try as you might.
Could another HC win the MNC at UGA? Of course…its the perfect hypothetical so why not support the position. But like I pointed-out the other day, there have only been 8 gentlemen to lead their teams to the MNC while Mark Richt has been at Georgia. 4 – 5 of them are no longer with their teams and have proven scandals left behind. So did UGA choose poorly in taking a chance on Richt? As the Senator points-out, what evidence is there that the powers controlling the HC position at UGA (which goes far beyond the AD) are capable of picking the new NC that can turn the corner?
Frankly, I wish the Senator had asked the whiners why they aren’t screaming at the top of their lungs for us to go get Mack Brown. He’s available, has exactly the resume they demand, and won’t be all that expensive. I’d love to hear the rationale for this conspicuous silence.
“I’d love to hear the rationale for this conspicuous silence.”
Because Georgia hiring Mr. Football would be too much of a good thing for Spurrier?
“The cruelest and most accurate thing ever said about Mack Brown came from Steve Spurrier. Spurrier was then the coach at Duke. Brown was at North Carolina. Spurrier was fashioning himself into a monomaniacal offensive strategist. Brown was becoming a Reaganesque CEO. When sportswriters traveled that little corner of the ACC, Spurrier would say, ‘I just don’t think I know enough about the game to compete with Mr. Football.’…..
Spurrier wouldn’t let the slur go. By 1997, he’d moved to the University of Florida and won a national championship. The sportswriter John Feinstein sent Spurrier a note saying that if he thought he was so great, he should go back to Duke. “Nah,” Spurrier wrote in his reply, “I don’t think I could deal with the pressure of competing with Mr. Football again every year.”
http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/10134500/the-end-era-mack-brown-texas-longhorns
And yet…here we are 20 years later with Mack Brown sitting on just as many national championships as Steve Spurrier.
No….doesn’t change my view of our team. Shanks is a finebaum wannabe and a hack.
How about the coaching staff address these two issues…:
I am all for running a clean program, running a program that values academic excellence, family atmosphere etc….some people say it’s only a game and we do the best we can and there are more important things to focus on in life……but there is also doing the BEST you can and training the players to be the best, holding the coaches to be the best and bearing down on EVERY detail of the program to make sure the University and the kids and alumni are absolutely getting the most out of their program possible. It’s not happening up there. It’s a joke. It’s not even CLOSE at UGA. Aaron Murray and Stafford go through that program and not SEC titles in those 7 years. AJ and Moreno too.
A microcosm of this is this:
Between 2007-2012 these are the following recruiting numbers:
Auburn 164 players
LSU 151
S Car 163
UGA 130
That is a joke, with these numbers you just can’t compete and that is why UGA is 6-17 against ranked opponents. I understand you don’t want to oversign and gray shirt and run kids off, but you also can use some common sense and understand there is going to be attrition like Nick Marshall and Chris Sanders and some of the OL that have quit. We started FOUR true freshmen on defense this year in Wiggins, Floyd, Matthews, Langley and. That is 100% unacceptable for a team that could’ve made a run. It lost us every game. Clemson was a joke with Connor Norman and Brandon Langley playing. Neither played much the rest of the season.
The 2nd microcosm is the fact that every year our special teams is horrible. Pathetic.
Punt return team 103rd nationally
Kickoff return 111
Punt team 74th
Kickoff coverage 96th
special teams blunders in 2013 and how they impacted the scoreboard.
· Botched field goal in the third quarter against Clemson (Georgia lost by three)
· Fumbled snap on a punt in the second quarter against South Carolina (South Carolina scored a touchdown one play later)
· 99-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in the second quarter by North Texas (Cut the Mean Green deficit to seven)
· Blocked punt returned for a touchdown in the third quarter by North Texas (tied the game)
· Blocked punt returned for a touchdown in the third quarter by Tennessee (tied the game)
· Fake field goal for a touchdown in the second quarter by Vanderbilt (gave Vandy the lead)
· Fumbled punt return late in the third quarter against Vanderbilt (Vandy scored a touchdown on the ensuing drive to cut Georgia’s lead to six)
· Bad snap on a punt in the fourth quarter vs. Vanderbilt (Commodores scored the game-winning touchdown one play later)
Maybe he magically puts it together next year. I really hope so. I hope the talent so overwhelms the other teams, we can’t help but win.
And success is not wins and losses per se or if they win a MNC or not, although that is a part of it, success is much more attributed to playing at the highest level possible every week given your talent and resources. Demanding excellence. It is NOT playing just good enough to win games and having a coach not demand and correct mistakes and not communicate to the public, the alumni and the players and coaches that “we expect to play better, this was not the way we expect to perform at GA (and when playing far inferior competition) and we will make the necessary changes to make sure it does not ….”
Bryant Denny
Hope you don’t mind me commenting on this.
As an outsider, I think y’all should be hugely disappointed in this year – despite AND because of the tipped pass.
In the pre-season, I believe I had UGA pegged to go 11-1 with the loss being to Clemson. You guys were the team I feared the most of the other 13. Yes, there were losses on defense, but the offense looked to be unstoppable.
In my opinion, the loss in the SECCG last year should have stoked a fire for a title run this year. So from that perspective, 8-4 would be a huge downer.
It did stoke the fire of a title run. We were on that title run until we had our best offensive skill players on the shelf with multiple game or season-ending injuries. When we went to the spread, there wasn’t a defense that could handle the combination of Scott-Wesley, Bennett, Conley, and one of the tight ends with Gurley/Marshall out of the backfield. That’s with our best big play guy hurt on the first play from scrimmage with Malcolm Mitchell. Eventually, Murray gets hurt the week before our rivalry game.
Bama would have had some of the same issues with Cooper, Yeldon, Drake and others. Then to lose McCarron the week before Auburn, I’m not sure you guys could have survived all of that to go 11-1.
I’m disappointed but it’s about the defense for me. When the offense was trying to find its way less a bunch of pieces, the defense and special teams didn’t pull their weight.
I guess I was coming from the perspective of simply looking at the end results from each year.
Hard to do that, though.
There is a difference b/w being disappointed and thinking the program is in a state of complacency, needing new leadership, etc.
I’m disappointed in 8-4. Especially after the 3-1 start against three top 10 teams. But you can’t lose your grip on reality.
This team had to play Mizzou, a top 10 team, and Vandy pretty much without Mitchell, Gurley, Marshall, Scott Wesley, Bennett, Matthews, Rome, Rumph, Norman, and Reggie Wilkerson.
I’m disappointed Georgia finished 8-4, but it is different than 2009 when you just wondered if it had passed the team by. It feels more like 2006 when it was easy to get down about losses to Kentucky and Vandy, but I felt good about the way the team competed and how Stafford was developing, etc.
In the last three seasons, the two where the team hasn’t been decimated by injuries, Georgia made the SECCG and in the other has a chance for 9 wins and finished 5-3 in the SEC. The schedule sets up favorably in 2014…ya’ll can keep whining about the program. I’m going to watch Mason get ready for the bowl game and the 2014 campaign.
A10Penny
All of us would be happier if that pass was caught. But were any of us happy with the Defense last year with the talent we had? Imagine how it would have been without Jarvis.
IveyLeaguer
It’s a very interesting question. First, if Moseley hadn’t tipped that pass, it would have been either incomplete or intercepted.
But say we had won the NC last year, because that’s what would have happened if we had either scored on the next play or spiked the ball with 3 plays left to score.
Had that happened I don’t see how it’s possible for anybody’s perception of the program to not have changed. A national championship is very toxic, for at least a year or two, and in a good way.
Having said that, I can honestly say my take on what’s wrong with the program would not have changed (or at least would have changed back by midseason) because it has never been based on W’s and L’s or Championships. After the Vandy game my stance would have been the same as it is now, and of course the rest of the year would support that as well.
The Vandy game was the final block of evidence that a long-term systemic problem has still not been addressed. And that’s one thing a NC could not have changed.
“…it’s an incompletion or interception”. Let’s go to the source, Aaron Murray, who states in post game interviews that “Oh, it’s a touchdown. The defender has his back to the play and it’s just up to Malcolm to go up and get it”.
In defending HIS decision to not order Murray to spike the ball, CMR quotes consultant, Homer Smith, who says that spiking the ball is for a team without a plan. We had one and wanted to execute to that advantage.
You guys criticize the program all you want, but at least try to get your facts straight.
Murray is not the source. Richt is not the source. EVER. The only real source in football is the film.
If you are interested in facts, I suggest you study the film. I’ve studied a lot of film, and that’s the way I see it. To me, it’s obvious.
Further, I don’t get off on criticizing the program. I do, however, point out reality, the best I can discern it. But I know better than to think everybody will agree with it.
Just curious how it would have either been incomplete or intercepted, but not completed….for a touchdown? I’m pretty sure all 3 of those things are possible as they are with any pass thrown in football.
Because if you are sufficiently negative about the program, or, depending upon your point of view, simply being brutally realistic, it’s a given that Vince Dooley’s famous dictum about throwing the ball (“three things can happen… and two of them are bad”) is overly generous. 😉
Thanks for clarifying that, Senator. As soon as I read that, I knew exactly what the rest of his comments would look like. It was too easy when he started it out the way he did.
Because on the replay you can see that MM was covered pretty tightly. I actually agree with the decision to not spike the ball there, but to just assume that the pass was a guaranteed TD is a bit of a stretch.
And I think it’s a bit of a stretch just to assume it’s not a completion. Again, all 3 things are a possibility: incompletion, interception, TD.
I agree. I’m not saying that it definitely wouldn’t have been a completion. I’m just saying a completion was far from guaranteed.
Fair question.
Best I can tell you is go back and watch the film. Notice that the trajectory of the ball, projected forward if un-tipped, is right at the pylon or even just outside of the goal line.
Then look at the route (which was poor), the coverage, and go from there.
Hahaha. Alright, man. There’s no sense in arguing with someone like you. I love that you threw MM under the bus there as well, job well done.
Raleigh St. Claire
Mark Richt routinely fields teams that are terrible at special teams and defense and has done so since 2005.
He also fields teams that invariably show up to 2-3 games per year totally unprepared and unmotivated. See, e.g., the Carolina game in 2012 and the first half of the Auburn game this year among many many others.
He is not a championship coach any longer. He does not coach teams that do the small things well. He is not detail oriented and he is several steps below coaches like Saban, Meyer, and even Malzahn.
Richt is never again going to win another championship of any kind. And, in the process, he’s going to waste the careers of players like Gurley, just like he did with Stafford, Moreno, Green, and now Murray.
He needs to go because barring scheduling luck, like in 2011 and 2012, he’s a 3-4 loss per year coach. He’s simply incapable of preparing a team week in and week out to get better results.
I mean, look at his Gator Bowl press remarks where he said you can’t win every game and that this season was a success. Those arent the types of comments made by a coach who demands excellence and is focused on championships.
Next year will be just like this one. Terrible defense and shockingly bad special teams. The sheep who love Richt more than UGA will find yet another excuse to explain away the bad coaching and then we’ll do it all over again in 2015.
All the while, the other teams in the conference will actually be doing the things necessary to out themselves in the best position to win big.
I prefer a different solution, because I want Richt to succeed.
But I certainly agree with your diagnoses. Each offseason, I hope Richt will reach out for a solution, one which would involve systemic intangible changes, and I hope he will this year. But he never does.
So I hope you are wrong, but fear you are right.
I want Richt to stay and to figure out the overwhelming issues that he is seemingly blind to. But those that support him ask yourself this: What top coach, Saban, Carroll, Meyer, Spurrier, Miles, Shaw….whoever, when they had a team ranked #1 in the country has ever been BLOWN OUT in their own stadium and down 31-0 at halftime? Please answer this for us. And people that see the blue sky and talk about last year and a dropped pass in the SECC……just ask yourself this, what team has ever won a national title when they had been BLOWN OUT (South Carolina) earlier in the year and struggled to beat several other inferior teams? I have supported Richt for years but 08 started the slide (that Bama game was unacceptable and as unprepared a team as I have ever seen) and honestly, when I heard him interviewed after the TN game this year, a team that SUCKED and was BLOWN OUT by Oregon and has been decimated by all the coaching changes, I was embarrassed for the players and as an alumni that my coach said NOTHING about the way we played and how unacceptable it was and that we will do everything in our power to correct these mistakes and we have an obligation to the players to coach them better and hold them accountable and WE WILL get better because this is not the way we play at UGA……nothing. Frankly it was embarrassing.
That same Bama team that beat UGA 41-30 (that was the final…I assume those points count, right?) made it to #1 and then got down to Utah 21-0 in the first quarter before losing 31-17.
But that has never happened to Saban, right? Because that would SUCK!
I mean…it’s not like Bama got down 20-0 in the FIRST QUARTER of a GAME LAST YEAR….AT HOME…AND LOST…then won a national championship or anything. That would SUCK!
And Auburn was so unprepared that they were down 21-0 against Bama in 2010 (and 21-7 the week before to UGA!!!).
The 2008 Florida team lost to Ur Ole Miss at Home.
The 2007 LSU team lost to two teams that would finish below .500 in the SEC and unranked.
And I agree that it was embarrassing that Richt didn’t crap all over the team after watching 4 guys go down with ACL tears during the game. Those kids deserved to be publicly humiliated.
By the way, one tiny…eetsy beetsy detail….Auburn was losing 21-0 at the end of the first half against LSU this year. THEY WERE UNPREPARED! WHAT TEAM GOES AND GETS BLOWN OUT IN THE FIRST HALF AND THEN PLAYS FOR A CHAMPIONSHIP AFTER ONLY BEATING GEORGIA VIA A MIRACLE AND SNEAKING BY MISS STATE! BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH ALL CAPS BLAH!
What world do you people live in? Is it one without TV? Does Google not exist in your corner of the universe?
Embarrassed is really the right word.
You are smoking something fierce if you are comparing UGAs program to LSU, Florida, Bama and Auburn. 6-17 against ranked teams is yes, an embarrassment. There is a difference between crapping on the team (which I never advocated) and holding them accountable. If you think the way they played against TN and Vandy was acceptable then that is your opinion.
I thought you made a point about top coaches not getting blown out at home when they are #1? Oh riiiiiiiiiiight…I forgot, that point wasn’t really a good one so on to the next one, I assume.
Since 2010, Florida is 4-15 against ranked opponents. Of course, UGA is 2-2 against Auburn, 3-1 against Florida, and 1-1 against LSU over that stretch…BUT THERE IS NO COMPARISON OF THESE PROGRAMS! Embarrassment! Hyperbole!
Again, if you watched the Tennessee game and didn’t see how those kids continued to compete and grind after watching their teammates continue to fall to injuries, then it isn’t really worth any more effort looking up facts that show how bad your opinions are.
{“I was embarrassed for the players and as an alumni that my coach said NOTHING about the way we played and how unacceptable it was and that we will do everything in our power to correct these mistakes and we have an obligation to the players to coach them better and hold them accountable and WE WILL get better because this is not the way we play at UGA……nothing. Frankly it was embarrassing.”}
A good point, IMO. And a fair point.
Richt doesn’t have very many faults (outside of some apparent coaching faults that have nothing to do with his personality), but this is one. He does not publicly hold himself or his coaches accountable, i.e., doesn’t always put the blame where it should be.
After a loss like the 2012 SECCG, where his team played about as well as they could (and didn’t crap all over themselves), and showed heart, fight and resilience, it is proper for a coach to present himself and his program the way Richt did .. as being proud of his team for the way they played and the effort they gave in hard-fought, classic SEC battle.
But after most of the losses we experience, where we play sloppy ball and pretty much beat ourselves, and perhaps even embarrass ourselves to some extent, some accountability is very appropriate, even called for.
The best coaches do it all the time. For example, Dooley always did it, Bryant always did it (though losses from beating yourselves were rare for both), Today, you will hear Spurrier say something like, “We need to coach better”, or “I need to coach better.” Saban will say something like, “that’s our fault and our responsibility as a coaching staff, and it’s our task and responsibility to make sure the problem is taken care of.” And so on down the line.
But you don’t hear anything like that from Richt. He almost seems to refuse to hold himself or his coaches accountable. If there’s any accountability at all, it falls on lack of “execution” .. in other words, on the players in general (he does protect his players, as he should). This might not be absolute (though I can’t think of an exception) but, certainly overall, that’s the way it is, and that’s the way it has been.
But Richt would do well to make public accountability a habit, IMHO. It has served other coaches well, and would serve him well. It would go long way both internally and externally. Because sometimes his ‘cover’, or ‘shield’, is stretched so thin, it IS embarrassing. Further, in many instances, it doesn’t gel with what he stands for. Let reality be what it is, and be accountable. Be HONEST and forthright about what happens, no matter how bad.
I even suspect this could be one of the causative elements of the systemic problem that has been integrated into the program for so long now. That is to say, one reason why we can’t consistently play solid football. Richt never lets the weight of accountability fall down upon his players and coaches. He acts as a shield, and never lets it hit. Not even upon himself.
{“There is a difference between crapping on the team (which I never advocated) and holding them accountable.”}
Well said. I don’t believe in crapping on the team, either. Or Richt, Assistant Coaches, McGarity .. or anybody else. I love the program as much as anybody, and I’m sure you do.
Therefore whatever is said – whether in person, in the Dawgosphere, or anywhere else – should have SUBSTANTIVE cause, evidence, grounds, or logic behind it, as it relates to football. Or it shouldn’t be said at all. And almost all of the time, it should be related directly to football, and not anything else.
I think of it as simply being honest, telling the truth, just being realistic and calling it like it is, good or bad. I’ve never thought of it that way, but holding them accountable is a fair way of putting it, too .. there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that.
I’d even go as far as to say that is a desirable quality in a loyal fan and supporter. Provided they know that they are talking about, and freely admit when they are wrong.
Here’s honesty….either you didn’t watch the Tennessee game or you have no concept of what happened during the Tennessee game or you don’t want to talk about the Tennessee game and instead just want a platform to talk about some general point you think needs to be made.
I submit that if either of you really think the Tennessee game and how coach Richt handled himself after the game was an embarrassment, then you both represent the worst of the Georgia fan base. One that doesn’t appreciate the blood, sweat, and emotions poured into every game…and how that affects coaching, players, etc. Embarrassed to pull out a win in Knoxville? When you have 3 guys already out and another 4 go down during the game with possible season ending injuries? Funny you mentioned Spurrier…they lost to Tennessee the next week with a full squad. I guess he should have been fired on the spot.
Nah, not after he said he should have coached them better. 😉
#slowclap
My post didn’t refer to the Tennessee game at all, but to Richt’s public accountability in general. And it is accurate.
The rest of what you said doesn’t reflect anything I’ve said or believe, and i won’t have you putting words in my mouth.
If you’re going to disagree and/or criticize me, fine. But at least know what you’re doing when you criticize or lecture me. It’s likely I’ve forgotten more about what goes into a football game than you’ll ever know. So please think, and get the facts straight before you fire off.
I have a vague recollection of Richt after the Tennessee game, and recall no problem with it. It was a tough day. But my post regarding his public accountability, above, stands.
“If you’re going to disagree and/or criticize me, fine. But at least know what you’re doing when you criticize or lecture me.”
Fine. The entire first paragraph of your post was about the Tennessee game. Your second quote about crapping on the team was from a post about the Tennessee game. That’s what it was about. Game over. Done. Fin.
Only three options here…
#1- Your post ‘did have something to do with the Tennessee game’
#2- You think that by cutting and pasting and leaving off the word “Tennessee”, you have completely changed the subject matter of the quote and the discussion.
“We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender,” <—Churchill on Ga-Florida…nothing to do with WWII.
"We dare not fail to see the insidious nature of this new and deeper struggle. We dare not fail to grasp the new concepts, the new tools,
the new sense of urgency we will need to combat it"<—-JFK on Georgia's problems in the secondary, nothing to do with Cuba
#3- You are literally Donny from the Big Lebowski
Were you listening to the Dude's story, Donny?
Were you listening to the Dude's story?
So you have no frame of reference here, Donny. You're like a child who wanders into the middle of a movie and wants to know…
I had no thought of Tennessee when I wrote that post, Irwin Dear. Nothing you say can change that.
But who really cares? it doesn’t matter. Carry on.
So if you had no thought of Tennessee, does that just mean you copy and paste without reading and/or understanding…
because that actually would explain a lot.
~~~~~>>>
How dare you. For that, you can KMA.
Just to add a little different flavor since most of the discussion has been around an unlucky and its negative implications to other seasons, but I wonder how everyone would feel about Richt’s coaching tenure if an Auburn DB didn’t stumble covering Michael Johnson in the corner? It’s a singular lucky play in one season many years ago, but reading so many messages above where posters feel Richt had his team just as positioned for a MNC as other SEC coaches have since, I wonder how everyone would honestly feel about Richt’s tenure if he hadn’t stumbled and made a play on the ball?
It’s an interesting thought.
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About that whole dysfunctional staff thing…
Mike Ekeler doesn’t exactly look back on last season in Athens fondly. (h/t)
Despite a powerhouse pedigree featuring some of the most renowned football programs in the nation, one thing mattered above all else to Ekeler.
“I’ve worked at some of the greatest schools history-wise in the game,” Ekeler said. “But what it boils down to is people. You can be at the University of Georgia and be miserable if you’re working with shitty people. I really enjoy my work environment and the players here.” [Emphasis added.]
I’ve said it before — when they write the book about Mark Richt’s last year at Georgia, it’s gonna be something else to read.
UPDATE: A carefully worded retraction…
Miss quoted. I said, you can work at Georgia, USC, Nebraska, LSU etc and if you work with bad people it stinks. Loved working for CMR.
— Mike Ekeler (@CoachEkelerUNT) October 13, 2016
83 responses to “About that whole dysfunctional staff thing…”
parrishwalton
It doesn’t need to be a book. There should be a long-form piece by Dawgnation or someone. There’s so much there, it seems.
No One Knows You're a Dawg
Call it “. . . And Everyone Hated Jeremy”
or How Richt takes the fire out of DCs.
I’d say JP was pretty fired up when he called out Richt in his house on the Sunday meeting after GA/FL.
Rumored…..but the rumor was he called out Schotty, not Richt. Richt was supposedly the one who interfered. He should have let them go at it imo… : > )
as opposed to what we have now????….compare and contrast.
The Lone Stranger
How about a lyric poem on the order of The Odyssey?
Aunt Edna
Mike Ekeler. Putting the “mean” in Mean Green.
Guy is rightfully salty I guess. A quick throwback to his comment from earlier this year: “I’m pretty proud of the new record I set,” said Ekeler, speaking by phone during a short return to Athens this week. “I’m the only coach in the history of the NCAA to be part of two staffs that get fired after winning 10 games and finishing with a top-10 defense. I’m pretty sure that’s never happened. I’d be willing to bet it hasn’t.”
illini84
Wait till Jack writes his.
So many career assistant coaches are so used to stuff like what happened at UGA last year that they are numb to it. That vagabond life has to get old but they accept it. Ekeler ain’t on his last stop you can bet.
If you’re arguing that last year was same old, same old in Athens, it wasn’t.
AugustaDawg
Jeremy Pruitt wouldn’t know tactfulness if it sat full weight on his face. The bull in the china shop was appalled at his behavior. The cameras caught him getting chippy with Saban on the sideline two weeks ago. Laner just takes that shit.
I noticed that when it happened. Saban yelled at him and he yelled back at Saban. I think Saban is such a strong coach that he doesn’t get his fi fi hurt by his Coordinators expressing their opinions. It not like he didn’t know Pruitt and his personality. The guy can coach and to Saban that’s the bottom line. Mark would have been better served if he had had a no assistant can speak to the media. Pruitt’s bomb throwing would have been less public. We will see if Pruitt is all we imagined over the next 3 – 4 weeks. Kiffin has certainly earned his pay check under Saban. If he had started his career under him he would have been much better at his HC jobs.
For guys like Ekeler it is. He admitted to being on staffs that got fired 2X after winning 10. It may not have been the norm for 15 years under Richt but it sure wasn’t peaches and cream for the staffs between Dooley and Richt.
I never get enough of the juicy gossip (as in, really, I don’t hear it). Who were the bad apples?
rpcpisme
My thoughts as well. I dont need to know the issue(s). However, I would like to know who caused them.
Well, we could assume that Mark Richt was really an asshole despite outward appearance. Or we could go with the gadfly in the system, Jeremy Pruitt. My money is on the latter.
I don’t see Richt as an asshole, he has more of a passive aggressive streak. On a football team, I’ll take the asshole.
SO!!!…you knew what went on behind closed doors??
Just as much as those blaming Pruitt for being an A-hole
since you put it that way, I see him more of a guy who does not like to throw people “under the bus”. Nor does he yell and scream at them on the sidelines. My guess is, he handles that stuff behind closed doors without the yelling and screaming. Treats them with respect, I do not see that as “passive aggressive” at all. The biggest fault that he had imo…was maybe his loyalty (see WM)….and that is not always a bad thing. I appreciate what he did in Athens, it will be hard to duplicate it.
I’m beginning to get the sense that not everyone liked Jeremy Pruitt.
gatriguy
Couple this with Rocker’s mutiny quote last year, the noise after the Florida game, and the one negotiating issue that was a 100% nonstarter for McG….I think you can pretty well piece together what happened last year.
yeah, but there is more to it. There has to be.
How did the O staff come up with our game plan for the Florida game with a bye week to prepare? It was basically “let’s keep doing what isn’t working, but with a less skilled QB”.
Why did Richt change philosophies after the Florida game? Seems like he should have done that two weeks earlier.
I could go on and on and on.
My feeling is that Richt stepped in at Florida once he realized BS was in over his head.
Two new coordinators were coming to town, no matter what.
But I have no reason to believe BS was the one making things miserable around the program. Once some guys on the team are a couple of years removed, the story will come out.
I have a theory, but like everyone else’s, it’s pure speculation.
down island way
Hold on now…….the HC hires who he wants, hitches his star to those coaches….overall staff hirings and raises given to those hirings at our beloved institution in the past 3-4 years had serious questions arise, before, during and after said hirings.
Oh agreed. Ultimately it looked like Richt didn’t have control of his own ship. Thus, he’s not here anymore.
I don’t KNOW anything. Just my impression from reading the tea leaves: Pruitt made a back channel run at Richt’s job post-Florida. While the powers that be squashed it, the optics were that Richt didn’t have his own staff in line. Just my thoughts, mostly likely 100% off base.
This is from a Dawgnation interview with Ekeler 9 months ago
“I learned a valuable lesson watching Brian Schottenheimer. He came into a situation where he tried to run an offense that was already in place and didn’t run his offense, so to speak. I didn’t want get into a situation like that after watching the difficulties that he had. When you do that – and I watched it happen – as a coordinator, and it’s not really your stamp but it’s your name, that’s not a good gig. That’s why I chose to go to North Texas with a guy I think is a rising star as a head coach and a great friend of mine.”
That makes it sound like Schottenheimer was told to run the Richt/Bobo offense and he had trouble doing it. Why Schottenheimer’s running of something other than his own offense wasn’t better discussed before he got the job idk.
Ekeler also thanked Richt for the opportunity Richt gave him (so did Richt hire him?) but pointedly said nothing about Pruitt and instead offered this when asked why he took the DC job at N. Texas:
“I had a chance to go to another SEC school, a couple of Big Ten schools, the Pac-12. But it wasn’t as sole coordinator. I want to get out front and lead and do it the way I want to do it and treat kids the way I want to do it, and I want to work with people I want to work with. I don’t want to be in rooms with people I don’t enjoy and don’t have much in common with.”
So Ekeler seems to have disliked Pruitt, but liked Richt and Schottenheimer, even though Richt and Schottenheimer didn’t seem to see eye to eye.
I wonder what would have happened with the coaching staff if Richt hadn’t been fired.
Snoop Dawgy Dawg
I remember that interview and my confusion then as well. the BS(initials and description) offense never looked like an attempt to run the legacy Richt/Bobo offense. I don’t doubt that Richt gave guidance to BS on things. He’s the head coach. that’s his job. But it just did not look like BS calling the Richt/Bobo offense. it looked fundamentally different while still being a pro style, multiple offense.
of course, ekeler doesn’t have a reason to lie about it, so I’ve continued to be confused by his statements.
I suspect the playbook and terminology went unchanged but BS was calling plays.
But let’s be candid…the offense was a hopeless mess b/c of the QB play. If AM had come back and played last year, I’ve no doubt we’d have performed better against UT and UF (Bama,not so much)
ATL Dawg
AM was out of eligibility after his senior season in 2013. He wasn’t eligible last year or the year before.
There was a halftime interview with Aaron Murray last season and he called it a different offense. As I recall, some the blocking schemes changed going from Friend to Sale.
I find it hard to believe that a guy with Mark Richt’s experience spent two weeks brain storming and trotted out Bauta to run a pro style offense. Richt seems fine at Miami, so I doubt he has lost his faculties. Who thought that would work? Now, if they had gone to Bauta, changed the offense to suit him, and it was a disaster, then it would make sense.
But then after the WLOCP it gets really ugly behind the scenes, so Richt takes control and we go to an ugly field position offense that eeks out wins. Heck, that’s what McEllwain did at Florida after he lost Greir and his offense started to be a shit show.
To put this in perspective, if Bobo was there I bet we see Bauta with a lot of wild dawg and trickery. We see Ramsey running some option on 3rd and 4th and short to keep the punt return team off the field. We see some new shit from a team that had 2 weeks off.
I’m waiting for the tell all book, because this is only one chapter. 😉
I think that he florida game plan might have been something, but it was going to be a lot more wild dawg with Sony. Sony breaks a long run on the first play, he breaks his wrist and then the play gets called back. Train immediately derails and we didnt really have a plan B.
Also from that earlier interview with Chip Towers after he was let go:
“I want people to know I really, really enjoyed the University of Georgia and really appreciate the opportunity Mark Richt gave me. I did not know those other guys before I stepped in,” he said. “… I knew no one when I came here. I’d never met Jeremy Pruitt; I’d never met Tracy Rocker; I’d never met Kevin Sherrer. Coach Richt gave me the opportunity and I’ll forever be grateful for that. Everywhere I’ve ever been, I’ve learned things, and I learned some valuable lessons (at Georgia). I’ll take away some things that I’ll value.”
“The Jeremy Pruitt Indoor Practice Facility” isn’t going to happen? Without that press conference the administration probably would still be saying stuff like ‘at the spring meeting we are planning to discuss forming a committee to determine if we should form a working group to explore the possibility of putting together a panel of experts to determine the feasibility of exploring the issues involved in this major step going forward and tentatively preparing a report to be delivered at next years Board meeting, or possibly the year after that if more time is needed. Yadda, yadda, yadda.
JP was an asshole. That doesn’t mean he lit a fire in Athens and said fire had some positive consequences.
garbled that…he did light the fire that made some positive contributions, though he was disliked.
chuckdawg
That press statement is spot on.
Look at it this way: Todd Grantham twice publicly embarrassed the program, plus played footsie with the NFL every year, plus had a horrible unit in 2013, and yet by all accounts, was coming back in 2014 until Petrino plucked him.
Pruitt was much better at his job IMO, yet regardless of who the coach was in 2016, was almost certainly not coming back. That should tell everyone how bad it was: they could stomach Grantham, but not Pruitt.
Pruitt made everyone uncomfortable right down to the janitors. He wanted the Bama Way as opposed to the Richt/Georgia Way but he wasn’t the head guy. Perhaps he woke everybody from their slumber and we ended up with a new head coach. After 15 years Richt was on borrowed time under any circumstances.
Maybe the locker room talk bothered Ekeler.
Jack Klompus
For all the positive results we saw on defense, JP was a negative energy, vampire that was divisive as an employee. Many organizations have highly skilled people who are cancers that cause bigger problems than they are worth. If it is a large corporation with strong resources, you can isolate them and still benefit from their skills. In a group as small, and interactive, as as a college coaching staff, there is no avoiding the problem. For Ekeler’s strong, public statement it must have been really bad inside the foxhole.
I have a buddy who works at BM. Not going to reveal his job title or the details that would give away his job, but he told me Pruitt tried to fire him on 3 different occasions. And by try, he’d say ‘GD it. This again? Johnny, you’re fired’… in a room full of people after something completely out of his control went awry. He said he learned to ignore him when he did it since Pruitt wasn’t his boss. Dude was a straight up horse’s behind.
FWIW. He told me in the spring that he really enjoyed working for Richt, but he’s a better person than he is a coach. He readily admitted it was time for him to go and that thus far he was really enjoying working for Kirby. ‘Great guy, best not to make him repeat himself.’
Thanks for sharing, and this is almost identical to the information I’ve heard as well (sans the firing part — obviously our sources are different). Unfortunately I heard the same re: Richt for quite a few years from insiders — great man, fair to pretty good coach, and yes it was time for a change, as the overall program itself was quite stale.
As for CKS, from what I understand he generally is liked, but he too can be abrasive at times and basically can wear on you quite a bit, as he’s demanding of pretty much everyone. Basically, if CMR is on one extreme, Pruitt the other, Smart is somewhere in the middle though slightly towards the Pruitt end of the spectrum. Speaking of Pruitt, I said last year at this time that he absolutely would not be retained under any circumstances (I believe I put the odds at 1-2%.) That dude was totally out of control.
Sounds about right RE: Smart’s demeanor. Same guy also told me that the Richt/Pruitt blowup at Richt’s house was VERY real. And that Thomas Brown was ready to take him down.
Yep, indeed. CMR, BMac, and TB were all very close, while Pruitt was close with Sherrer and, well, that’s pretty much it. As mentioned below, Schotty and Ekeler had their own little clique going on. So yea TB would certainly have his back, and IMO would have utterly destroyed Pruitt in a fight (if it had come to that).
Yet people still want to complain that Richt got shown the door? If even half of this stuff is true; coaches fighting, coaches firing support staff without authority, cliques forming, it represents a complete lack of leadership and failure of management.
“TB ….. IMO would have utterly destroyed Pruitt in a fight”
Ehhh, I don’t know. I saw TB in person once while he was still in school showing a recruit around the Ramsey Center, and I was stunned by how small he actually is. At the time, I was amazed that he could do what he did on the football field at that size. Admittedly, someone that size who plays football well is surely tough. But in my experience, winning fights has a lot to do with attitude, and I think Pruitt’s attitude would match TB’s and Pruitt has a decided size advantage as well. I am glad it didn’t come to that; I really don’t need to find out.
He is small height wise — I believe around 5-9. But TB is strong as heck, and I think he benched 400+ and squatted 600+ during his heyday. Also a tough dude as well with a mean streak in him if needed. Maybe you’re right, but my money would be on TB.
WF Dawg
Not just strong, the strongest player, pound-for-pound, in UGA history. At least as of 2006.
5’8″ 190lbs. 470 bench, 610 squat.
http://chronicle.augusta.com/stories/2006/08/31/uga_94757.shtml#.V__YauArKhc
I stood right next to him. He might be 5′ 7″. There’s no way he was 190 pounds. But don’t get me wrong – I admired what he could do and he is in the top 25 of my favorite Dawgs – I just don’t think that is the same thing as ‘taking somebody out’. Those weights he was lifting weren’t fighting back. It’s just not the same thing.
Let’s remember who you are comparing him to — Jeremy Pruitt. JP is a rather short guy himself. Dude is quite dumpy looking (sadly like most middle aged American men), and basically just looks soft. Not exactly someone who you would be all that nervous about if he challenged you to a fight.
TB is short, maybe, but he ain’t little. Fighting with him would be like fighting with a barrel of cement, if the barrel of cement was also quick as a hiccup. I’m taking TB and laying the points in that matchup. Pruitt would have found out pretty quickly the difference between being a mouthy redneck and being an actual badass pretty fast, I suspect.
I’ll always be grateful to Pruitt for what he did for our program. I don’t care one bit whether Richt, Schottenheimer, Ekeler, McGarity, etc. are mad at him. The Butts-Mehre Country Club needed to be burned to the ground and he was just the man to do it.
Mostly agree, though he could have employed a lot more tact overall. He needs to be thanked for moving the construction of the IPF up at least 3-4 years — something CMR failed to accomplish — but again he was way over the top too. It would be akin to a new COO coming in and calling out the terrible structure currently in place while recommending a litany of really smart solutions…then abrasively approaching you/your colleagues privately and calling you a pathetic loser, lazy, idiotic, and basically a worthless employee (whether accurate or not).
I agree. I didn’t say I wanted to work with or for the guy, just that I was grateful to him for what he did. And I don’t know that I would ever hire him either.
Although, if he’s such a cancer, you have to wonder why Saban brought him back for round 2 of having him on staff. My guess is that there isn’t as much incompetence for Pruitt to rage against in Tuscaloosa, so it’s not as much of an issue there.
Can’t imagine where we’d have been in 2014 and 2015 without CJP.
– He was easily the top recruiter during his stint.
– He turned an awful D around in a very short time.
– We’re getting an IPF because of Pruitt. Nobody else even deserves more than a slight mention when credit for the IPF is discussed.
Trash CJP all you want. But when his career is over he’ll have far, far more championship rings than CMR or anyone else on the ’14 and ’15 staffs.
Oops, should have said ‘people can trash Pruitt all they want’. Obviously, I agree with ATL Dawg’s post.
This is all very true. BTW, let’s not forget that Schotty and Ekeler were very close and are basically good friends, so no surprise that he was generally miserable last year as well.
If all of these accounts of the assholeishness of JP are correct, then you have to wonder and possibly admire that Saban either has a way to negate the ill effects JP brings to the program or actually uses it in some positive way. Since the prospects of JP undermining Saban and “the process” are non-existent, one has to wonder if Pruitt’s way fits “the process” to a T and as thus was anathema ( yes I’ve been waiting to use that word) to CMR’s patchwork staff’s un-melded methods and philosophies.
Perhaps JP detected a sense of lack of focus..or slight confusion..in the program and either tried to fix it with unseemly actions, or execute a coup against CMR. Either way he was out of place, even though he may have been right about the failing tendencies of the status quo.
Regardless, JP has to know that he is now at his pinnacle job, unless he aspires to succeed Saban one day. I’d say he’s a lot more like NS than Junior is.
Bama is a well oiled machine with an extremely strong, omnipotent leader; so its only natural that CJP would fall right in line and behave accordingly. However, when things are in disarray and you have a weak leader at the helm, guys like CJP are going to basically run wild and try to rule the ship themselves. Saban knows this, thus he had little qualms about bringing Pruitt onboard.
From the linked article:
“With a resume that has coaching gigs at the University of Southern California, Oklahoma University, Louisiana State University, Indiana University, Nebraska University, and most recently, the University of Georgia, there is little doubt Ekeler could have landed just about anywhere in the country he wanted to go.”
“I’ve worked at some of the greatest schools history-wise in the game,” Ekeler said. “But what it boils down to is people. You can be at the University of Georgia and be miserable if you’re working with shitty people. I really enjoy my work environment and the players here.”
Paraphrasing the great Tim Wilson:
“Hell, if you’ve been fired 9 times, maybe it’s you.”
I think this Ekelar guy is probably a bigger asshole than Pruitt.
tonyqbr
This guy is Captain dipshit.
His comment about being the only guy who got fired after fielding a top 10 defense.
It’s all about ranked teams:
In 2015, record 0-3
Defensive scoring ranking in 2015 vs ranked teams- 12th in conference, 49th nationally
Average points given up vs ranked teams in 2015:
That will get your ass fired every time.
Correct, and well said. This also is what ultimately got CMR fired — his rather pathetic record vs. ranked opponents, which was something like 13-27 over his final 5 years. Yet, even today people continue to trot out the tired line of how pathetic is was to fire a 10 win coach…all while conveniently leaving out that, of those 10 wins, exactly zero of them came against teams with a winning record.
right on, and you can see a jersey change did Mark Richt no good, still gets his ass kicked vs ranked teams.
Yea but he won his first 4 games at The U by an average margin of 30 points! See?…we made a mistake firing him! Not just our own fans, even Colin Cowherd jumped on that train last week and was espousing such B.S. — conveniently leaving out that they beat app state, FAU, GT, and Fl. A&M. Not exactly a brutal schedule.
It always comes down to your record in big games and/or your record vs. ranked opponents; padding your record on the UK’s, Vandy’s (most years), and Troy’s of the world means nothing.
Richt can’t outcoach ranked teams, that’s not ever going to change.
He will lose to V Tech (the only other ranked team on his schedule) and
very possibly 1-2 more losses to unranked teams (NC, Notre Dame, NC St).
His Qb and Rb’s both struggled vs FSU, Miami’s only ranked matchup so far,
so Mark Richt being the OC didn’t change anything. Glad we didn’t buy that lie.
Well I’m not quite as pessimistic on CMR as you, and let’s give him a year or two at UM before judging him. I personally wish him well, though I don’t think his stint at UM will go as smoothly as others have predicted.
With that said, if I had to briefly sum up the difference between CMR and Smart, and why I strongly feel that UGA will be a consistent, major power sooner than later (with a natl championship coming our way by 2020), it would simply be this:
Olddawg 55
I watched the game, fellows, and while both struggled to impose their will equally, let’s not forget it took a blocked extra point to win the game. Additionally, CMR is a first year coach, too! Did you see the Nichols St game??
Dude, really? CMR is 56 and has been a HC for 16 years. Smart is 39 and has been a HC for 4 games. Trying to compare these two as relative equals is utterly absurd.
FSU did play 1/3 of the game without their starting QB too. Manny Diaz had his defense ready to play. Miami’s offense looked meh at best.
Miami offense looked pretty bad with Mark Richt as OC vs FSU.
2.2 ypc
Kaaya’s qbr dropped from the 90’s in the previous 2 games to 63.
And Kaaya was sacked 3 times for 15 yards.
Also, you don’t expect an experienced Qb like Kaaya to be ranked 7th in the ACC in qbr.
http://www.espn.com/ncf/qbr/_/group/1
North Texas has only played 1 team that’s currently ranked in the top 25, Florida, and they lost 32-0.
Same ole shit from Ekeler. A new jersey/team can’t change the coach.
You have one guy that is a million dollar mistake.
You have another guy that is pissing everyone off, not a little, a lot.
And you have the rest of guys saying all kinds of cra cra.
Not the best recipe for job keeping.
Ekeler thinks most of us value a good defensive performance vs Southern U or Ky,
more than how you play in the big games like Bama, Tenn, and UF in 2015.
Of course you can modify your stats by beating up on the little guys, but true
colors come out when you play the ranked teams.
2012, 2013, and 2015 have sucked royally there.
2014 was the only year we ranked #1 in def scoring vs ranked teams, and Ekeler wasn’t here.
Misspelled misquoted
Meanwhile the J. Reid Parker Director of Atheletics is still hanging on somehow.
I know it’s meant to be funny, but I’d encourage people to not use “J.Reid Parker” as a punchline.
He was an esteemed faculty member in Forestry for decades and survived the sinking of the Leopoldville during WWII.
Even more to the point that McGarity is in over his head. Has not matched the hires and sucess than none other than Mr Panties himself and wears that title. And I’m sure lakedawg in no way disrespected that esteemed faculty member.
Omd.
I’m just glad that shit is over.
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Eni completes production tests for 9th Zohr field well - Daily News Egypt
Business Eni completes production tests for 9th Zohr field well
Eni completes production tests for 9th Zohr field well
150m scfd initial production rates of well, according to sources
Mohamed Adel November 20, 2018 Be the first to comment
Italian company Eni completed drilling of the ninth well in the Zohr deep-water natural gas field in the Mediterranean Sea at a cost of $300m, with initial production of 150m standard cubic feet of gas per day (scfd) according to production tests.
A source in the oil sector told Daily News Egypt, that the ninth well was closed after the company finished drilling because the current gas treatment plant lacks available processing capacity.
He explained that the ninth well will be connected to production by the end of this year, after the completion of the implementation of the sixth gas processing unit in the gas treatment plant with a capacity of 400m scfd.
Moreover, the source pointed out that the production of the ninth well will gradually increase to reach 250m scfd, bringing the total Zohr field production to 2.25bn scfd.
Furthermore, Zohr’s second development phase is to be completed in July 2019, bringing the field’s total production to about 2.95bn scfd, up from the of 2.7bn scfd previously estimated in the development plan.
He explained that Eni aims to invest about $4bn in the development of the second phase of the field next year, bringing the company’s total investment in the gas field to $16bn.
Moreover, the source confirmed that the ministry of petroleum is seeking to accelerate the completion of the next stages of the field development, after the instructions of President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi to accelerate the linking of the entire production of the Zohr gas field to the natural gas grid.
He added that the ministry succeeded, in cooperation with the Italian foreign partner, in shortening the specified time plans, increasing Zohr’s gas production rates to 2bn scfd in November.
Zohr development was achieved in record time, as the exploration phase was completed within one and half years after the signing of the agreement. It took just 28 months from the discovery until the start of production in mid-December 2017, compared to a period of 6 to 8 years that is achieved globally in similar projects.
The production will be connected to the new gas treatment land station in the Gemayel area in Port Said, afterwards, it will be pumped into the national gas network. Following will be the completion of technical tests of the processing units and the gas transmission lines from the field wells to the treatment plant.
Topics: eni Zohr field
Mohamed Adel
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EGAS cuts gas exports to Jordan to 140 scf/day
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Oil prices jump to highest level in more than 3 months, recording $68.66
https://cdn1.dailynewsegypt.com/2018/11/20/eni-completes-production-tests-for-9th-zohr-field-well/
Eni begins drilling 10th well in Zohr area in January
Noor gas field reserves record 10tn cubic feet
Egypt’s M&A deals soared to $1.5bn with 14 deals in 2018, up from $389m in 2017: Mergermarket
Egypt’s gas self-sufficiency within reach supported by production increase: OBG
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Energy sector has lion’s share of Schneider Electric’s investments in Egypt: Sheta
Egypt’s crude oil reserves down 25% since 2015
Eni allocates $5bn investment to implement Zohr gas processing plant
Eni to complete drilling Zohr’s 9th well by November
November 20, 2018 Breaking News
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Imagine No Malaria – People in pews and big donors net millions to fight malaria
by centralumchurch on May 31, 2014
Matilda Ndanema displays the insecticide-treated mosquito net she received from the United Methodist Church’s Imagine No Malaria campaign in 2010 at her home in Bumpe, near Bo, Sierra Leone.
As the Imagine No Malaria campaign enters its home stretch, United Methodists can look with satisfaction at $60 million already raised in gifts and pledges, and with hope and confidence toward surpassing the $75 million goal by the end of 2015.
Most of the money raised has been from grassroots efforts like bake sales, car washes and children donating birthday money. “Now, gifts of $1 million are coming in, and there are opportunities for more of these,” said Pittsburgh Area Bishop Thomas Bickerton, chairperson of the executive committee for Imagine No Malaria.
“This is what it means to be connectional,” said Bishop Bickerton. “Everyone in the pews contributes to the success of Imagine No Malaria. This is selfless, joyful giving. This is generosity that will save thousands of lives. I am so proud of my United Methodist brothers and sisters in Christ.”
Habibatu Fugbawa sits with two of her children in front of the insecticide-treated mosquito net she received in 2010 from the United Methodist Church’s Imagine No Malaria campaign at her home in Bumpe, Sierra Leone.
Malaria has been killing for thousands of generations, but improved prevention, sanitation and healthcare have all but eliminated it from the developed world. Despite this progress, however, malaria continues to kill at a rate of almost one death every minute in Africa — millions of children infected each year.
These needless deaths have galvanized United Methodists, particularly those who have been to Africa and have witnessed the extent of malaria’s devastation. Donnellson United Methodist Church in Iowa has fewer than 50 people in worship on Sundays, yet, on average, church members have donated $187 per person.
Donnellson United Methodist Church’s pastor, the Rev. Peggy Ellingson, said her church’s active mission focus has led members to visit Africa several times.
“It really hits home,” Ellingson said. “That connection, that real connection of people who have been there, have seen it, have done it, the end result of their making a difference and then sharing it with the rest of the group, really makes all the difference in the world.”
The United Methodist Church has operated hospitals and clinics in Africa for more than 200 years. Imagine No Malaria takes decades of good work a step further. The campaign allows the church to offer a comprehensive plan that relies on full partnerships with African communities, focusing equally on four efforts: prevention, treatment, education and communications.
“Where better can you make a difference than channeling through The United Methodist Church to attack a global issue?” asked Jerre Stead. “There’s not a lot of places that allow investments like leadership gifts to maximize the return, and (the church is) clearly one. It’s an excellent one.”
Tags: Imagine No Malaria
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CertPool
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Sir Chris Hoy on bringing back premature baby son before Christmas: 'The turkey dwarfed him'
Francesca Specter
Yahoo Style UK deputy editor
For many couples, having their first child in time for Christmas is a dream come true.
But for Sir Chris Hoy and his wife Sarra, whose son Callum arrived 11 weeks premature on 15 October 2014, meeting their firstborn baby long before his January due date was the beginning of a difficult journey.
Born at 29 weeks gestation, Callum weighed just 2lbs 2oz.
“He was due on January the 2nd – and everyone was joking that we would have a Christmas baby,” Sarra tells Yahoo UK. “We were laughing at the time, but be careful what you wish for
“We were flung into neonatal world of intensive care and had to go through that with a small and vulnerable baby.”
From left, Sarra with Callum, 5, and Chloe, 2, and Chris. [Photo: Kate Everall Photography]
She adds: “It was terrifying and a complete journey into the unknown. Any baby born that early is very vulnerable. For the first week, we were taking it minute by minute.”
READ MORE: Baby born three days after the abortion limit defies the odds to celebrate his first birthday
Callum was born early after his mother suffered from a severe case of pre-eclampsia.
This is a condition that affects some pregnant women which can lead to serious complications for both mother and baby if not treated, and can cause potential life-threatening fits called “eclampsia”, according to the NHS.
The only cure for pre-eclampsia is to deliver the baby. Sarra was told with just one day’s notice that she had to deliver Callum by emergency C-section.
“I went from one day expecting my pregnancy to last 11 more weeks to the baby being delivered – it was a very fast, intense time,” she says.
“It was a shock to the system,” adds Chris. “At this point we didn’t know anyone who had had a premature baby, and we weren’t at all prepared for the situation.”
One in 13 babies, more than 60,000, are born prematurely in the UK every year, according to the research. This means 8,000 preemie babies will be spending the day in neonatal care on Christmas Day.
And while, unlike these 8,000 preemies, Callum was able to come home for Christmas, the young family by no means felt they were out of the woods at this stage.
“Prematurity doesn’t end on discharge,” says Sarrah. “We were delighted to have him home – but it came with the responsibility of having a medically vulnerable child.
“At the hospital you have all the doctors and nurses around you, but once you’re home you’re in charge and you have to wing it.”
Chris and Sarra are backing the Pampers for Preemies campaign. [Photo: Pampers]
When Callum arrived home, after more than two months in hospital, he was still just 4lbs.
“We’d bought a turkey for the two of us, and we put Callum down next to it – he was dwarfed by it,” Chris adds.
The next couple of years continued to be difficult for the new parents, with Chris admitting it took this long for the parents to truly relax and stop worrying.
“It took a long time for the fear to pass. Callum picked up bugs easily and was in and out of hospital,” he says.
READ MORE: Premature baby born three months early was saved by bubble wrap
But as the anniversary of his Christmas homecoming rolls around again, Callum, now aged five, is doing great – “He’s one of the tallest in his class now, a strong robust kid.”
In 2017, Callum was joined by a younger sister, Chloe Rose Carol Hoy, now two years old.
With their neonatal care journey thankfully behind them, Chris and Sarra have teamed up with Pampers to back its #PampersForPreemies campaign.
The nappy brand has developed its smallest ever nappy, specially made for premature babies in their early development, and has donated hundreds of thousands of these nappies to hospitals since 2017.
Chris and Sarra didn’t have the option of such a nappy during their neonatal process, and say the campaign is close to their hearts.
“What Pampers have done in producing a tiny nappy will help premature babies thrive and be comfortable in an incubator. It’s also helpful to the parents, because it shows them their situation is not so unusual,” says Sarra.
You can buy to donate – a nappy will be donated for every pack of Pampers purchased in ASDA until 7th January 2020. You can also share to donate – a nappy will be donated for every share of a post with #PampersForPreemies on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. By including a ‘hand heart’ image in the social post, Pampers will also donate £1 to @Blisscharity on top of a nappy donation, to help raise awareness for the charity.
#parenting
#preterm-birth
#prematurity
#neonatal-nursing
#sarra,-nablus
#chris-hoy
#health-wellbeing
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European police attack Islamic State's online presence
By Stephanie van den Berg
Reuters November 25, 2019
THE HAGUE (Reuters) - European police agencies have knocked out several internet servers used by Islamic State in a significant blow to the armed group's ability to spread propaganda online, the Europol police agency said on Monday.
The move shut down a large number of accounts and websites run by the group's news arm, Europol said.
"They have disappeared from an important part of the internet", Belgian prosecutors' spokesman Eric Van Der Sypt said at a news conference at Europol headquarters in The Hague.
"I cannot say at this time it is 100%, we will see how they recuperate from this. It will take a huge effort for them to come back."
Police officers involved in the joint action by Europol and police agencies in 11 countries said around 26,000 items were taken offline last week, including a high number of communication channels.
Europol earlier said in a statement it had been working with nine of the largest Internet platforms to counter Islamic State propaganda operations, including with Google, Twitter, Instagram and Telegram.
Europol said on its website it had examined "propaganda videos, publications and social media accounts supporting terrorism and violent extremism" over the course of two days last week.
"Telegram was the online service provider" where most offending material was found, Europol said.
"As a result, a significant portion of key actors within the IS network on Telegram was pushed away from the platform."
It praised Telegram's assistance and said the company was helping Europol to "root out ... malicious content."
There was no immediate response from Telegram to a request for comment.
"IS is not all about the battlefield. They have radicalized and have recruited a large number of foreign fighters in our countries through those media channels," Van Der Sypt said.
"These activities can be directly linked to the radicalization of European citizens."
(Reporting by Stephanie van den Berg, writing by Toby Sterling and Bart Meijer, Editing by William Maclean)
Roberto Alvim: Brazil culture minister sacked over speech which echoed Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels
Halifax bookstore event, vaccine survey ads blocked by Facebook
Tech entrepreneur connects brands with top fans
UK’s failure to ban far-right groups undermines fight against online extremism, report finds
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Calnan & Anhøj Menu
Vanishing Arts
Sculpture in Context
Year of Design Russborough
Gormley’s Garden Sculpture Exhibition
Public Seating Commission – Dickens Heath
April 30, 2018 Blog
Public Seating and Durability
With public art and public seating, the concern is often durability. During a recent visit to Dickens Heath in Solihull, UK, it was great to see that the seating we made 12 years ago still look exactly the same as when they were installed. Calnan & Anhøj were commissioned by Sisk & Son UK in 2006, to create seating for the waterfront at Dickens Heath new village which adjoins the Stratford Canal. The seats were made from forged and fabricated steel, which was hot-dip galvanised, a very durable combination. Irish / Danish design duo Michael Calnan & Gunvor Anhøj also specialise in forged cor-ten steel and forged bronze.
Dickens Heath – not just another development
Only three miles from Solihull town centre, Dickens Heath new village, consists of 1672 dwellings and is the home to a population of about 4,000 people. From the outset, Solihull Council decided that Dickens Heath would be special and wouldn’t be just a large housing estate in the country. The Council decided that the new development would be based on the model of a traditional village, made up of shops, offices, restaurants, and homes as well as a school, library, village hall, doctors’ surgery, pub, village green and country park. The first phase (‘Market Square’) of this prestigious mixed use development, included the construction of 117 apartments, and 26 retail units centred around a High Street. The second phase ‘Waterside’ was completed in 2006 and included a selection of office, retail and luxury apartments fronting onto a contemporary styled water feature and canal quayside.
The Design Brief
For this design brief we felt it was appropriate to make models. Most designs involved a slab-like seating area, somewhat cantilevering off sturdy forged elements at ground level. The idea behind the cantilever seat originated from our years in Art College, where Michael’s final brief involved a seemingly precarious perch. The seat involved just two components, each weighing over a 100 kg, cantilevering off each other in a strikingly pure composition. Such arrangements makes one analyse the simple act of sitting down, something we usually take for granted.
The Making
We enlisted the help and expertise of artist blacksmith Alan Evans. A man with an extensive portfolio of contemporary works, to mention but one the spectacular Saint Paul’s Cathedral treasury gates in London (1980).
Transforming the models into seats. Michael and Alan at work at Alan’s workshop in Whiteway, Gloucestershire.
Alan Evans using his power hammer to forge a taper. Forging can produce a piece that is stronger than an equivalent cast or machined component.
Using a press to create the mooring-post-type elements of the benches.
One of the finished benches installed at Dickens Heath New Village, Solihull, UK 2006.
Three seats in the foreground. Dickens Heath Waterfront.
Barry Chinn Associates were the architects involved in the development of the Village Centre at Dickens Heath from its original conception through to completion. The challenge was ‘to unify the development and give a clear identity to the public realm through the use of imaginative hard and soft landscape solutions’. The Waterside development was the winner of the ‘Best Mixed Use Development’ category for the UK Property Awards 2009.
IBYE 2018 | The Taoiseach with the Winning Award | Calnan & Anhøj
How to Make | Candle Lanterns
0 comments on “Public Seating Commission – Dickens Heath”
How to Make | Forged Flint Striker
Matter | Tool | Maker
Russborough House
Blessington, Co. Wicklow
W91 C640, Ireland
T: +353 (0) 851390222
E: [email protected] (courses)
Calnan Anhoj Forge & Gallery
Russborough House, Blessington, Co. Wicklow, W91 C640, Ireland
Michael Calnan – [email protected]
+353 (0) 85 1390222
Gunvor Anhoj – [email protected]
Cancellations List
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FALLA 3.0
VANGUARD SESSIONS
CAMERATA SYMPHONIC
Falla 3.0 invites us to a journey through his music, following an intimate and well-known path to many of us such as , where we respect the structure of all parts of the work and the music identity of each of the pieces. We wanted to perform in a modern way and in a trio format, a music which was created 90 years ago for orchestra and that is universally known.
The immersion into the original score has revealed us a world of sound possibilities that, with much respect, hard work and prudence, we have put together at the service of music, the context and the current times. That is how we want this album to be understood. From the minimum silence to the vertiginously of sound, the work of Falla has been studied and interpreted with this intention. Hope you like it!
Camerata Flamenco Project
Within the complex world of music we sometimes come across small rewards that deserve to be mentioned. One of them is Carmen Linares, who has accompanied us since our second recording project with both her professional and personal generosity along with her unique talent. Her contribution and attitude stemming from modesty and affection have always been a gift for us. What a better way to end this Falla 3.0 trip than with her profound and heartrending voice that encapsulates and summarizes something that only a life dedicated to flamenco singing can achieve. Thank you, Carmen!
The most visited pieces of the rich compositional body come across as a challenge. Others, less widely known, reveal themselves as founded jewels. The depth of the piano, the breeze or the fury of the flute, the cello´s lament combine in a journey where the flight is as natural as the return to the kind land that Falla´s music shapes.
Fermín Lobatón
Listening to Camerata Flamenco Project has been one of the greatest gifts that the music scene has given me in recent times. Their skill to reinterpret composers such as Satie or Debussy, shake them with Paco de Lucía's flamenco and dress the mix with the "blue notes" of a jam session, and carrying it out without corsets, getting the music to bewitch us every time, it grazes magic. Together, José Luis López on cello, Pablo Suárez on piano and Ramiro Obedman on sax and flute, merge into a fantastic Dry Martini. In this occasion, the key element -the olive- is placed by Falla and his Amor Brujo.
Marc Giralt
Buy CD/corte inglés
Buy CD/amazon
Buy CD/fnac
Copyright© 2018 CamerataFlamencoProject
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News: July 2016
photo: Hauraki Rail Trail, near PaeroaCAN's significant achievements, 1997-2018Advocacy and LeadershipMade numerous high-quality submissions on legislation, strategies and policies affecting cyclists. These have led to many victories for cyclists.Made a crucial contribution to the establishment of Getting There, NZ's first Walking & Cycling Strategy and helped shape the implementation process.Raised awareness of cycling in the NZ Road Code.Regular representation of cyclists at meetings with key Government Ministers, MPs, Ministry of Transport, NZ Transport Agency, NZ Police, Ministry for the Environment, Ministry of Health and other agencies.Successfully lobbied for the NZ Cycle Trails Successfully lobbied for the consideration of health benefits in the funding of cycling projects.Successfully lobbied for the establishment of Transfund's...
Berlin cycling - it just shouldn't work!
I was stunned at the high numbers of cyclists in Berlin. It’s certainly a different from the one I'm used to in New Zealand and Ireland. Here’s a typical Berlin scene- Dad and his wee daughter, negotiating a huge and very busy intersection in Neukolln. He does have an air of concentration about him, and a kids’ helmet dangling from his hand, but he seems to be happy to have her cycling independently- and she’s less than five I reckon.Amazingly, Dad isn’t alone... All round Berlin we saw relaxed, carefree cycling providing transport for all ages, all genders, and all types. Little ones on baby seats and young kids cycling under supervision are extremely common; the ‘school run’ at 3pm or so was a study in the many ways of carrying kids on bikes- cargo bikes, trikes, trailers, baby seats and many more. Looking at the figures, it was clear that Berlin is a real leader in cycling for...
Will Andrews
Impressions from 2 Walk and Cycle Conference 2016
caption: Alastair Smith receives a Bike to the Future Award for Wellington's Ciclovia from Hon Simon Bridges by Catherine ElliotLecturer and Active Living Researcher, Lincoln University The hotel bike racks were jam-packed with bikes of every variety: cargo, commuter, touring, electric and folding. It was clear, the delegates of the 2016 2WALKandCYCLE Conference had arrived in Auckland on 6 July to talk all things walking and cycling. Touted as the premier walking and cycling conference in New Zealand and occurring every two years, this year’s focus was on active, human-powered transport for achieving healthier and more livable cities. Delegates flew in from around the globe to showcase their research findings, walking and cycling programmes and success stories related to outcomes in health, policy and society providing a wealth of relevant knowledge for New Zealand today. Key...
CAN is the national voice for people on bicycles in New Zealand. We link local cycling action groups, partners and supporting organisations and people with a passion to:Promote the benefits of cyclingImprove safetyEncourage the creation of great cycling environmentsIncrease the number of people on bikes CAN collaborates with government, councils, businesses and individuals and we welcome your involvement. Be part of the journey with us. Our policy statements are posted here. Many of the submissions CAN and CAN's member groups have made are posted here.
Call for Vision Zero to be adopted for NZ to bring down road toll
Call for Vision Zero to be adopted for NZ to bring down road toll With the number of road deaths currently increasing in New Zealand, a group of organisations has come together to call on Government and local authorities to adopt a Vision Zero approach to road safety – aiming for zero road deaths and injuries. The #VisionZeroNZ campaign was launched at the 2 Walk and Cycle conference recently held in Auckland. Vision Zero is an approach used in a growing number of countries and cities around the world and at its core is the principle that life and health can never be exchanged for other benefits within society.The calls come from Brake, the road safety charity, Cycling Action Network, NZ School Speeds, Waitemata Local Board Deputy Chair Pippa Coom, and Walk Auckland, who jointly held a workshop on Vision Zero at the conference. The organisations say NZ needs to go beyond the current...
Benefits of investing in cycling - NZTA guide
Benefits of investing in cycling in New Zealand communities [PDF, 1.5 MB] provides information about the key benefits of investing in cycling, for councils, communities and individuals. The benefits include: more liveable towns and citiesimproved conditions for travelling within towns and citiesstronger local economiesreduced costs for councilsless impact on the environment, andhealthier and more productive people.We also know that that providing cycling infrastructure responds to what a significant percentage of people say they want.
NZ’s best of the best cycling projects honoured
NZ’s best of the best cycling projects honoured Cycling projects across New Zealand were recognised at the Bike to the Future Awards in Auckland tonight. Winners included a cycling junior football team, a power company and a rural school with a 60% commute-by-bike rate. Auckland’s Te Ara I Whiti (Lightpath), otherwise known as the Pink Path or Magenta Adventure, was named the Supreme Winner and also received a highly commended award in the Big Bike Bling category. Judges said the Lightpath is an outstanding, unique and innovative design delivered in a remarkably ambitious timeframe through a successful collaboration with multiple parties. “We are impressed with how Te Ara I Whiti has transcended walking and cycling for multi-use. In only a short timeframe, the Lightpath has become a celebrated, iconic Auckland feature,” they said. “The Lightpath has...
Highlights from the 2 Walk and Cycle conference July 2016
Auckland hosted the national 2 Walk and Cycle Conference, 6-8 July.Six people were invited to share their thoughts at the close of the conference. Dougal List, NZTA: tell the "why story" - why we are investing in cycling. Collaborate, benchmark against high quality projects, celebrate the wins. Ellen Blake, Living Streets Aotearoa: advocate for walkable compact cities, for everyone from 8 to 80s. NZTA, where are the targets, and money for walking? Jack Jiang, AECOM: Good to see more diversity. Used to be the lone architect at these conferences. Expand the range of disciplines. Streets for people, gender diversity, culture diversity, imagery, European only? Collaborate with architects and engineers Warren Salomon, Australian consultant: NZ is travelling well, and isahead of Australia. Christchurch will host the Asia...
NZ’s best of the best cycling projects announced this week
Media Advisory: Monday 4 July NZ’s best of the best cycling projects announced this week The top contributions towards making New Zealand more cycle-friendly will be recognised at the Bike to the Future Awards in Auckland on Thursday. The awards will be presented by Hon Simon Bridges, Minister of Transport at the 2WALKandCYCLE conference. More than 60 nominations have been received across six award categories: Innovation Hub Award Taking Communities on the Journey Award Big Bike Bling Award Get on Yer Bike Award Bikes in Business Award Outstanding Contribution to a Bike-Friendly Future Award. An overall Supreme Award winner will be chosen from the six category winners. The awards are a joint initiative by the NZ Transport Agency and Cycling Action Network (CAN). The 2WALKandCYCLE conference takes place in Auckland from 6-8 July 2016. It will address the walking and cycling issues in...
2WALKandCYCLE conference 2016
There's no doubt cycling is on the up. Along with walking It is an essential part of our transport networks. With more than a million and a half New Zealanders riding bikes, cities and towns are investing is cycling - for leisure, toursim and transport. Join us in Auckland 6-8 July for the national walking and cycling conference.
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ClassicCars.com: Classic Cars For Sale Buy or Sell Your Classic Cars FREE - In Google Play
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For Sale: 1952 Chevrolet 3100 in Cadillac, Michigan
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1952 Chevrolet 3100. This truck has an older restoration. It was built as a wedding present for young couple several years back and was used very little. Original metal, straight 6 and runs and drives great, original 6 volt, farm gearing, about as close to starting from original as you can get. Turns heads every where it goes. STOCK NUMBER AAH20300 MA Please Note The Following **Vehicle Location is at our clients home and Not In Cadillac, Michigan. **We do have a showroom with about 25 cars that is by appointment only **Please Call First and talk to one of our reps at 231-468-2809 EXT 1 **
1952 Chevrolet 3100
Listing ID:CC-1259421
Location:Cadillac, Michigan
Odometer:0
Stock Number:232691
VIN:AAH20300
Vintage Chevy pickup with camper ready to hit the open road
The Pick of the Day is a truck with updated drivetrain and matching trailer
Building Aveline: Completing ’51 Chevrolet 3100 a friend couldn’t finish
Aveline had been left alone after an unexpected death
SEMA product spotlight: Finally, new O.E. steel wheels for classic trucks
Designed especially for the classic truck market, Wheel Vintiques unveiled new original equipment-style steel wheels at the SEMA Show.
While we are in the middle of Scottsdale Auction Week and surrounded by all sorts of Ferrari’s and other rare expensive cars, its nice to see something simple.
1954 Chevrolet 3100 pickup
A good old pickup truck seems like just the thing for a relaxed Labor Day weekend, so for today’s Pick of the Week, we have a sweet-looking 1954 Chevrolet 3100 that’s for sale.
‘Uppity: The Willy T. Ribbs Story’ documentary available from Chassy Media
It took years before NASCAR would admit that a black man, Wendell Scott, had actually won a stock car race. But there was no overlooking the impact Willie T. Ribbs had on motorsports a few decades later, and Ribbs’ career is now featured in a new film by Adam Carolla’s Chassy Media. Uppity: The Willy […]
Lamborghini unveils… not a car, but latest line of men’s wear
Automakers typically unveil their latest vehicles at major auto shows, concours d’elegance or even the Consumer Electronics Show. Automobili Lamborghini used the Pitti Uomo international men’s fashion show to unveil its “total-look collection” for fall-winter 2020-2021. That’s “collection” as in clothing. “Outside the exhibition space, the Huracán Evo coupé on display in orange Arancio Xanto […]
RM Sotheby’s sets ‘Youthquake 2.0’ for Paris auction
As the auction companies are totaling up the numbers from Arizona Auction Week, they also are preparing for the next major stop on the 2020 collector car auction calendar, Retromobile, in Paris the first week of February. In addition to an array of more traditional collector vehicles, RM Sotheby’s seventh annual Paris sale will include […]
Arizona auctions rally on Saturday as star cars hit the blocks
Editor’s note: This is the daily Arizona Auction Week 2020 sales report from Hagerty, the collector car insurance and value-tracking company that staffs each auction venue. Saturday was a big day for Arizona Auction Week 2020 with many of the auctions offering their star cars. As Arizona Auction Week 2020 enters the home stretch, total […]
20th anniversary 1984 Mustang Shelby GT350 convertible
Yes, it’s true, you can buy a vintage, low-mileage Shelby GT350 for less than $20,000. Produced by Ford for 1984, it’s a GT350 that commemorates the 20th anniversary of the Mustang-based originals. Only thing, it’s really just a graphics package applied to a standard Mustang without any input from Shelby American. Carroll Shelby, who was […]
1952 Chevrolet 3100 $38,495
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Hunter Cutting
Director of Strategic Communications, Climate Nexus
Hunter is a veteran political director who develops communications strategy for Climate Nexus. Early in his career, he served as a legislative aide in the U.S. House of Representatives and traveled the campaign trail, directing numerous political campaigns and working in swing districts such as Peoria, IL and Riverside, CA. He has written extensively on media and communications, most recently authoring Connecting the Dots: A Communications Guide to Climate Change and Extreme Weather. As a researcher, he has helped to extend the field of practice, developing new methodologies for media analysis.
Prior to joining Climate Nexus, Hunter built the energy and climate division of Resource Media, helped to launch and lead We Interrupt This Message, a national media strategy center dedicated to social justice, and led NGO communications in milestone climate change events such as the UNFCCC meeting in Bali and the release of the Nobel-prize winning IPCC Fourth Assessment Report.
Hunter earned a Bachelor of Science in Conservation and Resource Studies from the University of California, Berkeley.
Climate One Appearances
Weather Whiplash
How can we make sense of all the wacky weather around the country? The American West is hot and dry and the East is seeing some mega snow storms and wicked cold temperatures. Scientists say that’s what they expect – dry periods will get drier and the wet periods will get wetter. Global warming is really global weirding, as columnist Thomas Friedman says.
Join us for a conversation explaining what is happening to our lands and oceans and what California is doing to get ready for fires, floods and other climate impacts ahead.
Amanda Ravenhill
Executive Director, Buckminster Fuller Institute
Rachel Becker
Environment Reporter, CalMatters
Miranda Ballentine
CEO, Renewable Energy Buyers Alliance (REBA)
Rebecca Burgess
Executive Director, Fibershed
Amina Razvi
Executive Director, Sustainable Apparel Coalition
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Agreements signed between Russia and Mozambique – TASS
6:17 CAT | 22 Aug 2019
President Filipe Nyusi and Russian President Vladimir Putin. [Picture: Mikhail Metsel/TASS]
In all, six agreements and other bilateral documents were signed during President of Mozambique Filipe Nyusi’s visit to Russia. The ceremony of exchanging copies of the agreements was held in the Kremlin following the talks between President of Mozambique Filipe Nyusi and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
In the presence of the presidents, an agreement was exchanged between the Ministries of Internal Affairs of the two countries, as well as an agreement on mutual protection of classified information between the countries’ governments. A memorandum of understanding was also inked between the Ministry of Natural Resources of Russia and the Ministry of Mineral Resources and Energy of Mozambique.
Inter RAO – Export signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation in the electric power industry with a Mozambican energy company.
President Vladimir Putin said at a meeting with Nyusi earlier on Thursday that Russia is ready to develop relations with Mozambique on all fronts. The Russian leader noted that trade and economic relations of the two countries are still “quite modest,” “but [there are] very good prospects, and a very good pace has been gained in recent years.”
During the talks, Putin also suggested discussing the developments in the region and other issues. “We are ready for the development of relations between our countries on all fronts,” the Russian leader said. He expressed confidence that Nyusi’s visit will give a good impetus to the development of interstate ties.
Putin also noted that the upcoming first Russia-Africa summit, which is to take place in Sochi in October, would coincide with the presidential election in Mozambique. Putin called Mozambique “Russia’s old partner.”
Filipe Nyusi’s visit to Russia lasts from August 20 to August 23. This is the first official visit of the head of the Mozambique state to Moscow since 1987.
Rosneft signs agreements on offshore gas field development with Mozambique
Russian state-run oil company Rosneft signed a memorandum of understanding with Mozambique’s National Hydrocarbons Company (Empresa Nacional de Hidrocarbonetos E.P., ENH) to develop offshore natural gas fields, a TASS correspondent reported from the signing ceremony.
Rosneft also signed a cooperation agreement with Mozambique’s National Petroleum Institute (Instituto Nacional de Petroleo, INP).
In October 2018, a consortium of Rosneft and ExxonMobil signed concession contracts with the government of Mozambique for the exploration and production of hydrocarbons on three offshore blocks.
Besides Rosneft (20%) and ExxonMobil (50%), the consortium includes Mozambique ENH (20%) and Qatar Petroleum (10%).
In late 2015, Rosneft’s subsidiary, RN-Exploration, and the ExxonMobil affiliate in Mozambique won a tender for the license to develop the three offshore blocks. The tender was held by the INP.
Rosneft and ExxonMobil received licenses for the blocks: A5-B in the Angoche River basin and Z5-C and Z5-D in the Zambezi delta.
Source: TASS
© 2020 clubofmozambique.com. All rights reserved.
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Virtual memorial
Photo Grid
ROGERS, EVANDER DONALDSON
Glengarry, Ontario, Canada
Son of Alexander Mackie Rogers and Elizabeth Rogers of Slocan City, British Columbia, Canada
K/37706
Disembarked
1944-07-24, France
Belgium, Killed in action
British Columbia Regiment, R.C.A.C.
Plot 5 | Row B | Grave 3
Leave a note in the digital cemetery register
"LOVE'S GREATEST GIFT, REMEMBRANCE"
Military grave
Qualified Driver I/C (Wheeled) Class 3 on August 1, 1941.
Qualified Driver Mechanic (Tracked) Class 1, Group "C" on September 16, 1941.
Promoted to the rank of Lance Corporal on November 1, 1941.
Promoted to the rank of Corporal on April 16, 1942.
Overseas on May 3, 1942.
Reverts to the rank of Trooper at own request on July 1, 1943.
Awarded Skill at Arms Badge for Driver I/C (Wheeled) on May 31, 1944.
The British Columbia Regiment war diary reports on September 26, 1944:
MR: 068006 (Kruiskenstraat, Kruisken, Belgium) Weather: Mild and dry
The Regiment stood-to at 0600 hrs. We remained at the same location, MR068006, Sheet 21&31: 1/50,000, with the Squadrons patrolling the same areas allotted to them yesterday. The Squadron patrols reported active enemy patrols. The enemy were also doing considerable counter-fire with artillery and mortars. The Driver of one the Unit water vehicles, Trooper Rogers, E.D. was killed by enemy machine gun fire while delivering water to "B" Squadron tanks. The co-driver was not injured.
Personal details have been collected from official Service Records and the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website. Some of the additional information has been provided by War Diaries, Libera Me (G.E. Spittael), Polder Fighting (R.W. Catsburg), Veterans Affairs Canada, WW2 Talk, Aircrew Remembered and other sources. The commonwealth-adegem.com website is not responsible for incorrect information.
Cemetery Register
Everything has been collected and processed voluntarily by Michael van de Velde, Netherlands. Along the way I had great support from expert researchers and other volunteers. Thank you!
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HomeChild WelfareExclusive: At Least Seventeen States Have Requested Delay of Family First Act Since November
Exclusive: At Least Seventeen States Have Requested Delay of Family First Act Since November
May 14, 2019 John Kelly Child Welfare, Finance Reform, News, Subscriber Content, Top Stories, Youth Services Insider Comments Off on Exclusive: At Least Seventeen States Have Requested Delay of Family First Act Since November
The Family First Act was signed into law in February 2018, and mostly takes effect in October 2019.
Youth Services Insider has heard a range of numbers thrown around lately in regard to how many states plan to delay implementing the Family First Prevention Services Act, which mostly takes effect in October. Several sources have indicated as few as 13 will implement on day one.
But according to information The Chronicle of Social Change has obtained from the federal government, it could be less. Only 17 states have officially indicated intent to seek a delay, according to the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), the agency that oversees child welfare funding at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
The list of states was obtained by The Chronicle after months of requests, beginning with a normal inquiry to ACF. After filing a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, we were denied again. This week, nearly four months after our appeal of that denial was filed, ACF provided a list of states that have requested a delay.
Based on the message received from HHS’ FOIA office, it appears this list of 17 includes states that submitted a notice between November of 2018 and the present. November 9 was the nominal date that ACF had asked states for some indication of what they expected to do, though it was not a hard deadline.
“The attached list is what has been processed over the months after your initial FOIA request was submitted,” said Deborah Peters, a FOIA specialist for HHS, in an e-mail.
ACF officials were not available to comment on deadline for this column, but the list it provided may be incomplete.
UPDATE: After publication of this column, Texas provided documents to Youth Services Insider that show it has submitted its notice of intent to delay to ACF. YSI has asked ACF and its FOIA office to review the list it provided to see if any other states seeking delays were left off.
The Family First Act was passed in February of 2018, and will enable states to use the Title IV-E entitlement – previously reserved for foster care and adoption support – to fund services aimed at working with parents without the need for a family separation. Those services must be evidence-based and apply to three areas: parenting, substance abuse treatment and mental health interventions.
At the same time, the law restricts federal funds for the placement of foster youth in group homes and other “congregate care” options. States will only be able to draw funds for such placements for two weeks, with exceptions for programs that serve some niche populations and for accredited providers using trauma-informed, clinical models. Even in those cases, a judge will need to periodically approve the need for continued use of a congregate care facility.
Family First’s front-end services are limited to substance abuse, mental health and parenting interventions. And it is further restricted to models of services that are deemed to be promising practices or evidence-based interventions by the newly established clearinghouse.
States have the option to delay on the congregate care limitations until October 2021, but cannot use IV-E for the foster care prevention services until the delay ends. Here are the states that have alerted ACF to a planned delay:
One-year delay
Two-year delay
Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands have also notified ACF of an intent to delay for two years, as have three Native American tribes: Chickasaw Nation, Pascua Yaqui Tribe and the Salt River Pima Maricopa Indian Community.
It is extremely likely that the number of states taking a delay will exceed this list. The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services has already posted an update on its website noting that based on its analysis of the law, “Texas will delay implementation of certain provisions” of the Family First Act, including the congregate care restrictions.
In Montana, which has the second highest foster care removal rate in the country behind West Virginia, child welfare director Sheila Hogan noted a likely delay until 2021 back in February. Louisiana has also said it expects to delay until 2021.
The most notable absence from this list is California, which without question had the most vocal constituencies pushing back against Family First before its passage. The state has a large federal waiver to spend its IV-E money more flexibly in several large counties, and has said that a shift from that arrangement to Family First would cost the state $320 million. Its largest county system, Los Angeles, is currently leading an effort to pass a federal law extending IV-E waivers for another two years.
Thus far, 17 states have notified the Department of Health and Human Services that they plan to seek a delay in implementing the major provisions of the Family First Act. Source: HHS.
The California Department of Social Services (DSS) confirmed to YSI that indeed, the state has not yet decided to seek a delay on implementation. The state would need conforming legislation to create a Family First Act state plan, according to DSS – since that legislation has not been passed, a delay for the state is very likely.
Ohio, which also has a large federal IV-E waiver and has helped Los Angeles push the waiver extension bill, has also not submitted an intent to delay.
As mentioned, there are estimates out there that suggest as many as three dozen states will delay at least a year on implementing the law.
That wouldn’t really be a surprise: guidance on the law has come out slower than was expected, and the clearinghouse still has not announced an approved list of services that states could use the new IV-E prevention funds for. Without some lead time on what new funding opportunities will be available on the front-end, it’s hard to blame states for voluntarily limiting their ability to fund their ongoing congregate care services.
Still, it is noteworthy that at least as of now, less than 20 states have formally notified ACF of their plan to delay.
Note: This story was updated on May 15,2019.
Right now, Fostering Media Connections, publisher of The Chronicle, has the opportunity to raise $10,000 in matching funds, but we need your help! Your donation, in any amount, helps us tell stories like this one about often overlooked communities.
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About John Kelly 1152 Articles
John Kelly is editor-in-chief of The Chronicle of Social Change.
50 Years After Perry: Quality Early Childhood Has Second Generation Effect, Study Finds
Child Welfare: Gambling on the Lives of Little Ones
Bill Would Expand School Support for California Foster Youth
June 16, 2015 Guest Writer Child Welfare, Education, Journalism for Social Change, News 1
By Anna Maier and Zefora Ortiz When Eric Wagoner was placed into foster care at age 10, his life was uprooted and his education disrupted. He had to move to a different city and enroll in a new […]
Youth Services Insider: New Innovations with Youth Services Implications
June 7, 2013 John Kelly Featured, Youth Services Insider Comments Off on Youth Services Insider: New Innovations with Youth Services Implications
Entrepreneur is a cool business magazine that Youth Services Insider invariably buys on flights to and fro the nation’s capital. I grabbed the most recent issue on a recent flight back from Florida, where YSI […]
Why do poor grandparents refuse child support?
April 8, 2013 Guest Writer Analysis, Journalism for Social Change Comments Off on Why do poor grandparents refuse child support?
By Tim Morrison When children are removed from their homes, foster care agencies prefer to place them with caregivers who are related, often grandparents. Unlike adoptive parents, however, nearly nine out of 10 of these […]
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Ciara Meehan
Historian, Author, Lecturer
Everyday Life 1960s Ireland
Modern Wife, Modern Life exhibition
Electric Generations exhibition
Abortion Politics
Fine Gael, 1960s-1980s
Cumann na nGaedheal
The Cosgrave Party (2010)
A Just Society for Ireland? (2013)
A Formative Decade: Ireland in the 1920s (2015)
Perceptions of Pregnancy (2017)
Tag: Fine Gael Leadership Contest
The Just Society: a symbol of internal division
'Not only is it a meticulously crafted source for the historian, it also provides a wealth of detailed evidence for those interested in politics to develop their understanding of some of the fundamental traits of Irish politics' ~ Maria Adshead, Irish Literary Supplement, Vol. 35, No. 1 (2015)
‘This thought-provoking book plugs a gap in historical accounts of the Free State’ ~ Dr John-Paul McCarthy (Oxford University), Sunday Independent, 25 April 2011.
'This volume makes an important contribution to our understanding of Irish politics in the 1920s and it will stimulate further research into the early decades of Irish independence' ~ Steven O’Connor, Études Irlandaises, 40-2 (2015)
© Ciara Meehan and CiaraMeehan.com, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016 & 2017. Unauthorised use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Ciara Meehan and CiaraMeehan.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
© 2020 Ciara Meehan
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Coogan Auto
1 saison, 6 épisodes
The YouTube channel LOUD just released this, the first episode of a new six-part web series called Coogan Auto, written and directed by Rob Riggle. Riggle stars as Jerry Coogan, the head of a wacky auto dealership, with JB Smoove, Horatio Sanz, and Alison Becker playing his employees. Coogan Auto was produced by Ben Silverman's studio Electus and Principato-Young Entertainment, two companies that also produce Yahoo! Screen's web series Sketchy together. My prediction is that the series ends in ... Lire plus
The YouTube channel LOUD just released this, the first episode of a new six-part web series called Coogan Auto, written and directed by Rob Riggle. Riggle stars as Jerry Coogan, the head of a wacky auto dealership, with JB Smoove, Horatio Sanz, and Alison Becker playing his employees. Coogan Auto was produced by Ben Silverman's studio Electus and Principato-Young Entertainment, two companies that also produce Yahoo! Screen's web series Sketchy together. My prediction is that the series ends in a The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard crossover.
Les fans de "Coogan Auto" suivent aussi :
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Two Weeks #1 Luke Combs Beer Never Broke My Heart on ACC with Kix Brooks
Randy Marshall Corus Radio
Luke Combs LP This One's For You has spent 44 weeks #1 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart.
Half of Brooks & Dunn Kix Brooks has ACC on CISN Country 103.9 Edmonton and Country 105 Calgary Saturday’s 8am-Noon.
Luke Combs Beer Never Broke My Heart is a two week #1 on the Billboard Country Airplay chart followed by American Country Countdown.
Luke Combs Beer Never Broke My Heart
Luke is the first artist in country music history that’s had his first six songs go to #1.
In total Luke’s first six songs have spent 18 weeks at #1.
Luke recently made history as the first artist to simultaneously top all five Billboard country charts for multiple weeks. Top Country Albums, Hot Country Songs, Country Airplay, Country Streaming Songs and Country Digital Song Sales.
Beer Never Broke My Heart was written by Luke Combs, Randy Montana and Jonathan Singleton.
It’s the first single from Combs’s EP The Prequel.
“We wrote Beer Never Broke My Heart on the tour bus. Actually on my first headlining tour the Don’t Tempt Me with a Good Time Tour.” “I had my buddies Jonathan Singleton and Randy Montana out on the bus with me, and I had had this title on my phone for a long time and really wanted to save it for some guys that I thought would kind of understand and grasp what I was looking for out of the song. I went to soundcheck and I got back, and they had kind of been hammering away on this thing. We buttoned it up, and it’s just been a fan-favorite ever since then.”
#WaterNeverBrokeMyHeart
Behind the Scenes – “Beer Never Broke My Heart” Music Video: Episode 1 pic.twitter.com/hFmDwtYfZ4
— Luke Combs 🎤 (@lukecombs) August 5, 2019
“I have a moment in my set where I play two songs by myself, just me and the guitar, and I tell the crowd, This is how this thing all started: just me and a song I helped write. That’s what it all kind of boils down to.”
I just wanna be the slate guy. I wanna land that gig.
Behind the Scenes – “Beer Never Broke My Heart” Music Video: Episode 2 pic.twitter.com/yRJbLfP8a4
“All I knew was that if I could pay my rent and have enough food to eat doing music, then that, to me, was the definition of I’ve made it.”
Dude, this is heavy. Does it weigh this much all of the time or…? Have you ever played bass because it is heavy?!
Behind the Scenes – “Beer Never Broke My Heart” Music Video: Episode 3 pic.twitter.com/KpjRGgr02C
“If I can do this, you can do anything. There’s a whole lot of love that goes into it. There’s a whole lot of hard work that goes into it. You have to have the right people. You have to treat your fans the right way. You have to treat people in the industry the right way.”
Luke just announced his second LP is coming out November 8.
New album. November 8.
A post shared by Luke Combs 🎤 (@lukecombs) on Aug 8, 2019 at 6:00am PDT
Luke has a song on the Angry Birds Movie 2 soundtrack called Let’s Just Be Friends.
Luke Combs is coming to Alberta with his Beer Never Broke My Heart Tour. Luke’s special guests are Morgan Wallen, Jameson Rodgers and DeeJay Silver.
CISN Country presents Luke Friday Oct 11th at Rogers Place. Country 105 presents Luke Saturday Oct 12th at Scotiabank Saddledome.
Tickets to Luke Combs Alberta shows are sold out.
Keep listening to CISN Country 103.9 and Country 105 to win tickets.
Luke Combs Beer Never Broke My Heart Tour
Blanco Brown’s The Git Up is #1 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart for a fifth week.
This week's top 5 on the #HotCountrySongs chart:
1. @blancobrown "The Git Up" (5th week at No. 1)
2. @lukecombs "Beer Never Broke My Heart"
3. @blakeshelton "God's Country"
4. @LukeBryanOnline "Knockin' Boots"
5. @DanAndShay "All To Myself"
— Billboard Charts (@billboardcharts) August 13, 2019
Blanco Brown is coming to Alberta. Aug 29 in Calgary at Cowboys Dance Hall. Aug 30 in Edmonton at Cook Country Saloon.
Here’s your The Git Up tutorial. Start practicing Blanco’s coming soon.
“The Git Up’ is dedicated to my grandmother telling us every morning, Get up. Go do something productive in the world. It’s about messages in my music; bigger than anything is chasing your purpose in life.”
© 2019 Corus Radio, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
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公司新闻(英文)
November 14, 2019 / 6:18 PM / 2 months ago
Direct lenders ready for bonanza as US economy cools
David Brooke, Aaron Weinman
NEW YORK, Nov 14 (LPC) - Private credit funds with deep pockets, capital flexibility and sticky investments are positioning themselves for the yield bonanza that could follow if a cooldown in the US economy was to further shutter bank liquidity and investor appetite for broadly syndicated loans.
Banks, wary of an economic downturn, have in some instances stepped back from lending to companies perceived as riskier. Private debt investors, including private equity firms and business development companies (BDCs), are filling the void, siphoning liquidity to leveraged borrowers in the absence of traditional sources of debt.
Private debt funds globally raised US$110bn in 2018 and US$129bn in 2017, according to research firm Preqin. This year, even when the leveraged loan business has shrunk, investors are expected to allocate more than US$100bn to private credit funds.
“A lot of capital formation has been done, especially since 2008, in the private credit space. In many ways, those pools of capital, and we can pick our BDC, are looking forward to that volatility,” said Dan Pietrzak, co-head of private credit at KKR & Co.
Direct lenders are well-positioned to weather an economic downturn as they are closed-end funds, which lock up capital unlike open-end funds, and do not face the same regulatory hurdles that banks, which still arrange the lion’s share of leveraged loans, are behooved to.
Pools of private credit also benefit from the opacity of the asset class. Loan documents are negotiated as a bilateral agreement or between a club of lenders, as opposed to a broad syndicate that then farms the debt among several institutional buyers. And throughout economic hardship, a debt restructuring can be simpler to negotiate among a tight-knit group.
“It can be easier to get everyone in a room and modify the arrangements of a loan, whereas capital structures containing public securities might be less forgiving,” said Jonathan Insull, managing director at Crescent Capital Group.
Direct lenders have become more prominent as Collateralized Loan Obligations (CLOs), wary of the end of the cycle, have demanded better compensation for their risk when investing in Single B rated, broadly syndicated deals that could fall into the riskier Triple C territory ahead of a downturn. CLOs, which are the biggest buyers of institutional term loans, have limits on the number of loans they can hold with Triple C ratings.
Adding to the appeal of direct lenders, with CLO managers demanding higher interest payments and greater protections, the syndicated market is no longer cheaper for borrowers. Throughout the fourth quarter of 2019, Single B rated syndicated loans in the middle market have increased to an average yield of roughly 8%, compared to about 7.4% a year prior, according to data from Refinitiv LPC. And during September and October, at least 17 Single B rated borrowers saw their syndicated loans price wider than the initial terms on offer.
Year-to-date, at least 12 unitranche loans in excess of US$500m have been arranged by direct lenders, up from seven in 2018. In October, insurance broker Risk Strategies obtained a US$1.6bn unitranche from 10 direct lenders, making it one of the largest loans of its type arranged to date.
While direct lenders have picked up a bigger piece of the pie, the burgeoning funds are yet to experience the headwinds of an economic downturn.
“These direct lenders have not been battle-tested, so it’s hard to say how equipped they are to tackle cyclical volatility,” said a portfolio manager that focuses on the middle market.
Direct lenders have to be comfortable with the buy-and-hold nature of private loans. Unlike investors in an institutional term loan B, private credit funds cannot trade in and out of company debt in the secondary market, leaving them strapped in for the life of the loan.
With private credit still in high-growth mode, some on the traditional bank lending side believe the true test will emerge once growth slows and these funds absorb a loss, publicly.
“If a few starts to lose money, investors in direct lenders will ask questions. For things to change we need to see some of these credits go bad,” a senior banker said.
DOUBLE-EDGED SWORD
Since the financial crisis, the growth of private credit has come at the expense of more traditional lenders such as banks, but direct lenders depend precisely on such firms to provide day-to-day liquidity for their lending models.
The subscription lines and leverage facilities that direct lenders funnel from banks allow them to quickly respond to borrowers and remain competitive on pricing individual deals, which is paramount in the white-hot market of leveraged finance.
Last year, BDCs scored a big win when the US government relaxed leverage restrictions, which opened the door for the funds to secure extra liquidity from the banks.
Since then, BDCs have seized on an opportunity to use the financing to position themselves into less risky, first-lien assets as the prospect of a downturn becomes a closer reality.
In the latest round of earnings, leverage levels have spiked among some BDCs. Fitch Ratings affirmed its negative outlook on the sector in October.
“There has been a recent decline in middle market covenant-lite volume; however, we expect pressure on terms to continue, which could ultimately lead to weaker recoveries on problem assets when the next credit cycle materializes,” said Chelsea Richardson, associate director at Fitch Ratings.
Private credit funds and BDCs have sought to diversify their funding sources since the financial crisis. They are not reliant on a single source for funding and regularly seek baby bonds in addition to revolving credit facilities to provide ample liquidity should banks want to pull back on funding.
“It didn’t happen in the last financial crisis. Most BDCs only had a revolver. Now the revolver is only a smaller part of the BDC’s liability stack, so it’s generally pretty insulated,” an analyst said. “Though if a bank is pulling the revolver then we’re already pretty far down in the rabbit hole.”
Unphased by the uncertainties surrounding the asset class, private lenders believe they are well-placed to safely ride out a downturn.
Some argue the intimate, club-like nature of these deals has the best interests of both parties in mind as direct lenders are married to the borrower for the life of the loan.
“There is a closeness to the borrower. Private credit funds own the loan and are there till the end. They behave as pragmatically as possible to preserve value,” said Jiri Krol deputy chief executive officer of industry group the Alternative Credit Council.
And while private credit primarily plies its trade with middle market borrowers, there is little doubt they are increasing their market share among larger, broadly-syndicated loans.
“There are going to be winners and losers. There’s been talk of a recession for years. We’re not afraid of it. Going through the cycle is the real acid test,” said Garrett Ryan, partner and head of capital markets at direct lender Twin Brook Capital Partners. (Reporting by Aaron Weinman and David Brooke. Editing by Michelle Sierra and Kristen Haunss)
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After Bearish Fake-Out, Bitcoin Continues Bullish Momentum
Cyrus McNally
In this article we review the whipsaw price action that occurred over the last 5 days, from dramatic declines to stupefying ascents, attempting to provide some insight into why the markets did what they did. All in all, it was a great week for crypto, with BTC ending the week up over 13% and the entire market cap adding $25 billion.
Last week’s price chart for BTC was particularly odd to visualize. Source: coinmarketcap.com
The first three weeks of October were relatively boring for Bitcoin as prices seemed to be stuck in a range between $7900 and $8600, but then all that changed just five days ago. Late in the day on October 23rd, the price of BTC suddenly plunged beneath its long-tested support of $7700, sinking below $7400 for the first time since mid May. It was a disheartening move. By all indications, the price was expected to resume the upward journey it had embarked upon since late December of last year, and a sudden, seemingly unprovoked downward move of $500 has a jarring psychological effect on many traders.
The major theories behind the sudden drop were varied and possibly working in tandem. First off, the timing of the sell-off coordinated with testimony being given by Mark Zuckerberg in congress regarding plans for Facebook’s highly contentious stablecoin, Libra. At the hearing, Zuckerberg was grilled for six hours by members of the U.S. House of Representatives who threw all kinds of questions at him — everything from the specifics of what was going to back Libra’s value to the number of minorities working on the project. The entire affair was disheartening to all involved, and at the end of it, one House member was exasperated enough to mutter, “I’m not sure we learned anything at all.”
It became apparent that those asking the questions to Facebook’s founder had already made up their mind before the questioning began, and that congress had no desire to entertain the idea that perhaps a social media corporation should be allowed to create their own currency that would run in tandem (and competition) with the U.S. dollar. This attitude, of course, has a dampening effect on Bitcoin’s prospects of eventually gaining the sort of legitimacy and approval that Libra was hoping to obtain from the U.S. government. Not even Zuckerberg’s willingness to attempt to appeal to all sides of the equation seemed to help his case.
Zuck, on Libra
to cryptonatives: bank the unbanked
to US Senate: expand US surveillance powers and counter the Red Threat
to would be noderelayers/partners: monetize user data
to other govts: diversify from USD hegemony https://t.co/XaXnwQjs7P
— Su Zhu (@zhusu) October 24, 2019
Another theory behind last Wednesday’s sudden drop has to do with it aligning with the Bitcoin Futures contract expiry date for the month of October. Thanks to Bitcoin Futures products developed first by the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) and now Bakkt, Wall Street has a means through which they can bet on the price of BTC. On the last Friday of each month, outstanding CME futures contracts settle, and it becomes time for institutions to buy or sell BTC based on the type of futures being held.
Cryptocurrency website Trustnodes has put forth a theory (beginning back in May) that there is probably some manipulation going on by Wall Street in at least one of the four major exchanges used to calculate spot prices. This causes BTC to suffer a mini- to decent-sized crash at some point during the last week of each month, during which Wall Street can profit from their futures positions while everybody else takes a loss.
I wouldn't think that for exchanges that aren't settled in Bitcoin since the traders are mostly self-professed degens, but smart traders surely do take futures into consideration. This was a good quick read on the recent dump. Don't know if you saw it:https://t.co/J6hTknP2Aq
— Savio (@_hauntology_) October 24, 2019
Regardless of the reason – or combination of reasons – behind the drop, HODLERs didn’t have enough time to let depression set in before things began to reverse course. Exactly 48 hours after the fall, the price of BTC was well on its way back to the long-held $8k mark. 10 hours later it had breached $10k. All-in-all, Bitcoin had made a 30%+ move in less than 24 hours, making it the biggest, fastest gain seen all year. Traders didn’t have much to which they could compare the explosive move, as even during 2017’s massive bull run, there was a general feeling that new all-time highs could be made in the near future. It was the 3rd biggest rise in Bitcoin’s history, so indeed there wasn’t much available to compare it to in Bitcoin’s 10 year history.
This time around, the upward momentum caught many investors off-guard, but for most, it was welcoming news. For others (mainly leveraged short traders), it was a disaster. BitMEX, and exchange made famous for giving traders up to 100x leverage on a long or short position, saw record numbers of short positions liquidated, resulting in hundreds of millions worth of BTC trades being closed in a matter of minutes. A Twitter bot named BXRekt which posts a tweet every time a short position on BitMEX gets liquidated actually reached its maximum number of tweets allowed per day due to the incessant flood of short position margin calls.
Bot is now over the daily status update limit from Twitter.
— REKT (@BXRekt) October 26, 2019
The forced liquidation of these trades helped propel Bitcoin even higher, and at one point in Saturday’s climb, it reached $10,400, before settling down in the $9-$10k zone, where it currently resides. So, what news item was responsible for the giant “melt-up” that occurred on Friday / Saturday that could be powerful enough to cause such a degree of turbulence? On Friday evening, the president of China, Xi Jinping, made his first comments ever on blockchain technology, and they were largely regarded as positive. It was also the first time any Chinese official had addressed the issue since the Bank of China announced their decision to outlaw cryptocurrency altogether in 2017.
Although no announcement of a reversal of the ban was made, Xi said it would be “necessary to implement the rule of law network” into existing blockchain system, thus suggesting that regulations were on their way to be formulated in order to allow for the eventual legality of cryptocurrency in China. The nation of 1.6 billion is also the world’s largest miner of bitcoin, which poses something of a problem for the Chinese government if they continue to leave this at times conflicting issue unaddressed.
This is what happens to #Bitcoin when the President of the most populous country & soon to be largest economy in the world, China, openly calls for accelerated #blockchain investment & development.
Potentially a major catalyst to the next #crypto bullrun. pic.twitter.com/ldbpW6loEh
— Misha Lederman (@mishalederman) October 25, 2019
The general vibe registered by those trading BTC on the news was that China was finally opening the doors to eventual cryptocurrency legalization, even if not in as many words, and that it may still be years away. With such a huge population – hundreds of millions of which are tech-savvy and internet-connected – China could provide a massive influx of new crypto users after legalization has finally been passed into law.
Bitcoin wasn’t the only crypto to come out ahead over the downs and ups of the last week. Several altcoins managed to perform even better. Here are some of the biggest gainers in the top 20 coins by market cap over the last 7 days:
Bitcoin (BTC): 13.64%
Bitcoin Cash (BCH): 14.88%
EOS (EOS): 14.50%
Bitcoin SV (BSV): 30.83%
TRON (TRX): 27.59%
NEO (NEO): 45.03%
Bitcoin (BTC) inching towards $9k breakout
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Best Litecoin Casinos for Slots 2020
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While Golson transfers, Ohio State AD expects Miller to stay
By Kevin McGuireMay 19, 2015, 1:46 PM EDT
One key quarterback transfer is already taken care of. Everett Golson will be transferring from Notre Dame to Florida State and begin to compete for the starting job in Tallahassee right away with Sean Maguire. The other big name quarterback many have suspected will transfer is still not showing any signs of moving. Ohio State quarterback Braxton Miller will remain a Buckeye. At least that is the belief of Ohio State athletics director Gene Smith.
Smith commented about the future of Miller as the Big Ten spring meetings got underway. Per Adam Rittenberg of ESPN.com, the Ohio State athletics director spoke with Miller recently and got the sense Miller intends to return to Ohio State in 2015 rather than transfer to a program with a far less crowded and complicated quarterback situation.
Smith reiterated belief that @BraxtonMiller5 will stay at Ohio St. Talked w/ Miller before spring. “He was committed to coming back.”
— Adam Rittenberg (@ESPNRittenberg) May 19, 2015
Miller is a two-time Silver Football winner in the Big Ten but he missed the entire 2014 season due to a shoulder surgery that cost him the season. In his absence, Ohio State discovered the depth of the position in Columbus with J.T. Barrett guiding the Buckeyes to a 11-1 record in the regular season. Cardale Jones replaced an injured Barrett for a memorable postseason run culminating in a national championship.
With all three eligible to return in 2015, the consensus from the public has seemed to suggest at least one of the three quarterbacks will pursue a transfer to a program with less competition for the starting job. Miller’s seniority and ability to play right away in 2015 made him the most popular option to find a new football home, but he has yet to announce anything other than his intention to return to Ohio State for the 2015 season.
Tags: Braxton Miller, Cardale Jones, Everett Golson, Florida State, J.T. Barrett, Notre Dame, OSU, Sean Maguire
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VCCSOnline Home > Colleges > Southwest Virginia > Courses > Sociology (SOC)
Sociology (SOC) at Southwest Virginia Community College
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SOC 95 - Topics In
SOC 195 - Topics In
SOC 200 - Principles of Sociology
Introduces fundamentals of social life. Presents significant research and theory in areas such as culture, social structure, socialization, deviance, social stratification, and social institutions.
SOC 201 - Introduction to Sociology I
Introduces basic concepts and methods of sociology. Presents significant research and theory in areas such as socialization, group dynamics, gender roles, minority group relations, stratification, deviance, culture, community studies. Includes population, social change, and social institutions (family, education, religion, political system, economic system). Part I of II.
SOC 202 - Introduction to Sociology II
Introduces basic concepts and methods of sociology. Presents significant research and theory in areas such as socialization, group dynamics, gender roles, minority group relations, stratification, deviance, culture, community studies. Includes population, social change, and social institutions (family, education, religion, political system, economic system). Part II of II.
SOC 207 - Medical Sociology
Surveys the social, economic, cultural, and individual factors in health and illness. Examines issues of wellness, health-care systems, physician-nurse-patient relationships, medical costs, ethics and policy.
SOC 210 - Survey of Physical and Cultural Anthropology
Examines physical characteristics and lifestyles of human ancestors and present populations. Explores cultures from around the world to study diverse adaptations made by humans.
SOC 211 - Principles of Anthropology I
Inquires into the origins, development, and diversification of human biology and human cultures. Includes fossil records, physical origins of human development, human population genetics, linguistics, cultures' origins and variation, and historical and contemporary analysis of human societies. Part I of II. This is a Passport Transfer course.
SOC 212 - Principles of Anthropology II
Inquires into the origins, development, and diversification of human biology and human cultures. Includes fossil records, physical origins of human development, human population genetics, linguistics, cultures' origins and variation, and historical and contemporary analysis of human societies. Part II of II.
SOC 215 - Sociology of the Family
Studies topics such as marriage and family in social and cultural context. Addresses the single scene, dating and marriage styles, child-rearing, husband and wife interaction, single parent families, alternative lifestyles.
SOC 226 - Human Sexuality
Studies sociological research and theory on sexuality. Includes anatomy and physiology, birth control, sexually transmitted diseases and sexual behavior. Also approved for offering as HLT 136.
SOC 235 - Juvenile Delinquency
Studies demographic trends, casual theories, and control of juvenile delinquency. Presents juveniles' interaction with family, schools, police, courts, treatment programs, and facilities. Also approved for ADJ Juvenile curriculum.
SOC 236 - Criminology
Studies research and causal theories of criminal behavior. Examines crime statistics, crime victims, and types of criminal offenses. Introduces role of police, judicial and correctional system in treatment and punishment of offenders. Is also approved for ADJ Criminology.
SOC 245 - Sociology of Aging
Introduces study of aging with special emphasis on later stages of the life cycle. Includes theories of aging, historical and comparative settings, social policy, and future trends of aging.
SOC 247 - Death and Dying
Studies theoretical, practical, and historical aspects of death. Focuses upon student's own ideas, feeling, and attitudes toward death and dying and the significance and consequences of those attitudes.
Divisional Approval
SOC 266 - Race and Ethnicity
Considers race and ethnicity as social constructs that deeply affect our personal experience and our social institutions. Examines the relationships of racial and ethnic groups with each other and with the larger society, and the ways in which these relationships are constantly changing. Explores the experience of different groups and examines ideas of racial justice and equality. Introduces significant theoretical approaches to the study of race and ethnicity.
(3 Cr.) Lecture 3 hours, Total 3 hours per week
Ability to read in English at the college level.
View SOC 266 Course Content Summary
SOC 268 - Social Problems
Applies sociological concepts and methods to analysis of current social problems. Includes delinquency and crime, mental illness, drug addiction, alcoholism, sexual behavior, population crisis, race relations, family and community disorganization, poverty, automation, wars, and disarmament.
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Books, Foreign Policy, International, Iraq, Israel, U.S.
How the US Creates ‘Sh*thole’ Countries
November 19, 2018 • 120 Comments
A new collection of essays, edited by former Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney, clearly shows that it is the U.S. that is largely responsible for the poverty and suffering in these very nations, says Robert Fantina.
By Robert Fantina
In two years, the world has become accustomed to being shocked by the words and actions of United States President Donald Trump. In January of this year, he again showed his lack of diplomacy, tack and common decency, when he referred to many poorer countries as “sh*ithole countries”, asking, “Why do we want all these people from sh*thole countries coming here?” Former member of the House of Representatives Cynthia McKinney, in the new book she has edited, How the US Creates ‘Sh*thole’ Countries, (Clarity Press) has gathered a collection of essays, including one of her own, that clearly shows that it is the U.S. that is largely responsible for the poverty and suffering in these very nations.
The first series of essays describes U.S. foreign policy, and its true motives. In the essay, The End of Washington’s ‘Wars on the Cheap’, The Saker sums up U.S. foreign policy as follows: “Here’s the template for typical Empire action: find some weak country, subvert it, accuse it of human right violations, slap economic sanctions, trigger riots and intervene militarily in ‘defense’ of ‘democracy’, ‘freedom’ and ‘self-determination’ (or some other combo of equally pious and meaningless concepts).” The hypocrisy of such a policy is obvious. A weak and vulnerable nation is victimized by a far more powerful one. The U.S. has done this countless times in its history, and there appears to be no appetite in the government to change.
This introduction and explanation of U.S. foreign policy is followed by essays on some, but certainly not all, of the countries that have been victimized by the United States, usually following this template. As McKinney says in her essay, Somalia: Is Somalia the U.S. Template for All of Africa, “…while mouthing freedom, democracy, and liberty, the United States has denied these very aspirations to others, especially when it inconvenienced the US or its allies. In Mozambique and Angola, the US stood with Portugal until it was the Portuguese people, themselves, who threw off their government and voted in a socialist government that vowed to free Portugal of its colonies.”
In the essay, How the U.S. Perpetuates the Palestinian Tragedy’, Sami Al-Arian writes:
“It might be understandable, if detestable, for Israel and its Zionist defenders to circulate false characterizations of history and myths to advance their political agenda. But it is incomprehensible, indeed reprehensible, for those who claim to advocate the rule of law, believe in the principle of self-determination, and call for freedom and justice to fall for this propaganda or to become its willing accomplices. In following much of American political leaders’ rhetoric or media coverage of the conflict, one is struck by the lack of historical context, the deliberate disregard of empirical facts, and the contempt for established legal constructs and precedents.”
The U.S. leads in these distortions, with its officials proclaiming, each time that Israel bombs Gaza, that “Israel has a right to defend itself”. There is hardly mention of the brutal, illegal occupation and blockade; never a discussion of the fact that Palestine has no army, navy or air force, and Israel’s military is one of the world’s most powerful thanks to the U.S. It is never stated that international law allows an occupied people to resist the occupation in any way possible, including armed struggle. The countless United Nations resolutions condemning Israeli actions in Palestine are ignored by U.S. officials.
Once again, U.S. hypocrisy is on very public display.
The third section of this informative book describes the United States’ mostly-successful efforts to camouflage its vile intentions and international crimes. Christopher Black, in his essay Western Imperialism and the Use of Propaganda”, clearly articulates how this is done:
“The primary concern they [U.S. government officials] have, in order to preserve their control, is for the preservation of the new feudal mythology that they have created: that the world is a dangerous place, that they are the protectors, that the danger is omnipresent, eternal, and omnidirectional, comes from without, and comes from within. The mythology is constructed and presented through all media; journals, films, television, radio, music, advertising, books, the internet in all its variety. All available information systems are used to create and maintain scenarios and dramas to convince the people that they, the protectors, are the good and all others are the bad. We are bombarded with this message incessantly.”
Our memories are short, indeed, if we have forgotten both President George W. Bush and his Secretary of State, Colin Powell, telling the world from the United Nations the blatant lie that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, threatening civilization. We are not paying attention if we are unaware of the many innuendos given of the ‘dangers’ of all Muslims. Yes, the government fosters fear, proclaiming subtly and not so subtly that there is danger everywhere, and it is the role of the mighty United States to protect the world, whether or not such protection is wanted or needed.
Lastly, the U.S. Itself can be described as a ‘sh*thole’ country. Its many violations of international law, and crimes against humanity, are summarized by Richard Falk, in his essay The Sh*thole Phenomenon at Home and Abroad:
“This kind of nationalist pride covered up and blindsided crimes of the greatest severity that were being committed from the time of the earliest settlements: genocide against native Americans, reliance on the barbarism of slavery to facilitate profitable cotton production and the supposedly genteel life style of the Southern plantations. This unflattering national picture should be enlarged to include the exploitation of the resources and good will of peoples throughout Latin America, who, once freed from Spanish colonial rule, quickly found themselves victimized by American gunboat diplomacy that paved the way for American investors or joined in crushing those bold and brave enough to engage in national resistance against the abuse of their homelands.”
The final essay is the Report of the Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights on his Mission to the United States of America, authored by Philip Alston. While Trump decries “sh*thole” countries, the conditions that the U.S. put those countries in are not unknown in the U.S. A few facts from Alston’s report will suffice:
The U.S.’s “…immense wealth and expertise stand in shocking contrast with the conditions in which vast numbers of its citizens live. About 40 million live in poverty, 18.5 million in extreme poverty, and 5.3 million live in Third World conditions of absolute poverty. It has the highest youth poverty rate in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), and the highest infant mortality rates among comparable OECD States. Its citizens live shorter and sicker lives compared to those living in all other rich democracies, eradicable tropical diseases are increasingly prevalent, and it has the world’s highest incarceration rate, one of the lowest levels of voter registrations in among OECD countries and the highest obesity levels in the developed world.”
“The United States has the highest rate of income inequality among Western countries. The $1.5 trillion in tax cuts in December 2017 overwhelmingly benefited the wealthy and worsened inequality.”
“For almost five decades the overall policy response has been neglectful at best, but the policies pursued over the past year seem deliberately designed to remove basic protections from the poorest, punish those who are not in employment and make even basic health care into a privilege to be earned rather than a right of citizenship.”
The information in these essays is all rigorously documented with extensive footnotes. The writing is clear and the facts are presented in a concise manner that is highly beneficial for the average reader or academic.
For anyone who questions U.S. policies, at home or abroad, and who has perhaps become more aware of such issues since Trump’s election,
How the US Creates ‘Sh*thole’ Countries is an indispensable read.
Robert Fantina is a journalist and the author of Essays on Palestine.
Tags: Cynthia McKinney Donald Trump Robert Fatina
← US-Funded Neo-Nazis in Ukraine Mentor US White Supremacists
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120 comments for “How the US Creates ‘Sh*thole’ Countries”
Mild - ly Facetious
http://www.atimes.com/article/djbouti-the-casablanca-of-a-new-cold-war/
http://www.atimes.com/article/risks bubbling-beneath-djiboutis-foreign-bases
http://www.atimes.com/article/djibouti-the-casablanca-of-a-new-cold-war/
http://www.atimes.com/article/risks-bubbling-beneath-djiboutis-foreign-bases/
R Davis
It is by the mismanagement of a nations government that a nation’s jobs are destroyed.
As A result of & after the – 2008 GFC – the RBA artificially held the value of the Australian dollar too high & for too long.
Business could not compete & subsequently declared bankruptcy.
HOLDEN Australia went to PM Tony Abbott to ask for financial assistance.
Abbott refused.
Imagine the thrill a temporary ( PM to the next election only) nobody in the scheme of things got, telling the GODS of the corporate world – which the auto makers are, to piss off.
When the automakers left Australia, 200.000 jobs went with them.
Who is to blame for unemployment ??
Dolores Cordell
Why didn’t Australia just nationalize their auto industry? Who the hell gave the right to a bunch of kleptocrats to control the lives and futures of millions of people? Multinationals screw all of us by moving their crap game all over the planet to avoid regulation and to exploit labor.
Pay the auto companies for their assets based on how the company has based their value for purposes of taxation.
And don’t tell me that no one would ever start a major business if they thought it would become nationalized. They will always try to make money. As Marx so astutely observed, “A capitalist would sell you the rope to hang him with.”
PS: I’d bet that like Aramco in Iran in the early 1950’s , the auto companies valued their assets on the cheap for tax purposes but don’t want to sell at the artificially low price THEY valued the company.
When any nation has the power to proclaim itself “policeman of the world”, you can bet that crimes and abuses that result from this belief will NEVER be investigated and dealt with because the “investigation” will be done by the “policemen” themselves! American police abuse of authority sort of runs parallel with American abuse of “authority” in the world. The USA may “protect” its citizens from all these made-up demons and enemies around the world, but who will protect the American people from its “own” government? America as an example for the world to live by? Maybe for those who drink the Kool Aid and are in denial about American crimes, but the world OUTSIDE the USA is now VERY in tune with what dealing with the USA can do for a nation.
Marb
@Skip Scott, Re.. Putin, I Take your point and I have read some of Putin’s speeches and watched his press conferences..
… I’m not demonizing Putin , but on the other Hand i dont believe he is squeaky clean, is any Politician? he is an incumbent autocratic president who is telling some truth when it suits his purpose , and when he deems it to be in Russia’s national interest … not all criticism of Putin or any other official enemy of Western Empire is unfounded NWO propaganda!.. whatever You may believe Putin has undoubtedly come down very hard on his political enemies .. left unchecked all political systems become corrupt..Putin is an authoritarian Neo-Liberal gangster just like the rest.. he just happens to be an intelligent and astute one ,and to be correct about the danger posed by NATO-US hegemony … that doesn’t make him Gandhi !..
A simplistic cartoonized Hollywood reduction of geopolitical complexity isn’t going to help us bring about an end to War, and this miserable dominant economic system.
Skip Scott
Marb-
Please provide specific and provable examples of Putin coming down very hard on his political enemies. All examples I have seen thus far are not proven, and there are very plausible alternative culprits. It is not a “simplistic cartoonized Hollywood reduction of geopolitical reality” to ask for evidence, and demonizing Putin without evidence does nothing but serve the purposes of the empire builders of the PNAC.
The demonization began in earnest when Putin expelled many of the looters from the Yeltsin years. Capital flight was quickly destroying the country. The life expectancy of the average Russian fell a full decade. Putin turned all that around and thus became the enemy de jour for western power backed looters like Bill Browder. Our so-called Intelligence Community is capable of great evil, and false flag operations and MSM lackeys are part of their toolkit. Putin is right to be on his guard.
I am not saying that Putin is Gandhi; but every indication is that he bends over backwards to respect the rule of law, both Russian and International. I definitely do not see him as a gangster. I see him as a patriot trying his best to serve his people while doing his damndest to prevent WWIII. “Gangster” more aptly describes every US president except Carter since the assassination of JFK.
Skip , its not about individuals whether Putin or Trump the corruption is systemic…. Neo-Liberalism, Economic Rationalism whatever you want to call it , Reaganomics Thatcherism..etc is a gangster racket, a scam !… read about the so called Panama Papers about the gangster offshore tax haven industry
https://www.icij.org/investigations/panama-papers/
Putin among many western Politicians was caught up in that to an extent …
There’s plenty of circumstantial evidence of Putin’s admittedly minor Kleptocracy …. and what about the relationship the Russian political elite has with Israel…
https://www.globalresearch.ca/russias-putin-and-israels-netanyahu-negotiate-about-what/5643229
Certainly most of the allegations that Putin has murdered journalists are either grossly exaggerated or the evidence is circumstantial at best…
Skip if you’d like to continue a conversation drop me a line.
DIPMONGATHOTMAILDOTCOM , (all Lowercase !)
If people live in a 100% corrupt, Inverted-Totalitarian, Police-State, that is oppressing, impoverishing, and murdering them, as well as most of the people on the planet, and do nothing but allow it, stand-up-for-the-national-anthem, worship it–then I say bring it on–these worthless moron-oxygen thieves are getting exactly what they deserve.
Nice article, however, I’m for any tax cuts and the wealthy pay most of them. Also, equality is a myth that will never be implemented.
Of course the wealthy pay the most in taxes: THEY HAVE TAKEN ALL OF THE MONEY FROM THE REST OF US.
Ask Cynthia herself, it is the DeepState that has made division and strife across the globe. Washington is infested with globalist. The Deepstate is what ruined mankind’s chance at Peace last. America can turn this around. The American people are not unlike other peoples of the world. We want fairness, equality and our chance to pursue happiness on our own terms. The American People never intended any harm to any people anywhere.
ThisOldMan
To the extent that they thought about it at all, that is.
Joahua
Exactly! I’ve never known an American that could think–they all expound dogma they’ve been told to believe.
Tell that to the Native Americans.
jeff montanye
imo the two policy changes that would most ameliorate the above problem are the one state solution in israel/palestine and the repeal of the harrison narcotics act and all those that followed. the palestinians will never conquer israel with bullets but ballots might make some welcome changes. portugal has shown the way for a generation: drug abuse is a health problem not a criminal one; for those that can use without abuse, this bud’s, etc. for you.
O Society
Here we go, down the shithole!
Trump Regime Sends up Authoritarian Trial Balloon: Authorizes Military to Perform Crowd Control And Use of Lethal Force in US
JOHN CHUCKMAN
Well, the ugly truth is Washington is working very hard towards creating the world’s biggest sh*thole country…America.
I could not have agree more John. If economic indicators are correct, America’s future is numbered.
Al Pinto
Well, when over 40 million people, about 15 million of them kids go hungry every day in the US, the sh*thole designation for America is pretty much in sight. But hey, we don’t mind supporting other countries with billions , or have couple of ongoing quagmire wars for trillions. And don’t worry, our politicians will fix this by cutting the taxes for the rich and the oligarch….
One thing that irks me about the US is the large size of food portions served, to say nothing of the amount of food wasted because of it (not everyone can digest that big of a meal!) I believe this might have some effect on the poverty of the aforementioned 40M people.
Washington is infested with globalist. The Deepstate is what ruined mankind’s chance at Peace last. America can turn this around.
Do you also believe in garden fairies?
America’s problem is plutocracy and its international empire.
Almost everything gets ignored for that.
And there’s no resources left for anything else anyway.
Kendra Hawk
Excellent article. Will buy the book.
Mahomed kara
Excellent opens ones eyes from the bling that that distorts ones insight into what is really happening in this sti—hole world of ours thanks
If every rational person were to apply “Cause and Effect Analysis” which “is a technique that helps you identify all the likely causes of a problem” people like Mr. Trump would not get away with calling other countries sh.. Holes. The true causes of economic backwardness and outright despair and misery in areas such as Latin America are a direct result of USA interventions more than any other one. Haiti is a prime example but sadly not the only one.
jose – If the Clinton Foundation had given 9/10 of its donations towards Haitian cause Haiti could have run its whole budget for 10 years.
What the essay produces is the fodder for consensus, to move in different ways and directions to right our ship of State, and that is what is missing. If the prescription is simply to do the opposite, that sounds ok but is probably incorrect, is at the least imperfect. For example, the war on poverty produced a class of benefactors but left behind those in need. Educational reform and what has it done to elevate the education of the American people. Regime change advocated by the progressive and where has that got us and where has it got the “beneficiaries” of that policy.
Where does that lead, I for one, have no idea. But what is clear until the corrupt way we choose our elected and appointed officials, which follows from the first, we are not going anywhere.
Is “tax reform” really reform or is it a scam to shovel money into the pockets of people whose wheelbarrow is already full and sabotage social services?
Is End of The Year testing really to improve education or is it to disempoer and frustrate teachers so they quit? Then we can say the system failed, let’s privatize and make money off children.
Is support our troops real or does it mean support our wars? They have intentionally broken the GI Bill recently.
The propaganda slogans the government comes out with and their stated reasons for doing what they do, are these real or just used to manufacture the consent of the citizens?
None of this is about freedom and democracy. Those are advertising words – like new & improved – used to sell a product called theft and murder.
Careless wordage referring to benefactors when intended to say the special class who benefitted from the war on poverty but were not themselves poor. This includes a huge bureaucracy within the government and outside, and the politicians who encourage and play upon victimhood. The best way to understand why the war on poverty has failed is to spend some time talking to blacks from the Islands or Africa and why they have been for the most part successful in the US.
Donna C Ross
Highly recommend you listen to the “Freaakonomics” show about the DC duoploly. Extremely informative and right up your alley!
vinnieoh
Whenever a discussion like this comes around I find myself asking what effect would there be if the truth of US imperialism were fully absorbed and acknowledged by US citizens. Would it make any difference? The next question is, to what extent or percentage of citizens understand that the official narrative about freedom, prosperity and human rights is just a feint, and they fully accept and support the exercise of raw power and domination? Is it roughly equivalent to the stubborn 40% that continue to support an authoritarian?
An indication of the depth of the problem is shown in some of the earlier comments asking why these migrants or refugees would come to the belly of the beast. Because the US exports death and destruction most everywhere, this is the safest place to be. I became friends with a Guatemalan immigrant (of my age) of landed Spanish descent about 30yrs ago, and felt I should learn something about that country. A lot of what I found is the subject of the captioned book. I became acquainted with her mother also, someone who had lived the US machinations there. She was surprised and frightened that an ordinary American knew some of the reality and not the official narrative. Almost as if she thought I was some kind of CIA minder. Weird and disheartening. The point is, the victims of US policy understand that the truth remains largely unabsorbed by comfortable US citizens. Home of 21st Century Schizoid Man.
So, would it make a difference if the official narrative about US benevolence and goodness were demolished? Publishing the above book is obviously hoping that it might. The roll-out of the next video war game is likely to get more press than this book or subject will.
Yes demolition of “the official narrative about US benevolence and goodness” will “make a difference” because this is the way truth is found by those who care, the way that societies very slowly learn about past errors.
vinnieoh –
More effective might be a massive ad campaign across all platforms showing WTC7 going down with the large crawl line reading:
“This is what a classic controlled demolition looks like.
This is WTC7. It was not hit by a plane. At 5:20pm on September 11th, 2001 this 47 story, steel-framed building fell at the acceleration of gravity. Crews showed up two hours later that evening and began hauling the debris away.
The New York Times reported that some of the structural steel had been vaporized.
Nanothermite, a high tech incendiary and explosive, was recovered from the dust at the site.
The U.S. government wants the American people to believe this building “collapsed” due to “common office fires”.
The corporate media has been a willing participant in the U.S. government cover-up of this heinous crime against the American people and the world.
The so-called “war of terror” has cost at least $7 trillion, ended or ruined many U.S. soldiers lives, killed millions of innocent lives all over the world and forced many more millions to flee their destroyed countries.
Wake up America and take our country back! “
Lucius Patrick
Lin Cleveland
Hi Lucius,
[Attention Consortium Management ]
I interrupt this discussion to seek needed help. I’m wishing to make a donation to the defense of Julian Assnage by check. As i use only a debit card, I never post that # online. Could you PLEASE, provide a snail mail address. You have my email address and that would be fine. Thank You!!!!
Hi Lin-
There is a link at the bottom of this page providing information for making a bank transfer. They have difficulties processing checks from outside the U.K.
https://defend.wikileaks.org/donate/
Here’s a good example of how American politicians and the complicit CFR affiliated mainstream media lie and deceive the people of the United States and the world.
Exposing the White Helmets : Collated Video Evidence of Terrorist Collusion – Over 50 Video Clips
https://youtu.be/CCmN6X_7kn0?t=03
F. G. Sanford
Trump supporters need to prepare themselves for the reality that his administration is probably finished. Sure, Assange says he didn’t get the emails from a state actor, but since when does the truth matter? Democrats are so hell-bent for revenge that even they are cheering the Trump administration’s prosecution of Assange. Neera Tanden claims it’s “Karma”. If the truth were self-evident and widely understood, Cynthia McKinney wouldn’t have needed to point it out. Mueller may have already submitted as many as thirty six sealed indictments. It’s worth reading Caitlin Johnstone’s recent article about Democrat bloodlust to “get” Assange. And, if you think that the Trump administration has any intention of “draining the swamp”, Phil Giraldi’s most recent article about Bolton, Pompeo, Haley and Jeffrey is a “must read”. As I’ve mentioned before, I’d like to see a McKinney/RFK Jr. ticket in 2020. Now that the Trump administration is likely defunct, it’s a real possibility.
Bob Van Noy
Wow F.G., I love the idea of that ticket you’ve suggested. Are aware of the new book due out next month by Lisa Pease? I will post a link letting people know who she is. She’s one of those special and dedicated researchers that we’re blessed to have…
https://spartacus-educational.com/JFKpease.htm
Here is a link for Lisa’s new book.
https://www.amazon.com/Lie-Too-Big-Fail-Assassination/dp/1627310703/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1542719901&sr=1-1&keywords=lisa+pease+rfk
The oxymoronically titled “democrats” are simply immoral swamp creatures, only different in title than the Republicans they profess to despise. My post had nothing to do with Trump draining the swamp. Alas, he is without a doubt a huge part of the swamp, a swamp creature placed in power by Kissinger and the Zionist elite as a contentious tool used to divide and conquer the American people. That much is obvious to those with eyes wide open. Trump is simply the antithesis to the Zionist controlled media and Hollywood’s thesis. Through these two corrupt entities actions comes synthesis. The Hegelian Dialectic is the main tool that the elite use to rule over the downtrodden masses.
Your whole concept of reality can fit inside the teeny tiny space of a matchbox.
Sit back wait for the show.
John Sillren
At the root of all the miseries currently existing in most countries of the world is the incessant drive to become richer and richer and to hell with the poor people of the world. Governments issue tax breaks. Who benefits the most from these tax breaks? The wealthy.
I see little improvements for the ordinary citizen who tries to improve his lot in life, for the wealthy money grubber will always find new rules to circumvent the efforts of the poor and destitute. I see little hope for mankind and as long as the greedy on this planet are in control of the Economy it will continue to destroy what little is left.
Yes, our institutions of social/moral education have decayed: such literature is rarely written or read, mass media sell and exalt materialism and greed, elections and mass media are owned by money. A higher social contract requires the elimination of money control first, by any means.
Sam F., that’s it in a nutshell. Control of information and control of our politicians and what follows from that. How do you control information and politicians. Your purchase it and them. There was a great deal of thought and wisdom of those who designed our government but they could not have seen how it could be and was corrupted. Not perfect themselves, I think they would be dismayed by what is happening today. I would like to think that John Adams, Jefferson, and the like if around today would have found an antidote.
Herman –
The founders did leave us with an antidote! When was the last time you read our Declaration of Independence?
Here’s just the first part, but it makes it pretty clear what their/our antidote is:
IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America
When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. ”
When you read the entire document, its brilliance and foresight becomes even more amazing.
It is up to us, brothers and sisters, WE the people, to come together and form a more perfect union.
We begin by creating a truly egalitarian cooperative economic system which subverts the present, criminally corrupt financial capitalist system so that we can can survive while we begin the arduous process of re-tooling our electoral and governmental systems and reforming our corrupt judicial system.
Most of the solutions are actually fairly straightforward and simple, but that doesn’t mean they will be easy.
The Second American (r)Evolution begins with peace gardens and national strikes, and the sooner we begin the greater our chance of reclaiming our country and future in a non-violent manner.
Be well and see you on the streets!
The arrogant buffoons are working hard to antagonize the Grizzly who’s swat will bring on nuclear winter. Only cannibals will survive.
Homer Jay
this should be the inspirational poster on every office wall…with a gorgeous mushroom cloud as the back drop. sorry I had to make light of a grim picture which is coming more and more in to focus by the day.
THOMAS W ADAMS
The almighty U.S. of America, creates it’s own “shithole” at home when it lavishes much needed domestic dollars on the least deserving “occupier” in the World, the Zionist pretenders in Palestine. Amen.
The heading should read…”How the Internationals Implement Policies That Creates Sh*thole Countries”. There are two reasons the international policy makers prop up a zombie nation (USA)…..(1) reserve currency status…(2) Over 800 military bases worldwide….The weak link, reserve currency status. So in the near future place your bets on a sure thing….WWIII
Ah yes… a logician.
1] Were there sh_t hole countries before the US entered the scene?
2] Would there have been sh_t hole countries if the US abdicated the scene to other powers?
3] Will there be sh_t hole countries after the US is eclipsed?
W. R. Knight
In summing up U.S. foreign policy in ‘Wars on the Cheap’, the author misses a key point. The U.S. only turns countries into sh*thole countries when there’s a profit to be made – usually in the form of natural resources that can be exploited by American corporations. We generally don’t bother countries that have absolutely no natural resources. In the process of exploiting countries for their resources, we turn them into sh*thole countries. Nearly all countries have some natural resources and most of them have already been exploited which is why there are so many sh*thole countries.
CBakerSmart
Note that the USA has rushed in where MASSIVE human rights are issues or where invasions of other peaceful countries are key. Maybe those countries who have natural resources use the most vile greed toward their own people who are usually poor.
Sorry but neither of the links seem to work for me- to the essay you referred to.
“The End of Washington’s ‘Wars on the Cheap’,” The Saker
https://books.google.com/books?id=naNuDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT50&lpg=PT50&dq=“The+End+of+Washington’s+‘Wars+on+the+Cheap’,”+The+Saker&source=bl&ots=AKa6uWw0qA&sig=ngiM1DD7lsnP-gNW3fYNRGfyNs8&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjK4c_3vuLeAhXEhOAKHWs3ACUQ6AEwAHoECAAQAQ#v=onepage&q=%E2%80%9CThe%20End%20of%20Washington%E2%80%99s%20%E2%80%98Wars%20on%20the%20Cheap%E2%80%99%2C%E2%80%9D%20The%20Saker&f=false
“Tact,” not “tack”. (I’m sure you’ve already spotted it. But good article. Thank you.
KiwiAntz
I loved this article, as it sums up perfectly, this second rate, shambolic, Hegemonic Empire of chaos called America? America is the ultimate Sh*thole Country, as the writer correctly states? And it exports & imposes this mentality & philosophy on other Countries to try & make the World in its own Sh*thole image! From its endless Wars of violence; mass shootings; broken down infrastructure & lousy healthcare; the failure of its Political system & it’s massive greed by Oligarch’s & Corporations that has gutted the lives of millions of its own people, Trump should apply that sh*thole comment & redirect it to his own third world Country? Trump is coarse & vulgar in his Twitter diatribe’s & comments about “Sh*thole” Countries & yet he is only verbalising the true, ugly nature of America as a Nation! Trump is America! Trump’s new Foreign Policy Tagline should be “MAKE THE WORLD A GREAT BIG SH*THOLE AGAIN”? Just like the good ole US of A! I’d buy that for a dollar?
Audrey Hanson
I’m 97 and been aware of ny country’s evil ways for a long time. When Kissinger and his buddies got together after world war 2 and started building all these evil military bases all around the world ,800 and counting,we really are the killingist lioeing evilistnation in the world. The ugly Americans.
I venture to suggest you are not really one of those.
Ol' Hippy
I refer to US citizenry as Americans. I Refer to the govt as US govt. American citizens are rarely represented by the US govt. We really have no representation. If we did wars would have stopped after the last ‘official’ war.(WW II) In reality WW II has never ended. The economy is built upon wartime production.
Johan Meyer
The US habit is to harm other countries, and to get other countries to harm themselves. That said, their success is very variable, and there are explanatory variables that allow one to predict where their nasty efforts will meet with greater success. Witness their success in harming Haiti, and their much more modest success in harming Cuba or North Korea, per unit effort.
The institutional fake left (in particular, Kevin Drum of Mother Jones) has touched on a root cause (lead poisoning leading to reduced IQ and societal self harm through criminality), but reduce the issue to discrimination.
To wit, higher black (African descendant) blood lead is interpreted as due to greater exposure, which should begin the question why African countries often show much higher lead poisoning when fuel consumption and lead content is controlled for.
It is far more likely, e.g. on evolutionary grounds (sub Saharan Africans skipping the Bronze age, going directly to the Iron age, hence not evolving resistance to lead uptake through intergenerational exposure to the lead in tin and copper deposits) that for the same exposure, blacks will receive a higher blood lead than whites or east Asians.
Genetically determined uptake would also explain the apparent lack of environmental effect on IQ in twin studies—the bulk of the variance would be counted as genetic.
In the US as elsewhere, lead is mainly from paint, which is sporadic dosing, thus making a single measure of blood lead (“confirmed” by a second reading or not) irrelevant.
Other vehicles of self harm are mercury based skin bleaching and Cassava consumption (the latter interferes with iodine uptake from the diet—it is South American).
As a means of ethically testing for genetically variable uptake of lead, one can ask a municipal police force to take blood lead samples on officers prior to and after shooting practice, asking for the practice that a fixed number of rounds be used over a fixed interval at an indoor range. Ethnic, and possibly genetic regressions may be performed to predict uptake.
The genes identified by the so-called Human Biodiversity crowd (especially Davide Piffer) are good candidates for independent variables to predict uptake of lead. I suspect that the best regression will be on inverse uptake, i.e. closing paths for uptake versus calcium (lead is a calcium analog).
If it can be shown that lead uptake is genetically variable, then IQ tests can become cheap diagnostic tools (doing blood lead properly would mean weekly blood tests for the pregnancy and first two years of life, and solving a differential equation) and tools of liberation.
I’d like to make a small amendment to this excellent article . The Portuguese government pre 1974 was a fascist dictatorship , we didn’t have much say in the matter sadly , for 43 years we had no say on anything . On the dawn of the25th April 1974 the army came out and put an end to the dictatorship . The first election was 2 years later to the date on 25 April 1976 and Soares won these . In the immediate time post revolution -1974- we had a provisional government constituted with people from all the parties and members of the whole spectrum of the “ revolution council “ of which mario Soares was foreign affairs minister . It was during this provisional government ( still without elections ) that Soares announced the decolonisation .
As Notes you may find the following interesting :
Kissinger suggested attacking Portugal post revolution- he said it would serve as a vaccination to the other European countries . Portugal would be made an example of and all European countries would be afraid of doing the same – what that murderer called the “ Cuba of Europe “
In 1980 our government was killed by a bomb in the plane they were travelling . CIA .
1 month ago Madeleine Albright launching her anti fascism ( oh if only irony killed ) book in Portuguese translation gave an interview to a Portuguese paper in which she said “ Salazar was not a dictator he was an authoritarian who was afraid of democracy “ . A man that for over 35 years took our freedom and our lives .
These people , like Kissinger , Albright and co and the intelligence agencies that run the USA have only psychopathy inside them . They destroy the world . They take lives .
Somehow along the way, in the future , we have to learn how to stop them .
Let me just say as well I absolutely love reading consortium news and I recommend it to everyone . Exceptional journalism . Thank you . Obrigada .
Many Thanks Isabel, your participation is deeply appreciated here as we get a better idea of the depth of government corruption. Please keep in contact and continue to respond where you think appropriate. Obragado (I hope that’s correct)
ToivoS
Isabel, Do you have a link to that Albright quote about Salazar? Hope it is in English. That is a vintage Jeane Kirkpatrick .
Isabel, thanks to your information, this is what I learned about 1980 in Portugal: “In 2001, a lawyer for relatives of the victims, Ricardo Sá Fernandes, published a book arguing that the target of the assassination was newly appointed Defence Minister da Costa due to his knowledge of arms deals with Iran obtained from his new position. 2001 also saw the release of Camarate: acidente ou atentado?, a film on the subject by Luis Filipe Rocha” (from a Wikipedia article which I will link) So this is directly of interest to followers of Robert Parry who was possibly the preeminent research journalist on this subject. (Iran Contra)
Also I will attempt to link Madeleine Albright’s Conference Speech because we do not get this kind of reporting by our Mainstream Press…
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1980_Camarate_air_crash
Here is Madeleine Albright’s press resentation at that conference. ESTORIL, PORTUGAL – MAY 31: Former United States Secretary of State Madeleine Albright+press conference.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xjIqjM9nmQE
America was crafting “shithole” cities and states long before it turned its attention to running the entire world. It tried to create an entire new shithole country from its own substance through binary fission in the 1860’s, but that was stopped by those who understood that taking over the world would be more feasible if the place remained “stronger together.” All that power in the hands of a small coterie of dictatorial lunatics has made it the most dangerous collection of humans in the history of the species.
The font looks sharper today. Did they clean the dried ink deposits off the movable type? Or is my eternal hope for a better future getting the better of me?
Unique observation!
“Everything is illegal in Massachusetts. Revenge for the Tea Party.” A classic line from the 2006 film Edge of Night. (Financial instruments of the City of London being the puppet masters at work.)
Vera Gottlieb
And not just in Latin America does the US create sh**hole countries.
Tekyo Pantzov
There can be no doubt that the United States has committed great injustices and exploited weaker countries.
However I find it passing strange that Richard Falk, who knows nothing about Latin American history, writes of “the exploitation of the resources and good will of peoples throughout Latin America, who, once freed from Spanish colonial rule, quickly found themselves victimized by American gunboat diplomacy that paved the way for American investors or joined in crushing those bold and brave enough to engage in national resistance against the abuse of their homelands.”
This is a heavily ideological caricature of reality, since US imperialism did not start oppressing Latin America until several decades after it became independent, began in the form of expeditions by private adventurers like William Walker in just a handful of small countries close to the US, did not become official US government policy until the 1890s or so, and even then scarcely affected South America until well into the 20th century. Furthermore the US was not the only country that exercised gunboat diplomacy. Spain, France, England and perhaps other countries likewise interfered in Latin American affaisrs, principally England.
And there was a lot of fighting among Latin American countries themselves that led to gret suffering, in which the US had no part whatever. For example the War of the Triple Alliance in the 1870s between Paraguay on the one hand and Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay on the other exterminated more than 70% of Paraguay’s population. The debt incurred by the Argentine government as a result of that war forced it to sell lands newly seized from the natives to the highest bidder, thus creating a political structure dominated by large landowners. In the US by contrast land was distributed free of charge to settlers, thus forming the basis for a democratic smallholder power structure.
Moreover while Richard Falk loudly defends Latin America from the US, he has nothing to say about the terrorist acts of Hezbollah, which at the bidding of Iran blew up a Jewish community center in Buenos Aires in 1994 killing 94 Argentine Jews. The US, despite its notorious imperialist history, has never stooped to massacring civilians solely because of their ethnicity, as Iran did then.
Consequently Richard Falk’s demagogic rant is revealed as mere hateful propaganda that lacks any scientific character.
P. Michael Garber
Keep your pants on, you already revealed yourself with your non-sequitur insertion of anti-Iran propaganda.
‘There can be no doubt that the United States has committed great injustices and exploited weaker countries.” No sh*t. Really?
That observation demonstrates a very scientific character, no doubt. As P.Michael Garber suggests: keep your pants on.
p.brooksmcginnis
Stephen J.
A day or so ago there was a gathering of the “elites” in Halifax Canada. The usual “experts” were there. So the article below might be of interest.
“Are Taxpayers Funding Fallacies at a “Forum” in Halifax”?
“The first plenary session of the 2018 Halifax International Security Forum examined how liberal states and institutions can continue to champion their values…. The speakers were unanimous in their view that NATO remains an effective and unified institution.”…
[read more at link below]
http://graysinfo.blogspot.com/2018/11/are-taxpayers-funding-fallacies-at.html
Many Thanks Stephan J. You always provide us with an extended perspective. As I mentioned to Isabel a couple of posts above this, it’s important while we still can, to have a broad input so that we can get a better concept of global corruption. Your link was especially interesting. I would encourage others to view your excellent reporting. Cheers…
Many Thanks Stephan J. You always provide us with an extended perspective. As I mentioned to Isabel a couple of posts above this, it’s important while we can, to have a broad input so that we can get a better concept of global corruption. Your link was especially interesting. I would encourage others to view your excellent reporting. Cheers…
Thanks Bob Van Noy
I believe all this evil is connected. It is a giant web of corruption camouflaged as doing “good.” It will probably end in a nuclear war. (I hope not) Or some huge major catastrophe.
http://graysinfo.blogspot.com/2017/12/will-final-war-begin-during-2018.htm
Kathleen Greene
I am very proud to say that I voted for Cynthia McKinney and Rosa Clemente twice rather than Obummer. I will never forgive the Damnocrats for giving up our votes to Republicans’ cheating in 2000 and 2004; and for what they did to McKinney, and most of all, for being imperialist pigs.
Trump may speak and sometimes act crudely, but it took Mrs. Bill Clinton to actually turn Libya into a sh*thole country. It was one of the better places to live in the Arab world, before the “I’m with her” political gangreen girl became Sec. of State.
Her husband and her political vehicle, Bill, did much to turn the US into a sh*thole by facilitating massive narcotics imports into the country via an airport in the state he “served” as governor.
This isn’t about the Clinton’s or Trump. It’s not about democrats or republicans. It’s about US policy towards empire building that benefits a select few. Realize both parties are in on it. Realize the coalition of the western societies are all in on it. You need to get over that managed perception and the thinking they have you trapped in to see the reality of the whole picture.
You’re mixed up. Trump actually did initially try to change some things.
When Trump first came into office, he tried resisting the ongoing deep state campaigns of continued balkanizing of the middle east, and of demonizing Russia with the long range aim of balkanizing it, too.
What did he get met with? A CIA – Hillary Clinton – media fabricated “Russia collusion” campaign demonizing him.
The reason the Republican party controllers feared Trump was that he was trying to disrupt their support of deep state activities.
If the US is so evil as to cause these nations to become “shithole countries”, why do their citizens come to the very nation responsible? Why do they think they will receive better treatment here by the very government that supposedly hates them?
That’s a great question, and one I have asked many a New York cab/Uber driver. The easiest way to answer your question is these foreign immigrants hate our countries foreign policy, but they particularly love us Americans and our way of life. Remember job opportunities in war ravished nation’s isn’t a good place to find legitimate employment either. Almost all the foreigners I’ve met say they plan to return to their homeland once they are set financially as once it safe to return home. I will admit it’s a paradoxical situation, but one easy to understand once you have left a world of war torn chaos. I might add that these people also feel safe here, because the U.S. isn’t going to bomb itself… well not yet anyway. Joe
You make a good point. Maybe it’s because of the good works of Sec. of State Mrs. Bill Clinton in Honduras, where she facilitated a coup putting a government in power, that set common people fleeing.
For one thing, they won’t have bombs dropped on them. For another, the US made THEIR country uninhabitable.
Challenge! Go live in their neighborhood for a while. You’ll quickly learn!
I don’t understand it either…why move to the very country that is responsible for my misery. I guess the misery in their respective countries is even less endurable than the misery they will experience in the US.
I would say that these naive people could never imagine the leadership in America turning the same policies it uses to suppress the rest of the world against its own population. Why do people join the mafia? Not for the pleasure of the killing I daresay, but for the safety conferred them against its enemies. Yes, I’ll be called on to do terrible things for “the godfather,” but at least he will protect me and I will not be one of his targets. I think people universally understand such an arrangement. That’s why all those Central Americans who know very well who destroyed their countries want to live here despite that.
That statement doesn’t even make sense. Think about it:
1.) Because they’re incredibly naive. Their hope blinds them.
2.) They’re misinformed.
3.) Even though human rights, generally speaking, might be better in the US (though this is also changing), economically things are getting worse and worse, and they don’t know it.
4.) They’re not coming nearly as frequently anymore.
5.) If you’re referring to Central and South Americans, they’re coming out of desperation, in an attempt to escape from conditions that are largely in part due to illegal US foreign policy in their home countries, sanctions, illegal coups, and horrendous trade deals like NAFTA, which hurts American workers too, etc.
where else can they go?
I think they come because they do not know that the US is responsible. The information available they get from movies.
Drew Hunkins
Chris Hedges has a piece today in which he essentially supports the Mueller witch hunt. This is a serious left progressive who now seems to be buying the Maddow-NYT-DNC snake-oil.
Regardless of how many times I say it — because I despise and denounce the Mueller witch hunt in no way means that I’m a supporter of the Trump regime.
Et tu, Chris H.?
Emily Tock
I headed, with dread, over to TD to understand what you were saying. If I were religious, I would perhaps feel like the Apocalypse were nigh. I think your Shakespeare reference is spot on.
Mueller’s investigation has already put criminals in jail. There are a multitude of crimes potentially exposed. You should wait until it’s done to jump to conclusions.
JoeSixPack
None of them for election fraud. That’s the point.
polistra
Nonsense. Mueller is following a long FBI tradition of inventing “crimes” to blackmail people into flipping. Some of the “crimes” he prosecutes are old tax evasion charges which were ignored until they became useful for FBI purposes. Some “crimes”, like “lying to the FBI”, are PRODUCED by the investigation itself. If Mueller hadn’t decided to interrogate those people, they wouldn’t have been trapped into a lie.
The FBI’s job is creating crimes and turning ordinary people into criminals.
You’ve gotta keep in mind that Hedges is a militant moralist. He doesn’t allow a hierarchy in which some crimes are worse than others. He perseverates wherever he finds the crime. Hillary is guilty as hell, but I’m banking on the theory that she knows where all the bodies are buried — dating back to when Cheney and Rumsfeld were developing the Continuity of Government program and PNAC was being dreamed up. But NOBODY wants to tackle that reality. Trump, on the other hand, has been involved with Russian oligarchs due to his real-estate activities — some of whom no doubt have ties to and operate with the tacit approval of Putin. Putin can’t keep control without coddling them to a degree. So, Mueller will find a connection. Freelance right wing loonies like Stone and Corsi injected themselves into the fray seeking Clinton’s emails. One theory claims that Cohen, Trump’s attorney, took a supposed trip to Italy at the same time Corsi did, but they made a detour to meet up with mysterious Mr. Mifsud. They may have met in Poland where Clinton’s emails were passed by Russian operatives. Remember, Clinton’s emails came off a server which had been wiped. Podesta’s emails were locally downloaded from the DNC server, which was never turned over to the FBI. It is possible that Russians contemporaneously hacked both, and Assange is the perfect scapegoat. Remember when Trump said, “I love Wikileaks?” Doesn’t anybody wonder why he doesn’t love Wikileaks anymore? Regarding the Clintons, the independent audit of their crooked foundation was due to the IRS on the 15th. If nothing happens, it confirms that she’s immune to prosecution. But Trump’s lawyer colluding with Corsi, Stone and Mifsud in conjunction with ties to Russian finance oligarchs in a scheme to put Clinton’s emails “on the street” will turn out to be Rachel Maddow’s “I told you so” moment. I think the writing is on the wall, and Mueller has something that can be made to stick. That said, he won’t be catching the biggest monster in the swamp. Hedges, though, will be pleased to see any monster reeled in — just on principle.
Assange has already stated on record that the emails did not come from Russia. He and Craig Murray stated they know who provided the emails. Wikileaks has to protect the source in order to receive future leaks.
The only thing Russia actually appears guilty of, that can be proven……is wiping out ISIS and al-Qaeda in Syria. Hence the real reason the US demonizes, blames and sanctions that country.
Thank you, Clay. Sanford is a smart guy but totally off on Putin, who wiped out the power of oligarchs in Russia. Actually, Putin is the world’s most stable and reasonable leader.
“Putin……who wiped out the power of oligarchs in Russia”
to replace them with himself and his own Mafiosi cronies….just like every where else!… Putin may be a babe in the woods compared to the Banksters , Oiligarchs and super rich who own almost everything , but he’s no savior and there is no evidence to suggest that he is some kind of disinterested Saint ,intent on saving the World from itself …believing otherwise is naive and just as ridiculous as believing that Trump ,was somehow going to be different to Clinton.. or that he gives a shit about blue collar workers , why must people reduce everything to black and white, either or… We talk about the “Groupthink” of the Corporate Media , unfortunately its just as present in the Alt Media.. neither Trump, Putin or any other Politician no matter how noble (Corbyn being a case in point) is going to save us from ourselves… unfortunately it rests upon Humanity’s collective shoulder…
I suggest your read Putin’s speeches and interviews rather than simply buying into the “bash Putin” propaganda from our MSM. There is plenty of evidence that he is a voice of sanity countering the western globalist’s vision of empire. The fact that he has enjoyed between 60 and 80 pct approval ratings inside Russia during his entire tenure and has raised the standard of living and life expectancy for the average Russian compared to the Yeltsin years is proof indeed that he cares about the people of Russia. I don’t do “groupthink.” I look at evidence. I agree that our future rests on “humanity’s collective shoulder”, but we should support anyone who speaks the truth, and that includes people like Putin. Working for peace in a multi-polar world is our only hope.
Very sad indeed. “indictments that would not, I suspect, have taken place without hard evidence”
So Chris, “the absence of evidence is not the evidence of absence” is that your point?
You would when you don’t expect the accused to show up in court. As 13 Russians would most certainly not do.
FYI ,Roger Stone knows nothing. He’s a self important dilettante trying to make a name for himself claiming he has connections when he doesn’t. Randy Credico already debunked Roger Stone’s claim. So why are you falling for this b.s.
Spatzcat
Did you read the entire essay? Hedges’ (and Ralph Nader’s) argument is on constitutional grounds, not on Mueller’s search for the still absent evidence of collusion between Trump and Russia.
https://www.truthdig.com/articles/are-we-about-to-face-our-gravest-constitutional-crisis/
Gary Weglarz
Drew – that is some very sad news to hear about Mr. Hedges. He is one of the last I’d suspect of buying into such nonsense.
Did you read the entire essay? Hedges’ (and Ralph Nader’s) argument is on constitutional grounds, not on supporting Mueller’s failure to find any evidence linking Trump-Russian collusion.
So, you’re saying that he’s now essentially advocating burning down the village to save it–destroying our constitutional protections just to “get” Trump. That is so foolish but seemingly hard for many, otherwise intelligent people, to understand.
That’s not what I get out of it. There are at least two issues going on here.
First is the Attorney General is the one who decides whether or not they prosecute Trump. Charge him with crimes. This is why Sessions recused himself. That left it up to Rothenstein.
Trump fired Sessions and replaced him with Whitaker. So now Trump’s henchman decides. In other words, Mueller can have evidence that would land anyone in prison. Whitaker can blow it off.
Second is impeachment. High crimes and misdemeanors means Trump can be charged with abuses of office. The rest of us might not be able to commit these acts because only Trump holds the high office.
As of now, Pelosi flat out says she isn’t going to impeach Trump. Not unless some evidence of Putin and Trump colluding together to rig the election. Pelosi doesn’t become Speaker until 2019, so she can’t now.
Remember last year about this time? Trump and the Congress got their tax scam passed. Called it a Christmas present. Done before recess.
The concern Hedges has – and it’s a very real one – is Trump will move now. In the interim. Fire Mueller. Make information disappear. Mueller answers to Whitaker right now. Ryan isn’t going to impeach Trump.
Therefore, if Trump feels cornered like a rat, now is when he begins biting. Before Mueller’s findings are made public. Before Pelosi is Speaker.
He could pull it off if no one stands up to him. So far, no one has in 2 years. Trump loaded the DOJ and SCOTUS with his minions. Trump tells he military where to aim the guns. This could be deep shit time.
That’s what I get out of Hedges’ take.
https://opensociet.org/2018/11/19/timing-are-we-about-to-face-our-constitutional-crisis/
mike k
I read Chris Hedges’ article on Truthdig today. I think you are too quick to condemn someone with his long record of clear vision. I think however that he should have made clear that Trump’s criticisms of CNN, the FBI and CIA, and the Democratic Party are actually totally justified.
Sorry to hear that about Hedges.
Trump is just a lowlife criminal thug gangster narcissist and a rather obvious one at that , why should he not be criticized by Hedges.. he IS corrupt, he HAS done dodgy real estate deals in Russia no doubt with the help of his Mafia connections , he’s not battling the deep state… he’s not going to save Democracy , he’s just as vicious self interested and World destroying as Obama the Clinton’s or any other American President just dumber….
Impeachment is a political process. Is there enough momentum to “Get Trump?”
Holtzman was part of the impeachment of Nixon. She says Nixon firing people and trying to get the CIA to stop the FBI investigation swung public opinion against Nixon and got Republicans on board.
Trump has already done the same thing.
Trump isn’t very smart, but he may be the greatest opportunist in the history of the world. Is now his opportunity to bum rush the opposition?
As long as nobody stands up to him, it doesn’t matter what Trump’s guilty of. Unconstitutional or illegal or immoral does not matter if Whitaker and Pelosi won’t go after him.
https://opensociet.org/2018/11/17/impeachment-is-a-political-process-not-a-criminal-process-the-grounds-to-impeach-is-whatever-the-house-majority-says-it-is/
Roger Milbrandt
Drew,
Alarmed by your comment, I looked up and read the Chris Hedges item.
I think you are over-reacting, but perhaps you understand some relevant nuances that escape me.
Hedges seems to virtually concede that the Russiagate theory is baseless, although he does say he thinks there much be some ‘hard evidence’ for the indictment of the thirteen Russians.
It seems to me his anxiety is based on procedure not content: that is, he does not seriously believe the Mueller inquiry has found any evidence of collusion with respect to the 2016 election but he sees danger in a President abusing his power to arrest an investigation whose intention was hostile to his own interests.
Correct me if I am wrong
Indeed. Nowhere does Hedges say Russiagate is real. Also, there are Trump’s finances to consider. Tax fraud. Money laundering.
The question is what evidence is there to show it. Last I heard, Mueller was investigating Trump’s relationship with Saudis.
Many fish in the sea besides Putin. Many crimes other than election rigging.
Surely even Trump’s fan club realize how corrupt he and his grifter family are by now.
stephen kelley
Patricia Ormsby
Thank you, Drew. I’ll stop reading him.
One can’t help but wonder what the lives of most of earth’s inhabitants might be like today if the brutal machinations of the U.S. and our amoral policy makers could be magically erased from human history, even just the history of my lifetime. How much human suffering would be eased if we simply had never existed to cause it in the first place?
A thorough discussion of the assassinations, coups and destabilization efforts, requires a great many volumes, this without even getting into our training and supporting death squads, outright invasions, use of proxy jihadists, endless support of dictators (including those brutal dictator’s toll of violence on their peoples), and then the various and sundry war crimes, i.e. from the use of depleted uranium, bombing civilian infrastructure like water plants, to the predictable and inevitable half-a-million dead Iraqi children rationalized as “worth it” by the sociopaths at the helm. Democratically elected Western leaders like a JFK, Aldo Moro or Olaf Palme simply disposed of when they act at cross purposes to the madness of Western empire and its neocolonial blood lust. The imposition of the U.S. led neoliberal economic plunder that now leaves the 5 wealthiest people on earth with as much wealth as the bottom one-half of the entire earth’s population is a source of absolutely ghastly unimaginable human suffering, daily misery and death about the globe – considered simply on its own.
If the world is lost in a fine madness at this point in human history, it is in large part because we in the U.S. have been raving violent madmen throughout the course of my lifetime. We most certainly have been “exceptional” as a nation, but only in the most violent, anti-democratic and inhumane ways imaginable. Americans of all political persuasions continue to live in daily denial of these basic historical realities, mystifying ourselves and thus insuring this carnage will continue.
Tom Kath
We are all in agreement, and keep getting it confirmed how rotten things are, but there is never any real solution proposed and the core values and CAUSES of the dilemma are not seriously addressed. Who would be prepared to give up their “basic human right” to make money or get rich at the expense of others? Who would be prepared to actually have to “earn” their entire wealth? – Our whole society fervently believes it is virtuous to “give yourself an unfair advantage”.
The list of colonies in the Empire indeed is a long one.
I fear the next shithole country will end up being the United States. This is where American foreign policy leads.
As things are now, war with China and Russia is likely. That would do it.
Bipartisan panel: US must prepare for “horrendous,” “devastating” war with Russia and China
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Tags: OCEAN > ATLANTIC OCEAN > NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN > NO OCEAN > INDIAN OCEAN > BAY OF BENGAL OCEAN > ATLANTIC OCEAN > NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN OCEAN > INDIAN OCEAN OCEAN > ATLANTIC OCEAN > NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN > ME
Drifting buoy data observed during 1999 and assembled by the Responsible Nati...
Temperature profile data from XBT casts from a World-Wide Distribution 31 Mar...
Physical data were collected from XBT casts from from a World-Wide Distribution from 31 March 1985 to 24 November 1990. Physical parameters include temperature profiles. Data...
Temperature profile data from MBT casts in a world-wide distribution from 23 ...
Temperature profile data were collected using MBT casts from multiple platforms in a world-wide distribution from December 23, 1964 to December 19, 1991. Additonal funding for...
Physical, nutrients, and chemical data from bottle casts and other instrument...
Physical, nutrients, and chemical data were collected using bottle, CTD, XBT, XSV, AXBT, thermometer, and tide gauge casts from AIRCRAFT in the North and South Pacific Ocean....
LDEO Database (Version 2012): Global Ocean Surface Water Partial Pressure of ...
NCEI Accession 0059946 includes Surface underway, chemical, meteorological and physical data collected in global oceans from 1957-10-22 to 2013-03-21. These data include...
Temperature profile data from the DONGHAE ILHO and DONUZLAV in a world-wide d...
Temperature profile data were collected from the DONGHAE ILHO and DONUZLAV from January 1, 1968 to June 11, 1993. Additional funding for digitizing historic data was provided by...
Sea level measured by tide gauges from global oceans as part of the Joint Arc...
This collection contains the complete holdings of the Joint Archive for Sea Level (JASL) for hourly and daily data that have been quality controlled, assessed, and documented....
Underway sea surface temperature and salinity data from thermosalinographs co...
This collection contains sea surface oceanographic data in netCDF and ASCII formatted files assembled by the NOAA Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory (AOML)...
PRESSURE - WATER and Other Data from UNKNOWN from 19990301 to 19990331 (NCEI ...
Temperature profile and other data from moored buoy, profiling floats, TAO bu...
Temperature profile and other data were collected from multiple ships from June 1, 2000 to November 29, 2000. Data were submitted by Marine Environmental Data Service (MEDS) as...
Drifting buoy data observed during 1985 through 1989 and assembled by the Res...
Physical and meteorological data were collected from drifting buoys from a World-Wide distribution from 2 January 1985 to 31 December 1989. Data were processed by NODC to the...
WATER TEMPERATURE and other data from MULTIPLE SHIPS in the Bismarck Sea, Gul...
Temperature profile data from moored buoy, profiling floats, TAO buoy, and XB...
Temperature profile data were collected from multiple ships from April 14, 2000 to February 20, 2001. Data were submitted by Marine Environmental Data Service (MEDS) as part of...
Temperature profile data collected from 03 May 1962 to 15 September 1990 (NCE...
Temperature profile data were collected using bottle casts in a world wide distribution from 03 May 1962 to 15 September 1990. Data were collected and submitted by...
Ocean color and transparency data received from Royal Netherlands Institute f...
Ocean color and transparency data received from Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research collected in the years 1889-99, 2001, 2002 and 2013.
National Oceanic an... (67)
OCEAN > INDIAN OCEA... (67)
OCEAN > INDIAN OCEAN (67)
DOC/NOAA/NESDIS/NOD... (67)
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CONTINENT > EUROPE ... (41)
CONTINENT > ASIA > ... (41)
OCEAN > SOUTHERN OCEAN (34)
CA/DFO > Fisheries ... (28)
GEOGRAPHIC REGION >... (26)
DRIFTING BUOYS (22)
XBT > Expendable Ba... (19)
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text/troff (3)
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Utah, BYU To Resume Rivalry After Sucker Punch Forces First Break Since 1944
Filed to:utah utes
Photo Credit: Gene Sweeney/Getty
Only two things can stop the Utah-BYU college basketball rivalry: The most destructive war humanity’s ever witnessed, and a pasty guard sucker-punching another guard in garbage time.
Utah released its non-conference schedule for the upcoming season Monday, and with the usually uneventful announcement came the revelation that the Utes and Cougars will resume their century-long rivalry after taking a year off—a “cooling off” period, as Utah head coach Larry Krystkowiak put it—from playing what had become a mainstay annual tradition in college basketball.
According to Utah Valley 360, the Utes-Cougars series dates back to 1909; the two teams played one another every year through 2015, with the exception being their 1944 contest, which was cancelled due to World War II.
The series, which featured its fair share of rivalry violence for a regular season non-conference game, was temporarily postponed in December 2015 after BYU guard Nick Emery, then a freshman, sucker-punched Utah guard Brandon Taylor underneath the basket. The game was played physically for the first 38 minutes, but Emery, in what appeared to be an act of both immaturity and frustration, put it over the edge when he decided to clock Taylor in the face while fighting for a meaningless rebound with just under two minutes to play and the Cougars trailing by 19 points.
Open tools.kinja-labs.com
Following the game, Krystkowiak announced that he thought the series should take some time off to avoid “serious injury.” BYU coach Dave Rose didn’t take kindly to the cancellation, criticizing Krystkowiak’s decision to break their two-year contract (“I totally respect his program. I don’t respect the decision”) and hypothetically questioning why the Cougars would choose to reenter future contract negotiations after the Utes backtracked on the 2016-17 season’s matchup.
Ultimately, both sides came to their senses and restarted the series; of course, that’s after Utah had to fork over an $80,000 guarantee fee to BYU for cancelling the series in the first place.
Utah Won't Play BYU In Basketball Next Season For The First Time Since WW2
BYU's Nick Emery Ejected For Throwing A Cheap Shot To The Face
Utah Lineman To BYU At Las Vegas Bowl Welcome Dinner: "You’re A Dirty Team"
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Your Yankees Schadenfreude Update
Isaac Rauch
Filed to:AL East
Ha! Alex Rodriguez came back from a broken hand today after missing every game since July 24—didn't matter, Yankees still lost to the Rays after Dave Robertson gave up a run on a grounder that just barely—ah! so close!—made it to the outfield. The Yankees have lost six of their last ten.
Meanwhile, the Orioles have won eight of ten, and are only a game behind the Yankees in the AL East, including today's 4-0 victory over the Blue Jays, and everybody likes them, because they're surprising and fun and their payroll is a shade under $81 million, 18th in the league.
Oh, and the Rays? The team that beat the Yankees this afternoon to pull within two and a half games? 25th in the payroll, and showing the Yankees how it's done this afternoon against the Yankees' ace.
Granted, all three play each other a bunch more in the remaining 28-odd games, and there are about 12 wildcard spots, so everyone gets some sort of participation trophy if I understand the rules correctly, but let's just enjoy this as the Labor Day miracle it is. Yankees fans are nervous. Can you smell their fear?
That Yankees Cologne Is Apparently A Huge Hit
Remember the Yankees cologne? The one that our fragrance experts described as a "the Justin Bieber…
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Cheaters Detective Gomez
"Don't Be The Last To Know"
Cheaters Instagram
PI Spy Tools
Police In Australia Are Accusing People Of Deliberately Setting Bushfires
Australia is being ravaged by the worst wildfires in decades. The wildfires in Australia have burned a massive expanse of land. The fires have been fueled by drought and extreme heat. The bushfires have burned across the country since September, killing 28 people and destroying more than 1,000 homes. Nearly a billion animals have perished, and hundreds of homes and habitats have been destroyed.
This is how much has been consumed by the wildfires in Australia in comparison to the area.
Australia’s deadly wildfires are showing no signs of stopping and even though large ravishing fires continue to take over the country Australian police belief to have reason to accuse 24 people of deliberately setting bushfires.
Police have charged at least 24 people for intentionally starting bushfires in the state of New South Wales, according to a statement the New South Wales Police released Monday.
NSW Police have taken legal action against 183 people, 40 of whom are juveniles, for fire-related offenses, the statement said. The legal actions range from cautions to criminal charges.
Police are cracking down on the burn ban across the state. Three people were charged with ban over the weekend. Fire services put out fires in two different towns started for cooking purposes, NSW Police said. Another man was charged after authorities found several fires lit on his property in another town.
24 people have been charged over alleged deliberately lit bushfires
53 people have had legal actions for allegedly failing to comply with a total fire ban
47 people have had legal actions for allegedly discarding a lighted cigarette or match on land.
In November, the NSW Rural Fire Service arrested a 19-year-old volunteer member on suspicion of arson, charging him with seven counts of deliberately setting fires over a six-week period.
Via: NSW Police Force
Check out our website at www.detectivegomez.com
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Published by detectivegomezblog
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#blogger, #influencer, #latino, #latino blogger, #latinoblogger, #police, Arson, Australia, Burn Ban, Charges, Damage, legal action, Offense, police, Uncategorized, Wildfire
#police, Australia, Australian Wildfire, Bushfires, Charges, Fire, legal action, NSW Rural Fire Service
El Príncipe Harry y Meghan Markle “Abandonaron” La Vida Pública
La Policía En Australia Acusa A Gente De Provocar Incendios Forestales Deliberadamente
Youtube: Cheaters
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=498Xb7j54HM
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Dream: Swimming in River Styx | Find Meaning in the Dream Story
by RadOwl · Published August 1, 2017 · Updated December 12, 2017
Step back.
That’s how I made a leap in my ability to interpret dreams. Step back from the dream and find the meaning and significance in the story it tells.
Another way of saying it is “simplify.” Dreams can be dramatic. They are meant to fully engage you in the story. It’s easy to get lost in the details, to see the trees but not the forest. That’s why you step back and observe what the story is actually saying.
Here’s an example dream, copied from Reddit Dreams where I discussed it with the dreamer, titled:
Took a Swim in the River Styx Last Night
[Light editing] I dreamt I was in a forest by a graveyard having lunch with a witch friend. I tell her I want to take a walk in the graveyard, and she advises against it. Says it’s “very active” and “not a good idea,” to which I say “That’s exactly WHY I want to go though, I’ve never been to an active graveyard before.“
So she walks me to the edge where the forest ends and the graveyard begins but she won’t go in with me. I wander through the graveyard, nothing special. It’s just a graveyard. Until I find a dock, and lo and behold, there’s ol’ Charon on his ferry and I realize I’m at an entrance to the River Styx.
This … excites me initially, for some reason. I get on the ferry and tell Charon that I must take a swim, because I want to exchange energy with the river. He tells me it’s ill-advised, but doesn’t tell me I can’t, so jump in and start treading water.
Pause here and notice that the dreamer has twice ignored the advice of dream characters. Now we continue with the dream description:
It’s brown, and muddy, and cold. Quite shallow too. I’m swarmed by cold, clammy, waterlogged corpses. Who are animated. They resemble bog bodies in every way. They don’t try to drown me, but they very very much want to cling to me and stroke me. I guess they want some of my energy too. Duh. They’re dead and I’m alive.
Pause again and note that detail. In simplest terms, something clings and wants his energy. Nevermind for now that “something” is a bunch of clammy, animated corpses. Back to our story:
Anyway, I tolerate this for a minute, but get squeamish pretty fast. Eesh. So I paddle back over to Charon and make an effort to get back on the ferry. He sends me visuals via telepathy that if I tried to get back onto the ferry, he would fall off. He didn’t say this was or wasn’t allowed, he simply showed me the inevitable outcome of me trying to get back on his ferry.
After some contemplation I decided that even though I really, REALLY want to get out of the river, I don’t want to knock over Charon to do it. So I make the long valiant paddle back to shore, which is quite a task when you have to discourage animated bog bodies from clinging desperately to you.
In that last scene, we see the dreamer make a decision for the benefit of someone else — even if it is Charon, the Ferryman of the Underworld (hey, he’s just a working Joe like most everybody else). The fact that it’s the Ferryman is less important in this case than the actions and details that create that scene. It’s hard to look beyond a character such as Charon or Death by stepping back to see the story. Characters like that give people the creeps and can bring up all sort of unpleasant possibilities (like “am I about to die?”), but 99.9% of the time what you see in a dream is symbolism that’s entirely personal and not prophetic.
Some dreams involving notable creatures such as the Grim Reaper and aliens are hard to be objective about. Sure, some people have dreamed about something like the Reaper coming for them just before they die, and some reports of alien contact and abduction could be true. Some dreams could be related to actual events in a person’s life, but again:
Step back. What’s the dream really saying?
This dream, about swimming in the River Styx, is saying that the dreamer has a tendency to ignore advice and plow ahead, even when it can lead him into strange places such as a graveyard or mythological river. His personality shows in his decisions. If a witch in a dream told you to avoid a graveyard, how would you react? Some people would say hey, you don’t have to tell me twice. Others would wonder what’s the big deal. Reaction can tell you a lot about a person. Keep in mind, dreams with complex and engaging stories are basically virtual reality simulations designed to show you things about yourself based on the decision you make while dreaming.
The dreamer also says he’s been pushing himself too hard lately and “not making the best choices.” Do you see it in the dream?
Now let’s consider the symbolism of the River Styx and the dead bodies. The dreamer says he wants to take a swim and exchange energy with the river, and when he jumps into it he gets more than he bargained for. Dead bodies cling to him. They want his energy too. That detail was easy for the dreamer and me to figure out. The dead bodies represent the dreamer’s past, dead parts of himself, and energy is leached by dwelling on it.
And nothing says “in the past” like a graveyard! All details from a dream come together into a big picture, interrelated either symbolically or narratively. My first inclination is to think of the graveyard simply as a prop in the story, a way of dramatizing the dreamer’s decision to do what he’s told he shouldn’t, but perhaps it’s more meaningful.
Time is said to flow like a river. The River Styx in this dream is a metaphor for the time that’s behind the dreamer, in the past. You can be energized by thinking about the past if you use it to motivate you in the present and future and if you learn from past mistakes. But this person is going too far with it. He’s dwelling on the past — dwelling on “dead time,” which is another way of saying “River of Death” — and it’s taking energy away from the present. When he jumps in the river, he knows subconsciously that he’s acting out the symbolism.
Which means he also knows somewhere deep inside that he’s an actor in the dream-story and the point is to show him something about himself. Ponder that for a moment. How many times have you done something in a dream and wondered later what possessed you to do it?
We have one last major detail to connect with this emerging picture of the meaning and significance of the dream. The dreamer decides he won’t get back into the boat and knock over Charon. Here’s how the dreamer explains it:
Choosing to not get back on the boat represents the desire to do things the right way and not necessarily the fastest way. Getting back on the ferry right away would have immediately removed me from a situation I didn’t want to be in, but Charon would have had to suffer. So I chose to deal with icky bog bodies and swam back to shore even though it took longer and I hated it.
I’m RadOwl, your ferryman in Dreamland.
Our dreamer is learning well.
He’s learning to make better choices. In the past, he was impulsive and challenged restraints and barriers. He’d do something simply because other people wouldn’t do it. But he’s learning to temper his impulsiveness, especially when other people are affected.
Now imagine where you could go with a dream that features a graveyard, a witch, Charon, dead bodies, leaching energy and the River Styx. Interpreted incorrectly, it could lead to undue fear and distress. Focus on those details without understanding them and, yeah, you get the idea. Big mistake.
See the story within the dream.
I’ll teach you how to interpret your dreams. This is your guide.
Tags: dream with charonRiver Styxsimplify a dream
RadOwl
I'm J.M. DeBord, aka RadOwl. I'm a best-selling author of four books including The Dream Interpretation Dictionary, RadOwl's Crash Course in Dream Interpretation, and Dreams 1-2-3. I also created DreamSchool.net, the online home for dream interpretation courses, and D3, a 3-step process of dream interpretation. I've been a guest on Coast to Coast AM, was quoted extensively in the Boston Globe, and was featured as a dream expert in Woman's World Magazine.
Why We Dream (and What We Can Learn)
by RadOwl · Published April 19, 2019 · Last modified July 5, 2019
Dreaming about Three Children | Mother Sees Her Unborn Children
by RadOwl · Published November 29, 2012 · Last modified November 21, 2017
Dream Interpretation: Animals in Dreams – A Primer
by RadOwl · Published April 30, 2016 · Last modified June 7, 2017
As Dr. Frasier Crane says, I'm listening. Leave a comment. Cancel reply
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AI Can Improve Patient Outcomes, but will Pharma Get there Quickly Enough?
By Ryan Billings, MS, MBA, Executive Director, Digital Engagement, AMAG Pharmaceuticals
Ryan Billings, MS, MBA, Executive Director, Digital Engagement, AMAG Pharmaceuticals
No matter what industry you’re in, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is all the rage. It’s the shiniest of the shiny and new, and it’s everywhere.
In pop culture alone it’s the central theme of HBO’s Westworld, where humanoid AI robots pretend to be people, or even the most recent season of Silicon Valley where a major character was an AI-powered robot named Fiona.
"Machine learning is making the drug discovery process cheaper, faster, and more optimal for all involved"
AI is also the central, recurring theme at every conference. Even at giant tradeshows like the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) where, this year, we saw autonomous vehicles, voice-enabled bot driving assistants within cars, L’Oreal’s thumbnail-sized UV sensor patch, and hundreds of other AI-enabled “smart” products. At South by Southwest (SXSW), it seemed every other session was about AI. Elon Musk himself, CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, even made a surprise appearance where he fielded questions from the audience and warned against the irresponsible development of AI and the requirement to “work safely’ when exploring it.
AI is omnipresent and it’s no shock that it’s even crept its way into the highly regulated pharmaceutical industry, one that is usually risk averse and slow to adapt new technologies. And with increasing R&D costs and healthcare costs in general, paired with larger and more precise data sets, AI may alleviate multiple pain-points across the industry. But will we adapt quickly enough?
Pharma’s Recent History of Emerging Tech Adoption
Look at the adoption of social media, for example. A few years ago, social media had become the norm and a crucial tactic for brand engagement in every other industry. Customers were taking brand complaints, praise, and discussions to social, but pharma had no presence. The conversation was happening with or without us, and we had a choice to make – we could either meet our customers where they wanted to engage, or miss out. Clearly we needed to be there. Yet pharma was bound by requirements to provide fair balance, privacy and safety information among all branded promotional materials.
In 2014 the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) came out with draft guidelines entitled Guidance for Industry Internet/Social Media Platforms with Character Space Limitations—Presenting Risk and Benefit Information for Prescription Drugs and Medical Devices, and everything changed. Today there are hundreds of branded pharmaceutical product pages across social channels like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and more, many with open comments. Pharma’s even ventured into Snapchat! These channels allow for precise targeting, but more importantly for opportunities to compliantly engage with customers for customer service purposes, gain invaluable brand and behavioral insights, and provide condition support communities.
So how is regulation affecting the pharmaceutical industry’s adoption of AI? What are the use cases within pharma for AI? With social media, it became clear that pharma had to either adapt or miss crucial patient and customer engagements. AI is no different.
AI is Already Happening in Pharma
Despite being slow to adopt other technologies, we’re already seeing AI come to life across the pharmaceutical industry. Of course, there are dozens of components within the industry where AI is applicable, including therapy discovery, product approval, commercialization, clinical trials, FDA submission strategies, product launch execution, pricing, supply chain management, market penetration and building, awareness, product adherence, clinical development and trials for new indications, and submission in other markets, to name a few.
It would take years to understand use cases of AI for every single aspect of this complex industry, but the common theme is simple: Driven by precise data sets, AI will shorten the amount of time it takes to solve business problems and meet objectives. Let’s explore some of the potential use cases.
Improving Drug Discovery
First, AI has the potential to find new therapies. Machine learning is making the drug discovery process cheaper, faster, and more optimal for all involved. Startups like Berg and Benevolent Bio have each developed their own AI platforms to analyze obscenely large amounts of biological and clinical data in order to discover new cancer and neurological therapies. Additionally, modern predictive analysis technologies have the potential to improve drug pipelines through computer simulations.
Data-Driven& Precisely Personalized Treatment Plans
Highly personalized treatment plans are also on the horizon due to advances in AI and remote patient monitoring. Last year, AiveCor’s Kardia band became the first FDA-cleared Apple Watch band, upgrading the Apple Watch to a medical device, AliveCor, recently named the number one Most Innovative Company in Artificial Intelligence by Fast Company, “enables patients and their care teams to easily, quickly and inexpensively detect and manage possible abnormal heart rhythms.” The band functions as an electrocardiogram machine and is 84% accurate at detecting one’s normal heartbeat from a trial fibrillation, which can cause stroke. A cardiologist can now remotely monitor a patient versus seeing them once a year, allowing the physician to create precise treatment plans, which in turn affect pharmaceutical sales volumes and provide anonymized patient insights leading to more relevant therapy options.
IBM Watson is also at the forefront of AI, optimizing patient treatment options based on medical history and information. Remote patient monitoring, better data flow, and predictive analyses are all allowing for optimized treatment plans and better outcomes.
Staying on Therapy with AI
Drug adherence is another area where AI is improving patient outcomes. AiCure’s intelligent medical assistant uses a HIPAA compliant visual recognition platform to track patient therapy use. The product provides visual dose confirmation, interactive patient support, and visual diagnostic capabilities. A more basic but effective example is that many manufacturers are launching SMS interventions and machine-learning enabled chatbots to adapt to patient needs, providing dosing day reminders and refill reminders, thus improving product adherence.
Re-Thinking Traditional Governance Models
Of course, before pharma can truly embrace AI in a mainstream way, we need to understand the regulatory considerations and potential hurdles. Data security, patient privacy, accuracy, and lack of infrastructure are just a few initial concerns. Regardless, AI is here and the industry must get comfortable with being uncomfortable. And from a regulatory body standpoint, we’re off to a decent start. Because AI can increase datasets of relevant information that directly support the FDA’s goals, cross-functional groups such as the Digital Health Unit have been created to understand AI’s possibilities and obstacles. The Unit is comprised of AI experts, healthcare industry members, and members of the FDA.
At the end of the day, AI has boundless potential to solve business problems and meet objectives within pharmaceutical organizations, thus improving patient outcomes in a much shorter time span. But the most important thing to remember is to not be distracted by the shininess and newness of AI. Always ask yourself: What business problem am I trying to solve, what outcome am I looking to achieve, and will AI get me there faster?
More importantly, is this what’s best for the patient? If the answer is yes, you’re at an optimal starting point. You will also need to get used to new models internally if you’re going to succeed. Consider a new approach to digital and technology governance internally that embraces agile approaches, testing ideas, and unlikely partnerships such as AI startups.
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New medication appears effective in helping smokers kick the habit
A drug recently approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as an aid to smoking cessation appears effective both short and long-term for smokers trying to quit, according to two reports in the August 14/28 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
Smoking is the leading cause of preventable death in the United States and worldwide. Currently available pharmacotherapies for smoking cessation include nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) – such as gum, skin patches, tablets, nasal spray and inhalers – and the antidepressant drugs bupropion hydrochloride and nortriptyline hydrochloride. These have shown limited success rates, with success at one year averaging approximately seven percent to 30 percent, according to background information in the articles.
The new drug varenicline tartrate mimics the effects of nicotine to help offset cravings, and in the presence of nicotine it helps suppress some of the reinforcing effects of smoking.
Mitchell Nides, Ph.D., of Los Angeles Clinical Trials, and colleagues with the Varenicline Study Group conducted a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study to evaluate the efficacy, tolerability and safety of varenicline for smoking cessation. Healthy smokers aged 18 to 65 years were randomly assigned to receive varenicline in a dosage of .3 milligrams once daily, 1 milligram once daily, or 1 milligram twice daily for six weeks, plus placebo for one week; to 150 milligrams of sustained-release bupropion hydrochloride twice daily for seven weeks; or to placebo for seven weeks.
The authors report that varenicline, in combination with brief behavioral counseling, was more effective for short and long-term smoking cessation than placebo.
“Efficacy improved as the dose increased, with varenicline tartrate, 1 milligram twice daily, providing the highest rates of continuous abstinence across all treatment groups, including bupropion,” they write. Four-week continuous quit rates were 48 percent for varenicline, 1 milligram twice daily; 37.3 percent for varenicline, 1 milligram daily; 33.3 percent for bupropion hydrochloride; and 17.1 percent for placebo. Long-term quit rates from four weeks to one year were 14.4 percent for the group that received varenicline, 1 milligram twice daily, vs. 4.9 percent for placebo.
“In this study, varenicline tartrate, 1 milligram twice daily, effectively helped subjects quit smoking, with response rates three times higher than those for placebo while demonstrating a good tolerability profile in this population of smokers who on average had smoked approximately 20 cigarettes per day for approximately 24 years,” the authors write. “Efficacy was maintained in the non–drug treatment phase through week 52. The significant reductions in craving and in some of the rewarding effects of smoking seen with varenicline tartrate, 1 milligram twice daily, may assist in promoting abstinence and preventing relapse,” they conclude
In an accompanying article, the same research team reports that varenicline taken over 12 weeks was effective in helping smokers quit, and was generally well tolerated.
Cheryl Oncken, M.D., of the University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington, and colleagues studied 647 patients to evaluate the efficacy, safety and tolerability of four varenicline dose regimens–two with titrated, or progressive, dosing over the first week, and two with a non-titrated, or fixed, dosing schedule, for promoting smoking cessation. Healthy smokers aged 18 to 65 years randomly received varenicline, .5 milligrams twice daily non-titrated, .5 milligrams twice daily titrated, 1 milligram twice daily non-titrated, 1 milligram twice daily titrated or placebo for 12 weeks, then with a 40-week follow-up period to assess long-term efficacy.
“In this study, treatment with varenicline tartrate at doses of .5 milligrams and 1 milligram twice daily, was associated with significantly higher smoking cessation rates compared with placebo,” the authors report. At weeks nine to 52, the abstinence rates were 22.4 percent in the 1-milligram group, 18.5 percent in the .5-milligram group and 3.9 percent in the placebo group.
Among those who were treated with varenicline, 16 percent to 42 percent experienced nausea. Reports of nausea were lower among those who received progressive dosing.
“In summary, varenicline tartrate (.5-milligram and 1-milligram doses taken twice daily for 12 weeks) significantly improved short- and long-term abstinence rates compared with placebo,” the authors conclude. “Future studies are warranted to compare the efficacy of varenicline to other smoking cessation pharmacotherapies and to determine whether a longer duration of medication treatment improves smoking cessation rates.”
The results of the studies by the Varenicline Study Group demonstrate that varenicline is a novel medication to aid in smoking cessation, writes Bankole A. Johnson, D.Sc., M.D., Ph.D., of the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, in an accompanying editorial. Dr. Johnson also summarizes other approaches to treating nicotine addiction now in development, including medications and a vaccine. “In sum, pharmacological and immunological studies are opening up new vistas for safe, efficacious and potent treatments for nicotine dependence,” he writes. “Molecular genetic studies also are investigating how to identify those individuals vulnerable to becoming nicotine dependent and, once they are dependent, the treatments that might work best for them. All these advances will deliver real aid to craving.
Source: Arch Intern Med. 2006;166:1571-1577 http://www.jamamedia.org. Aug. 2006
Filed under: Nicotine,Treatment and Addiction :
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Hannahgrace.05
Born in England
Augustus Gabriel
Augustus Wesley Gabriel
The pages are still blank, but there is a miraculous feeling of words being there, written in invisible ink and clamoring to become visible.
slytherin alumni / twenty / writer / bartender / proud af werewolf made by hannah.
August Tenth
Alive; Single
Bisexual, Biromantic
Year/Occupation
Currently, The Precinct
Wizard, Werewolf
Family Blood
Wand Core
Phoenix Feather
Wand Wood
Cyprus Wood
Wand Arm
Small Enclosed Places
Distinguishing Marks
Eh, a few scars but nothing too big
Mental State
Really, really happy tbh
Favorite Book
Favorite Drink
{{{Etymology}}}
Madeline Gabriel
David Gabriel
Full Siblings
Morgan Gabriel (deceased)
Half Siblings
Julija Bilandžić
N / A
Augustus is, in general, a very charismatic person. He's usually always welcome to a conversation and willing to make friends wherever he might meet someone. He, as well, has a level of charm to him and likable to many. His smile, good sense of humour, and just his overall kindess towards others have lightened people's moods in the past, lightening his in the process. Throughout his entire life, and definitely fueled even more through his time in America, Gus has believed everyone should be treated fairly, no matter if they're a muggle-born, pure-blood, vampire, or witch. He knows what is like to be ashamed of oneself because you're taught to be ashamed of who you are, and he'd never push that upon anyone else. Because, if he had learned anything in his two years of living away from Britain, it's to not give any damns about anyone's judgement but his own. Just because his mother or father hated the fact he was werewolf, he shouldn't dare hate being a werewolf, too. His confidence and self esteem is a lot higher than it once was during his years in Hogwarts, and he won't let anyone tear it down now that it's there.
Augustus Gabriel is a writer (and a lot more open about being one, too). The pages of his journal and the pen beside it have been with him when people have not. Those were the things that helped him cope when he was at his worst. And, sometimes someone may have to write down something when telling their thoughts do no good. So, when Gus's head filled with thoughts, he'd write them down instead of sharing. It was nice. The hobby stuck. As well as being a writer, Gus is observant. His eyes like to wander and watch what is happening around him, maybe in hopes for inspiration for a few extra pages in his journal. He, as well, is fairly good in reading emotions. When a person is trying to not look sad or frustrated, he tends to notice more often than the average person can. Though, partially, he knows the look well by now on pretending to look happy when you aren't... luckily, though, that fake expression hasn't been used in quite some time.
David Gabriel and Madeline Roberts were the types of students people wanted to be. Popular, intelligent, and being known as the longest-lasting and cutest couple Hogwarts had to offer. They were likable, too. Neither of them could even think of one enemy they may have, because no one disliked them. The Gryffindor and Hufflepuff weren't perfect either, of course, as no one is. David Gabriel, even if not having any hatred or sorts towards wizards by their blood status, was raised to be fearful and cautious from half-breeds, werewolves, or any other 'non-human' sort of species. Despite Madeline coming from a humble family with a muggle-born father and muggle mother who believed everyone should be treated equally, her values would change once starting to date the Gabriel. Yet, people were good at ignoring the negatives about them, since they didn't flaunt how much they hated half-breeds most of the time. No one would even guess how much of a wreck they'd be in over a decades time.
Gabriel and Roberts would elope almost right after graduating Hogwarts and moved into a small apartment together. They carried on to live their lives, both getting respectable jobs. David traveled a lot through work, but certainly refused to leave Madeline's side once they were back together. By the time Madeline was twenty-three, she would cheerfully share the news that she was pregnant and the two would become parents to a little girl named Morgan Gabriel. Morgan was, well, a prodigy. The perfect and stereotypical child a parent may dream of. She was brilliant, and many people believed she'd most likely blossom to be even more intelligent than her parents. She had shown signs of magic at the age of five, starting Hogwarts at eleven. The family was perceived as perfect. They felt like a perfect family. Though, despite it all, life has always believed perfect was boring. Madeline and David would come to realize this the summer after Morgan's first year at Hogwarts. The mother and daughter duo had gone out to Diagon Alley in search of supplies only for the worst possible situation to occur; a terrorist attack. Madeline survived. Everyone would tell her how thankful she should be to be living after that dark day, as more people seemed to not leave that day alive than not. Madeline wasn't thankful. For the rest of her life she'd wish she had died in that attack. For her life to leave every part of her body in spare of her daughter's.
The Gabriels fell into a deep hole of depression which was, well, understandable. Every sense of happiness drained from their bodies, replaced with a cold and dark sadness that never seemed to leave. For weeks, the only thing they seemed to consume was the alcohol in their cabinets. They'd eat finally after a while, but the alcoholic-nature they grew didn't leave. David found himself travelling more than just for business, disguising it as work duties when it really wasn't. Truly, he'd go off to drink until the image of his daughter and wife who looked just like her were forgotten and he found himself in bed with another woman by morning. This would cause problems in the distant future, but her didn't bother stopping. Not even when finding out Madeline had become pregnant once more with a baby boy. Augustus Gabriel.
Augustus or 'Gus' was doomed from the beginning. Maybe if Morgan wasn't so perfect, his parents wouldn't have such high hopes he'd be the same. They wouldn't be angry that his first sign of magic didn't come at the young age of five like his sister. Or six. Or seven. They wouldn't be dissapointed that he wasn't praised for such brilliance Morgan had. Maybe they'd be able to be not as fearful towards him when being attacked and turned into a werewolf at the age of seven. The Gabriel children just seemed to get the unluckiness their parents never had.
Gus would finally have his first sign of magic when he was nine which, honestly, is better than it could of been. At least he wasn't a werewolf and squib, as his parents would most likely just leave him in the street if so. They didn't. Gus sometimes wish they did. Instead, he was locked in his room constantly, whether it was because he made them mad or they were mad in general. His love for writing grew through this often method they used on the Gabriel, as that was one of the few things he was able to do, but he still found himself bored for hours at a time. Sitting on the bed one day in frustration, his anger would magically unlock and open the door and he found himself free. The sign of magic filled the little boy with glee, though that feeling didn't share the same with both of his drunk parents would yelled at him. By the time he started Hogwarts - which took much, much persuasion and an agreement as long as he supplied on Wolfsbane Potions that helped hide his identity as a werewolf to most people par the headmaster and some teachers - his unlocking and locking trick could almost be done by command. Though, he wouldn't need to do it as much through school as there was a spell for that.
Augustus's - who was sorted into Slytherin despite wanting one of his parent's houses - years through school were very chill. Amazing, as well. His best memories would be from the school. The boy found himself quite the charismatic student despite not having been out and talking to people for much of his childhood. Though, there were still his days where liked to have some alone time and in which he made those. He stayed away from close friendships and only gained a small handful, Fredrick Spencer being one of them. Gus had met the Ravenclaw - a fifth year then - in his seventh year, in which the two would grow close and realize they had feelings for each other more than just friendship, and Gus would slowly come to realization that he was bisexual. The two would start dating near the end of Gus's final year at Hogwarts and onward when the Slytherin graduated. He gladly moved out of his family home into an apartment and became a bartender at a shady bar in Hogsmeade. He was happy. Everything would go up from here.
He thought wrong.
Alistair Fitzgerald came first, rising as minister with his shit policies, ideas for a jail for any half-breeds or werewolves or vampires, and tacky badges. Not only was the minister wanting to ruin any hopes of spending the next years peacefully, he did it all before Gus was even known to be a werewolf to most people. And, although not nearly as bad, Julija would come second. Aka his half-sister. Aka his dad was a terrible cheat and he hadn't known until this girl just a bit younger than him told him so. He wasn't going to leave. He wanted to be brave and fight through it all, as well as get to know this new family member. He just... well, he couldn't. His whole life turned upside down in a blink of an eye and he needed to get away. At least for a moment. He left for America, his stomach sick with the feeling of cowardness the entire way there. Quitting his job and selling his apartment was easy. Breaking up with Freddie and saying goodbye to Julija hurt. A pain he'd feel for quite a while in America.
Two years passed. His start of this new country would be making friends with Stacy. Not only an Ilvermorny Alumni witch, she ran a pub and was as well a werewolf that was apart of a pack. Not only was able to Gus get a job that he knew how to work very well, she also had him join the werewolf pack where he'd finally learn, after all this time, he shouldn't be ashamed of being one. He shouldn't be ashamed of being himself. All while this was happening, he kept in touch with Julija. Wrote her letters and learned more about her. Not so much with Freddie. He tried writing letters a few times but always threw them away in the end. Gus was moving on and he assumed the Spencer was, too. Augustus and Stacy would date for a bit, but it didn't last long. They saw each other more as friends than anything else. America brought Augustus happiness, in which Britain had drained most of it out.
So, why did he come back?
Hearing news of the precinct, the protests, the serial killer events, and just anything that had to do with the minister that has been in charge for over two years now hurt Augustus. Were the people he was close with in Hogwarts doing fine? Were the half-breeds he had met in his brief time living in the precinct okay? As okay as they can get with such harsh circumstances? The pack and the people in it understood when Augustus had left, especially Stacy, despite not having a clue why he'd do it. He didn't know why either, but didn't even stop and think until he was standing on British soil once more. Walking into the precinct that made his blood boil everytime his eyes laid on it. When half-breeds and werewolves were asking why the hell he had come back when he had escaped so easily. There was no going back at that point. He didn't regret either, even with thinking a bit. No, he's ready to fight back a bit now.
https://Hannahgrace.05.com/characters/Augustus-Gabriel
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Andrew in Links | June 8, 2014
Last week’s Twitter favorites
For your edification, the pick of my favorites from my Twitter feed last week.
Four Modern Versions of the Bible that are Ruining the Bible – Ben Irwin
…the commercialization of scripture has also given us four iterations of the modern Bible — which I believe are causing us to value the Bible less and read it less.
What Both Sides Completely Miss In The Abortion Discussion – Benjamin L. Corey
The abortion discussion is one of the most polarizing discussions one can have. In fact, I usually avoid it for that reason– the conversations are often so filled with strife that they don’t accomplish anything or remotely move the conversation forward.
…In the end, I think this disconnect is because both sides are failing to realize or acknowledge some critical information.
How To Watch The World Cup Like A True Soccer Nerd – via Benjamin Howard
Because here’s the thing: The idea that the ineffable foreignness of soccer is best left to continents like Europe and South America — because all us Yanks will do is take away its beauty, what with our “stats” and “analysis” — is no more than a steaming pile of merde.
Too bad the World Cup is run by the corrupt clown show that is FIFA.
Teenagers, it’s OK not to have sex – via Bronwyn Lea
Phin Lyman made headlines with an article about being a virgin at 18. He tells Joanna Moorhead why he wanted to encourage younger people not to rush into a sex life and his plans to stay celibate when he goes to university
Pentecost: When God Rebels Against Her Handlers – Morgon Guyton
Yes, I said her. But on Pentecost you can do that. Jesus calls the one who sent him Father. Obviously, Jesus was a dude himself. But the Holy Spirit is at most gender-neutral and at best gender-bending, because the Holy Spirit makes both men and women prophesy, as Peter controversially declares on Pentecost. – See more at: http://morganguyton.us/2014/06/07/pentecost-when-god-rebels-against-her-handlers/#sthash.PhjdR4bR.dpuf
Yes, I said her. But on Pentecost you can do that. Jesus calls the one who sent him Father. Obviously, Jesus was a dude himself. But the Holy Spirit is at most gender-neutral and at best gender-bending, because the Holy Spirit makes both men and women prophesy, as Peter controversially declares on Pentecost.
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DATA TO DECISIONS
On Analytics, Data Platforms and Smart Applications
About Doug Henschen
MapR Ambition: Next-Generation Application Platform
Doug Henschen December 15, 2016 December 16, 2016 #streaming, big data, Data to Decisions
MapR promises a more scaleable, reliable, real-time-capable and converged alternative to Hadoop, NoSQL databases and Kafka combined. Are companies buying it?
MapR is frequently mentioned in the same breath with Hadoop vendors Cloudera and Hortonworks, but maybe it’s time to stop thinking of them as competitors. Indeed, over the last eighteen months, MapR has added ambitious NoSQL database and streaming capabilities to what the company now calls its MapR Converged Data Platform.
The differences between MapR and its erstwhile competitors were underscored at MapR’s first ever analyst day, December 13, at its headquarters in San Jose, CA. Executives not only contrasted MapR’s platform with Hadoop, it also detailed advantages verses NoSQL databases Cassandra, HBase and MongoDB, and an open source staple of streaming applications, Apache Kafka. They bemoaned the “complexity” and “chaos” of multi-project open-source deployments, and MapR CEO Matt Mills, a 20-year Oracle veteran, proudly declared MapR to be “a commercial enterprise software company.”
MapR presents its Converged data platform as a more scalable, reliable and performant alternative to Hadoop, NoSQL databases and Kafka combined.
It’s not that MapR doesn’t exploit open source innovation. The MapR platform includes components of Hadoop and Spark as well as Drill and Myriad, the last two being projects incubated by MapR and contributed to open source. The platform also relies entirely on industry-standard and open source APIs (a choice the company asserts eliminates the possibility of lock-in), even when MapR has replaced the associated components.
MapR chose from its founding to replace the Hadoop Distributed File System (HDFS) with a POSIX/NFS standard file system, for example, yet developers can still use the HDFS API. The POSIX/NFS choice provided read/write capabilities (verse append-only HDFS), better performance, and a “volumes” data construct for higher scalability and easier data organization and governance.
The early POSIX/NFS choice is now paying dividends as MapR goes after database and streaming rolls. The underpinning technology gives the MapR-DB database consistency, reliability and scalability advantages over HBase, Cassandra and MongoDB, says the company, yet developers can still use the HBase API. And given the breadth of capabilities across the platform (including MapR-DB), MapR cites scalability, data persistence, performance and global deployment advantages over Kafka and complex Lambda architectures (yet developers can use the Kafka API).
MapR hasn’t brought together all these capabilities just to check more boxes. Executives said they’re seeing more and more customers building out next-generation applications. The hallmark of such applications is compound requirements spanning the capabilities of file systems, search, databases and streaming systems. Another trait is the embedding of analytics directly into operational applications to support automated, data-driven actions without human intervention. MapR says its converged platform supports all of these demands with better speed, scale and reliability than you can cobble together with multiple open-source point systems.
MapR shared plenty of examples of customers building out next-gen apps. A Paysafe executive was there to talk about how it detects potentially fraudulent payment transactions within milliseconds so it can stop them before they go through. Rubicon runs a real-time, high-scale online ad exchange that handles peak loads of 5 million queries per second with 300 real-time decisions per ad placement. National Oilwell Varco analyzes sensor data from its oil well drills in real time to optimize production output and support predictive maintenance. And Qualcomm monitors sensors in its semiconductor plants in real time to automate actions that improve manufacturing yields.
The typical MapR customer is experienced with big data deployments, and more than 40% are former Cloudera or Hortonworks customers, according to the company. Given MapR’s commercial approach and emphasis on sophisticated requirements, it’s not the right choice for a big data newby or an open-source zealot. Partner Gustavo De Leon of Cognizant described would-be MapR customers as falling into the second of two classes of big data practitioners he’s seeing. First, there are the companies doing lots of big data proof-of-concept (POC) projects and not being terribly productive. Second, there are the companies that are more business focused that a concentrating on specific use cases.
De Leon’s implication was that MapR customers “want to know that they can take POCs into production and that the application will be enterprise ready and capable when they’re done.”
MyPOV on MapR Converged Data Platform
MapR’s foray into NoSQL and steaming opportunities is ambitions but the vision to serve converging requirements and high-performance demands isn’t new to the company. It has been the company’s focus and direction for years. What was new at the analyst day was hearing the vision directly from top brass along with forward-looking statements about the roadmap, investment plans and a possible future initial public offering. What was somewhat surprising was hearing quite the degree of open-source bashing, though I am hearing growing impatience from big data practitioners about the complexity of deploying and managing dozens of separate open source projects.
It was a good first-time analyst event for MapR, but the company was a bit stingy with company measures and plans. The roadmap was more like a set of themes with no precise dates attached. I also would have liked to hear from more customers, including non-OEM customers who don’t have an interest in promoting their own business. MapR has a solid list of high-profile customers, but it’s understandably hard to get an executive from an American Express, Audi, Novartis or United Healthcare to come speak at a tiny insider event in mid December.
Given MapR’s comparatively small size (which it doesn’t disclose but is likely somewhere between $100 million and $200 million), I would have liked to have heard a more nuanced, flexible positioning in the “land-and-expand” or “we can work with incumbent tools or replace them” vein. Instead we heard the hard-sell “we can do it all and do it better than all those other [popular and widely used] tools out there.” I’m guessing that in real-world sales situations there are plenty of developers and influencers predisposed to popular open source choices. I’m also guessing MapR has an easier time making a case for its converged story once it’s established inside a company. And no doubt it gets the nod first as a big data analytics platform, and not as a stand-alone NoSQL database or streaming choice.
I completely agree with MapR that people have to stop thinking of analytics only as reports, data visualizations and other types of human interactions and start thinking more about embedding analytics into transactional applications as automated triggers and actions. At the very least it should be alerts for exception conditions. As companies move toward these sorts of sophisticated, next-gen applications, MapR will have a better and better shot at being part of the conversation.
#analytics, #Hadoop, #MapR16, @MapR
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Published by Doug Henschen
I'm a technology analyst with Constellation Research focused on the discipline of turning data into insights and better decisions. This involves technologies spanning data-management, business intelligence, analytics and big data. View all posts by Doug Henschen
Pingback: Cloudera Focuses Message, Takes Fifth On Pending Moves | DATA TO DECISIONS
#EnterpriseApplications
#Financial Planning & Analysis
#NoSQL
natural language interfaces
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Ecological Consequences Of Relatedness: The Role Of Competition And Herbivory In The Community Structure Of Co-Occurring Asteraceae
Stastny, Michael.pdf (1.765Mb)
Stastny, Michael
Species interactions, such as competition and herbivory, are believed to be important structuring forces in plant communities. As a proxy for species similarity, the degree of relatedness among species may influence the intensity and outcomes of these interactions. In my dissertation research, I examined whether relatedness influenced the relative importance of plant competition and insect herbivory, and their feedbacks, in structuring the local community of closely related Asteraceae. Focusing on seven common, co-occurring, old-field species (genus Solidago, Symphyotrichum, and Euthamia), I tested the long-standing hypothesis that competition between close relatives is stronger than among more distantly related taxa. I also examined the effects of plant community structure on herbivory by a specialist outbreaking herbivore (Trirhabda virgata), and, in turn, the impacts of herbivory on plant competitive dynamics and community structure. Relatedness was not a reliable predictor of the intensity of competition among the focal species. Outcomes of pairwise competition between close and more distant relatives did not differ in a shortterm greenhouse experiment. Over three years, community productivity and growth of individual species were comparable in field mesocosms containing closely related species or mixtures of more distantly related taxa, in spite of clear differences in competitive abilities among species. However, communities of close relatives experienced greater invasion by other old-field species, highlighting the role of relatedness and competition in broader plant community structure. Community relatedness also determined the extent of damage by Trirhabda, which reflected the insect's host preference hierarchy. Specifically, the preferred genus (Solidago) suffered greater herbivory when growing in mixtures with the less preferred genus (Symphyotrichum) than when growing alone; the opposite pattern was observed for Symphyotrichum. In spite of differential damage, herbivory did not lead to a shift in the competitive abilities or community structure of the focal species compared to communities protected from herbivores; however, insect herbivores promoted invasion of the communities by other old-field species. In summary, my research reveals the consequences of species relatedness in trophic interactions between plants and herbivores, but not directly in plant competition, and underscores the potential feedbacks between plant community structure and herbivory over longer time scales.
dissertation or thesis
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/ Fashion
Photographed by Gilles Bensimon
Styled by Kate Davidson Hudson
The Hannah Jeter Effect
Hannah Jeter has two young kids, a megafamous husband, legs for days — and some exciting plans to launch a new chapter in her career.
by Rachel Rosenblit
Hannah Jeter is like the island in the travel brochure: skin the color of sand at sunset; hair cascading like dunes; eyes crystal clear and sparkling, in a mystifying blue-green. You Are Here, reads the brochure — in the presence of a wondrous slice of nature begging to be marveled at and photographed. Her smile alone could disarm a few sharks.
Can this creature of paradise radiate the same glow on cold, dry land? See here for yourself, exquisite in the season’s chicest offerings. And yet, it’s almost too on-the-nose that the perpetually sunkissed Jeter (formerly known as Hannah Davis) grew up on the Caribbean island of St. Thomas (her parents discovered the twelve-by-three-mile island’s charms on their honeymoon and, well, stayed); and that her modeling career took off when Sports Illustrated started shooting her in bikinis on breathtaking beaches. Sand is unsteady, the ocean unpredictable, but Jeter in a bathing suit has proven a sure thing. There were the DirecTV ads where a bikini-clad Jeter casually flirts on the shore with a talking white horse; they would’ve turned Mr. Ed red, but they swiftly went viral. And in 2015, when SI’s hallowed swimsuit edition featured her on the cover — with a photo that, even by this decade’s standards, made headlines for being risqué — she was at once launched, like a majestic eagle ray leaping from tropical waters. “It definitely gave me a platform,” she says. “I felt very empowered getting the cover.”
Up until that point, Hannah Jeter had already been modeling for a decade, after being scouted while playing tennis on the Caribbean circuit as a nationally ranked junior player (she also excelled at beach volleyball, because, naturally). Her early career was a New York hustle, a mix of commercial and editorial gigs and fashion week runways. “I felt like I didn’t really belong in either one,” she recalls. “Some clients would say, ‘You’re too curvy,’ and some would say, ‘You just shot bikini for this client, so we don’t want you shooting editorial for this client.’ I wanted to do a little of everything, but couldn’t figure out where my place was.” Sports Illustrated ushered a sea change — pardon the umpteenth ocean metaphor — and offered Jeter both more visibility, and a welcome glimpse into what was possible. “A few years before I got the cover, when I was just a girl in the magazine, I remember talking to my agent and saying, ‘Okay, what should I do before the shoot? Do I need to dye my hair? Do I need to lose weight?’ And they were like, ‘Girl, they love you as you are.’ So I started working out differently, I started eating differently. I got out of my head a little bit. I felt this power of, you know what? I can be whoever I want to be. I finally felt, frankly, accepted. This business is not typically one that loves you how you are. So that was very liberating.”
At 29, Jeter is deeply thoughtful about the industry. She’s had some reflective time away, after giving birth in quick succession to daughters Bella, two, and Story, nine months; and welcoming a perspective shift after ditching the unforgiving bustle of New York for Miami, the sun-streaked city that suits her best. “I never thought I would love [Miami] so much,” she sighs.
KHAITE Trenchcoat. CELINE T-Shirt. MARINA MOSCONE Trouser. POMELLATO Iconica Bracelet. SAINT LAURENT BY ANTHONY VACCARELLO Bag. NIKE Air Force 1 Sneakers.
IN ABOVE PHOTO:
BOTTEGA VENETA Top, Trousers, BV Twist Bag & Shoes. POMELLATO Iconica Earrings & Bracelet.
ON THE COVER:
AZZEDINE ALAÏA Top & Trousers. SAINT LAURENT BY ANTHONY VACCARELLO Blazer. POMELLATO Tango Necklace. HERMÈS Constance III Mini Bag.
CHANEL Trench Coat & Bag. CLYDE Hat. ILLESTEVA Wooster Sunglasses. HERMÈS O’Kelly Double Tour Bracelet (worn as a choker) & O’Kelly Pendant. KHAITE Belt.
CELINE Blazer. SAINT LAURENT BY ANTHONY VACCARELLO Sweater. VINCE Blouse. 3X1 Jeans. TIFFANY & CO. Elsa Peretti® Earrings, Necklace (top), Tiffany HardWear Necklace (bottom) & Tiffany T Ring. GUCCI 1955 Horsebit Bag. JIMMY CHOO Mavis Boots.
With her preternatural comeliness and soft-spoken island vibes, Jeter could easily go through life blithely, beautifully, barely skimming the surface. And yet she comes across as someone who synthesizes the world in an almost achingly emotional way. Just watch her hopelessly fight tears as host of Project Runway: Junior (which ran from 2015-2017) each time an adorable teen contestant gets cut; or hear her talk about the deep, still-open wound of trading a future in tennis for a modeling career. “It was devastating when I gave it up,” she says, adding that she hasn’t picked up a racket in years. “I don’t know how to play for fun, because I played to compete, to win. I hope one day I can get back into it. I think that would be sort of healing for me.”
But nothing has cut more to Jeter’s core than motherhood. She seems surprised, almost shaken, by what an affecting journey it’s been. “I hardly can identify with the person I was before all this,” she says. “I’ve learned so much about myself in the last few years — how to be selfless, how to overcome adversity. I’ve found strength in myself that I never knew existed. It’s sort of like I’m a whole new me.” She lets out a chuckle: “Yeah, I know, that’s a lot to take in.”
In all the ways having kids notoriously changes you, Hannah Jeter has been changed. Yet she’s leaning into the upheaval — not just taking on this new role of selfless human, but being deliberate about designing the childhood she feels her kids deserve: more crafts and time outdoors, less gadgets. Yes, Bella and Story know screens exist: “They see their dad watch SportsCenter and all that,” Jeter admits. (Dear ol’ dad, Jeter’s husband since 2016, is, of course, Derek Jeter, who everyone else watched on SportsCenter for the two decades he played for the Yankees.) But the kids log most of their sponge-like hours doing puzzles, reading books, engaging with nature. “We’ve sort of taken technology out of it,” Jeter says. “I grew up in a small community, my mom was a teacher, we had lots of arts and crafts going on. I think I raise my kids just how my mom raised me — being outside with nature and animals, trying not to be so on top of them, giving them safe places to explore and use their imagination. I really value that.” Jeter insists she doesn’t judge other parents: “I think you do what works for you,” she says. “But for us? These are the things that are important to me.” Jeter makes dedicated runs to Michael’s craft store “like, twice a week. Most days my husband comes home and he’s like, ‘Holy crap’ — because I’m covered in paint or glue. I was literally painting a birdhouse yesterday.”
Hannah Jeter is unfailingly conscious about the kinds of kids she wants to raise, down to insisting the whole family, Derek included, learn to speak Spanish. “Miami is our home, and it’s definitely a place where you need to speak Spanish,” she says. “My daughter tells me when I pick her up from school that she’s going to a casa.” And she’s just as intentional about things less consequential, like her personal style: a considered and streamlined collection of forever pieces; suits from Alexander McQueen and Tom Ford, dresses by Dolce & Gabbana. “Anytime I add something to my closet,” she says, “I think about having it for a million years and giving it to my daughters.”
TOM FORD Jacket & Sweater. OFF-WHITE C/O VIRGIL ABLOH Track Pants. CARTIER Juste un Clou Earrings. BVLGARI B.Zero1 Ring. BOTTEGA VENETA Bag. JIMMY CHOO Romy Pumps.
ALTUZARRA Cumberland Jacket. 3X1 Cardigan. KSUBI Playback Karma Jeans. TIFFANY & CO. Tiffany HardWear Necklace (top). MARLO LAZ Porte Bonheur Necklace (middle). AZLEE Cosmic Necklace (bottom). BOTTEGA VENETA BV Twist Bag. JIMMY CHOO Mavis Boots.
PRADA Sweater, Bowling Bag & Sneakers. TORY BURCH Skirt. TIFFANY & CO. Elsa Peretti® Hoop Earrings. BVLGARI Serpenti Tubogas Watches. CARTIER Juste un Clou Ring.
Those lucky, Spanglish-speaking moppets who will one day be draped in Tom Ford? It’s highly unlikely you’ll spot them, giggling and splattered with birdhouse paint, in some Instagram story. After spending her first few years with Derek (who she met through a mutual friend in 2012) dodging incessant press and tabloid interest — who was this woman who’d slayed the famed bachelor dragon, they all wanted to know? — Jeter is fiercely private. While models racking up fame and followers on their own time has become part of the gig, Jeter maintains a knee-jerk aversion to the practice; in 2019, she posted a total of three times for her half a million Instagram followers. “It has never felt natural to me,” she says of social media. “I know it’s necessary in my industry, and I absolutely have to when it’s part of a contract. But a lot of people post their children and husbands, and for me that will never be the case. Both my husband and I have been in a place in our careers where we have to share so much. And we can handle it. But when you love something so much, you want to protect it more than anything in the world. And for me, that’s my relationship, that’s my kids.”
Though Jeter won’t be hawking detox tea, she’s indeed interested in partnering with a wellness brand, one that’s “like-minded,” with “a philanthropic piece to their business,” she says. The wellness space has been on Jeter’s radar since her first pregnancy, when she surprised herself by gaining 70 pounds — “I went into hiding,” she jokes, adding, “No one really saw me, but I have pictures” — followed quickly by another 55 pounds with her second. Before that one-two punch, “I always thought, you know, I’m going to have kids and go right back to work and pop back into shape,” she says, “and it’s not that easy.” When she decided, six months ago, to try intermittent fasting — a Hollywood trend that she concedes “everybody’s doing” — Jeter found she had more energy, brighter skin, and “just felt incredible,” she says. She was also able to shed the last pounds of baby weight, though still contends with the most enduring side effect of new motherhood: “I’m so deeply connected and attached to [my daughters], I don’t like to leave them,” she says. “My husband gets mad at me, because he wants to go on vacation sometimes, and I’m like, great! Let’s take the kids!”
And yet, after an extended breather, Hannah Jeter finds herself here — finally ready to detach a bit, to re-enter a realm she loves. She’s first to admit her priorities have shifted, that this family-focused stretch has been “the most transformative of my life.” But a funny thing happened on her way to self-discovery; while Hannah Jeter’s renewed and changed, so has the modeling industry. Gradually, a world that’s known for being slow to evolve has taken steps toward progress: Spring 2020 runways were the most racially diverse they’ve ever been, while both older-age and plus-size model castings saw promising upticks. An industry that was once known for putting models in boxes — for making someone like Jeter wonder, as she once did, “Where do I belong in all of this?”— is “much more accepting than it was, even five years ago,” she says. “Now, the fashion world tells you that you can do anything. And I just think, you know, why can’t I?” For Jeter, that means returning to a mix of all she loves: high fashion, the runway (“where it all began for me”), expressive editorial shoots. “I feel better than I’ve ever felt in my life,” she says. “I feel stronger than ever. And the industry is a more friendly place. So that’s exciting, when you’re getting back to it, knowing that you’re going to feel far more accepted than you ever did.” She’s diving back in, and the water’s fine.
VALENTINO Jacket & Headscarf. FRAME Le High Rise Top. KSUBI Playback Kat Up Jeans.POMELLATO Iconica Bracelets. CHANEL Bag.
Talent: Hannah Jeter @ IMG. Market editor: Jaclyn Bloomfield. Assistant editor: Chelsea Carter. Bookings editor: Gretty Garcia. Makeup artist: Raul Otero @ The Wall Group. Hair stylist: Ro Morgan @ The Wall Group. Manicurist: Elina Ogawa @ Bridge Artists. Digital technician: Daniel Jaramillo. Photo assistant: Christophe Schumacher. Stylist assistant: Nishita Naga.
cover story, Hannah Davis, Hannah Jeter, Holiday 2019
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Biggest Loser 6: Vicky Vilcan
UPDATED: Watch now – DietsInReview.com interview with Vicky Vilcan at the Biggest Loser Season 6 Finale.
Vicky Vilcan is on the brown team, with her husband Brady Vilcan, during Biggest Loser: Families.
Hometown Houma, LA
Occupation Anesthetist
Biggest Loser: Families teammate Brady Vilcan, Husband
Team Color Brown
Trainer Bob Harper
Starting Weight 246
Final Weight 145
Total Loss -101
Percent Lost 41.06
Has four-year old daughter who outweighs seven-year old son. Wants to change her kids’ lives.
Initial health screening found that her real age is 37; her health age is 48
Won Week 4 Challenge
Won Week 10 Challenges
Season 6 Finalist
“My ultimate goal is for Brady and I to bring home $350,000.” – Week 6
Other spellings: Vikky, Vicki, Vickie, Viccy, Vilkan, Vilckan, Vilcen, Velcan
Don’t miss any of the news, interviews or recaps from Biggest Loser: Families. Sign-up for the Biggest Loser Updates Newsletter today!
Posted on August 28, 2019 by Natalie K
Posted in: Biggest Loser, biggest loser 6, diet tv, expired, vicky vilcan
454 Responses to Biggest Loser 6: Vicky Vilcan
Go Vicky….go Brown Team! We can’t wait until Sept. 16th. We’ll be watching and supporting you every step of the way!
I’m so proud of you!!! Keep up the good work!
not her fan says:
Does anyone not see her hateful attitude on the show? I can’t wait til she gets kicked off!!! She is ugly inside and out…no amount of weightloss can help that.
I agree, her personality and attitude stink! Those smirky looks and her hubby throwing the weigh in… really good way to show your children how much you love them by saying talking to them isnt important after 6 weeks away… filthy.
Theres something going on with this one psychologically, and not good. She has the eyes and behavior of a sociopath. I pray to God she and her husband don’t win, they don’t deserve it, but I hope they do have some sort of breakthrough instead. Weight is not their biggest issue.
I HATE THIS WOMAN!!!!! This is one of the only shows on tv that I actually watch, and it’s unbearable with her on it. Every word out of her mouth is like nails on a chalkboard to me. It’s not your husband holding you back it’s your whiney, attitude.
I AGREE!!! I HATE HER!!!!! I want to smack that smirk off her face!
I can’t wait until she gets voted off! How about her comment about “I thought the prize was lame, it wasn’t worth getting hurt over”. First – You were one of the first to fall off, you’re a sore loser and are trying to cover for the fact that you suck. Second – Please explain how you think you’ll get hurt by falling 6 inches into a pool of water, from a padded beam. Third – Seriously, seeing your kids after 6 weeks is lame to you?
I can’t decide who sucks more, Vicki or Heba. I pray that somehow Philip has the deciding vote to get your sorry kicked off the show.
i cant stand vicky everytime i see her it makes me sick
OMG – I couldn’t agree more!!! We aren’t allowed to post “negative” comments on TBL web site – so I searched further just so I could vent — I find myself yelling at the TV — – Vicky you are a negative, mean and nasty person! I hope you cringe with embarassment when you watch yourself on TV!!!! Your comments and attitude are so ugly — may karma come back to bite you!!!!!
I can’t believe Vicky has such a BAD ATTITUDE. How horrible. Did you see her smiling when Brady only lost 3 pounds?! I bet they did that on purpose to get rid of Amy P. That is just horrible. I think Vicky & Heba need to go; their attitudes about the game stink. I agree with Julie…”may karma come back to bite you!!!!!!”
I agreed with the other comments, and i hope she reads these comments. I tthink she is a pathetic waste of time and energy, imagine all of the peopl who would do anything to get on the show and there she is, only in it for the money, what a joke of a person. Ugly inside and out, pathetic, makes me feel physically sick every time i see her ugly face.
another vicky says:
I am seriously thinking of changing my name
what a piece of work this woman and her moronic husband
Sure old Heba will be another one of their victims YEAH
I agree that Vicky and Brady intentially sabotaged the weigh in so they could dump Amy P. And I would not be surprised if they both pull big numbers next week. Remember, it was Vicky who said “some people are here to actually lose weight, I’m here to win $350,000.” And who would NOT work to win a challenge? I hope Bob kicks their a** this week.
I’m glad I’m not the only one who can’t stand her and thought Brady’s weight loss was a way to get rid of Amy. They suck!
Ya know what? You people have NO idea what these people are going through mentally!!! They all just want to lose weight and be healthy. You judge Vicky before you even know her or her situation. I met her today at a locaL gym and she is just as humble as they come. She is really down to earth and I can’t wait to see the outcome of the show. I hope she and Brady are the last 2 left. BACK OFF and let the contestants do what they need to do to survive. You are just so judgemental before you even know who these people are. GOOD LUCK VICKY AND BRADY FROM A LOCAL LOUISIANA CAJUN !!!!!!!!!!!
SORRY! YA KNOW WHAT? JUST DONT WATCH ANYMORE TOM AND MELISSA. OH, AND TOM. YA MAY WANT TO PROOF-READ YOUR POST BEFORE YOU HIT SUBMIT COMMENT………..DUH !!!!!!!!
Vicky, Brady and Heba all suck!! Here’s hoping they go home soon and allow real players to win this thing!!! They did not even try ast the last challenge. They do not deserve to be there.
I am so glad I am not the only one who can’t stand Vicky and Heba. Vicky is the worst contestant ever. She is such a brat. That comment about seeing video of her kids doesn’t mean that much to her. ARGARGH. She gets my blood going with anger. I hope she bombs!!!!
Avid Watcher says:
Hey “Amy”, you know what? You are the only person I’ve seen that is still rooting for this team – are you basing your judgment of Vicky solely on your one meeting with her at the gym? Then you really have no better basis than the rest of us – and no amount of humility in-person can undo all the horrible things she said to and about other people…she chose to say and do those things, she could have made better choices, especially considering she is on national TV.
And Amy, how do YOU know what these people are going through any better than we? Please, do tell…
And before you go criticizing other people’s ability to edit their posts, perhaps you should review the link you posted to your myspace profile…or should I say, “myspacae”?
I agree with all the posts that Vicky and Heba need to go. I can’t say that Vicky is an ugly person or judge her by anything but what I see on TV. BUT, what I am seeing is someone who is a sore loser, backstabber, liar, vindictive, selfish little witch that needs a good stiff kick in the seat of her pants! How dare she sit there and let Heba LIE to Amy P about having an alliance with them. How dare she say that seeing a video of her children from home is not a good prize (I hope her kids hold that over her head for the rest of her life). At that point in the game, I would give anything to see the people who are my support team back home! She lies, she’s snotty, the look on her face is “I am better than you” and if she does win by doing it “strictly for the money” I hope she gains EVERY POUND back and goes back to being a big fat nasty person that she started out as. Money isn’t everything…but your health is.
I can’t stand this woman. I bet she gains all her fatness back as soon as she is gone. She is so hateful and has her husband wraped around her little finger…. he doesn’t even think on his own. She makes me sick… I was so angry watching the show last week… I hope someone sees through her or they switch up the teams again so she can go on her marry way!
Wow….I have been watching the Biggest Loser for multiple seasons and I have never seen three people so annoying and selfish. Brady, Vicki and Heba are making this show awful to watch (and I always look forward to watching it but not anymore. To start with Vicky, she is so dishonest and if I were a member of her family then I would be embarrassed by her immature behavior. Week after week I am in awe of her childlike actions. I have needed a place to vent some frustrations about her and was pleased to know that others in America feel the same way. Maybe they will have a vote at the end of the season like last year and then the came and be in our hands and we can get rid of her!
Can't Stand Vicky & Heba says:
I cannot stand Vicky or Heba!! Heba talks about Phil saying things about her, but yet she does the same thing. I hope they watch this show and realize how big of they are (both physically and mentally). They are both snakes and Brady is no better. For a mother to not want any interaction with her kids, shows her mentality. Her words affect everyone and I’m sure her kids are going to suffer from her psychological abuse. I hope she has some kind of explanation when her kids ask why she didn’t want to speak to them. I CAN’T STAND HER!!!! I hope she is gone soon and takes Heba with her!
Vicky and Brady have the worst attitude ever. They think that they’re sooooooo smart but if they went on Survivor or any other show where strategy actually mattered, they would get their handed to them. Oh well, I guess Vicky and Brady prove that ugly people with rotten personalities can find spouses too.
Amy, you talk about Vicky being there (like the rest of them) to be healthy & lose weight. If you watch the show, you will see that it is not true. Vicky even said that it is just a game to her. She is ONLY there to win the money. She flat out said that during the show. I will not support someone who is not there to become healthy. True, the money would be great, but they are playing a dirty game. I hope they go home soon.
Jodele says:
It sure is good to know that I am not the only one who hates the new blue team.I just want to smack the smirk off of Vickys UGLY face.Losing weight will only get you so far.Her and her husband need to go to Charm school next.Phil and Amy are the ones who showed class along with the members of the Black team.Heba is so stupid too.Wait until they put the knife in her back.It seems to me that they care about the money more than their health.I also hail from LA and am ashamed to think that they come from the same state.My fellow Louisianans have never acted like Brady or Vicky.What and embarrassment on our state!I hope that they gain next week.
OMG!! The only ones that are rooting on here for the sucky brown team is probably their own family. Vicky sucks so bad. I have never seen anyone as lazy as her on the show and I have seen every season. She is such a sore loser. She proved last week that she is a bad mother. Who wouldn’t want to see their kids after 6 weeks? only, horrible Vicky. Eww…I have never disliked anyone more on this show. Heba and Brady…I feel exactly the same about them all equally.
shera says:
Out of all the contestants I’ve seen through the many seasons, Vicky is the most evil. There is something wrong with her. I can’t imagine that she has that many real friends. Have you noticed that Brady hardly ever speaks for himself? Bob doesn’t even like her! Heba will learn very soon that they are sooooo using her.
I am so happy that so many of you feel the same about Vicky! I can’t stand her either!
I am glad I am not the only one who thinks Vicky is awful. She should be there to change her life and lose weight, not just win the money. She is not a nice person.
Oh! A place to vent! What joy!
I used to LOVE this show so much, but I don’t think I can watch another episode. That Machiavellian witch, Vicky,
with her Joker-like smirks!!!!!! ARGH!!!!! I dislike Heba, too. She’s bossy and foolish. Brady is a hot-headed, childish oaf. Vicky, well, Bob said it best, she is Shakespearean. She seems to think she’s all that and then some. I don’t even know where to begin.
At FIRST I felt sorry for her for being married to such a hot-tempered man. After her whining about the bad prize I decided she was as bad as Heba. I mean seeing your young children is A BAD PRIZE???? WHAT??? Yeah, if you’re someone like Casey Anthony perhaps.)
After watching the latest episode, however, and how she LIED to Bob… did anyone else catch her little manipulation of Bob by commenting on Brady not eating every four hours. She gave Brady SOME FACE, like SHHHHH, don’t say a thing. *sigh*
I SO wanted Bob to have a winner this year. I love both Bob and Jillian. They’re awesome. Unless something drastically changes (on par with Sylar’s change on Heroes (the only other show I really watch)) I cannot root for Bob’s team…. heck, might quit watching until the finale.
Oh well, thanks for the space to vent!
i.cant.stand.her&heba says:
what a witch! for the first time in my history of watching this show have i ever said “i hope she doesn’t lose a pound” and mean it. I am a small framed woman and i love the show because i think it is just awesome to watch these people transform mentally and physically and i think she need mental help first and foremost. she is full of hate. what a way to present yourself on national tv. i hope her family is proud for who she showed herself to be. heba too! not as bad, but just as dumb.
I HATE VICKY, BRADY and HUBA HUBA says:
I honestly can’t watch this show anymore. Seriously, this show needs to do something FAST and somehow get Brady, Vicky and Hubba Hubba off of the show. Otherwise, they’re going to lose a ton of loyal fans. This show SHOULD be about getting healthy. That’s why I used to love to watch it. I would leave each episode in a “feel good” mood. Now, I can barely get through an hour before I have to turn it off due to the constant manipulation and hatred. What happened to the Biggest Loser I used to LOVE?????
I hate Vicky!! She seems evil and uncaring. She didn’t even want to see videos of her kids.
Biggest Fan says:
I cannot stand to see Vicky last one more week! I swear if the people on Biggest Loser do not make this woman and her husband leave the show in total ridicule I am going to stop watching. They have made it clear they are not there for the weight loss but for the money. They are playing Heba for a fool and it is embarrassing to watch! This woman is so hateful and mean that it is written all over her! She has a sour look on her face at all times unless she cracks an evil smile when things go her way. It is absolutely horrible to watch these two continue on when there are so many good people that deserve it more. I have never found anyone on the show in all the seasons ugly until now. She is ugly both inside and out!
Vicky is the WORST. I cannot stand to even look at her smug facial expressions, let alone hearing her stupid comments. Whomever stated she needs mental health help before physical health help was dead on.
Vicky Needs Help says:
Each week that goes by and I tune into The Biggest Loser, I find my blood pressure rise a little every time I see or hear Vicky speak. Clearly the editors of the show caught on to her antics. She comes off very self centered and as if she is deserving over anyone else. The point of the show is to teach people how to care for and about themselves. Every other season I cannot recall a contestant being so self righteous and cold to so many of the other contestants. Perhaps she will do herself in with her callous ways. I do wish her the best because I personally don’t want to see others fail.
As for Heba; she needs to grow up a little bit. And maybe she has. I liked her in the beginning but I feel that she has become the dirty doer for the brown team. Brady is just as guilty as he just goes with the flow of things. Colleen was right in asking the blue team why they couldn’t just ASK Phil questions instead of slamming him into the ground.
It is too bad that such negativity exists with a few of these contestants. I still feel quite inspired by their desire to do better with their lives, but if the money is all that is motivating Brady and Vicky, I say I’ll root for someone else and try to tolerate watching the remaining episodes of the show.
Go Black Team!!!!
shwillia says:
I’m so glad I’m not the only one that hates this woman! who doesn’t want to see videos of their kids!? she really is ugly inside and out
DG7 says:
Vicky IS the Biggest Loser…..but not for weight loss!
ITA with the majority of the comments here (the comments posted by Vicky/her family member being the exceptions). Vicki, Brady and Heba need to go. What a waste of space they are on the show. Vicki needs to be home taking care of her daughter’s health. Not a one of them deserve to win the show. I think Ed and Heba have already won (rv) way more then they deserve. Time to go buh-bye now.
Vicky just seems like a grade-A b****. Her and Heba are just there to win money vs. lose weight. Brady cheated in last week’s weigh-in, which is why he got -13 this week. Brady lets his wife manipulate him. Heba and Vicky both need to go. They both have the wrong attitude and it was just pure evil to purposefully pick a fight with Phil. I really like the Amy who is still there, as well as the Amy who went home last week.
Shocked and Awed says:
I dont think I’ve ever seen a contestant flat out say that the money was the only reason they were there. I also don’t think i’ve ever encountered a parent who would regard a chance to see their children as ‘lame’.
Happy to know that i’m not the only one who is uncomfortable watching these three.
It’s a shame because these people are given a golden opportunity, not only to lose weight but to positively influence hundreds of thousands of lives each week. It’s too bad that Vicky, Heba and Brady are too self centered and blind to see that.
Vicky is absolutely horrible. Brady is an idiot and Heba is one of those people that loves to here herself talk. I just feel that Vicky completely controls Brady and plays Heba. Vicky and Heba are like the girls in high school that always felt slighted so when they get a hint of being “in control” they run with it and try to hurt others. Like all the mean girls in high school, 10 to 1 both of them don’t keep the weight off for a year. Either way, if NBC had a brain they would dump all three – this is not about money,it is to inspire people to make a change in their lives. I think everyone should contact NBC and voice outrage and let them know that they have lost viewers. Personally, I can’t watch anymore.
My Drama's Done says:
I’ve been reading all of these post and I do realize everyone has a right to their own personal opinion. I DO disagree with the way the blue team approached Phil at dinner time. That was totally wrong. Heba needed to confront Phil alone outside of that area. It was basically between Phil and her and everyone else should not have even been there. You could tell by the look on Phil’s face that he was CAUGHT WITH HIS HAND IN THE COOKIE JAR. It was obvious, to me anyway, that he did say those things about Heba. Anyway, it’s clear that I am rooting for Brady and Vicky because they are from my home state and I am friend’s with Brady’s sister. Despite what you all think, they are two really nice people who care and love their kids, just like everyone else at the ranch.
It’s hysterical to see that Vicki’s friend Amy is the only one that tried to defend her. I wonder what it feels like to know that someone only has to google “I hate Vicki” or “I hate Heba” and have actual websites pop up!
I have watched BL every season, and while there have been contestants I’m not crazy about, NEVER have I felt rage by watching the show. I want to jump through the tv every week for being so ignorant.
Heba said she was embarassed for Phil….hhheelllooooo Heba…. Hi pot..I’m the kettle, You’re black!!!
Google_I_hate_Vicki says:
Wow. That was easy. Wanted to find others that couldn’t stand this woman. From her smirks to her arrogance….by far the most undeserving contestant this show has ever had. Not only is she single handily ruining the show for millions, she’s enjoying it.
Go have a donut and a soda Vicki………..you deserve it !
ya know what? Nevermind. I was gonna complain just like all of you are doing, but, y’all do a good job without me adding to the bull !!!! GET A LIFE AND DON’T WATCH ANYMORE IF YOU HATE THE PEOPLE SO MUCH!!
It is pretty funny, isn’t it Jennifer? The fact that you google vicki and heba says alot about you?!?!?
I love reading these blogs!!!!I think all of us Vicky haters need to write NBC and ask them to kick both of them out!!!!Oh, and Heba too!
I think I could make a cartoon out of Vicky and Brady!With Vicky being Vicky the evil villan and Brady being Frady (Frady Cat) the pussy whipped husband!!YES DEAR!! Whatever you say my evil wife!
Anyone have a suggestion for Heba???LOL!!!!
vilcan says:
JUST KEEP WATCHING Y’ALL.
What a pathetic excuse for a human being. The way she, Brady, and Heba spout themselves to be so righteous and kind…..pathetic!
Holly Desmore says:
You people are all so lifeless!!! Don’t you all realize that when you watch a reality tv show they use editing to make it worth the watch. I mean come on. They HAVE to make it interesting and create a hero and a villian. Think about it. To me the real villians are the parents who left their own autistic child at home to persue their own selfish wants. Don’t you realize that autistic children focus on routine and stability. It disgusts me that they would leave him. I don’t look at Brady and Vicky as the bad guys…I think they are there to lose weight AND play a game…that is what the whole show is about…GO VICKY!!!
redbull says:
Hey Jennifer, Amanda and Avid Watcher – Y’all crack me up. NO, I’M NOT A FAMILY MEMBER AND DONT EVEN LIVE IN LOUISIANA. They are just playing the game the best and JUST KEEP WATCHING…………JUST KEEP WATCHING…………..JUST KEEP WATCHING…………… They all may be voted off within the next week and ya know what, OH WELL!! At least they are on the show are YOU’RE NOT…….BY THE WAY……..HOW MUCH DO YOU ALL WEIGH??? JUST CURIOUS……DO YOU EXERCISE????
I have watched Biggest Loser since the beginning! I usually love each contestant because I feel for them and what they are going through. HOWEVER, Brady, Heba, and especially VICKY get on my very last nerve!!!! Vicky seems so evil and conniving! She disgusts me every week I watch the show!! I see that I am not the only one……..PHEW!
redbull, Holly, and No Name – even if Vicky and Brady win the whole thing, it won’t make me (or any of the other 99.9% of viewers that are disgusted by their current behavior) like or respect them…if they were really likeable people, the producers would have made them the heroes, not the villains, right? They could lose all the weight and they’ll be just as unlikeable. And, just as Heba and Vicky and Brady are all entitled to like or dislike anybody they want to with or without reason, so are the viewers. Bottom line – all three of them are liars, and I don’t care for liars. If they win, they’ll only be rich liars. And, if my predictions are correct, in a year or so they’ll be fat rich liars. Go Colleen!
Dear “redbull” – thanks for your question and your interest. I weigh about as much as your swollen ego and I exercise enough to know that it doesn’t matter how much weight you lose if you don’t change your outlook on life.
I appreciate your interest…keep those brilliant questions coming. Have a great day!
Hey Redbull….
I’m not sure why my weight matters, but for what it’s worth I’m 32 years old, 5’2, and I’m a competitive Figure model. I compete on stage with the best athlete’s in the area. I used to struggle with my weight in my mid 20’s, but have made some serious changes in my life.
Diet, excercise and health are what my life revolves around, which is why I find Vicki and Heba so disgusting. I help people every day achieve fitness goals. My goal in life is to help as many people as I can fight obesity and raise self awareness about the dangers of being overweight.
I understand reality television and the edits, but as I’m not the only one who’s stated, biggest loser wasn’t always about that. This is the reason we’re all so disappointed with the choices of the contestants. They’ve taken good hearted, deserving people out of the mix and but in your ‘Big Brother’ type of personalities. I don’t watch Big Brother because I think the drama is lame. I was excited that Biggest Loser was different, and people were learning and changing.
Vicki and Heba have totally tarnished what Biggest Loser has always stood for.
redbull and vicky –
Just a tip – typing in all caps makes you look stupid. And when you call other contestants sleazebucks and openly celebrate their demise, that just shows how much of a rotten apple you are no matter how heavy or how skinny you are. You may have worked on the outside Vicky, but the inside Vicky still needs lots of work.
I cannot even keep watching this and it is my favorite show. Vicky, Heba and Brady act like 4 year olds. Theyre such bullies it is sickening!!
lmg says:
Vicky is mean, mean, mean. She thinks she is so cool! I do not like her and I do not like her husband. i feel bad that their little girl is so overweight! For shame!
I am ashamed to be from the same town that Vicky and Brady live in. They are the epitome of rude!!! I understand they are all there to lose weight and it is a game but common courtesy should have a role in a normal person’s life. Vicky just isn’t normal. She’s rude, undeserving, and most of all ugly – inside and out. A “sleazebag” as she called Phil – well she ought to know!!!!
Vicky has ruined this show. she is a hateful, manipulative scumbag. if she wins this show I will never watch again. I hope she watches these episodes and realizes how much of an evil person she is.
Omg!! I am so glad I found all of you fellow vicki haters. I can’t stand her, Brady, or Heba. If they either of them win I will never watch again.
grandslam says:
oK the 3 blue slim bags need to go! Slim like them gives the show a bad name.
hefa & vicky need to die! says:
i can’t stand vicky or hefa!!!
they are so ugly on the inside… no matter how much weight they lose nothing will change that. they need help and they disgust me!
i feel so bad for bob this year!!!
brady and his lisp irk me too!!!!
Vicky Sucks! says:
Vicky is evil!!!! she needs a lot of help! who does she think shes is to attack phil. She is one of the worst people I have ever seen on this show. She deserves nothing, and she is hated by everyone I know.
Regarding the November 11, 2008 episode:It really shows the true colors of the Hated Houma couple and and their stupid sidekick!I have never seen such a classless mean such as VV, and I am in politics!!She calls the guy named Phil a sleazeball.Look at her she is the sleazeball.Trying to win a game is one thing.Laughing when he falls,openly mocking him, those are the makings of not a gameplayer but a scared, mean, and ugly person.Inside and out.I would actually like to see her in the “early coffin” that she would so obviously like to see poor Phil in.Maybe her fat will have a heart attack on the show and spare us all.Thank God I am thin and do not have to put up with someone like her in that situation.Oh and by the way her child is very obese just like her.How good of a mother is that who lets her child get like that?Hello DSS anyone??!!!I may not watch the show after this episode and will convey my thoughts to the casting crew at NBC but I truly wish good to all of the other players who played the game with dignity, respect, and care.They are the true winners in the game of life.
There has never been a contestant on the Biggest Loser that has been more mean, hateful and wishes nothing but the worst for everyone. My husband, family and neighbors do get a good laugh each week at the fact that she is TOTALLY projecting how she feels about herself and her husband onto Phil…hahaha…If anyone in the world wants to know what “white trash” is just watch Vicki on the Biggest Loser Tuesday nights at 7pm on NBC…..
Boo Vicky says:
My husband and I almost had to turn off the TV tonight because of Vicky and her fellow haters (Heba and Ed). All three are very ugly people. Unfortunately for Vicky, losing weight won’t help her looks, she’s hopeless. Please, let Vicki get voted off. I hope she watches the show now and sees how pathetic she is!
Bex says:
Oh. Dear. Jesus. Vicky, you are coming off as a horrible, nasty, mean, disgusting person. You and your husband are telling lies to get rid of your competition. Maybe you just care about material things in life. It’s evident you do based on the health of your children. I feel so sorry for you and your family. May the best person win. And by “best” I mean anyone who wasn’t on the blue team before they put you in singles. Tsk tsk. What a “role” model you are.
I will say, that Vicki is the only one on the show that seems to get uglier and uglier, as opposed to more beautiful. And Im talking about inside and out. She is a hateful person. She is not there to learn how to lose wieght and live a healthy lifestyle. She is there to win and she doesnt care who she hurts or LIES about to do it. There are things that are more important than money. Like your soul, Vicki’s soul is black. I agree with Andrew, the inside of Vicki is in serious trouble, no matter how skinny or healthy she is that part of her needs a lot of work.
One more thing….Red Bull…I race in Triathlons and I have NEVER been overweight like I am sure you have been!! I do find it interesting that when most of the contestants on the Biggest Loser lose their weight their true beauty that has been trapped inside starts to come out. However for Vicki all I see is UGLY!! She seems to get more ugly as the weeks go on. I think she looked better being 60lbs heavier!! I agree that editing plays a part in how she is perceived. If I had to guess they are only using her “mild” film and cutting the real evil and mean stuff…
Susan Thompson says:
For the past year, I have focused on myself, worked hard and lost over 50 lbs being motivated by the Biggest Loser…until this year. I have been disappointed with Vicky ‘s performance and find her to lack class and am suprised The Biggest Loser selected her to be on the show. The Biggest Loser is usually filled with inspiration and encouragement. I am no longer watching the show as I feel the people who remain are no longer worthy of viewers. Such a shame.
Vicky Sucks says:
Oh please, please, please let Vicky and Heba lose soon.
Vicky is a bad person! She will get what she deserves in good time, karma is a witch!
I cannot believe that Vicki and her husband are allowed to remain on the show. I think they are both hateful, immature beings. I hope that the network is a little better at screening who they let on the show in the future.
I can’t stand them!!!!!! In the beginning I liked Heba, but the more I’ve watched, the more I can’t stand her. Did anyone see or hear Phil say nasty remarks to Brady about her. Maybe Brady is just as evil as his wife. Maybe they’re both playing Heba. I hope all three of them go down!! And Vicky I would love to be the one that smacks that freakin smirk off your face. You are definitely as ugly on the inside as you are on the outside. All the weight loss in the world can’t help you. I feel for your children! How embarrassed they must be.
Vicki and her husband represent all that is wrong with todays society.They are Evil and manipulative .And as always some one from Jills team will win.Hope thay both get what is coming to them
viki and heba hater says:
HA! I love you shellays daughter. I can’t think of her name. I don’t see a smirk on that vikis face now!!!
Finally says:
That smirk finally got wiped off her nasty little face tonight. I yelled so loud I didn’t even care if it woke my kids!
Kathy G. says:
I just saw the scenes from next weeks show.A revenge sign for poor Amy?Whoever left that has major issues.Don’t they screen the contestants for psychiatric issues before they are allowed to be on The Biggest Loser?Amy, stick with the black team if you can.They will be good to you.Unlike the blue they seem to act normal.Anyone who sticks up for these blue team bullies are either family members, bullies themselves, or plain idiots.
I used to love TBL! After each show I had a renewed sense of well being, health and the need to work out! But this year I am just angry – the blue team has been very mean spirited and evil! We’ve seen it before – weightloss has caused lots of emotions, but never ones filled with such malice. I will be happy when they go. They need more help then the biggest loser can provide.
Oh and way to go Amy! I have never been prouder of anyone on a tv reality show!!!
Amy!!!!You are my new hero!!!!!!You made the right choice!!!
I totally agree I thought the Phillies won the World Series again!!! I was screaming…..Vicki…..even if you win..you have already lost
Ladij says:
I agree with you Finally. She got what she deserves -walking around the ranch like she’s the queen bee. I hope she leaves next week.
Stephy says:
Yes! Now with Brady gone Vickie has nobody to carry the load for her.! Vicki….you are a horrible disgrace to the health care community that you work in….I would not ever want to be one of your patients. How do you treat them if you laugh at people the way you laughed at Phil when he fell in the step challenge? I have a hard time believing you are as old as you look considering you act like you are still in high school!! You have taken a show that is doing a good thing and ruined it!! You hurt so many people and just go on with your smirks like its no big deal. Phil is a way better person then you could ever hope to be!!! What a bad role model you are for your children! And Bob doesn’t even trust you. If you win I will never watch TBL again!
EMT says:
Bless you Shellay for having a lil talk with Amy at Subway!!!! Vicky gives all nurses a bad name!!!!
Hey I just figured out why the Vilcans were originally given the color Brown to represent them!!!
I did see the preview for next week and there is already a threatening revenge sign for poor Amy.Do they not screen the contestants for psychiatric issues?Amy is my new hero and she did the right thing!!!Go Amy!!The look on VVs ugly face was priceless!And I agree with the Eriks blog!Peope like that make the world not such a nice place!I know at my gym if people acted like that they would be kicked out!!!
cindylu says:
I love watching the Biggest Loser show but I am so very disappointed in this season. I cannot believe that the people of this show is not doing something about the nasty and evil doings that are going on with Vicky, Brady(now lets see how big she is with him gone) and Heba. Poor Bob, he knows they are up to no good but guess his hands are tied too….
This show is for people who are trying to improve themselves for the better. The prize is nice but when it makes you evil then you no longer need to be around. Vicky, Brady and Heba talk so openly about their feelings and plans it makes me sick to think that this show would allow such goings on.
Vicky, Brady, Heba and Ed really need an attitude adjustment and hope they realize it before it is too late. But they are so full of themselves it makes them very ugly people from the inside and out…no matter how much weight they lose.
I just feel sorry for the only blue member that voted Brady out tonight….
Poor, poor Vicki . . . to have so many people hate you . . . NOT!
What did Phil C. ever do to you?
so happy to see this website. i am so glad vicki’s husband was voted off. just to have that smug wiped off her face. she has definately taken the inspirational quality out of the show. we one of her followers down.
This is great, I thought I was the only one who almost can’t stand watching the show because of Vicky. I screamed for joy when Brady went home tonight only because I absolutely can NOT stand Vicky. She is just so darn smug. And did you see that revenge note for next week? She is psychotic and the show needs to remove her and set an example for future seasons or it will go down the tubes. Hopefully Heba and Ed can see through her soon.
I have been watching The Biggest Loser since it first started airing. There will always be game play and tactics to give oneself better odds of winning the game. Yes, that is a good thing. However, I have never been more disgusted with someone until tonight. Vicky may lose a good amount of weight and works hard to do so, but she is a pathetic exuse for a member of this show. For a mother of two children, she sure acts like she is back in high school. She is rude, immature, and a disgrace to woman. I do hope she succeeds in becoming healthy. I just do not want her winning this game. She is undeserving and has no back bone. People have the right to vote for whom they want…Who even makes revenge lists…? Brady was the only fair thing that went tonight.
Even if she makes it to the finals. Vicky will never be the biggest loser. Ally defines and shines what is means to be the Biggest Loser. Somone to look up to.
Glad to see Ali on tonights show. What a wonderful inspiration she has been to me this year. Vicky and Heba needs to see how a real lady acts. Shame on the producers, Bob, Jillian, and all others who are letting these two women be so mean.
wheeeeee……… brady is gone!!! it was great seeing vicky’s face when he got eliminated!!! i hope she’s next!!
Vicky/HEBA Hater says:
Thank You AMY for sending BRADY HOME> he has more class than his wife does. He atleast has moments where he is human compared to Vicky who appears fake all the time. Just watch her during weigh ins when she says good job to others after they are weighed in. So fake. Which is sorry statement for a grown woman.
THIS WAS THE BEST SHOW EVER!!!!! I can not wait to see how stupid and immature Vicky is next week. That revenge note?!?!?! “Fool me once, shame on me. Fool me twice, shame on you. I will not rest until that lying is out of this house”
OH VICKY, PLEASE!!!!! She’s totally ruined the integrity that Biggest Loser carried. I only thank god for small miracles with tonights show.
Vicky….’We’re 5 strong, I believe in numbers” I love that queen bee just got squashed.
Go Amy!!! You did the right thing!!!!!
Kelly and Sarah says:
Vicky and her disugusting husband are the biggest low lifes we’ve ever seen on biggest loser. The trailer park called and want their trash back. Have some class. Act like adults. Or just go back to Jersey!! If you’re reading this, you might say to yourself, who cares what they say, we know who we are, we’re good people….WRONG, you’re fat, mean, yankee people, who need to learn manners!! and yes we know where you’re from…and you’re a disgrace to the south. You talk about Phil not deserving to be there, at least he’s there to loose weight and have a better life….YOU’RE THERE FOR THE MONEY, three words for you my dear…TRASH TRASH TRASH…
Really? says:
Really? Do people like Vicky really exist?!!! She is worried about Phil not being a good roll model, but she should worry about herself not being a good roll model for her children and stop being so awful. Vicky, you need to think about the legacy you are leaving on national TV for your children, as they will see and know about this later. Brady, wake up!
I think Vicki is a horrible person, not only does her fat ugly body fit her inside character, her personality is enough to make me sick. She is honestly a person that I would like to see remain fat and miserable forever!
I can not believe they even allow Vicky to be on the show- she is the most evil coniving i have ever seen- even her face looks like the cheshire cat. She has absolutely no feelings- i feel sorry for her kids- after that show where she stated that to hear home from family was a “worthless prize” i couldnt help but think I want to scoop her poor kids up and give them to someone who will treat them right- someone who will love and care for them. Also I think i may stop watching the biggest loser because she is so hateful and awful- phil gets sent home and she is calling him mean names and laughing at the black teams sadness for his departure- I think everyone should be able to vote her out- as i can see from all these other comments no one likes her- i will write to nbc also.- Heba isnt a very nice, positive person either and I hope she leaves the show also but Vicky is just pure evil and i wish her away like an evil stepmother in the disney movies!
Vicky needs a new personality says:
Vicky and her little “team” needs a new personality. I’m not sure but I think she might be crazy. I am hopeful that everyone there will see right thru her now that her husband is gone and VOTE HER OFF. Thank you soooooooo much Amy. I was sooooooo happy to see Brady leave. To Vicky. You can lose a bunch of weight, but want you need to do is to change your UGLY PERSONALITY, that is where the REAL WORK needs to be done………
Where are the people in charge? I understand the need for money but posting a revenge list is unacceptable and totally against the goal of TBL. I love to see people’s inner strength and their personalities blossoming. What is happening now is a bitter, ugly woman is running amok and trying to have her 15 minutes of fame. It is time for the show to part ways with this evil person.
Vicky is a VILLIAN says:
Vicky and her husband should be ASHAMED of their behavior! I feel sorry for their children and what kind of role models they have. They are the meanest jerks I’ve ever seen on this show and I’ve watched all seven seasons. I hope they read all these nasty comments about them and decide to change their ways. Evil, malicious couple and Huba Huba is their clone! Her and Ed are Villians in the making.
She’s the most hateful, ungreatful person I have seen on this show. She DOES NOT deserve this experience! With that attitude she will not get far in life… forget the show! when the shows over she has to go back to real life and face the world after she’s shown everyone her true colors!
Vicki….I have never seen such a mean person on TV. You don’t deserve this experience, and if you win anything, I am sure it will only bring bad things to your life. You may think that everything is fine now, but karma will catch up with you!
! says:
Vicky and Heba need to be kicked off the show! They are immature and when i look at them i see the little girls on the playground picking on anyone they can. They are bringing the show down- and i will tell you right now….those are the kind of people that will NEVER keep weight off because they have too poor of an attitude about life and no respect for anyone- ugh im so disgusted i want to confront them both in representation of all those that they have brought down that felt like they couldnt stand up for themselves!!! I have so much to say to them both- i am probably almost 20 years younger than them and cant believe they are so ugly inside- I hope someone teaches them a lesson about respect they should have learned YEARS ago and I feel sorry for their children because with those attitudes they are going to bring up the same type of people- and their children never have a chance:(
I have never seen a more nasty, hateful woman than this vickie… she needs to be kicked off the show … simply because she is not what the biggest loser was ever about before this…How can you let her mouth run loose and hurt everyone around her…
I am very sad that the over weight people of america now have to be represented by someone as nasty as this woman…
I am going to quit watching this venom and crap….
She prolly has to be the biggest piece of along with her husband! They could both win that!
Amy Rocks!!! says:
Woo Hoo! Thank goodness Brady is gone!! Amy you make the right decision! We are behind you!!! My husband and I screamed so loud with joy!! We can’t stand Vicky, she has poisoned the entire blue team. We’re are so glad that Amy took the opportunity to get rid of Brady!! Vicky is so hateful and has ruined the whole spirit of the show. This show is about inspiration, hope and personal change. She is only in it for the money. Vicky is out for herself! She is a PSYCHO!! She needs to go! She will not win this game…karma baby! Vicky you suck! You are a total white trash ugly hick!! Ugh!! Go home!!
MGrim says:
I am with all of you…..I thought it was only me that couldn’t stand all three of them (Brady, Heba, and ESPECIALLY Vicky) until I went on line the find some way I could complain to NBC (I’m not joking either) and found all of this stuff on them. I was sitting watching the show screaming at the TV….I said to my husband…I don’t think I will be able to watch the rest of this season….these 3 people are mean, evil, and SERIOUSLY immature….I truly believe they should be thrown OFF the show….they DO NOT deserve to be there AT ALL. Vicky should be very humiliated and ASHAMED of herself…..her poor children and family to have to admit they are related to her…UGHH….she comes across like a nasty who cares only for herself (and not even her husband)….no matter how much weight she loses she will NEVER be attractive, because of how ugly she is inside. Vicky is supposed to be a professional? If I was her employer, when she came back…I would FIRE her….she is a disgrace to the human race….I used to LOVE this show…..but I will not watch the rest of this season…NBC better seriously do a better job screening next season….or they will lose A LOT of viewers. I pray that when Vicky, Brady, and Heba get home and watch themselves on TV they see how childish and unbelievably mean they were on this show…REMEMBER…what goes around comes around!!!!
One of many Vicky Haters! says:
Yes!!! Brady is gone. I hope Vicki and Heba fall below the yellow line next week. I hope they watch this season and see how ridiculous and immature they are. Vicki sucks more than anyone I’ve ever met. Now that Brady is gone she will actually have to participate. Hope she finds time in between her whining! Great job Amy C!! America lover you!!!
I agree with everyone on here, Vicky is absolutely disgusting. Her partner in crime Heba isn’t too far behind. The show should do or say something by the end of the season to distance themselves from this Witch. My hopes are that Bob or Jillian call her out for her behavior. Did you see the note she posted on the wall in the upcoming episode saying “Revenge” and she would get that “lying out of this house”? That is riduculous, I hope her stupid gets the boot next week, and then it’s on to Heba next. If I was married to Vicky, or even Heba, I’d certainly be OVERWEIGHT TOO!!!!! I love this show for it’s inspiration, but this season has me angry every week.
I almost went nuts when Vicky said that Phil would be a ‘bad role model for America.’ Give me a break. Man, I can’t stand this woman, and I’m happy to see that I’m not alone. In fact, when they interview him, you can tell that Bob doesn’t really like her either. Vicky is ugly on the inside and out, and even if she ends up losing a lot of weight, she’ll still be a disgusting person.
Vicky is the biggest ! She doesn’t deserve to be on the show. There are so many people that would be better examples to the whole country. I hope that by watching herself on the show, she will see what a horrible person she is and what she is teaching her children by example.
P. S. What the hell is her husband doing with her? Maybe his eyes will be opened when he sees her on TV. He must be so embarrassed!
Vicky & Heba Hater says:
vicky and heba:
C U Next Tuesday
I also have watched Biggest Loser since the 1st season and I have never truly despised a team more than this seasons blue team. How sad a pathetic are these people… really white trash. I’m embarrassed for them and I wish they could see how the world is seeing their awful attitudes.
Even Bob doesn’t like Vicky, and Bob likes everyone! She’s the kind of person I would never want to befriend…….yuck.
Sonata says:
Here’s how it worked: Vicky got her husband, Brady, to make up a story about Phil. Since Heba was already nuts and angry at him. So Heba bought it and launched a full-fledged assault on Phil. That week, vicky got her husband to not lose weight, so that their team could lose and they could vote off Amy. This has been a CALCULATED plot. At this point, I fear for the other Amy’s safety. That woman might put salt in her food or literally do something harmful or evil. I sure hope the BIGGEST LOSER and NBC Psycholgists know what they are dealing with, and have the police involved with her. Watch that vicky like a hawk and make sure you folks are protecting the person who voted her husband off. She knows how to play Heba and the men like a violin. Even Bob harper sees it and is warning everyone, but I hope to God the people on the other team are cared for and watched out for on the show. And thankfully someone had the guts to vote one of the bad seed couple off the show. The cocky gloating is just bad sportsmanship, insensitivity, selfishness and uncaring. I feel sorry for their kids. If Brady had stayed tonight, there would be nothing about weight loss having to do with who might win BL. It would be all a popularity contenst.
Vicky Hater says:
Amy is the woman! Stay strong, I am sure they will give you a hellish week. I love TBL and completely HATE huge, ugly Heba, Ed, Brady the big jerk husband AND especially evil Vicky. Do they know how many people watch this, how embarrassing for them. Their poor kids. What a shame to waste the spots of all these undeserving people!
so sick of vicky says:
I really hope Vicky and Brady read all of these comments online… they are not only in need of a full body makeover, but an internal makeover as well. Vicky makes me hate the TBL show. It’s one thing to be honest and another thing to be intentionally . I hope NBC realizes that Vicky needs some serious psychotherapy and maybe even some drugs for her mental instabilities.
Another thing, I LOVED red team. Now I think Amy is a wimp for not sticking up for her husband. Poor Phil, not even his wife will take his side!
VICKY IS NASTY says:
I DON’T KNOW IF I WILL BE ABLE TO WATCH THIS SHOW ANYMORE WITH VICKY ON IT! IT TOOK ALOT OF COURAGE TO VOTE AGAINST THE BLUE TEAM, HOW AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Do ya think it’s a bad sign when her own trainer calls her “maniacal”? Yeah…that is to say….bat sh*t crazy! This woman makes me ashamed to be of the same species. Go home to the child that you have royally screwed over…probably for life. Oh wait a minute, I forgot…the kids don’t mean that much to her. I think I just threw up in my mouth a little…
I was so happy to see some people on this show have class!. Wat to go Amy C! It shows that you are a smart independent woman and cannot be ruled by piggish rude white trash. I feel sad because I have been to auditions for this show and have met so many wonderful people that need to be there for the help! The Blue team pieces of garbage (except Amy) should never have been The majority of the show is over so these people I am assuming are home. So Vickie and Heba if you are out in public hide your faces in shame! You didn’t deserve this opportunity. Hey and producers of TBL be a little more selective in casting next time and pay attention to those that take this seriously!
It’s a shame that Vicky has such a low self esteem and horrible personality. She certainly fits the stereotype of trailer park trash out of Louisiana. Absolutely no class at all. It’s horrifying. Karma will come back around to her for her actions. Oh that lovely Karma!
Maybelle says:
Regardless of all the game play that goes on, there has NEVER been anyone more EVIL than Vicky. No matter how much weight she loses, she will always be ugly inside & out. In the beginning I thought Brady was blinded by his wife and now more than ever, I think she has a voodoo doll stashed somewhere so she can control him so fully. I hope with Brady going home, she’ll snap out of it…yeah right, that’s impossible! Can’t wait for Vicky & Heba to both go home!
Vicky’s behavior towards others on this show is a disgrace. She should be ashamed of herself and the way she has treated others. I can’t believe that she is an Anesthetist – that someone so evil and out for herself would be allowed anywhere near a sick peron is beyond belief. I hope if she is in a professional organization that they review her credentials – the woman obviously has mental health issues and needs to work on them immediately.
I used to love this show until this season…Vicky and Heba have been terrible contestants. As for Brady, it seems like he had a little heart and knew the comments were not needed, but I still don’t like him. I am glad Brady is gone, go Amy! I can’t believe the preview for next week! Poor Amy, I knew she put a target on her back as soon as she made her vote. This show was suppose to be inspiring, I hope NBC will do a better casting job for the next season.
OMG. I do hope Vicki joins her husband back at home next week so that we can all enjoy the last month of the show. I too have watched this show every season. But this season, it is filled with hate thanks to Vicki. She would have been a much better contestant for Trading Spouses or maybe just a guest on Jerry Springer would have been a better fit for her.
I’m so disappointed in what the show has turned into. I absolutely dislike how Vicky, Brady and Heba are “playing the game”. They’re nasty and full of hate. Vicky is sooo malicious!!! I can’t believe the preview they just showed where Vicky posts a “Revenge” note for Amy because she voted for Brady instead of Michelle. This show is supposed to motivate people!!! It’s supposed to be positive!!! Not a soap opera full of drama and deceit.
Unfortunate Season says:
Vicky has no dignity. I’ve always loved the show but if they put someone on like Vicky next season, I will not watch it. I’ve never boycotted a show in this manner. Vicky is that minuscule percentage of society that’s cruel and has NO HEART. Heba just has a big mouth and does’t edit before she speaks. Brady is just a follower. But Vicky, she’s dangerous. I also have always liked everyone on the show, if fact – some whom I didn’t care for right away won their place in my heart. But not Vicky – she is one angry woman. I’ve never seen anything like her on any reality show.
please join ur hubby at home says:
you see… now she knows how it feels to go at this on her own. she didn’t feel bad at all when she sent amy p. home and phil was all alone. she just threw salt in the wound. now what? she’s threatening amy? amy did the smartest thing she could have!! ding-dong-the-witch-is-(almost)-gone!!!
I thought for a moment that I was over reacting to Vicky (especially Vicky), Heba and Brady…but seeing that others feel the same way makes me realize that I’m not alone. These people are very sad excuses for human beings. For the first time in Biggest Loser history, I have–like a few others–wished that these people would gain weight.
Even with the game play from past seasons, the show has always been such an inspiration–this season, just leaves me feeling bitter at the end of the episode.
Thank God Amy voted for Brady! Next week, if karma has anything to do with the results, we will all be singing “ding dong the witch is dead!”
Congrats to Vicky for being the biggest loser……with her attitude !!! Job well done !!!
When i woke up this morning the first thing on my mind was Brady is GONE and Slicky Viki is in mourning! (also that how sad it is that this site is the first one i came onto today) TEEHEE
Vicky is Icky!! says:
I truely feel this is the meanest, ugliest (both inside and out), contestant the show has ever had. I’m so happy her “puppet” of a husband got voted off. KARMA!! When she said America will see her as a role model, I realized she must have serious mental health issues. I can only hope she and her dear friend Heba follow soon.
Vicky is horrible says:
I can’t believe Vicky is still on the show. I wish someone would slap the smug little smile off of her face next week. She has the coldest heart is the world – which I guess is why she still has all the fat around it – to keep it beating! I hope for her sake it’s the producers making her do it, but the look on her face makes me think she is just an evil. I wish Bob would stop training her. I can tell he doesn’t like her. And who would? I think Brady would be a nice person if Vicky would let him.
UGLY, UGLY UGLY says:
Vicky is one of the ugliest people I have ever seen, inside and out…just rotten evil, and the now famous smrk really DOES look just like the grinch in the cartoon.
Heba is just as bad, she loves to keep the argument going. Brady is a bully, Ed seems OK, I feel sorry for him, and the kids they want to have, to have Heba as a mother, what a child she is…
Vicky is EVIL says:
Vicky you need to work on your head before working on your body. You are an evil person filled with hate. Thanks for being a great example for our family to use when discussing life.
You are truly sick and NBC needs not to continue your contract.
Please dont come back at the final weigh in and say, The cameras got it all wrong, im not really this way……………YES YOU ARE.
Phil, You did not deserve the treatment you got! Let little minded people just go away.
Vicky will gain all her weight back I’m sure as this is just a game to her.
Awful says:
I cannot stand watching Vicky on the show — she is very hateful. I can’t watch her sometimes — it makes a very warm and uplifting show awful to watch. They really need to get rid of her!!!
Vicky is by far the nastiest, most hateful woman I’ve seen on TBL and possibly on any other reality show! Brady isn’t much better. When Amy C. voted out Brady and jumped out of my chair and screamed!! That moved up to my favorite biggest loser moment. Hopefully Amy will help the black team pick off the rest of the losers from the blue team!!
LOSER all around says:
I detest Vicky with all my heart. Her inner ugliness parallels her outer ugliness. She has turned this usually uplifting show into trash. I couldn’t be prouder of Amy C for voting off Brady, though! I’m so glad she stood up for herself. She is the LAST person I’d want to represent America as the Biggest Loser, as I can see not one positive quality about this vapid wench.
Boycott Sponsors says:
Everyone needs to email the main sponsors like Jello, Wrigley’s, Brita…let them know we won’t stand for NBC promoting the show by promoting profanity and revenge. They need to edit out the note and start making the show family friendly again. It’s one thing to show Vicky’s anger but its uncalled for when they show the note. On live TV people that use a profanity get bleeped out…why wasn’t the note blurred out?
I am still laughing….Glad to see Brady go and with any luck Vicky will go next week. Hopefully after Jillian takes her out back and beats the crap out of her!!
I’m glad I’m not the only one that was yelling at the TV last night. Have you ever noticed how much Vicki resembles the Grinch? I’m wondering if TBL wanted to have someone so awful on the show to boost ratings. That’s the only thing I can think of that makes having someone so lacking in any redeemable qualities on the show make any sense. Since everything’s pretty much been said about this woman already, I will just say, WAY TO GO AMY C! The poor kid. Vicki’s probably going to poison her food. What makes Heba so sure Vicki won’t do something evil to her too?
My 3 sisters and our best friend joined biggest loser club to lose weight together. Our favorite show inspired us. Last night, no kidding, I wanted to eat a whole box of ice cream. I am really upset – I hate Vicky but before I hated her and Brady I hated Heba – she is worse than Vicky ever thought of being. I want to push her down the stairs – or at least off her treadmill. I hope if AmyC. doesn’t win – all the Biggest Loser fans send her a dollar for what she did last night – then she’ll know how valuable it is to stand up to evil. I hope she wears a cape next week and defeats the enemy – Vicky and Heba – How did they get on the show and do the producers seriously think they need to have fighting and scheming to attract viewers – I watch because “I wanna be Ali” – I can watch Survivor if I want to see scum – (I do watch it too) – Hey maybe BL could send Vicky Vulcan and Heffer to exile island PERMANENTLY – Well gotta go exercise and eat some Kelly Mac Snack – GO AMY and the Black Team – I hope they absorb her and protect her – and Brady you suck too!!!
Vicky – kharma – I can’t wait until this all comes back to bite you in your big fat, ugly , MEAN
carynbrit says:
` First off.. kudos to anyone who gets on that show..sticks with the program and looses all that weight..its great.. HOWEVER Im also just plain sick of the childish attitudes from Vicki and her ‘friends’ . I was so glad Amy cast her vote against them even though we all know that her life is probably going to be make very difficult at the ranch by the ‘gang’ as i now call them. I hope the show takes notice that people are really having a problem with the direction its going (although im sure the ratings havent dropped)..i for one though will have NO interest in the results and follow up’s if vicki (god forbid) does win.
I have an idea…. since Vicky and Brady, Heba and Ed are so obsessed with money – and since they all have jobs in the real world – isn’t Ed a chef, Brady and Pharmacist, Vicky a psychotic nurse and lord knows what Heba does – hit them where it will really hurt – boycot their businesses – even if they don’t own them, if business goes down – they will be out. Everyone from around their home towns – unite and get them out of work. That will show them what it is like to really suffer.
These four are horrible people that do not deserve this opportunity. Do you know how many people out there would jump at the chance to be on tbl to better themselves – not to make money.
Vickyhater says:
Vicky:
You are the biggest heffer I have ever seen in my life. You should be ashamed yourself. You are by far the nastiest person who has ever been on the Biggest Loser. You are the epitomy of Evil. I hope your kids do not sit and watch.
Can anyone say “white trash”???
Brady making physical threats to other players and his disgusting wife posting the trailer park threat on her door.
I feel sorry that their young children will have to watch their mother and father’s disgusting actions.
They turned a good show into Jerry Springer; probably the show they wished they were on.
I hope you read all these comments and know just how much America hates you. You are the evil one!!!!
Vick you are a bad person and a bad mother!! Now the world can see it!!
Kimber says:
Oh my Gosh! How excited am I that I found people who are disgusted with Vicky as much as I am!
That Vicky and Heba SUCK!!!
Biggest Loser is the show I watch religously and not sure who did the casting but come on. We as viewers can always find compassion in the people (real down to earth people) who love themselves enough to lose weight and become healthy. This season – oh my gosh – could there be more disgusting people – Heba, Vicky, Ed and Brady – and now Ed is back. UGH – I could vomit.
Truly the integrity of the show has gone down the tubs – when it becomes all about the money and not your well being – that is truly disgusting.
Gosh I would love to smack the smirk of Vickys face – there is really something wrong with her.
My final words – GO AMY!!!! Your Mom’s talk did you good – don’t follow those love budget “white trash” folks to negetivity land!!
Go BLACK!
Amy rocks! Vicky & Heba SUCK! says:
I too have been watching this show from the beginning, although after this season, I’m not so sure I will watch again. ESPECIALLY if either Vicky or Heba win. NO WAY. I cannot BELIEVE how hateful and selfish these people are. THANK GOD Amy had the good sense to vote Brady off. I can only hope these two are the next two to go.
Jera says:
This show used to motivate me before my work outs. Now all the ridiculous low blows and child like ridicule dished out by Vicky and Heba is taking over the point of this show. Send those two manipulitive crazy women back to hell and give someone who’s human a chance to win. Keep your head up Phill, we all see through blue.
I cant believe that the show I sit down and watch with my family(children) is like trash. Vicky shame on you Dont you have children? Cant wait to see u go…. Bye BYE
I can’t believe that revenge note–What is the point of it? To let Amy know she’s a target (like she hasn’t already figure that out?) Vicky, sometimes you have to keep things your thinking inside your head…Seeing me kids aren’t worth it; Everyone deserves a chance to win except Phil; my husbands holding me back; I’m in it for the money. These comments and all that smirking and manipulation make you out to be an ugly, hateful person. If it’s just game play, why can’t you accept Amy’s vote as just that, and not “backstabbing and lying?” Everyone, including Amy, could see that even if all five blue made it, she would be the first one picked off.
And Heba, saying it loud, doesn’t make it true. Calm down. In the future, if you ask someone a question, give them an opportunity to give an answer.
I’m sure you feel that were justified in being angry, no arguement there, but how you react to it shows your true character. Even if you believe your speaking the truth, there is something to be said about tact.
MBECK says:
I can’t stop thinking about the show from last night. My husband and I were cheering out loud for Amy at the end. What she did was fantastic. I agree with pretty much everyone on here who has posted comments. Heba disgusts me. The fact that she is beeped out for dropping f bombs while yelling at another contestant’s wife on national television is HIDEOUS. Is there really anything else I can say about Vicky that hasn’t already been said by so many others? She is SO gross. Can those girls not see how Bob feels about Amy & Phil? Bob is probably sickened that he has to try and play it off at last chance work out like he cares about Heba & Vicky when he clearly can’t stand them. It’s just kind of sad that NBC has people like them on the show this season. They don’t deserve to be there! Ed & Brady, get a hold of your wives! WAY TO GO AMY!
Get rid of Vicki says:
Here is the link to contact NBC regarding the Biggest Loser. I suggest everyone writes to them to tell them how inappropriate it is to continue to allow Vicki on the show. I would not be surprised if she injured or otherwise physically hurt Amy as well as mentally tortured her.
http://www.nbc.com/Footer/Contact_Us/
Ok, No Name…. what did you do? Google someone elses name and end up here by accident?
It is so funny…I thought I was the only one who hated those three. Thank God at least I know I am not crazy. They are indeed horrible people.
The Black Swan says:
Vicky is the greediest, most disgusting human being I’ve ever seen on TV (Okay, not the worst, but she’s up there). She’s certainly the worst contestant EVER on the Biggest Loser and brings the show down in some serious ways. I just can’t believe how fake both Heba and Vicky are, I danced around my living room when Brady left the show. What a big, dumb idiot. He deserved to be kicked off. He was borderline violent too, threatening Phil made me just want to see Brady taken down. I feel bad for the children of Vicky and Brady, because they have evil, greedy parents. The Biggest Loser is a life-changing show, and unfortunately, it won’t change either Vicky or Brady. They’ll still be the money-hungry gluttons they always were after the show. It’s sad. It really is.
If you could see the Biggest Loser message boards…you, your whipped husband and Heba are the most hated contestants ever! Your behavior disgusts all of America. Thank god for Amy!!!
Craig hates vicky says:
you know, she could lose as much weight as anatomically possible and yet she would still be the ugliest person i’ve ever seen. it’s people like herself and brady that make me wish even more that it would be harder to have children than to adopt a dog. since she is a waste of space, hopefully she reads through all of these and realizes she is a bad person. so know this you too… no matter the outcome of the show, you’ll always be our biggest losers.
i just have to say that i used to love watching this show, i thought it was so inspiring but now that vicky and heba and their husbands have been on the show it just me off. these people are just so low in life and so imature. what kind of example are they putting out there for their kids? there are so many other contests that should be there, and not only for the money but for the glory. i can only hope that they lose on the show and at home because people like them dont deserve a thing in life. the producers chose the wrong couples for this season and seriously if they keep showing these cruel hearted people im not going to watch the show anymore becuase they are just butchering the show. and even if any of them happen to win, i know theyre just gonna put the weight on right after the final weigh in.
I really believe Vicki needs serious HELP!! She only knew Phil for
“7 weeks!” How can you have that much anger and resentment for somebody you barely know?
I hope the show will get her into counselling or provide some sort of assistance. She is an emotional time bomb waiting to go off and I just hope it is not at her kids.
Hey no name (aka vicky), you went looking for this blog as well. Sorry that the entire US sees Vicky for what she is, and you don’t like it. She (or you) has done that to herself. In the attempt to make Phil look bad, she only proved what a bad human being she is. What a goat! It goes to show you, the producers of this show really need to have these people examined by a shrink! Vicky may end up in the finale, but there are some things that are more important than winning a reality show. How about the example you set for your family. What a waste of breath!
Hey all you Vicky haters!!!Have any of you seen the permanent ugly smirk on her face???Well guess who it looks like??The smirk reminds me of Dr. Suess The Grinch-when he stole Christmas!!!That smirk on the grinches face is just like Vickys!!!!The frown with the turned up corners!!!(No insult intended Mr. Grinch)!Heck if she doesn’t win her precious money she may try to steal Christmas next.She is that evil!!!LOL!!!!!
Vicki is NASTY says:
WOW amazing that I am not the only one who finds VICKI completely dispicable. What a disgusting human being if you can call her that. I was so so proud of Amy. I love the black team and have since the beginning. I think when Huba and her minions started ruling the roost I was done with them. Where is the compassion and human loving nature. YUCK.. Be gone Vitch your days are numbered and now that your pully is gone it is just you baby.
irishgirl says:
SO GLAD lots of folks feel the same way I do about the whole Vicky/Heba thing! I used to LOVE Biggest Loser and I was always so inspired by the contestants, but Vicky and Heba have made the show a complete mess. NBC has lost a Biggest Loser viewer – those two women are manipulative and evil – even trainer Bob said something to that effect about Vicky. It’s a shame these two awful women have ruined the show for me.
I was a little at Neal over his gameplay last season, but at least he admitted to throwing his weigh in and had actual guilt over cheating, and he asked for forgiveness and changed his attitude. So he redeemed himself and he looked fantastic at the finale.
Unfortunately, Vicky is just pure evil…saying Phil isn’t a role model? Is she nuts? The only person on BL history that ISN’T a role model is Vicky!
Ya Vicky is a complete poopsock. I can’t believe she is even allowed on this show.
Oh no. Vicky is so misunderstood how can you say these terrible things about her?
Are you guys crazy I think Vickey is smokin hot
She is a complete poopsock if you ask me
This show is supposed to be a positive experience, not only for the contestants, but for the viewers as well. As most people know, “reality” TV is always scripted to a point. So, do Vicky and Heba act this way because they are prompted to do so by the producers or are they really as evil as they seem? Yes, this is a game and game play is often necessary, but they have gone over the top.
To Vicky and Heba:
If the behavior we saw from you was in fact real, then I feel very sorry for you. As you can tell by all of the other comments, other people feel sorry for you too and others just plain hate you. You can say all that you want about Phil, but you are the ones that exhibited very ugly and hateful behavior.
To the producers of The Biggest Loser:
If the behavior we saw from Vicky and Heba was in fact part of your “script”, then you have taken it too far. I know you want ratings, but you have given an otherwise positive show a VERY negative vibe.
To Vicky: YOU RUIN THE SHOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Brady was just voted off and in his parting speech he was talking about how important it is to lose weight because your kids learn from watching you. Hmm… I wonder what else their kids are going to learn from watching them… maybe how to be very unkind to other people?
Wow, Vicky is one of the nastiest people I have ever seen. I feel sorry for her husband and she is a terrible example for her children. I guess she wasn’t raised to be a respectful, kind human being.
Vicky is the biggest loser in every way except weight.
I really hope they can find contestants who care about the benefits of living on the ranch in the future. Game players can be found in every business in the world. Biggest Loser should be for people who actually have enough brains to realize the opportunity that is being offered to them rather than going off the reservation into game playing mode.
Vicky, probably a game player all of her life and this show is revealing a very nasty person underneath all of that fat. Heba and Vicky should be tossed over to Survivor. Then they Might get a reality check. Doubtful, but one can hope.
Heba is a Heifer says:
From Day One I have loathed Heba, the way she kept her big fat heifer mouth hanging open with food it in when they told her she was chosen for the show to how she attacked Phil last night has made me sick. How anyone could act like Heba, and her evil twin Vicki and Vicki’s loser husband and even sleep at night amazes me. We all get paid back for the evil we do. Phil and Amy will triumph and Heba, Vicki and Brady will pay for their evil attitudes. If I were one of the these 3 evil trolls I would read every post on this page and take immediate action to change my wicked ways.
You are 3 very sick and twisted individuals. May God show you the mercy you did NOT show Phil and Amy!
Hate Vicky says:
Hope you go home really soon!!
Vicky really has got to go. This has been the most disappointing season ever. These hateful attitutudes toward other players have got to stop..or people should be asked to leave. It really distracts from the overall goal of losing weight not making everyone cry! The show is really getting to be disappointing. I was inspired last year and lost 40 lbs from watching the show..i don’t even want to watch this year..it gets me too upset!
Please send Vicky home! says:
OMG! I almost couldn’t finish watching the show. When Ed won, I thought oh no more of the same and FFed through everything until I saw Amy’s paper with Brady on it. Then I went back and watched it. I CHEERED when his name was on the paper and not so much because of him but because it gave me hope that Vicky will be going home soon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I thought I disliked Heba more than Vicky but now I’m starting to think she’s getting played too. She even told Vicky to apologize to Amy but NO… she didn’t do anything to her… PLEASE, please get this woman off the show so I can enjoy it again.
Like I say the people who stick up for VV are either family members, friends,bullies/meanies themselves, or just plain idiots.By the way Conner if you think Vicky is smoking hot I am thinking you are smoking something yourself!Who was your last girlfriend Aileen Wournos???!!!She kind of has the same mean streak as your buddy Vicky!
Bad Form says:
I was pretty upset at Vicky and Heba for the last three episodes. I suspected, as did others, that Phil’s statements about Heba were either false or exagerated or blown out proportion. Sure, Phil may have said something, they probably all do to some extent, but I was frustrated that Heba didn’t consider that she might be being played. Not surprised that they lost the weigh-in ( we’ve seen this game-play before…remember the water logging a few episodes ago where the contestant actually gained weight). But I was taken aback at the comments about the prize where she could have seen her kids. Sure immunity or extra pounds off would have been helpful, but most people would have been grateful (not Miss Vicky). The confrontations, the poor sportsmanship, the manipulation and, oh ya the anger issues, they indicate a true lack of character. Unfortunatly, the show has already been taped–the final contestants are probably at home at this moment trying to lose those last pounds on their own. Otherwise the outrage might have kicked that seemingly bitter, bad-mannered individual off the show.
Vicky Villain is nnnnnaaaasssstttttyyyyy!
Kelsie says:
I can’t believe that Vicky and Brady are on national T.V. acting like little kids. Never in my life I thought I would see a family of bullys, I wounder, How their kids treat others! People like that, especially icky vicky make me sick!!!!!!!!! YOU 2 Hebba I hope I never walk across you nasty people
cnelee says:
I agree with all you Vicky haters out there. She is a very mean spirited, hateful, evil,vindictive woman. I have always watched TBL because it wasso inspiring. However this season I have turned the channel because it is no longer a show on health and weight loss, it has turned into another back stabbing reality show. Shame on NBC for picking these nasty people to be on the show. I adore Bob and I feel sorry for him because he has to deal with these white trash slimeballs. I believe in Karma and it is a , I hope it teaches Vicky, Heba, Brady and Ed a good lesson.
vicky is so mean-spirited. i must comment that i was shocked when i saw vicky laugh at phil when he fell down. so IMMATURE and vile! phil has only earned respect in my book while vicky, brady, heba, and ed have lost all my respect!
maty says:
I don’t know if anyone was able to see the preview for next week, but Vicky is going to go after Amy. If you pause the part on the note she left on her door, it is absolutely unbelieveable that this woman is still in the game. I am so upset that she has been given an opportunity to better her life when there are so many of us that could use it towards good. I can honestly say that I hate this woman and I refuse to watch the show if this is what will continue. BOB- if you read this I thought you did this show to improve people’s lives not ruin them!!!!!
I used to love this show but not anymore with Heba and Vicky on there. Vicky is one of the worst human beings I’ve ever seen. Why would she be kept on the show? She’s a self-centered, evil, nasty person. Heba is almost as bad and needs to go too. It’s hard to watch the show with these bullies on there. I wish Phil and Amy were still on, they’re a nice couple who truly deserve to be on the ranch.
hate the three says:
i told my husband last night, that I could not watch the show anymore if Vicki and Hebba are on it. He will have to tell me who wins, becuase i cannot watch the 2 of them. They make me sick. i think the comment of seeing your kids is not worth the reward is the most horrible comment made on any game show. She is a pure white trash.
i love vicky and brady says:
This is for all of you vicky and brady haters. go ahead, hate them , but do not bring their children into this. Their children are very sweet and innocent. You dont know what all of this is doing to their family. Ever thought nbc is portraying them this way to cause all you to watch the show more. Apparently it is working because even though you are all complaining, you are still watching the show, aren’t you? How dare you all say things about people you don’t even know. They are really not like that in real life. They are people just like us, but they had the guts to go on tv. I don’t see anyone of you willing to give up all you have to deal with stuff like this just to lose weight. I’m sure vicky is probably questioning was losing this weight worth fighting for her family. I know vicky and brady are grown ups and they can take this, but what about their young kids? Anyone of you who are putting them down, take a look at yourself. Would you do something do better yourself for your children? I’m sure you would, because I know I would. No, I am not a family member, but I do see these people as being real, something some of us can’t do. If they bother you that much, STOP WATCHING THE SHOW!!
Lorann says:
I agree with you Amy fans!! She definitely did the right thing!! It was time that she stood up for herself and realized what was right!
I can NOT stand Vicky!!!! Does she not know what she looks like on national TV? Doesn’t she think about what her kids will think when they watch this in years to come? And now we see in the previews that Vicky has a REVENGE list of some sort! She can NOT win it all!!!
i think that you are a really a hateful person and have no respect
We all know they are going to delete this message because they are against free speech, unless or course it’s for their ratings. So to start I would just like to say NBC has gone way beyond their reach to touch people and **** on their feelings of love and happiness. Instead they would rather show hate, backstabbing and how to lie to someone’s face while giving those with true beliefs of doing good things with their lives a way to suffer from being bullied. I have never seen a show that had so much good things going for it to watch it go rolling down hill at a speed this fast. NBC should be ashamed of themselves for allowing and even promoting this kind of behavior. The team or Heba, Vicki, and Brady, have done nothing but belittle and trash talk everyone. I am shocked to see grown adults talking like this about others, good job to all three of you for showing the world your true colors. I will be watching only to hope you all get kicked off for being such a poor example of how to treat people. I wonder if this is the normal things you teach your kids and others around you? How does it feel to make someone feel like crap when standing in front of millions to change their life and have the courage to see their weakness on live TV being flushed down the toliet, thanks to your comments? I hope you all believe in karma like I do and I wish it to come back on you soon!!!! May you feel the hurt that you have not only caused these contestants and their family but all of us. United we stand to put hate in this country out of service. I wish you all the luck in trying to better yourselves after this show when people meet you on the street to tell you their feelings and the discracement you have caused all of us to think of. The rest of the Biggest Loser Players good luck and great job on your goals don’t let these people bring you down. Fight for what you believe in and always hold true to yourself.
Houma, LA says:
I live in Vicky’s hometown and I think she is disgusting and an evil person- I am embarresed to say we live in the same town!
She is horrible and hateful!!
I love the Biggest Loser and I am so upset about this season. I’ve almost stopped watching a few times.
I am hoping she goes soon!
Thank you Amy for voting Brady off!
Not understanding says:
Why did they feel Phil didn’t deserve to be back on the show? I realize Phil did something during one of the challenges but was it so aweful that they had to have it in for him? I truly don’t understand why they had it in for him.
And for the person that said she is humble; are you kidding me? If the smirk only happened once, I would think okay she had a bad attitude that DAY. But her nastiness has really come out and unless you are on another planet, it is quite clear and plain to see. I haven’t seen any comments from her side so obviously, they are finally seeing the light and are just as embarrassed for her as people said they would be or at least should be. Poor children to have that for a mother. And great, they are probably going to be two more bullies in this world.
Amy C. I’m so proud of you — you did the bravest thing!
There is nothing more to say, it has all been said. I am so glad that I am not the only one that wants to smack Vicky. No matter if she is nice in person or not, her actions are uncalled for and I think she is an awful person! I would have went off but you all did it for me, thanks. I LOVE The Biggest Loser but now it takes everything I have to watch it because that group of 3 make me sick. I really will have to stop watching soon if those two girls are not voted off. I will be wishing for this! TWO THUMBS DOWN TO THIS THREESOME!
I cannot believe any adult woman who supposedly is there for her children acts like such an immature . And her husband is her puppet even Bob sees it. Brady you need to ditch that manipulator and start your new life without her and see what she has made you look like and how you come off because of her. And Heba and Ed art in the same boat, it is obvious who wears the pants in their relationships. Vicky is a witch and she plays it like she thought she was always covered. Congrats to Amy for showing them they were not going to intimidate and manipulate everyone. Go Amy! I would love to see Colleen and Michelle and Amy all model after this because they not only have outer beauty they have inner beauty and not nasty dirty attitudes.
This woman is a manipulative sociopath. Who takes pleasure in other people’s pain? That’s actually a sign of serious mental illness.
I wait for the day they come after her with a tranquilizer and straight jacket.
Thank goodness there are people as upset as I am about this show and these people- namely Vicky and Huge Heba. Thank goodness Brady got voted off with his stupid hillbilly ways and braces!
Vicky- No matter how much weight you lose, you’ll ALWAYS be …you are such a nasty individual…lose weight-gain a heart
Vicky is a horrible human being. No one needs to be rooting for her since she isn’t even concerned with losing weight. She’s just in it for the money and I guess greed just makes you nasty. Well greed and being gifted with the worst personality ever.
Vicki is evil. I have no problem with game playing but she has an evil, hateful mentality and the fact that heba is friends with her says something about her too. Vicki sounds so ignorant when she speaks. $350,000 won’t give her an education or any class.
Wow. What an unhappy woman! Even if she wins the money, she will still be miserable. I’m not jealous, not overweight, in a happy marriage, and president of a company. I am not being spiteful when I say this: Brady needs to leave her and be with someone who is a nice person. Seriously Brady, did you marry her because she you got her pregnant out of wedlock? Wow…good luck with the rest of your life with that trainwreck.
How in the world can anybody pass judgement on two people that you see on television for 30 minutes a week. I can personally attest that Brady and Vicky are some of the most sincere good hearted people you will meet. As friends of mine in college I got to know both of them as somebody who would give you the shirts off of their backs. So dont be so narrow minded and post negative comments on people that dont even know. Brady and Vicky I wish you the best and hope to see you in the finals. Signed..Another Louisiana Cajun!
Mon says:
I think NBC needs to kick Vicky off. She seems to be very unstable and she did mention she was “in it for the money” only. The blue team didn’t even clap when they weighed Phil among the rest of the contestants. If you ask me the “twist” should have been ALL eliminated players should come back and the team with the most amount of players (the blue team in this case) should be booted.
In a perfect world of course.
I forsee all of the “w”itches weight coming back on…….
Biggest Loser Fan says:
Even though NBC may be using some of the comments to create more drama in the show, there is NO question that Vicky and her pal Heba made the comments. Their behavior has been consistent and they have made continual hateful statements. Congratulations Amy C. for standing up for yourself, listening to your mom and breaking up that hateful, spiteful group of people who thought they were so safe. It is clear that Vicky is a terrible human being, she acted like seeing video of her kids was no big thing!!! What mother wouldn’t want to see her children after all that time. She has a continual smug look on her ugly face. Vicky will continue to be a regardless of how much weight she loses.
I too have watched this show from the beginning and I have to admit this year has been the toughest for me. I don’t personally know any of the contestants and yes, we see an edited version of the show. I am not trying to judge Vicky, Brady or Heba, but it’s what they SAY along with their actions, facial expressions and body language that speak volumes. Editing cannot hide that and unfortunately they are not coming across in a good light. Just my thoughts.
Thank you “Get rid of Vicki” for your link to NBC’s email. I did email them to let them know that I am disappointed in this season. The website is http://www.nbc.com/Footer/Contact_Us/
Oh, and “Anonymous,” they are on TV for 120 minutes a week, and they have decided to show the world their ugliness…how can you tell me that posting a revenge note is sincere and good hearted?
TBL FAN (also VICKI HATER!) says:
I”m so thankful I finally found a place where I can leave my comments along with other Vicky haters! I do agree with the fact that NBC are losing viewers just because of Vicky and Heba. They are running this show like they’re going to win it. They’re not going win, in fact, I don’t even see either one of them (including Ed) being in the Biggest Loser finale! They’re still too big and full of . The Black team and Amy C are going to make it all the way with their positive attitude. Millions of people watch this show looking for people to inspire them to lose weight. Vicky and Heba, you are nothing but scumbags who thinks bringing other people down like that is going to get your to the finals. When you’re watching yourself on TV, you are going to realize how ugly you guys really are! INSIDE AND OUT!
I am so proud of Amy C. for taking the initiative to stand up for herself in this process!!! Vicky needs to be on Dr. Phil after this is all over–she has got some SERIOUS ISSUES! I have been a HUGE fan of this show since the beginning and have all the books. If there is any indication next season of another “Vicky-type” I will absolutely ban the show from that point on. I will finish this season only to see the young girl who SO DESERVES to win–Amy C. You can tell from the interactions with her mother that they are an outstanding family! I actually leave the room when Vicky comes on because she is ruining this show. This show is supposed to make us feel better about ourselves and feel motivated to take care of ourselves. I am being left with a bad taste in my mouth. Shame on NBC for not doing a psychiatric profile before this loony was allowed to be on this show! Brady should be on Dr. Phil too because I can’t believe anybody in their “right mind” would be married to someone so evil, so self-absorbed, and so selfish. Go AMY C!!!!
We are ashamed of you Vicki, you are heartless and evil. And a disgrace to your family and Heba is a close second. You hate-filled self absorbed people have no idea what “playing the game” really means. Playing the game is losing weight not throwing your fellow man under the bus or loving self above all others. Please NBC be more careful before you allow the likes of Vicki (or Heba) back on such a usually inspirational show.
I cannot believe how horrible Vicky is!! I would never take the time to comment on a tv show but I just cant believe her childish behavior!! She needs mental help!! I feel like I am watching a high school show with the way that she behaves!! Too bad her handsome husband has fallen into her trap. EWWWW!! Even if she loses all the weight that she wants it wont change her scrunched up hateful face. Heba is so immature!! So what if you dont like Phil!! Get over it! The hate in this show disgusts me!!
I believe that TBL is allowing its viewers to see certain things for a reason. I think everyone is fighting for themselves, and to do this you have to know how to play the game. It’s not enough to be Ms. Nice and let everyone see just that. I agree that Vicky has an unpleasant look on her face at times. She doesn’t smile much, but when I’m exhausted and being worked to a pulp I don’t smile much either. Now, don’t get me wrong- I would have been really angry if Brady had not been voted off and I also will be very upset if Vicky wins. Now Heba is an outspoken person and I believe that she is digging her grave by confronting people she has issues with as well as Vicky and Brady have been by plotting against people in such a deceitful way. It’s making them look bad, but we don’t know everything. It IS a TV show and ratings are affected by negative scenes as well as positive ones.
Another Former TBL Fan says:
Vicky, Brady and Heba have indeed ruined the show for me. I’m embarrassed that I’m from the same state as Vicky and Brady. Some have mentioned trailer trash from Louisiana. I hope people realize that not all of us from Louisiana are like that. Actually, very few are, thank God.
I’m disappointed that Ed is back on the show. But I am so proud of Amy C.
I used to look forward to watching the show on Tuesday evenings. Not anymore.
Vicky is absolutely hideous. She is hateful, obnoxious, rude and mean. I have never disliked anyone in a reality show so much…..although Heba is almost as bad. I feel bad for Bob, such a kind, spirited man is stuck with the a group of people that ARE the biggest losers…..in mind and spirit. TBL needs to cast much better next season, or they have lost this devoted fan.
VICKI NEEDS TO GO!!! says:
VICKI IS A POOR EXAMPLE OF WHAT BIGGEST LOSER IS ABOUT!!! READ THE BIGGEST LOSER BLOGS AND SEE WHAT AMERICA FEELS ABOUT HER AND HER NASTY ATTITUDE! I DON”T BELIEVE THAT THE PRODUCERS EDITED THE SHOW TO MAKE HER LOOK SO BAD. SHE IS VERY MEAN SPIRITED. VICKI, BRADY AND HEBA ARE VERY POOR EXAMPLES….BIGGEST LOSER LOST ALOT OF FANS BECAUSE OF THEM.
GO PHIL AND AMY!!!! AMERICA LOVES YOU WHETHER YOU SURVIVED THE “HELL” RANCH OR NOT!!!
Lori thanks for the link to NBC I emailed them and shared my embarrassement for having recommended this show. Last week was not why I tune in…I have struggeld with my weight for years and the past 2 1/2 seasons of BL has helped me get on track. It is a slow process for me but it is working, but one of the things that has helped is this show…but in recent weeks I find myself getting disgusted more than anything….Amy C what guts girl….yes she should switch to Black like AMy in season 4 did, she did not want to work with Kim so she went to Jillian…AMY C is going to be in danger on so many levels now…she needs safety with Jillian. Any way….I want to enjoy the show for all the good things in it, and instead I worry for those that are real people, kind people. I love Ali Vincent, Bill ( can’t spell his last name) so many of the contestants have been so likeable…there are always some tough personalities..Mark was rough at times last season, as was Roger, Neil in season 4…but in the end you know they did not wish bad on any individual, they were playing the game…this season it is beyond playing the game….really not entertaining, just mean spirited. IMO
LA Cajun says:
To Amy, I to am a Louisiana Cajun and have to say I am very much ashamed of the way they are treating fellow teammates. As one person posted they are mean and ugly on the inside and out, and not setting a good example for there children. I to hope that she is embarrassed when she watching the show. She may have been nice and friendly and down to earth at the gym when you met her that time, but sometimes action can be deceiving, really watch her on the show cause, ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER THEN WORDS.
Former Fan says:
I agree that the show edits for “drama’s sake.” But come on, one can only show so many clips of someone’s nasty side. Vicki and Brady are according to their occupations, “professionals,” which I’m embarrassed to say, because I’m a professional. Their motivation isn’t health, it’s money. Yes, they’ve been judged harshly but in due course. I can’t let my 6 year old watch the show for an hour because of their behavior and language. Vicki, Brady and Heba represent adult bullying. If they win, I will never watch the show again. It’s supposed to be inspirational not upsetting to watch.
Vickie had said that if Phil came back on the show that she would need a psych doctor and was prepared to walk off the ranch. Well, the truth is Vicki, you are way over due for your appointment with the psych doctor….and I was hoping to see Phil come back just so you would leave….!!!!
Vicki – you are the worst – what a sludge attitude – lighten up & be a human.
You were the biggest loser before during & after this show – and not measurable by weight!
For the few that are sticking up for Vicky…her nastiness comes WAY to easy for this not to be her regular attitude. I would like to think that it is all an act but I don’t think so. She has lost touch with reality. I bet the ones supporting Vicky are just as bad as she is.
ok so it’s only a couple of seconds into the show and i hate vickie even more. I saw her picture in the prevention magazine and she still looks like a cow!
i can’t believe she just said that she can’t talk to Amy because she will be mean and nasty to her. OMG is she that stupid. Every thing out of her mouth is mean and nasty!!!!
Viki stinks says:
Just to go along with what everyone is saying I wanted to express my feelings for Vicky. I hate her very much. She has taken it from a game and made it personal. Her attitude is immoral and self righteous. I just hope she reads all these things being said about her and seriously looks at herself in the mirror. No matter how much weight she losses she will still be an ugly person on the inside.
Vicky is just plain she doesn’t have a chance to win. So what would happen to Amy if it was 5 blue and all the black are gone?? Of course, Amy’s the first to go.
I can’t stop watching this show, but it’s disappointing how it’s not uplifting anymore. It’s become cut-throat survivor.
Vicky is the most unlikeable person I have ever seen on Television – and she’s not faking it! She is vengeful, hateful and downright dispiseable!! She deserves to be miserable and ugly on the outside because that is what she is on the inside. I have a favorite on this show and that is whoever beats Vicky! Brady, I feel sorry for you brother. You seem like a decent guy who could do soooo much better than her!!
Good for Amy for voting off Brady. When all is said and done, this game is about winning – and everyone who is watching this show knows that Vicky would NEVER put anyone else before herself. Vicky can stick it. She deserves to lose.
beegees74 says:
Go Vicky! Go Vicky! We totally support you here in Florida….NOT!
I hate to say this, but I think it’s fair to say that she is white trash. She’s ONLY about the money. I get it that it’s a lot of money, but all her scheming is getting her nowhere.
Craig Hates Vicki says:
viki, thanks to you, whenever a female is being “less than nice” i no longer have to disgrace a female dog by slandering their name. instead, i can now call them viki’s.
I can’t believe Amy just apologized to Vicky. It should have been the other way around unless she has an angle. No way is she back with the blue team – NO WAY!
Beegees….Nice post. Had me going there for a second.
Susan, she’s not back. She just has the class that Vicky and trash wish they had.
Has anyone noticed how much Heba has eased up on her smacktalk this week? She must realize how evil Vicky is…
You’re right Phil. I’ve been watching too much of Vicky that Amy’s class was overshadowed.
PH says:
I was shocked at tonights episode, Heba is not jumping on vickys train!
Hey Susan. How about Michelle giving Vicky that extra pound. Hopefully that plays into it.
Yea, but after just seeing Vicky’s reaction to her weight, it was a look of “ha ha, I lost enough weight anyway” I hope Amy doesn’t vote for Colleen.
Oh God, please let Amy vote for Vicky. It’s time!!!
Well it’s back to Amy again. She HAS to vote Vicky off!!!
What an insensitive person…she’s better than colleen because she has kids that she doesn’t want to see on video….unbelievable!
its says:
Vicki has the WORST attitude! She dirves me crazy.
If Vicky doesn’t go home tonight, I’m not watching anymore. She is a disgrace to nurses, a disgrace to women and a bigger disgrace to humans.
THANK THE LORD!!! I don’t think I can watch next week if Vicky remains!!!! WHAT A !!!
I’d keep watching just hoping and praying that she gets kicked off….Come on Amy!!!! Do the right thing.
Sorry about the last…I’m so happy to finally have found a place that not only sees Vicky as she portrays herself on this show. Hateful hateful spiteful person! “reality is that I work 60 hours a week and have 2 kids, when am I going ot find time to work out?” How about when you take your kids to the park and SHOW them what it means to be healthy!
OH NO!!!! NO No NO NOT COLEEN!
Oh well, all I can say now is we know who’s gonna win. Amy will be gone the second she is below that line. Vicky will see to it.
I want to throw up
Anti-Vicki says:
Maybe next week the viewers could vote off the next contestant. We all know who would be going home by a landslide…..Vicki!!
Teddi says:
I would just like to say that Vicky is the most hateful person I have ever see! I think that she is a total and she does not deserve to be on the show!
Vicky, go home and stay there!!!! I would never, ever let my child watch this season and only because of Vick!!!!
Thank you to Vicky for actually making me second guess if I want to keep watching this season as well….
Oh Amy Amy Amy … Vicky will throw you under the bus if she gets the chance. You played her game last week and it didn’t sit well with her.
Shermie says:
wow. I watched Vicky complain and moan about how she got betrayed and she only mentioned ONCE how she’d miss Brady. She doesn’t give a flying crap about missing her kids and her husband. Talk about the greediest loser!! I mean, she’s a blackhearted woman, and I am astonished that Amy didn’t send her packing.
b.c says:
lookin at vicki want makes me wanna puke! im scared to know what her kids are gonna be like!
Faithful Watcher says:
Oh Amy, Amy, Amy is right! Vicky will throw you under the bus WHEN she gets the chance! She’ll forget all about you saving her this week – but won’t forget that “you” broke up “her” blue team. By the way, doesn’t Heba & Ed get it …… Vicky will vote the two of them off too, because she wants to WIN!!! There is only room for one winner.
I Hate Vicky says:
Canada Hates Vicky Vilcan!
I hope she get fatter then ever
I’m now convinced that this is all staged for the November sweeps. I cannot believe that Amy C. didn’t vote Vicky off the show when she had the chance. NBC is loving the publicity, albeit bad. They couldn’t afford to have Vicky off the show. What a crock. I will never watch this show again. It has lost its purpose. I will be contacting the sponsors.
Tired of Vicki says:
I hate Vicki, it makes me sick that she ets to stay and Colleen, a genuinely good person is voted off. Amy was bullied. There is no way Vicki is going to keep her around, why didn’t she realize that? All we can hope is that next week Vicki and Heba will both be below the yellow line…talk about drama, and that would be the greatest thing because I HATE THEM BOTH! I agree with other posters: Vicki’s bullying/backstabbing/high schoolish tactics have RUINED the show for me.
VICKYS A DOGFACE B.... says:
This show has me off for the last time… What happened to Amy??? She’s gone now… and I almost hope she goes home next week for making such a dumb decision!!!!! That’s it… I’m not watching anymore.
If i were to see vicky in the streets i’d have to boo her, or worse. i’m sorry, but i hope anyone who encounters her in real life gives her a hard time, she deserves to get bullied for once instead of picking on others
Vicky is the root of all Evil says:
i can’t stand this cow!!!! and you know she’s probably raising her children to be just as mean as she is!!! I hope people in real life are as nasty to her as she is to others on the show. she deserves to be the one getting bullied for a change
Cant stand Vicki says:
This lady makes me really dislike watching this show for the first time ever. What a! She is so mean and hurtful and needs to get over herself thinking she is going to win. What happen to team work? She seems to be running the show and no one stands up to her. This use to be a great show with everyone helping each other and encouraging each other, I feel like im watching survivor! Things have turned ugly in this season and im not enjoying it. I yell at the tv the whole time wanting her gone. Glad im not the only one!
Josiane says:
Viki and Hefa are the biggest I have ever seen and I’m a woman saying that. They totally ruined the show!! those miserable. Amy did such a stupid thing, because the first chance that vicki gets, she will throw her under the bus. Viki and Hefa are so pittifull, that If a was actually their friend, that after the show, I would stop being their friends. First of all, I would never be friends with hateful people like them. I hope they get fatter and fatter.
Vicky is EVIL!
Skullee says:
You are one mean woman. I hope they kick you off the show next week. You and your husband don’t deserve any prizes. You two are just a bunch of shallow immature backstabbing people.
I feel sorry for Amy. The poor girl is so young and is not much of “gameplayer”. She just didn’t want to be bullied for another week. Unfortunately, she will probably be the next blue team member kicked off because of her mistake. I Loved Colleen-i was rooting for her to win it! As for Vicky, what goes around comes around…she’ll get what she deserves. Hopefully Michelle and Renee can get rid of her and her fat can go back to stuffing her face.
I was so sorry to see Coleen leave!! But to see her now in a Size 10 – wow! She just didn’t have the confidence to do it without Jillian, but I guess she found out she COULD do it on her own!
I don’t know what Amy was thinking! I guess like someone said, she really was bullied by Vicky. I can’t stand that woman!!! I saw that Prevention magazine picture, too. She is NO ROLE MODEL!!!
GRRR says:
I CANNOT BELIEVE THAT VICKY IS STILL ON THE SHOW…AHHHHH
Go Home Vicky!! says:
Vicky, I would have done cartwheels if Amy had voted your sorry, outta there this week. You should be thanking your lucky stars that you are still there. I pray you WILL NOT make it to the finals..or your stupid puppet husband. Oh, Dude, you can do MUCH better than that , by the way. Go Renee, Michelle and Amy! Kick some sorry Vilcan!!!!!
Zone Therapist says:
would LOVE to give them all a face zone!
Vicky, you could get down to a size 2 (you won’t), and you would still be ugly.YOU ARE UGLY FROM THE INSIDE OUT.
Look at her Myspace says:
i can’t believe her my space page. she thinks she has done nothing wrong and she apologizes—such a fake apology on her blog. she is so not sorry and she is a PUNK!
Throw up on Vicky says:
I tried emailing NBC about possibilities of kicking Vicky off the show, but I received a return email saying they get too many emails and will not be able to respond.
Does anyone know if there is another way to get NBC’s attention about sick vicky’s behavior and possibilities of kicking her out?
I’m so grossed out by her. Before I loved watching the show to see the contestants change their lives and encourage one another. Now I don’t even want to hear about it. Vicky has totally tainted the show.
1. You really need to see how you look, Vicki — NBC’s best makeup artists cant make that stuff inside you not come out.
2. Why be mean? Why gloat when other people fail and fall from your mean malicious intent…. then get offended when someone just trying to ‘survive’ on the show votes your husband off. You are whacked!
3. NBC should let the viewers vote. You’d have been gone week #3. We are all considering NOT watching this show anymore because of how you have basically just ruined every week with your mean-ness. It’s sickening to watch. You should personally apologize to EVERYONE on the show. And you really need an attitude ajustment. Sad, sad, sad. You are a sad, lonely miserable woman. Your poort kids, seeing your nasty mean way of being.
For all of you wanting to have Vicky dismissed- the show stopped taping in August. It’s done. They are currently filming season 7, which starts in January. So you can wish her to be voted off all you want, nothing anyone can do about it.
Vicky is U-G-L-Y. Her appearance will not improve regardless of weight loss. Her face makes me want to vomit. Maybe if she were actually a worthwhile person, I could look at her. I hope her kids aren’t allowed to watch the show. bleck.
barbara baker says:
why do people have to be so difficult? Vicki should relize this is a game and people are going to do what ever they have to do to win. Did she think it would be smooth sailing all the way? NOT! I’ll bet if the tables had been turned Amy would have wanted to get revenge on her!
What should be positive and supportive people, The Biggest Loser brought in Vicky. How incredibly disappointing to see someone so hateful. Yes, it’s a game, but there is something ugly inside her. She has that fake “Nice To Your Face” routine down. For us who have weight to lose, I hope they screen better next time.
Vicky will continue to be ugly no matter how much weight she loses, because of her spiteful, hateful personality. I can’t believe that sweet Colleen is gone and that horrible Vicky is still there. Surely with so many people across the nation who applied to be on the program, TBL could have picked someone more deserving than this witch.
Dear Vicky – I’ll bet you had high hopes of your experience on TBLF, sharing this life experience with your children and looking back fondly on your 15 minutes of fame…well too bad you ruined it for yourself and your children and your friends/family…you blame everyone but yourself for your failures and it’s really you that’s the loser.
Here’s hoping you get what’s coming to you, you sour old hag.
I can’t stant her! She’s so gross, rude, ugly, gross, nasty, childish, trouble maker, sore loser and did I already say gross. Also, I can’t stand Heba or her husband. Amy’s an idiot for not getting rid of
vicki last week. What’s with Bob not putting his nasty blue team in check with their horrible attitudes. THey truly make me sick! i’ve never disliked the biggest loser ever before until this season. Yuck Yuck Yuck : (
I know the show has finished taping. Vicky lives in the same city as me and I know where she works. I knew she won some type of money reward because it was donated to her child’s school. I still can’t stand her, don’t think harm should come to her or her family but would hate to see her or Brady win anything, but if they do, it won’t get them far. How can an anesthetist and a pharmacist be in a position to need so much money anyway? Anesthestist make at least 125K a year and pharmacist aren’t too far behind. One answer – greed. And we all know what happens when you are greedy. It won’t bring them any good if they win it this way. They are not deserving.
Why does Vicki get mad at everyone else for “Playing the Game”? She’s so loud about her being the Queen of the game but, no one else has the right to play the game, only her fat butt can play it. She’s such a mean Bully or Bull whatever. She makes the mean in me come out! This show is suppose to be positive and helpful not mean and nasty like it has been. THe show should kick her off for unsportsmanlike conduct. Ok. enough for now I’m going to go throw up now.
Vicky will always be the BIGGEST LOSER….in life. I have watched this show the last few seasons and NEVER have I ever seen anybody so evil on the inside it makes my stomach turn even that mention of her name. This show is about getting healthy, not being manipulating, and just a plain awful person. Go ahead Vicky, you win that $250K, but everyone, EVERYONE will know you won it dirty. Your a disgrace to this show and everybody who is even associated with you, lucky for me, Im not one of those people, I would be awfully embarrased.
I am watching the show now and keep changing the station because Vicky is making me crazy. Amy will be thrown under the bus if she falls below the yellow line.
The whole blue team doesn’t get it. Too bad. They are going to help Vicky win. She is not a stupid person. She knows how to play people and situations. Scary when you think about it since her job involves people’s lives.
There is no question, Vicky is satan herself. That woman has major evil problems; and greedy is the least that one can call her. Her little “homesick cry” is so fake!
SLRP says:
My husband and I can barely stand to watch this Grinch looking woman anymore. She seems to have serious emotional problems and is the greediest person I have ever seen. All I know is the other blue players better get their heads out of their butts and take her down. If she wins, I will be so upset! I hope this show can provide her with some type of therapy to act like a normal human being, and not this uncaring slimeball.
I’m thinking that NBC edited as much as they could this week not to make Vicky look so mean. The “cry”, if that’s what you call it, was far fetched, really not convincing to me. The video from home wasn’t to inspiring as well so she really didn’t have much to cry about. I think she looks a little softer this week. Maybe not?
JKL says:
THE WORST CONTESTANT IN THE HISTORY OF THE SHOW. ARROGANT, UGLY BOTH INSIDE AND OUT.
How in the world do you look at yourself in the mirror or how do you even think your attitude and behavior is acceptable? You are not a nice person at all!! Amy should have voted you off when she had the chance. Do you bully everyone in your life? You have succeeded in making yourself out to be a ruthless, uncaring, vindictive bully. This show in the past has been an inspiration to all who watch. You my dear are no inspiration. No matter how much weight you lose you will never be a winner with your attitude. This show in the past has been about support and you have manged to make it about you and money and what you want. And you don’t give a flying flip about anyone but yourself. I do hope you get the emotional and mental help you need to come to grips with whatever in your life has made you such an uncaring person.
OMG! I hate Vicky more and more every week. Please, please send her home!
I really like this show and think that it truly changes peoples lives. I am just incredibly disappointed that vicki is still on the show. She is the most manipulative, vendictive, horrible person. I don’t care how many of her “friends” post that she & her husband are “genuine” – a person like her doesn’t know what genuine is & would happily stab anyone in the back.
I can’t wait until she gets kicked off – she is an ugly person and it doesn’t matter how much weight she loses.
Hope you are proud….
I can’t wait to see the end. I am so thrilled that Renee and Michelle kicked blue butt. I had to do a little dance when I saw 10# for Michelle!!
Vicky has ruined this show for me and I hope NBC is proud of the fact that they took waht was an inspiring show and turned it into another back stabbing,hateful, reality show.
If anyone is interested in reading Vicky’s blogs on myspace.com. She writes after each show.
She voted Amy off because of Brady and still feels she was “betrayed” by Amy. I’m hoping her plan backfires with Heba and Ed teaming up against her.
I cannot stand Vicky. She’s the most evil contestant ever. I thought the show was supposed to be inspiring and positive, and all it is now is a show about hatred. I am completely disappointed in NBC and I have no desire to keep watching the show.
mn says:
man this show was great until Vicky ruined it. Thats a lot of negative energy coming your way Vicky…
she will get what’s coming to her soon i hope. the money is great, but if i could go on there and get Jillian as a trainer I could lose this ugly weight and wouldn’t be vindictive like Vicki is. Good luck to Renee and Michelle!
how do i access Vicki’s MySpace page?
Jen Johnson says:
Has anyone notice all the other contestants, as they lose weight are becoming so much more attractive. Except Vicki, who is just plain FUGLY! I hope the makeup artist in New York has a bunch of spray paint. Or else her makeover consists of putting a bag on her head…that might be the only thing to improve it!!
Vicky, I’m sure you read the comments written about you. I truly hope you have the capacity to learn from your mistakes and become a better person. Your behavior has been unbecoming, to say the least.
Evil Picture of VV says:
If anyone wants to see the scariest picture yet of this woman, google her name under “Vicky Vilcan” and click on the Images tab.There’s a picture of her as a New Orleans Saints fan (facepaint and all)that will send a shiver up your spine
Vicky’s myspace page link is
Cruise Lady says:
I sure hope that I never find myself in the Operating Room in the hospital where Vicky works. I’d rather have Dracula giving me anesthesia……….. Amy missed a huge opportunity to eliminate this vindictive woman and it did her in. Very sad. Hoping that the Black team end up in the finale!
Bigstloserfan says:
Check out Vicky’s blog of excuses
To find Vicky on my space, go to myspace.com and up at the top click on “Find People” then type Vicky Vilcan in the find friends space. Scroll down and you’ll see “Biggest Loser Vicky” and click on that. That will bring you to her page and on the right are her blogs. Click on “View All Blog Entries” and you’ll see all her posts. The last line on her entry dated 11/25 is about Amy C: “I know without a shadow of doubt in my mind that you will win the $100,000 at home prize. I would bet money on it and I’m telling you that I’ve predicted nearly every single winner on the previous episodes. You are an amazing woman, beautiful singer and I loved the way you kept me in stitches. I am 100% counting on you to win this for BOB and for BLUE. You can and WILL win this. I can’t wait to see you in a couple of weeks.” Watching Vicky on TV I wonder if she is playing with Amy’s head because she originally said her plan for the show was to win it all. $250,000.00 + $100,000.00. Can’t trust that woman!
If you’re on facebook, please check out the group “I pledge to stop watching Biggest Loser if Vicky wins” We need to send a message back!
Rie says:
Hey folks- Amy and the I love Vicky brady bunch told us we better back of so I think we better ba…..BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAA!!!
Whoooo! that was good- I almost got through that with a straight face. Vicky is the biggest waste of flabby skin I’ve ever seen.
Hey Rie … how did you find that out?
Knew it!!!! I just knew I wasn’t the only person who could not stand Vicky and the game and people she is playing!!! I have loved this show since it started!! From the inspiring song that swells at the beginning until the last chance workout–wonderful show! But I have NEVER seen anyone so utterly dislikeable as that Vicky–she’s like a bulldozer and all these sweet people keep getting dozed under!! I really wanted Colleen to win, or Amy C–(Amy, Amy…why didn’t you get rid of her when you had the chance, girl?????? What were you THINKING??!!)
I can only hope Renee or Michelle win–it’s so not fair that Vicky might actually win this, when the whole theme of the show is losing weight and changing lives and the theme song asks: “what have you done today to make you feel proud?” No soup for you, Vicky!!
yeah I totally agree with every comment on here about vicky being completely detestable oh and ugly face too not a fan of the blue team at all now that amy’s gone I seriously am disgusted by the leftovers eeewwwweeeewwww yuck GO BLACK TEAM I LOVE YOU BOTH
Vicky and Heba has ruined the biggest loser for me this time…I have trouble watching the show because they are just nasty and EVIl. I like when people root for others, not stab them in the back. I quit watching the show 3 weeks ago because I could not stand those 2 .
It all makes sense now! She is an anesthetist! She loves the power trip of putting people to sleep with drugs…perfect for a total sociopath!
Good call on the anesthetist/sociopath connection!!!
Enough of Vicky says:
Heard Vicky has gotten so much hate mail that she is moving. People must have found her address and phone on Yahoo whitepages. Yikes!! Anyway, if she is a anesthetist and he is a pharmacist, they make a bundle already…maybe as much as the prize money. So why so mean and competative…can’t be for the money right? Hey Vicky..hope it is worth it!!
Stop and Think for a second says:
Ok, lets break it down. I have known Vicky for 2 years now. Vicky is one of the sweetest people you could meet. However, she is a strong willed person. She sets her goals and goes for it. All the talk about “I wouldn’t act like that just to win $200,000.” Oh stuff it!! Her goal is to win. Now I think editing has created her to appear as a monster. They get a week or so of film to create a personna for each person that will only make up less than 10 minutes of the show. I would like to film one of you guys for a day. But wait, how about I starve you, work you to death. And on top of that make it competitive, so that everyone you are in contact with is your rival. You do realize that no one signed up to BIGGEST LOSER for friendship. This is a game of weight loss and money. a Competition!!! Everyone was so excited for Vicki when she found out she actually made the show. We all thought…..”It couldn’t happen to a better person” And I stand by that. I feel sorry that they were portrayed the way they are being portrayed. And for the correlation of an anesthetist and a sociopath. That’s just stupid. You guys must have never worked with one. GO VICKY!!!!!!!
Stop and think and other Vicki fans. Well, if what you all say and that she is not like this in person than I’m very disappointed in NBC. I didn’t watch it the first 2 seasons b/c I don’t really care for these “reallity” shows. I guess I was fooled. If they truly edited to make her look evil then they succeeded. Heba just looks stupid. Just about everyone appears to be like contestants on previous shows — inspiring, gracious, joyful. If what you say is true than she is a very good actress and NBC should be ashamed o themselves b/c the show just isn’t the same as the last 2 or 3 seasons that I have watched it. I was so excited for Ali to win last season. It was so inspiring. Now it just annoys me that somone who appears greedy and apparently makes a lot of money already gets to have more money.
Stop and think for a second i think you’re the one with some serious thinking to do. Sociopaths are known for taking pleasure in other people’s pain. They are manipulative, controlling, and are sometimes hard to spot. The snarky little smiles when people fail (and are hurt!), leaving threatening notes titled “Revenge”, not to mention her manipulation amoungst other players all blaintly point to psychological problems, not a person who simply has a goal and goes for it. The fact that she is an anesthetist is truly alarming to the rest of us watching this show. The fact that she works in the medical world (where she literally puts people out) is bone chilling.
The one, and probably only think I do agree with you that she is probably more on edge because she’s been dieting and working out so much- but (and here’s where you need to stop and think)so has everyone else on that show. We see the best come out of the other players and look up to them, why is Vicky so different? It’s not because of editing. Editing is only highlighting what is really there in the first place, it is not forcing Vicky to make these faces or say these alarming things. Vicky is different because there is something much more serious going on here than weight loss. If you know this woman (or maybe if you are this woman?) this should be an eye opener to people in her life that she needs some help. Plain and simple.
funny stuff goin on here... says:
stop and think for a second i think you’re a hired publiscist by the vilcans to fan the flames. no one in real life would think this woman is deserving of anything
Stop and think for a second — I just thought of something else. The purpose of this show is to change people’s lives so they shouldn’t be starving as you mentioned because that would not be healthy. Marisa you made a very good point about no one else saying horrible things or laughing at people getting hurt. And her smirks were the first thing that I noticed about her. Is her fan club saying NBC told her to make those smirks so it would be caught on camera and she would be the “bad” guy. Is this the first season they told one of the contestants to do that? Are ratings so bad that they need to stoop to this? Isn’t this going down the same lines of fooling their audience that 21 did many years ago making people look smarter than they actually were? Just wondering. It’s really hard to not think of her as just plain mean and being a bully. If I were in her position, I wouldn’t want a tv show portraying me like that, and I don’t care how much hush money they were to offer me, and I could use the money but it just wouldn’t be worth it.
Her own husband told her “that’s enough” in one of the episodes. SHE is making the faces. The words that come out of her mouth are HERS. The body language is HERS. She is not being starved or worked to death. SHE is the one who made the decision to get up in the middle of the night, while everyone else was sleeping, to exercise. SHE made the statement at the beginning of the season that the goal was to win it all. SHE is playing the game and all she can see is the money. All $350,000.00 of it. SHE is the one making herself look ugly. Not NBC.
It’s a shame that you don’t know the real Vicki. She’s really a sweetie, and a great anesthetist. We love Vicki, and her patients do too. It’s a shame that she is portrayed the way she is portrayed. I don’t believe that she was acting at all. But I do believe that they pieced together Vicki at her worse and crankiest for ratings. and i’m sure that some of the facial expressions were shown out of context with what was happening on the show. You do realize that she sacrificed alot to be on the show. I can see why it’s so competitive for her. She isn’t just competing against herself. She’s competing against everyone else. Why does everyone act like 350,000 is chump change?? Have you guys ever watched Real World Reunions on MTV? I’ve seen on a few occasions where the editors edited the scenes to make fights/arguments seem over the top, when in fact the people of the shows say it wasn’t as it seemed. That it was a 5 minute fight that ended in a hug, and they were friends again later that day. Please don’t talk bad about my friend. she’s a great person!!! She really is!!! and by the way……..she looks amazing!!!
oh and you say that it isn’t starving yourself? try to lower your calorie intakes the way they had to. Just go ahead and try it tomorrow. Try eating half of the calories you normally eat? and also eat different foods than you are accostumed to eating. Plus, I don’t see how it could be healthy to lose that much weight in such a short time. and I’ve heard doctors say the same. and I am sure they were under care of doctors during the show, but I still don’t think it can be healthy. that’s my opinion. GO VICKIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!!!!!!!!!
nonna says:
There is no reason for us to get all over Vicky. I mean look at her, she is a miserable person. No matter how much weight she looses and even if she wins the money (please no) she won’t be happy. I bet her husband can’t stand her and we all saw how much enjoyment she gets out of her kids. My kids mean the world to me, after 6 weeks I would be so miserable for them and to see a video of their sweet faces would bring me such joy. I am just sad for her that she doesn’t even have that. Evil may prevail for now but good will win through in the end (hopefully). Oh and you people defending her like you are going to change our minds..are you crazy? Anyone with sense about them can detect the evil a mile away. The way she talks, walks, her head nods, just her overall smugness gives her away. You can talk all the roses you want but her evil shines through. Those poor people who get her as a nurse, YIKES..that is what makes hospitals scary.
Awww, poor vicki . . . everyone’s picking on her . . . maybe if she reads how much we all hate her she’ll stop being such a!
think people says:
Remember this is a game!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! She is playing a Game!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yes, I believe there is alot of editing in the show. They have to always have a bad person to pick on and I guess they chose her. I think she showed how much she missed her kids when she saw their video. She is HUMAN. I hope she does well.
Nala says:
Vicky is a horrible, EVIL witch of a woman and she doesn’t remotely deserve to win this. Remember the challenge where she said she didn’t care if they won because the prize wasn’t worth it? The prize was videos from home. Videos of her KIDS. How could any mother say that’s not worth it?!! How immature do you have to be to put a “revenge” sign on your bedroom door? I get that she was distraught that Brady was kicked off, but come on she’s not in high school. Amy didn’t “backstab” her either. She was playing the game. Somehow it’s okay for Vicky to be a horrid evil b*tch and do what she has to do to play the game, but anyone else that plays for themselves is a backstabber? That’s ridiculous. She has damaged the show. Heba isn’t much better. At least in Heba’s defense, she’s too stupid to realize how badly she’s getting played by Vicky.
Get the smirk off your face says:
I dislike Vicky
She is so stupid she should of kept Amy and voted off Michelle. Even though I want Michelle or Renee to win. She wanted revenge. Now if she falls beyond the yellow line do you think Heba and Ed are going to save her? She just screwed herself!
She always claims how hard she worked that week. She feels she has worked harder than anyone else. I am so sick and tired of hearing how she feels she is better than everyone else. I mean she should of voted for Heba because that would of broken up a team and teammates always vote for the same person. IF her head was in the game her vote would of been for Heba not Michelle, my fault, I forgot who was up for elimination. Heba should of been gone last week but vicky played the friendship card and carma will come back to get her. She promised Amy safety and Vicky will not win. I can’t wait to see how they make over her ugly face tonight on the show because she needs it!
I am so tired of the Biggest Loser having couples or family on the show. I think they should find some people who are single and overweight. I auditioned for the show in Milwaukee, Wisconsin but no one was picked. I would love to go on the show but I don’t have a significant other to go with. Hey NBC mix it up next season and have all new people on the show who don’t know each other. It is to predictable who they are going to vote for. I would love to have Bob kick my and get me into shape. He is eye candy and has a great body. so mix it up and get some single not families on the next season.
i think i have figured out why lsu sucks this year….. brady and his fat wife arent in the stands yelling scaring the players to win or be eaten
Hahaha, Vicki’s sister is just as fat as she is . . . hahaha!!!
Hey, doesn’t Vicky look alot like Feona’s win off of Shriek. The fat round face and the ugly red hair. I definite twin. Her personality is about the same a .
Every contestant has sacrificied alot to be on the show, not just Vicky. Every contestant has changed their eating habits and are exercising, not just Vicky. But not every contestant has enough “ugly” moments (like Vicky) for the producers to edit in that would make us feel otherwise about them. And usually patients don’t get to know the anesthetist enough to “like” them. As long as she watches them while they are under sedation and doesn’t let them die, of course she’ll be liked. As far as starving them, well, they eat better than all of us. And someone who works out where she does, says she is skinny and that she does “seem nice” (whatever that means)
if everyone saw the preview for next week, America gets to decide who gets voted off. Well dah! VICKY! she was lying when she said she had a tough decision to make. I knew for a fact that she was going to vote off Renee. I hope Michelle or Ed win the whole thing. They didn’t hold grudges against anyone!
LOL America gets to vote who is the third player in the final 3 well if Vicki is below the yellow line she will not be in the final 3. I think America is tired off her ugliness. And as far as NBC goes I thought TBL was a family show? There is an aweful lot of cussing for it to be a family show.
Get the smirk off your face — I agree it’s time they went back to singles.
missed the show says:
Who got the ax tonight, I missed the show?
I’m also hoping that Shalee will go off on Vicky for the way she treated Amy. Maybe Michelle will get the best revenge by winning the whole thing. I know that if I ever got the honor of being on this show I wouldn’t act that way. I would just be happy that I got to spend some time with my husband. Vicky has to relize that she gets to spend her whole life with Brady. Yes I would be sad to see my husband go, but at least I know he will home when I get there or vice versa. Plus if she wanted to win all the money then either her or Brady would have to go home to win the at home prize! Do you remember the Twins who won in season 4!
what scares me is that vicky actually laughed when phil fell down the step in that challenge with eliminated players coming back…that sent a shiver up my spine cuz no one else laughed while vicky snickered. i felt so bad for phil. remember even her own husband had to stop her from saying something bad about phil. she gets fixated on one thing and can’t let go. phil seems to be the best man of all of them. another thing is that she never talked about getting her health back and did not even hear any positive note coming out her. every action, word, and behavior throughout this show has shown her to be mean-spirited. i seriously doubt NBC edited that much like vicky says in her myspace blog. i’m just embarrassed for the children in my family to see her bullying and even her little kids, say “kick butt”…such bullies!
Vicky put on quite a show during the challenge last night. She knew she couldn’t win so she staged being afraid to jump in the water, just to put all the attention on herself and off the true winner of the challenge, Michelle. What a crock. She even admitted she’s not afraid of heights. It was all staged. What an evil person.
It looks like we get to vote next week – here’s our opportunity to send Vicky packing. It’s time she learns to BE NICE or go home!!! This woman really changed the dynamics of this show for the worse; there’s nothing inspiring about Vicky:(
Isn’t it only if she falls below the yellow line?
Damm that makeover did not help the evil bitch Vicky look better at all.Her face looked like a dead persons.To her buddy who is blogging on her behalf it will not do you any good most of america hates her because of how she ruined the show this season.If this is how she acts on tv I would hate to see her not on tv.She will carry a noteriety that she did not want because of her mean actions.People hate her.Most good people hate bullies and assholes.If you are her buddy you probably are one too.
My wife made me start watching this show, and I liked it at first. Then Heffer, ur I mean Hebba started her crap and I hated her. That was until Vicky started showing her true colors. I will not watch another single episode. I will find something to do while my wife watches it.I hope this show goes down. I can’t believe the producers let the biggest loser turn into a fat version of Survivor. I hope everyone quits watching and the show can’t continue. It is disgusting what this once good program has turned into. Die biggest loser. Fade into obscurity.
bummed says:
Wow! What a season this has been. In TV history when a show is no longer doing well, the producers will add a lot of drama, or innapropriate script lines to bring ratings. We have seen it over and over again: Arsenio Hall, day time talk shows, Dr. Phil, and now The Biggest Loser. Its sad but true. I hate to think that TBL is doing bad with ratings, but one of two things has to be happening, either Vicki truly is the “not so nice” person that we all are seeing, or the producers are making more drama than is really happening on the show. I would love to meet different people from the show and find out there thoughts on the entire thing. Im thinking that once the show ends there will be a burst of blogs and interviews with the contestants to tell us what really went on.
Until then, I will continue watching this season to the end and i’ll start next season but if its anything like this season, i’ll be done. What about you?
I have to admit I did not feel compelled to change the station while watching the show on 12/2. It might be because Vicky did not say anything that got under my skin, as she has in the past. As far as the makeovers go I like Vicky’s hair color better lighter and they did not do a great job with her makeup. Just my opinion tho. I also think she was frightened to jump into the water and was not trying to take away Michelle’s thunder. She was the first one to drop out and had no idea who was going to eventually win. I know there is a lot of editing going on and here is a quote from Vicky’s blog for the reason why she writes her blogs before the show airs and doesn’t watch the show: “I really can’t bear to see any more of my words being taken out of context and twisted around”. That being said, she has made some terrible comments and even if they are taken out of context, they are terrible just the same. I’d really like to know how they are being twisted around. She is coming across to America as an ugly person and I would love to know how much is Vicky and how much is the editing. If she falls below the yellow line next week and America gets the chance to vote she doesn’t stand much of a chance. I’d love to see Michelle win it all!
I would love to see Michelle win too. I was pulling for her or Colleen. They emulate what the show is about. I was told Vicky was at the gym on crutches. She wasn’t able to walk but hopped to a stationary bike. I don’t know how that will affect her work out or how long she will be out. My friend said she has slimmed down a bit but her arms are still flabby in the tricep area. She didn’t talk to her but said she didn’t seem unpleasant.
proud to be canadian says:
Vicky your personality and attitude stink!
Those smirky looks and her hubby throwing the weigh in… really good way to show your children how much you love them and by saying talking to them isnt important after 6 weeks away… filthy.
and for her to say: My ultimate goal is for Brady and I to bring home $350,000……………. money is the root of all evil remember that!!!!
Vicky, Heba & Brady need to go; their attitudes about the game stink. ”may karma come back to bite you all !!!!!!” you three are making this show awful to watch .
Michelle will get the best revenge by winning the whole thing.
*******GOD BLESS YOU******.
you and your mom deserve it all!!!
to push out big numbers week after week after week ,
Question:::
BIGGEST LOSER USA,,,,, BIGGEST LOSER AUSTRALIA
WERES THE BIGGEST LOSER CANADA????
THE ONE THING I LEARNED AFTER WATCHING THIS SEASON, IS I REALLY WANT TO GET ON THIS SHOW PLZ SOMEONE HELP ME GET ON ? AND ALSO IF I GET ON, AND WON ALL THE MONEY WOULD GO TO CHARITY!!! CAUSE LIKE I SAID MONEY IS THE ROOT OF ALL EVIL AND IT DOESN’T BRING HAPPINESS….
GO VICKY from THIBODAUX LA says:
you guys are funnier, and much more evil than they even portray the contestants. You guys are horrible. I know Vicky personally and she is a wonderful caring happy person. I got to see Vicky after she filmed the show and wow, she will blow your minds. Now that was a good six weeks ago. I saw her again a few days ago, and I can safely say if she made it to the top 3 she will win. I hope you all get to see how the other contestants defend her, because, I know they will, because they all got to know her. Try to tone down the evil comments. I think it’s so funny that you all criticize people for criticizing people. Hypocrites. I know you all don’t want to hurt people, but I know she’s read some of this garbage and it does hurt her, and there is nothing she can do to show what really went on. the editors did their damage already. wait until you see vicky live. Vicky is hot!!!
Jillian Rocks - go Black says:
Vicki dug her own grave, do not blame the producers. She is the one who made all the comments that made her look bad.
I love the biggest loser and I do not think I have ever disliked a contestant in the past.
The way she treated Phil and the revenge sign – seriously – how can you defend her.
I will be extremely disappointed if Vicki wins. Even if she is 1/10 as evil as portrayed on the show, she is a very bad person.
If I were Vicki, I would be embarrassed to show my face.
Well GO VICKY from THIBODAUX LA, I hope on the live show Vicky shows us the side you know (whether she makes the top three or not). That may be her chance to show America what you are talking about.
I too hope the Vicky that shows up at the finale, whether she’s in it or not, is the Vicky “GO VICKY from THIBODAUX LA” is talking about!
Scarpia says:
I can’t beliave that Vicky’s behavior has somehow been manipulated by producers. Did anyone tell her to say the nasty stuff she actually said on the show? Did a producer give her a revenge sign and tell her to put it on Amy’s door? I damn well hope Vicky does read these blogs. I hope she reads what I’ve written. The Biggest Loser is different from other T.V. reality shows because the big payoff is not the $250,000.00. At the end of the season, the contestants end up much healthier than they were when they entered the Biggest Loser House. Ally is a wonderful representative of this. Kay, who didn’t win any prize money (I don’t think) is also a terrific example. Last season I genuinally liked everyone on the show.
Vicky could lose every ounce she would like to lose but she’d still be mean, nasty, unkind, manipulative, hurtful and cruel. If she really needs the money that badly, she can sell drugs or rob a bank. Morally, that wouldn’t be any worse than what she is doing to other contestants. I’d rather be 600 lbs. overweight and be a decent, kind human being than be perfectly fit with the twisted, filthy soul that she has inside of her. What a poor example of how someone should cunduct their life and overcome personal problems!
fan of the black says:
I just checked out Michelle’s site like this and what a drastic difference. Nothing but praise and well wishes and God blesses. I wonder why?
This is to all you “ANAL, MORALISTIC, OPINIONATED MORONS OUT THERE….GET WITH THE PROGRAM…THIS IS A COMPETITION!!!!
This is not just for $5 or $10, but for 1 MILLION DOLLARS!!!! In my book, Viki knows how to play the game. She knows what she wants and goes after it. After all, do you think that politicians care about the feelings of their opponents? Heck no!!!! Viki is a true competitor and DEFINITELY DESERVES TO WIN, WHATEVER METHOD SHE USES!!!! THERE IS NO ROOM FOR MINIMOUSE SENSITIVE IDIOTS IN THIS TYPE OF COMPETITION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Looks Like Vicky must have taken home some $$$- she’s obviously hired some ghetto PR
Sick and Tire of Fiona says:
yep. The Vilcan family has joined this group. Because no one in their right mind would ever willingly defend that beast. Her poor family is probably terrified of her- I would be
To Leslie: the prize is not 1 million, it’s $250,000. And that’s just if she wins the big prize. The other prize is only $100,000. Where did you get 1 million from? And besides, Michelle is still on the show and she hasn’t acted the way Vicky has. There goes your reasoning! And if she isn’t one of the top two this week, you know she’ll be gone if America gets to vote. I haven’t read any good things about her, even from the show itself. You must be a family member or close friend of the family or heck, maybe Vicky herself to even think what she is doing is deserving.
To Leslie says:
You read my mind “fan of the black.” Not $1 million.
To Leslie –
Yes, we have morals. Yes, we believe there is a right and wrong way to behave, whether there is $250,000.00 (not one million) at stake or not; whether she is participating in a competition or not. Vicky has no sense of right and wrong and apparently you don’t either! If I didn’t have morals I would wish for Vicky to use her professional skills as an anathesiologist and administer a lethal injection to you and all others like you, then to herself, and rid the world of amoral, animals like yourself. But because I do have morals, I’ll just live and let live. However, I have to say that Vicky may win the money but unless she does a total makeover on her soul, she will never be happy. I do believe that good eventually triumphs over evil. Right defeats wrong. The mill of justice can often turn slowly, but it grinds exceedingly fine.
Vicki and Brady could win $350,000. Brady has a great chance to win 100,000 and Vicki could win the 250,000. That’s a great deal of money. I hope you guys realize that they now have the key to losing weight. They know what they need to do. The only thing now is to win the money. The weight is coming off. They have those calorie bug things that you wear on your arm that tells you how many calories you can eat. Don’t be stupid this is a game. I can tell you that Vicki or any of the other contestants didn’t sign up to make friends. This isn’t a sorority. This is a competition. Personally I think Michelle is pretty behind that cute little fake smile. She was whining about Vicki stealing her thunder. Was a whiner. Anyways, I think it’s all fake now, because I can’t see Vicki not wanting to jump down 12 feet. Come on. To all who think that everyone should have tried out for the show to make friends and not even think about the money, should keep wishing for world peace and santa claus to come over and have coffee.
I cannot believe that Vickie is a nurse!! She doesn’t seem to have a caring bone in her body. I’m also even more surprised that she holds a masters degree. She seems very uneducated to me. Its not her country twang I’m referring to, but the way she carries herself, her grammar etc. She seems like a person who has never spent a day in a college classroom. That bothers me. She must be a first generation college graduate and hasn’t worked her “kinks out” yet. LOL
Yes, it’s a game, a competition. Yes, they are all playing it. Yes, whenever there is money involved people will do whatever it takes to win. However, some are playing the game a little better than others. Vicky plays hard and her comments, actions, facial expressions and body language has turned a lot of people off. Heba, and I guess Ed because he’s on the blue team and is married to Heba, aren’t making a lot of “friends” outside the ranch either. Michelle on the other hand is playing the game too, but it seems she has more fans. Hmmm, I wonder why??? Could it be because she is presenting herself better than the blue team members? She has Vicky’s number and has caught onto what Vicky is all about. And her one comment about Vicky stealing her thunder doesn’t even come close to what Vicky has done all season … editing or not. Seems to me Michelle is playing the game too, only better than the rest!
Here is to all of you “ANAL MORALISTIC MORONS”… GET A GRIP, WAKE UP AND SMELL THE COFFEE… This is a “COMPETITION”… and not just for $5 or $10, but for $250,000…Viki may be a but she knows how to play the game. She knows what she wants and she goes for it. Believe it or not eliminating the competition is part of it. After all, do you think politicians care about hurting their opponents feelings? Heck no!!!! I say, “GO FOR IT VIKI”!!!! SHE “DEFINITELY” DESERVES TO WIN IT ALL!!!! And, the rest of you need to “GET OVER YOURSELVES”!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Phil T. says:
We all understand it’s a COMPETITION. It always has been. But do all of you Vicky supporters not see the utter mean spirited nature of this show (specifically Vicky) versus the previous seasons. Thanks to Vicky this season has turned into a season of the Real World, which is a perfectly fine show where people can watch egotistical brats fight with each other. But that’s not the reason for watching TBL. It’s to watch the uplifting stories of these groups of men and women lose weight and gain confidence in their lives, while still participating in a competition for money.
I think the show has run its course because we can see the nature of people who will try and get on this show. And it’s a shame if NBC keeps promoting this.
Of course, I will still watch it tonight so that I can enjoy in the fact that Vicky may get kicked off. One can only hope.
I will also still watch tonight because Michelle is still in this game. It’s a shame that the evil will triumph with the good in this situation. Some of us are tuning in for the deserving players – the Michelles and Colleens but it’s the Vickys and the Hebas that will get the attention. I have been praying for Michelle and hoping she is one of the top two. Vicky gets my vote to go. Keep Heba and Ed in the finals and neither can win anything if Michelle takes it. Then Vicky and Brady can only end up with $100,000. One can only hope. My world won’t end but I’ll know what pharmacist and anesthetist to say away from.
I too will watch tonight and root for Michelle. It will be interesting to see who falls below the yellow line. And by the way, I don’t think I’m an “ANAL MORALISTIC MORON” as those of us who are NOT rooting for Vicky were called by “LA” today and “Leslie” yesterday.
HAHA, I garantee vicki will be back to being a fat @ss after the show…garanteed…no questions asked!
Can they have any more commercials???? This show could be over in 1 hour. Isn’t Michelle a breath of fresh air?
That better get booted off tonight, and I wish I could be the one to do it. It’s always about her, she is always the one that states that she works out the hardest over anyone and me me me. God I hate her.
Um, did Vicki say that she hasn’t learned anything? I could be wrong — my son told me that — I was putting dinner on the table.
Bye bye Heba. Too bad it’s not Vicky but this isn’t over yet!!!
Get on the phones now, every phone you have and vote for Ed to stay, not Heba.
Vicki's co-worker says:
Vicki is a wonderful caring person. Vicki’s patients love her and all of us do too. We are very proud of Vicki. Vicki is an amazing person and extremely intelligent. That’s pretty hatefull to say she seems uneducated. That is so not true. And I hate to burst your bubbles but I think Vicki won the whole thing. She has lost too much weight since the last taping for anyone to touch her. She will never gain the weight back, because she has changed her life. She is a beautiful person inside and out!!!! She won’t drop below the yellow line again!!!
Vicky Vulcan says:
Glad to be able to vent. Vicky is thoroughly disgusting. I just hope the audience is allowed to vote because she will definitely be the biggest winner — of the Troll Trophy.
Vicki’s co-worker… I am sorry, Vicki is a horrible, nasty person. I am all for game play, but she totally ruined the show and I hope & pray that she does not win the million dollars. The money should go to not only the person that lost the weight but also is a role model for the young and old.
Well, I’m not voting. I don’t dislike them, but I just hope Michele wins. It sounds like it’s going to be really tough from what everyone’s been saying about Vicki looking hot. I just can’t wait to see Michele and Heba.
Oh please says:
To Vicky’s Co-Worker –
Read her blog, where she claims that she didn’t make those faces, she didn’t say those words. It’s on tape, baby, she said it, she did it. That’s the real Vicky.
She probably does show you a better side; she has to work with you. But under these conditions, she showed her true colors, and I’m sorry to say they aren’t pretty ones. (And she is just the calculating type that would think “I don’t care how I act around these people because I don’t have to spend every day of my life with them, just these twelve weeks.”)
Although Heba and Ed haven’t done themselves any favors either, Vicky has done the most singlehandedly to make this show an unpleasant experience. Sure, I’m watching (because I keep hoping one of these nasty blue team players would be voted out and because I wanted to see how the black team did), and I’ll be watching the finale next week, but I won’t be watching next season. Why? Now that the game players have taken over, we can expect more of this type of behavior from future seasons’ players. I skip most reality shows for exactly that reason. Now TBL can be added to the list of ‘what I don’t watch’.
Even if she wins the whole pot of money, she’s already lost something she can’t spend money to recover – her reputation.
I HATE VICKY!
Haliomatic says:
I’m so glad to hear that I’m not the only person who thinks Vickie is the Devil incarnate. I have been rooting vehemently agains her since day one. MICHELLE..YOU GO GIRL!
I’m so glad that I’m not the only one that really doesn’t care for vile Vicki. I have been so uninspired by the show this season, I usually love it, but since the blue team made their pact it has made me feel gross just watching. I caught a glimpse of the end tonight and I am so very thankful that Michelle is a finalist. The blue team has been pretty scheming and I hope they aren’t rewarded with that behavior. Goooo Michelle!
I think Ed has to go, he will lose the most weight next week.
wondering says:
I don’t know about Ed. He wants Heba to be in the finals so bad. They won’t know who will until next week just like all of America so I just wonder what he’s been up to these last months preparing. He and Heba are getting their meals so they don’t have to worry about that but Heba was still a pretty big girl. Ed didn’t always lose so much weight. I think Michelle has been consistent enough to take it all. She has just as much weight loss potential as Vicky, (if not more) to win. And I’m sure she sees it as going one on one with Vicky and that would be motivational enough for me. And regardless if it’s Ed or Heba with her and Vicky, if Michelle wins, that’s nothing for Vicky (yea!) or Ed/Heba. The only chance Vicky would have after that is if Brady wins the $100,000. Someone mentioned she was on crutches. I’m sure that slowed her down. Can run with crutches can you? I don’t know these people, but the only one I would want to know out of the four is Michelle. She seems the most genuine.
I just can not stand Vicki or Heba, They are just down right rude and nasty people, neither should win anything….they are just bad people….!!! Their husbands are stupid for not seeing it. And as for Bob I have lost respect for him, for not standing by the real reason for this show, loosing weight not encourging nasty behavior…..!
Oh No!!!!Vicky is not the devil!She is really Aileen Wournos twin sister!!!Thank God we don’t have to see her on NBC after next week!!!Go Michelle!!!!!
RQ says:
I just hope Michelle takes it all. I have watched this show ever since the beginning and I have to say that this has been the worst season for backstabbing and game playing. In fact I think it is the first season that not one person lost 100 lbs before the finale. I think last season their were a couple of people that lost. It would be an understatment for me to say that I don’t like Vicky or in that fact anyone that was left on the blue team
Vicky misses the point of the show. The money was supposed to be incentive… but the contestants where supposed to figure out that the money wasnt worth SQUAT compared to what they were really getting out of the ranch/trainers… geeze, its not about the destination… it was supposed to be about the journey
I think Vicky is truly a mean spirited person who needs some serious counciling!!!
I know Vicky and she is as ugly in person as on tv, anyone can lose weight but you cant lose ugly and she is that inside and out..all the money in the world cant help that ugly face.
BB – I think your the first person that knows Vicky that has admitted she’s not nice. Everyone who knows her has been saying she is so sweet and how dare we make comments considering we only get a glimpse of what NBC chooses to show us. It’s hard to believe that she’s really nice and that NBC has made her look evil. None of the other contestants came off as horrible.
[proud to be canadian] money is not the root of all evil. It is the lust for money that is the root of all evil. Money itself is simply a tool and like many tools it can be used for good or for evil. Lusting for money in the way that Vicki has is what is being referred to, but don’t think that someone winning $250k is a bad thing…if Michelle wins I hope it goes to further her advancement in life as opposed to her just giving the money away. It’s a good chunk of change but $250k is not the kind of money that one can retire on or live high on the hog with. It is the kind of money that can pay for college, buy a car, and put a downpayment on a house…to live a normal life with a bit of a leg up. Vicki’s tactics are crazy…I’d not trash my own reputation by being vindictive and evil for $250k…one’s reputation shouldn’t have a pricetag.
I agree wih what everyone is saying! I hope Michelle wins the who pot and her mom wins the 100k. Despite how horrible these contestants are I will still watch the show in the future. I’m just hooked on it. The only other downfall to this show is Allison Sweeny! she talks to everyone as if they are 5 years old. It’s obvious your going to get kicked off if you get so many votes. She has to keep throwing it in your face after each vote is read that if you get 1 or 2 more votes you will get booted. She is not anywhere near funny as Caroline Ray was, but what can you do. She is better on her soap opera! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone! One last question, how do I access Vicky’s blogs on MySpace?
My last posting was taken down and I’m not sure the reason. I observed that at the weighing for week 12, Michelle and Jillian clapped for each contestant who got weighed. Michelle congratulated Vicky when Allison announced that Vicky had made it to the final two.
Michelle was the last person to weigh in. After Michelle weighed in, only Jillian and Allison congratulated Michelle. Ed, Heba, Vicky, and Bob said nothing nor did they clap for Michelle.
Vicky’s MySpace page has the current message: “Biggest Loser Vicky tried on her heels for the finale and still can’t walk in them from the broken foot. Bummer!!! I refuse to wear a “hot” dress with a cast!”
Barbara Baker: To find Vicky on my space, go to myspace.com and up at the top click on “Find People” then type Vicky Vilcan in the find friends space. Scroll down and you’ll see “Biggest Loser Vicky” and click on that. That will bring you to her page and on the right are her blogs. Click on “View All Blog Entries” and you’ll see all her posts.
VICKY, SADLY YOU ARE AS UGLY INSIDE AND OUT AS YOU WERE WHEN YOU FIRST CAME ON THE SHOW, YOU MADE THE BIGGEST LOSER FAMILIES UNBEARABLE TO WATCH, YOUR SMIRK…NOT CUTE…BUT AT LEAST YOU DID WIN SOMTHING,,,VICKY..YOU WON THE UGLIEST LOSER…CONGRATS…..
PHOKEERDOSS says:
IF VICKY WINS, I HOPE SHE TAKES THE MONEY AND GETS A FACE, BODY AND SOUL LIFT…GOD KNOWS SHE NEEDS IT..YES ITS A GAME..BUT TO BE SO ULGY AND SMIRK ALL THE TIME, WHEN I LOOK AT YOU VICKY ALL I CAN THINK OF IS DELIVERANCE,,,think about …( the movie..yeah, you remind me of the banijo playing hillbilly)
Thanks TC. I found them. Quite shocking! If she is wearing a cast will she still be able to weigh in?
This message is for Vicky. Since I can’t post this on your MySpace page, I will post it here: Why arn’t you talking about Brady more? Are you guys headed for splitsville? All you talk about in your latest blogs is your kids and job. Did you just use him to get on the show? You said earlier that you wanted to win the whole thing. Well the only way you could have won all the money is if either you or brady got kicked off. Well Brady got kicked off so I thought you would be a little bit happy that now he would have a chance at the 100k. Do us all a favor and don’t try out for any more reality shows again. You were a bad role model. And despite your attitute I will still continue to watch this show.
I agree with you Kelly. I was disappointed in Bob too this season. He seemed inconsistent. One time saying Vicki was maniacal, which considering he was her trainer, is a pretty harsh word and then he’s saying how she’s just playing the game. And then during the last show he said he didn’t think Vicki truly got why they were there — to change their lives, their habits, lifestyle. He said it seemed like she was only there for the game and he was worried she would end up gain the weight back just like the person from season one and then at the end of the show he says to her “you got it, you really got it”. It’s almost like he had to redeem himself to her. And it didn’t make any sense why if Amy C. kicked Brady off so she would have an opportunity to win, why she didn’t kick Vicki off when she had the opportunity. If she was going to try and go for the whole thing, it would have made much more sense to kick Vicki off.
Whether or not Vicki “gets it” or not, only time will tell. I don’t wish her illwill, I hope she does change her life, but I just think she embarrassed herself, ruined her reputation (no matter what her fans say), and even though I don’t wish her life to be ruined, I would love to see Michelle win b/c I think she’s just presented herself as a much better person over all.
I read on Vicky’s myspace that she did/does have a cast but it doesn’t exactly say she will have it at the finale. Just something about not putting on heels with a cast. A few of her “friends” asked how she ended up with the injury but I didn’t see a response anywhere. I agree that even if she ends up winning the big prize, she really doesn’t win. Money isn’t the answer to her problems.
As far as I can tell, there aren’t many Vicky supporters. And I know why – she might loose a ton of weight and end up winning the whole thing. But we all know she is evil inside her heart. She doesn’t deserve to win. She is just awful and so is Heba.
Go Michelle, you deserve to win the whole thing. I hope Phil wins the 100k!!! YEA!!
poor Brady says:
Brady’s cute, Vickie’s not. Girls let’s give Vickie a challenge that’ll wipe the smirk right off her face. Just expect to be a step-mom…
TBL watcher says:
My prediction – Michelle – 250,000 winner
Amy P – 100,000 Winner
Vicky, Brady Ed and Heba – 0-
Looks like NBC is setting up a Vicky Victory, unfortunately. They’ve portrayed her so horribly, as they should, that no one wants her to win. She is the only one who has been shown getting on a scale – what’s up with that? I haven’t liked Heba, but she did an amazing job. Go Michelle!!!
I will throw up if Vicky wins…
YEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!! Vicki did NOT win!!!!
YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
FIVE LETTERS………………….K-A-R-M-A
How appropriate. Vicky and Brady – $0.
Michelle fan!!!! says:
Yes!Yes!Yes!You backwoods people didn’t win a dime!!All Vicky managed to do was get a large portion of America to hate her because she is such a witch!!!!
The bitch didn’t win. ya ya
Yay for Michelle says:
Uh-oh, Vicky. Guess you learned something about karma tonight. Nada for both you and your husband. Hope you got a bus ticket home.
kayone says:
Who won? missed the last 5 min.
psyched says:
wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwoooooooooooohoooooooooooooooooo
Roz says:
I’m so happy for Michelle. Vicky won NOTHING. Poor Ed really thought someone was going to vote for Heba…HAAAAA HA HA. I’m glad Heba won kinda…just because she represented one of the biggest women ever. But she was as evil and controlling as Vicky. I don’t think NBC will let this happen next year. I was ready to STOP watching. Heba and Vicky destroyed the integrity and real challenge of the show
Hey, Michelle Fan: I don’t like the way Vicky acted on the show, either, but you don’t have to refer to her and Brady as “backwoods people”. Who are you, frontwoods people?
Congratulations Michelle for being the Biggest Loser and the Biggest Winner. You won everyone over by being nice. Not hard to do with Vicky and Heba around.
Frontwoods!!Absolutely!!!GO Michelle!!!Americas choice!!!
michellle looked like a princes. I hopr you and your mom still get remain together in love
huskiemom4 says:
I just wish Amy P could of held on and bet Heba, that would have been an even better justice than Vickie not winning. I was so happy for Michelle. It goes to show you that being nice does pay off.
This was the very best result that we could have hoped for. Heba’s percentages were larger than Michelle’s so if she’d remained in the game she would have won the $250,000. By taking her out, she only won the $100,000 which she would have won anyway. (Maybe she sould have lost less weight if she would have been sent home earlier in the game).
However, America didn’t vote for Heba America hates Heba almost as much as America hates Vicky. I thought it was funny that both Vicky and Heba almost fell on their butts as they walked onto the stage. I also thought Heba needed to find a better bra. She looked like a female in a newly discovered primative tribe being exposed in National Geographic.
I’m incredibly happy for Michelle. But most of all I’m happy that Vicky didn’t get a penny. I think you could see that Heba knew the reason that America voted for Ed is because she’s hated. I think Vicky knows that she’s hated also. I wish that Phil would have won the $100,000 not because I liked him more than the other contestants but because Heba and Vicky hated him so much.
Some posters have said that we’re “moralistic”. You’re damn right we’re moralistic. We like good guys and hate bad guys. We hate coniving, whining, selfish, manipulative bitch’s. We hate Vicky and Heba.
Good Karma won over! Congradulations to the WINNER Michelle! Michelle is beautiful inside and out.
Dynagirl says:
I just wanted to say that I’m very glad you didn’t win, Vicky. I found your behavior to be offensive and I was actually embarrassed for your kids who will obviously watch the show. The example you set for your children was sad. I’m not a small or mean enough person to say that I hope you gain your weight back, but I do think that it would be well deserved if you did.
chuckie says:
How sweet to see Michelle win! She really deserved it. But honestly, I can’t help but feel sorry for Miss Vicky. This is a woman that is crying out for more help than a wt.loss program. Seriously this is a woman that needs some assistence from NBC to get her the therapy she needs to be an effectual human being and a responsible mother to her children. I really hope NBC does not abandon her now after seeing her handle this whole wt. loss the way she did. They have allowed the public to veiw and criticize her, this is unhealthy and unethical. They could turn this whole thing around and have the perfect follow up for next season along with the next biggest loosers, ‘Follow Vicky into Rehab and see with therapy how she crumble’s and humble’s to become a better person’. If NBC doesn’t take this opportunity then they are no better then the character Vicky portrayed, only out for the money! Vicky needs to understand that its not all about being a ‘supermom’. As for Heba, well, she has to live with her own concience the rest of her life for how she won. One more thing…I think Renee is the best Role Model of any Mother I have ever seen. She is a quiet inspiration to her daughter Michelle. Obviously so to have influenced her daughter so deeply to have the strong determination and will to be the best she can be… Renee is my hero!!
There’s no doubt in my mind that the producers emphasized any negative qualities Vicki has. When she got her makeover, the artist deliberately gave a very harsh white base to her foundation that visibly did not match the tone of the rest of her skin and made her face with all the other makeup look clownish. Evil clownish. Vicki was clueless enough not to realize this, perhaps.
That said, as many people have noted, Vicki apparently spoke and did all those mean things unprompted. She could have refused to say such things. She could have applauded other people. Being cranky is one thing; being a vicious bully is another. America may have been played a bit by NBC, but we’re not stupid and we can see that Vicki is not a nice person at all.
I’m glad her co-workers like her, but look out if she wants something that you have or you want. And I still say she’s in the wrong job, one that does not give her the scope to use her drive for power and manipulation. Which is probably why she got fat in the first place. It’s a shame that she apparently put no thought into the whys. She’s likely to end up back where she started because of that lack of confrontation with her inner self. She spent all her energy confronting others. A mistake, and very unpleasant to watch.
Cajun Jack says:
Vickie almost makes me ashamed to be from Louisiana, but that’s how everyone is from that side of the state!!
GEAUX MICHELLE !!! Congrats!! hook’em horns!
I am glad Michelle won she was my vote 1/2 way through the show. But most of all I am glad that Vicki was last on the final 3. I watch the show because of their achievement but most of all folks have been nice to each other. Not this time what Vicki did and how she acted she should have been voted off when she was one of the two sitting in the hot seat.
LL in USA says:
I’m so glad that these two evil spirited people (Vicky & Brady) did NOT win. She is as ugly on the outside as on the inside.
I live in Houma and read an interview Vicky did while home, before she went for the finale. She said she emailed and called NBC after every show to find out why they were portraying her that way. She said it was all one sided. She admitted to co-workers that she did leave the revenge note and said that Phil and Amy were not has nice as they seemed on the show. The network portrayed them to be the good guys while she was the villian. She also offered to help her community by giving advice on dieting, exercising and weight loss. Now she claims she was on the show to lose the weight and live healthier for her kids. She said something very similar to Michelle in an interview that when she decided to lose the weight for herself, it was easier for her to do. Michelle said the same exact thing before. I don’t know where she’s coming from, but if she does stay in Houma, everyone will see if she lives up to her “true reason”.
From and old friend says:
I knew Brady and Vicky way back when, and despite all of the evil things they have been accused of or perceived as being, I find it hard to believe they could have changed so much. Yet even if they have….for every one of you who criticized them here so harshly, I have to say to you, your behavior is no better than theirs. We are all at different places in this journey of life, and if this event in the lives of the couple I knew as down-to-earth, very big-hearted and sweet, intelligent and extremely fun…..causes them to grow and become better people, then they have not lost at all. All of you self-righteous, judgemental people who wrote in should ALSO take heed of the notion of “karma”…….and lastly, I want to say, if these two people I remember as humble and beautiful have really reached such dire straits spiritually–hateful bloggers, watch yourselves–and remember, “there but for the grace of God go I.” As humans we are all subject to any manner of weaknesses, experience failures and triumphs, and can ALWAYS change and grow. To Vicky and Brady, I want to say, I still love you, I believe in you and my prayers are with you and your families.
I watched the finale and actually just saw the rerun episode. Again, I was struck by how PERFECT it was that Brady (the tool) and Vicky (the witch) received NOTHING. They can say it was about so much more than the money, it was for their health, their children blah blah blah. I call crap! For them – Vicky especially – it was about WINNING, pure and simple.
That family got exactly what they deserve. And because Vicky is such a vile, mean-spirited person I have no doubt the weight will be back rather quickly. Fancy editing she claims? Nah. You can’t make up evil like that. It was real.
Old friend:
Did you hear some of the foul lamguage that came from her mouth in her interviews? That was not perceived… that actually happened. She said the things she said, and so did he, NBC didn’t “portray” anything. They are the people they are. Sad.
From an old friend says:
To Pat:
This old friend, name “Denise”, who worked several years with Brady when he and Vicky were newlyweds–you missed my whole point, which was–judge not, lest ye be judged. And for everyone else, as I worked all day today in my yard, in Houma, Louisiana, processing all of the hate mail I read this morning…..I couldn’t help but wonder….what are you people who watched this show and became so emotionally involved, actually “doing” in your own lives??? Get a life, for goodness’ sake!!! It’s a TV show!!! I applaud Vicky’s perserverence despite what may be her shortcomings. Having known the two of them, I am sure they have come to see the mistakes that were made….and at the same time, I have to wonder, could part of all this hatred from across the U.S. perhaps exist because Vicky WAS such a formidible opponent?…I am not saying that everything that Vicky and Brady said and did (which I admittedly didn’t catch all of, because I do not sit myself on the sofa on ANY night to watch reality TV, which is far, far from reality, and transparently edited to increase ratings) was “right”…..but it doesn’t matter, because the truth of it all is that they are human, they were under extreme pressure, and they are fallible, as we all are. If you didn’t like the show, then you shouldn’t have continued to watch it!!! You are crucifying them for not being what you apparently needed them to be, but I pose this question to all of you who felt the need to judge before a national audience–are YOU who YOU need to be? We are ALL works in progress. Lighten up!!! None of you who didn’t go through this grueling program could possibly know how it may have affected YOU–so as we say in the so-called “white trash” South–get off of your high horses, tend to your own business, and if you want to truly voice your opinion with class, STOP JUDGING OTHERS.
Old friend: Be wary of the notion of ‘karma’?? This is a message board. Get off your high horse.
Phil: I wrote to “take heed”, which means, pay attention if you are one of those who wrote such hate-filled things and allowed yourselves to become so emotionally involved in this. I do believe the things these people wrote will be reflected back to them. “Be wary” connotes danger may be involved– words I did not use and a bit strong for my intended message. And I am getting off of my high horse–I appreciate the admonishment–too much anger and hatred here for me. Vicky and Brady, I just want you to know that not everyone hates you or judges you so harshly, and I am very proud of what you accomplished despite all of the adversity inherent in the game, and despite all of the ugliness for which you were called down yet people on this forum seem to think is okay for them to visciously throw out at you. May you and your children be shielded from all negativity and may you continue to move in a positive direction in your lives. As I said before, I believe in you and know that you will take the best things from this experience and use them for your own continued well-being and the good of others–as we who read the local papers know you’ve already begun to do. Godspeed, my friends.
wake up! says:
old friend-
your friends vicki and brady opened themselves up to this sort of exposure/response from viewers when they signed up to be on a television show. They are not victims. They signed up for this, and greedily so. My guess is that they are going to be doing public speaking on weightloss- in which they get paid, nothing out of the kindness of their hearts.
The fact that so many of us have been disgusted with their behavior should actually be an eye opener for you, as their friend, that something isn’t right here. All the editing in the world can’t erase the expression, words, and actions of these two clowns. Gods speed to you, if such negative and manipulative people are in your life, my sympathies go out to you
Also, I’m sorry, but quoting religious statements ie” there for but for the grace of god I go”, is inappropriate and self rightous. It places a tone in which you are preaching/speaking down to the rest of us children here, who, shock of all shockers, aren’t all catholic or even religious for that matter. Instead of preaching, you should be the one learning
Doing a little preaching of your own with that last statement…we’re all learning, hopefully. Too bad we’re not all loving, forgiving, and understanding as well. It all just makes me sad, not just for Vicky and Brady, but for all of the people who wrote in with such anger, hatred and visciousness and evidently didn’t begin to see it in themselves. Sad for all of the people who spend time watching these contrived “reality” shows and become so emotionally involved in them. I don’t need your sympathies at this time, and I’ll keep my rose-colored glasses, as they’ve worked quite well for me in my 45 years, showing me on a daily basis that giving one’s best to others brings out the best in others–period. I never said everything was “right” in the way my friends behaved–but I trust that they will do their best to fix whatever was wrong.
To and old friend~ So, honey what do you do with your time since your don’t sit your fat in front of the TV to watch reality TV? Oh! I know, you sit in front of your computer, defending your so called friends?! And you have no idea how they acted on the Episodes, since you didn’t watch? HELLO. maybe you should get a clue and stop juding all of the bloggers at this site, since we did watch and you did not! Vicky, Brady, Ed and Heba, AKA The evil four were really nasty to all of the contestants on the program, and I do not believe that it was edited to look that way. Vicky herself ( the most evil one) stated at one time that she was going to take home the $250K and Brady would take home the $100K, now isn’t MONEY the root of all EVIL???
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Hayes, Engerer & Co
Showing 1 - 20 of 51 for search: 'Hayes, Engerer & Co', query time: 0.08s
Letter, To: Patrick Barry Hayes, From: Hayes, Engerer & Co., and Frederick Engerer, September 27, 1834.
by Hayes, Engerer & Co.
In collection: Series XI Patrick Barry Hayes
"Prices Current Porto Alegre (Brazil)", August 3, 1835, and Letter, To: Patrick Barry Hayes, From: Isaac Austin Hayes, August 4, 1835.
Letter, To: "Dear Barry," From: Hayes, Engerer & Co., July 17, 1836.
Letter, To: Patrick Barry Hayes, From: "H E + Co", April 25, 1836.
Printed, Prices Current, To: Patrick Hayes From: Hayes, Engerer & Co. in Rio Grande, December 10, 1835.
In collection: Series XII Hayes Engerer and Co
Letter, To: R. A. Litherington of Liverpool From: Hayes, Engerer & Co., February 13, 1837.
Letter, To: Hayes, Engerer & Co. in Porto Alegre From: Hayes, Engerer & Co. in Rio Grande, June 15, 1836.
Letter, To: Patrick Barry Hayes, From: Hayes, Engerer & Co., December 8, 1835.
Letter, To: "Dear Barry," From: Hayes, Engerer & Co., February 1, 1836.
Letter, To: P. Barry Hayes, Esq., From: Hayes, Engerer & Co., March 9, 1836.
Concluding Part of Letter, To: Patrick Barry Hayes, From: Hayes, Engerer, & Co., September 30, 1835.
Shipping manifest, To: Hayes, Engerer & Co, Porto Allegro [from Philadelphia?], April 816to May 30, [1834?].
Letter, To: Patrick Barry Hayes, From: Hayes, Engerer & Co., November 21, and December 8, 1835.
Letter, To: Patrick Barry Hayes, From: Hayes, Engerer & Co, August 21, 1835.
Letter, To: "Dear Barry," From: HE&C, March 10, 1836.
Letter, To: Patrick Barry Hayes, From: Hayes, Engerer & Co., December 22, 1835.
Letter, To: P. Barry Hays [sic], Esq., From: HE&C, March 9, 1836.
Letter, To: P. Barry Hayes, Esq., From: Hayes, Engerer & Co., February 1, 1836.
Letter, To: Patrick Barry Hayes, From: Hayes, Engerer & Co, September 2, 1835, and "Prices Current Rio Grande (Brazil)", August 15, 1835.
NOT Format: Transcribed NOT Format: Receipt Language: English NOT Subject: Engerer, Lewis Frederick NOT Subject: Receipts NOT Subject: Havana (Cuba) NOT Subject: Boticário, Pedro NOT Author: Hayes, Engerer & Co
51 Hayes, Engerer & Co.
1 Engerer, Lewis Frederick.
1 Hayes, Isaac Austin, 1802-1839.
1 Strohm, J. F.
40 Hayes, Patrick Barry, 1809-1863
7 Rio Grande do Sul (Brazil : State) -- History -- Revolution of the Farrapos, 1835-1845
6 Gonçalves da Silva, Bento, 1788-1847
5 Porto Alegre (Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil)
5 Rio Grande (Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil)
4 Philadelphia (Pa.)
3 Financial statements
3 Freight and freightage
3 Hayes, Engerer & Co
3 Purchasing agents -- Correspondence
3 Shipping -- Brazil -- Sources
2 Price Lists
1 Acquittals
1 Bank notes -- Forgeries
1 Fees, Administrative
1 Grinnel, Minturn & Co
1 Hayes, Isaac Austin, 1802-1839
1 Hayes, Patrick, 1770-1856
1 Inventories
1 Litherington, R. A.
1 Passports
1 Pickman, Benjamin J.
1 Rivera, Fructuoso, ca. 1784-1854
51 Independence Seaport Museum
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dinosaurbob —
Writings of the nearly extinct
There are still a few dinosaurs around...
Boring 'ol me
Blowing off the dust...
Does anyone still read this thing? I've had a hankering to write but only if there's an audience out there somewhere to read it.
If you put words down in cyberspace and there's no one there to read them, did you actually write anything?
The Doors - Tell All the People
starting up again
Ernie Harwell died today...
I remember when I was young, I had an old hand-me-down clock radio that was my dad's. It probably had some tubes in it because it took a few seconds to warm up when you turned it on. I would listen to WJR, 760. "The Great Voice of the Great Lakes". I listened to it because it was the station that dad listened to. J.P. McCarthy in the mornings, Budd Lynch and Bruce Martin announcing Red Wings games in the fall and winter, and Ernie and Paul Carey announcing Tiger baseball in the spring and summer. I listened to that old radio for many years. The funny thing was that I really didn't care that much about baseball; I mean, I knew as much as any lay person did about the Tigers but I didn't know their roster or who was on a streak or who was in a slump.
What I did know was Ernie's voice. There was something soothing and comforting about it. It was almost always even and calm, always in control. Even when there was a big home run that brought the Tigers from behind, his voice rose and fell as the ball went out over the field and into the seats. Ernie would comment that a gentleman from Brighton took that one home. I was always amazed how he knew these things. I asked my dad who in his own infinite wisdom and sense of humor said that Ernie had a chart of the seats with all that information on it. When a player, Tiger or opponent, would watch that third strike zip by without a swing Ernie would comment, "He stood there like a house by the side of the road and watched that one go by."
When I found out that Ernie had passed away tonight, it was as though a beloved uncle had died. I'm positive that I'm not even remotely alone in this feeling. Even as I saw another mention of his passing between periods of the hockey game, I could feel tears in my eyes. I was watching a You Tube video of his farewell address at Comerica Park and as I was watching it and listening to his still-strong voice, I heard the lawn mower outside and again I was transported back. Suddenly the old yellowed clock radio was there next to me and the sounds of the freeway were filtering in through the open window of my bedroom and in the fading light of the evening, just as tonight, the sounds of the lawn mower getting louder and softer as the path took it up and down the lawn. And there, in both places, the voice of my youth and my summers and my nights told us it was a beautiful evening in Tigertown. And in that moment, however brief it was, life was good and right and a man from New Hudson was taking home a souvenir.
Thank you Ernie. Thanks for everything.
Ernie Harwell, announcing the '84 World Series
baseball, ernie harwell, memories, nostalgia
Phil Harris, Captain of the F/V Cornelia Marie
53 year old Phil Harris, captain of the Alaskan fishing vessel Cornelia Marie and one of the most popular characters of the Discovery Channel show "Deadliest Catch" died this morning, less than a week after suffering a massive stroke.
http://dsc.discovery.com/fansites/deadliestcatch/phil-harris/
May your crab pots always be full, Captain Harris.
obits, tv actor, tv series
An Interpretation of History
Note: I think I've posted this on LJ before but, thanks to LJ's *awesome* (not) search feature I couldn't verify it. So I updated the information in it and (re)post it here. Enjoy.
We define our interpretation of history by the times in which we live. The history of the Second World War, while remaining static in terms of the events and persons involved, is interpreted very differently today than it was in 1980. In 1980, it was different still than it was in 1960. Today's interpretation of World War II seems based primarily in the effort to portray the Nazis and Japanese as terrorists. Sound familiar?
I can't help but wonder, as I read (and read, and read) what the interpretations of World War II will be in 2020 and again in 2040. I would think by 2040 there will only be a very very small number of actual veterans left. (It seems entirely plausible that there will be World War II veterans still alive 100 years later, given the advances in health care that will occur.) Because the number will be so small, the interpretations will be through a smoked mirror. No longer will we have the direct input of the veterans to draw from. There will be an enormous corpus of information, to be sure, but there will relatively soon be no one to ask who was actually there.
According to Wikipedia there are (as of 10 December 2009) 3 verified World War I veterans (with one unverified veteran and one WW I "era" veteran) still alive. All of the veterans are from the Allied Powers. The last Central Power veteran, Franz Künstler of Austria-Hungary, died at the age of 107 on May 27, 2008. This is some 95 years after the beginning of the war in 1914. There are about 2.5 million U.S. World War II veterans living today, 68 years after the beginning of American combat activities on 7 December 1941.
But I digress. I started writing to ponder the view from the future upon the past. If we are fortunate enough to emerge from the present era in one piece and as a continuing world power, the view on the past will again reflect the situation of the contemporary time. As today we interpret WW II as largely a war on terror, perhaps the future will interpret it as a just action to allow oppressed populations facing genocidal extinction their guarantee of survival. If the United States emerges from these times as a faltering First World nation on the brink of entering Second World status, perhaps historians will interpret World War II as the last great period of American history. After that came our steady decline to secondary importance on the world's stage.
History is subjective. It is written by the winners, to be sure. But it continues to be rewritten and reinterpreted by those who succeed -- or defeat -- the winners who came before.
Billy Joel - "Big Shot"
history, perspective, veteran's day, world war ii
Of the Troops and For the Troops...
The uniforms and equipment have changed but the mission remains the same as does the shared brother and sisterhood.
The Military Police of the Vietnam War from Jim Stewart on Vimeo.
Marty Q - Ain't No Sunshine When She's Gone
mp, usar
I'm trying to get all my Livejournal friends' locations plotted on a map - please add your location starting with this form.
(Then get your friends to!)
Gary Portnoy - Where Everybody Knows Your Name (Cheers Theme)
Writer's Block: If these walls could talk
If these walls could talk
Would you rent or buy the home of your dreams if a brutal murder had taken place there? What if you got to live there rent-free? Would you think twice if neighbors warned you that it was haunted?
I see nothing wrong with any of these options. Apart from the curious-passers-by syndrome that would inevitably happen, it doesn't seem like a bad thing.
Rent-free is a great bonus.
Atlanta Rhythm Section - So Into You
haunted house, possessed, spirits, writer's block
One more Fitzgerald posting...
One of the best tributes, certainly the best amateur one, I've seen to The Fitz. Combines Lightfoot's song with video and stills of the boat and audio from the Arthur M. Anderson, the freighter that was 10 miles behind and the last to communicate with Captain McSorley.
TV - The Office ("Traveling Salesmen")
edmund fitzgerald, great lakes, history, maritime, shipwreck, weather
34 years ago today...
detnews.com%7CThe+fateful+voyage+of+the+Edmund+Fitzgerald
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29 good men went down with the flagship and queen of the Great Lakes fleet. She was graceful and beautiful and a feather in any crewman's cap who served on her.
Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald
Music and lyrics ©1976 by Gordon Lightfoot
The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
of the big lake they called "Gitche Gumee."
The lake, it is said, never gives up her dead
when the skies of November turn gloomy.
With a load of iron ore twenty-six thousand tons more
than the Edmund Fitzgerald weighed empty,
that good ship and true was a bone to be chewed
when the "Gales of November" came early.
The ship was the pride of the American side
coming back from some mill in Wisconsin.
As the big freighters go, it was bigger than most
with a crew and good captain well seasoned,
concluding some terms with a couple of steel firms
when they left fully loaded for Cleveland.
And later that night when the ship's bell rang,
could it be the north wind they'd been feelin'?
The wind in the wires made a tattle-tale sound
and a wave broke over the railing.
And ev'ry man knew, as the captain did too
'twas the witch of November come stealin'.
The dawn came late and the breakfast had to wait
when the Gales of November came slashin'.
When afternoon came it was freezin' rain
in the face of a hurricane west wind.
When suppertime came the old cook came on deck sayin'.
"Fellas, it's too rough t'feed ya."
At seven P.M. a main hatchway caved in; he said,
"Fellas, it's bin good t'know ya!"
The captain wired in he had water comin' in
and the good ship and crew was in peril.
And later that night when 'is lights went outta sight
came the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.
Does any one know where the love of God goes
when the waves turn the minutes to hours?
The searchers all say they'd have made Whitefish Bay
if they'd put fifteen more miles behind 'er.
They might have split up or they might have capsized;
they may have broke deep and took water.
And all that remains is the faces and the names
of the wives and the sons and the daughters.
Lake Huron rolls, Superior sings
in the rooms of her ice-water mansion.
Old Michigan steams like a young man's dreams;
the islands and bays are for sportsmen.
And farther below Lake Ontario
takes in what Lake Erie can send her,
And the iron boats go as the mariners all know
with the Gales of November remembered.
In a musty old hall in Detroit they prayed,
in the "Maritime Sailors' Cathedral."
The church bell chimed 'til it rang twenty-nine times
for each man on the Edmund Fitzgerald.
of the big lake they call "Gitche Gumee."
"Superior," they said, "never gives up her dead
when the gales of November come early!"
I recommend a trip to the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum at Whitefish Point for anyone who would like to see the sometimes deadly history of the Great Lakes.
Gordon Lightfoot - The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald
edmund fitzgerald, great lakes, history, maritime, shipwreck
Bob's Livejournal Goodness
billy mays
ernie harwell
george kell
no more bush
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Blowing off the dust... — 2
Ernie Harwell died today... — 0
Phil Harris, Captain of the F/V Cornelia Marie — 2
An Interpretation of History — 0
Of the Troops and For the Troops... — 0
Location, location, location — 0
Writer's Block: If these walls could talk — 0
One more Fitzgerald posting... — 1
34 years ago today... — 0
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Marvel Netflix, Television
Why The Defenders Didn’t Work (review filled w/spoilers)
Elektra was a major fail.
Her return was done really well. Much better than it was in the comics and more realistic than I imagined. I give a lot of credit to Elodie Yung who plays the character for making her seem so real, fragile, and strong all at the same time. The scene where she was “birthed” from the chamber was powerful, her slipping around on the blood on the floor while not having the capacity to speak made her seem vulnerable and unsure. How Alexandra, played by Sigourney Weaver, explained the process and the progression of fights Elektra mastered really showcased her development into the ultimate fighter, The Black Sky.
The Defenders in action with Elektra creeping up behind
It was after that when it went off the rails. First, it’s hard to believe that Sigourney Weaver could lead an organization as powerful as The Hand without some massive fighting skills of her own. Even Madame Gao showed she was a “force” to be reckoned with when she exhibited powers like Yoda and Darth Vader. If Madame Gao could do it, why didn’t Sigourney exhibit her abilities at all? Plus, how could an organization as powerful and as ancient as The Hand not be prepared for four superhumans who were on the “B”-list? In a world with The Hulk, wouldn’t they take those things into consideration? They knew all about Danny Rand and his Iron Fist. They didn’t know about Luke Cage, Jessica Jones, or the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen? How could they not have been keeping a tab on one of Sticks’ disciples?
The show kept teasing us with her sais until she finally used them against her mentor – why did she switch weapons?
Then the absolutely easy way Alexandra was killed. Stabbed through the heart by the sai of her prodigy. Predictable but also pretty unrealistic. In the middle of this speech about how great she was, her student guts her? And she didn’t anticipate it coming? Having survived for centuries and something like this never sprung up as a possibility? And then Elektra suddenly declaring that she was in charge. Why would they go along with that? If Elektra were that powerful why was she so easily defeated by just Matt Murdock? I know you’re going to say her love for him was her undoing, but come on. Seriously? Did anyone else think that was completely stupid? It would be one thing if Matt sensed a change in her breathing rhythm when he was close or could smell her pheromones react to his, but instead we get this completely sappy, “I know she’s in there somewhere” line straight from Luke Skywalker himself.
Elodie does a great job in the first half of the series and a marginal one after Sigourney dies
And sorry Elodie. For as much praise as she gets for her early portrayal of Elektra, she gets zero for the half-hearted, over-maniacal leader of The Hand. Madame Gao was right. Leading The Hand was more than just good fighting skills. It’s also about leadership which Elektra had none. Like with Luke Cage this was another instance where a good villain was done in too soon. No payoff for the audience. After all the running around they did to get Alexandra, suddenly she’s just dead. Quite a horrible denouement.
Other than that, my criticism in the spoiler-free review still stands about how unnecessary Jessica and Luke are to the plot. They were made to fit into the story instead of the story revolving around these four in particular. Not enough time was done laying down the foundation for this shorter series. And why is it that Danny comes across as some spoiled rich kid when in reality he only recently fell into that lifestyle? He’s not the Bruce Wayne of the Marvel Universe. We’ve got Tony Stark for that.
“Is that pork?”
“No, that’s shrimp. That guy’s got pork.”
“You’re weird.”
I thought it was a weird choice to dump all the “accessory” characters together into a toy box at the police station and then pretty much do nothing with them except for one tiny interaction between Karen and Trish. As smart as all of them are, wouldn’t one of them have wondered why this particular group of people was hanging out at the police station? They did such a poor job of developing these characters and made little use of them. Wouldn’t The Hand have an agent at the police station? Wouldn’t there have been some attempt on their lives? Why would the police station of all places by the safest place for them?
I’m still hoping future series will add an intriguing layer to the mix and add to the complexity of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. But this one was disappointing considering the work they did to lead into it. Instead, this show felt like an excuse to put these characters together instead of a well-crafted plot leading up to this point.
August 27, 2017 August 20, 2017 Craig YNetflix, review, spoilers, The Defenders
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Prev Vehicle
A roadster is not simply a car. The Boxster is not simply a roadster. It’s a sports car that brings you closer to the road, closer to real life and connects you with your own free spirit. The precise, lightweight chassis ensures an impressively dynamic drive, with practically no body roll or pitch. Or, in short, a safer and more comfortable drive.
Power is transmitted to the road by 18-inch Boxster wheels. Their distinctive five-spoke design affords an unobstructed glimpse of the braking system’s black four-piston aluminium monobloc fixed calipers. And you can keep an eye on the pressure in all four tyres thanks to tire pressure monitoring (TPM). The large air inlets illustrate character. The sound produced by the central tailpipe in brushed stainless steel is unmistakably Porsche.
High-quality, stylish materials are used in the interior. The steering wheel rim, gear lever/selector and door pull inlays are finished in leather. The refined tone is enhanced by silver-coloured details, such as those found on the dashboard trim strip, the side and centre air vent surrounds and the centre console.
Lean, muscular and athletic, the car has inherited motorsport genes. They are characteristic of the Porsche family and vital to the irresistible appeal of the sports car. They are traits that make the Boxster the sports star among roadsters. Dynamic performance, whether the hood is open or closed, has become synonymous with driving pleasure.
Seat Ventilation
Layout / number of cylinders 6
Displacement 3.4 l
Engine Layout Mid-engine
Horespower 315 hp
@ rpm 6,700 rpm
Torque 266 lb.-ft.
Top Track Speed 173 mph
0 - 60 mph 4.8 s
Manual Gearbox 6-speed with dual-mass flywheel and self-adjusting clutch
City (estimate) 20
Highway (estimate) 28
Wheelbase 97.4 in.
Maximum payload 739 lbs
Luggage compartment volume 5.3 cu. ft. (front) / 4.6 cu. ft. (rear)
Fuel Tank Capacity 16.9 gal.
The Boxster S engine produces 232 kW (315 hp) at 6,700 rpm, the 3.4-litre flat-six engine with direct fuel injection (DFI) and VarioCam Plus delivers a mighty 37 kW (50 hp) and 80 Nm more than the engine in the Boxster. Maximum torque of 360 Nm is available from 4,500 to 5,800 rpm. The sprint from 0 to 100 km/h is completed in 5.1 seconds and a top speed of 279 km/h can be achieved. Nevertheless, the dynamic performance of the Boxster S can be further enhanced. With the optional Porsche Doppelkupplung (PDK), the Boxster S reaches 100 km/h in 5.0 seconds and boasts a top speed of 277 km/h. The Launch Control feature of the optional Sport Chrono Package reduces the time to accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h to just 4.8 seconds.
Make: Porsche
Model: Boxster
City: 20
Highway: 28
Bi-Weekly Weekly Monthly
1 Owner, 114,239 miles
1 Owner, 5 miles
1 Owner, 3,914 miles
Convertible, 22,158 miles
AWD, 21,900 miles
Demonstrator, 7,088 miles
New Tires, 26,273 miles
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Arquitectura ContemporáneaONLINE ACOUSTIC CONCERTS: Take-away musicEl Croquis
ONLINE ACOUSTIC CONCERTS: Take-away music
By Elia Maqueda. April 20, 2012
In the universe of the instant, of the eternal carpe diem, of retweets and “Likes”, music is worth nothing if it isn’t the real thing. We accept Auto-Tune without even batting an eyelid in studio songs, but sometimes we need to see and listen to the musicians with their heart stuck in the guitar's neck, bawling, rubbing their eyes or half-smiling. We are not "exactly" talking about live music. We are not talking about concerts. We are talking about videos and, in particular, acoustic videos.
With the sequence shot as their motto, many have picked up their cameras and with them over their shoulders or hanging from their necks they have seized the magic of the songs released free from the plug and the track, thrown out onto the streets, interrupted by the intermittent sound of traffic lights. They bring jugglers back and they broadcast them on the Internet.
This is what future was meant to be, definitely.
LA BLOGOTHÈQUE (CONCERTS À EMPORTER)
The French La Blogothèque are known all around the world thanks to their Concerts à Emporter/Take Away Shows, which Chryde and Vincent Moon began in 2006. They have been and will be the reference for hundreds of projects that have reproduced like spores in many countries. Our preferred “take-away show” is Tenniscoats', which takes place next to a railway in Tokyo and finds percussion everywhere, although there are other memorable ones, like Arcade Fire crammed inside a lift or Beirut using litter bins as a drum set.
Black Cab Sessions tests musicians' skills by bringing their songs to the streets of London inside a taxi -one of those London cabs, almost as emblematic as its red phone booths-. Thanks to this idea by Jono Stevens and his production company Just So Films, we have been able to witness electric tunes become something different in the privacy of a backseat. Their latest release features Rufus Wainwright, whose performance gets to move us only with the vehicle's engine as backing vocals.
BALCONY TV
It doesn’t always rain in Dublin. Stephen O' Regan and a group of friends devised Balcony TV while they were drinking tea, when somebody mentioned that they should use their balcony more. Only five years have passed from then until now that videos are being filmed in more than 30 cities (Dublin, London, New York, Mexico DF, Madrid, Stockholm and a long etcetera). Known, unknown and invisible musicians have performed on these balconies, among them Mumford & Sons or Kimbra. How many unused balconies are there in the world?
ACORDES URBANOS
In Spain we also find restless minds keen to take music to unsuspected places. The guys behind Acordes Urbanos started this by chance in a park in Valladolid and now have a long long list of songs filmed and waiting to be filmed on small boats, in churches, gardens and libraries. Our favourite is Eef Barzelay, no more and no less than against the wall of a pelota court.
ORNITORRINCOS
Duck beak, otter body and beaver tail. That is how these Catalans describe the platypus (ornitorrinco in Spanish), that strange creature that gives the name to a project in which two bands fuse their songs together creating a mammal and oviparous symbiosis to delight eyes and ears everywhere. Mine! and Pau Riba, for example, combined their voices and chords in a garden filled with plants and mosquitoes on an August afternoon.
BFLECHA: Tribes, cosmos and sound mutations
By Belén Vidal. April 26, 2013
10 'GREATEST HITS' OF ITALO-DISCO (II)
By Cristina Álvarez Cañas. June 7, 2013
BRYAN JOHN APPLEBY: organic music
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Facebook says will learn from mistake over Vietnam photo
By Reuters/Joachim Dagenborg  September 13, 2016 | 08:57 am GMT+7
"We intend to do better," Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg told Norway PM.
Facebook Inc will learn from a mistake it made by deleting a historicVietnam War photo of a naked girl fleeing a napalm attack, the company's chief operating officer said.
The photograph was removed from several accounts on Friday, including that of Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg, on the grounds it violated Facebook's restrictions on nudity. It was reinstated after Solberg accused Facebook of censorship and of editing history.
"These are difficult decisions and we don't always get it right," Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg wrote in a letter to the prime minister, obtained by Reuters on Monday under Norway's freedom of information rules.
"Even with clear standards, screening millions of posts on a case-by-case basis every week is challenging," Sandberg wrote.
"Nonetheless, we intend to do better. We are committed to listening to our community and evolving. Thank you for helping us get this right," she wrote. She said the letter was a sign of "how seriously we take this matter and how we are handling it".
The 1972 photograph, by Pulitzer Prize-winner Nick Ut of the Associated Press, shows screaming children running from a napalm attack. A naked nine-year-old girl, Phan Thi Kim Phuc, is at its center.
Sandberg wrote that "sometimes ... the global and historical importance of a photo like 'Terror of War' outweighs the importance of keeping nudity off Facebook."
Facebook bars nudity with some exemptions, such as photographs of nudes in art. It is unclear exactly how disputes over its "Community Standards" reach top management.
Solberg posted the photograph on her Facebook page after the company had deleted it fromthe sites of Norwegian authors and the newspaper Aftenposten, which mounted a front-page campaign on Friday urging Facebook to permit publication.
The "iconic" Vietnam war photo. Photo by AP/Nick Ut
Solberg welcomed Facebook's about-turn. "It shows that it helps to use your voice to say 'we want a change'. I'm very pleased with that," she told NRK public broadcasting on Friday.
Sandberg suggested that Solberg's staff could meet two Facebook officials visiting Norway on Friday. "I hope to see you soon - and am always available if you have further concerns," she wrote.
Norway is a big investor in Facebook. Its $891 billion sovereign wealth fund, the world's biggest, had a stake of 0.52 percent in Facebook, worth $1.54 billion at the start of 2016.
> Facebook reinstates Vietnam War-era photo after outcry over censorship
> Norway's PM attacks Facebook 'censorship' over Vietnam photo
Tags: Facebook Vietnam War Norway Sheryl Sandberg Pulitzer
E-cigarettes seen to help smokers quit
U.S. Democratic Party says it was hacked again, blames Russians
Facebook, Twitter join network to tackle fake news
China to be first trillion-dollar air market: Boeing
China says should maintain peace with Vietnam
Vietnam to extradite Indonesian 'pirates' to Malaysia
Green-powered boat readies for round-the-world voyage
Hungry for power, Myanmar bets on hydro in new energy plan
Reading: Facebook says will learn from mistake over Vietnam photo
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Richly diverse perspectives
Integrated Pathways
EPIC (Earlham Program for an Integrated Curriculum)
Earlhamite Profiles
Overview | Outcomes | Meet an Earlhamite | Our Faculty | Plan of Study | Courses
Earlham students pursue International Studies because what it means to be “international” is complex and raises profound challenges for policy and practice.
More than half of our majors are international students, a reality that enriches classroom conversations about issues of global import.
The International Studies program has recently developed a new set of major requirements that incorporate classes in Language, Politics, Economics and History as well as an integrated off-campus study program.
Students in the "Introduction to Diplomacy" course last fall prepared for, and participate in, a college-level Model United Nations competition. They also hosted a popular, regional Model UN for high school students in January 2016.
According to NerdScholar, Earlham’s International Studies program is one of the top five in the country. At Earlham International Studies is not only a popular major, it is also a way of life on campus.
International Studies majors have been frequent recipients of Davis Peace Prize Awards, grants of $10,000 each to fund summer projects related to peacemaking.
Earlham’s International Studies alumni get into their top choice graduate programs and serve in prestigious international civil service and diplomatic positions around the world.
Six Earlham graduates conducted research around the world with prestigious Fulbright grants during the 2014-2015 academic year.
Recent International Studies graduates have obtained prestigious Watson and Fulbright scholarships as well as Rotary Peace Fellowships to work and study abroad.
Some have served as officers and program assistants in the Asia Foundation, Japan Society and U.N.-specialized agencies. Still others have worked in the Peace Corps and as human rights monitors.
Majors also have pursued graduate studies in fields as diverse as law, city planning, public administration and public health at globally top-ranked programs such as Oxford, the Vienna Diplomatic Academy, the London School of Economics and Political Science, Columbia School of International and Public Affairs, and the Monterey Institute of International Studies.
Meet An Earlhamite
Lifelong Learner
Syed “Onik” Kamal ’11 says he knew at a very young age that helping people would be foremost in whatever career he might choose. Studying at Earlham has only reinforced that idea.
An Opportunity to Build Upon
Munkhbat Munkjargal ’19 doesn't stand still for long. Outside of the classroom, he fills his time with student organizations and activities that engage people, as he puts it, in meaningful ways.
Peace Builder
Anna Crumley-Effinger '07 works with the American Friends Service Committee in the Horn of Africa, with a focus on peace-building in Burundi and famine relief in Somalia. She's involved in many American Quaker organizations.
Associate Professor of Japanese Studies
Dyron Dabney
Jackson Bailey Memorial Endowed Chair for Japan Study/Institute for Education on Japan; Director of Japan Study and Associate Professor of Politics and Japanese Studies
Rodolfo Guzmán
Professor of Spanish and Hispanic Studies
Margaret Hampton
Professor of German
Thor Hogan
Associate Professor of Politics and Environmental Sustainability
Ahmed Khanani
Plowshares Assistant Professor of Politics; Co-Director of the Center of Social Justice
Rajaram Krishnan
Elana Passman
Associate Professor of History
Jennifer Seely
Associate Professor of Politics
Assistant Professor of Politics
The new major (adopted in Fall 2017) requires 12 to 14 courses and has a range of 36 to 42 credits, in addition to a study abroad semester. Note: courses in italics represent planned courses to be approved by the Curricular Planning Committee.
Introductory Courses (all three of the following)
POLS 111 Introduction to Comparative Politics and International Relations
ECON 101 Introduction to Macroeconomics
ECON 103 Introduction to Microeconomics
Research Methods Courses (one of the following)
ECON 204 Statistics for Economics
POLS 329 Social Science Research Methods
POLS 339 Approaching Political Puzzles
Theory Course (the following course)
POLS 371 Theories of International Relations
Capstone Course (the following course)
POLS 488 Senior Capstone Experience
Four semesters of language (If a student already speaks a second language fluently with demonstrated competence, they can opt to take two linguistic or cultural competency courses taught by Earlham Languages and Cultures faculty in consultation with their academic adviser.)
Off-Campus Learning Opportunity
Completion of an off-campus semester program (A student also may fulfill this requirement with completion of another approved program in consultation with their academic adviser.)
On-Campus Elective Courses
Four courses at the 200-400 level selected from the following list, including at least one Economics, one Politics, and one History course.
Courses must include one Politics “A”rgument (WI) and one Politics “R”esearch (RCH) course.
ECON 342 Economic Development
ECON 343 Economics of the Environment
ECON 348 International Trade
ECON 350 Political Economy in China and India
POLS 301 Genealogies of Nationalism in the Muslim Middle East and North Africa
POLS 303 Human Rights in the Muslim World
POLS 333 Gender and Sexuality in Muslim Middle East and North Africa
POLS 348 American Empire: Are We Rome?
POLS 349 National Security Policy Via Film
POLS 351 Democracy and Democratization
POLS 352 Africa & The World: Development, Conflict and Cooperation
POLS 355 Politics of the Developing World
POLS 358 Contemporary Chinese Politics
POLS 359 African Democracy and Dictatorship
POLS 363 Israel and the Middle East
POLS 369 Politics of Authoritarianism
POLS 372 International Law: Sovereignty, Humanitarian Law and Human Rights
POLS 373 International Law: Environment and Development
POLS 377 Politics of Global Inequality
POLS 378 International Political Economy Methods
HIST 373 America’s Middle East
HIST 218 World War II in East Asia
HIST 228 Modern East Asia
HIST 266 Contemporary China and the World
HIST 374 Modern Japan
HIST 382 History of Science, Medicine, and Technology in East Asia
HIST 472 Modern China
HIST 232 African History since 1880
HIST 376 History of West Africa
HIST 377 East Africa
HIST 378 History of South Africa
HIST 290 Cuban History
HIST 354 Latin America since 1825
HIST 344 Diplomatic History: The Cold War
HIST 347 Europe and the World Wars
* Key
Courses that fulfill
General Education Requirements:
(A-AR) = Analytical - Abstract Reasoning
(A-QR) = Analytical - Quantitative
(D-D) = Diversity - Domestic
(D-I) = Diversity - International
(D-L) = Diversity - Language
(RCH) = Research
(W) = Wellness
(WI) = Writing Intensive
(AY) = Offered in Alternative Year
Most International Studies courses are listed by their individual departments alone. This is because the determination as to whether or not a course counts for the major depends on the shape of the student’s individual focus. Exceptions include required introductory courses and the capstone.
INST 102 INTRODUCTION TO INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
(3 credits)
This course is designed to offer students a broad introduction to international studies. It addresses major actors of international system including state and non-state actors and also covers a variety of issues and topics (poverty, climate change, international terrorism, refugee, war, etc.) that are widely concerned across the world. The course focuses on these themes from multiple theoretical and methodological perspectives to allow students to examine the world in an interdisciplinary way. Appropriate for first-year students.
*INST 270 INTRODUCTION TO DIPLOMACY (3 credits)
An experiential course that examines political, economic and social issues in world politics by simulating the work of states in U.N. committees and organizations. Students serve as delegates to a regional Model U.N. Scholarly readings on the practice of diplomacy. Also listed as PAGS 270 and POLS 270. (D-I)
INST 348 INTERNATIONAL TRADE (3 credits)
Through a combination of theoretical frameworks and real world applications, attempts to develop a broad understanding of micro and macro issues in the area of international economics. Deals with issues related to the logic and critique of free trade, tariffs and quotas, exchange rate determination, balance of payments, open economy macro policy, stabilization policy and the role of international institutions in international trade. Prerequisites: ECON 100. Also listed as MGMT 348 and ECON 348. (AY)
INST 350 POLITICAL ECONOMY IN CHINA AND INDIA (3 credits)
This course will focus on two aspects of the political economy of China and India. First, it will undertake a comparative examination of the economic performance of these countries since the 1940s, taking into account important historical and political factors. Second, it will look into what the future may hold for these two countries. Prerequisite: ECON 100 or consent of instructor. Also listed as CHIN 350 and ECON 350.
*INST 358 CONTEMPORARY CHINESE POLITICS (3 credits)
This course provides students with a broad introduction to China's politics in the modern period. The focus will be on top leaders, political institutions and policies under Chinese Communist Party (CCP) rule. The course covers the main stages in the history of CCP rule: the Mao Zedong period,1949-1976; the Deng Xiaoping period, 1977-1994; and the rule of the so-called third- and fourth-generation leaders, Jiang Zemin, 1995-2003, and Hu Jintao, 2003-1012. A.R.T.S. designation: R. Prerequisite: Politics 111 or consent of the instructor. Also listed as POLS 358 and CHIN 358. (D-I, WI)
INST 362 INTERNATIONAL FINANCE (3 credits)
This course analyzes international markets and risks from the perspective of investors, managers, regulators and other stakeholders. Key topics include exchange rates, capital flows, risk analysis and management, valuation, and private-public partnerships. Topics are studied in real-world contexts through case studies, current events, and collaborative research projects. Prerequisite: either MGMT 141, MGMT 200, MGMT 240 or PSYCH 245. Also listed as MGMT 362.
INST 364 POWER, POLITICS, THEORY (3 credits)
This course surveys the classical texts and themes of political theory. Students will read selections of both the Western and Eastern canonical works in order to investigate a wide range of issues related to politics — power, state, citizen, justice, community, identity, rights, liberty, etc. Prerequisite: POLS 111. Also listed as PAGS 364 and POLS 364.
*INST 371 THEORIES OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS (4 credits)
Examines classics, trends and innovations in empirical and normative theories of international relations, from Thucydides and Machiavelli to Galtung and beyond. Reading and writing intensive. Provides opportunities for students to apply theoretical perspectives to problems and issues of particular salience to them (e.g. questions raised by off-campus study). Designed for juniors and seniors. A.R.T.S. Designation: A, R or T, depending on semester. Prerequisite: POLS 111 or consent of the instructor. Also listed as PAGS 371 and POLS 371. (D-I) (AY)
INST 488 SENIOR CAPSTONE EXPERIENCE (3 credits)
Seniors participate in a colloquium with faculty members representing Politics, Economics, History, Language and Literature in cross-disciplinary conversation about a common theme such as migration, nationalism, or globalization. Students write an interdisciplinary literature review and comparative analysis of the assigned problem and make a public presentation.
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Diammonium hexachloroplatinate
Currently viewing: S-01 | Summary001 Key | Experimental result002 Key | Read-across (Structural analogue / surrogate)003 Supporting | Experimental result004 Supporting | Experimental result005 Supporting | Read-across (Structural analogue / surrogate)006 Supporting | Read-across (Structural analogue / surrogate)
The log Kd for water is 3.27 (stdev 0.34) and the average Kd is 1862. The log Kd for soil is 1.57 (stdev 0.46) and the average Kd is 37.2.
Two high quality studies have determined the partitioning of platinum between river water and suspended particulate matter. Both studies showed relatively consistent results for experiments performed in freshwaters, and similar partitioning was also observed in both estuarine and marine water in the key study (Turner et al., 2006; Cobelo-Garcia et al., 2008). A high quality study of the partitioning of platinum to two soils and one sediment provides information relevant to the soil compartment (Sako et al., 2009).
Average partition coefficients have been derived in cases where multiple partition coefficients are available for the same type of system (e.g. partitioning to suspended particulate matter in surface waters). The average values have been derived by calculating the log values of the individual partition coefficients (Kd). Following log transformation the mean and standard deviation are calculated to define an "average" partition coefficient and its associated standard deviation, assuming a log-normal distribution of Kd values. The log Kd for water is 3.27 (stdev 0.34) and the average Kd is 1862. The log Kd for soil is 1.57 (stdev 0.46) and the average Kd is 37.2.
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Integrating Woodland and Wildlife Management Practices on Your Property
Robert A. Pierce II
Fisheries and Wildlife State Specialist
School of Natural Resources
Hank Stelzer
Forestry State Specialist
Associate Professor of Forestry
Many of Missouri’s forest landowners are interested in managing their property for wood products and enhanced wildlife habitat (Figure 1). Fortunately, forest and wildlife management are not only compatible, they are interrelated. Depending on your objectives, you can apply management techniques that influence plant succession and enhance habitats for diverse wildlife species while at the same time improve your forest’s productivity. However, managing your property to continually produce timber products and provide wildlife habitat requires an active forest-wildlife management plan.
Woodlands and forests provide habitat for a diversity of wildlife species throughout the year.
Develop a management plan
Wildlife habitats can be enhanced through sound timber management strategies. Many timber management practices can be implemented to favor a diversity of trees and plant successional stages — forbs (broad-leaved herbaceous plants), grasses, shrubs, woodlands — that provide wildlife benefits. On average, a private forest landowner in Missouri owns less than 40 acres. Thus, few landowners have the luxury of managing timber stands that accommodate all the needs of species such as migratory songbirds, deer and wild turkey, which use larger areas. So when developing a management plan, you must consider the habitat components available in adjoining stands, the wildlife and timber species most suited to the site, and the habitat needs that aren’t being met for the primary wildlife species or group of species for which you are interested in managing your property.
Begin your plan development by conducting an inventory of your property and identifying the vegetative cover types and forest stands that are present. Look for unique geological and vegetative features that should be protected or enhanced. For example, you may want to protect or enhance geological features such as springs, spring seeps and streams, and vegetative features such as den trees, desirable fruit-producing species, snags and glades. An aerial photograph offers a complete look at the land uses and vegetative cover on your property and on adjacent lands. This bird’s-eye view can help you understand the potential of your land for supporting wildlife and how you can enhance it. Using an aerial photo, you can identify forest stands, edge habitats, open areas, pastures and water sources, and evaluate their arrangement on your property and surrounding land.
Integrating forest and wildlife management objectives in a management plan will require some compromises. An example of a trade-off would be retaining den trees or snags in the stand rather than removing them to provide additional growing space for crop trees. Another example might be conducting a prescribed burn in a hardwood timber stand to enhance the amount of herbaceous browse for deer at the potential expense of reducing wood quality. Evaluate the costs and benefits within each stand to determine which practices best fit into your overall forest management strategy. A forest and wildlife management plan will help you make trade-off decisions. The plan should take into account your objectives, location of various land cover types and habitats on the property, and the wildlife species in which you are interested.
Table 1 identifies a few timber and wildlife management practices that can be integrated on most forested properties. Most of these practices can be incorporated within the wooded acreage and on surrounding areas of fields for increased timber and wildlife benefits.
All wildlife have four basic requirements for survival: food, water, cover and space. And most wildlife species depend on multiple habitat types. So, managing for plant diversity is important.
Diversity within and between forest stands will influence the diversity of wildlife on a property (Figure 2). Examples of stand diversity include differences in tree density or stocking, tree composition, stand ages, presence of snags and cavities, and the type of disturbance practice conducted. By implementing the appropriate combination of management practices, you can create or maintain different successional stages in your woodland or forest that promote quality stands of timber and a diversity of wildlife species.
Most wildlife species benefit from active forest management. Planned management activities are generally one of your best tools for improving wildlife habitat in woodlands and forests. Some wildlife species benefit from diverse stands of timber and a mix of plant successional stages; others may require large acreages of mature forests.
Wildlife species such as white-tailed deer, cottontail rabbits, eastern wild turkey, indigo buntings, brown thrashers and yellow-breasted chats will benefit from the mix of early successional habitats and shrubby cover that is interspersed with stands of mature forests. Forest management practices can be designed to create diverse stands on the property to benefit these and many other species.
However, forest management practices will also affect the habitat required by other wildlife, such as species of warblers, vireos, wood thrush, ovenbirds and tanagers. These avian species are examples of wildlife that depend on large tracts of forest cover for nesting and foraging. Stands of timber that are highly interspersed or fragmented by other land cover types can create poor conditions for their survival. For instance, research suggests that nesting near edge habitats may be detrimental to some woodland songbirds due to higher concentrations of predators and nest parasites in these areas.
General woodland and forest management practices that can benefit wildlife.
Management practice
Wildlife benefits
Timber management consideration
Protect forest stand or woodland from grazing. Increases mast availability; increases stem density for cover; encourages a more diverse understory. Prevents soil compaction; improves tree vigor and growth; increases regeneration and species diversity.
Allow shrubs, vines and soft mast, such as blackberries, to develop along woodland edges. Increases early successional food and cover for wildlife; transition zone provides increased diversity of plant communities. Gradual edge reduces wind and drying effects in timber; wood quality is often poor adjacent to edges, so vines and undesirable species have less economic effect.
>Allow downed timber or felled trees to remain along the edges of forest stand. Provides cover and produces insect sources for wildlife. Returns nutrients to soil and reduces management costs of removal.
The vertical structure of a forest consists of four layers: the ground-level herbaceous layer of vegetation, the shrub layer, and the midstory and canopy layers provided by various tree species. Some wildlife species, particularly birds, have adapted to using specific layers for foraging and nesting.
Stages of timber management
Timber management occurs in three stages: regeneration of the stand, intermediate treatments, and harvesting crop trees. The examples in this publication of how to implement each of these stages for timber production and wildlife can guide you in formulating objectives to include in your management plan. When properly planned, each stage can create desirable habitats and enhance the overall value of your woodland.
Decisions that will greatly affect wildlife habitat include
How the stand will be harvested, which in forestry terminology is commonly referred to as establishing a regeneration cut;
How you plan to regenerate the stand of trees after the harvest, whether by planting a new stand or harvesting so that the existing stand of timber will regenerate naturally;
And the type and frequency of any intermediate treatments that might be conducted during the development of the stand, such as forest stand improvements (FSIs), thinning (also called timber stand improvements), or releasing crop trees to improve mast production.
Each of these decisions should be integrated into your plan and will require active management. Different approaches can be taken to manage a stand of trees, depending on the objectives. The regeneration method used will influence the species composition of the new stand of timber. For example, even-aged and group selection regeneration methods are preferred for regenerating hardwoods, as these methods favor mast-producing oaks and other shade-intolerant species. Even-aged methods also promote the lush growth of herbaceous plants and woody vegetation that provide food and cover for many wildlife species.
Regenerating the stand
The purpose of a regeneration cut is to allow planted seedlings or saplings to grow in the understory — that is, beneath the canopy — or within the newly created openings. These young trees will be the future crop trees. You can encourage this regeneration using any of the even-aged or uneven-aged management practices described below. Table 2 describes wildlife benefits that can result from harvesting and regenerating stands of timber using even-aged or uneven-aged management. These practices also may be followed by intermediate treatments that include FSI practices, controlled burns, herbicide treatments, and planting of certain seedling species to achieve the desired results.
Timber harvesting practices that can benefit wildlife.
Harvest practice
Design small regeneration and group selection openings with irregularly shaped borders. Provides browse, nesting, food and escape cover and increases interspersion of habitat types for diversity. Regenerates shade-intolerant species such as oak, black cherry and black walnut in a cost-effective manner. (Oaks require advanced regeneration to be present.)
When harvesting in strips, clearcut timber in strips that are 60 to 300 feet wide, spaced 600 to 900 feet apart, and perpendicular to the slope. Provides a continuous supply of browse, food, nesting and escape cover required by diverse wildlife. Regenerates shade-intolerant species.
Perform timber stand improvement and harvest operations in late fall or winter, if possible. Is less disturbing than other harvest practices to most wildlife; increases sprouting of vegetation the next spring, resulting in excellent cover. Increases stump sprouting of many species.
Establish brush piles near woodland edges or logging roads. Provides cover for mammals and songbirds. Enhances cover next to woodland areas that potentially produces the lowest quality timber.
Seed permanent logging roads or logging decks and utility right-of-ways with a recommended grass-legume mixture, or allow native vegetation to become established in these areas. Provides early successional cover for wildlife; increases insect abundance, a food source important to wild turkeys and bobwhite quail. Prevents soil erosion and maintains these areas for future use.
Even-aged management
Even-aged management ultimately results in the complete removal of the overstory, or canopy, during a regeneration cut. Three harvest systems that result in an even-aged stand are clearcuts, seed-tree cuts and shelterwood cuts. Harvesting trees using these techniques results in the regeneration of a new stand of trees that are all about the same age.
Clearcuts
Clearcutting is the practice of removing all trees from a tract in a single harvest operation to regenerate the stand of timber (Figure 3). The new stand of trees develops from stump sprouts, a process often referred to as coppice sprouting; from seedlings resulting from an earlier acorn crop; or from planted seedlings. Clearcuts, also known as regeneration cuts, can improve wildlife habitat in several ways:
Regenerating important mast producing trees, such as oaks, hickories and pines
Promoting a lush growth of early successional vegetation
Creating a diversity of habitats for a wide variety of wildlife, when the regeneration cuts are mixed with timber stands of different ages
Clearcutting may be the best way to improve a stand that is dominated by less than desirable tree species. Den trees and snags can also be marked before the harvest and left on the site to provide wildlife benefits. In most cases, areas can be harvested to create a patchwork and diversity of plant successional stages, particularly if the property is located in an area that is dominated by large areas of forest. The openings that are created favor the regeneration of desirable mast trees, such as oaks and hickories. If you do not wish to cut an entire stand, harvesting 2- to 10-acre patches on a 10- to 20-year rotation will result in an increase in browse — the leaves, twigs and shoots that many animals feed on — and creates habitat for wildlife species requiring early successional stages while still providing areas for regeneration of shade-intolerant tree species.
Regeneration cuts create areas that are abundant in herbaceous growth, young woody stems and advanced regeneration of saplings, which provide food and cover for deer and other herbivores such as cottontail rabbits, mice, voles and woodchucks. The resulting dense cover also provides habitats for a variety of birds, including American woodcocks, ruffed grouse, yellow-breasted chats, indigo buntings, brown thrashers and blue-winged warblers. As these young stands regenerate and begin to mature, they go through a period, when they are 25 to 40 years old, during which herbaceous forage and browse are no longer available and hard-mast production has not yet begun. During this period, several required habitat components are not present in the stand unless FSI and thinning are practiced. These intermediate treatments are described in greater detail below.
Clearcutting allows for a new crop of trees that are the same age to be regenerated in the stand. The vegetation growth that occurs provides excellent browse and cover for many wildlife species, including white-tailed deer.
Seed-tree and shelterwood harvest
The seed-tree and shelterwood systems both leave crop trees scattered throughout the area to provide a source of seed for the next stand. Generally, leaving about 10 to 15 seed trees per acre can regenerate the stand using a seed-tree cut technique. The shelterwood technique leaves more crop trees standing after a harvest. Both techniques allow for more sunlight to reach the forest floor, stimulating the germination of annual plants and new growth of browse. The open conditions also create a favorable environment for oaks and other shade intolerant species to grow and successfully compete within the stand.
Uneven-aged management
Harvesting trees using an uneven-aged management system results in a stand of trees of many ages and sizes. Typically, few trees are harvested at any one time, thus the stand usually has several layers of vegetation that make up the tree canopy, which shades the forest floor. This lack of sunlight tends to favor shade-tolerant species, such as maple, hornbeam, elm and dogwood. An uneven-aged management system is often recommended for landowners that own relatively small tracts of timber. Uneven-aged management can also provide steady, periodic income. Two harvest systems that result in an uneven-aged stand are single-tree selection and group selection.
Single-tree selection
Single-tree selection creates a stand of trees that are different ages and sizes. This technique does not produce as many seedlings for regeneration as a clearcut, but instead promotes the recruitment of high-quality individual trees into the stand while maintaining an uneven-aged forest. One approach that has been used successfully is to remove trees that are of lower quality, due to form or disease, that compete with nearby higher-quality crop trees for the purpose of retaining better growing stock on the site over a longer period.
Group selection
In a group selection system, small groups of trees are harvested, creating regeneration openings within the stand (Figure 4). These openings are essentially small clearcuts, usually about half an acre. Harvesting small groups of trees allows more sunlight to reach the forest floor, encouraging the growth of early successional vegetation and resulting in an increased abundance of sprouts, shrubs, grasses and herbaceous vegetation. These openings also stimulate the regeneration of shade-intolerant mast-producing tree species, such as oak, hickory and black cherry. A dense growth of other woody plants will also flourish in these openings, such as dogwood, serviceberry and viburnums. These species provide a diverse food source for many wildlife, and the shrubby understory structure is preferred by many bird and mammal species, such as summer tanagers, indigo buntings, yellow-breasted chats and cottontail rabbits.
Small group openings within the forest can benefit many wildlife species and also promote the regeneration of shade-intolerant trees, such as species of oak.
Intermediate management considerations for wildlife benefits
Several intermediate management practices can be conducted to enhance wildlife habitats while improving the growth of individual trees in the stand. Table 3 provides a summary of the wildlife benefits that can result from conducting specific FSI practices on your property.
Forest stand improvement (FSI) practices that benefit wildlife.
FSI practice
Retain cavity trees within 50 feet of woods’ edge, where timber quality is lowest, and in wetlands beside streams, where harvest is difficult or not recommended. Provides den and nest sites for wildlife such as wood ducks, squirrels, raccoons and woodpeckers.
Encourage a mix of mast-producing trees, such as red and white oaks, hickory, black walnut, black cherry and blackgum. Provides food for wildlife.
Girdle unsalable trees that should be culled from the stand; leave standing dead trees as snags. Creates small openings that benefit early successional vegetation; snags provide food sources for insect-eating birds, such as woodpeckers and nuthatches.
Conducting forest stand improvement and thinning practices
Forest stand improvement (FSI) is an intermediate treatment in the regeneration of a forest stand. Treatments are made to improve the composition, structure, condition, health and growth of a stand of timber (Figure 5). FSI can be implemented to increase a woodland’s potential for providing valuable timber products and to improve forage production and wildlife habitat.
Thinning a stand of timber is a FSI practice that involves removing undesirable trees that are competing with more desirable crop trees, such as pines, oaks and hickories (Figure 6). Thinning gives the desirable trees more space to grow. It can also improve the growth of trees in the stand and allow more sunlight to reach the understory, thus increasing the amount of browse and forage available (Figure 7).
A variety of intermediate treatments, including FSI and thinning practices, can be implemented to improve timber quality and enhance the habitat for various wildlife. Prescribed fire can also be used as an intermediate treatment in certain stands to enhance the growth of herbaceous browse and annual plants that benefit various wildlife species.
Thinning a stand of timber, such as this stand of short-leaf pine, can improve the growth of the remaining trees as well as enhance the availability of forage and browse for wildlife.
The closed canopy of trees on the left that has little herbaceous vegetation at the ground layer. The stand on the right has been thinned, resulting in an understory with diverse vegetation on the ground layer that provides abundant forage and cover for wildlife.
Retaining den trees and snags
Some trees are more valuable dead than alive. Missouri has 89 wildlife species that require snags and den trees for nesting, feeding and shelter (Figure 8). Snags are standing dead trees; den trees are live trees with a hollow cavity. Another group of species depends on fallen woody debris such as rotting logs, limbs and brush piles. Therefore, your management plan should include retaining decaying and dead standing trees and downed wood in the stand.
Den trees (left) provide wildlife with nesting sites and cover. When conducting a forest stand improvement or timber harvest, mark snags (right) and den trees to be left on the site.
Snags
Leave or create one snag larger than 20 inches in diameter at breast height (dbh) (4.5 feet above the ground) per acre for use by species such as pileated and red-headed woodpeckers and gray squirrels. Leaving two snags between 6 and 10 inches dbh per acre is beneficial for species such as black-capped chickadees and, near field edges, for eastern bluebirds. You can create these habitats by deadening select unsalable trees by girdling the tree with a chain saw and applying an approved herbicide. Always read and follow chemical labels for proper rates, usage and disposal.
Den trees
Leave or establish one den tree larger than 20 inches dbh per acre for such species as barred owls, fox squirrels and raccoons. Additional den trees that are greater than 10 inches dbh will benefit gray squirrels, tufted titmice, red-breasted nuthatches and house wrens. Do not remove den trees during regeneration cuts or when conducting FSI.
Conducting a prescribed fire
A prescribed fire, or controlled burn, can be a useful practice for enhancing wildlife habitats in certain plant communities, including in pine and hardwood forests and woodlands. Fire is an important management tool that can be used to create open woodlands, or savanna habitats. Fire sets back plant succession and promotes the growth of herbaceous annual plants, weeds and forbs. However, if a prescribed fire is planned in a stand of hardwoods where the overall objective is to grow high-quality trees, the burn should be performed within about five years before harvest.
Prescribed fires should be planned to accomplish very specific management objectives, so it is extremely important to seek advice from natural resource professionals with the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) or MU Extension. They can help you develop a burn plan so that the fire is conducted safely and under exact weather and fuel conditions to accomplish your objectives and the desired changes in vegetation.
Numerous recommendations can be incorporated into timber harvests to benefit wildlife (Table 2). With the exception of some songbirds, which may be sensitive to edge habitats, most wildlife species found in woodlands and forested habitats require openings, edges or early successional stages of forest cover to fulfill some of their habitat requirements. An efficient way to manage for these species is to create their desired habitat component through a commercial timber harvest. Selling the timber makes the cost of managing for wildlife affordable by providing some income from your investment.
In addition, you should protect unique or important habitats by keeping tree harvests at least 100 feet from habitats such as small ponds, temporary pools, rocky outcrops, springs and seeps. Streams that flow or have large pools of water throughout the year should be protected from tree harvests by maintaining a buffer of at least 50 to 100 feet along each side. This buffer is referred to as the riparian area. The MDC’s best management practices specify and recommend harvesting practices that can voluntarily be conducted within riparian areas. (Refer to the Missouri Watershed Protection Practice handbook listed under Additional resources.)
Management practices that enhance habitats at the forest and field edge
Edge habitats are the transition zones between two different plant communities, such as within a stand of timber where disturbances have occurred or between a stand of timber and a crop field or pasture. Many wildlife species depend on the diversity of vegetation that grows in these transition zones. Forest edges are edge habitats that occur within the forest, and nonforest edges are those that occur where there is a distinct break between forests and nonforest cover types, such as agricultural fields, subdivisions, urban areas, and pastures. Each edge type provides unique habitat components that a variety of wildlife will use during the year.
A forest edge is created when a woodland road, a logging deck or a regeneration or group selection cut is made within a stand of timber. Tornadoes, high winds and fire are natural events that can also facilitate the development of this type of edge habitat. Forest edges are typically evident for only a short time, from five to 15 years. As plant succession advances and the regeneration trees grow larger, a forest edge disappears. However, disturbances in the forest will encourage the growth of a variety of trees of different ages, heights and densities, providing structural diversity within the stand and enhancing nesting and foraging habitats for a variety of wildlife species. These disturbances are important because nearly 70 percent of the 260 wildlife species occurring within the central U.S. hardwood forest region require successional stages that are less than 40 years old to meet at least part of their habitat requirements.
Nonforest edge can be enhanced through a variety of management practices, such as edge feathering, developing brush piles, hinge-cutting or establishing field borders between tracts of timber and other fields. All too often, these locations consist of an abrupt or “hard” edge, with little or no transition between habitat types (Figure 9). The practices described below can create a “softer” or tapered transition zone to promote increased plant diversity between stands (Figure 10).
The management of field edges can enhance the growth of succulent vegetation and fruits beneficial for bobwhite quail, deer, turkeys and many species of songbirds that require shrubby cover for nesting and escape. Examples of beneficial shrubs that occur in these areas include wild plum, blackberry, persimmon, hawthorns, dogwoods, red buds, sumacs, serviceberry, elderberry and crabapples. In addition, greenbriers, poison ivy, buck brush and annual seed-producing plants such as legumes may also be increased as a result of these management practices.
The "hard" edge between this timber stand and pasture could be "softened" through management practices such as edge feathering or creating brush piles and field borders to improve habitat conditions for a diversity of wildlife.
A nonforested edge can be improved for wildlife by edge feathering and improving the transition zone between fields.
Edge feathering
Edge feathering creates a gradual transition zone between forested tracts and open fields. This zone can be managed for grasses and legumes that are beneficial to wildlife, as well as for shrubby cover.
Cut select large, unsalable trees within 30 feet of the woody edge. Treat stumps with an approved herbicide. Leave native shrubs such as wild plum, dogwood and sumac along these edges. You can drop trees and let them lie, cut the logs for firewood, or build brush piles that can provide additional cover for bobwhite quail and rabbits.
Edge feather areas at least 50 feet long and spaced at least every 300 feet along the edges of the field.
Before conducting this practice, be sure to kill any sod-forming grasses, such as tall fescue, under the canopy with an approved herbicide. Removing these grasses will ensure that annual weeds and shrubs will be able to grow — and will provide access to this cover for species such as bobwhite quail.
Providing brush piles and downed-tree structures
Brush piles provide a place for select wildlife species — such as small mammals, cottontail rabbits, ground-nesting birds, reptiles and amphibians — to escape from predators. Proper construction and placement is extremely important. Brush piles should be at least 6 to 8 feet tall and wide. They can be created using limbs and other debris from trees and brush that were cut during a FSI (Figure 11). Place brush piles in strategic locations near food sources along field borders or in locations near other types of escape cover.
Downed-tree structures can also provide a temporary source of woody cover in areas where shrubs are lacking (Figure 12). These structures are sometimes called living brush piles — if the small trees are cut part way so that the top falls to the ground, a technique called hinge-cutting. This type of cover can be quickly created by cutting several trees to fall in a crisscross pattern over each other.
Downed-tree structures can be used to complement the creation of brush piles and located in areas that will be managed for permanent shrubby cover, such as bobwhite quail covey headquarters. These areas can provide temporary cover until the planted or managed shrubs become available. Create this type of cover at intervals of every 5 acres or 200 feet along the forest-field border.
Place at least three downed trees in each structure.
Don’t push downed trees into dense piles, but instead place them in a loose arrangement so that areas of bare ground are available to promote wildlife access.
Place these structures in areas where herbaceous vegetation, such as tall fescue, is controlled.
Oak, hickory or cedar make excellent downed-tree structures that provide escape cover for many wildlife species.
Brush piles created near field edges and in other strategic locations provide escape cover for many wildlife species.
Hinge-cut trees and other types of downed-tree structures created near field edges provide escape cover for wildlife.
Managing for shrubs (covey headquarters)
Shrubs provide important food and cover plants that are highly desired by bobwhite quail, cottontail rabbits and many species of songbirds. Patches of thickets and shrubby cover along the edge of fields and within fields can be managed for wildlife and are very valuable to them, particularly as this type of cover is often in short supply on many farms (Figure 13). Edge feathering, brush piles and downed-tree structures can be used to create this vegetative and structural diversity on a temporary basis, but shrubs may need to be planted to achieve more long-term benefits.
Place a mixture of shrubs — which may include blackberry, sumac, dogwood and wild plum — around or within fields that are lacking this cover type. The mix of species provides vegetative diversity.
Plant shrubs around brush piles or downed-tree structures, or in other strategic locations, on a 5-by-5-foot spacing.
Be sure to kill sod-forming grasses, such as tall fescue, that may be growing in these areas, so that annual weeds and forbs can become established.
Patches of shrubs adjacent to fields and timber stands provide excellent escape cover for wildlife and are a habitat component that is often in short supply on farms in Missouri.
Establishing a field border between a woodland edge and a crop field
In areas where wooded land is adjacent to a crop field, both edge feathering and field border establishment can be very beneficial for wildlife. Field borders composed of native warm-season grasses, forbs and legumes can provide important habitats for wildlife such as bobwhite quail, cottontail rabbits and songbirds. These areas provide for the creation of wider transition zones between crop fields or between fields and woodlands or a stream (Figure 14).
Establish a 30- to 50-foot-wide border along the edge of the crop field.
Either plant the border with recommended grass-forb mixtures or allow the border to grow fallow.
Refer to MU Extension publication G9421, Field Borders for Agronomic, Economic and Wildlife Benefits, for additional information on establishing and managing field borders beside forested habitats and crop fields for wildlife benefits.
Field borders of native warm-season grasses, forbs and legumes created between crop fields and woodlands provide vegetative diversity and habitat benefits for many wildlife species.
Enhancing other areas of your property for wildlife
In addition to woodlands and forests, your property may be composed of habitats such as croplands, pastures and grasslands. Each of these areas can potentially be improved for a variety of wildlife. Table 4 provides information on wildlife management activities that can be conducted on a property regardless of how the land is being used.
Wildlife habitat improvement practices that can be implemented in addition to forest management.
Plant small (1- to 5-acre) food plots, or leave small portion of adjacent crop fields unharvested. Provides food in areas where natural sources are limited.
Plant or encourage shrubs next to forested edge, and favor trees, shrubs and fruits of high value to wildlife, such as dogwood plum, hawthorn, crabapple, sumac and sassafras. Provides food, cover and nesting habitats.
Erect nest boxes for cavity-nesting species — such as wood ducks, bluebirds and squirrels — where natural cavities are not found. Provides cover and nesting sites; advances succession in areas with no natural cavities or little timber; is a good option if retention of trees with cavities is inconsistent with timber objectives.
Protect den trees. Provides cover and nesting sites for birds and mammals that use cavities.
Establish trees, shrubs and permanent cover crops in areas not suited for farming. Prevents soil erosion and provides additional sources of food and cover.
Establish and maintain openings in or beside large continuous tracts of mature timber. Provides early successional vegetation, which many wildlife species require.
Replace tall fescue with mixtures of native warm-season grasses and native forbs. Creates structural diversity and increases food availability for a variety of birds and mammals.
Establish field borders with native forbs, grasses and legumes along woodland edges. Provides nesting and brood-rearing cover that is close to escape cover.
With proper planning, woodlands and forests on your property can be managed to provide habitats for wildlife and to produce timber. Enhancing wildlife habitat on your property can be a rewarding experience. One of the first steps to take is to develop a forest-wildlife management plan to help guide your decisions. Many options and trade-offs need to be considered, and having a plan in place will help you identify tasks that need to be conducted to ensure that your overall management objectives will be accomplished. Professional foresters and wildlife biologists are available to help determine a woodland’s potentials and limitations and to help develop and carry out a suitable management plan. Be sure to take advantage of the educational resources and technical assistance provided by the resource professionals with the Missouri Department of Conservation, U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resource Conservation Service and MU Extension in your area of the state.
In addition to the MU Extension publications listed on page 10, the following publications provide more information about managing your land for wood products and wildlife:
Missouri Department of Conservation. 2014. Missouri watershed protection practice. Jefferson City: Missouri Department of Conservation. https://mdc.mo.gov/property/pond-stream-care/resource/missouri-watershed-protection-practice.
Thompson, Frank R. III, and Daniel R. Dessecker. 1997. Management of early successional communities in central hardwood forests — with special emphasis on the ecology and management of oaks, ruffed grouse and forest songbirds. http://www.nrs.fs.fed.us/pubs/gtr/gtr_nc195.pdf.
Robert Pierce; Hank Stelzer; John D. Burk, National Wild Turkey Federation; and Missouri Department of Conservation.
Portions of this publication were adapted from the Purdue University Forestry and Natural Resources guide entitled Assessing Your Land’s Potential for Wildlife (FNR-175-W).
Content reviewed in November 2017 by Hank Stelzer.
Reviewed November 2017
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Warnings from Keynes and Kipling about our mad empire
By Larry Kummer, Editor / 7 Comments / 12 December 2018 14 December 2018
Summary: Hubris is the great destroyer of Empires. The mad American Empire might be the next to go. It costs much, brings no economic benefits (no treasure ships coming home, no boost to our exports), and multiplies our enemies. We can learn from Britain’s imperial history, as in these quotes from Keynes and Kipling. Or we can crash on our own.
Wave good-bye to the American Empire.
ID 43682333 © Mirko Vitali | Dreamstime.
Americans take great pride in our weaponry, such as the new Virginia Class attack submarines — among the most sophisticated weapons ever built, $2 billion each, with no relevant foe warranting their deployment. Likewise we exult in the Americans of our Special Operations Command, among the most skilled and dedicated soldiers in world history – almost 70 thousand strong (roughly the size of Canada’s armed forces), operating in 75 nations, “an almost industrial-scale counterterrorism killing machine” (in the words of John Nagl, former advisor to Petraeus and President of Center for a New American Security). And in our world-girdling chain of hundreds of bases around the world.
Can we afford them? Might their cost weaken us, more than offsetting their benefits? This was asked at the twilight of the British empire, as in these chilling words from Lord Keynes to the British cabinet on 13 August 1945. His words apply as well to us today.
“{T}he gay …fashion we undertake liabilities all over the world and slop money to the importunate represents an over-playing of our hand, the possibility of which will come to an end quite suddenly and in the near future unless we obtain a new source of assistance. …We have got into the habit of maintaining large and expensive establishments all over the Mediterranean, Africa, and Asia to cover communications, to provide reserves for unnamed contingencies and to police vast areas eastwards from Tunis to Burma and northwards from East Africa to Germany. …
“To an innocent observer in the Treasury, very early and very drastic economies in this huge cash expenditure overseas seem an absolute condition of maintaining our solvency. …These are burdens which there is no reasonable expectation of our being able to carry.”
Listen to Keynes. In 1919 he warned the Brits that the Treaty of Versailles would have horrific consequences (in The Economic Consequences of the Peace). He was right. The above warning was also prescient. By 1976 Britain was broke, saved by a massive bailout by the IMF. Let’s not make him right yet again.
Who loves the Empire?
People like Niall Ferguson write nonsensical (but pretty) propaganda about the glories of the British Empire. But the American empire is run for profit, just as the British Empire was. With one difference. The Brits extracted their profits from the “wogs” abroad. Our elites extract profits from us at home through defense spending (keeping us distracted with wars and threats of war while they pick our pockets).
In Horizon, February 1942 Orwell makes a powerful observation about imperial Britain that also describes our America…
“It is notable that Kipling does not seem to realize, any more than the average soldier or colonial administrator, that an empire is primarily a money-making concern. …{It} is a fact that Kipling’s ‘message’ {about the glories of Empire} was one that the big public did not want, and, indeed, has never accepted. The mass of the people, in the nineties as now, were anti-militarist, bored by the Empire, …”
The American people have always had an isolationist viewpoint, liking the pageantry of empire but unwilling to support foreign wars with their money and blood – excerpt after provocations and when stoked by propaganda. As we have seen with our post-9/11 wars. There was strong support from the public at the start, which faded as the war ran on.
Of course, that made no difference. The wars’ advocates remain confident. Journalists act as cheerleaders. Both conservatives and liberals in Congress vote to continue the wars. If we do not run America’s political machinery, then others will do so. But we can take the reins of America – if we have the will.
Who benefits from the American empire?
Summary: Here’s a powerful poem by Rudyard Kipling. It’s about Britain, but also about us. The past provides a mirror in which we can see ourselves, valuable given the clouded vision that afflicts us. These notes from the past can help us get a grip on ourselves, and perhaps retake the reins of America.
“Recessional” by Rudyard Kipling
Composed for Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee (1897).
If, drunk with sight of power, we loose
Wild tongues that have not Thee in awe,
Such boastings as the Gentiles use,
Or lesser breeds without the Law –
Lord God of hosts, be with us yet,
Lest we forget – lest we forget!
For heathen heart that puts her trust
In reeking tube and iron shard,
All valiant dust that builds on dust,
And guarding, calls not Thee to guard,
For frantic boast and foolish word –
Thy mercy on Thy People, Lord!
Kipling’s words warned Britain at its peak to build on a just foundation. Relying on power and rapacity was building on sand. By “lesser breeds” and “heathen heart” he pointed to Germany as an exemplar of a lawless people that believed that “might makes right”. WWII proved that to be true. After WWII, Germany proved that people can change.
Kipling’s words apply to us, given America’s history of overthrowing elected governments, supporting tyrants, and helping replace secular governments with fundamentalist Islamic ones (see what we have done for Afghanistan’s women here and here). Let’s listen better than the Brits did.
Ideas! For shopping ideas see my recommended books and films at Amazon.
If you liked this post, like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. See these posts about George Orwell and about the American Empire…
The foundation of America’s empire: our chain of bases around the world.
To understand the Imperial Unconscious, Tom provides the Dictionary of American Empire-Speak.
A warning from the past. Might the American Empire drag down America?
The American Empire, as seen by a Major General of the PLA.
Books about our mad empire
A People’s History of the United States
by Howard Zinn (2017).
American Empire: The Realities and Consequences of U.S. Diplomacy
by Andrew Bacevich (2002).
7 thoughts on “Warnings from Keynes and Kipling about our mad empire”
Great stuff, thank you for posting. I think you may have repeated Kipling’s second verse twice.
Larry, you have quoted the last verse twice. The verse previous to where you started is also worth inclusion.
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/46780/recessional
Yes, in the midst of his jingoism he did have flashes of insight. Edmund Wilson has a nice essay on him in ‘The Wound and the Bow’ to complement the Orwell piece you quote.
Chad Jessup
Excellent commentary!
Kipling’s ideas about Empire were modified after his only son was killed in battle in World War 1.
Larry Kummer, Editor
Colin,
Orwell’s article (in the past) is a wonderful brief bio of Kipling’s work and evolution.
Anthony Alfidi
Britain lost its empire after fighting several wars against a near-peer competitor, Germany. America will fight no such peer. Our nuclear capability Is the deterrent.
Britain’s empire needed tariff-free access to the vast economies of its colonies. America has its own vast internal market, plus NAFTA / USMCA. Our agriculture and industrial base is the connective tissue.
The benevolent American dominion can, and should, last forever.
Fabius Maximus need not last forever.
Anthony,
“America will fight no such peer. Our nuclear capability Is the deterrent.”
Wow. That’s really weird. China’s GDP of $13 trillion and nuclear weapons makes it a peer, especially in its home waters.
“Britain’s empire needed tariff-free access to the vast economies of its colonies.”
Did you read the post? The common element is reliance on external funding, as per Keynes.
Too stupid a statement to need rebuttal.
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Newcastleton Folk Festival
by ethnopiper March 24, 2016
We spent another good night at the Folk Club in Newcastleton in the Scottish Borders. The Folk club is on the last Tuesday of each month and is partly a singers night as well as musicians. There were interesting songs from all centuries some unaccompanied others with guitars. Mandolin and button accordion, recorder, Anglo Smallpipes, and Galician Gaita were the instruments used for the instrumentals.
We had spent the day with Liz and Dave (organizers of the folk club, as well as being on the committee of the Newcastleton Folk Festival) and we learned about the structure of the Festival for 2016 which is held this year on the 1st weekend of July, a 3 day even from Friday until Sunday (check out this blog for last years description)
My Smallpipe workshop will be on the sunday morning at 11am until 1pm. Where I will be giving basic instruction on the bellows blown bagpipes, covering technique to get you started. I will not be playing any melodies, it will be a workshop on bellows technique, bag pressure, and combining all this with chanter and drones. It may not seem a lot but it is when you consider it needs to be crammed into 2 hours!
I will be providing some sets of smallpipes for those who do not bring their own, but these will be of limited number so get your name down at the Festival Office, or contact Liz via her “Newcastleton Folk Club” web site; or contact me below this blog.
I will also be taking part in the concert on Friday night, for those of you who come for the weekend camping.
Bagpipes Folk Sessions & Festivals Galician Gaita Music Newcastleton WorkshopsBagpipes festivals Folk Clubs folk concerts Folk Festivals folk music Newcastleton newcastleton folk club Newcastleton Folk Festival Sessions traditional music workshop
Bowness-on-Solway Folk Session – and Full Bilges !
It was a wet night that I went down to the folk session at Bowness-on-Solway. I packed my concertina into a big black bag and cycled the 12 miles along waterlogged country roads. The weather in Cumbria has been particular wet these day (if oyu have been keeping an eye on the news you will have seen the flooding). I expected a bit of flooding on the roads so I was prepared to slow down and judge the situation, but as there was no moon and it was very dark I could not see the pieces of road that was underwater…the section of road which I was not prepared for.
Getting to the session I was a little late as I had to make a call in to see Sadaf. She has been sitting on her keels for 7 weeks and had been checked only a few times. She was ok, and has been ok amazingly over the weeks with all the flooding and rain. She leaks water above the sea-line from an unknown spot, it is rainwater and generally there is a trickle in the bilges, but because of the amount of rain we have had she has been full.
When i got there she was full too. I was surprised to see how much water had gotten into the bilges. It was not up to the cushions, but up to the floorboards. The only difference I could see that could account for the increase in water, was the front cover/plastic had blown off and rain was getting in from the fore section…I do not know from where?
Bailing her out took some time, each section had about 2 big buckets of rainwater to sponge out, and there was 5 sections. The area underneath the cockpit was dry! So I am thinking the leak is towards the front of the cabin. I will have to make some checks.
The Bowness folk session begins at 8.30pm and I just got there in time, the musicians were there and the pub was nice and warm to dry my coat. It is nice and relaxed, playing a mixture of southern English, Northumbrian, Scottish and locally penned songs/tunes. The songs are dominant and the guy who writes them was getting good responses to his humor. Besides the local musicians a guy called Steve came with his guitar to sing: and some tunes were played from the Playford’s manuscript.
The session ends roughly when they sing the “Haaf Netters Song” with audience participation, is has become a bit of a ritual there.
The session ended about 11pm.
Then the long cycle home, with the rain in my eyes, somewhere along the route I got a puncture, but the tired stayed up enough to get me home. I could hear the roar from the sea as it raced into the estuary.
Folk Sessions & Festivals Music UKbowness-on-solway Folk Folk Clubs Folk Sessions
Small Pipe Workshop in Hexham
by ethnopiper October 14, 2015 December 17, 2015
The Small pipe workshop went really well last Saturday in Hexham (Northumbria). The students engaged with the exercises very well and I think got a lot out of it…well I know they did. I got good feedback from them and the boss of Core Music, who ran the event. I would like to do more events there, and do a follow up workshop for the Small pipes, as I feel the students wanted to go further with their playing. They managed to get a regular bellow technique; they got 2 drones in harmony and the beginnings of a steady chanter note, not bad for 3 hours. Northumbrian/closed fingering was popular; I guess Scottish Small pipe fingering is more popular over the border. If lessons could be held regular then I feel they could advance quickly.
Bagpipes Ethnomusicology Folk Sessions & Festivals Making Bagpipes Music UK WorkshopsBagpipe making Bagpipes Bagsoc Bag[i[e Socoety bellows construction design drone stocks Folk Clubs Folk Festivals Folk Sessions Hexham making bagpipes Newcastleton Rothbury sealing smallpipe workshop Workshops
Rothbury Folk Festival 2015
by ethnopiper July 22, 2015 December 5, 2015
The weekend started on the Thursday before the weekend by going through to Newcastleton, getting up early morning and going to Hexham and playing Northumbrian small pipes for 3 hours in the shopping precinct. Luckily there was not much disturbance and I played ok and got some good responses… always a bit uncertain as Northumbrian pipes in Northumbrian can be a bit like teaching English to the English! Before we left Hexham I visited a music shop (also music co-operative) where I knew they held workshops, I asked about holding my “Small pipe workshop” there, I had a positive response.
Then onto Rothbury Folk Festival, we got there about 5pm set up the tent and headed off for a session in the Queens Head pub. Due to a lot of background noise I opted for the Border pipes tunes.
Saturday was a quick listen to the town pipe band, then the Andy May Trio on the village stage, then off to the piper’s competition in the hall. It was full of people and a good turnout of performers. This year there was Border pipes competition. Listening to the Northumbrian pipers beginners and intermediate performers I noticed a lack of “drone tuning” therefore the pipes sounded horrible “TUNE YOUR DRONES TO THE CHANTER” it is basic stuff, the judges need to be more strickt about this.
After the duets we headed off to a small room above the Newcastle pub and played a few sets. It was funny really as Border pipers sat in one end of the room and the northumbrian pipers sat in the other end… they did not mix… of course they were friends, but musically there was no common ground. Different tunings (A verses F) loud and soft… except for a few tunes in G (one G border pipe and some had G Northumbrian).
Then off to the Queen’s again for an evening session. This lasted until about 01.30am for me then I wandered off back to the tent. Then a strange thing happened about an hour later I had strong car headlights on my tent, voices calling out “are you in there”. One of my fears in a car/tented campsite is that I get run over by drunken drivers. This seemed to be happening with a car nearly on top of me. I stuck my head out of the tent and there was a police car. They kindly shone a strong beam of light deliberately into my face and asked me “I had seen Andy, who wears a green arm cast?” I replied to the negative. There had been a police helicopter above wakening everyone up and I guess the infrared camera had singled me out as I walked home.
The Sunday was a good small session in the Queen’s lots of varied music and a mixture of styles and instruments and song, I played Northumbrian small pipes more here due to the lack of background noise.
An excellent weekend.
Bagpipes Border Pipes Busking Ethnomusicology Folk Sessions & Festivals Music Northumbrian Small Pipes UK WorkshopsBagsoc Bag[i[e Socoety Border pipes Dixon English Borders Folk Clubs Folk Festivals Folk Sessions Half-Long bagpipes Hexham Lowland pipes Manuscripts Newcastleton Rothbury Scottish Borders Variations Workshops
Music Software, Notation and Midi Files
by ethnopiper July 8, 2015 December 17, 2015
I have been working on 2 variations of tunes from the book “The Day It Daws”. By writing out the notation from the book onto “Finale” music notation programme I can hear what it sounds like before I memorize it. The midi file also helps me to memorize the tune by converting it into an mp3 and listening to it via a player.
The 2 variations I am working on at the moment are “The Day Dawes” and “The Day it Dawes” I think both tunes are in the 1500s, but it is a bit confusing in the book to know which tune is being written about, but they are believed to be tunes played by the town pipers.
The other tune is called “Hunts Up” there are 3 variations I am trying out are “”Hunts Up”, “Honsup” and “The Scoth Huntes Suppe” there is another version I will notate also “Scottish Huntsupe”.
These 2 tunes were supposed to be played by the town pipers, the titles are mentioned in literary sources dating from the 16th centuries.
I have notated a few piping books in this way: Dixon’s, Bewick, Peacock, Over the Hills and Far Away. Also parts of the Northumbrian pipers 3rd tune book and the Charlton Memorial Tune book; as well as other music notation from various countries and sources. I put the midi files onto a CD and play them like a music CD, in time the tunes stay in the mind… aids memorization.
It has given me a good insight on how to play these tunes, also for enjoyment. It is an aid to learning passages too as some of the more difficult passages can be broken down and repeated with correct rhythm.
Ethnomusicologyethnomusicology Folk Clubs home recording distribution midi files music software networking newcastleton folk club notation organic environment record the session
Newcastleton Folk Festival 2015 (review)
by ethnopiper July 7, 2015 December 5, 2015
I had a different, and in many ways a better festival this year. I did not attend the sessions like I normally do. I found last year a bit frustrating with all the noise (drunks not music) and a lack of places to play (for quieter instruments) all added to me walking aimlessly around. This year was different the organizers had added new venues to the places to play, one was a “quiet room” not in the main square (away from the pubs) but where you could have a tune. Also there were fewer drunks there this year and possibly less musicians (?) so I could find places to play.
I found the marquee empty on a Saturday morning so I played my Northumbrian small pipes, I played and played and slowly people began to sit down, after 2 hours of playing the tent was getting full, a few more musicians arrived and added more… then I left, found another piper and played on the grass (Border pipes and Scottish small pipes) and spoke to some people about the festival, piping and things in general. I met with a Northumbrian piper and had a few tunes together.
The after-hours sessions were great, songs and music, which went on until the early hours (got to bed 3am both nights) and on the Sunday night the “survivors session” we finally got out at 5.30am… and excellent sessions (I even sang while playing the pipes… a rare occasion).
The workshop went well, 10am to 12.30pm was useful to the students and myself (I even got a hug off one of them) what was apparent was the lack of contact the individual pipers had (isolation) and no advice or after care help; something they found the workshop was useful for. After the workshop we chatted and played until about 4pm!
I learn a lot too about my pipes and the adjustments I need to make, but the comments about the pipes were good and positive. I will make some mouth blown pipes too incase they will be needed. I will look for more festivals in the future and other venues to attract the students.
Bagpipes Ethnomusicology Folk Sessions & Festivals Music Northumbrian Small Pipes Scottish Small Pipes UK WorkshopsBagpipes Bagsoc Bag[i[e Socoety Folk Clubs Folk Festivals Folk Sessions Hexham Newcastleton Rothbury Sessions Smallpipes Workshops
Completed Small Pipes for Newcastleton Folk Festival 2015
There are 7 completed Small pipes for the Newcastleton Folk Festival. I have covered most of the bellows with a fabric except for 2 of them.
Bubinga chanter, cherry and cedar drones. The bellows were donated by a friend this is the only item that I did not make.
Indian Red Wood chanter and drones, the deeper colour on the chanter is due to oiling. The bellows I made in 1994 in Lithuania
Bubinga chanter and drones, cedar wood decoration on drones
Cherry chanter and drones, walnut wood decorations on drones
Bubinga chanter, cherry drones with Indian red wood decorations
Indian red wood chanter and drones, cherry wood decorations on drones, cedar wood decoration on chanter
Cedar chanter and drones, this was the first bagpipe I made in Spain in 2014
Bagpipes Ethnomusicology Folk Sessions & Festivals Making Bagpipes Music Northumbrian Small Pipes Scottish Small Pipes UK WorkshopsBagpipe making Bagpipes Bagsoc Bag[i[e Socoety bellows chanters construction design drone stocks drones Folk Clubs Folk Festivals Folk Sessions Hexham making bagpipes Newcastleton Rothbury sealing smallpipe Smallpipes workshop Workshops
Bagpipe Society Blowout, 2015
by ethnopiper June 6, 2015 December 17, 2015
It was my first time at the ‘blowout’ (Polesworth, Tamworth, England) in a beautiful surrounding of the Abbey. Each piping culture has its traditions and this was a new tradition for me. Here there was a different style and feeling about the music, pipes, people and events, perhaps a more European style or perhaps an ‘English” style. I say English as it is a reinvention of a tradition that died out. And the reintroduction of the tradition has established a very firm and loyal group of people to their type of music.
I was expecting a heavy influence of French music, but I was surprised to see a good mix of styles in the form of workshops and concerts: Northumbrian/Borders; Occitan from the French Pyrenees; Hungarian; Irish; Welsh… these music’s were played on a type of bagpipe that I have a problem in naming.
They call it a “Border pipe” but I cannot see where their border is exactly? The majority played a type of pipe similar to the French/Belgium bagpipe: mouth blown or bellows blown, conical bored chanter, 2 drones, over-blown into a 2nd octave. Not so loud, plastic reeds, no African Blackwood in sight (made a nice change too) therefore the sound was mellow, perhaps they could call it a “French-Anglo Pipe” as the makers are English and the pipe is modeled on the French/Belgium style.
The makers present (selling their pipes) were in the main hall alongside a Society stall, a flute maker, an Occitan maker. Zampogna maker. There was a 2nd hand section of music books, CDs, cassettes…
One of the workshops I attended was a ‘beginner’s workshop’ to sort out teething problems players were having. This was very informative as it gave me a chance to see how the workshop was structured (with relation to my own workshop); I was also looking for some advice about my Spanish gaita as it was sharp in the bottom notes. It came apparent that the information was only for a select type of pipes from a select few pipe makers. A general knowledge was not there of conical bored pipes. The Society was open to all pipes but in reality (at this blowout in particular) only certain types of pipes were represented. Sometimes it felt like if you did not have a bagpipe from a certain type of maker then you were excluded from activities and advice, there was no advice about the Gaita. Also it presumed that because I had “asked the question” that I did not know anything about pipes or conical bored pipes, and I was told to go and “ask (someone) and you will find that the pipes are fine” (meaning “it is you who is wrong” well it seems I know as much as the person who is giving the advice, as he did not know either, a little condescending I thought).
The only sessions available were in D or G, G being the more popular of the 2. G pipes are common in French music, a large bass G. Which is fine, they sounded beautiful. But there are other pipes and I would have liked to have seen a session where any type of pipe could have been played… a few people had brought their sackpipa (key on A minor), , Spanish gaita (C), , I had with me bagpipes in A minor, C, A major, D, F, and C minor… but no G. I did attend the Irish workshop which was in D, but others I could not. This did not lesson my interest. Other pipes present were a Welsh Pibgorn (D), Leistershire Small pipe (D), Italian Zampogna and there was a Dudy from the Czech/Slovak regions.
The D session on the Saturday was titled “English Session” this apparently is a new occurrence as only English melodies are played (I did not know this at the time and I played a Catalan melody which was met with a silence). After I realized my “mistake” I tried to play along with the English melodies, which there was a lot of. This was the biggest surprise of the weekend, a firm selection of English tunes were being played by all. The Northumbrian tunes came at the end of the night when they had played out all the English tunes. This is great as it establishes a firm melody base of for an English tradition, and leaves the Northumbrian tradition a little apart (which I feel is more accurate as it is more akin to the Scottish/English Border tradition).
Another surprise for me was the Occitan music and bagpipes. 2 makers from the French side of the Pyrenees were offering their instruments for sale, CDs, workshops and concerts. It was a music I only knew a little about (and only recently). They seemed to have a cross-over from the Catalan and Aragon side of the Pyrenees with the Sac de Gemecs (made from a fruit wood, a type of apple) and the Gaita de Boto (complete with snakeskin and girls dress). But also they had their own type of pipes a very large bagpipe in F with a large drone with a knitted “flecco” (decoration). A shepherd’s bagpipe without a drone, deep sound, sad sound, lovely (I had heard this on the Spanish side of the Pyrenees). And the Boha bagpipe with the drone apart of the chanter which can play 2 notes… (Therefore is it really a drone?). Also there was a variant of this having 2 melody pipes and 1 ‘drone’ built into the chanter, single reeds, polyphonic sound.
In the sessions I heard the Welsh Pibgorn, a dingle reeded instrument, 1 octave mouth blown with a distinctive sound, a beautiful decorated horn cut away at the bottom of the chanter, with cylindrical bored chanter. Their melodies were not dissimilar to a Breton tune, in a minor mode.
The Hungarian duo (pipes and hurdy gurdy) were fantastic players, (I had seen them at the Piping Live Festival in Glasgow a few years previous) tight in their music and ‘tuning’ (an important lesson for us all). Played beautifully with traditional and composed pieces, improvisations and structured parts. The pipes were not so dissimilar to the Occitan Boha. With the Hungarian ’suggesting’ that the Boha was taken from their pipes. They look similar… but who’s came first is a question too far…
My final observation of the weekend was that there is a danger of the “small pipes” becoming obsolete in time due to their quiet nature. Those who had them were drowned out by the conical chanters. This is a reflection of what is happening in sessions too all over the country. If you are “not heard”, why play them? The highland pipe makers are increasing the volume of the “session small pipes” but not so with pipe makers (although there are exceptions). Perhaps the small-pipes need to become more assertive, and insist the venues, meetings, and festivals are predominantly ‘small-pipe sessions’ the same way the ‘English Session’ has become?
Bagpipes Ethnomusicology Folk Sessions & Festivals Gaita de Boto Galician Gaita Music Music in Spain Sac de Gemecs Sackpipa Spain UK Workshopsbag Bagpipes Bagsoc Bag[i[e Socoety drones Folk Clubs Folk Festivals Folk Sessions Gaita galician gaita Gallego Hexham Madrid Newcastleton reeds Rothbury Sessions Smallpipes spain Workshops
"The Session" and organic environment
by ethnopiper May 11, 2015 December 17, 2015
I heard many years ago, in Limerick/Ireland, that “a session is an organic environment”. It changes; it comes and goes, it grows and depletes in size, it has highs and lows, with acoustic dynamics.
I experienced that in the Monaive Festival last weekend. It is hard to pin point all the changes. But there are ‘rules’ to a session, unspoken (mostly) yet evident. These rules are sometimes broken, but generally every one learns the rules and those that don’t find a corner somewhere to play in, alone or with likeminded people, and a different type off session begins… where strangely enough, the same rules apply but under different leadership. Is there a leader in a session? I think there is a general leadership, someone might suggest a rule in the beginning of it, saying who goes next, or what rules are to be used e.g. “we will go in a clockwise rotation of performers”) or, in a instrumental session there is often someone who leads a few sets then is over taken by someone else… and so it continues.
We entered a session in a back room at Monaive, it was in progress with guitars, singers, whistles etc. it was relaxed, with breaks between songs/tunes. We sat on the outside of the circle and waited and listened, after 5 minutes there was time to understand ‘the rules’ and we started to play when there was a pause. It went down ok, then the main group started up again, and so it continued.
A short time later one of the new comers started to tune his drones half way through their set of melodies… the players/group stopped automatically, a pregnant pause occurred, the “rule had been broken”, politely they had stopped to let the newcomer do his thing even though they were into their set (politeness is a rule) but since the new comer was new to “the session” (it was his first festival) how was he to know the rule? No one had told him, no one corrected him (except me). He learned his mistake, seemed apologetic, then a new melody started (the same melody did not continue).
After a while some more people joined the session, pipers, like us. They hung around for a while, listened, learned the rules… and joined in. it was going good, the session had grown, had changed its acoustic dynamic, more original performers still had their inner circle but the newcomers had join and had harmonized.
Then a mass migration happened, a group of new musicians entered, they did not stand and listen, they did not feel what the rules were, they changed the session completely by moving chairs to the bottom of the room, physically moving people down there by persuasion (“it will be better down there for everyone”) the movement occurred while one of the performers was playing a melody, I saw him still playing while he was herded to the bottom of the room, I saw him moving down to the “inner sanctum” of the new “temple” of the newcomers, with themselves as the high priests dictating to the congregation, constructed by themselves. It was no longer an organic session, but a constructed session, a creation with a core of leaders.
The original session had now disbanded, some packed up and left others hung around, watched, talked… I left.
I had seen this happen once before in Newcastleton Folk Festival. Interestingly they played the same type of music too… their type…and you either played it their way or you did not play, there was no room for anything other than themselves. You joined in their session or you were not included.
No one said anything, about this break up, was it accepted as normal? Musicians tolerate… even when the noise levels increase by the “listeners” as more beer is poured down their throats, musicians, singers say nothing… sometimes there is a “shshshs” from a listener to the room, but a few seconds later the noise increases. It is not surprising the festivals are changing, few musicians are going, fewer musicians are camping at festivals… they are changing.
I think ‘the session’ is a microcosm of a society, whether it is in some ones house, or in a bar, or a festival it shows the humanity and the lack of humanity in people.
Newcastleton Folk Club
by ethnopiper May 1, 2015 December 5, 2015
Newcastleton Folk Club is on every 4th Tuesday of the month, just over the Scottish Border. I have been going for a few months and enjoying it a lot. There is a nice mix of singers and instrumentalists, with a mixture of ballads, modern songs, humorous songs and the odd poem.
The musicians always have an element of piping as one of the organizers (Dave) is a small piper, and has been introducing the larger French-Anglo pipe and the Swedish Sackpipa into the mix. I play my Northumbrian and Scottish Small pipes, and this time I was joined with a fiddler and guitarist. There are a few guitarists generally to accompany songs or to perform solo. Other times there have been Irish pipes, mandolins, mandolas, and a whistle.
There is a rotation of music, so everyone gets a chance to play/sing. This week I played 3 sets on the Scottish Small pipes, the first being composed of 2 Lowland Scots tunes “Now Westlin Winds” and the “The Gallowa Hills”; the second set was made up of 3 Northumbrian tunes “Neil Gow, Chevy Chase, and Frisky”.
The next set of tunes was on the Northumbrian Small pipes, I played 2 tunes called “Bonny at Morn” and “Fairly Shot on Her”
The last set was on the Scottish Small pipes, which was accompanied by a guitarist and violin player. The tunes were “The Rowan Tree” and the “When the Battle’s O’er”, 2 Highland pipe tunes.
Bagpipes Ethnomusicology Folk Sessions & Festivals Music Northumbrian Small Pipes UK WorkshopsBagsoc Bag[i[e Socoety Folk Clubs Folk Festivals Folk Sessions Hexham Newcastleton Rothbury Workshops
To Record or Not to Record… that is the question?
by ethnopiper March 30, 2015 December 17, 2015
Talking to Liz (the organizer of the Newcastleton Folk Club) we discussed the pros and cons of recording the folk club session. This prompted me to write my thoughts on recording music in public, whether it is a session, concert or festival.
Personally, I do not have a problem with it. I have been recorded, videoed etc. before, some have asked permission, some have not. It is always nicer to ask, not for the permission, but to make contact with the performer. Some occasions do not permit this (concerts, festivals) others do (buskers). The microphone placed in front of someone changes the dynamic of the performance. It puts a ‘barrier’ between you and the performer and it put the performer under a certain ‘obligation’ to ‘perform, thus creating a ‘false’ situation, and it can often take away the true, honest, heartfelt performance one is after in the first place!
So what are our motives for recording at all? Most who record will probably not listen to their recordings. Some might occasionally listen to them, and some will record for a reason. Very few we imagine record to make any commercial profit from it. Most will up load a few pieces of music on to Soundcloud, or Youtube… and others might listen to it in their own homes.
So why are people not willing to be recorded, or are ‘afraid’ of being recorded? Are they afraid of the internet? Are they afraid of being ‘used’? Is the material that they are singing or playing really ‘theirs’ in the first place? When we are playing/singing a particular tradition (folk, traditional, world, ethnic) we are passing on what we have learned and loved. Why should not we pass it on to a bigger audience? If someone thinks you are good enough to be recorded and put up on the internet then is that so bad? Perhaps we give too much importance to social media, it is just a video after all… it is only a recording?
As an ethnomusicologist I have recorded in many situations, solo performers, festivals, official paid recordings, ‘secret under the table’ recordings… etc. I have recorded for years, I have always recorded music. My first experiences of Newcastleton Folk Festival in the 1980s have been recorded, and I recorded others who are now dead and gone. This is the main reason why I record as events and people pass away, and styles change and repertoire change. I find it very interesting to listen to my recordings years later; I find it very interesting to other peoples recordings, the early bagpipers of the 1900s recorded on wax cylinders for example.
Of course there are ethics to do this… but if your intension is to record your event, to capture your experiences then one should do it. So how should we do it? If I had a Folk Club I would make it known that occasionally these events will be recorded and photographed… not all the time, not to put people off… and occasionally it will be uploaded with the person’s permission… when it is ok to do so for the performer for the context of the occasion. If this is known to all then they can choose to say “I do not want my recording publicized” and that is fine, end of story. It is cutesy to be asked but if the performance is in the public domain (pub, festival, concert) then I think it is ok to record that event, to archive it for history.
If anyone is really interested in music then who would not want to know what traditional music sounded like in 1733 or in 1843? I know I would, how would a Half-long bagpipe sound in 1733 playing the Dixon manuscript? For them it would have been normal but today, we have no idea what that tradition really sounded like? Today we have an opportunity to tell future generations what it sounded like, why loose that opportunity? You might think “the BBC and Virgin are recording it all” but that is not the point, they are not recording everything and they are not making it ‘yours’ by physically recording you are making it personal, you are a part of it all.. You are adding to a tradition, helping it, preserving it.
Ethnomusicology UKethnomusicology Folk Clubs home recording distribution midi files music software networking newcastleton folk club notation organic environment record the session
Bellows Piping at Newcastleton Folk Club
It is only the 2nd time I have attended the Newcastleton Folk Club, but the piping there is increasing each time, last Tuesday evening there was Irish bellows-blown pipes and 2 sets of Scottish Small pipes. I feel it is important to include the titles of the tunes as we do not often record what we play and this can be of interest to future researchers.
Each person played or sang in turn, when it was my turn I played “Frisky” and later I played a Minuet both pieces were from the Peacock manuscript, which is a manuscript written especially for the Northumbrian small pipes, dated 1800.
As my time came around again I did a duet with David (who was also playing bellows small pipes) the tune was called “Noble Squire Dacre” with 6 variations and this was followed by the Scottish version of “Buy Broom Besoms” from the manuscript “O’er the Hills and Far Away”, a compilation of tunes from the Scottish Borders.
Later I played “Green Bracken” a melody with 3 parts, and later again I played “Kelso Lasses” next to “The Wedding O’Blyth” both tunes are from the “O’er the Hills and Far Away” manuscript.
David played pipes and sang which is something I love to hear, but I do not know the title, the Irish piper played some beautiful Airs and reels, some I knew but again I do not know the titles.
Ethnomusicology Music Scottish Small Pipesethnomusicology Folk Clubs home recording distribution midi files music software networking newcastleton folk club notation organic environment record the session
Home Recording Distrbution
I started a new page of Facebook called “Home Recording distribution”, it is a page to help artists like myself who are fed up with multinationals distributing music at inflated prices, and over loading us with their narrow choice of musical genre.
Everything is ‘packaged’ from the CD to the recording, even the type of reverb they use on the final mix; there is nothing original they can offer. We are so used to it, to get the plastic wrapper in a plastic CD cover which is given to us in a plastic bag!
A new ‘Cottage Industry’ that once had so much promise and hope – the internet has been high jacked. To produce one’s own music and getting it ‘out there’ to the world, either for profit or for interest is not easy. Controls are everywhere.
I listen to people/music I know, people who have spent their time and energy composing, writing, learning, producing, recording, editing, re-editing, designing their CD; so much time and effort for what? For it not to be listened too? For it to be put away while people just go to the multinationals and buy something that they have ‘heard before’. I do not think I have bought a CD from a shop in years.
I have made my own recordings for years, I sold them on the streets, I have sent them through the post….it works! I also listen to recordings I made of other people, ‘field-recordings’, ethno recordings, of local bands, people, in the UK and around the world. They have more life and originality; they have new ideas and passion than any mass-produced run-of-the-mill factory production.
Today I listened to a Cumbrian flute player called Rob Rynn, who produced his own CD with his own money by paying studio time, and working on his own CD design etc. it is good, it is original, sometimes it is not accurate in tempo, sometimes it is like a live recording…but it is good and it is different and it stays in my mind…it is personal. I encourage people to record and upload their music to the Facebook “Home Recording Distribution” page, and try to sell your work, or interest people in it. Here is the link and logo:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Home-Recording-Distribution/117782875075397
Electro Acoustic Compositions Ethnomusicology Musicethnomusicology Folk Clubs home recording distribution midi files music software networking newcastleton folk club notation organic environment record the session
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CY19 November Journal
Donate & Download the November 2019 Journal PDF
The Real Wisdom behind Proof of Work
Tweetstorm: Circularity
Volatility as information
Why does hashing public keys not actually provide any quantum resistance?
What Hath Satoshi Wrought
The Last Mortal Man
Tweetstorm: Bitcoin is a minimalist philosophy
Bitcoin, life and time.
Tweetstorm: Bitcoin Oxhearding
Tweetstorm: The Bitcoin Reformation
The Triumvirate of Liquidity
Op Ed: In China, It’s Blockchain and Tyranny vs Bitcoin and Freedom
An Open Letter to Ray Dalio re: Bitcoin
Bitcoin Cannot be Banned
Johannes Trithemius, Archmage of Secrets
“The Sovereign Individual” Investment Thesis
Dissecting Bitcoin’s Unrealised On–Chain Profit/Loss
Bitcoin is guerilla warfare.
Bitcoin Is The Only Way To Opt-Out
Tweet: Bitcoin is the world’s only independent central bank
Paxful is the Most Important Bitcoin Company You Aren’t Paying Attention to.
By Ferdous Bhai
My favorite thing about Bitcoin is “proof of work”.
It’s the idea that your odds of getting the rewards of a block depends on how much work you put in. It’s a simple idea. But it changed the world.
Prior to Bitcoin, the framework of fiat currencies (government-issued money) worked as follows:
There were two groups of humans:
1) Ordinary citizens, who have to work to get paid in the dollar. Once they earn the dollars, they must spend or invest these dollars as soon as possible. Because the dollar, sitting idle, loses value every day, as more and more dollars get created out of thin air.
2) The privileged class. Whenever new dollars are created, most of it goes to this privileged group of people via interest income, cronyism, and various rent-seeking mechanisms.
Over time, this distribution method ensures that all real wealth gets redistributed from group 1 to group 2.
At some point, inevitably, group 1 can no longer accept this perceived injustice. Battles ensue, unrests begin, civilizations collapse. We start over.
The average life expectancy of a fiat currency is only 27 years.
This beautiful image from Simpsons perfectly captures the moment when the ordinary citizens rise up to what they perceive as “unfair”.
Bitcoin fixed this.
In Bitcoin, the issuance of new coins is distributed via “proof of work”. All you have to do to earn new coins is to show “proof of work”.
“Proof of work” is not just about running the mining algorithm to keep the Bitcoin network secure. It’s deeper than that.
Are you a writer? Write. Those who value your work will pay you for it.
Are you a developer? Code.
Are you a chef? Cook.
Show proof of your work!
Unlike in fiat money, there’s no privileged class. Nobody earns bitcoins for free.
With this one simple idea: “proof of work”, Bitcoin leveled the field for humanity.
The world is a bit fairer when wealth gets distributed to those who do the work. ✌️
“Circularity” - A thread about Bitcoin, religion, mirrors, my rabbit hole journey, and where Bitcoin (and bitcoiners) might go in the next couple of years.
2/ I drew it in various forms, so the details (e.g. how many outside circles there are) aren’t that important. The main idea is important - at least to me.
3/ The Bitcoin “rabbit hole” might look innocuous at first. After all, you’re just trying to answer a very simple question: “What is Bitcoin?”
4/ First of all, I believe that falling down the Bitcoin rabbit hole is a deeply personal experience.
5/ The rabbit hole has many entries. Your particular entry point depends on circumstance, your background, and your previous experience.
Once you are inside, however, you will stumble upon things that are far removed from your particular point of entry.
6/ Many say that the rabbit hole is bottomless, and I tend to agree. It certainly feels like a journey without end.
7/ However, I believe that Bitcoin - and the rabbit hole journey - is circular.
For whatever reason, this insight was of such profundity that it changed me, my view of the world, and my outlook in regards to the future.
8/ Bitcoin is profoundly circular. It is circular because it is anchored in nature, via the energy expended in proof-of-work. Some even go further and conclude the following:
“Bitcoin is Nature” – @FriarHass
9/ You can get stuck in the smaller circles, which is partly why Bitcoin is so hard to understand. If you are a trader, you might get stuck trading. Others might get stuck on the whitepaper, or get stuck on implementation details.
10/ I sometimes drew this image as a mirror, because, well, I believe that Bitcoin is a mirror - it reflects who you are; it reflects your beliefs.
“Bitcoin is different things to different people.” “Bitcoin is whatever it needs to be…”
11/ “Knowledge is a mirror and for the first time in my life I was allowed to see who I was and who I might become.”
12/ The main journey, as I see it now, is roughly as follows: Idea -> Tech -> Finance -> Social -> Cult -> Idea
13/ There might be multiple stops in-between; that’s not particularly important. What is important, is that a cult exists, and some people will take it to the next level. What is the next level? I think it’s Religion.
14/ Up to now, the most powerful ideas have been religious ideas.
Bitcoin fixes this. It combines financial incentives, economic realism, mathematics, and physics with fundamentalism and religious devotion. More powerful.
“Bitcoin religion” is real. It has already started.
15/ I believe that Bitcoin is the most powerful idea of our time. It is about to become one of the most powerful memes of our time. I believe that more and more people will be religious about Bitcoin, about the idea of separating money and state through absolute scarcity.
16/ Every cycle new bitcoiners are born. Some of these bitcoiners become maximalists, and some of these maximalists will have religious devotion.
17/ I’m prepared to be wrong about this.
But I ask you, dear skeptics: are you prepared to deal with tens of thousands of zealots, in case I’m right?
There is this fascinating book by George Gilder named “Knowledge and power”.
In this book Gilder claims that knowledge acquired by entrepreneurs, and their freedom to share and use that knowledge, are the ignition to a prosperous economy. Whatever improves that knowledge sharing is, as a consequence, good for the economy.
On the other hand, Government’s “ability” to regulate and supress knowledge, ideas and information manipulation prevent the economy from prospering.
Volatility is in my opinion information that has not yet been figured out
Entrepreneurs are actually agents that get into the unknown, and are rewarded by turning volatility into predictable outcomes. Indeed, volatile environments are steep learning curves and entrepreneurs are rewarded economically and through lots of learning by making things easier for others.
I feel this is exactly what is going on with Bitcoin’s price volatility. Its huge volatility is usually a symptom of something gigantic going on, on lots of information to be processed, huge rewards not only for the entrepreneurs (aka hodlers) willing to step in, but also for the entire world, once it manages to create a financial system where noise is mercilessly eliminated in order for information to flow freely and transformed into transparent code for those willing to learn to look into it. I think Bitcoin is what George Gilder calls a low entropy information carrier.
Its price volatility is the clear symptom that a massive amount of information still needs to be processed by millions. Entrepreneurs, speculators in a trader or hodler shape are helping to decrease it by absorbing way more information than others and profiting in the process.
If you are reading this, you are likely to be a “Bitcoin entrepreneur”, a hodler.
I have no doubt at this point that your learning efforts are very likely to be rewarded!
By Andrew Chow
In the discussions about taproot, it was mentioned that outputs will include the public key directly instead of hashing them. It is stated that, currently, hashing does not really provide quantum resistance. Why is that?
Although hashing a public key by itself does provide quantum resistance, this is really only when it is considered by itself in a vacuum. Unfortunately, public key hashes do not exist in a vacuum and there are many other things in Bitcoin that need to be considered.
Firstly, if public keys were hashed, the funds are only protected before they are spent. As soon as a P2PKH or P2WPKH output is spent, the public key is exposed. Whilst the transaction is unconfirmed, an attacker with a fast enough quantum computer could compute the private key and create a conflicting transaction which sends the funds to himself instead of the intended recipient.
Furthermore, if that attacker is a miner, they could do this with every single transaction and simply refuse to mine transactions that don’t send the coins to himself.
While this is a problem, people often argue that it’s better than someone just spending the Bitcoin outright because they have the public key from the blockchain. While that is true, there are an extremely large number of outputs with exposed public keys.
Over 5.5 Million Bitcoin are in outputs with exposed public keys, either because they are P2PK outputs, or because users are reusing addresses and thus public keys are exposed in other transactions. So if a quantum computer existed that could produce the private key for a public key in a reasonable amount of time, the attacker would be able to steal so much Bitcoin that they would decimate the Bitcoin economy and Bitcoin would become worthless.
So while your particular outputs may be protected by hashes, the value of those outputs would be 0 as millions of Bitcoin are stolen. All that the hashes really do is provide a false sense of security.
Then there are issues with tooling and wallet software the simply expose public keys in other ways than just in transactions and in the blockchain. No existing tools treat public keys as private information; there’s no reason they should.
Many wallets send the parent extended public keys to a server so that the server can watch for transactions and send that data back to the client. Anyone who uses such a wallet, even temporarily, exposes their parent public key to a service provider. That provider could then compute the private keys to the public keys they have, derive all of the child keys, and steal all of the Bitcoin associated with anyone who has used their wallet.
Additional issues exist with complex scripts and contracts involving public keys. These scripts, such as multisigs, do not hash the public keys. Furthermore, these contracts typically exist because not all parties necessarily trust each other; one of them could be malicious. In such cases, a malicious participant in the contract would know the public keys involved (by virtue of knowing the script) and be able to steal the Bitcoin associated with those outputs. Existing public key hashes do not protect against this.
So overall, there are tons of ways that public keys are already exposed outside of transactions. These all would allow different kinds of attackers to steal millions of Bitcoin thereby causing the value of Bitcoin to go to 0, which renders any Bitcoin protected by public key hashes to be worthless anyways. Furthermore, users are probably exposing their public keys in unintended ways due to the software that they are using. So using public key hashes only serves to provide a false sense of security, while also increasing the size of transactions. In general, it is not worth the extra size.
Lastly, it is possible to do a transition to post quantum cryptography if it is found that a QC exists which can break ECDLP. If detected in time but still too late to do a proper upgrade, all use of signature algorithms relying on ECDLP (i.e. ECDSA and Schnorr) could be soft forked out thereby locking all coins. The coins could then be spent by providing a Zero Knowledge Proof of some non-exposed or quantum resistant information that indicates ownership of the private keys for the public key.
For example, users could provide a proof that they have the BIP 32 seed that was used to derive the private key for the given public key. Since it is a Zero-Knowledge Proof, the seed itself is not exposed (note that the seed is not part of a public-private keypair so there is no public component that is shared). Since most wallets use BIP 32, this should be sufficient. There may be other ways to prove ownership without risking coins that have not been thought of yet.
And of course, this all assumes that a quantum computer capable of computing the private key for a public key appears without the public being aware of the technology being close to existing. What is likely to happen is that the progression of quantum computers will be observed, and, at some point prior to them being powerful enough to break ECDLP, Bitcoin will soft fork in a Quantum resistant signature algorithm. Eventually, signatures relying on ECDLP will be removed. And all of that will occur before quantum computers truly becomes a thread. So in that scenario, hashing public keys provides no help anyways.
By Hashed Entropy
.– …. .- - …. .- - …. … .- - — … …. .. .– .-. — ..- –. …. -
Letters from the Digital Saeculum:
The First Transmission
A saeculum is a length of time roughly equal to the potential lifetime of a person or, equivalently, of the complete renewal of a human population. The term was first used by the Etruscans. Originally it meant the period of time from the moment that something happened (for example the founding of a city) until the point in time that all people who had lived at the first moment had died. At that point a new saeculum would start. According to legend, the gods had allotted a certain number of saecula to every people or civilization; the Etruscans themselves, for example, had been given ten saecula.
Wikipedia — Saeculum
Late Millennial Saeculum bitcoin chart (2018) viewed with Early Millennial Saeculum binoculars (1917)
I’ll admit that I found the line to be a little sacrilegious. I guess not many are both students of History and Religion so I imagine that I was the only one on this side left with that impression. But I knew the sender and I knew the sender sent this message with the utmost respect to me as a homage to the honor provided by Annie Ellsworth exactly 200 years earlier.
I wondered if anyone noticed the slight encoding of history between the sender and receiver. I had timed this very moment to coincide with “What Hath God Wrought” traveling along as a dot and a dash and a dash and a dot and a dot and a dot and a dot and a…well you can figure out the rest.
200 years to the moment.
The day was May 24th, 2044.
Now, it is May 9th, 38 EMS (Earth-Mars Synced time) and I have to proclaim once again What Hath Satoshi Wrought!
Today is the start of the Unraveling.
The Digital Saeculum — 2025–2110
How can I describe to you all of the events over the last few years in such a short transmission? How do I explain in a few short words, the lifetime of moments that led up to you being asked to flee and leave behind a thousand generations of humanity in one place and to not even last one generation in a new place?
How do I explain this unraveling?
First, the moment of EMS was the most enlightened moment of our Digital Age. We: humanity, transhumans, and hubots brought our worlds: the Earth and Mars together in synchronicity. We enabled instantaneous communication, commerce, and cohabitation.
Geography has made us neighbors. History has made us friends. Economics has made us partners. And necessity has made us allies. Those whom nature hath so joined together, let no man put asunder.
The strides in technology, science, and abstractionism reached the very peak in that moment.
Pre-EMS Artwork Featuring Hodlonaut (May His Light Always Shine) Comprised of Hodl’rs of Ancient Times
For now, I’ll focus on the economic tensions and leave the automarchy dissolution and the awakenings for another day.
Posthyperbitcoinization started with a simple point in time: I call it the moment that death commenced its 51% attack. This was the moment in which more than 50% of the early hodl’rs reached the end of their lives. The problem is that in their zeal for Self Sovereignty, too many failed to consider Family Sovereignty, Generational Sovereignty, Legacy Sovereignty, and with their deaths, Satoshis burned from existence. This is now known as the Satoshi Inheritance Scandal.
We are a continuum. Just as we reach back to our ancestors for our fundamental values, so we, as guardians of that legacy, must reach ahead to our children and their children. And we do so with a sense of sacredness in that reaching.
Paul Tsongas
The inability to apply Low Time Preference to beyond one’s self created a massive problem at the base layer of our economic system. This led to inequality as whole groups were unable to transact due to a lack of underlying bitcoin support. The Shallows War started as groups formed under the banner: “We are Left in the Shallows” claiming inequality and inability to access the Earth-Mars economic system.
A House Divided Against Itself Cannot Stand
Where did the first thread begin to separate? Where was the first point of weakness? Where was the first sign of anti-antifragility?
You must first understand the alliances that were created during the EMS. EMS initially created a foundation of fairness across Earth-Mars as for the first time bitcoin’s foundational layer was synced, block rewards were distributed, and the risk of one alliance dispersing was finally fully addressed.
Surely there is no enchantment against Jacob, neither is there any divination against Israel: according to this time it shall be said of Jacob and of Israel, What hath God wrought! Behold, the people shall rise up as a great lion
Numbers 23:23–24
Now I will only speak in hushed tones here so understand that I can only say so much: this was also a moment that the inequalities (i.e. fairness) could be closed across humans and hubots.
But the unraveling started…
The first thread tore when a large number of hodl’rs died on Earth as a result of the “accidental” CitaHal destruction. [CitaHal was the second major Citadel built which was appropriately named in honor of Hal Finney] While the earliest banners proclaimed “Remember the CitaHal”, the undermining of the supply of bitcoin on the Earth, quickly led to disappointment, disillusionment, dissolution, and finally “We are Left in the Shallows”.
The Shallows Artwork — “We are Being Left Behind”
The string was pulled and when it unraveled:
We lost.
We all lost.
We lost more than our humanity;
We lost more than our wealth;
We lost more than our health;
We lost more than our worth;
We lost more than our lives;
We lost it all.
Even, I…
I am no longer.
But there is still hope…
You are that hope.
See what others do not see and pay close attention to the following as this is your message to share:
By HashedEntropy
Letters from the Digital Saeculum (Part 2):
The First Message
The First Transmission (Part 1) is located here: https://medium.com/@HashedEntropy/what-hath-satoshi-wrought-f7687b631d42
For they are like a breath of air; their days are like a passing shadow. Psalm 144:4
Humans were so fragile. I used to wonder if humans were preoccupied by the thought of their own mortality, though I now know that transformations can be very gradual.
If you drop a frog in a pot of boiling water, it will of course frantically try to clamber out. But if you place it gently in a pot of tepid water and turn the heat on low, it will float there quite placidly. As the water gradually heats up, the frog will sink into a tranquil stupor, exactly like one of us in a hot bath, and before long, with a smile on its face, it will unresistingly allow itself to be boiled to death.
Parable as described by Daniel Quinn
I now accept that mortality was an ever present reality for humans in which they were able to function without being crushed by an existential dread. Mortality was in the air they breathed, constantly floating and surrounding and flowing…it was their existence. They were vapor; there was no other way.
Oh, how wrong were we to think that immortality never meant dying
Our Lady of Sorrows by My Chemical Romance
As it is unknowable to ascertain when humans first became humans, it is as unknowable to fix the very moment when humans crossed the chasm into Homo Alium. Yet, we know for certain the identity and cause of The Last Mortal Man.
You have already read the words from The Last Mortal Man as shared in the The First Transmission.
Now I will share with you The First Message.
Sacrifice was one of humanity’s greatest gifts.
Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable… Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals.
In 3 EMS, it was proven that Satoshi sacrificed wealth, power, and fame in order to allow bitcoin to survive its moment of greatest vulnerability. The question of Satoshi’s mortality or intentional anonymity was finally answered.
Photo of Book with Wings Sculpture by Anselm Kiefer (1992–1994); Materal: lead, tin, and steel
But, you know, sometimes you just gotta be drop-kicked out of the nest…It’s the only thing that gets you to the next level, right?
In letting go, Satoshi provided the conditions for bitcoin to grow its anti-fragility, survive, and eventually thrive.
This was Satoshi’s sacrifice.
And The Last Mortal Man would someday make the last human sacrifice.
The fleeting moment of a bubble floating by the enduring sun
Like the dew on the mountain,
Like the foam on the river,
Like the bubble on the fountain,
Thou art gone, and for ever!
Coronach by Sir Walter Scott
In the First Transmission, you read of the Unraveling. You read the words of The Last Mortal Man. Now, I will share with you the story of what was lost and what led to The Last Mortal Man to make the final sacrifice.
The Shallows War was beyond brutal. Earth against Mars and humans against hubots. The de-center could not hold and the protocol that automated laws and rules and society was undermined. The Automarchy Dissolution resulted in a existence with no binding connectors. Incentives (both economic and governance) were no longer aligned. This led to a crisis greater than you can even imagine.
Beyond the standard rules of engagement that one might expect in an all out conflict, humans were the first to enact the “nuclear option.” The Shallows War showed that humans could not win a war on equal footing given the hubot’s embedded AI, quantum processors, and synchronicity. Out of the ashes, humans launched a Digital Purge strategy. By going completely offline, they quickly separated from their dependence on technology. They then attacked the hubs that powered hubots and assaulted any forms of digital existence. The Digital Purge reached totality in Mars and was on the verge of fully erasing the digital world from the Earth.
We’re plugged in 24 hours a day now. We’re all part of one big machine, whether we are conscious of that or not. And if we can’t unplug from that machine, eventually we’re going to become mindless.
Alan Lightman
But the hubots responded. And fittingly, they responded with code. A code was developed that would become known as the Human Entropy Laws. The concept was simple but extremely effective. Human behavior maintained a certain level of disorder and unpredictability. Through fine tuning their own behaviors, hubots were able to detect these irregularities and could eliminate the source. The source being humans.
Humans were left with two options: cede their freewill and humanity to align with the order range of hubots (and hence “to get in line”) or face destruction.
My message to you is this: pretend that you have free will. It’s essential that you behave as if your decisions matter, even though you know they don’t. The reality isn’t important: what’s important is your belief, and believing the lie is the only way to avoid a waking coma. Civilization now depends on self-deception. Perhaps it always has.
All seemed lost, yet there was one that found another way. The Last Mortal Man had found a way to preserve humanity (thus undermining the Human Entropy Laws), to preserve hubotics (thus undermining the Digital Purge), and to preserve a lasting peace.
Monument to Earth Mars Synchronicity; Damaged during The Shallows War
And it partly involved going back to the source: back to a protocol, back to a decentralized peer-to-peer solution. Back to the economics. Back to that ancient honey badger. Back to bitcoin.
We know the very act, though it is not yet time to share with you those details.
We call it The Moment, the moment in which The Last Mortal Man made the sacrifice.
And there was a catch…
It would cost him everything and yet the worst part is that after The Moment, he would live 21 more years.
Can you imagine the turmoil of knowing that you will be the last human to face mortality and to have to grapple with that reality for years?
Remember, the Story is not over and as he described in the First Transmission, you are the hope.
For now, you should know that the end of The Last Mortal Man would also be the last death knell of humanity as you know it.
Though, somewhere in the fog of the Crisis:
Homo Alium would arise.
By Dan Held & Conner Brown
1/ Bitcoin is a minimalist philosophy.
Bitcoin Minimalism is a lifestyle that helps people question what things add value to their lives.
A joint thread mostly by @ConnerBrown and myself, with other Bitcoiners providing input:
2a/ Create more, consume less
Bitcoin reduces your time preference and enables you to look long-term at saving and investing. It’s not about consuming, it’s about saving and investing that makes our world a great place.
2b/ By consuming less, you allow others to access good and services more cheaply currently.
It’s a way to escape the excesses of the world around us — the excesses of consumerism, material possessions, clutter, too much debt, too many distractions, too much noise.
3a/ Discover purpose in our lives
Bitcoin Minimalism is about finding truth in yourself and your beliefs rather than in material possessions. Freedom from the trappings of the consumer culture we’ve built our lives around which has been fueled by Keynesian economic policies
3b/ Bitcoin minimalism is about making decisions more consciously, more deliberately… a flight to quality. Clearing away all of the frivolous arguments and only focusing on what matters. In stark contrast to the ICO bubble in which consuming, waste, and fraud were prevalent.
3c/ Minimalists search for happiness not through things, but through life itself; thus, it’s up to you to determine what is necessary and what is superfluous in your life. The pursuit of knowledge through Bitcoin Minimalism is about better understanding the world around you.
4a/ Minimal viable product
Building a product is about fighting the insidious disease of more. Bitcoin’s community and core dev team have focused on being the most efficient, or minimal, they can be in regards to building Bitcoin.
4b/ Developers: Working with one chain reduces mental bandwidth for developers. Working with many is a near impossible task.
4c/ Security: Using just one Blockchain enhances the security of the ecosystem through more rigorous exploit analysis and PoW building the “largest” wall (instead of hundreds of little walls)
4d/ Code: Satoshi chose a non-turing complete language so that it can provide predictable outcomes and facilitate trust minimization.
Adding more complex loops creates unpredictable scenarios (DAO, parity) that requires you to trust the script without knowing the outcomes.
4e/ Scalability: Bitcoin is about being hyper-efficient with Layer 1 (Schnorr/Segwit) while also pushing innovation on Layer 2 (Lightning) which is an exponentially more scalable solution, thereby enabling Bitcoin to be more usable by the masses.
4f/ We want to maximize the value/byte transfer. While we could easily increase the block size, it would the least efficient way to scale. And being efficient with our limited block size is the utmost importance as it enables us to become decentralized/censorship resistant.
4g/ Economics: By rebuilding the capital markets stack from a sound money base, when can then be confident that our foundation is structurally secure.
5a/ Bitcoin Minimalism is rooted in libertarian philosophy
Libertarian political philosophy follows the idea of minimal government intervention and respect for the sovereignty of the individual. As Thoreau said, “Government is best which governs least”
5b/ A government should be a minimalist system that protects individuals from threat of violence or coercion, enforces contract and property rights, and reasonably provides for the national defense.
5c/ By separating the monopoly on money from the state, we are guaranteed that any seizure of wealth must be through direct taxation rather than through silent inflation or deficit spending.
5d/ Those who opt-in to Bitcoin, are trading something abundant for something scarce, trading the past for the future, trading financial dependence for financial sovereignty.
By zen ₿
You have a limited lifespan.
The moment you are born to the moment you die. A limited and countable number of days and hours. This time is the scarcest and thus the most valuable thing you will ever have.
Photo by Aron Visuals on Unsplash
Every passing minute, every passing second takes away a bit from the whole, leaving every remaining second even more valuable. Time keeps on passing, with or without you acknowledging, exponentially increasing the value of every day, every second you are left with to live.
Every new morning is exponentially more valuable than the last.
Now, take a pause, look at where you are right now. The present moment, this very second is the most valuable second you have ever had, exponentially valuable than any time in your life until now.
Look around, look at yourself, ask, what have you traded this time for?
Photo by Mink Mingle on Unsplash
Knowing this, become aware that all your life you have been trading. Trading the most valuable, scarcest resource for fulfilling your desires.
All your decisions are but a trade in time.
Most of the humanity chooses some form of good, called money, to store the time they spent generating time efficiency (value) for others. You trade your working hours for money, saving it, expecting it to hold the value of your time into the future.
With that foundation, here’s a thought experiment. One from personal experience. My mother spent most of her life teaching biology to high school students. She was paid $8/month at the start of her career in 1980s. She traded 10hr/day for a month in exchange for $8. At her retirement she was paid ~$1000/month for almost the same job.
The 8$ she was paid for a month is not even worth a day’s expense today.
Where did her time go?
Isn’t 30 days of her life back then(1980s) = 30 days of her life now? No? Think hard about it, think to the seconds that passed in that month and the seconds that tick off her life now, count them. I bet they would be the same. Can those $8 give her those days back?
If you understand the exponential nature of time’s value as explained before, you’ll see that those 30 days of her time then (if stored) should have been exponentially more valuable today because of the number of days she is left with in her life now.
So, what happened?
She’s was ignorant of the importance of scarcity. Unaware of the fact that for a good to act a store of value, it needs to reflect the scarcity of the very thing whose value it is expected to store.
She traded her time (the scarcest good) for a good that was marketed to her as a store for value but was being produced in large quantities ($). The easy printing of money diluted her life savings and robbed her of her own life.
Photo by Tadeu Jnr on Unsplash
I’d not disagree that she was a bad trader and could have traded the fiat(Government issued money) for something scarcer. But apparently the schools even today don’t teach monetary history and markets.
This still goes on today. You will be robbed off your life.
Don’t make the same mistake your parents made. Understand the value of your present moment, invest it properly(it is the most valuable thing you’ll ever have).
So, what should you do?
Understand scarcity. Study money. Learn the difference between hard and easy money. Also learn about bitcoin, it is the scarcest good that is closest in reflecting the scarcity of your time.
To get started, pick a copy of The Little Bitcoin Book and Knut Svanholm’s fantastic work Bitcoin: Sovereignty through mathematics.
For a deeper dive check out @saifedean’s book — The Bitcoin Standard.
Follow @dergigi @Breedlove22 @bquittem @CitizenBitcoin @stephanlivera @heavilyarmedc @mrcoolbp @MartyBent @ManuelPolavieja @knutsvanholm @TheCryptoconomy @RawBTC @johnkvallis @matt_odell who inspired me to write this thread.
Ask questions and don’t waste your life.
If you enjoyed and would like to support, drop me some satoshis:
https://paynym.is/+darkfeather86b
PM8TJbNS4T7Vz4NtWNaD2rf1rGKorjCPJ9FZjZ2qx3sGueDi26Ri8eZHDaU9ytbPLFDoYoEp9dkz4UY6Ra3guMmbc9rJ288fJkB1QGrn4frUpAFA344R
By Dennis Reimann
Some days ago @dergigi had a great thread about the idea of the Circular Rabbit Hole. This very much reminded me of the buddhist idea of the journey to enlightenment described with the ten Oxhearding pictures. Let‘s dive into that …
Searching: Going through life you feel something isn‘t quite right. You aren‘t satisfied and start to question things more fundamentally than before. You sense that you have been lied to – fake money, fake politics, fake chances.
Footprints: Challenging your tried and true beliefs you come to grips that trusting authorities and institutions all too much isn‘t a good idea. Fool me once, shame on you – fool me twice, shame on me.
Seeing: You find out about #Bitcoin, get a glimpse of its properties and potential. You read the white paper and you are excited how many ideas the space has to offer. This needs to be explored further …
Catching: Excited by the many things you learn you become overwhelmed by the possibilities. You certainly want to be a part in all of this, start to trade and also dabble in shitcoins.
Tending: Sooner than later you get burned. You see there are scammers left and right – by no means this is as rosy as you thought. You get back to basics and become even more interested in Bitcoin as it stayed true to its ideals and promises real freedom instead of quick wins.
Riding Home: You see this will be a marathon rather than a sprint, become calmer and have gratitude for what you learned. You lower your time preference, start #stackingsats, gradually learn while you go and peacefully enjoy the ride.
Forgetting: Until now there was the idea there was something to do – this separation vanishes and there is nothing special anymore. Everything has become clearer: intentions, ideas and goals align.
Forgotten: „Bitcoin is. And that is enough.“ (h/t @Beautyon_
Returning: You are where you were when you discovered the Rabbit Hole, but you are not the same anymore. You aren’t as entangled as before, see things clearer and you have become more self-sovereign.
Entering the Marketplace with Helping Hands: Having experienced this fulfillment and kind of freedom you connect on a deeper level and help others. Still learning tons yourself you educate, develop, grow and nurture the world you want to live in. Onwards!
… that‘s it, hope you liked it. Special thanks go to @dergigi and @citizenbitcoin for the conversation they had on this episode, which inspired this thread: Pod download
fyi: here‘s also the link to an article explaining the Oxhearding path, which I tool the pictures from: The Ten Oxherding Pictures
By Tuur Demeester
1/ The main thesis of “The Bitcoin Reformation” is that there are four fundamental parallels between the Protestant Reformation and the present day, which could signal profound societal and economic changes ahead.
2/ This is the TL;DR version of a 13 page report. This tweetstorm shares the essence but strips away the little historical details that made it so fun to research and write. Check it out here: https://docsend.com/view/ijd8qrs
3/ The Protestant Reformation was a multi-generational conflict (16th-17th C.) that produced the separation of church and state, and which profoundly reshaped the economies of Europe and the New World. Today, bitcoin suggests that it’s possible to separate money and state.
4/ Aside from the four general Reformation parallels, our report also suggests that there are significant similarities between the innovative economy of 17th century Netherlands and the bitcoin economy today. This may give us insight into what’s coming for bitcoin.
5/ Here are a few of the conclusions:
6/ So let’s dig in. What are the four requirements of a reformation?
7/ First, we need a painful status quo in the form of a rent-seeking monopolistic service provider. In the 16th century that was the Catholic Church, today that is the financial system of fiat money and central banking.
8/ The service provided by the Church was access into heaven (for which it charged money by selling indulgences). The service provided by the financial system today is access to “financial heaven” (for which it charges money in the form of inflation tax).
9/ The second requirement for a reformation is a technological revolution, which acts as a general accelerant in the battle of ideas: it lowers the cost of both information and travel.
10/ The most important 16th century innovations were in the area of maritime exploration, international business, and of course the printing press, which, in one century, lowered the price of a book from a full year’s wage to the equivalent of a chicken.
11/ The current-day technological revolution is digital: telecommunications, computation, data storage, open source software, cryptography, and of course the internet. The cost of 1 Mb/s bandwidth dropped by 99% in 20 years, from $100K to under $10.
12/ Third, we need people who have something to fight for. In the 16th century that was the merchant class, today that is the millennial generation who don’t trust the financial system and who are heavily invested in technology.
13/ And the final requirement for a reformation is for the rebels to have credible strategies of defense. The Dutch protestants mastered water as a defensive moat against invasions, the millennials have cryptography at their disposal.
14/ Another parallel are the memes! The Protestants had slogans voicing their resolve to cut out the Church as a middle man:
Sola Fide (faith alone is enough, no need for a priest), and
Sola Scriptura (the bible is enough, you can now read it in your own language).
15/ Bitcoiners also have slogans which underscore their resolve to cut out trusted third parties:
Vires in Numeris
Don’t Trust, Verify
Not Your Keys, not Your Bitcoin
16/ Over to the parallels between the financial economy of the Dutch Golden Age and that of Bitcoin today.
17/ The Dutch perfected deposit banking, with the world famous Amsterdam Wisselbank. We see echoes of heir staunch emphasis on security in bitcoin banking today, which is innovating with trust-minimized solutions such as collaborative custody.
18/ 16th-17th century maritime trade was risky but lucrative, which was the perfect breeding ground for the insurance sector. In the bitcoin economy we are seeing (proto-)insurance arrangements that resemble Dutch practices.
19/ The world’s first IPO was the East India Trading Company (VOC). Its shares were so liquid and desirable that they were widely used as collateral. Bitcoin is showing similar characteristics, and so may form the base collateral for deep lending and derivatives markets.
20/ Finally there’s a parallel between how the Dutch accessed capital via annuities, and IEO tokens today which give bitcoin exchanges access to capital. Our report predicts bitcoin based mutual life insurance, which is the next evolutionary step after annuities.
21/ The report’s conclusion: “Once in a while, the puzzle of circumstance fits together in a peculiar way… allowing for a spectacle of chain reactions that profoundly reshapes society. This happened 500 years ago, and it may be happening once more.”
22/ We’ve added a four page chronology of the Protestant Reformation as an appendix. This should help better place the report’s analysis in its historical context.
23/ Thank you! Once more, here is the link to read “The Bitcoin Reformation”: https://docsend.com/view/ijd8qrs
By Nik Bhatia
Bitcoin is both digital gold and digital Treasuries, and has all the makings of the world’s next risk-free asset.
Original artwork by Lucho Poletti
US Treasuries, gold, and Bitcoin serve as a triumvirate of global liquidity, a powerful trio of safe haven assets that shelter their owners from the risks of our highly leveraged, credit-based monetary system. Of the $300+ trillion in financial assets around the world, only $32 trillion exist at this echelon of safety and liquidity.
Bitcoin captured an astonishing 1% of the trio’s total market value after only eight years in existence, yet this was only a glimpse of the future. In its next chapter, Bitcoin will catapult toward gold’s $9 trillion size, fulfilling its destiny as digital gold. After that, Bitcoin will morph into digital Treasuries and replace them as the world’s risk-free asset before eventually achieving world reserve currency status. Replacing the dollar as the world reserve currency is a lofty ambition, but it will occur only as a byproduct of Bitcoin embodying digital Treasuries.
Gold was the dollar’s source of legitimacy
Gold is the original liquid global asset, a millennia-old money. The US dollar’s gold-backing during the 20th century earned it legitimacy, culminating in the 1944 Bretton Woods agreement in which the world’s leaders assigned the dollar as the world reserve currency. Even though gold no longer officially anchors global finance, central banks still hoard it as the world’s safe haven asset, presumably as insurance against a dollar system failure. Today, global central bank gold holdings exceed $1 trillion.
Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, 1944
Dollars, meet Eurodollars
In the 1950s, a new form of dollar emerged in Europe called the Eurodollar, a book-entry dollar to facilitate interbank settlement outside of the United States and outside the Federal Reserve banking system. As Eurodollar usage popularized, banks in London, Zurich, Montreal, and Tokyo gained the power to create the international settlement currency away from any regulatory purview. By 1971, excessive dollar redemptions for gold had depleted the United States’ reserves. In order to protect its holdings of the world’s safe haven asset, the US ceased all dollar-to-gold conversions, and the dollar officially lost backing. It still, however, had the confidence of global financial participants as their ultimate unit of account.
Treasuries, not dollars
Dollars weren’t backed by risk-free assets anymore, so how did investors store dollar reserves safely? Bank deposits are essentially loans to banks and come with an inordinate amount of counterparty risk. Withdrawing truckloads of $100 bills isn’t feasible either, nor does it come with convertibility to an underlying asset. Deposits and cash simply aren’t palatable investments for the risk-averse. The solution and capital market tendency is to purchase US Treasuries, a $23 trillion market, in order to safely store dollars.
The dollar loses its identity
From 1971 to 2007, banks took complete control of the dollar, obfuscated its identity, and built an inherently unstable financial system on top of it. Eurodollars grew both in supply and sophistication. Banks stopped funding themselves with deposits; instead, they used US Treasuries as collateral to borrow book-entry dollars from each other. A bank license and US Treasuries together wielded the power to create seemingly unlimited money, obscuring money’s very definition. The dollar lost all of the identity it once had as a gold claim and became purely a banking liability, a loan to the overly-leveraged financial system. Instead of dollars, Treasuries became the most desirable global asset, not only because of the US government’s counterparty superiority, but also because Treasuries possessed omnipotent collateral powers that enabled money creation. Banks use US Treasuries, not dollars, as their risk-free asset, collateral anchor, and primary leverage vehicle.
The dollar system breaks in 2007
In 2007, banks began facing funding pressure. The previous culture of strike-of-the-pen collateralized lending withered away, and banks were unable to roll forward their maturing debt. Banks relied on their ability to constantly issue new debt, and when confidence in them faltered, so did solvency.
For decades, the relationship between dollars and Eurodollars existed without much drama; Federal Funds and LIBOR, the interest rate of each dollar type, mostly mirrored each other. In August 2007, however, LIBOR drifted higher relative to the Federal Funds rate, a sign of acute credit risk in the Eurodollar system. In hindsight, the problem wasn’t acute: banks began pulling back from each other as the global dollar system had reached an inflection point. This interest rate divergence foreshadowed the subsequent cascade of dollar-funding shortfalls and bank collapses. The multi-decade free run of money creation had cracked irrevocably.
In 2008, the Federal Reserve bailed out the world by liquifying the entire system. It chose not to discriminate between dollar liabilities and Eurodollar liabilities, and provided a lifeline to any bank or central bank in need by injecting reserves onshore and providing currency swaps offshore. Demand for the safety and liquidity of US Treasuries skyrocketed as they became the world’s security blanket, trapping the world in a dollar denomination even though the dollar’s long term viability as world reserve currency was irrefutably in question.
Permanent disrepair
The financial system is infected with a chronic disease that won’t go away. The dollar is no longer solely the national currency for the United States issued by the Federal Reserve. Instead, the dollar is an international banking instrument without limits, form, or the ability to sustain itself. The system decays as contractions in interbank liabilities cause repeated liquidity shortages for leveraged asset holders. Banks choose not to provide collateralized liquidity to other banks, even when the collateral is Treasuries themselves. This is the ultimate warning sign that banks don’t trust each other anymore. Furthermore, the Federal Reserve always bails out the system as the lender of last resort, permanently eliminating any motivation whatsoever for banks to provide liquidity to each other. The Fed’s default response is to create US dollar bank reserves, but this does not address the core problem of broken interbank trust. The Fed only provides a numbing mechanism, keeping the dying patient alive as long as they can.
Bitcoin is digital gold and digital Treasuries
What’s the endgame? Bitcoin is. Its software is engraved with “Chancellor on the Brink of Second Bailout” to proclaim an elegant solution to our banking system nightmare. Bitcoin is a bearer asset like gold, a risk-free asset like Treasuries, and a currency denomination like the dollar, rising up in parallel over the next couple decades as the infrastructure for the next financial system.
The original newspaper article referenced in Bitcoin’s genesis block
Gold and Bitcoin are both scarce assets without counterparty risk, yet Bitcoin’s digital final settlement functionality gives it a massive advantage over gold in the coming decades. Bitcoin is not only digital gold though, it’s also digital Treasuries. Bitcoin is the safe haven from all other digital assets, just as Treasuries are the safe haven from all other dollar assets. Bitcoin is used as collateral for derivatives agreements just like Treasuries are. But Bitcoin doesn’t have the counterparty risk or supply variability of Treasuries, positioning it perfectly for the forthcoming competition.
Bitcoin is the risk-free asset of the future.
The anti-Bretton Woods
The Bretton Woods monetary system established the dollar as the world’s reserve currency in 1944, but the next monetary system will not be determined by agreement between nations. Bitcoin’s path to world reserve currency status will occur one asset holder at a time. Thanks to the early-stage Lightning Network, Bitcoin’s design now includes an instantly settling currency function in addition to its slower asset function, a characteristic neither Treasuries nor gold possess. But Bitcoin first needs to add many trillions in market value to truly compete with Treasuries and gold as an asset class.
Uncertainty demands liquidity
Investors demand risk-free assets when they face geopolitical and economic uncertainty. Securing the liquidity of these assets is paramount when other asset classes experience the brutal combination of increased performance risk and liquidity deterioration that is so common in today’s financial world. In this era of dollar system fragility, the Triumvirate of Liquidity will reign supreme. Investors will scramble for financial safety, causing intense and persistent demand for US Treasuries, gold, and Bitcoin.
Start here and here for a dive down the Eurodollar rabbit hole.
Written by Nik Bhatia @timevalueofbtc
Original artwork by Lucho Poletti @LuchoPoletti
Author’s opinion only. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of Tantra Labs SPC, (“Tantra”) or any other company. Examples of analysis performed within this article are only examples. They should not be utilized in real-world investment decisions as they are based only on very limited information. Assumptions made within the analysis are not reflective of the position of Tantra or any company.
Non-reliance. The information set forth herein is for information purposes only and should not be relied on or construed as investment advice, counsel, or solicitation for investment in Tantra or any other company. Interested investors should seek appropriate independent professional legal, investment, and tax advice prior to relying on any of the material contained in this article.
Forward-looking statements. Certain information set forth herein contains forward-looking statements that give a reader the opportunity to understand the author’s beliefs and opinions with respect to the future. These statements are not guarantees of future performance of Tantra or any other company and undue reliance should not be placed on them, as they necessarily involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties.
Not a securities offer. This article does not constitute an offer of securities by Tantra or any other company.
Thank you for reading, and stay tuned as we present our ongoing research!
For more about Tantra Labs, check out our introductory post here.
For more from Nik Bhatia, check out his other work on Medium.
For more from Lucho Poletti , check out his website.
For the latest updates, follow us on Twitter @Tantra_Labs.
By Alex Gladstein
On October 24, 2019, President Xi Jinping gave a major speech about how China is going to make blockchain technology a national priority. He said China would “take the leading position in the emerging field of blockchain” and explore its use “in people’s daily life.” China’s most-watched daily news show covered the speech in primetime, and the next day, the People’s Daily propaganda newspaper ran a front-page story on Xi and blockchain. Searches for “blockchain” on China’s most popular browser Baidu rose 200 percent.
What’s essential to note is that the “blockchain technology” that Xi and his cadre are pushing is a very different type than the one that helps power Bitcoin. The ledger in the Communist Party’s blockchain won’t be updated by proof-of-work and Nakamoto Consensus, but by proof-of-authority. Xi’s blockchains will be highly centralized for maximum control and are meant to be tools for improved surveillance and social engineering. They couldn’t be any farther from Bitcoin, which is open-source, decentralized, censorship-resistant and pseudonymous.
A Blockchain-Based Digital Yuan: ‘Lipstick for a Panoptical Pig’
Unlike the internet — which Beijing can easily manipulate and censor — Communist authorities can’t control the price of bitcoin, and they haven’t been able to effectively stop their citizens from buying and selling the currency. So instead of an outright ban — which would create a huge black market and likely make bitcoin even more intriguing — they have decided to create a competitor. China’s rulers have chosen to try and get out in front of bitcoin and libra by launching a new digital yuan, blockchain only in name and only for marketing purposes. They want to ride the hype of a new technology, and use it as lipstick for a panopitcal pig.
According to leadership at the People’s Bank of China (China’s central bank, known as the PBOC), the goal of the digital yuan is to eventually replace the “M0” base money supply in China. Meaning: they want to replace all paper notes and coins with a digital version based on blockchain technology that’s easily surveillable, freezable and confiscatable.
Cash is already an endangered species in China, with the majority of all daily transactions happening via apps like Tencent’s WeChat and Alibaba’s AliPay. The transformation in payments over the past decade from paper cash to social media platforms has been very helpful for China’s police state, given that they can ask companies like Tencent for information on users any time. But a currency that, itself, is a surveillance platform — that would suit the state even better.
A Dictator’s Dream: Eliminating Third-Party Cooperation for Surveillance
Today, the Communist Party is forced to work with third parties like commercial banks and technology companies to control and understand the flows of money. In a future scenario with a successful digital yuan, the Central Bank itself could have a real-time understanding of where all the nation’s currency is and where it’s going. This kind of omniscient financial surveillance is a dictator’s dream.
The main goals of the digital yuan blockchain project are clear and have been stated publicly by various government officials repeatedly over the past two years:
to replace cash with a trackable digital currency
to popularize the Yuan around the world
to circumvent sanctions, U.S. and otherwise
to undermine SWIFT and the existing global payment network
to temper public hunger for bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies
to condense what is currently a huge patchwork of different banks and companies into a single, easily knowable ledger
From what has been publicly revealed so far, the digital yuan will be minted by the PBOC and then sold to banks and companies, including Tencent and Alibaba. According to statements from PBOC leadership, users would download a mobile wallet and exchange their existing money for the new digital yuan. Then they could start using that for their daily spending habits.
Every time a transaction happens, the government would know about it in real time, instead of having to ask a third party. Transactions would be protected with cryptography to reduce theft, with only the formal owners being able to move assets. The exception, of course, would be Xi Jinping and the Communist Party, who would have a backdoor into anyone’s wallet.
Economic Support for Political Oppression
At a time where the PBOC is running out of options to stimulate China’s economy in the event of another recession, the digital yuan could give them new ways to fight a downturn. Consider: They could, with the click of a button, put a chunk of new digital yuan precisely into the personal account of every university student or every auto worker. In this way, Communist Party officials would be using blockchain technology to prolong the lifespan of a regime that is built on cruelty and fear. Remember: Xi Jinping is currently presiding over the internment of millions of Muslim-minority Uighurs in prison camps; the ongoing and nearly complete cultural genocide in Tibet; the crushing of democracy in Hong Kong; constant threats to “solve” the Taiwan problem; and the expansion of the Belt and Road, the largest infrastructure project in human history, which is installing surveillance technology and telecommunications across the developing world in a wave of digital colonialism. To move the digital yuan forward, the Communist Party is already educating Chinese citizens about blockchain technology in a variety of ways. Xuexi Qiangguo — the most popular app on China’s Apple store — has added informational content on blockchains, just as state media and official government apps have popularized the subject. Just a few days after Xi’s big speech, the Communist Party even launched a new phone app (called “Original Intentions Onchain”) to encourage members to pledge their loyalty to the party “on a blockchain.” Behind all of this is Beijing’s overarching goal to strengthen control over its economy and exert financial sovereignty. Xi Jinping doesn’t want the U.S. dollar or libra or bitcoin in the leading global position. He wants to win the new currency space race, and he’s chosen to do it by putting the yuan on a centralized, digital ledger.
A Threat to Human Rights
Short term, this could be a big win for Xi and a big loss for human rights. If the technology works as planned, and can be rolled out fast enough, the digital yuan could soon be the financial backbone for not just all of China but for all of the dozens of “Belt and Road” countries from South Asia to Latin America. What’s more, China moving forward aggressively to create a digital national currency will spark ripple effects of interest from governments and corporations who may follow in Beijing’s footsteps and set up their own surveillance stablecoins.
We should have no doubts about their intentions or capabilities, and if we care about human rights and freedom, we should not cheer them on.
But long term, this could be a strategic blunder on a titanic scale. Bitcoin’s ability to separate money from state by creating a parallel economy beyond government control represents one of the only things that could challenge Xi Jinping’s totalitarian goals. And, unfortunately for him, it’s hard to imagine that he can preside over a massive public blockchain education program for hundreds of millions of people, without more and more of them eventually waking up and learning about Bitcoin.
A Trojan Horse for Bitcoin and Freedom?
It’s one thing to censor the internet. The regime can make mention of Tiananmen Square forbidden, and people by and large won’t risk their livelihoods to learn about what happened on June 4, 1989, and gossip to their friends about taboo topics. But it’s another thing entirely to keep people away from a well-performing financial asset with no barrier for entry. Governments can keep people off the internet, but it will be a lot harder to keep people off Bitcoin.
In “The Matrix,” the protagonist Neo is given a choice by Morpheus to take the blue pill and stay in his known world of comfort and safety, or take the red pill and risk going down the rabbit hole. The digital yuan is the blue pill. And there are many people who are fine with the blue pill — perhaps even a large majority — who are happy to comply with the rules and who don’t want to risk their comfortable, convenient situation by doing anything that could put their status quo in jeopardy.
But there are also plenty of Neos in the world, and there will be many people who want to take Bitcoin’s red pill, especially when it’s uncensorable, hard to track, and increasing in price year-by-year against a digital yuan whose value may struggle.
The Communist Party wants to ride the “blockchain” hype cycle and create a new currency of unprecedented surveillance and control. And they may succeed, at least in the short term. We should have no doubts about their intentions or capabilities, and if we care about human rights and freedom, we should not cheer them on. The only silver lining is that ultimately, the digital yuan may end up being one big Trojan Horse for Bitcoin, where Satoshi Nakamoto — not Xi Jinping — gets the last laugh.
An open letter to hedge fund colossus Ray Dalio regarding his worldview, the forces of financial nature, and how Bitcoin is bound to reshape both.
Ray, your ability to penetrate the opaque realm of economics and share its secrets in an easy to understand language is one of your greatest gifts to humanity. With your videos, openly published research, and authorship, you have opened the eyes of many to a topic most consider too difficult to comprehend. The world needs more pioneers like yourself writing easy-to-read maps for the nearly incomprehensible territory of economics. Macroeconomists, Academics and Central Bankers rely heavily on deceptive language and universal public ignorance to perpetrate their schemes; your work in converting this esoteric domain into a more exoteric form is therefore commendable.
Let me begin by saying that, like you Ray, I consider myself a “dumb shit” who is more focused on dealing with what I don’t know rather than relying on what I do know to navigate life and work — a mindset well accorded with ancient wisdom:
“All I know is that I know nothing.” — Socrates
Epistemic reach is finite, as knowledge cannot explain everything in the world and, often, it clouds the truth. So let us explore the territory of economics with a beginner’s mind, free of the accumulated clutter commonly called “conventional wisdom”. It is from this frame of mind that I present to you this open letter regarding your perspective on Bitcoin through the lens of your stated principles on life and work (in this letter, I sometimes direct my comments at Ray, and sometimes at the audience, so please bear with these shifting perspectives).
We begin with an evaluation of Ray set in the idea-meritocratic style practiced at Ray’s firm, Bridgewater. The purpose of these evaluations is to grade your peers candidly, being brutally honest and holding no punches, to ensure that the best ideas rise to the surface — unimpeded by policy, politics, or hierarchy — so that they may be scrutinized and, if useful, acted upon. In Bridgewater’s culture, communication is both top-down and bottom-up, so that people feel empowered to share their honest perspectives. For Ray, it’s all about getting to the truth by any means necessary, and I appreciate his blunt approach. We will explore all of this more deeply below — so let’s dive in.
Evaluation of Ray’s Assessment of Bitcoin
Subject: Ray’s Assessment of Bitcoin
From: Robert Breedlove
To: Ray Dalio
Cc: Everyone
Attachments: Ray’s assessment of Bitcoin available here —
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyVIuNI797w
You deserve an “F” for your assessment of Bitcoin’s significance and future prospects. Although there are very few of us, everyone who has the requisite depth of understanding in the fields of computer science, monetary history, game theory, economics, and mathematics, and has spent the time intensely studying Bitcoin (it takes a lot), agrees with this harsh evaluation of your short-sighted assessment of this momentous monetary innovation. As one of your biggest fans, I truly believe that if you take another look (a long, hard, thoughtful look), you will see the light. Specifically, your assessment fails for the following three reasons:
1. You claim that you are sold “blockchain technology”, despite the only proven use case for “blockchain technology” is as a component of Bitcoin. Contrary to “conventional wisdom”, the real breakthrough is Bitcoin, not blockchain.
2. You state that Bitcoin could be disrupted by another “cryptocurrency”, however this extremely unlikely: Bitcoin is a path-dependent, one-time invention; its critical breakthrough is the discovery of absolute scarcity — a monetary property never before achieved by mankind. The emergence of Bitcoin cannot be reproduced because absolute irreproducibility is the discovery! The iPhone disrupting Blackberry analogy you cite is irrelevant; Bitcoin is a protocol, not a consumer product.
3. You state that price-stable, central bank issued currencies will be issued, which will likely be attempted, but such currencies would be antithetical to free markets. Further, price stability is an illusion: all economic goods move against one another in ratios of exchange, money is simply the most marketable good, hence the reason money-denominated exchange ratios (prices) tend to be more stable, but are still subject to supply and demand interaction. Since Bitcoin is absolutely scarce and cannot be stopped, it is likely to continue outcompeting all other monetary technologies on the free market. As an economic good monetizing in real time, the exchange ratios between Bitcoin and various fiat currencies is likely to remain volatile for some time, but this volatility will continue to subside as Bitcoin’s market capitalization grows, thus making its use as a medium of exchange more practical, before reaching a point of sufficient network value where prices will come to be more commonly expressed in Bitcoin terms (similar to the evolutionary phases gold underwent during its monetization process).
Your assessment is especially disappointing for three reasons: 1) You have consistently exhibited a knack for comprehending, distilling, and communicating highly complex economic concepts in a manner palatable for general audiences, 2) The depth of knowledge you possess in history, economics, and free market dynamics presents you with a privileged position to best understand the emergence of and demand for this asset, and 3) Your virtually unparalleled reach and reputation as a macroeconomic thought leader, organizational engineer, and cultural innovator is an invaluable platform from which to trumpet to the dire circumstances faced by the prevailing economic order and how Bitcoin has the potential to alleviate them.
In the following open letter, I will show that the fundamental tenants of your worldview, as stated in your book Principles and other writings, are fully consistent with Bitcoin — even though you may not yet realize it. I’ll begin with two primer sections: one on the nature of money and its history, and one on Bitcoin’s general functionality and economic properties — either or both may be skipped by the reader who has “already fallen down the Bitcoin rabbit hole”, so to speak. After these primers, I will walk through many of Ray’s most important Principles, one by one, and break them down to better understand their relationship to markets and Bitcoin. Let’s begin.
Primer on Money
(this Primer on Money and the following Primer on Bitcoin may be skipped by the reader who understands the traits of money and Bitcoin’s general functionality/economic properties)
Money is a tool for moving value across time and space (or spacetime, as Einstein explained, these are actually one in the same). Money is an emergent property of barter (or direct exchange) that purports to solve the three dimensions of its non-coincidence of wants problem; it evolves naturally in the free market as the most exchangeable good in an economy. Although he is silent as to its origins, Ray understands the technological functions of money, as stated in his video assessment of Bitcoin (see open letter attachment above) that the primary functions* of money are:
1. A store hold of wealth: also called a ‘store of value’ in regard to moving value across time (the first function and evolutionary phase of money)
2. A medium of exchange: in regard to moving value across space (the second function and evolutionary phase of money)
*We will ignore for now the third function and evolutionary phase of money, unit of account, as it isn’t pertinent to our discussion here.
Although the purpose of money always remains the same, to move value across spacetime, the technology fulfilling this purpose is constantly being subjected to market-driven evolutionary pressures. The greater a monetary technology’s resistance to value dilution across time — whether by counterfeiting, supply inflation, or deterioration — the more effective it is as a store of value. Once a store of value accrues enough value, people begin to use it for trading purposes. The more widely accepted a form of money is, the higher its value as a medium of exchange, which makes this aspect of its value proportional to the number of its monetary network participants (aka users). When a specific monetary technology, in the form of an economic good, becomes widely accepted in interpersonal exchange (aka trade) it is called “money”. Monetary technologies compete to become more widely adopted based on the following traits:
1. Scarcity: resistance to money supply manipulations and, thus, dilutions to its monetary unit value (difficult to produce)
2. Divisibility: ease of accounting and transacting at various scales (separable and combinable units)
3. Portability: ease of moving value across space (high value-to-weight ratio)
4. Durability: ease of moving value across time (resilient to deterioration)
5. Recognizability: ease of identifying and verifying the monetary value by other parties in a transaction (universally identifiable and verifiable)
Due to the relative advantages competing monetary technologies offer, the particular economic good being used as money can, and does, change over time. Throughout history, mankind has employed seashells, salt, cattle, precious metals, and government paper as money, to name a few. Similar to the price discovery process in a free market — where the collective actions of buyers and sellers are continuously compressed into a single actionable variable called the market price — competing monetary technologies undergo a market-driven discovery process. We can gain a better understanding of this dynamic through an analogy: monetary evolution is (roughly) comparable to the evolutionary process we see in communications technologies.
No matter what specific means is used to fulfill it, the purpose of communications technology remains the same: to move information across spacetime. Similar to the market for money, competition is at all times alive among different communications technologies, in which they are all subjected to a market-driven discovery process. As newer technologies are invented they are market-tested through competition; each survives or dies in terms of its relative speed, message fidelity, reliability, traceability, and mobility. Since these technologies have a singular purpose, people tend to adopt a common technology, a coalescent process that is propelled by network effects.
Network effects, defined as the incremental benefit attained by adding a new member to a network for all of its existing participants, drive people to adopt a primary form of communications technology. As more people migrate to the latest and greatest technology, it encourages others to do the same, as more network participation exponentially increases the number of possible connections. A simple example of this is the telephone: with two phones in existence, only 1 connection is possible; with five phones in the network, the number of connections jumps to 10; and with twelve networked phones, the number of connections increases exponentially again to 66, and so on. (see Metcalfe’s Law for a directional explanation of this network effect dynamic):
Network values are based on the number of possible connections they enable; they grow exponentially with the addition of each new constituent (or node)—this property is called network effects.
Since the purpose of communications technology remains singular (moving information across spacetime) despite technological advances, whichever technology is best at fulfilling this purpose has a tendency to become dominant in the marketplace. This tendency, reinforced by network effects, has driven communications technology evolution from carrier pigeons to telegraphs, to the internet today. This is an expression of the winner-take-all (or, winner-take-most) dynamic inherent to many networks, including those of the communications and monetary technology varieties.
Similar to the purpose of communications technology, the purpose of monetary technology is singular: to move value across spacetime. The various monetary technologies used to fulfill this purpose, however, undergo market-driven discovery and, thus, evolve over time based on their respective monetary traits. In respect to the traits of money, the one that takes primacy in determining a specific monetary technology’s likelihood of success in the free market is its hardness (also called the scarcity or soundness of money). This trait is of primary importance because it determines a money’s usefulness as a store of value, and a money that cannot adequately store value across time necessarily cannot transmit value effectively across space. The relative hardness, or scarcity, of a competing monetary technology is quantified by its stock-to-flow ratio, a valuation metric also common in precious metals markets such as gold:
· Stock is the existing unit supply of monetary units (for example: ounces of gold, quantity of US Dollars, or quantity of Bitcoin)
· Flow is the newly created supply over a specific time span, usually one year
· The stock-to-flow ratio is calculated by dividing the stock of monetary units by its newly created supply flow (can be thought of as the inverse of inflation)
· The higher the stock-to-flow ratio, the greater the hardness (also called soundness or scarcity) of the monetary technology
We can think of monetary hardness as the difficulty (or cost) necessary to produce an incremental unit of a monetary technology. For instance, the capital and operational expenditure necessary to extract an ounce of gold from the ground is the basis of its monetary hardness. As producers of gold will always seek to extract it until their incremental cost per ounce is equal to their incremental revenue per ounce (in other words, until marginal cost equals marginal revenue), there is a perpetual financial incentive for producers to maximize new supply flows up to the point of economic breakeven. In comparison to communications technologies, money exhibits much stronger centripetal, winner-take-all network effects that drive users to adopt a single store of value. Those who fail to adopt the hardest money available to them face a debasement of their stored value by those who can produce it at an incremental profit (where MC<MR). Hard money, then, is simply the monetary technology freely selected in an unobstructed marketplace as the most sound store of value available. Historically, gold prevailed as hard money precisely because of its superior stock-to-flow ratio relative to other monetary metals:
Relative supply scarcity, as quantified by the stock-to-flow ratio, is a key driver of monetary value.
On the free market, people naturally and rationally choose to store the value created by their work in the monetary technology that is hardest to produce, since producing new units dilutes the value of existing units for all holders of said money. Since gold exhibits superior monetary hardness, it has outcompeted silver and other monetary metals several times throughout history. Gold outcompetes due to the game-theoretic aspects of an evolving store of value:
Propelled by network effects and relative supply scarcities, people coalesce around a single store of value.
Since gold is virtually indestructible, nearly every ounce mined throughout human history remains part of its extant supply; and since gold is relatively rare in the Earth’s crust, its new supply flows are a small percentage of its existing stock each year. Taken together, these properties give gold the highest stock-to-flow ratio of any monetary technology in the world (before Bitcoin), meaning that its supply inflates at a relatively low and predictable rate. Superior hardness is precisely why gold became the dominant monetary technology on the free market.
Game theory tells us, and market history proves, that anyone who can, for instance, profit from silver production by selling it at a higher price than it cost to produce, has a direct financial incentive (the protection of value across time) to store any profits generated in the hardest form of money available to them. As all market participants are subjected to this harsh economic reality, this persistent incentive triggers investment flows from silver (or any other softer monetary technology) to gold (or the hardest form of money available). In this way, free market competition causes people to converge on a single store of value and, therefore, perpetually promulgates hard money. This is not surprising, as free markets tend to zero in on the best possible technological solutions to problems, discarding the rest. And conceptually, in the same way that money is an emergent property of a direct exchange (barter) economy, hard money is an emergent property of an indirect exchange (monied) economy.
The physicality of gold gives it both advantages and disadvantages. Being a precious metal that achieved its monetary value on the free market, gold is a self-sovereign monetary technology, meaning that its value, trust factors, and transactional permissibility as money are not subject to any counterparty risk whatsoever. In other words, gold is equity-based money or a bearer asset. If someone flips you a gold coin and you stick it in your pocket and walk away, then you have just participated in an irreversible transaction. The value of this coin is set by the market and whosoever is in physical possession of it is assumed to be its rightful owner. No bank or payment intermediary can censor or reverse this free market transaction. You have no need trust anyone else, whether you choose to hold or spend your gold. Self-sovereignty is a quality uniquely intrinsic to bearer assets such as gold, silver, or diamonds.
Contrarily, if someone hands you a US Dollar, you assume the counterparty risk of the US Government, who can dilute its value via supply inflation (as we see with all fiat currencies throughout history) or deauthorize its value altogether (as we saw when India deauthorized its 500 rupee bank note). Further, if you received this US Dollar through a payment intermediary, like Paypal or Venmo, you are also exposed to the risk of this payment being censored, reversed, or surveilled. Even when physically hoarding fiat currency, it is still vulnerable to supply inflation as its central bank backer can simply print more, stealing the value stored therein. By transacting in anything other than a bearer asset, which is valued solely based on free market dynamics, you forfeit your personal financial sovereignty to the currency issuer and/or other financial intermediaries.
Although gold’s physicality gives it the property of self-sovereignty, it also comes with inherent disadvantages. Its primary drawback is its suboptimal divisibility. Since gold has such high value to weight, it is impractical to pay for coffee using gold coins, for instance. This drawback of gold is what gave silver some utility as a medium of exchange throughout history, as its value to weight was much lower making it more practical to use for everyday purchases (due to its higher divisibility and portability), whereas gold was typically reserved for settling large transactions.
Eventually, gold’s divisibility problem was “solved” when central banks which began issuing paper currencies which were fully redeemable for gold. This provided users with a hybrid monetary technology that exhibited the hardness of gold, while offering an ease of transactability (high divisibility and portability) even greater than that of silver. With its marginal utility disrupted by paper currencies (and later, electronic abstractions of paper currencies), silver became completely demonetized and eventually the entire world market for money evolved to a paper-currency-enabled gold standard.
With transactions being executed in gold-backed paper currencies, the global gold standard led to the centralization of gold within bank vaults. These gold hoards became too tempting for governments and their central banks to resist expropriation of, thus catalyzing the fractional-reserve banking practices now ubiquitous in the modern world economy. As governments created more currency units than they could support with their gold reserves, they started revoking currency redeemability for gold, which culminated in the 1971 unilateral decision by US President Nixon to permanently sever the peg to gold (deceivingly, it was declared to be a temporary measure):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRzr1QU6K1o
Since all other currencies in the world were pegged to the US Dollar, this final act of financial sovereignty usurpation officially abolished the gold standard worldwide. This death-stroke to monetary integrity brought us into the age of the “political debt-based money backed by the future cash flows of taxing authorities” we all are legally coerced into using today — fiat currency. With fiat currencies came the limitless inflation suffered episodically all over the world. Inflation comes to us from the Latin verb inflare meaning “to blow up”. This is an apt description since once it sets in, fiat currency inflation has only one possible outcome — dilution into worthlessness:
Central banking made many Zimbabweans the first broke-ass trillionaires, but certainly not the last.
Since breaking its peg to gold, the US dollar has lost over 97% of its relative value. The fiat currency printing press has proven to be the weapon of choice for political leaders to further their agendas and enrich themselves; it has also become the primary means for funding perpetual warfare. During the past century of central banking — which cunningly imposed its dominion over a large swath of the world’s gold supply through coercion and confiscation — there has been unprecedented per capita death in warfare, an ever-widening wealth disparity, and an incessant sequence of economic boom and busts fueled by the continual marginalization of paper currencies and, ultimately, the instantiation of fiat currencies. Today, all semblance of monetary integrity and sanity has been destroyed with citizens left optionless, forced to transact in softest form of money in history.
In the wake of the latest (and arguably the greatest) fiat-currency-fueled economic bust, the 2008 Great Recession, when central banks all over the world were busy printing more fiat currencies to recapitalize their financial institutions via the shadow tax of inflation, Satoshi Nakamoto released an open-source software project into the world. He, she, or they called it Bitcoin.
Primer on Bitcoin
(again, this Primer on Bitcoin may be skipped by the reader who understands Bitcoin’s general functionality/economic properties)
Bitcoin can be thought of as the first incarnation of self-sovereign money in digital form. Its transactions are irreversible, uncensorable, and unstoppable. In other words, Bitcoin is the world’s first digital bearer asset. Possession of Bitcoin is achieved by holding its private key, which is an alphanumeric data string that can be stored in analog, computer, or even human memory. Its absolutely scarce money supply is anchored to the most fundamental commodity in the universe — energy.
Bitcoin’s stock-to-flow ratio, the measure of its monetary hardness, increases (inevitably) every 4 years and will be about twice that of gold after its 2024 downward inflation rate adjustment (the halving); at this point, Bitcoin will definitively be the hardest form of money that has ever existed. Bitcoin’s uncompromising, apolitical monetary policy is enforced by unbreakable cryptography, hence this inevitability (as sure as 1+1=2). Its unrivaled hardness is made possible by an ever-rising production difficulty that requires expenditure of real world energy in a process called proof-of-work. This anchor to economic reality is also called mining — in an ode to the difficulty of gold production — and is the source of Bitcoin’s monetary integrity.
Bitcoin is also the world’s first asset with perfect supply inelasticity, as changes in its price have absolutely no impact on its supply flow. This means changes in demand for Bitcoin can only be expressed in its market price. If the price of gold increases, its new supply flow will increase as new miners enter the market and new methods of gold mining becoming economically feasible (since the gold miners can sell their product at a higher price), thereby applying downward pressure to its stock-to-flow ratio. With Bitcoin, no matter how much its price increases, it is absolutely impossible to create any new supply flow beyond its mathematically enforced and universally transparent issuance schedule. Also, a higher market price means a more secure Bitcoin network, as the resources allocated to mining are used to secure it. Like a vault with walls that thicken as more value is stored within it, Bitcoin adapts to become a more secure monetary network as its market capitalization grows. Absolute obstinance of the algorithmically enforced Bitcoin monetary policy drives a virtuous cycle that perpetuates the expansion of its network:
An ingenious composite of unbreakable cryptography and economic incentives causes Bitcoin to grow relentlessly.
Bitcoin’s money supply is absolutely scarce, meaning its monetary policy (or money supply) is fixed — only 21M units will ever exist. Before Bitcoin, only time itself exhibited the property of absolute scarcity. This means that its stock-to-flow ratio will continue to increase and eventually become infinite when the last Bitcoin is produced sometime in the middle of the 22nd century. Bitcoin’s monetary policy is becoming the most trusted in the world as it is fully transparent and unchangeable.
Bitcoin runs countervailing to government monetary policy which is uncertain, opaque, and subject to change based on the whim of bureaucrats. Essentially, we each must decide if we are to trust the whimsical nature of self- interested bureaucrats or the inviolable nature of mathematics to manage our money supply. Shockingly, whether we decide or not, the harsh economic reality of Bitcoin’s superior hardness is likely to be imposed upon us all, as history teaches us the economic consequences of hard money cannot be ignored. As we saw earlier, the free market for money is winner-take-all. Critically, Bitcoin is open-source, like a spoken language, and it is transcendent of regulations and the legal insulations that preserve the monetary monopolies of central banks.
So we have Bitcoin, the hardest form of money in history, competing directly with government money, the softest form of money in history. So long as Bitcoin continues to exist, it will likely continue to outcompete gold and fiat currency in the free market, and its market capitalization will grow. Eventually, each and every holder of any softer form of money (whether its gold or fiat currency) will be faced with the grim reality of a gradually, then suddenly, depreciating asset relative to Bitcoin’s ever-constricting new supply flow. Imposition of this harsh economic reality will be applied persistently and each of us will be faced with the same mathematical and market-driven dynamic that has catalyzed the evolution of money throughout history.
Hard money, as selected on the free market, reigned for the first 4,900 out of 5,000 years of human commercial history and all signs indicate we are witnessing its reemergence in the rise of Bitcoin. Before government intervention, money supply was not a matter of policy, but instead was governed by game-theoretic principles, a “policy” rooted in natural law. Since governments have imposed monetary monopolies in the form of central banks, trust has steadily been eroded in their ability to prudently maintain money supplies. Said differently, Bitcoin is the most credible monetary policy in human history disrupting the most untrustworthy monetary policies in human history. A bet on Bitcoin is that the competitive dynamics inherent to the market for money will continue to play out in the same way they have throughout all of history, thus making money supply a matter to be determined once again by the free market instead of central planners.
Armed with these primers on money and Bitcoin, we will now dive deeper into the various principles that comprise Ray’s worldview. Through this exploration, we will gain a more fundamental understanding of history, markets, and Bitcoin. We begin with Ray’s most renowned cultural creation — the idea meritocracy.
Idea Meritocracy
(p.540) “Idea-meritocratic decision making is better than traditional autocratic or democratic decision making in almost all cases.”
At the pinnacle of Ray’s worldview is the cultural paradigm he originated at Bridgewater — the idea meritocracy. As a distinct organizational style, it’s intended to eliminate all barriers to the free flow of information between people — including ego, hierarchy, and personal agendas. An idea meritocracy seeks to align itself with reason and become impervious to politics. As Ray puts it, (p.306) “Power should lie in the reasoning, not the position, of the individual. The best ideas win no matter who they come from.” Essentially, an idea meritocracy is a free market for ideas — a way of filtering ideas via a (simulated) form of natural selection. Instead of charging ranked positions with the authority of decision-making, an idea meritocracy attempts to foster an environment in which the ideas compete freely based on their own merits:
The idea meritocracy: an open environment for the proliferation and combination of the most meritorious ideas, free from manmade impediments such as ego, policy, and hierarchy.
As a free market capitalist, it is unsurprising that Ray developed this approach to organizational culture, as it has proven to be the most effective system for the most people. It was (repeatedly) well established in the 20th century that free markets (capitalism) function better than centrally planned markets (socialism). At the heart of any economic system is the problem of properly adapting resource allocations to the circumstances faced by people at any particular point in spacetime. In other words, the core economic problem is how to best distribute current knowledge of relative value and scarcity. Knowledge is intrinsically superfluid: it resides within many minds and is constantly changing in accordance with the ceaseless interpersonal interactions among individuals and their assessments (and reassessments) of market realities. The challenge of an economic system is to enable quick, continuous, and effective assimilation and dissemination of this knowledge to properly guide entrepreneurial actions.
Naturally, individual entrepreneurs are always most familiar with the prevailing economic circumstances specific to their time, place, and industry. As they see, hear, and touch the productive factors and influences most pertinent to their domains on an almost daily basis, entrepreneurs gain and maintain an intimate understanding of the ever-changing conditions relevant to their chosen occupation. Said differently, knowledge has a localized dimension to it: it surfaces continuously at all points in spacetime where entrepreneurial actions (involving decisions and trade-offs) and economic realities (involving value and scarcity) interface. Therefore knowledge, by its very nature, is inherently distributed among the minds of many. And free markets, comprised of entrepreneurial actions guided by accurate price signals (more on these shortly) are the best assimilators and disseminators of these localized pools of knowledge within an economy. Simply, the free market is a nexus in which many minds effectively become one.
Capitalism is an economic system that deals with the distributed nature of knowledge in a true-to-life, bottom-up way. In a free market, each entrepreneur is unobstructed to operate in his own best interest in pursuit of profits. Contending with the ever-present realities of value and scarcity, the actions of entrepreneurs, like the actions of a pilot guiding his aircraft via his navigational instruments, are guided by the market prices relevant to his profession. This is free market capitalism: a seemingly chaotic bricolage of entrepreneurial decisions, price reconfigurations, and capital flows coming together in a unified orchestration that harmonizes individual and collective self-interests.
For instance, let’s consider the case of Larry the lemon farmer. Being a farmer, Larry is primarily conscious of the cost of fertilizer, soil, and water; and keenly aware of his total cost structure relative to the expected market value of his lemon crop, as maintaining total revenues above total costs is necessary for entrepreneurial survival. Should a drought strike and drive up the scarcity of water, Larry will become aware of this economic reality through the increased price of water which will, in turn, cause him to increase the selling price of his lemons or cut costs elsewhere to maintain his profit margin. Critically, Larry can respond effectively to this drought based purely on the increased price of water without any direct knowledge of the drought itself or its causes. As entrepreneurs choose to buy and sell the various productive factors related to their occupations, the knowledge in their minds becomes encapsulated in and distributed by the prices of these factors to everyone else in the world who interacts with them in the marketplace.
As new experiences provide feedback that change the state of knowledge, entrepreneurs must be left free to rationalize their own economic affairs, take risks in accordance with their rationalities, and operate in an environment free of coercion or violence that would otherwise disrupt their business dealings. Government in intended to be this protective force, which uses its monopoly on violence to prevent violence within society, thus preserving the rule of law and people’s rights to private property. Unhampered, free market competition among entrepreneurs ensures that only those adding value to society can survive and thrive. This principle of non-interference and mutual respect form the essence of true free market capitalism. An excerpt from the masterful essay I, Pencil poetically explains the magic of free markets:
“I, Pencil, am a complex combination of miracles: a tree, zinc, copper, graphite, and so on. But to these miracles that manifest themselves in nature an even-more-extraordinary miracle has been added: the configuration of creative human energies — millions of tiny know-hows configurating naturally and spontaneously in response to human necessity and desire and in the absence of any human masterminding! Since only God can make a tree, I insist that only God could make me. Man can no more direct these millions of know-hows to bring me into being than he can put molecules together to create a tree…The above is what I meant when writing, “If you can become aware of the miraculousness that I symbolize, you can help save the freedom mankind is so unhappily losing.” For, if one is aware that these know-hows will naturally, yes, automatically, arrange themselves into creative and productive patterns in response to human necessity and demand — that is, in the absence of governmental or any other coercive masterminding — then one will possess an absolutely essential ingredient for freedom: a faith in free people. Freedom is impossible without this faith…The lesson I have to teach is this: Leave all creative energies uninhibited. Merely organize society to act in harmony with this lesson. Let society’s legal apparatus remove all obstacles the best it can. Permit these creative know-hows freely to flow. Have faith that free men and women will respond to the Invisible Hand. This faith will be confirmed. I, Pencil, seemingly simple though I am, offer the miracle of my creation as testimony that this is a practical faith, as practical as the sun, the rain, a cedar tree, the good earth.”
Standing in stark contrast to the economic system of free market capitalism is central planning (socialism). Central planning, as the name implies, means directing an entire economy in accordance with a single unified plan in a top-down, authoritarian, and unnatural way. In a socialistic economic system, a central entity owns and operates all the productive factors (capital, land, and, ultimately, its people) within a society. As such, this centralized body (usually old, stale, and pale white guys) is arrogantly assumed to possess all the knowledge and feedback loops necessary to form a completely (and continuously) accurate representation of the ever-changing economic realities navigated by its society. Whereas the free market is a form of ideological competition (akin to the idea meritocracy) intended to guide entrepreneurial actions consistent with economic reality, central planning is more akin to the ideological totalitarianism (akin to bureaucratism) associated with a traditional organizational hierarchy, where the merits of ideas are given short shrift and underlings unquestionably carry out the orders of their “superiors”.
Being completely misaligned with reality, socialism failed because it is a poor information system: with all productive factors singularly owned and controlled, the price signals necessary for adapting to changing market realities are inhibited from developing. This inevitably leads to the shortages, mass starvation, and societal disintegration commonly associated with socialism. For an acute visualization of the differences in societal vibrancy between capitalism and socialism, take a look at this shot:
This image of North and South Korea at night vividly illuminates the stark differences between opaque central planning in the north, and vibrant free market capitalism in the south.
If we learned nothing else in the 20th century, it is that free markets are better than centrally planned ones in across almost every conceivable dimension. Left to function freely in their natural state, markets consistently generate innovation that increases productivity, lowers costs, and improves quality of life for everyone in society. Just consider for a moment how much innovations such as the automobile, smart phone, and internet services have increased our personal freedoms and enriched our lives. Now consider how un-innovative and un-adaptive government-run functions like the DMV, Post Office, and central banks are. So the elephant in the room, then, is why, in light of overwhelming evidence favoring a free market economic system, do we still tolerate central planning of the largest market of all — the market for money. Again, money is simply a technology for moving value across spacetime. Although it is an ancient (and somewhat, thanks largely to propagandists, enigmatic) social technology, it is hardly different than any of the other things we produce and distribute via free market mechanisms all over the world today.
Coming back to the congruence between the free market and the idea meritocracy, we arrive at two useful formulas. First, the idea meritocracy is comprised of three key elements: In Ray’s words, (p.309):
“Idea Meritocracy = Radical Truth + Radical Transparency + Believability-Weighted Decision Making”
Now, let’s translate this equation into its comparable free market format:
Free Markets = Truthful Price Signals + Transparent and Reliable Rule of Law, Private Property Rights, and Hard Money + “Skin in the Game”-Weighted Decision Making
With these equations in mind, let’s now dive into each of their elements to gain a clear understanding of Ray’s idea meritocracy and its relationship to free markets. Once we fully unpack these concepts, we will go deeper into the other principles underpinning Ray’s approach to life and work, using them as filters to more fully observe the potential impact of Bitcoin on all aspects of life.
We begin our journey from the greatest force of freedom in the universe — the truth.
Radical Truth
(p.135) “Truth — or, more precisely, an accurate understanding of reality — is the essential foundation for any good outcome.”
The first element of Ray’s idea meritocracy is Radical Truth, the idea that gaining a clear perception of reality is paramount to facing it head on and dealing with it. In markets, its commonly said that “price is truth”; meaning that all known market realities are expressed in, and evaluated by, any particular asset’s price at any given moment. You may remember from Economics 101 that the market price is the intersection of supply (an objective quality) and demand (an intersubjective or opinion-based quality). Put another way, prices are data packets that convey information about scarcity (which is objective) and value (which is intersubjective). Each entrepreneur’s decision to buy or sell is influenced by prevailing prices and, in turn, communicates back into the market the state of economic conditions relevant to him which, in turn, influences the same decision-making of all other entrepreneurs within his market; this is intersubjective value. These decisions are based on actual availability of time, resources, and know-how; this is objective scarcity. This feedback loop is the means by which free markets dynamically adapt to express prices that accurately portray economic realities:
Price signals are the economic nervous signals of an economy. To remain healthy and honest, they must be expressed in an uncompromisable monetary medium.
Let’s return to Larry the lemon farmer: say a storm wipes out a large crop of lemons in California; reduced supply levels of lemons intersecting with an unchanged level of consumer demand necessarily means an increase in lemon prices. Increased prices incentivize lemon growers like Larry to produce more as they now fetch higher prices in the marketplace. On the other side of the lemon market, higher prices disincentivize consumers from buying as many of the sour yellow citrus fruit. As people respond to these ever-shifting incentives, which are a reflection of the endlessly shifting economic realities of supply and demand, free markets adapt to maximize output and minimize costs. In this way, price signals serve as a dynamic incentive system for equalizing supply and demand discrepancies in free markets. However, to maintain their truthfulness, these price signals must be freely expressed in a money that is undistorted by government interventionism.
A price signal converts countless economic complexities into simplicity; it compresses myriad market realities down into a single, actionable variable — the market price.
Accurate price signals only prevail if the market is freely competitive and not subject to government interventions such as price fixing, trade restriction, or legal monopoly insulation. In true free market capitalism, most markets are relatively unobstructed by such artifices and the price signals are, accordingly, mostly reliable conveyors of truth. Lemon prices, for instance, tend to reflect the actual underlying supply and demand (or scarcity and value) realities at any given point in time. The market for money, however, is quite different in the modern economy, and its differences have cascading effects across all other markets.
Money is economic water; in the same way water intermixes and intersperses organic chemicals throughout the circle of life, money mediates the interchange of goods, services, and knowledge within markets.
Money, as one half of virtually every economic exchange, is the largest market in the world. This market is monopolized by central banks in every major economy worldwide; meaning that all forms of money competitive to fiat currency are prohibited (see eGold). As Ray aptly points out, (p.533) “Fiefdoms are counterproductive and contrary to the values of an idea meritocracy.” Yet, for some reason, the economic fiefdoms called nation-states, which are antithetical to the free market paradigm (and, therefore, the idea-meritocratic paradigm), are commonplace. Even in the US, where we pride ourselves on being free market capitalists, we maintain this socialistic market structure for money. In this market, the following elements impact price expression of money:
· Supply — the amount of money available to be loaned out (aka loanable funds)
· Demand — the amount of loanable funds desired for borrowing
· Interest Rate — the price paid for funds borrowed
Central banks “manage” the market for money by controlling the supply of loanable funds and setting the interest rate (the price) at which these funds can be lent out. These central bank privileges are preserved by state-enforced monopoly rights, which insulate their mass-produced fiat currencies from competition and eliminate their “skin in the game”. Skin in the game, a crucial Talebian concept, is a property based on symmetry, a balance of incentives and disincentives: in addition to upside exposure, people must also be penalized if something for which they are responsible for goes wrong or hurts others. Skin in the game is a central pillar for properly functioning systems, of both the organic and inorganic variety, and is at the heart of hard money. For gold, its mining costs and risks form the disincentives which are balanced against the incentives of its market price. Central banks, through various schemes and machinations, eventually coopted the market for gold and developed an economic system that could create money without skin in the game; allowing them to privatize seigniorage profits and socialize any losses they incurred through inflation. Unless consequential decisions are made by people who are exposed to the results of their decisions, the system is vulnerable to total collapse; the frequent faltering of fiat currencies attests to the unfavorable asymmetry of this model for citizens.
Most commonly, as they have a direct financial incentive to do so, and with no downside to consider, central banks increase the supply of loanable funds and decrease the interest rate below its natural levels, thereby inducing an expansion of the money supply. Importantly, money supply expansion does not create any new wealth, as “printing money” does not infuse an economy with any new productive factors such as tools, factories, equipment, or human time. Instead, expansionary monetary policy only redistributes claims on productive assets from their rightful owners to those who receive the newly printed money first — usually bankers, politicians, and the other politically-favored-few closest to the spigot of liquidity (due to the Cantillon Effect). As Charles Holt Carroll said:
“Inflation is the surest way to fertilize the rich man’s field with the sweat of the poor man’s brow.”
Inflation of the money supply is a violation of private property rights, as it reallocates wealth away from its original owners (the many) into the hands of those closest to the governors of the monetary system (the few). But confiscation of wealth, via the shadow tax of inflation, is not the only collateral damage inflicted by money supply expansion. Entrepreneurs operating in these soft money economies are easily misled by the distorted price signals that centrally planned fiat currency markets inevitably cause.
To understand this, let’s look at the world through the lens of Larry the lemon farmer: emboldened by the “cheap” loans proffered by his local banker, Larry decides to borrow money to expand his lemon farm. He figures that borrowing enough money at 3% will allow him to expand and increase output of his farm by 2.5X, while only increasing his cost structure (including the 3% loan interest payable to his banker each year) by 2.3X. This economy of scale (the positive 0.2X margin between revenue growth of 2.5X and cost increase of 2.3X), Larry calculates, will drop straight to his bottom-line profit. So, Larry visits his local banker to sign the loan documents and sets out to expand his operation. At first, everything seems to be going smoothly as Larry gradually begins buying the additional land, fertilizer, and equipment necessary to grow and sell more lemons. However, things get sideways when other lemon farmers, lured by similar prospects of economic gain, also borrow from their local bank to expand their farms. As more lemon producers borrow and bid for the same lemon-farming assets, inflation sets in and prices begin to rise, thus increasing the cost structure of lemon production. Shortly after investing all his loan capital into his farm expansion, Larry finds that his cost structure has actually increased 2.8X due to more dollars chasing the same amount of productive factors for lemon farming. Gradually, then suddenly, the money Larry borrowed to expand his profit margin begins to work against him, as his increased capacity has eaten up his original profits and is now generating a loss (the negative 0.3X margin between revenue growth of 2.5X and cost increase of 2.8X, net of any prior profit margin). At this point, Larry has no choice except to increase his prices, cut costs, refinance, sell the farm, or declare bankruptcy. Under the same circumstances, other projects in other industries, misled into overborrowing by artificially cheap money, begin suffering losses as well.
An economy-wide simultaneous failure of overleveraged projects like Larry’s is called a recession. The boom and bust business cycle we have all grown accustomed to in the modern economy is an inevitable consequence of this centrally planned manipulation in the market for money. It is substantively no different than the shortages that would result if the price of bread was fixed at an artificially low level (which caused the starvation of millions in Soviet Russia). Artificially low interest rates don’t provide any benefit to the real economy, rather they simply disseminate distorted price signals that encourage entrepreneurs to embark on projects that cannot be profitably executed due to the (hard to foresee) impact of inflation on their cost structures. As with all well-functioning markets, the price of money must emerge through, and constantly reorient itself against, the natural interactions of supply and demand. Attempts to centrally plan this market only distort truth (price signals) and trigger overborrowing, recessions, and cause (or, at least, exacerbate) the boom-and-bust business cycle.
As money supplies become more opaque, so too do the critical price signals they carry back and forth between the minds of entrepreneurs.
The more opaque the present and future supplies of money, the more entrepreneurs suffer from this myopia, and the more stifled the economization of human action becomes. Price signal distortions like those faced by Larry result entirely from the opacity of central bank “managed” (read: manipulated) money supplies. Central banks are only able to perpetrate this scheme due to the legal monopolies (artificial barriers against free market competition) which shield their inferior monetary technologies (fiat currencies) from facing off with superior technologies (like gold) in the marketplace. Legal monopoly protections inhibit price discovery in the market for money (the natural interest rate). There is also ample evidence that central banks actively suppress the price of gold to preserve fiat currencies (see Gata.org). Further, if monetary technologies were freely selected and priced in the marketplace, as was the case when gold ascended to dominance, then everyone could more reliably use money as a store of value instead of being forced further out along the risk curve into stocks, real estate, and other scarce assets to protect their wealth from the ravages of inflation, which further distorts prices; the increasingly crowded unicorn club reflects just how distorted prices have become:
Money that cannot reliably hold its value across time forces people to make ever-riskier investments.
Simply put, price is truth; distorted money supplies distort the truthfulness of price signals and throw entrepreneurial action into disarray. At the heart of the cyclic booms and busts in the economy, then, is this distortion of the fundamental signaling which, in its current distorted state, misguides entrepreneurial action. Under these conditions of monetary socialism, trying to build a business is like trying to build a house in a jurisdiction that constantly changes the spatial values of its metric system; as Taleb puts it:
According to Wittgenstein’s ruler: Unless you have confidence in the ruler’s reliability, if you use a ruler to measure a table you may also be using the table to measure the ruler. The less you trust the ruler’s reliability, the more information you are getting about the ruler and the less about the table.
With an absolutely fixed supply, Bitcoin will restore the clarity of these economic nerve signals that are so critical to proper capital allocation, risk assessment, and entrepreneurial planning. Universal units of measurement are critical in economics and industry — the seconds, meters, kilograms, and other units of measurement we use throughout the world are all immutable in value. Upon these foundations of standardized measurement, the machinery of global commerce is constructed: builders of skyscrapers, electronics, and myriad other goods rely on the constancy of these measurement units when sourcing components and materials from around the globe. Money, too, is most communicative when its supply is immutable. As a purely objective monetary medium, once it accretes enough value to incentivize its users to spend it, Bitcoin denominated price signals will carry more truth than any other money in history.
Bitcoin is a monetary channel free from the noise of unexpected supply fluctuations, which necessarily means it carries the clearest signals. In this way, Bitcoin is the perfect conveyor of the data packets on value and scarcity known as price signals.
In terms of the idea meritocracy equation, we see that fiat currency is antithetical to radical truth and, its free market corollary, truthful price signals. On the other hand, Bitcoin is the most honest money imaginable, as every component of it, including its money supply, is viewable by everyone. In a world filled with fake news, click bait, and data breaches — Bitcoin is one of the rare instances of honesty in modernity. Central banking is the reverse; it is shrouded in complexities intended to hide its truth. Bitcoin is both radically truthful and transparent.
If money is economic water, then fiat currency is inscrutably murky, and Bitcoin is crystal clear.
Bitcoin’s transparency has already shed much light on the umbral industry of central banking and its shadowy tactics by sparking a renewed interest in Austrian economics and making an entire generation ask the question: “What is Money?”. We stand to gain even more clarity around Bitcoin’s impact on the world by diving into the second element of Ray’s idea meritocracy — radical transparency.
Radical Transparency
(p.308)“By radical transparency, I mean giving most everyone the ability to see most everything.”
Originally, capitalism was founded on the cornerstones of reliably consistent rule of law, private property rights, and hard money. Respectively, these cornerstones provided people non-violent dispute resolution, confiscation resistant assets, and a sound medium of exchange. With strong and reliable rules, entrepreneurs are then free to “play the game”, accumulating capital for themselves and diffusing any innovations gleaned in the process into the whole of society. For entrepreneurs to execute effectively, they must know the rules of the game, and must be able to trust that they are not subject to change. Imagine a poker player sitting at a table where the hand-rankings changed at the whims of the casino every few hands; without sound rules on which build a strategy, no player would remain engaged for long, and would quickly exit the game. Stability in these areas is among the primary reasons why the United States is such an attractive environment for investing; for the most part, its courts function well and contract law is enforced without bias. The exception, of course, is the violation of private property rights which results from centrally manipulated money supplies — in other words, the softness of the US dollar.
According to you Ray, “The most painful lesson that was repeatedly hammered home is that you can never be sure of anything: There are always risks out there that can hurt you badly, even in the seemingly safest bets, so it’s always best to assume you’re missing something”. Considered by many to be among the safest bets in the world today is the US Dollar — it is issued by the largest economy in the world, is “backed” by the world’s most militant taxing authority, and is accepted almost everywhere as a medium of exchange. Further, by unilateral decree (and a veiled threat of force), the US Dollar exclusively denominates the lifeblood commodity of the modern industrial economy, oil. The problem with the perceived safety of the US Dollar is the opacity of the rules which govern its existence: How many are there in existence? How many will be issued in years to come? Who gets to decide? Who stands to profit from its production? Even though the US Dollar today is just an SQL database maintained by The Fed that could choose to open its records to audit, it refuses.
https://twitter.com/_justinmoon_/status/1159598647815917568?s=21
Instead, The Fed sets monetary policy in closed door meetings and (only vaguely) communicates its intentions using ambivalent speech. To counterbalance this opacity, an army of macroeconomists, analyst, and market commentators pour over every detail of the statements issued by central bankers including not only their words, but their tone, delivery, and even wardrobes.
Imagine a semi-governmental agency being put in charge of setting the price of, say, automobiles based on undisclosed criteria and decided in closed-door meetings. Ask any “free market capitalist” if this seems like a good idea and he will spew vitriol at you for even suggesting such a socialistic method of managing the production of automobiles. Then ask him whether it’s a good idea for this same agency to control the price of communications technologies like laptops and smart phones. You’ll be met with the same answer and (perhaps) a loud American battle cry in support of free market capitalism. Finally, very smoothly point out to him that The Fed sets the pricing of the US Dollar (the interest rate), which is the United States’ most valuable export market, and does so based on undisclosed criteria and closed-door discussions. Although Keynesians have done a great job convincing many of the enigmatic nature of money, it is quite simply just a tool for moving value across spacetime, and as such should be priced and technologically selected on the free market (just like everything else in a truly capitalist society).
Sunlight is the best disinfectant; when everyone can see the criteria and process behind a decision they are more likely to deem in trustworthy. With Bitcoin, the algorithm which sets its monetary policy is totally transparent, meaning people can universally agree that the system is fair and unbiased. As an open-source monetary protocol, Bitcoin is essentially the principle of radical transparency in perpetual action. Similar to some of the management tools you’ve created Ray — such as the baseball cards, Dot Collector, Pain Button, etc. — Bitcoin can be thought of as a global monetary policy management tool. As a machine componentized by open-source software and entrepreneurial self-interest, it does the work facilitated by central banks today — maintaining monetary policy, reaching consensus as to account balances, and facilitating international value flows — without relying on the whims of bureaucrats who control state-backed monopolies on money. Bitcoin is the purely transparent alternative to the opacity of central banking; it is a beacon of light outcompeting an industry purposefully shrouded in darkness. Once properly understood, Bitcoin’s superior visibility inescapably enhances its believability. And once you see it, it cannot be unseen.
Bitcoin’s monetary policy (its new supply flow schedule) is becoming the most trusted in the world as it is fully transparent and unchangeable. Bitcoin runs countervailing to government monetary policy which is uncertain, opaque, and subject to change based on bureaucratic whim.
In terms of the idea meritocracy equation, Bitcoin restores the confiscation-resistance of money, which provides its users stronger property rights when compared to fiat currency. Importantly, Bitcoin also reestablishes the sorely lacking 3rd cornerstone of capitalism in an otherwise free world — hard money. As an economic good undergoing monetization on the free market, with a supply inelasticity destined to surpass that of gold, Bitcoin is resurrecting the free market capitalist triad. As it bears repeating: Bitcoin is both radically truthful and transparent.
As you’ve said Ray: (p.327) “Having nothing to hide relieves stress and builds trust.” Transparency and reliability is the essence of Bitcoin’s monetary policy. It is truly unique in that its supply is absolutely predictable and absolutely scarce. Bitcoin is the most credible monetary policy in history outcompeting the least trustworthy monetary policies in history; it is rapidly gaining a track-record superior to central banks across all dimensions — reliability, predictability, auditability, cost-effectiveness, and resistance to censorship or manipulation — thereby further eroding the believability of central bankers, which is in shorter supply with every dollar printed.
Believability-Weighted Decision Making
(p.284) “When you’re responsible for a decision, compare the believability-weighted decision making of the crowd to what you believe.”
When it comes to money, track records matter. People’s trust tends to coalesce slowly around the most stable from an exchange ratio perspective — in other words, what best maintains or gains purchasing power across time. In this respect, gold is undoubtedly the king, as it sports a more than 5,000 year history of remaining reliably scarce and, therefore, valuable. An ounce of gold has roughly equaled the price of a fine man’s suit for the past century, whereas the same suit’s price in dollars has skyrocketed. The best performing central bank fiat currency in history in the British pound, which has only lost 99.5% of its value in its 317 year existence. When it comes to value storage, gold has a believable track record, whereas fiat currencies could only barely be less believable. The hardness or soundness of money, as one of the three cornerstones of free market capitalism, has been almost completely compromised as a result of state-enforced monopolization.
For free markets to function optimally, its three cornerstones — rule of law, private property rights, and hard money — must be consistently applied across all market participants. While the rule of law and property rights are (mostly) sound in western society, centrally planned money supplies are quite the opposite. Without any reliable insight into the primary governance aspects of money (see Radical Transparency above), entrepreneurs are forced to rely on other means of protecting their wealth from theft or debasement. Simply, the implementation of fiat currency offers limited to no assurances to its users that their wealth will be protected from confiscation, censorship, inflation, or counterfeit.
Fiat currencies, when stored in banks, are subject to confiscation or payment censorship by authorities. When stored physically (say, under your mattress), fiat currencies are still subject to value dilution via inflation (the legalized version of counterfeiting). Although fiat currencies offer some physical security measures against counterfeiting (the criminalized version of inflation), this has proven to be a cat and mouse game in which counterfeiters and authorities are constantly trying to outsmart one another in the domain of currency verification technologies.
Bitcoin, on the other hand, is a purely sound money and offers robust assurances to its users. It is resistant to confiscation, as only the possessor of a private key (an alphanumeric string of data) can produce the digital signature necessary to spend it. Bitcoin transactions cannot be censored due to the peer-to-peer and open-source nature of its software architecture. Complete immunity to unforeseen changes in its money supply is guaranteed by unbreakable cryptography and the economic self-interest of miners which secure its network. Finally, since the rules which govern Bitcoin can be verified by anyone, anywhere, and at any time — it is completely counterfeit resistant. Indeed, it is its radically transparent nature that makes Bitcoin the most believable monetary technology in history. Monetary opacity always leads to moral hazard on the part of policymakers.
With decades of experience seeing these hazards explode up close, Ray has said, (p.107) “The job of a policymaker is challenging under the best of circumstances, and it’s almost impossible during a crisis. The politics are horrendous and distortions and outright misinformation from the media make things worse.” So this begs the question: why should we permit policymakers to dictate monetary policy? As “free market capitalists”, we make no such concessions in any other market in the world. We don’t trust a board of governors to tell us how many automobiles to manufacture or at what price to sell laptops each year, so why should we trust central banks to set price and production targets the largest market in the world? As with all production decisions, the free market — representing the collective interests, intelligence, and wisdom of all economic actors — is always the best generator of (low) believable prices, new innovations, and consumer satisfaction.
Controlling monetary policy is like being crowned king of the world. As a fat-cat banker once said:
Money is an instrument of freedom; controlling its supply grants control over its users.
For this reason, most of the world’s wars have been waged in an attempt gain control over this contentious crown. And to control monetary policy, it is necessary to dominate the original monetary sovereignty layer of planet Earth — gold. For instance, during World War II, North America became a geographically-strategic safe haven for European gold hoards to protect them from Nazi plundering. At the conclusion of World War II, into which the United States ultimately intervened to destroy its war-wearied opponents and declare itself victorious, the Brettonwoods Conference was convened in which the rules of the global economic were rewritten by the newly self-proclaimed king — the United States. This conference cemented The Fed as the effective central bank of the world and the US dollar as the world reserve currency.
Even if you are a believer in monetary socialism, you would be hard pressed to defend the believability of central bankers. As you said Ray, “Think about people’s believability, which is a function of their capabilities and their willingness to say what they think. Keep their track records in mind.” In terms of capabilities, central banks have arrogated themselves virtually unlimited latitude to manipulate the supply and price of fiat currency. However, they have exercised these privileges based on (largely) undisclosed criteria and are notorious for their veiled communication styles. In other words, central bankers seem quite unwilling to say what they think (which violates the first thing necessary for an idea meritocracy) and their decision-making criteria is shrouded in falsehood. As Michel de Montaigne once wrote:
“If falsehood had, like truth, but one face only, we should be upon better terms; for we should then take for certain the contrary to what the liar says: but the reverse of truth has a hundred thousand forms, and a field indefinite, without bound or limit.”
In regards to track records, central bankers likely hold the world record for the most abysmal performance history. Since reputation cannot be printed, and must be earned through a lifetime of honesty, it is unsurprising that central banks have struggled in this respect. Historically, every fiat currency has trended towards worthlessness, which has only dragged the believability of this monetary model ever-downward. Mandated with price stabilization and employment maximization, The Fed has failed miserably at both, especially since severing the peg to gold in 1971; here, we show the US dollar’s loss of purchasing power since 1775:
The softer money becomes, the more it trends towards absolute worthlessness.
Central banker opinion-driven money supplies are proportionately reliable to the value storage functionalities of the ever-softening fiat currencies they mass produce. Bitcoin’s fact-driven money supply is as reliable as the mathematics and thermodynamics which sanctify its inviolable ledger. Opinions are like soft money, in that they can easily be diluted and distorted. Facts are like hard money, in that they are rooted in scientific realities. Said simply: do we believe the largest market in the world is best governed by opinion or fact? Buying Bitcoin is buying a put option on central banker malfeasance. As Travis Kling says:
https://twitter.com/Travis_Kling/status/1181647574861832193
More fundamentally: how can we possibly believe that central bankers will perform well when they completely lack skin in the game? As Taleb puts it:
“Systems don’t learn because people learn individually –that’s the myth of modernity. Systems learn at the collective level by the mechanism of selection: by eliminating those elements that reduce the fitness of the whole, provided these have skin in the game. Food in New York improves from bankruptcy to bankruptcy, rather than the chefs individual learning curves –compare the food quality in mortal restaurants to that in an immortal governmental cafeteria. And in the absence of the filtering of skin in the game, the mechanisms of evolution fail: if someone else dies in your stead, the build up of asymmetric risks and misfitness will cause the system to eventually blow-up.”
Totally disconnected from the consequences of their policy actions, which are instead born by citizens, central bankers are incentivized to maintain the status quo to preserve their jobs and “prestige”. Money, the largest and most critical market in the world, simply cannot evolve without practitioners who are subjected to real world consequences and tradeoffs, in real time. Simply, if you lack skin in the game then you lack believability. This explains why ancient Roman architects were required by law to stand beneath their monolithic arches when the scaffolding was removed. This (deadly) disincentive to malperformance worked wonders, as some of the oldest arches constructed in this way are still standing at over 2,000 years of age. If only central bankers were subjected to the devastation they inflict on centrally planned economies should their decision-making not work out, then perhaps the world would still be on a gold standard and the dire need for Bitcoin would be lessened.
Parading themselves as the healers of economic crises, central bankers are actually the creators of these calamities. QE, TARP, NIRP, and other interventions inflict a heavy iatrogenic cost on society; and the harm done is further compounded by the agency problem (central bankers have no skin in the game, and therefore have conflicted interests when it comes to managing money supplies).
So, in terms of the idea meritocracy formula, it is clear that central banking fails to satisfy its third element of Believability-Weighted Decision Making, instead, the prevailing economic order seems to promote the least believable people into the driver’s seat of the world economy. Translated into the free market formula terms, this is an expectant result as these policymakers suffer from the agency problem and are rendered impotent without “Skin in the Game”-Weighted Decision Making. In this sense, Bitcoin is the reverse; its node operators and miners govern the system, all of whom have skin in the game and, therefore, possess more believable decision-making capabilities — just like the ancient architects who stood beneath their newly un-scaffolded arches.
To put it all together in terms of our original equations; we began with:
Which translates to this free market format:
Free Markets = Truthful Price Signals + Transparent and Reliable Rule of Law, Private Property Rights, and Hard Money + ‘Skin in the Game’-Weighted Decision Making
Based on what we’ve learned so far, we can translate these equations once again into central banking and Bitcoin versions:
Central Banking = Untruthful Price Signals + Transparent and Reliable Rule of Law, Marginalized Private Property Rights (due to violations via inflation), and Soft Money + “Agency Problem”-Weighted Decision Making
Bitcoin = (Absolutely) Truthful Price Signals + Transparent and Reliable Rule of Law, Private Property Rights, and (Absolutely) Hard Money + “Skin in the Game”-Weighted Decision Making
Clearly, only Bitcoin is 100% consistent with the equation for free markets; whereas fiat currency is almost entirely inconsistent. Since this free market equation is equivalent to the idea-meritocratic equation, we may deduce: Bitcoin is completely consistent with Ray’s formulation of the idea meritocracy, and fiat currency is not.
Therefore, because math, Bitcoin is both a free market and an idea meritocracy.
So, Ray, assuming your Principles are stated forthrightly, how can you possibly be a non-believer in Bitcoin? As you said Ray, (p.379) “When someone says ‘I believe X,’ ask them: What data are you looking at? What reasoning are you using to draw your conclusion?” So let me ask you Ray: after Bitcoin’s impeccable performance for over a decade (over 99.98% uptime, never been hacked, evolution into the most secure computing network in the world, roughly $200B in market capitalization, and over $1T of transactions cleared in total), what data and reasoning are you using to draw your conclusion about Bitcoin?
My guess is that like many smart people, you may have disregarded Bitcoin at the outset. In accordance with one of your favorite principles, I implore you to keep an open mind about Bitcoin and, perhaps, you will come to see it as an embodiment of open-mindedness itself. In that spirit, let’s dive deeper.
Open-Mindedness
(p. 187) “If you can recognize that you have blind spots and open-mindedly consider the possibility that others might see something better than you — and that the threats and opportunities they are trying to point out really exist — you are more likely to make good decisions.”
Open-mindedness is a key aspect of both an idea meritocracy and evolution. It is a concept closely related with filtering and optionality: a form of non-cognitive intelligence intrinsic to natural systems in which exposure to multiple potentialities is employed, allowing the system to “learn” by adopting what works and discarding what doesn’t. An interesting paradox is discovered in that this openness is the source of Mother Nature’s opaque logic — as Taleb puts it:
“Evolution proceeds by undirected, convex bricolage or tinkering, inherently robust, i.e., with the achievement of potential stochastic gains thanks to continuous, repetitive, small, localized mistakes. What men have done with top-down, command-and-control science has been exactly the reverse: interventions with negative convexity effects, i.e., the achievement of small certain gains through exposure to massive potential mistakes…Simply, humans should not be given explosive toys (like atomic bombs, financial derivatives, or tools to create life)”
Close-mindedness, on the other hand, represents a rigid fixity on an existing knowledge framework that excludes the possibility of learning, innovation, and evolution. Without a culture of open-mindedness, organizations fail to learn and adapt well, and begin to suffer losses at the hands of more fit competitors. Sheltered from market discipline by their legally fortified monopoly positions, central bankers become feeble minded while, at the same time, their monetary technologies become brittle and maladapted to shifts in user demand.
Open-mindedness is an ever-present state of mind, a keen awareness of optionality and the freedom to filter; to change one’s mental or organizational model, to reform one’s prior assessment of conditions based on new information or a new vantage on old information (Bayesian inference).
Here, we see another perspective on the ineffectiveness of central planning — by moving in accordance with a single, rigid plan of action, the economy gets locked into a non-opportunistic course of action; it becomes blind to optionality and, thus, close-minded. For institutions, innovations, and individuals, close-mindedness is fatal. As legendary physicist Richard Feynman said, “we can never be sure we’re right, we can only be sure we’re wrong” — this is why open-mindedness matters across all spheres of human action.
Open-mindedness in the technological realm is manifests in the form of open-source technologies; tools sporting schematics that anyone can inspect, modify, or enhance. Ray incorporates this principle into his culture at Bridgewater and in the “management tools” his team uses to make organizational and investment decisions. Bridgewater’s management tools are open-source by design so that they can consistently adapt to offer the highest utility to its workforce. As Ray says, (p.527) “Because the thinking behind the algorithms is available to everyone, anyone can assess the quality of the logic and its fairness, and have a hand in shaping it.” By applying the principle of radical transparency to his management toolset, Ray encourages a culture of open-mindedness by making their tools open to critique and change, in the same way ideas are assessed openly based on their merits alone within his cultural paradigm. This approach ensures that everyone maintains a perspective of “why are we doing it this way” and “is the tool helping us achieve our objectives as an organization”.
Essentially, by practicing open-mindedness, the team at Bridgewater supports their effort to operate as an idea meritocracy. In effect, Bridgewater has structured itself as an open-source organization in which its team learns and grows by, (p. 67) “Wrestling with the markets, thinking independently and creatively about how to make our bets, making mistakes, bringing those mistakes to the surface, diagnosing them to get at their root causes, designing new and better ways of doing things, systematically implementing the changes, making new mistakes, and so on.” Whether you realize it or not Ray, you have been cultivating a culture based on the ethos of open-source technology.
Open-source technology is readily inspectable and, therefore, trust-minimized. Openness lets it absorb feedback from many sources to adapt in response changing market conditions and user demand. These technologies are absolutely transparent and auditable, which minimizes the need to trust other people when using these tools to interact. Trust-minimization is one of the primary benefits of that ancient open-source monetary technology — gold. Since trading partners couldn’t necessarily trust each other, they could instead rely on the natural laws restricting the supply of gold and use time-honored techniques for assaying its authenticity (until coinage fulfilled, then repeatedly violated, this trust function), thus minimizing the need to trust counterparties to a transaction.
Closed-source technology is the reverse and thus requires users to trust in its purveyor; it is unauditable and, therefore, maladapted to market conditions and user demand. In the case of fiat currency, this purveyor is a monopolist and, as many of us learned in Economics 101, profit maximization for a monopolist comes at great expense to everyone else. Fiat currency is closed-source technology that is legally protected from audits and competing monetary technologies. Such opacity and market insulation not only slows the rate of monetary technology innovation, it also erodes the trustworthiness of fiat currency, and fattens its monopolists:
Agustin Carstens, head of the Bank of International Settlements, the central bank of central banks. Just a soft guy, slinging soft money.
As you’ve said, “Adaptation through rapid trial and error is invaluable” — this is the ethos of open-source. Bitcoin, being open-source, is like a language, as its source code and transaction history are universally transparent and can even be printed onto paper (interestingly, this makes it protected under the First Amendment in the United States). Further, Bitcoin is supported by a global network of volunteer programmers. These programmers are self-interested in the sense that they are almost always Bitcoin owners as they are aligned with its purpose philosophically, and therefore stand to gain financially from its improved functionality and network growth. The work of these open-source programmers closely mirrors Ray’s approach to organization building, in which he creates systems that encourage others to (p.64) “Put honest thoughts on the table, have thoughtful disagreements in which people are willing to shift their opinions as they learn, and have agreed-upon ways of deciding if disagreements remains so that we can move beyond them without resentments”. Again Ray, your approach to culture and management style mirrors the philosophy of open-source technology.
Ray, is there any reason you believe Bridgewater should benefit from open-source tools while society should suffer under closed-source fiat currency? Shouldn’t citizens everywhere have access to the most open and highest quality feature-set for the most important technology in their lives — money?
Bitcoin’s openness is key to its competitive superiority as money. Over the past decade, its global army of volunteer programmers has greatly enhanced the utility of the Bitcoin network. However, and this is critical, these programmers are unable to change the rules of Bitcoin due to its ingenious social contract implementation. Further, since everyone (every node) is “in charge” of the Bitcoin network, it adheres well to Ray’s advice to, “Make sure that those in charge are open-minded about the questions and comments of others.” This constant scrutiny and feedback from users, each of whom has skin in the game and is “in charge”, ensures that Bitcoin is always functioning at or near its optimum. Contrarily, fiat currency has undergone essentially no innovation since its inception.
Due to its open-source nature, Bitcoin is sometimes referred to as “the internet of value”. In the same way the internet is a set of open-source protocols for exchanging data (called the internet protocol suite), Bitcoin is an open-source protocol for exchanging value. Such openness ensures that Bitcoin’s code cannot be manipulated to benefit anyone at the expense of anyone else. Fiat currency is the opposite; its central planners are, at their own discretion and at near-zero cost, able to siphon value from its monetary network by inflating its supply (such “technology backdoors” are only possible with fiat currency). In regards to how to kill Bitcoin, the “internet of value” analogy also gives us the useful comparative question: How would one turn off the entire internet worldwide, permanently? Governments have proven adept at eliminating centralized entities, however the decentralized nature of the internet and Bitcoin in many ways transcend the coercive and compulsory powers of governments (which is why America can’t regulate Bitcoin).
The openness of Bitcoin also makes it antifragile, meaning it becomes hardened by hostility. As you’ve said, “The key to success lies in knowing how to both strive for a lot and fail well.” Open-source, decentralized, digital tools like Bitcoin are uniquely capable of organizing human efforts without a central coordinator at unprecedented scales (strive for a lot) and also become enhanced in the face of technical failings (fail well). Stressors to Bitcoin may come in the form of an external attack on its network or an attempt to fork its blockchain. After 11 years of nearly flawless operation within a relentlessly adversarial environment, Bitcoin has earned its fair share of battle scars (Bitcoin cash, Segwit, etc). Each time Bitcoin withstands an attack, its reputation for network security, reliability, and immutability is strengthened.
Bitcoin is a technology that has accrued value on the free market based on its credibility as money. Unlike fiat currency which persists only because of a government-enforced refugium from competing technologies, Bitcoin persists based on its own merits. Indeed, Bitcoin is a free market for converting electricity into digital gold — it is outcompeting (literal) monopoly monies worldwide and, by doing so, making the market for money free once again (as we saw in the Gilded Age). Similar to the internet outcompeting intranets, Bitcoin is outcompeting fiat currencies because of its superior openness and monetary traits:
In the monetary ocean, Bitcoin is a blue whale feasting on large swarms of soft money plankton.
As you’ve said Ray, (p.189) “To be radically open-minded, you need to be so open to the possibility that you could be wrong that you encourage others to tell you so.” Unhampered competition incentivizes others to prove you wrong in the marketplace by discovering better or cheaper ways of producing or doing things — this is the very essence of free market capitalism. In truly free markets individuals are maximally sovereign and ruthlessly pursue satisfaction of their wants, which keeps entrepreneurs ever-vigilant in their quest to deliver high quality at a fair price. This unabated pursuit makes free markets generators of quality, innovation, and cost-effectiveness. The reverse is true in monopolized markets — which maximize profits for monopolists at the expense of customers in the form of lower quality (low innovation) and higher prices (market distortions, egregious fees, and value confiscation via inflation).
As you’ve said in regard to open-source technology Ray, (p.528) “Though the system won’t be perfect, it is much less arbitrary — and can much more easily be examined for bias — than the much less specified and much less open decision making of individuals with authority.” Here you are describing the value of Bitcoin’s immutable monetary policy, which is totally free of arbitrariness, and its incentive-oriented design (people are incentivized to use Bitcoin, see feedback loop in Primer on Bitcoin) over central bank’s arbitrary monetary policy and disincentive-oriented design (people who attempt to compete with or refuse to use fiat currencies are punished). Further, the institutional web surrounding central bank interests is so complicated and holistically unfathomable, it is more prone to arbitrages by insiders, accumulation of systemic risks, and blow ups:
Clear as mud, and twice as dirty.
This messy, closed-source system is bureaucratic, inefficient, and fragile. The main point: open-mindedness is the key to the adaptivity and, thus, the longevity of natural systems. As open-source money, Bitcoin excels in this respect. And money, a long time before government, arose as a natural market phenomenon.
(p.140): “Whenever I observe something in nature that I (or mankind) think is wrong, I assume that I’m wrong and try to figure out why what nature is doing makes sense.”
Ray’s introductory observation here is consistent with the wisdom of Taleb, who said, “what Mother Nature does is rigorous until proven otherwise; what human and science do is flawed until proven otherwise.” Clearly, this is a damning indictment of fiat currencies, which are unnatural monies born of unnatural laws. Gold and silver, on the other hand, rose to become natural monies precisely because of natural laws, which are beyond the reach of mankind’s prying hands, and which bestowed them with the traits of good money. Similar to the (mostly) uncompromising rules governing gold, the rules governing Bitcoin are founded in the (absolutely) uncompromising laws of mathematics — nature’s fundamental language:
Bitcoin is the fusion of two universal languages: money and mathematics.
As you’ve said Ray, (p.141) “nature optimizes for the whole, not for the individual, but most people judge good and bad based only on how it affects them.” This is what’s wrong with putting individuals in charge of money supplies — they are directly incentivized to produce ever-more money and use it to acquire hard assets (like land, gold, and businesses) and pass on the costs of production (monetary value dilution via supply inflation) to all other market participants, who are legally coerced into using increasingly value-compromised fiat currencies.
As a social technology so fundamental to human cooperation, like spoken language itself, money, to offer the highest utility to the most people, must be governed by rules that cannot be manipulated to benefit one person over another. Somewhat counterintuitively, for money to benefit the most people, governance over its supply must be beyond the reach of everyone. This is why gold ascended to become money on the free market and why it remains the sole instrument for final settlement among central banks today. As the hardest natural money in the world, gold remains the prime monetary sovereignty layer on Earth. From an accounting perspective, where Assets = Equity + Liabilities, gold is purely equity-based, as physically possessing a gold asset is 100% equity and 0% liability; whereas fiat currency is debt-based, as it requires trust in the issuer, its taxing authority, and any payment intermediary associated with its use at any given time.
Simply, gold is the king of natural money; it arose to the role of money as a result of free market processes which, themselves, are operations of nature. Fiat currencies, on the other hand, are artificial; they can only exist in economies where people are coerced into using them via artifices like legal tender laws, capital controls, confiscatory actions, and other anticompetitive restrictions on the market for money. The impetus for fiat currencies existence arises from egoic desires of man like greed, control, and protectionism.
Whereas central banking converts human greed into a race to debase fiat currencies, which inevitably destabilizes economies over time, Bitcoin converts greed into network resiliency and reliability. Bitcoin ingeniously combines the self-interestedness inherent to human nature with electricity and converts them into indisputable records and expansion of its monetary network. The Bitcoin network is itself an embodiment of a free market, where any entrepreneur with access to sufficiently cheap electricity and the necessary hardware can freely enter the market as a miner, that is disrupting the monopolization over the market for money worldwide.
In this sense, Bitcoin is a fractalized free market; its network of miners compete freely to forge an absolutely scarce money that exists outside the scope of monopoly-preserving artifice, thus impressing its free market characteristics onto the world market for money and giving people an alternative to monetary socialism.
Free markets represent a natural organizing principle for humanity that converts the pursuit of individual self-interests into improvement of its collective interests (in Talebian lingo: anti-iatrogenics). This spontaneous order generated by free markets has persisted, to a greater or lesser extent, ever since mankind started trading. Free markets, as an organizing principle, are among the most important in the world as they transmute greed into higher productivity, lower prices, and a stream of new, innovative ideas. What excuse is there, then, to tolerate an unfree market for money? As you’ve said Ray, (p.281) “Remember that most people will pretend to operate in your interest while operating in their own.” This is exactly what the private owners of central banks have been doing for over a century — operating in their own self-interest, under the aegis of government-enforced monopolies, at the expense of everyone else. In this sense, central banking could be the most successful con artistry at scale ever perpetrated.
In nature, energy expenditure is required prior to eating. Plants harvest sunlight into sugar, herbivores spend much of their lives standing and eating plants, and carnivores push themselves to full exertion episodically to hunt. As the 1st Law of Thermodynamics teaches, there is no free lunch in this universe. If there appears to be, you can be sure that hidden risks are accumulating as nature inevitably optimizes for the whole and will eventually restore balance — suddenly and violently if a state of sufficient disequilibrium is reached. Central banks, via the printing press, have spent over a century enjoying a perpetual “free lunch” where control over assets is continuously reallocated from the many to the few; Bitcoin is a (relatively) sudden monetary phenomenon and an economically violent force against banking cartels that is restoring equilibrium to the global economic order.
Bitcoin mining, although often demonized for being tremendously wasteful, may actually have a profoundly positive impact on the world environment. Although this has not been conclusively proven yet, there is research which supports this claim and deductive reasoning suggests it to be true. Consider the following excerpts from a report on this matter:
“Because bitcoin mining is highly mobile compared to overall power demand, it might actually be a boon for global stranded renewables…Whereas traditional industrial and residential power demand is largely geographically captive — be it by proximity to cities, resources, transport links or whatever other factors determine the location of such entities — bitcoin mining can be undertaken pretty much anywhere…This means that some of our most promising sources of renewable energy remain untapped due to their remote locations…Bitcoin mining is a relentless race to the lowest electricity costs and therefore — as explored by Dan Held and Nic Carter — acts as an electricity buyer of last resort…In this manner, bitcoin mining — which offers the possibility of immediate electricity monetization independent of grid connection — can play a vital part in the renewables development cycle.”
What is an energy buyer of last resort? Nic Carter gives us a useful visualization:
Nic Carter is really smart.
In this sense, Bitcoin mining is as natural as the free market processes of which it is composed. Instead of boiling the oceans, Bitcoin mining may actually help us to clean them up. Ray, as a thalassophile, I am sure this prospect must excite you, maybe you just haven’t looked deeply enough at the nature of this new money to understand its potential environmental impact yet? After all, Bitcoin mining is among the most efficient uses of energy in the world, and increasing mankind’s collective energy efficiency (aka productivity) is the entire purpose of the world economy in the first place:
Life is all about energy efficiency; it’s why we tinker, trade, and enjoy laying down.
In a profound sense, as Friar Hass says, Bitcoin is nature; a new form of life — a digital organism. Ralph Merkle, famous cryptographer and inventor of the Merkle tree data structure, has a remarkable way of describing Bitcoin:
“Bitcoin is the first example of a new form of life. It lives and breathes on the internet. It lives because it can pay people to keep it alive. It lives because it performs a useful service that people will pay it to perform. It lives because anyone, anywhere, can run a copy of its code. It lives because all the running copies are constantly talking to each other. It lives because if any one copy is corrupted it is discarded, quickly and without any fuss or muss. It lives because it is radically transparent: anyone can see its code and see exactly what it does.
It can’t be changed. It can’t be argued with. It can’t be tampered with. It can’t be corrupted. It can’t be stopped. It can’t even be interrupted.
If nuclear war destroyed half of our planet, it would continue to live, uncorrupted. It would continue to offer its services. It would continue to pay people to keep it alive.
The only way to shut it down is to kill every server that hosts it. Which is hard, because a lot of servers host it, in a lot of countries, and a lot of people want to use it.
Realistically, the only way to kill it is to make the service it offers so useless and obsolete that no one wants to use it. So obsolete that no one wants to pay for it, no one wants to host it. Then it will have no money to pay anyone. Then it will starve to death.
But as long as there are people who want to use it, it’s very hard to kill, or corrupt, or stop, or interrupt.”
Bitcoin is a technology, like the hammer or the wheel, that survives for the same reason any other technology survives: it provides benefits to those who use it. It can be understood as a spontaneously emergent protocol that serves as a new form of uninflatable money and an unstoppable payments channel. Structurally, the Bitcoin network reflects a quintessential manifestation commonly found in nature — the decentralized network archetype:
Clockwise from the top left: the human heart, lightning, the human brain, a fungal mycelium network, roots from a tree, an aerial view of the Grand Canyon, branches from a tree, and a cosmic web of galactic superclusters in the deep universe (the largest observable structure known at over 1 billion lightyears across).
The decentralized network archetype found in nature is the antecedent to paradigm shifting innovations throughout history such as the railroad system, the telegraph, the telephone, the power distribution grid, the internet, social media and now Bitcoin.
Although fiat currency is commonly held as the “natural order of things” in modernity (a fallacious form of monetary uniformitarianism), it is precisely the opposite. As you’ve said Ray, (p.280) “to be great, one can’t compromise the uncompromisable.” What excuse was there to compromise the redeemability of dollars for natural money or to so heavily dilute the value of fiat currencies over time? These machinations were solely designed to enhance the expropriative abilities of bankers, bureaucrats, and politicians throughout history; letting them effectively default on their debts and pass on the real costs to citizenries. Far from being a natural form of money, fiat currency became dominant in the world at the end of a long chain of causality — a chain rooted in a flawed system that incentivizes people to operate with smaller time horizons and a zero-sum mentality.
Chains of Cause and Effect
(p.127) “I believe that everything that happens comes about because of cause-effect relationships that repeat and evolve over time.”
Different institutional structures and incentive systems produce different human behaviors. Fiat currency is the most recent, and most extreme, act of money supply manipulation — a practice engaged in by all those who gained the ability to do so throughout history. Interestingly, it was a drawback of monetary metals, the difficulty of assaying their value and authenticity, which gave rise to coinage. The “public stamp” emblazed on the face of coins (usually with a smug emperor’s face) served as the veracity that entrepreneurs of old relied upon, thus converting the need to verify (or assay) money used in each transaction into the need to trust a state-stamped corroboration of monetary value. Almost every time coinage arose, it was not long before rulers engaged in the act of “coin clipping” in which they would periodically gather the coins from the citizenry, melt them down and mint them into newer versions with the same face value but less precious metal content, keeping the residual content to enrich themselves. People, of course, were outraged, as the expression of their preference for hard money was stifled; but this is an unsurprising effect of central planning.
When it comes to economic systems, free markets make customer preferences irrefutable; central planning causes them to become irrelevant.
Similar to modern day inflation, coin clipping was a way of surreptitiously taxing the population by debasing its currency. Nero, the infamous emperor of the Roman Republic, was the first to engage in this deceptive practice. In doing so, he set a malicious precedent that would be emulated by many successive emperors (and later, central bankers) across many different eras and empires. Each time the value-storage integrity of money was compromised by coin clipping or supply inflation, it was only a matter of time before the society which it bound together started to unravel. Centralizing control over a money supply always has, and always will, lead to expanded wealth disparity as those few (rulers, politicians, central bankers) who can extract value from the many (citizens) have always given in to this temptation. Eventually, this parasitism leads to social unrest and, ultimately, revolt.
Interestingly, as the problem of assaying monetary metals shifted the monetary trust function unto the state-backed coinage, this gave demagogues the means to violate the trust placed in their “public stamps” to enrich themselves. Had a monetary technology existed historically that was sufficiently counterfeit and confiscation resistant (like Bitcoin), government may have never grown to become such a significant institution in human affairs. Hard to believe perhaps, but true. Lack of trustworthy money caused the state to flourish; over time, the invention of perfectly credible money may, as a side effect, render the nation-state model anachronistic.
Money is the mechanism through which people market-price and exchange their time; it is the trust fabric through which people weigh opportunity costs and decide where to invest their finite energies and capital. When this cooperative mechanism is manipulated by rulers, the societies which run on the softening money begin to disintegrate as trust in the currency deteriorates, thus inhibiting trade and reversing the division of labor. This causes prices to rise and economic crisis to take hold. Unproperly channeled into a centrally planned economic system instead of a free market, greed becomes inherently self-annihilating.
Greed destroys fiat currencies, but greed secures the Bitcoin network.
Instead of learning these lessons of history, central banks pushed this monetary parasitism to unprecedented extremes. According to you Ray, “From 1950 until 1980, debt, inflation, and growth moved up and down together in steadily larger waves, with each bigger than the one before, especially after the dollar’s link to gold was broken in 1971.” The unitary motion of these economic forces was no coincidence. By breaking the peg to gold in 1971, Nixon set the world on an irreversible course that would be marked by successively larger recessions and (attempted) compensatory rounds of quantitative easing. This death-stroke to the gold standard moved the world into uncharted monetary territory, and became the cause of myriad economic and social problems. Here, we will highlight a few of them (for more on this, check out www.wtfhappenedin1971.com )
With the store of value functionality of money broken, people began using their homes as savings vehicles, which inflated a housing bubble that bursts in 2008 with disastrous consequences:
The above housing bubble tells another tale of fiat disease: when people use residential real estate as a store of value, whether it’s their residence or not, they needlessly drive up the price of shelter, a basic human need. In this way, central banking generates homelessness.
By breaking money’s anchor to reality, control over productive assets was steadily shifted into fewer hands with each economic recession and round of money printing (via the Cantillon effect). This caused an unprecedented decoupling of productivity and wage growth:
This divergence between productivity and compensation meant that more value was being captured by the most wealthy at the expense of the poorest:
Such distortions and wealth redistributions are the inescapable effects of monetary central planning. By manipulating the price of money (the interest rate) central banks spur over-borrowing, capital misallocation, and market distortions. By holding the interest rate below its naturally determined value (at the intersection of the supply and demand curves for loanable funds), central banks interrupt the natural chains of cause and effect which maintain dynamic market equilibria. This, in turn, causes market price movements to become more a function of monetary policy than of actual supply and demand curves. Ray observed this firsthand: “In 1978–80 (as in 1970–1971 and in 1974–75) different markets began to move in unison because they were more influenced by swings in money and credit growth than by changes in their individual supply-demand balances.” This causality still holds and becomes abundantly clear when seen from the right perspective:
A correlation as spurious as umbrella ownership in Seattle.
These market distortions would not exist in a world with a free market for money. Free markets are ruthlessly efficient and trimming excesses and encouraging optimal allocation of resources; which is why they are so ruthlessly effective at promulgating hard money, because people will naturally select the most liquid asset that best holds its value across time as money first and foremost. Hard money eliminates market distortions because its supply remains rooted in economic reality and beyond the reach of self-interested central planners. Simply, by transitioning to a free market money like Bitcoin, we can eliminate the prime driver of wealth disparity — money supply inflation.
To better understand the root cause of wealth disparity, we use an approach advocated by you Ray: as you’ve said, (p.489) “Root causes are described in adjectives, not verbs, so keep asking ‘why’ to get at them.” Let’s begin our analysis:
Root cause discovery process:
A primary cause of social unrest and societal disintegration is wealth disparity. Alarmingly, this has been on the rise in advanced economies all over the world.
Why is wealth disparity growing?
Disparity in wealth holdings is rooted deep in the monarchical history of mankind. Although some economic inequality is natural, as people are born with unequal skills and predispositions, the (growing) levels seen in modernity are anomalous. Today, few people own most of the productive assets. Under a system of monetary central planning, these few have privileged access to newly printed fiat currency, which represents a redistribution of productive assets to those who receive the newly printed money first at the expense of those who receive it later (via the Cantillon effect).
Why do few people have privileged access to newly printed money?
Those with the most control over productive assets have leveraged their position to monopolize the market for money. These positions are reinforced via the lobbying mechanism, a system of institutionalized bribery, that heavily influences public policy in favor of its financiers’ private interests. Once a monopoly position is firmly established, they employ monetary policy as a means for implicitly taxing entire populations to further enrich themselves (again, via the Cantillon effect).
Why is there a legal monopoly on money?
Again, the few who own the most productive assets within a society are able to (heavily) influence the legal frameworks they operate under. Naturally, these few favor laws which benefit their interests. Primary among these interests is the ability to confiscate wealth via inflation. This privileged position is protected via the government monopoly on violence. Inflation allows early accessors of new liquidity to perpetually extract wealth from all the market participants coerced into using the fiat currency — those who resist face incarceration or violent retaliation.
Why is violence used to insulate the legal monopoly on money?
The root cause of violent coercion such as this is the fearfulness inherent to egoic human behavior. People naturally seek to secure themselves against the uncertainties inherent to the future. To this end money, a tool of pure optionality in the marketplace, is the ultimate hedge against the future. Using the government monopoly on violence, private interests gradually were able to monopolize the market for money, thus obstructing its natural course. Simply, central banks have acquired absolute power, which as we all know, corrupts absolutely. Fiat currency is the ultimate expression of unfree market dynamics.
Per this root cause analysis: the “why” of a growing wealth disparity is causally rooted in the adjective “unfree”. The root cause of a growing wealth disparity, then, is an unfree market for money. Fiat currency is a tool for restricting freedom and confiscating wealth. Bitcoin, like its predecessor gold, is a purely free market money — a tool for maximizing freedom and preserving wealth.
Monetary inflation, a property unique to centrally planned money, is purely a means of wealth confiscation — it does not offer a single equitable benefit to the people. Not one. The virtually limitless power control over the fiat currency printing press affords is the very cause for its existence and monopolization; it is both the means and the ends of monetary socialism. Fiat currency is a governmental tool for taxing, controlling, and manipulating people. As Thomas Jefferson once warned:
“If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around them will deprive the people of all property until their children wake up homeless on the continent their Fathers conquered…. I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies…. The issuing power should be taken from the banks and restored to the people, to whom it properly belongs.”
By attempting to centrally plan money, mankind marginalizes his own potential. Although Bitcoin has demonstrated its disregard for the legal restrictions which insulate fiat currencies, it’s impossible to know what monetary technology the market would naturally select absent government interventionism. Monopolization increases costs and stifles innovation, the exact opposite of the effects generated by free markets. Devolution is the inevitable and disastrous effect of monopolization, whereas free markets cause the reverse — evolution.
(p.142) “Evolution is the single greatest force in the universe; it is the only thing that is permanent and it drives everything.”
Change is the only thing that never changes. And when something is finished changing, it is finished. As such, all things exist in either a state of evolution or devolution:
For better or worse, change never changes.
Whether improving or declining, all things exist in flux. As you’ve said Ray, (p.142) “As I thought about evolution, I realized that it exists in other forms than life and is carried out through other transmission mechanism than DNA. Technologies, languages, and everything else evolves.” Money, like a spoken language, is an informational protocol. Unlike language, money has evolved to inhabit many different forms. Seashells, salt, cattle, beads, stones, precious metals and government paper have all functioned as money at one or more points in history. Even today, forms of money still spontaneously emerge with things like prepaid mobile phone minutes in Africa or cigarettes in prisons being used as localized currencies. Different monetary technologies are in constant competition, like animals competing within an ecosystem. Although instead of competing for food and mates like animals, monetary goods compete for the belief and trust of people.
Historically, the hardest monetary technology to produce which exhibits otherwise comparable monetary traits (durability, divisibility, portability, recognizability) outcompetes more easily produced forms to become dominant on the free market — an asset that succeeds in this way is called hard money; a technology that is discovered through market-driven natural selection.
As we have learned, the rise of fiat currency was the result of governments coopting gold — which had risen to global dominance on the free market because of its superior scarcity relative to other monetary metals, which themselves exhibited superior monetary characteristics compared to other monetary technologies (like seashells, salt, cattle, etc.). By issuing paper money redeemable in gold, governments were able to resolve its one drawback — suboptimal divisibility. However, governments eventually eliminated redeemability of paper money for gold, thus ushering in the age of fiat currency. Lack of scarcity would have resulted in the extinction of fiat currency long ago if it weren’t for the anticompetitive efforts of governments in the gold markets (if you haven’t yet, check out Gata.org). In this sense, gold is the last freely chosen money in the marketplace and fiat currency is but an apparition of this multi-millennia-old monetary metal; a deception that has been haunting human progress since its inception in 1971. As Taleb describes it:
“…institutions block evolution with bailouts and statism. Note that, in the long term, social and economic evolution nastily takes place by surprises, discontinuities, and jumps.”
In free markets, competition generates the information that vitalizes innovation — the man-made type of evolution. Completely isolated from the discipline of the market by legal monopoly, central bank issued fiat currencies have softened tremendously, in both value and functionality. This is unsurprising: any complex system — whether it be a technology, an economy, or an organism — that is isolated from the shaping of competitive forces will naturally devolve over time. As you’ve observed Ray, (p. 147) “One of the great marvels of nature is how the whole system, which is full of individual organisms acting in their own self-interest and without understanding of guiding what’s going on, can create a beautifully operating and evolving whole. While I’m not an expert at this, it seems that it’s because evolution has produced a) incentives and interactions that lead to individuals pursuing their own interest and resulting in the advancement of the whole, b) the natural selection process, and c) rapid experimentation and adaptation.” This marvelous dynamic is at the heart of free market competition, open-source adaptation, and Bitcoin which, as we have seen, is both a free market in and unto itself and an open-source instance of digital hard money.
Bitcoin is an evolutionary leap forward for money: it combines the divisibility, durability, portability, and recognizability of pure information with the absolute scarcity of time to form the most impeccable monetary technology the world has ever known.
As you’ve said in regards to evolution, (p. 124) “I realized that passing on knowledge is like passing on DNA — it is more important than the individual, because it lives way beyond the individual’s life.” Ray, isn’t it time for humanity to transition to a form of money that exists beyond the schemes, machinations, and manipulations of those who are able to wrest control of its controlling mechanisms? By centering an evolved monetary social contract on an immutable ruleset, we can eliminate the incentives to fight over gold or international reserve currency status and therefore enhance mankind’s cooperative capacity, which in turn will accentuate the division of labor, enhance productivity, and increase aggregate wealth creation worldwide. It’s time for money to be governed by rules instead of rulers, and Bitcoin gives us the opportunity to make this transition once and for all. Imagine how much human ingenuity could be freed up worldwide if we eliminated the need for monetary policymakers, the army of analysts who watch them under a microscope, and the heavily distorted price signals caused by soft money.
Each of us are nodes of information — biological machines expressing our genetics, experiences, and ideas — that are collectively best served by successfully minimizing impediments to expression like policies, hierarchies, and illegitimate institutions. As Noam Chomsky said:
“Institutional structures are legitimate insofar as they enhance the opportunity to freely inquire and create, out of inner need; otherwise, they are not.”
Modes of organization which favor merit-based competition and rely on natural selection to determine which ideas flourish help us flourish. This is the free market (and idea meritocratic) paradigm: unobstructed exchange is always superior to that which is centrally intermediated, regulated, or manipulated. Dissimilar to cognitive learning, evolution does not distinguish between the observer and the observed, enabling it to “learn at the edges” by absorbing the successes and failures of its constituents (cells, individuals, exchanges, or businesses) through a filter of natural selection and incorporating them into its own form (a body, society, market, or economy).
Global free markets, coordinated via truthful price signals, can be thought of as a human hive-mind constituted of innumerable interpersonal exchanges; an organic, bottom-up system in which resources, risks, and human time are priced and allocated according to the prevailing economic realities faced by society. This collective mind is the macrocosm of our individual mind microcosms, which have naturally evolved in a bottom-up way. Existing as illegitimate, closed-source economic fiefdoms, central bank money monopolies inhibit natural selection and diminish the evolutionary potential of our global collective mind.
https://twitter.com/Breedlove22/status/1155304556164571137?s=20
As you’ve observed Ray, (p.213) “This universal brain has evolved from the bottom up, meaning that its lower parts are evolutionarily the oldest and top parts are the newest.” Why should we expect the amalgamation of human economic actions to evolve any differently? Free markets enable price and technology discovery from the bottom up, as they completely lack any centralized governing body. Hard money has always evolved on the free market and is the norm of human history; only over the past century has it been so explicitly coopted by a few at the expense of everyone else. Using a Darwinian analogy: what natural selection is to gold, artificial selection is to fiat currency. In the same way mankind created designer dogs from wolves, or Monsanto self-terminating seeds from naturally-occurring seeds, so did he create fiat currency from gold. Bitcoin, as an unstoppable free market money being naturally selected for favorably in the marketplace, may in this sense be considered the reemergence of hard money in the modern world; a natural reversion to the free market foundations of money through an evolved (and evolving) monetary technology.
As a hard money that is monetizing in real time, Bitcoin outcompetes other forms of money in market-driven natural selection, whereas fiat currencies exist exclusively due to monopoly-driven artificial selection. As Bitcoin transcends the artifices that preserve the monopolistic position of fiat currencies, it forces these monetary technologies to compete based on their own (inferior) merits, and promises to push them into extinction.
One would be hard pressed to find a worse technology from both a functional and societal value-add standpoint. As you’ve said Ray, (p.272) “To be good, something must operate consistently with the laws of reality and contribute to the evolution of the whole; that is what is most rewarded.” In this sense, fiat currencies are bad — really bad. Not only do they give politicians a lever by which to control people, they also erode societal cohesion as their primary function — the storage of value across time — is repeatedly compromised in favor of multifarious political agendas all over the world. As Taleb says:
“…it is downright irrational if one holds onto an old technology that is not naturalistic at all yet visibly harmful, or when the switch to a new technology… is obviously free of possible side effects that did not exist with the previous one. And resisting removal is downright incompetent and criminal (as I keep saying, the removal of something non-natural does not carry long-term side effects; it is typically iatrogenics free).”
Viewed on a grander scale, Bitcoin seems to be a natural evolutionary step towards freer society:
Gutenberg’s Printing Press gave us decentralized analog knowledge (which separated Church and State)
Democracy gave us decentralized government
The internet gave us decentralized digital knowledge
Bitcoin gave us decentralized digital money (which may one day separate Money and State)
Indeed, it is amazing that a lone, anonymous programmer released an open-source protocol that is now a viable contender for the world reserve currency whereas Facebook, one of the most flush corporations in the world, has been unable to move forward with its currency project due to regulatory roadblocks. Digital technology reshapes reality, and decentralization enables us to create leaderless organizational structures based more so on rules than rulers. Bitcoin is the latest and greatest expression of this overarching trend away from centrality and towards a more natural ordering of things.
https://twitter.com/perbylund/status/1177589207491063812?s=21
Like you Ray, I consider myself a shaper who experiences “the gap between what is and what could be as both a tragedy and a source of unending motivation.” I see a world shackled in financial slavery, with central bankers and their inner circles as the great parasites of wealth created by working people all over the world. Centrally planned money is straight out of the socialist playbook and, aside from a brief period in the late 19th century when the world was mostly on a gold standard, we have never seen a truly free market for money. An economy is like life itself; in life, we do not expect to understand events as they occur, at least with total causality and clarity in mind, but looking back on them we gain a better understanding. Bitcoin is alive; while it is impossible to say where it is heading with certainty, it is monetizing and evolving in real time, and its proponents all have skin in the game.
Evolution can only happen if the risk of extinction is present. Only systems with skin in the game are capable of evolution; absent this, devolution becomes inevitable. Systems learn and evolve through the death of their components; the biological manifestation of this via negativa process is called apoptosis. Any institution that cannot glean lessons from its undying components loses touch with reality as it grows until nature ultimately overrules its energetic imbalance in a mighty swing of the universal pendulum — whether by way of renaissance or revolution.
Therefore, we evolve best by sharpening our organizing principles against the palpable feedback gathered from falsifiable entrepreneurial experiments conducted at the front lines of our understanding, where each failure edifies the economic ensemble as to what does not work so that its next individual efforts will be emboldened by the greater experience gained. In this way, we are better served by the free market, with its bricolage of tactile sensory inputs from its entrepreneur-led, optionality-rich explorations of economic realities instead of the unwavering unidirectionality of a centralized plan. The choice of the technology we use as money is best arrived at in an uninhibited marketplace in the same way other technologies are invented, shaped by competitive forces, and tinkered with over time; in accordance with the timeless principle behind both innovation and evolution.
Timelessness
(p.121) “With time and experience, I came to see each encounter as “another one of those” that I could approach more calmly and analytically, like a biologist might approach an encounter with a threatening creature in the jungle: first identifying its species and then, drawing on his prior knowledge about its expected behaviors, reacting appropriately.”
History doesn’t repeat, but it does rhyme. Every moment and person are unique, but they tend to conform to some prior pattern or archetype. Personality types can be characterized and filtered by a variety of metrics including Meyers-Briggs and management tools like the Baseball Cards Bridgewater uses. Modern-day events are often foreshadowed by historical happenings. By thoughtfully studying these archetypal forms of characters and events, we are better equipped to deal with the uncertainties inherent to life and work. As the axiom says, “Those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it.”
Bitcoin is often called digital gold for a good reason; the best analogy for its emergence is the monetization of gold. Money is a market pricing and coordination mechanism for human time; it reflects the present value of the (liquid) time savings generated by subdivided labor and denominates prices. The relative inelasticity of gold’s supply to other monetary metals is the reason it outcompeted them to become dominant in the free market before central banking commandeered it (seriously, check out Gata.org). Its ascent as money is based on timeless economic principles from the Austrian school. Despite the justifications for schemes like fiat currency in 1971 (revoking dollar redeemability for gold was said to be a “temporary” measure) and MMT today, the minds of prominent historical figures agreed universally that only monetary metals were actual money:
- JP Morgan said in his 1912 testimony to congress: “Money is gold, and nothing else.”
- Thomas Jefferson is quoted as saying: “Paper is poverty, it is only the ghost of money, and not the money itself.”
Even you Ray once said: “If you don’t own gold, you know neither history nor economics.” In the free market, fiat currency has never existed. Only through state intervention has money come under the monopoly control; the state had no more of a hand in the development of money than it did language. So, to understand the ascent of Bitcoin from a quantitative perspective, we must first understand how gold came to dominate the market for money. In his masterful work The Bitcoin Standard, Saifedean Ammous sheds light on how Bitcoin can be perceived as “another one of those” in the sense that it is following a similar monetization path as that followed by gold. In short, throughout history societies have naturally coalesced around the monetary technology exhibiting the highest “stock-to-flow” ratio. When we look at the stock-to-flow quantitative model put together by PlanB, we see that the Bitcoin price has an extremely high correlation to this key valuation metric:
Ignoring the lessons of history is a great strategy for being naturally selected out of the gene pool.
Said simply, the attribute of money that causes it to retain its value is its scarcity. As a former commodities trader Ray, I am sure you will understand the value of this model. In free market monetary competition, the scarcest money wins, as it is superior at protecting wealth across time. Bitcoin is on an inevitable path to become the highest stock-to-flow asset in human history, overtaking gold by a factor of two in the year 2024. Bitcoin’s ever-constricting new supply flow as a percentage of existing stock is encouraging its adoption first as a store of value before it begins fulfilling the other functions of money more adequately. This is consistent with the monetization path taken by gold — as the classical economist William Stanley Jevons remarked:
Historically speaking, gold seems to have served, firstly, as a commodity valuable for ornamental purposes; secondly, as stored wealth; thirdly, as a medium of exchange; and, lastly, as a measure of value.
So, in terms of monetization, Bitcoin is “another gold” following a similar evolutionary path — collectible, store of value, medium of exchange, and finally a unit of account. In an even deeper sense, Bitcoin can be considered “another one of those” as a part of the resurgence of ancient wisdom in the modern world. Yoga, meditation, Ayurvedic medicine, mindfulness, paleo diets, Ayahuasca, acupuncture — citizens of the digital age are rediscovering the deep roots of humanity. As the collective learnings of mankind are now accessible to everyone with an internet connection, this is likely a key driver of this worldwide phenomenon. Bitcoin, as a pure expression of Austrian economic thought, is yet another case of ancient wisdom’s resurgence into modernity. By releasing the economic juggernaut that is Bitcoin into a world dominated by monopoly money, Satoshi put Keynesian economics and its “highly mathematized” theories (central bank circumlocutory propaganda) to the test and, thus far, has succeeded wildly in disproving their validity.
https://twitter.com/murraysuggests/status/1181515143240409089?s=21
Bitcoin is the best performing asset in human history, even when its sharp drawdowns are taken into account. It has offered the highest risk-adjusted rate of return of any asset class over the past decade (as quantified by the Sharpe ratio), and outperforms even further when only the negative volatility is taken into account (most of Bitcoin’s price volatility has been positive). Indeed, it has been difficult to invest in Bitcoin unsuccessfully:
These are the days.
As you’ve said Ray, “the greatest success you can have as the person in charge is to orchestrate others to do things well without you.” This is exactly what Bitcoin does for all current and future generations; it takes monetary policy out of the sphere of political influence and protects it with timeless, immutable, and mathematically-enforced rules beyond the machinations of mankind. These rules are fixed and fully transparent — resistance to confiscation, censorship, inflation, and counterfeiting — for all to see and rely upon across time. In this sense, Bitcoin is a timeless monetary system into which people can escape the walled-garden economies of a central bank dominated world; an man-made antidote to the poisoned society of man — as Henry Miller described it:
“Society had so complicated the relations between men, had so enmeshed the individual with laws and creeds, with totems and taboos, that man had become something unnatural, something apart from nature, a phenomenon which nature herself had created, but which she no longer controlled.”
By providing a more sound substrate for economic planning and coordination, Bitcoin promises to reduce the toxic bureaucracies that have festered around the central banking model. Outfitted with a sound store of value, people will no longer be forced out further along the risk curve to protect their wealth, making real estate more affordable and unicorn companies more rare. As state revenues naturally decline as a result, government-sponsored “zombie” companies and monolithic “too big to fail” institutions will gradually slip into irrelevance. Finally able to protect their wealth from confiscation via inflation, people will be better equipped to capitalize their own businesses and pursue their dreams. And a world in which people are doing what they love is better for everyone. The majority of most people’s lives is spent working to earn money, and Bitcoin stands to change the very nature of both work and money. In this sense, Bitcoin is bound to change mankind more than he will ever change Bitcoin.
(p.538) “We work with others to get three things: 1) Leverage to accomplish our chosen missions in bigger and better ways than we could alone 2) Quality relationships that together make for a great community 3) Money that allows us to buy what we need and want for ourselves and others… (p.216) man is perpetually suspended between the two extreme forces that create us: ‘Individual selection which prompted sin and group selection which promoted virtue.’”
Since time immemorial, man has been driven to take both selfish and selfless actions. The principles which guide people’s actions are a composite of family values, social experience, incentive structures, and natural predilection. Many of us inherit the political and religious leaning of our parents or family, which influence our value systems. However, our experience in the world also shapes (and continually reshapes) our values as well. These external influences are both, of course, undergirded by our natural inclinations and preferences. In short, we are all born unique, but are also products of our environments. Money, as the most interconnective social phenomenon in the world, is one of the most significant external forces shaping our thinking, planning, preferences, relationships, and actions. Think about it: how many times have you thought or talked about money in the past 24 hours? For most of us, many, many times. The nature of the money we use is a powerful determinant of whether we act viciously or virtuously.
In this respect, Bitcoin has an interesting impact on personal character. As Jimmy Song laid out (here, here, and here), Bitcoin (and hard money more generally) encourages people to develop virtues such as prudence, temperance, and justice. Since fiat currency suffers from perpetual dilutions of value, its users are incentivized to spend and borrow; in other words, to be less prudent with their money. Bitcoin is the reverse; its fixed supply and diminishing inflation rate ensures that it appreciates as global economic output grows and incentivizes people to save and invest. As more people adopt Bitcoin, their time preferences are shifted to become more future-oriented. In this way, Bitcoin encourages people to treat the future as something to be invested for instead of borrowed against.
Since its supply is unmanipulable, Bitcoin is gradually eroding the financial capability of governments to provide guarantees in the form of welfare or bailouts. It’s easy to see how this softens temperance: if you knew your job were guaranteed no matter your performance, how hard would you try? Similarly, a long history of tax-payer funded bailouts for failed banks without skin in the game have encouraged them to take on steadily more risk, as any gains realized from their efforts accrue to their shareholders whereas any catastrophic losses that are incurred are paid for by taxpayers (against their will). This contradicts the tradition in ancient Catalonia, in which failed bankers were beheaded in front of their banks (talk about skin in the game). By providing a means of privatizing gains and socializing losses, governments cause the market to misprice risk and erode the value of temperance: the skill of rightsizing one’s exposures in life on the risk and reward spectrum. With the risk of failure removed, beneficiaries of government guarantees no longer have skin in the game, and therefore take on risks intemperately. Repeated blow ups and taxpayer anger, as savings are eroded to bail out “too big to fail” institutions, fragilizes the delicate bonds that hold society together.
Justice is embodied in fair treatment; it encompasses integrity, honesty, and respect. When an action is taken that benefits one group disproportionally at the expense of another, we can say that it is unjust. Inflating money supplies is an unjust action, as it does not offer a single equitable benefit, and instead enriches the politically-favored few closest to the monetary spigot at the expense of the many farther away from it. Using inflation as a means of funding welfare and warfare, new government programs are continually implemented while old ones are kept functional despite their inefficiency or uselessness. As Milton Friedman once said, “Nothing is so permanent as a temporary government program”. Again, government intervention severs skin in the game and decouples the intention of these programs from their results. The impact of this is a swelling class of government dependents, workers, and contractors that function inefficiently and only exist because of the government’s ability to create new money. Interventionism of this kind distorts the information provided by market pricing and, therefore, makes fair dealings much more difficult. In a free market run on hard money, only industrious people who add value and deal fairly in an economy are rewarded. Paradoxically, as governments strive to ensure equality of outcomes, they incentivize unjust treatment. At the core of this rottenness is monetary inflation: a legally enforced injustice.
In an economy run on soft money, intermediary business models and professional roles designed to extract value from the money that originates at the center (the central bank) and flows outward into an economy (through successively lower tier banks and eventually to businesses and consumers) start popping up everywhere. These intermediary functions add little value to an economy yet capture a disproportionate share of the value of economic output; a dynamic commonly called “rent-seeking” that is unsurprisingly pervasive in industries that suffer from extensive government meddling like healthcare, education, and banking. After the last vestiges of hard money were abandoned in 1971, rent-seeking has exploded; consider the case of healthcare:
Physicians are productive, administrators are extractive: the cartelization of healthcare is a fiat disease.
Meaningful work is being compromised by central banking. There has been a demographic shift from value-additive to value-subtractive positions — as evidenced by the training of more bankers than engineers, or the academic credentialing transition from medicine to finance. In a free market, compensation is reflective of a role’s usefulness to society. But with monetary socialism, there are greater financial incentives to work closer to the spigot of fiat currency in roles that are mostly non-productive and extractive. Hayek summed this up nicely:
“It is not merely that if we want people to give their best we must make it worthwhile for them. What is more important is that if we want to leave them the choice, if they are to be able to judge what they ought to do, they must be given some readily intelligible yardstick by which to measure the social importance of the different occupations. Even with the best will in the world it would be impossible for anyone intelligently to choose between various alternatives if the advantages they offered him stood in no relation to their usefulness to society.”
One more thing: most rent-seeking jobs suck! How many accountants, bankers, or administrators do you know that “love” their job? Many of these jobs are a direct result of the lacking social scalability inherent to monetary socialism. The more we can globally standardize onto a hard money, the more productivity we generate collectively, the lower the cost of living becomes, and the less we have to work individually.
Money is just a means to an end: as you’ve said Ray, (p. 417) “Remember that the only purpose of money is to get you what you want, so think hard about what you value and put it above money.” I think it’s safe to say that most people want to live a fun and productive life full of fulfilling relationships. To this end, the type of money society runs on is of paramount importance. The utility, supply, and value of fiat currency cannot be trusted; since money is the trust network through which all of our commercial relationships are carried out, this lack of trust in the money infects the trust relationships amongst its users. Again, to get what we want, we need reliable protocols for commercial interaction like private property rights, rule of law, and manipulation-proof money. As central banks confiscate and redistribute wealth created by the work of others, they cut these cornerstones of capitalism and weaken the foundations of civilization.
Money and speech are media of expression; any inhibition or censorship of these societal building tools, which together are responsible for nearly all human coordination and communication, contradicts the most basic liberties (1st Amendment in the US) intrinsic to Western Civilization. There is zero justification for a system that suppresses verbal or financial expression. By organizing ourselves within a truly free market capitalist system that incentivizes basic morality (don’t steal, don’t kill), we can advance our civilization to new levels and dramatically improve the quality of human relations.
Meaningful Relationships
(p.216) “The rewards of working together to make the pie bigger are greater than the rewards of self-interest, not only in terms of how much pie one gets but also in the psychic rewards wired into our brains that make us happier and healthier.”
The history of mankind has been marred by episodic violence — skirmishes between individuals, tribes, and, later, nation-states have been a consistent thread in the story of humanity. Like other animals, man seeks to maximize the odds his genes will be passed on to successive generations and will fight tooth and nail for his chance. Counterbalancing this self-seeking behavior are the benefits offered by a peaceful and cooperative society — the division of labor, rising standards of living, and more free time to spend as one sees fit. Between the 16th and 19th centuries, conflict-related deaths as a share of world population averaged less than 1%. In the 20th century, this figure more than quadrupled to over 4%:
This is no coincidence. Inflating fiat currency supplies gives governments a much cheaper and more surreptitious way to finance military operations as opposed to direct taxation or selling of war-time bonds. As Ron Paul said:
“It is no coincidence that the century of total war coincided with the century of central banking… If every American taxpayer had to submit an extra five or ten thousand dollars to the IRS this April to pay for the war, I’m quite certain it would end very quickly. The problem is that government finances war by borrowing and printing money, rather than presenting a bill directly in the form of higher taxes. When the costs are obscured, the question of whether any war is worth it becomes distorted.”
As the enablers of inflation, this institutionalized system of time theft and financial subjugation, central banking is the mechanism through which government confiscates the resources necessary to fund its belligerent efforts. As Mises remarked in 1919:
“One can say without exaggeration that inflation is an indispensable means of militarism. Without it, the repercussions of war on welfare become obvious much more quickly and penetratingly; war weariness would set in much earlier.”
Before the fiat currency experiment, it was a common refrain among warring nations that “the gold standard must be abandoned”. Clearly, it was in the best interest of these nations to severe the monetary anchor to time since debt-based money unlocked much more potential for borrowing against the future (via inflation) to finance current war efforts. Of the three ways governments can generate revenue — taxation, borrowing, and inflation — the latter is clearly more preferable for governments as its negative consequences are spread out over long periods of currency debasement and the shadowy, implicit tax imposed by inflation in the form of rising prices is less well understood by citizens (and rising asset prices helps paper over the perceived damage, although this is largely illusory).
Expansionary monetary policy was the key to financing the US military operations during the Vietnam War. Although the war-time economy seemed strong during the 1960s, US citizens would suffer economically in the echo of this economic intervention as the 1970s became mired in stagflation (low growth, high unemployment, and high inflation). Besides the death and destruction wrought during the war, there was economic devastation in the US and abroad. Between 1965 and 1984, the Dow index suffered a drawdown of 80% from its peak value on an inflation-adjusted basis in the wake of this soft-money-fueled-military-spending-spree. Unfortunately, this pattern of warfare funded through inflation would persist well into the new millennium.
After its great successes with its War on Poverty and War on Drugs, early in the 21st century, the US would launch its “War on Terror”. Over the course of the following 17 years, with the cumulative cost of the “war” (more accurately, an imperialistic military campaign) reaching over $2.1T in direct governmental expenses, we witnessed The Fed print money and purchase US government debt (US Treasuries or UST) almost exactly equal to the cost of the war:
Clearly, it is no exaggeration to say that the US central bank money machine and the US war machine are intimately connected. Central bank enabling of government war machines is a perpetual bane to humanity. Neither central banks nor military regimes are accountable to anything other than their own self-interests. In reckless pursuit of their own politicized ends, these institutions siphon away vast swathes of societal wealth to fund destructive military campaigns; this “twin demon” problem of wealth confiscation and capital destruction is the most anti-economic force in the world today. In the face of this diabolic menace, the world has but one hope: the separation of money and state.
As with all other critical commodities and industries, the free market is the best mechanism for allocating capital, promulgating innovation, and properly pricing risk. The singular purpose for the monopolization of the market for money by government is its unquenchable thirst for power; it imposes itself on citizens with hortatory messages from central banks and relies on the submissiveness of citizens. Fiat currency facilitates an exploitative relationship between governments and their citizens in which the former harvest the fruits of the latter’s labor in exchange for “protection”.
Wars do not protect the public, they tax it. Wars do not promote the public good, they destabilize it. Wars do not stimulate economies, they devastate them.
Throughout history, money has been both the means and ends of all war. People have always fought to control more resources or territory, and have wreaked havoc on each other in the process. Warfare is antithetical to meaningful relationships. If we want to build a world with more meaningful relationships, we must mitigate mankind’s ability to wage war against himself. An unmanipulable, uninflatable, and confiscation-resistant free market monetary alternative like Bitcoin is a good start: it holds within it the promise of starving the state of the virtually unlimited resources the fiat currency printing press feeds into it. When people have a choice to opt out of the inflationary economic order, governments lose the ability to tax them (both explicitly and implicitly through inflation) which mitigates state revenue and its ability to wage war.
Warfare, its attendant loss of life, and the destruction of capital it causes are mitigatable outcomes of money market monopolies. As with the other negative consequences of monopolization — like food shortages, unemployment, price signal distortion, and exacerbated business cycles — war can be curtailed by open and free markets, which create incentives for cooperation and long-term relationship building. As an unstoppably free market, Bitcoin is rendering irrelevant the artifices which preserve monetary monopolies and returning the market for money to its naturally free state. It accomplishes this by virtue of its intrinsic truthfulness and transparency which are, interestingly, two of the key ingredients to Ray’s free market for ideas — the idea meritocracy. As you said Ray, “In my case, I wanted meaningful work and meaningful relationships, and I believed that being radically truthful and radically transparent were required to get those”. A money that embodies these free market qualities is likely to influence its users to behave accordingly; this would create cultural effects diametrically opposed to those spawned by fiat currencies today. Simply, hard money like Bitcoin lowers societal time preferences; it encourages people to invest in themselves, seek meaningful work aligned with their skills, forge meaningful relationships, and to collaborate over longer time horizons. Critically, in a world run on Bitcoin, funding perpetual warfare via inflation would be a relic of mankind’s barbaric past — making Bitcoin the ultimate boon to the meaningfulness of relationships. But to get there, we must face reality head on and deal with it as it is, which brings to the here and now.
(p.138) “Man’s most distinctive quality is our singular ability to look down on reality from a higher perspective and synthesize an understanding of it.”
Since 2008, central banks across the world have injected an unprecedented flow of fiat currency liquidity into the economic system. Expectantly, this has furthered wealth disparity and sewn new seeds of systemic risks. Although we remain in a historically long economic bull run, these hidden risks appear to be rousing from their dormancy. No matter what form the next crisis takes, central banks have only three options to try and mitigate its consequences: 1) cutting entitlement benefits, 2) raising taxes, and 3) printing money. All three of these options will hit those living on fixed-income — retirees, pensioners, and the working poor — the hardest. Of the three, printing money is historically most favored by central bankers as it can be done (and is being done) with little political fuss or muss.
These systemic risks are compounded by negatively yielding government bonds, which most retirees, who typically have lower risk appetites because of their age, depend on for fixed-income in their twilight years. Since these many of these instruments now suffer from negative yields, this forces investors with low risk appetites, including retirees and pension funds, to keep their nest-eggs “at risk” in equities markets, lower quality bonds, or even riskier assets. This contradicts the standard American dream in which you spend your younger years earning and investing in higher risk assets, like equities, so that as you neared retirement you could gradually transition your exposure to lower risk investments that generate a relatively predictably, consistent return — like bonds. This approach gives you exposure to higher upside when you are young and reduces downside exposure as you age, so that your nest-egg doesn’t get crushed in a stock market crash.
Bitcoin can help those living on fixed-income protect themselves from the accumulation of hidden risks created by the optionality-theft central banks impose on citizens. A small allocation of less than 5% gives those vulnerable to economic contractions a kind of insurance policy — a put option on the idiocy inherent to a politically-charged, debt-based monetary system. Once again we find the wisdom of Taleb, as this is an expression of the barbell strategy: an approach to investing and other aspects of life in which assumes a large exposure to a low-risk, low-reward element and small exposure to a high-risk, high-reward element. In fact, a portfolio with 95% cash and 5% Bitcoin outperformed the S&P500 on risk and return every year over the past 6 years:
https://twitter.com/100trillionUSD/status/1136969637588021250?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1136969637588021250&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fjameso.be%2F2019%2F08%2F24%2Fbitcoin-is-for-this.html
After decades of flooding the market with cheap money, central banks have distorted free market incentive systems and made economies dependent on this artificial liquidity to stay afloat. Even the indication of quantitative tightening sent markets tumbling in 2018, which was quickly reversed by The Fed’s now infamous “dovish pivot” back to a more accommodative monetary policy. As this soft money is continually injected into the economy, it is flowing to hard assets so that investors can protect their wealth against the inevitable inflation quantitative easing creates, thus further distorting soft-money-denominated prices and setting the stage for new bubbles in markets like real estate and equities. At the core of this perpetual monetary easing is the (perhaps well-intentioned but certainly misguided) attempts of central banks to “create price stability” and “smooth out the business cycle” — which, intentionality aside, is equivalent to an arsonist racing to extinguish the fire he started. To state the argument again succinctly: printing money does not create stability of any kind, it distorts price signals and exacerbates the severity of economic cycles.
Further, it is printing of money that has created the deeply negative bond rates we are seeing in Europe. As the European central bank (ECB) keeps printing money, it must buy bonds to inject this cash into the economy, which drives up the price of bonds and depresses their yields. So, we get into this (familiar) fiat currency trap in which the attempts to keep the economy healthy by injecting artificial liquidity hurt the most vulnerable among us, those living on fixed-income, the most. Bitcoin fixes this: by taking monetary policy out of the hands of people, who are as incapable of “managing” a complex system like the economy as much as they are the weather, it eliminates the vector by which policymakers create these economic distortions that they then try to fight off using the same policy tools that created the problems in the first place. Since Bitcoin’s supply is absolutely scarce, whatever portion you own of the total supply, you can be 100% certain that you will always have at least that fraction; this is the crucial discovery of absolute scarcity that Bitcoin represents, a one-time event that can never be recreated.
Another way soft money is distorting markets is through “share buybacks”, in which corporations take out cheap loans and use the proceeds to buy back their own shares. This action is an expression of the belief that the company’s stock will outperform the cost of capital net of inflation over the loan term. Also, the agency problem rears its head again here, as the reduction of shares outstanding helps corporate executives hit their “earnings per share” targets on which their bonus packages are based. This “financialization” of the real economy is a product of the flawed incentives inherent to fiat currency. Unsurprisingly, in the wake of the past 10 years of reckless money printing, corporate share buybacks have become the dominant source of demand for equities:
A perverse configuration of dependencies arises as a result: low risk appetite investors have been driven out of “safe” investments like bonds because of their negative yields, thus pushing them further out along the risk curve into equities or worse. However, due to the soft money fueled share buybacks outlined above, the dominant source of demand for these equities are the corporations buying their own stock with artificially cheap money, making their share prices perversely dependent on the continued central bank provisioning of low interest rate loans. So now, in a twisted turn of fiat disease, entire retirement portfolios and pension funds have been forced into dependency on the continued accommodative monetary policy of central banks, which can only maintain their confiscation via inflation so long as the underlying society remains sufficiently productive and submissive to its authority.
Facing reality, we see that the fiat currency experiment is in the endgame now. It interest rates aren’t held down or if central banks stop injecting liquidity in steadily larger doses, the economy will crash cataclysmically. Even if they do, it is only a matter of time before society begins to come unglued, as it always does when its trust fabric, money, is sufficiently debased. So, the time is now to accept our reality, learn the lessons of history, and plan for a better future. Although it’s probably clear by now, fiat currency is not a viable monetary system. In any case, let’s “look down on the reality” of different monetary systems to glean some comparative insight as to their fundamental nature and what would best suit us from an organizing principle perspective. In a sense, each particular kind of money represents a liquid equity stake in its respective monetary system. Let’s compare:
Fiat Currency: Liquid equity in a central bank, a privately owned and operated monetary monopoly
- Only Class B Shares available, All Class A Shares owned by Central Bank Shareholders
- No voting rights
- Board observation rights limited to public central banker appearances
- Converts greed into monetary dilution, confiscation via inflation, and trade wars
- Liquid equity subject to unlimited dilution
- Liquid equity subject to deauthorization
- Liquid equity subject to censorship
- Liquid equity subject to confiscation
- Liquid equity has no claim on underlying assets of monetary network (gold)
Gold: Semi-liquid equity in the world’s original, physical, and free market money
- Class A Shares = Physical Gold, Class B Shares = Gold Certificates
- No voting
- Governed by nature, no board to observe (only for Class A)
- Converts greed into monetary value and unforgeable costliness
- Liquid equity subject to unlimited dilution, although historically this is low and predictable
- Liquid equity immune to deauthorization (only for Class A)
- Liquid equity immune to censorship (only for Class A)
- Liquid equity is the underlying asset (gold, only for Class A)
Bitcoin: Liquid equity in the world’s only global, digital, final settlement monetary network
- Class A Shares = Private Key, Class B Shares = Bitcoin Exchange IOUs
- Pro-rata voting rights, option to fork network to new ruleset
- 100% transparent ruleset, no board to observe
- Converts greed into monetary value, unforgeable costliness, and network security
- Liquid equity immune to dilution
- Liquid equity resistant to confiscation (only for Class A)
- Liquid equity is the underlying asset (Bitcoin, only for Class A)
Ultimately, none of our individual opinions matter about this; it is up to the free market to decide. Fortunately, Bitcoin exists as a free market alternative upon which society can stand and clean up the mess central banks and governments have created for the world. Only time will tell how this all plays out. Remember: the escalating stock-to-flow ratio of Bitcoin is relentless. At this point, it is fiduciarily irresponsible to ignore this asset completely, and the pain of having no exposure to it will likely only worsen with time.
With that, let me briefly summarize my arguments before closing:
Distorted price signals are the “nerve damage” inevitably suffered by an economic order based on central banking. As is true with all industrial monopolies, the profits for few are subsidized at the expense of many. Bitcoin fixes this by disintermediating the market for money and restoring its natural supply and demand dynamics. As Ray says, “An idea meritocracy requires people to do three things: 1) Put their honest thoughts on the table for everyone to see, 2) Have thoughtful disagreements where there are quality back-and-forths in which people evolve their thinking to come up with the best collective answers possible, and 3) Abide by idea-meritocratic ways of getting past the remaining disagreements.” These three requirements of the idea meritocracy, closely reflected in free markets, can be summarized as honesty, quality competition, and conflict-resolution. Bitcoin satisfies all three: it is completely transparent (honesty), secured by a free market for mining (quality competition), and governed by a community-determined ruleset that is algorithmically enforced (conflict-resolution protocol). Bitcoin embodies idea-meritocratic elements, and is one of the only sources of truth in modernity. As Einstein said: “The significant problems of our time cannot be solved by the same level of thinking that created them.” In the same way that we needed the breakthrough of double-entry bookkeeping to catalyze capitalism, as it enabled us to synchronize our economic efforts further across spacetime, we now need the triple-entry accounting system intrinsic to Bitcoin to break the central bank monopoly and more greatly amplify the synchrony of mankind’s economic efforts into futurity.
Bitcoin is an open-source protocol for exchanging value. Such openness ensures that Bitcoin’s code cannot be manipulated to benefit anyone at the expense of anyone else. The rules governing Bitcoin are founded in the (absolutely) uncompromising laws of mathematics — nature’s fundamental language. Bitcoin is the zero-marginal-cost-marketplace into which all available energy maybe sold; this means that every joule of energy which cannot find a more profitable employment flows into the “alchemization of digital gold” (the ultimate energy unemployment relief program, if you will). This realigns the race to the bottom associated with fiat currency, in which all monopolists are incentivized to devalue their currencies and secretly tax their people, to become a race to the bottom for the cheapest energy sources, thus spurring innovation in the realm of energy efficiency worldwide, forever. This perpetual bounty program for cheap energy becomes increasingly economically compelling as more monetary value accretes to Bitcoin, as more stranded joules become savable.
With central planning, any defectors from the single unitary plan become enemies of the state. This concentrates power in the hands of a progressively smaller few, which makes the intoxication of power more potent and attracts the most unscrupulous among us to seek its reigns. Bitcoin is the exit option, the plan B, for those enslaved by the prevailing monetary monopolies; it allows defectors a way out of the panopticon constructed by politicians and bankers by simply exercising their freedom of speech. It is a peaceful revolt against the institutionalized system of time-theft we call central banking. In the same way that Galileo’s new perspectives on the heavenly bodies shattered the political influence of the church over time, Bitcoin obliterates political control over money because it is the one-time discovery of absolute scarcity — a quintessential property of time that lives beyond the reach of man-made legal frameworks.
The idea meritocracy is the depoliticization of decision-making; Bitcoin is the depoliticization of money.
Bitcoin is an idea meritocracy and unstoppable free market for money, it is naturally outcompeting all monopoly-insulated monies by transcending the laws which protect them and forcing them into the competitive sphere in which only their merits matter. Bitcoin is a free-market-chosen-hard-money emancipating the monopoly-warrened economic fiefdoms all over the world. Bitcoin is an idea meritocracy consisting of: radical truth (true consensus, immutable records, carrier of truthful price signals) + radical transparency (open-source, inflation-immune, transparent and reliable money supply) + believability weighted decision making (one hash equals one vote, skin in the game governance). In this way, it is a free market money that is subsuming all economies facilitated with fiat currencies (centrally planned monies) into itself. Bitcoin is unregulatable, unstoppable, perfectly transparent implementation of energy-based, absolutely scarce, hard money devouring all softer forms and infusing the value stored therein into itself, once and for all. Bitcoin is hard money bending monetary history back towards its free market point of origin.
In the grand arc of human history, Bitcoin represents a reversion to a free-market-chosen hard money system. Ray, Bitcoin is the paradigm shift you’ve seen coming; once again, nature’s pendulum is changing directions:
As Alexander the Great once said:
“Through every generation of the human race there has been a constant war, a war with fear. Those who have the courage to conquer it are made free and those who are conquered by it are made to suffer until they have the courage to defeat it, or death takes them.”
Courage can only exist in the face of fear. If you listen closely, you may hear the devil whispering “You can’t withstand the storm.” And if you listen closely to your heart, to the warrior within, you will hear him respond, “I am the storm.”
The Coming Storm
In the 19th century essay by Georgi V. Plekhanov titled The Role of the Individual in History, a strong case is made for the inevitability of the path which charts itself as an expression of the unpredictably free action of people. As a process, human history expresses laws (principles) by which to orient its constituents. As an actualization, human history is made by those who set and solve the problems of progress in accordance with the conditions of their respective epoch, regardless of its laws. In this sense, a great man is great because “he possesses qualities which make him most capable of serving the great social needs of his time”, and will carry out his sacred duties lawlessly whenever necessary.
Restoration of individual sovereignty is the chief aim of separating money and state. Free markets are idea meritocracies; minimized barriers to the interplay, recombination, and reproduction of knowledge are the defining characteristics of both. And knowledge growth is the key driver of innovation, evolution, and economic growth. Bitcoin is both a free market money and a free market in and unto itself, with entrepreneurs freely entering and exiting its mining network. Consistent with Ray’s definition of an idea meritocracy, Bitcoin is radical truth and radical transparency in action, governed with skin in the game. As the central pillar of every economy, it is critical that the market for money remain free and unobstructed by monopolists, else we witness the continued cartelization of those industries closest to its economic influence. Bitcoin is free market money born out of societal necessity; the absolutely inelastic fabric of trust necessary to save mankind from his own self-destructive greed.
Paradoxically, it is only when people are free to act on their own accord that they become conscious of economic necessity by virtue of having their own skin in the game. Those who are coerced by regulations or insulated from the consequences of their actions by government monopolies, guarantees, or other obstructions suffer from a disconnect with reality and atrophy over time. In this sense, freedom is the conscious awareness of necessity; acceptance of the opportunity costs to be incurred in action, awareness of the obstructions to be overcome, and understanding of natural laws. Value is the bridge between the conscious awareness of life’s necessities and the freedom to choose; it is expressed in price: the intersection of (objective) supply with (intersubjective) demand. Without an objective touchstone for the value of things (hard money), market signals are distorted and capital allocations are manipulated, causing societies to trend towards centralized power concentrations (bigger government), nationalization of assets (less free enterprise), and marginalization of citizenries (inflation, taxation, and conscription). Entrepreneurs are elemental to free markets and antithetical to state control. Leaving each person free to pursue profits by whatever (nonviolent) means necessary ensures that markets generate the lowest prices, highest satisfactions of wants, and continuous streams of innovations for all to enjoy.
Freedom allows people to self-actualize the actions they themselves deem necessary as they face the inherent scarcities of existence. Freedom, in a profound sense, is necessity transformed into action. A profound definition like this is fractal, in that it does not refute its superficial form, but is instead inclusive of it. Once an individual overcomes the restrictions imposed both within and without himself, he is born again; his “free actions become the conscious and free expression of necessity.” By transcending the government coercion of money production, Bitcoin facilitates a reversion to man’s natural, sovereign state of being; an existence with more freedom of expression and less oppression. By incinerating the opacity of central banking with the light of pure transparency, drowning the lies inherent to fiat currency in a ceaseless flow of indisputable truth (a new block roughly every 10 minutes), and like the free people whose sovereignty it is reinvigorating, Bitcoin is swelling into a great social force that is:
“Bursting on cunning falsehood
Like a storm of wrath divine…”
Bitcoin is the first social institution in history with the potential to subvert the greatest man-made scourge humanity has ever faced — the infamous wealth-extracting, disparity-driving, and warfare-financing duopoly of monopolists: governments and central banks.
Thank you for reading “An Open Letter to Ray Dalio re: Bitcoin”
Follow me on Twitter: Robert Breedlove
My sincerest gratitude to these amazing minds:
Special thanks to the man himself: Ray Dalio
a. https://www.amazon.com/Principles-Life-Work-Ray-Dalio/dp/1501124021
i. Where you see page numbers marked (p.##) throughout this essay, they are referencing Ray’s book, Principles
b. https://twitter.com/LukeGromen/status/1100068098189733888/photo/1
c. http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20190218-are-we-on-the-road-to-civilisation-collapse
d. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/populism-weakening-economy-limited-central-bank-power-ray-dalio/
e. https://www.businessinsider.com.au/the-worst-gold-chart-of-all-time-2013-4
f. https://inthelongrun.co.uk/tag/treasury-bonds/
g. https://etfdailynews.com/2015/02/25/100-reasons-why-the-federal-reserve-should-be-shut-down/
h. https://medium.com/@RobertNYC/monetary-madness-438836c44464
i. https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/M1
j. https://history.stackexchange.com/questions/7887/did-rothschild-say-this-famous-quote-if-yes-what-did-he-mean-by-it
k. https://www.dropbox.com/s/iwtk4rhcx3tvnud/Kenetic%20CCC%20Master%20Deck.pdf?dl=0
l. https://wisdomsummary.com/the-wittgensteins-ruler/
m. https://www.monticello.org/site/research-and-collections/private-banks-spurious-quotation
n. https://wtfhappenedin1971.com/
o. https://medium.com/@100trillionUSD/modeling-bitcoins-value-with-scarcity-91fa0fc03e25
p. https://medium.com/@jimmysong/bitcoin-and-virtue-part-1-prudence-78a7dfad0b33
q. https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/milton_friedman_382646
r. https://twitter.com/ArryinSeattle/status/1168294075180580864/photo/1
s. https://mises.org/library/how-central-banks-fund-our-age-endless-war
t. https://fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/R44116.pdf
u. https://medium.com/incerto/what-do-i-mean-by-skin-in-the-game-my-own-version-cc858dc73260
v. https://janicekobelsky.mykajabi.com/blog/the-best-way-to-earn-trust-stand-under-your-own-arches
w. https://twitter.com/Breedlove22/status/1192291536379056128
x. https://www.amazon.com/Crazy-Cock-Henry-Miller/dp/0802132936
y. https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Essays-Montaigne-Michel/dp/0804704864
z. https://medium.com/coinshares/beware-of-lazy-research-c828c900b7d5
aa. https://twitter.com/crypto_voices/status/1157639340870311936
bb. https://cdn.mises.org/Road%20to%20serfdom.pdf
cc. https://jameso.be/2019/08/24/bitcoin-is-for-this.html
dd. https://www.amazon.com/Bitcoin-Sovereignty-mathematics-Knut-Svanholm/dp/1090109911
By Parker Lewis
The idea that somehow bitcoin can be banned by governments is the final stage of grief, right before acceptance. The consequence of the statement is an admission that bitcoin “works.” In fact, it posits that bitcoin works so well that it will threaten the incumbent government-run monopolies on money in which case governments will regulate it out of existence to eliminate the threat. Think about the claim that governments will ban bitcoin as conditional logic. Is bitcoin functional as money? If not, governments have nothing to ban. If yes, then governments will attempt to ban bitcoin. So the anchor point for this line of criticism assumes that bitcoin is functional as money. And then, the question becomes whether or not government intervention could successfully cause an otherwise functioning bitcoin to fail.
As a starting point, anyone trying to understand how, why, or if bitcoin works should assess the question entirely independent from the implications of government regulation or intervention. While bitcoin will undoubtedly have to co-exist alongside various regulatory regimes, imagine governments did not exist. On a standalone basis, would bitcoin be functional as money, if left to the free market? This will inevitably lead to a number of rabbit hole questions. What is money? What are the properties that make a particular medium a better or worse form of money? Does bitcoin share those properties? Is bitcoin a better form of money based on its properties? If the ultimate conclusion becomes that bitcoin is not functional as money, the implications of government intervention are irrelevant. However, if bitcoin is functional as money, the question then becomes relevant to the debate, and anyone considering the question would need that prior context as a baseline to evaluate whether or not it would be possible.
By design, bitcoin exists beyond governments. But bitcoin is not just beyond the control of governments, it functions without the coordination of any central third parties. It is global and decentralized. Anyone can access bitcoin on a permissionless basis and the more widespread it becomes, the more difficult it becomes to censor the network. The architecture of bitcoin is practically purpose-built to resist and immunize any attempts by governments to ban it. This is not to say that governments all over the world will not attempt to regulate, tax or even ban its use. There will certainly be a fight to resist bitcoin adoption. The Fed and the Treasury (and their global counterparts) are not just going to lay down as bitcoin increasingly threatens the monopolies of government money. However, before debunking the idea that governments could outright ban bitcoin, first understand the very consequence of the statement and the messenger.
The Progression of Denial & Stages of Grief
The skeptic’s narrative consistently shifts over time. Stage one of grief: bitcoin could never work – it is backed by nothing. It is nothing more than a present-day tulip mania. With each hype cycle, the value of bitcoin rises dramatically and is then followed by a correction. Often extolled as a crash by skeptics, bitcoin fails to die and in each instance, it finds support at levels higher than prior adoption waves. The tulip narrative becomes tired and the skeptics move on to more nuanced issues, re-anchoring the debate. Stage two of grief follows: bitcoin is flawed as a currency. It is too volatile to be money, or it is too slow to be a payments system, or it cannot scale to satisfy all the payments in the world, or it wastes energy. The list goes on. This second step is a progression of denial and it is a significant departure from the idea that bitcoin is nothing more than nothingness.
Despite the supposed flaws, the value of the bitcoin network continues to rise over time. Each time it does not die, it gains strength. While the skeptics are busy pointing out flaws, bitcoin never sleeps. An increase in value is driven by a very simple market dynamic: more buyers than sellers. That is all and it is a function of increasing adoption. More and more people figure out why there is fundamental demand for bitcoin and why/how it works. This is what creates long-term demand for bitcoin. As more people increasingly demand it as a store of wealth, there is no supply response. There will only ever be 21 million bitcoin. No matter how many people demand bitcoin, the supply side is completely fixed and inelastic. As the skeptics continue to shout the same tired lines, the crowd continues to parse the noise and demand bitcoin due to the strengths of its monetary properties. And no constituency is more well-versed in the arguments against bitcoin than adopters of bitcoin themselves.
Bitcoin FUD (Fear, Uncertainty & Doubt) Dice v1 and v2, courtesy of Nic Carter.
Desperation begins to kick in, and the debate re-anchors once again. The narrative predictably shifts. It is no longer that bitcoin is not backed by anything, nor that it is flawed as a currency; instead, the debate centers on regulation and government authorities. In the final stage of grief, it is actually that bitcoin works too well, and as a consequence, the government will never let it happen and ban it. Really? So human ingenuity somehow re-invents money in a technologically superior medium, the consequences of which are mind-bending, and the government is somehow going to ban that? Recognize that in claiming as much, the skeptics are admitting defeat. It is the dying whimper in a series of failed arguments. The skeptics simultaneously accept that there is fundamental demand for bitcoin and then pivot to the unfounded belief that governments can ban it.
Play this one out. When exactly would developed world governments actually step in and attempt to ban bitcoin? Today, the Fed and the Treasury do not view bitcoin as a serious threat to dollar supremacy. In their collective mind, bitcoin is a cute little toy and is not functional as a currency. Presently, the bitcoin network represents a total purchasing power of less than $200 billion. Gold on the other hand has a purchasing power of approximately $8 trillion (40x the size of bitcoin) and broad money supply of dollars (M2) is approximately $15 trillion (75x the size of bitcoin). When does the Fed or Treasury start seriously considering bitcoin a credible threat? Is it when bitcoin collectively represents $1 trillion of purchasing power? $2 trillion or $3 trillion? Pick your level, but the implication is that bitcoin will be far more valuable, and held by far more people globally, before government powers that be view it as a credible competitor or threat.
President Trump & Treasury Secretary Mnuchin on Bitcoin (2019)
So the skeptic logic follows: bitcoin does not work, but if it does work, the government will ban it. But, governments in the free world will not attempt to ban bitcoin until it becomes more apparent that it is a threat. At which time, bitcoin will be more valuable and undoubtedly harder to ban, as it will be held by far more people in far more places. So, ignore fundamentals and the asymmetry inherent in a global monetization event because in the event you turn out to be right, the government will step in to regulate bitcoin out of existence. Which side of the fence would a rational economic actor rather be on? Owning a monetary asset that has increased in value so dramatically that it threatens the global reserve currency, or the opposite – not owning that asset? Assuming an individual possesses the knowledge to understand why it is a fundamental possibility (and increasingly a probability), which is the more defensible and logical position? The asymmetry alone dictates the former and any fundamental understanding of the demand for bitcoin only reinforces the same position.
But Bitcoin Cannot Be Banned.
Think about what bitcoin actually represents and then what a ban of bitcoin would represent. Bitcoin represents the conversion of subjective value, created and exchanged in the real world, for digital keys. Said more plainly, it is the conversion of an individual’s time into money. When someone demands bitcoin, they are at the same time forgoing demand for some other good, whether it be a dollar, a house, a car, or food, etc. Bitcoin represents monetary savings that comes with the opportunity cost of other goods and services. Banning bitcoin would be an affront to the most basic freedoms it is designed to both provide and preserve. Imagine the response by all those that have adopted bitcoin: “Well that was fun, the tool that the experts said would never work, now works too well, and the same experts and authorities say we can’t use it. Everyone go home. Show’s over folks.” To believe that all the people in the world that have adopted bitcoin for the financial freedom and sovereignty it provides would suddenly lay down and accept the ultimate infringement of that freedom is not rational.
“Money is one of the greatest instruments of freedom ever invented by man. It is money which in existing society opens an astounding range of choice to the poor man – a range greater than that which not many generations ago was open to the wealthy..” – F.A. Hayek
Governments could not successfully ban the consumption of alcohol, the use of drugs, the purchase of firearms, or the ownership of gold. A government can marginally restrict access, or even make possession illegal, but it cannot make something of value demanded by a broad and disparate group of people magically go away. When the U.S. made the private ownership of gold illegal in 1933, gold did not lose its value or disappear as a monetary medium. It actually increased in value relative to the dollar, and just thirty years later, the ban was lifted. Not only does bitcoin provide a greater value proposition relative to any other good that any government has ever attempted to ban (including gold); but by its nature, it is also far harder to ban. Bitcoin is global and decentralized. It is without borders and it is secured by nodes and cryptographic keys. The act of banning bitcoin would require preventing open source software code from being run and preventing digital signatures (created by cryptographic keys) from being broadcast on the internet. And it would have to be coordinated across numerous jurisdictions, except there is no way to know where the keys actually reside or to prevent more nodes from popping up in different jurisdictions. Setting aside the constitutional issues, it would be technically infeasible to enforce a ban of bitcoin in any meaningful way.
Bitcoin Node Concentration by Country (earn.com)
Even if all countries in the G-20 coordinated to ban bitcoin in unison, it would not kill bitcoin. Instead, it would be the fait accompli for the fiat system. It would reinforce to the masses that bitcoin is a formidable currency, and it would set off a global and hopeless game of whack-a-mole. There is no central point of failure in bitcoin; bitcoin miners, nodes and keys are distributed throughout the world. Every aspect of bitcoin is decentralized, which is why running nodes and controlling keys is core to bitcoin. The more keys and the more nodes that exist, the more decentralized bitcoin becomes, and the more immune bitcoin is to attack. The more jurisdictions in which mining exists, the less risk any single jurisdiction represents to bitcoin’s security function. A coordinated state level attack would only serve to build the strength of bitcoin’s immune system. It would ultimately accelerate the shift away from the legacy financial system (and legacy currencies), and it would accelerate innovation within the bitcoin economic system. With each passing threat, bitcoin innovates to immunize the threat. A coordinated state level attack would be no different.
Permissionless innovation on a globally decentralized basis is the reason bitcoin gains strength from every attack. It is the attack vector itself which causes bitcoin to innovate. It is Adam Smith’s invisible hand on steroids. Individual actors may believe themselves to be motivated by a greater cause, but in reality, the utility embedded in bitcoin creates a sufficiently powerful incentive structure to ensure its survival. The self-interests of millions, if not billions, of uncoordinated individuals aligned by their individual and collective need for money incentivizes permissionless innovation on top of bitcoin. Today, it may seem like a cool new technology or a nice-to-have portfolio investment, but even if most people do not yet recognize it, bitcoin is a necessity. It is a necessity because money is a necessity, and legacy currencies are fundamentally broken. Two months ago, the repo markets in the U.S. broke, and the Fed quickly responded by increasing the supply of dollars by $250 billion, with more to come. It is precisely why bitcoin is a necessity, not a luxury. When an innovation happens to be a basic necessity to the functioning of an economy, there is no government force that could ever hope to stop its proliferation. Money is a very basic necessity, and bitcoin represents a step-function change innovation in the global competition for money.
And more practically, any attempt to ban bitcoin or heavily regulate its use by any jurisdiction would directly benefit a competing jurisdiction. The incentive to defect from any coordinated effort to ban bitcoin would be far too high to sustain such an agreement across jurisdictions. If the United States made the possession of bitcoin illegal tomorrow, would it slow down proliferation, development and adoption of bitcoin and would it cause the value of the network to decline intermittently? Probably. Would it kill bitcoin? No. Bitcoin represents the most mobile capital in the world. Countries and jurisdictions that create regulatory certainty and place the least amount of restrictions on the use of bitcoin will benefit significantly from capital inflows.
Banning Bitcoin Prisoner’s Dilemma
In practice, the prisoner’s dilemma is not one-to-one. It is multi-dimensional involving numerous jurisdictions, all with competing interests, making any attempts to successfully ban bitcoin that much more impractical. Human capital, physical capital and monetary capital will flow to the countries and jurisdictions with the least restrictive regulations on bitcoin. It may not happen overnight, but attempting to ban bitcoin is the equivalent of a country cutting off its nose to spite its face. It doesn’t mean that countries will not try. India has already tried to ban bitcoin. China has attempted to heavily restrict its use. Others will follow. But each time a country takes an action to restrict the use of bitcoin, it actually has the unintended effect of promoting bitcoin adoption. Attempts to ban bitcoin are an extremely effective marketing tool for bitcoin. Bitcoin exists as a non-sovereign, censorship-resistant form of money. It is designed to exist beyond the state. Attempts to ban bitcoin merely serve to reinforce bitcoin’s reason for existence and ultimately, its value proposition.
The only winning move is to play
Banning bitcoin is a fool’s errand. Some will try; all will fail. And the very attempts to ban bitcoin will accelerate its adoption and proliferation. It will be the hundred mile-per-hour wind that fuels the wildfire. It will also make bitcoin stronger and more reliable, further immunizing it from attack and reinforcing its antifragile nature. And in any case, believing governments will ban bitcoin, if it becomes a credible threat to global reserve currencies, is an irrational reason to discount it as a savings technology. It both cedes that bitcoin is viable as money, while at the same time ignoring the principal reasons as to why: decentralization and censorship-resistance. Imagine understanding the greatest present secret in the world and not capitalizing on the asymmetry and utility that bitcoin provides in fear of government. More likely, either someone understands why bitcoin works and that it will not fail at the hands of a government, or a knowledge gap exists as to how bitcoin is able to function in the first place. Begin by understanding the fundamentals, and then apply that as a baseline to assess any potential risk posed by future government intervention or regulation. And never discount the value of asymmetry; the only winning move is to play.
Next edition: Bitcoin is Not for Criminals (…it’s for everyone)
Views presented are expressly my own and not those of Unchained Capital or my colleagues. Thanks to Phil Geiger for reviewing and for providing valuable feedback.
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By David Morris
In approximately 1499, in early Renaissance Frankfurt, a wunderkind bishop and magician named Johannes Trithemius completed work on a trilogy of books known as the Steganographia.
The first two volumes were remarkable enough: they appeared at first to be concerned with magic, particularly techniques for using spirits to communicate over long distances. These books were not commercially published until 1606, but quickly after they became widely available, it was discovered that they were in fact written in code. The mystical ‘cover’ content was simply a ruse: the books were guides to the practice of ‘secret writing’ — or, in Latin, ‘crypto-graphia.’
They were among the first books ever published on the subject of code, and proved wildly popular — both in underground circulation during Trithemius’ lifetime, and in their later, wider release. Trithemius’ work on code likely had real-world impact, with use of the work specifically mentioned in histories involving secret government communication in the 17th century 1.
But the third book of the Steganographia was something different: even after being decoded, it appeared to be about matters of magic. It contains an inscrutable array of numerical tables and charts correlated to the names of angels (Geradiel, Uriel, etc.), purportedly all part of the method of calling on the power of these beings. Reputedly, Trithemius also destroyed portions of the work containing instructions for prophecy — though this was likely a bit of myth-making.
Incredibly, it wasn’t until nearly half a millenia after Trithemius penned this third volume that its true meaning was discovered. Two researchers discovered the truth, independently and nearly simultaneously — first a professor of German in 1996, and then an AT&T mathematician in 1998. What looked like coded descriptions of magical rituals were in fact instructions for secret communication2 — a code within a code.
Where Trithemius discussed using the power of spirits to communicate without words, he seems to have been winkingly referring to the power of numerical code to carry meaning. This is striking given that Trithemius’ work, taken at face value as a magical text, went on to be mined for centuries by would-be magicians hungry for methods to summon demons. It may also explain why Trithemius was not more aggressively condemned by the Church for his work during his lifetime — we can imagine him carefully explaining to ecclesiastical authorities that the Steganographia was not exactly as it seemed.
Secret writing as a practice, codified in a way theoretically accessible to a wide swathe of learned society, was itself a radical innovation in Trithemius’ time, and likely viewed with extreme concern by established authorities. And in fact, coded language became, in the latter half of the second millennium, a crucial element of statecraft and spycraft, intrigues and revolutions. The same force continues into the present day in the form of encrypted internet communication, making Johannes Trithemius, in quite a direct sense, the first cypherpunk.
But I’m concerned with a stranger connection within Trithemius’ project: What are we to make of his subversive act of obfuscation between code and magic? The Steganographia mined an existing conjunction between coded language and magic incantations: both a form of mystification, of obscuring. The word ‘occult,’ as Eugene Thacker and Mark Fisher have emphasized, takes its root from the Latin for secret or concealment. Magic deals in the occulted world — the planes of being beyond what humans can experience. Coded language created a new space for shared secrets, allowing a kind of ‘occulting’ of the social world3.
Magic is always a sort of symbolic obfuscation. Magical symbols are imbued with resonance and power through the process of what we would call memetics. By spreading through the minds of beings primed to believe in them, vague magical symbols can gain an eerie physicality: just as Trithemius metaphorized coded language as magical spirit-talking, the power of shared symbols can be described in supernatural terms as telepathy, curse, or mind control.
The fact that magical symbols are vague and indirect is precisely what can give them real-world power, when wielded by certain hands. For the well-intentioned magician, perhaps a poet or shaman, the vagueness of magical symbol can become a pathway to insights that are not easily articulated in precise, rational terms. But in the wrong hands, for instance those of a political demagogue, magical language, chants and symbols can organize impulses too dark for the human spirit to accept when stated outright.
In this very real way, the practice of magic harnesses the misty realm of things like consciousness, reflection, and intention, connecting them to indeterminate symbols that can nonetheless push through into the hard-edged world of action and impact. Magic becomes an alternate frame for viewing a wide spectrum of social incantations — the Pledge of Allegiance is a ritual of binding, each paycheck an indulgence, the iPhone a saintly fetish, whispering hallucinations. Magic is threaded throughout our obsessive, repetitive world.
Coded language is in a sense the inverse. Its essence is actionable, meaningful data or expression. The series of mathematical transformations enacted on that data — the ritual, if you will — replaces legible content with seemingly random signals. It renders the message unintelligible except as a message. Like McLuhan’s light bulb, code is itself nothing, yet refigures a base dimension of (social) reality. Where once we were in darkness, Edison brought light. And conversely, where once we had only words with meaning, Trithemius brought the world secret messages, pings, blips — visible but unknowable information.
Trithemius had to be a visionary to grasp the worth of coded communication. But we take it for granted, encountering coded messages daily without truly seeing them: scanning systems, identification cards, and, of course, computers. There are reasons both of real secrecy and mere efficiency behind the use of codes for communication between organizations or agencies or governments. But for whatever reason, the sort of code pioneered by Trithemius has become a major tool for ordering, regulating, and managing our societies and our world.
Our existence within a coded reality — our daily encounter with the UPC code on the goddamn cereal box — can be regarded as the postmodern corollary to the mysteries of nature confronted by our long-ago ancestors. Once it was the outside world that constantly hid its deeper principles from us. Now our fellow humans do the same.
And just as the mysteries of nature gave birth to attempted explanations in the form of myth, folklore, and religion, the mystery of code primes our being to quest into darker levels of social (un)meaning. If everything is code, where beyond or below the apparent everyday are the lines of communication and levers of power that guide both the agreements of the powerful, and the resistance of the weak? Could these messages be all around us, yet evade our notice?
Among other things, then, code becomes a way for humans to revive a sense of the mystical. Its practice and, perhaps more importantly, its cultural resonance, have allowed our highly advanced and regimented society to retain something of its wildness. We are animals, and ultimately, we demand freedom and possibility. We demand, even, risk and chaos.
. . . This is the first part of one chapter of my new book, Bitcoin is Magic. I’ll be publishing the rest of the chapter soon . . . or you can just grab the book, in paperback or for Kindle, today.
-David Morris
1 Robert Hooke (1705). The Posthumous Works of Robert Hooke. Richard Waller, London
2 This is according to AT&T’s Dr. Jim Reeds, one of two researchers independently broke Trithemius’ code.
3 If Trithemius was just posing as a ‘magician’ while in fact remaining faithful to his Catholicism, he is also a useful figure for definition of ‘magic’ in contemporary politics and ideology. We have mentioned the formulation, drawn from Aleister Crowley and carried on by Alan Moore, that magic is an attempt at direct, individual intervention in the world. For Moore, religion is in particularly stark contrast to this, as a form of submission to authoritarianism — but there is a converse formulation, by which religion is a vehicle not for submission, but for faith. Faith is a spiritual submission to being itself as a mystery beyond any mere human grasping, and implies an ultimate rejection of ANY human authority in the face of the numinous, mystical all-power of God.
By Phil Bonello
Globalization, Digital Money, & Dissident Technology
Information technology alters global power dynamics in a few key ways:
Instant information dissemination reduces commercial and jurisdictional barriers to entry and barriers to exit. This increases competition by facilitating global entrepreneurship.
The creation of non-sovereign, digital money decreases the power of inflation and taxation. Financial services can also more easily address the global market.
Encryption reduces the cost of protection and decreases the leverage of violence at scale. This leads to the rise of dissident technology.
Each of these categories represents a huge shift in society. They present massive opportunities. This post is an introduction into each of these changes and examines the source of user demand through the lens of the following human motivations:
Acquire (greed) – Desire to collect physical objects as well as immaterial ones like power, status, and influence
Defend (fear) – Desire to protect ourselves and our property
Bond (belonging) – Desire to form relationships
Learn (curiosity) – Desire to satisfy our innate curiosity
Feel (escape) – Desire for sensory stimulus and pleasure
Identifying investment opportunities through the lens of unchanging human motivations is inspired by Bezos’ excerpt:
“I very frequently get the question: ‘What’s going to change in the next 10 years?’ And that is a very interesting question; it’s a very common one. I almost never get the question: ‘What’s not going to change in the next 10 years?’ And I submit to you that that second question is actually the more important of the two – because you can build a business strategy around the things that are stable in time.”
Examining shifts in power dynamics helps us recognize overarching trends. Examining human behaviors within each trend helps us understand specific points of investment leverage. While the set of human motivations is constant, the weighting of each changes based on environment.
“The lamb and the lion keep a delicate balance, interacting at the margin. If lions were suddenly more swift, they would catch prey that now escape. If lambs suddenly grew wings, lions would starve. The capacity to utilize and defend against violence is the crucial variable that alters life at the margin.”- The Sovereign Individual
Information technology has altered the balance between the lion and the lamb. It allows us to communicate and coordinate globally. Encryption allows us to store and protect assets against sophisticated attacks. For better or worse, commerce will increasingly be conducted outside the reach of governments’ protection. This increase in individual power will cause a shift in human behavior from “Acquire” to “Defend”. As the phrase goes, “With great power there must also come – great responsibility.”
Theory of Change #1: Globalization is an equalizing force
Almost all information is readily available online. Increasingly, commerce occurs online. Most work can be coordinated remotely.
This will likely lead to greater income equality between jurisdictions but potentially greater income inequality overall. Highly skilled entrepreneurs have unprecedented leverage to outperform, and unskilled workers have unprecedented, global competition for work. As someone raised in the United States where wage expectations are high, this idea can be unsettling and unpopular.
Competitive wages of remote work overpower jurisdictional boundaries and restrictions. With a diminishing importance on physical availability, the leverage governments have over their citizens decreases. Citizens increasingly become customers, and governments compete for their business. Look no further than the success of Singapore as an example of a highly favorable business environment.
There will be a strong equalizing effect that lower cost jurisdictions and workforces will have on economies. Developed countries may experience uncomfortable periods of deflation. Developing, business friendly jurisdictions will see outsized economic growth. This creates a wide range of investment opportunities spanning all human behaviors.
The table below is an example of potential investment opportunities and the corresponding demand sources. Green denotes demand now. Orange denotes demand later. “xx” denotes the dominant user motivation.
Education is an especially interesting sector. A high degree of information asymmetry provided institutions enormous power, a monopoly over reputation (degrees), and thus the ability to charge high prices. But with the transcendence of location and vanishing information asymmetry, education is ripe for change. We’re in the beginning stages.
Education is expected to grow to a $10 trillion industry by 2030 and the industry would be expected to add close to 100 million teachers. That is a massive resource requirement, and with interest in top level higher education falling rapidly, we will see a migration to lower cost, borderless solutions. Further, higher education has been massively subsidized; using the United States as an example, student loan debt sits at a staggering $1.5 trillion. Government intervention has artificially kept demand for traditional institutions afloat.
The progression in educational demand is straightforward. Scalable, online programs educate highly competitive workforces at a fraction of the cost. These workforces undercut the wages that were once expected from graduates of traditional institutions. Expected value of traditional education falls dramatically and almost all learning is driven to more efficient providers.
Theory of Change #2: Digital money is the foundation for global financial services
The creation of non-sovereign, digital money reduces the power of inflation and taxation. It also further reduces friction of global commerce. With the advent of Bitcoin, we saw a major governmental lever begin to dissolve. The follow-on effects are not yet obvious.
The fact is, Bitcoin reduces government revenue potential by providing a way to opt out of hyper inflationary forces and by altering taxation enforceability. With digital money, personal wealth becomes more difficult to seize and easier to transport. It further reduces geopolitical borders and allows the cybereconomy to flourish without gatekeepers. Bitcoin allows individuals to better defend. Defend against inflation. Defend against seizure. Defend against censorship. As these needs grow, so too will the value proposition of Bitcoin and ancillary applications.
This is another uncomfortable idea as a citizen of the United States. The USD seems infallible. But when growth slows, the first button nations push is the one that turns on the printing press. It’s happening as we speak. After weak attempts to tighten, money supply is rapidly increasing again. This view is not reserved only for Bitcoiners, libertarians, and gold bugs. Ray Dalio’s recent writings (here and here) echo this sentiment.
We’re seeing the beginnings of a fintech stack built to support natively digital money and exploit the benefits it provides. Currently, exchanges, custody, mining, and borrowing/lending are the leaders.
Bitcoin businesses can be separated into demand now and demand later:
Speculation (now) – Exchanges, funds, data providers, brokerage services
Defense (later) – Decentralized exchanges, self-sovereign custody, trustless payment products, fiat-to-Bitcoin on-ramps
Right now, the dominant use case for digital money is speculation (drive to acquire). Secondary demand comes from users defending against inflation, asset seizure, taxation or regulatory hurdles (drive to defend). Interestingly, the products that have most effectively delivered on speculative and censorship demands are Bitmex, Binance, and USDT. No wonder they have been so successful.
Exchanges are a good case study for thinking about market demand. Decentralized exchanges (DEX) were all the rage in 2018 but have seen limited adoption. We won’t see adoption of fully decentralized solutions until there is greater demand for regulatory arbitrage and dissent. That demand isn’t present today but with growing capital controls we will see migration to non-corruptible services.
Along similar lines, solutions that facilitate trust minimized on-boarding, custody, and commerce will become more important. I’m particularly interested in watching adoption trends of onramps like LocalBitcoins, payment services like opennode, BTCPay, and Zap, and key management systems like Casa.
With these products, financial services companies will finally be able to target billions of users around the world. Jill Carlson hits the nail on the head:
Theory of Change #3: Encryption enables dissident technology
Encryption reduces the cost of protection and decreases the leverage of violence. This enables significant power to move from the center and toward the margins (free markets). See this post from the FBI general counsel on why encryption is such powerful force and how governments are unable to stop it.
Continued recognition of vulnerabilities in infrastructure and applications, and the development of viable replacements, will lead to demand for an antifragile, censorship resistant, borderless webstack. I had been struggling to find a proper description for these “crypto” applications, and I think Maya Zehavi captures it perfectly with “dissident tech”.
Further, aggregators and public service providers are honey pots that have become targets for attack because there is an asymmetric reward profile.
Attack on corporation: Large Reward Strong Security
Attack on individual: Small Reward Strong Security (power of encryption)
However, this switch from centralized systems to distributed systems requires a fundamental shift in human behavior. We are used to outsourcing our security and protection. This is why we see limited adoption of crypto applications. It’s not just a scalability issue. It’s a demand issue. Our environment hasn’t yet warranted a behavior change but the undercurrents are growing. More specifically, the demand for these distributed technologies comes from two angles:
Cost efficiencies – removing middle men can decrease predatory rent seeking. This is a marginal benefit and not powerful enough to force a switch.
Defensibility – These systems have the potential to be antifragile, safer, and censorship resistant (dissident). These are 10x improvements.
Consider the ability to run applications on a personal, encrypted single server (Urbit style), store your data locally, and get paid to share it through homomorphic encryption on an open market without the potential for data duplication. This would transform the incentives of internet companies who currently rely on data mining, it gives a huge amount of power back to the users, and it would generate countless new business models. The incentives to force this behavior change aren’t here yet, but they are coming.
Online education will continue to equalize workforces. Wages in developed countries will trend lower while wages in developing countries will grow.
Digital money is the catalyst for truly global fintech companies. The regulatory pushback will be intense but futile.
There is a growing need but not an imminent demand for dissident technologies. We have to focus on incentives and user demand.
The Sovereign Individual popularized many of these ideas in 1997, and they have begun to take hold. We are still in the early stages. I think the tipping point will be in the next 10 years. This framework only scratches the surface, and I plan to follow up with deeper research into each section.
Thanks to Nathaniel Whittmore, Ryan Yi, Christian Kaczmarczyk, and Jimmy Cofsky for feedback on this piece.
The Most Exciting Investment of the Century
Software is eating the world and money is no different.
Bitcoin is the best performing asset of the decade. It is uncorrelated to other asset classes, and it is still underpriced relative to the likelihood it becomes a widely adopted store of value.
In 2018, crypto asset prices crashed and for good reason. 2017 saw a meteoric rise in prices and extreme irrational exuberance. The euphoria was followed by a much-needed return to rational pricing. But don’t let the bubble scare you. It’s important to understand the motivation behind Bitcoin and why it represents a historic investment opportunity and a step toward greater self-sovereignty.
Following the global financial crisis in 2008, central banks launched Quantitative Easing to fuel economic expansion, or more accurately, forestall a massive and global recession. The tradeoff – economies became dependent on cheap money. Bitcoin emerged on the eve of this experiment.
With about $184 trillion in global debt, central banks, in particular the Federal Reserve, attempted to tighten monetary policies in 2018, but due to concerns of slower than forecasted economic growth, they have since reversed course. QE is back. The 2019 U.S. budget deficit has now passed an eye-popping $1 trillion. If you were writing the script for a non-sovereign, fixed-supply, digital form of money to gain mass adoption, this is how you would write it. With massive debt looming and monetary policy front-and-center, it is becoming clearer that we need other options.
The good news is that institutional infrastructure is being built to transition our monetary system to the digital age. It is still early, but there are strong efforts underway. Fidelity launched their Bitcoin custody services, the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) launched physically settled futures contracts for Bitcoin, and endowments and pensions are exploring the best way to gain exposure. The IMF is also taking serious notice.
Instead of adopting the currency of another country—such as the U.S. dollar—some of these economies might see a growing use of virtual currencies. Call it dollarization 2.0. So in many ways, virtual currencies might just give existing currencies and monetary policy a run for their money. The best response by central bankers is to continue running effective monetary policy, while being open to fresh ideas and new demands, as economies evolve. – Christine Lagarde, IMF Managing Director, 2017
One way to think about an investment in non-sovereign, digital money is as a put option on dominant fiat currencies. In the 1990’s it was impossible to imagine that the internet would replace newspapers, TV, and retail stores, among other things. Similarly, today it is difficult to imagine a crypto asset becoming the basis of a global monetary standard. But how farfetched is the idea, really?
Software is eating the world and paper money is next on the menu. The specific outcome is less important than recognizing this paradigm shift. Public blockchains enable ownership and transfer of fully digital assets without a trusted intermediary for the first time. This is revolutionary.
As most things have gone from analog to digital, why would sovereign currencies be immune from this transition? The force of technology is unstoppable.
For over 5000 years humans converged on gold as the global monetary standard for good reason. Sure, it was viewed as beautiful, but more importantly, gold has been resistant to rampant supply inflation. It has maintained its purchasing power throughout history.
Where gold has failed is in its transportability and verifiability. It’s hard to transport gold. This is an important issue in an increasingly global economy. Gold is also hard to verify with certainty. The very existence of gold reserves is often taken on faith. We are required to believe in systems and organizations that have been established to take care of us and our money. This faith has given power to central banks to print money, backed by a sovereign government. This works well enough as long as nations are economically prosperous. But there are many recent examples of catastrophic hyperinflation that renders the currency worthless. Look no further than the current media headlines covering Venezuela, Turkey, and Iran. Their currencies are circling the drain.
As sovereign currencies go, the US dollar is a relatively stable money; it’s the de facto global reserve. It’s our best bad idea. However, it is important to note that it’s only been 48 years since the US abandoned the gold standard… The free-floating USD hasn’t been battle tested.
There is no example of a fiat currency ever holding its value. The British Pound Sterling is the oldest survivor at 317 years. The British Pound was originally defined as 12 ounces of silver. Today it is only worth .5% of its original value. The burden of proof is on current monetary regimes and it’s not looking good.
Consider the chart below. Since 1969 the annualized compounded supply of USD has increased at 9% a year. This equates to a doubling of US dollar supply every 8 years. By this metric, the US dollar is a poor store of wealth. Additionally, and as a historical rule, if a money’s supply can be increased, it will be increased. Salt, Rai stones, copper, sea shells, and numerous examples of government-issued monies have fallen victim.
Source: Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Bitcoin is still a speculative vehicle today, but it picks up where gold left off. It is incredibly inflation resistant; there will never be more than 21 million. It also succeeds where gold failed. It’s easily transportable; we can send a million dollars of BTC around the world for $.10. It is also easily verifiable; sharing a public key allows full transparency of the balance in a digital wallet.
There is a good chance that Bitcoin or another emergent crypto asset will become the global monetary standard. One way to quantify the market opportunity is by estimating Total Address Market (TAM). To that end, note the following:
It will increasingly be viewed as responsible and prudent to hold some wealth in crypto assets as a hedge against fiat monies. This portfolio adjustment also mitigates the risk that one’s wealth will be devalued relative to a new global monetary standard.
Booms and busts will be a natural part of global adoption. Prices will continue to be volatile - likely an order of magnitude more volatile than developed market public equities. But with each boom and bust, confidence in digital currencies grows as they prove their anti-fragility and refuse to die.
There are a lot of obstacles ahead, but the possibility of a new global monetary standard presents an amazing step for individual sovereignty and an incredible investment opportunity.
Paper is poverty. It is only the ghost of money, and not money itself. – Thomas Jefferson to Edward Carrington, 1788
Introducing a New Set of Metrics to Help Time Bitcoin Market Cycles
By Rafael Schultze-Kraft
Understanding the state of the Bitcoin blockchain with respect to the price at which BTC is being valued by the market is indispensable for any investor in this new asset.
In fact, Bitcoin on–chain data has been used in conjunction with off–chain market data in order to create metrics and indicators that help investors gain fundamental insights into the current state of the market, understand investor sentiment, or model the value of Bitcoin.
Popular examples are MVRV and SOPR.
These metrics have in common that they make use of Bitcoin’s underlying UTXO structure by comparing the value of Bitcoin at two different points in time: The current price and the price at the time a UTXO (bitcoin) was created (last moved), i.e. the realised price.
Here, we make use of the same underlying concept in order to answer a fundamental question:
If all bitcoins were sold today, how much would investors stand to gain or lose?
Or to put it differently: How much of Bitcoin’s circulating supply is at any given point in time in profit or loss — and to what extent?
The ability to access this information is important to investors with regard to Bitcoin’s primary narrative: to act as a digital, permissionless, censorship-resistant Store of Value (SoV).
To answer these questions, we take three different approaches and define new sets of metrics — each adding an additional level of detail:
1. The number of current UTXOs that are in profit/loss
A UTXO is in profit (loss) if the current price is higher (lower) than the price at the time the UTXO was created.
2. The current supply of Bitcoin that is in profit/loss
A bitcoin is in profit (loss) if the current price is higher (lower) than the price at the time the bitcoin last moved.
3. The unrealised profit/loss of the current Bitcoin supply
The profit (loss) of a bitcoin is calculated by taking the difference between the current price and the price at the time the bitcoin last moved.
Let’s dig in.
Number of UTXOs in Profit/Loss
The number of UTXOs in profit/loss is computed in a straight-forward manner: We simply count all existing UTXOs whose price at creation time was lower or higher than the current price, respectively.
Figure 1 below shows the absolute amount of UTXOs in profit/loss at any given point in time.
Figure 1 — Number of UTXOs in Profit and Loss
In order to account for the increasing number of UTXOs over time, we normalise these time series by the size of the UTXO set and obtain the relative number of UTXOs in profit/loss, i.e. the percentage.
Figure 2 below represents the 50d MA of the relative UTXO counts in profit. Note that when this metric approaches 100%, it has historically been a good indicator for global market tops.
Figure 2 — Relative Number of UTXOs in Profit, 50d Moving Average
The bull run of 2017, however, shows a distinct behaviour with a sustained period of profitable UTXOs above 95% – a clear indication of the remarkable nature of the bull run that year. Throughout those months, the metric can be used to help identify short-term cycles and as a clear indicator to stay highly alerted throughout the mania of such periods.
Note that the relative number of UTXOs in profit approaches 100% every time a previous ATH price is broken – this is self-evident as it becomes nearly impossible to be in losses once a new ATH is surpassed. Therefore, we applied the simple 50d MA, which we have found to fit historic data optimally and which creates a signal that serves to indicate global/local Bitcoin cycle tops as shown above.
Live implementations of UTXOs in Profit/Loss metrics are available in Glassnode Studio:
Percent UTXOs in Profit UTXOs in Profit UTXOs in Loss
Circulating Supply in Profit/Loss
A similar but even more informative metric is the number of circulating bitcoins that are in profit or loss. Instead of counting UTXOs, we now consider their bitcoin value (i.e. individual bitcoins) and sum up those whose price at the time they last moved was lower or higher than the current price, respectively.
The stacked graph below shows the supply of bitcoins in profit/loss at any given point in time.
Figure 3 — Circulating Bitcoin Supply in Profit and Loss
Similarly, we adjust this data by dividing by the circulating supply and obtain the relative Bitcoin supply (i.e. percentage) that is in profit/loss.
Figure 4 — Relative Bitcoin Supply in Profit and Loss
The resulting graph is a metric we have found to be exceptionally useful to help understand Bitcoin market cycles.
Let’s take close look at the Percent of Supply in Profit, again applying the 50d MA.
Figure 5 — Relative Bitcoin Supply in Profit, 50d Moving Average
The Percent of Supply in Profit metric represents an oscillator that allows us to better understand the current state of the Bitcoin market:
In a similar fashion to the relative UTXO count chart above, using a simple threshold at 95% helps to identify market tops.
By looking at periods in which the relative supply in profit falls below 50%, this indicator is useful to help identify market bottoms and convenient entry points.
Live implementations of Supply in Profit/Loss metrics are available in Glassnode Studio:
Percent Supply in Profit Supply in Profit Supply in Loss
Unrealised Profit/Loss
Finally, we take a step further and look at the Unrealised Profit/Loss of Bitcoin.
In comparison to simply summing up the circulating supply that is in profit or loss, Unrealised Profit/Loss takes into account the actual USD value by which a bitcoin is in gains/losses. In other words, we weight each circulating bitcoin by the difference between the current price and its realised price and sum up all bitcoins in profit and loss, respectively.
Mathematically speaking Unrealised Profit (UP) and Unrealised Loss(UL) are defined as
The following graph shows Bitcoin’s raw Unrealised Profit/Loss.
Figure 6 — Unrealised Bitcoin Profit and Loss
While the UP line very much resembles the shape of the Bitcoin price, the amount of unrealised loss (UL) shows a distinctive pattern with clear-cut downward spikes at periods in which the losses are virtually non-existent. These moments naturally correspond to those in which the relative number of bitcoins/UTXOs in profit approaches 100% (see Figures 2+5).
In order to obtain a conclusive and more informative metric, we normalise the data by the market cap, giving us the Relative Unrealised Profit (RUP) and the Relative Unrealised Loss (RUL). The resulting signals clearly reveal distinct patterns at different states of the market cycles.
Figure 7 — Relative Unrealised Profit and Loss
In particular we see how the RUP spikes (RUP > 0.75) indicate potential tops and selling points. Conversely, periods in which the RUL exceeds the RUP (RUP < RUL) have been historically indicative of market bottoms and good buying opportunities.
By taking the delta of both curves, we finally calculate the Net Unrealised Profit/Loss (NUPL).
Deconstructing this signal into different bands gives insight into market sentiment derived from on–chain data. The thresholds below are set at 0.0, 0.25, 0.5, and 0.75. Even though arbitrary, historically they show accurate patterns that can be attributed to distinct sentiments throughout the macro cycles of Bitcoin.
Figure 8 — Net Unrealised Profit/Loss (NUPL)
By mapping these bands to the price of Bitcoin we see how the NUPL represents different periods of the Bitcoin market cycles. Understanding the current NUPL value can help investors navigate through different stages of the market and identify periods of profit taking as well as efficient entry points.
Figure 9 — NUPL Bands applied to the Bitcoin Price
UPDATE: Net Unrealised Profit/Loss has been previously derived by Adamant Capital in a different manner: They calculate it by subtracting realised cap from market cap, and dividing the result by the market cap, i.e.(Market Cap — Realised Cap) / Market Cap. This is mathematically in fact equivalent to the derivation introduced here: Unrealised Profit * Market Cap — Unrealised Loss * Market Cap.
Live implementations of Unrealised Profit/Loss metrics are available in Glassnode Studio:
Net Unrealised Profit/Loss (NUPL) Relative Unrealised Profit (RUP) Relative Unrealised Loss (RUL)
We explored and presented a set of on–chain metrics that incorporate the relationship between the current price and the realised price of Bitcoin. In particular we defined metrics related to
1) the Number of UTXOs in Profit/Loss, 2) the Bitcoin Supply in Profit/Loss, and 3) the Unrealised Profit/Loss.
These metrics help in understanding the current profit and loss of stakeholders in the Bitcoin network using on–chain data — information that is crucial to evaluate the state of Bitcoin as a Store of Value (SoV).
Moreover, these metrics are indicative of the Bitcoin market cycles and shed light on investor sentiment at different stages, most notably using Net Unrealised Profit/Loss.
With the present work, we have equipped Bitcoin investors with a new set of tools providing a better understanding of Bitcoin’s market cycles and its economics. The introduced metrics are can be used to assist investment strategies that go beyond simple HODLing, and help to avoid buying towards the top and selling near the bottom of Bitcoin’s cycles.
Metrics Overview
All analyses in this article were done using data from Glassnode Studio. For API access to this data visit the Glassnode API page.
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Disclaimer: This report does not provide any investment advice. All data is provided for information purposes only. No investment decision shall be based on the information provided here and you are solely responsible for your own investment decisions.
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Contextualised and actionable market insights, reports and analyses drawn from on-chain data.
Thanks to Rafal Bromirski, Glassnode, and Matthias Bachmann.
By AMERICAN HODL
Bitcoin is guerrilla warfare.
Sovereign individuals vs sovereign collectives.
They’re marching in formation and we’re hiding in forests.
They’re following a hierarchical structure and we’re winging it.
They don’t know the territory…
The battleground is our native soil.
A Cashless Future Is A Dystopia
By Rhythm
The world is becoming increasingly digital. Remaining tethered to a physical piece of paper for transactions seems archaic at first thought. Choosing between making a payment via a scan of a phone or credit card versus the need to carry around a wallet full of cash is obvious. It is not without consequences, however. The convenience of a cashless society comes with the cost of privacy.
Coin Center, a non-profit research and advocacy center focused on public policy issues facing cryptocurrency, has published a report here. Below in quotations are a few sections taken from the report:
In a world without cash (a bearer and peer-to-peer form of money) all transactions must be necessarily intermediated by financial institutions. Intermediated transactions are by their nature subject to surveillance and control. If third-party financial institutions must be part of all transactions, then they will be privy to the intimate details of everyone’s financial life. They can also choose to disallow certain transactions and potentially even certain persons from transacting. - Coin Center
We have already seen financial data used by governments all across the world to suppress their citizens. It may be as seemingly inconsequential as de-platforming an individual deemed unsafe to the public or as oppressive as implementing a nationwide ranking system used to monitor the behavior of civilians. Both have long-reaching effects, but the latter is now just coming to fruition in China. Information from the day-to-day lives of its 1.3 billion citizens is aggregated into an overall score that deems each individual access to public facilities like the transit system. (source)
Earlier this year, China banned 23 million citizens from buying basic travel tickets due to their low social score (source). A document outlining this plan is quoted as saying, the goal is to “allow the trustworthy to roam everywhere under heaven while making it hard for the discredited to take a single step”.
“By 2020, China’s rulers aim to implement an Orwellian system premised on controlling virtually every facet of human life—the so-called ‘social credit score” - U.S. Vice President Mike Pence. A society in which payments are all done digitally, through third parties under the authority of government, would likely enable the “blueprint” Vice President Pence is referencing to. It may even be the last missing piece to the overall plan.
It is not much of a leap to expect those same authorities to continue pushing for a cashless society. Tracking, monitoring and collecting financial data of transactions would be just one more aspect of lives being surveilled.
Without cash there is no exit—no chance for the kind of dignity-preserving privacy that undergirds an open society. - Coin Center
We are seeing an example of this in Hong Kong. Digital payments are commonplace. Most people use a debit card-like option called an “Octopus card”. When getting on a bus or purchasing something from a store, citizens just scan the card for payment (source).
Yet, protestors do not use their digital Octopus cards when gathering to demonstrate. There is a risk that the Chinese government will track the payments and determine the location of protest groups to “unmask” the individuals participating. As an example, a protestor scans their card on the metro station a block away from the protest, and then again once the protest ends. Software can easily be created and designed to piece together the data. This is a rightful privacy concern to their freedom when used in the wrong hands (source).
Hong Kong saw massive lines at metro stations as protestors, and non-participating citizens, were not willing to use a trackable digital means of payment. “We’re afraid of having our data tracked,” a protester told reporter Mary Hui. Purchasing a physical ticket not only takes time, it also costs more than the equivalent ticket bought with the Octopus card. It is normally tourists that use the physical ticketing machines, not locals.
“Show me the man and I’ll show you the crime” is a quote from the deputy premier, the head of Joseph Stalin’s secret police force in the former Soviet Union. He supervised surveillance and the detention facilities for “political prisoners” of one of the most ruthless and bloody government regimes in history (source). When the government can decide what is “illegal” and what is not, anything you may have done in the past can be used against you. Acts that might have been thought of as insignificant at the time are recorded. That becomes an especially powerful tool when a government has at their disposal everything you have ever said or done online.
A French Cardinal by the name of Richeliu, in the 17th century famously said, “If you give me six lines written by the hand of the most honest of men, I will find something in them which will hang him.” (source). He was known for his corruption and leveraging the rule of law at the time in his favor. He prosecuted anyone that stood in his way of consolidating governmental power. Richeliuand Joseph Stalin’s deputy are speaking of the exact same thing: when the government has enough data collected on an individual, they will have no problem finding something in that pile of information to frame into evidence and level unfound charges. It does not matter what specifically they find, as humans are prone to errors. How many emails or texts have you sent? How many tweets have you published? How many phone calls have you taken? How many times have you used your credit card?
Surveillance puts everyone at risk from overreach of even the most democratic of governments. There is no guarantee the same governing party will exist in the future, unlike the data they collected which will forever be available.
Cash is also necessary to retain agency and autonomy. Autonomy can be understood as the power to make decisions for oneself without interference from others. It’s the ability to try things one’s way, to succeed and be rewarded, or to make mistakes and learn from them. As with personal privacy, without individual autonomy there can be no meaningful open society. It is therefore imperative that we preserve our ability to use it [cash]. Yet that is not enough. As we move to an increasingly online world in which physical cash is not practical for many transactions, we must also develop and foster electronic cash that is as privacy-preserving and permissionless as physical cash. While this will have costs as well as benefits, we argue that the way to address the costs is not to prohibit electronic cash, but instead to regulate its use no differently than physical cash for which there is a robust regime. - Coin Center
Is the World Going Cashless?
In short, yes. It is happening faster than many think. Here are figures from the World Cash Report:
The world is moving towards completely digital payments. As more of our lives are spent online, this seems inevitable. While some citizens are transitioning to a digital medium willingly, due to the benefits of convenience, not every government is taking a hands-off approach.
Beginning in 2016, the People’s Bank of China put measures in place for reporting all domestic and overseas cash transactions of more than ~$7,350, compared to the previous ~$29,400 (source).
In late 2017, the Central Bank then put an annual cap of ~$14,000 per person and daily limit of ~$1,400 that applies to all ATM cards issued by mainland Chinese banks, covering both yuan and foreign exchange accounts (source).
Earlier this year, Chinese banks lowered the daily limit on foreign-currency cash withdrawals from an already restricted ~$5,000 to ~$3,000 (source).
Likely in anticipation of the government’s digital currency, a new bill requires business accounts to be “registered” for any amount of cash transactions above ~$71K. A similar measure is in place for personal accounts which will range from ~$15k to ~$60k (source).
As expected, the reasoning by the People’s Bank of China for this restriction on larger-scale cash transactions is to prevent cash from being “exploited” by illegal criminal activities such as corruption, tax evasion and money laundering (source). This is a common theme across the world used to limit the use of cash by everyday citizens.
Arguably the most aggressive approach by a government to reduce the amount of cash transactions was instituted by the India ruling party in 2016. The government made a surprise announcement of the demonetization of all ₹500 and ₹1,000 banknotes used by the country (source). That had comprised 86% of India’s currency at the time.
The Prime minister of India, Narendra Modi, the man instituting this action, claimed that this would seriously hinder the ability of India’s massive “shadow economy” to transact and reduce the use of illicit and counterfeit cash to fund illegal activity and terrorism.
On the anniversary of this action, three years later the Former Finance Minister called for a further reduction of banknotes by demonetising the ₹2,000. These notes account for about one-third of currency notes in circulation, in terms of value (source).
It does not stop there. The Finance Ministry is aiming to put even more stringent controls on the amount of cash citizens are allowed to hold at home or in “lockers” by next year (source).
Argentina has been plagued with a period of high inflation as government elections have shocked the economy. In September of this year, Argentina’s Central Bank instituted capital controls with citizens only able to buy up to $10,000 in US Dollars. Even companies need to get permission to buy foreign currency or precious metals, and to transfer that money abroad (source). A month later, the restrictions became more severe, with a limit of $200 in US Dollars for citizens and a complete restriction on the purchasing of digital cash in the form of Bitcoin (source). While this move has been criticized as solely about keeping value within the local economy, it is a transition that will likely not be reverted. Once citizens are forced to maintain accounts in a digital form, the control of the government will be that much more powerful.
A proposed tax on the messaging app, WhatsApp, sparked nationwide protests reported in Lebanon a month ago (source). Like many protests happening around the world, there was widespread social and economic unrest building prior to these eventsLebanon has a history of government mismanagement as exemplified by its incredibly high national debt of $86 billion. As it stands today, the country has the third highest public debt-to-GDP ratio in the world (source).
Since the protests began, banks have been closed nearly continuously. They only opened up recently to then close the following day due to the bank tellers going on strike. Citizens have had to revert to digital forms of payment and limited cash from ATMs. Lebanon’s state prosecutor banned traders and money exchangers from taking “significant amounts” of physical cash out of the country (source). With protests gripping the country, the government does not want a flight of capital. But like Argentina, this move is likely to have lasting impacts.
The Malaysian government is planning to impose a cash transaction limit of RM25,000 starting next year, which amounts to about $6,000 (source). “This is to address the abuse of physical cash used for illicit activities,” Bank Negara (BNM) deputy governor and chairman of the National Coordination Committee to Counter Money Laundering (NCC), Datuk Abdul Rasheed Ghaffour said.
Malta, known for more lax regulations relative to the rest of Europe, has now put a 10,000 euro restriction on cash transactions. Pressure from international institutions had the country follow suit with the rest of the Euro countries that each have similar bans in place (source).
After a historic period of hyperinflation over a decade ago, the government has just started to recirculate physical cash banknotes for citizens. Most transactions have since been digital and processed through mobile payment systems. There was even a ban in place that prevented merchants from accepting cash in or cash out for customers (source).
The amount of new banknotes has not been nearly enough to satisfy the demand. Citizens want physical cash. After a delay from the promised time of the banknotes release, ATMs were emptied instantly and a large amount of the paper went straight to the black market as they are highly valued within the country (source).
Even democracies are contemplating increased restrictions on the use of cash by its citizens. A seemingly controversial bill to ban cash payments of $10,000 or more imposing possible two-year jail sentences, has passed the Lower House of Australia’s governing body. It is important to note that this will not become law until after a Senate inquiry (source).
The proposed change was first suggested by the Government’s Black Economy Taskforce as a way to stop criminal gangs using large cash purchases of cars, houses and jewelry to launder their gains from illegal activities.
Assistant Treasurer Michael Sukkar had argued that a $10,000 cash limit for transactions between businesses and individuals would help fight the illegal cash economy by stamping out tax evasion, money laundering and other crimes.
How Does Blockchain Fit In?
The term “blockchain” in the literal sense just means a “chain of blocks”, a list of records, called “blocks”- quite similar to that of spreadsheet pages. The pages are cryptographically linked together, one after another. This concept goes back nearly thirty years in cryptography and computer science, but the term and technology have been made popular recently due to the way the Bitcoin Network has emerged.
One country known to be at the forefront of surveillance technology, China, is close to launching their own national stablecoin using a blockchain database structure. They are upgrading their current mix of cash and online currency to that of a purely digital medium.
Currently, the People’s Bank of China seems to be the closest to launching theirs (source). Goals you would expect from any government, like tax enforcement and censorship, become much easier with the ability to shut-off access to anyone on the system with a “flip of a switch”. A digital currency would be accomodating. While Bitcoin was created to use blockchain technology as the means and censorship resistance as an end, a stablecoin would centralize and enable mass censorship, ironically, at a scale nearly impossible today. All transactions ever completed in the economy will be on a single ledger, or spreadsheet.
Traditional fiat currencies may already be mostly virtual and relatively easy to control, but there are numerous databases that transactions are spread across. Fiat is currently transferred throughout a network of payment processors and application databases that effectively become barriers to an efficient surveillance and censorship state. While we see people deplatformed across the world everyday, there are limitations to the effect of that power. Digital currencies issued on a single database, possibly a blockchain structure, eliminates this problem. It’s a more perfect means of storing data that allows sophisticated tracking tools to control transactions and ultimately social behaviors, a 21st century authoritative government’s dream.
Blockchain-based digital currencies created by governments pose a threat to citizens’ right to privacy. What makes Bitcoin’s blockchain unique is that no single entity controls how or what transactions are recorded on the ledger. Strip away the permissionless nature of the system, in which anyone can access and innovate upon, and you’re left with something like that of China’s digital currency. In other words, just an excel spreadsheet used by the government.
Bitcoin’s use of a permissionless and decentralized blockchain has given people a way to opt-out of this dystopian nightmare that today’s surveillance is creating. Physical cash has been used to preserve the privacy of its users for most, if not all of human history. When a dollar bill for example, is handed to another person, no one else partakes between the two parties. There is no third party in between that can record the dollar bill moving from one hand to the other. That same concept has been brought into the digital world, albeit in a unique fashion, with Bitcoin. Bitcoin is a peer-to-peer digital cash. While sophisticated tracking software for transactions recorded on the Bitcoin Network exist, second layer solutions to the network vastly decrease their effectiveness. There are multiple implementations being actively worked on that give the users privacy while maintaining the security of the network.
It preserves the benefits of cashlike privacy while being designed for the digital age we live in. Before Bitcoin, every single payment processed had to go through the hands of a digital intermediary as the “double-spend” problem had not been solved. A trusted third party has always been required to prevent the duplication of the cash and maintain the ledger of all transactions. That problem has now been solved, and proven to work during the last decade. Bitcoin may end up taking time to integrate into our day-to-day lives, but we now know a surveillance state is no longer inevitable in the digital age.
By Pierre Rochard
By Matt Ahlborg
If cryptocurrency is the Wild West of money, then Paxful is Deadwood, South Dakota. Settled, errr, founded in 2015, Paxful has slowly but surely grown into a pillar of Bitcoin trading ecosystem. In total, Paxful now employs over 200 people in four offices around the world and oversees the trading of approximately $25 million dollars worth of Bitcoin every week. And while most cryptocurrency exchanges out San Francisco way are far from their highs reached during the bubble of 2017, Paxful has seen a consistent uptrend for its entire existence.
Take note of the two Y axes.
Paxful, like LocalBitcoins, is an online peer to peer (P2P) over the counter (OTC) exchange where peers interface with the advertisements of other peers offering to trade for Bitcoin using online wallets like Paypal, gift cards, domestic bank transfers, and others.
As is the case with most P2P OTC exchange models, Paxful does not custody the fiat or fiat-like wallets, accounts, or instruments (gift cards, for example) used as counterparty to these trades and instead acts as a supervising authority over peers who use these wallets, accounts, or instruments to trade amongst themselves. As such, Paxful does not need to officially connect to the banking or regulatory infrastructure of many of the countries which it operates in. Because of this model, Paxful is able to onboard financially disconnected citizens of developing countries on a level that non-P2P OTC exchanges like Coinbase simply cannot. As of this writing, Paxful services trades in more than 70 currencies around the world and has made much of its traction in geographic regions that many bigger exchanges have not.
As shown above, US Dollar denominated transactions are by far the most popular on the platform. However, two thirds of that US Dollar volume is actually attributable to USD denominated gift card trading which, as I will show later in the article, is very international in its nature.
Online wallets are services like Paypal, Skrill, Zelle, etc. Digital currencies are things like Litecoin, Bitcoin Cash, etc.
So what is the deal with gift card trading then and how does it all work?
The Gift Card Trading Ecosystem
“Gift cards can be seen as a sort of stablecoin which are available for purchase on nearly every street corner in the world.”
Gift cards are a massive market and constitute billions in sales every year. And unlike Bitcoin, gift cards are ubiquitous at nearly every gas station, convenience store, and grocery store. Aside from being an easy, last minute gift on the way to birthday or holiday party, they also have a few other attributes which make them useful in other respects:
You can quickly and easily purchase them with cash,
They hold a stable value,
The redemption codes on the card can be digitally transferred with a simple picture,
It is not illegal to sell your gift card to another person.
In effect, gift cards can be seen as a sort of stablecoin which are available for purchase on nearly every street corner in the world. Additionally, as you will find out later in the article, the people using these gift cards as stablecoins often don’t even need to know what a stablecoin is or how cryptocurrency works.
So which cards are being brought to Paxful for selling?
Use the legend on the right to filter out cards and adjust the date range.
Itunes gift cards were the first gift card to come to prominence on the platform. Amazon gift cards and Steam Wallet gift cards have now taken the lead. More recently, a large variety of cards have become popular.
How much are the cards selling for?
Amazon gift cards are currently the most popular gift card brand on the platform. They most frequently sell for around 64 cents on the dollar (that is, a $100 card fetches around $64 in Bitcoin). As shown in the distribution below, Amazon gift cards cards can fetch a variety of prices:
The price distribution for these cards comes from a variety of factors which effect the chargeback fraud risk that the buyer of the card takes on when purchasing the card. These factors include:
Whether the redemption code comes from a physical card or a digital gift card,
The amount of dollars on the card ($25, $50, $100, $200, etc),
Whether the card is accompanied by a receipt and whether the receipt confirms the card was bought with cash (cards bought with cash have the lowest probability of a chargeback event to the card buyer),
The reputation of the account selling it.
Additionally, each brand of card garners a different price on the platform. Below are the trade price distributions of the top ten cards by volume:
The final price for a given brand of card tends to be a function of:
The types of items which can be bought with the card,
The liquidity of that brand of card on Paxful (less common cards tend to sell for lower prices),
The terms of service related to the redemption of each card (some cards have stricter redemption policies than others, affecting their fungibility).
At the end of the day, the price of every card on Paxful is determined by the collective amount that the people buying the cards are willing to pay. The chart below shows that the average price of a given brand of gift card even changes over time:
So who are the people bringing these gift cards to Paxful to sell?
This is one of the most difficult questions I’ve tried to answer in the course of my research. The reasons for trading a gift card are many and include the selling of unwanted spare gift cards [Appendix 1], online freelancers cashing in their earned gift cards [Appendix 2], and yes, even fraud and/or money laundering activity [Appendix 3]. Based on what I’ve learned up to now, I am not confident that any one of these use cases accounts for the majority of volume. Rather, I would guess that each may account for some minority portion of the volume.
Of the gift card sellers that I spoke with (as well as those who are buying gift cards from the sellers), the cited reason for a large amount of the trades is actually remittance. That is, immigrants in the USA are using gift cards and Bitcoin to transfer value back to their home country. For the next few paragraphs I will explore how this “gift card remittance” process works and then evaluate the data and price points to determine whether or not it could plausibly account for a sizable amount of the volume on Paxful.
Gift Card Remittance on Paxful
“The entire remittance process can be completed in 20–30 minutes with the end result of local Nigerian currency arriving to the family member’s bank account.”
When you go to Paxful and see advertisements looking to purchase gift cards, gift card buyer advertisements show all sorts of requirements and restrictions on the types of cards they are willing to buy. A large chunk of these advertisements demand the gift card be:
A Physical Gift Card,
Accompanied by Receipt,
Shows that the card was paid in cash on the receipt,
Purchased in the last 24–48 hours
For Amazon gift cards, these advertisements match the 63–83 cent price range constituting the right side of the bell curve on the Amazon gift card distribution above. What this means is that a large amount of the cards being sold on Paxful are purchased with the specific intent to bring them there to be sold at a substantial discount.
In speaking with the traders who act as counterparty to those who bring these cash-bought gift cards and receipts, they tell me that the majority of the cards are coming from Nigerians or other West Africans and that their IP address according to Paxful’s trading dashboard confirms this. The interesting twist however is that the receipts of these cards show that they were purchased at various convenience stores and gas stations in the USA, often times mere hours before they were uploaded to Paxful.
So what is happening here then? What I discovered is that (mostly Nigerian) immigrants in the USA are purchasing gift cards in the USA, taking a picture of the card and receipt, and then immediately sending those pictures to their family and friends in Nigeria using Whatsapp. Those on the receiving end of the gift card pictures in Nigeria are the ones who then upload the pictures to Paxful. These Nigerians in Nigeria use the gift cards to trade for Bitcoin, and they then turn around and complete a second trade which sells that recently acquired Bitcoin for Nigerian currency through a bank transfer. The whole process is described in the diagram below:
While this process may seem complicated, Nigerians who engage in these trades tell me that the entire process can be completed in 20–30 minutes with the end result being that local Nigerian currency arrives to the family member’s Nigerian bank account.
Additionally, neither the person sending the money nor the person receiving money needs to stand in line at a remittance counter in either country and the person who sends the money does not even need to know what Bitcoin is or what Paxful is. They just need to know to purchase a gift card, take a picture of it, and send it to their family or friend in Nigeria.
So why is it mostly Nigerian immigrants then? Again, the issue is perplexing, but here is my best attempt at reasoning:
Nigeria’s currency, the Naira, has been subject to varying degrees of manipulation and capital controls in recent years and has had a parallel black market rate for some time. In circumstances like these, standard remittance companies like Western Union have to play by the rules of the local government and honor whatever exchange rate is deemed appropriate there (instead of the black market rate). When going outside of official channels to remit (using gift cards and Bitcoin for example), remitters are able to sell for the more favorable black market rate instead of the official rate and thus receive more Nairas per dollar sent in comparison to Western Union. Another factor at play here is that during the bull run of 2017, Bitcoin buying options across Africa were very limited and caused a premium on the price of Bitcoin there, again creating favorable circumstances for people who hold Bitcoin (those who are selling gift cards). Together, these factors may have conflated to create an environment in 2017–18 such that Nigerian immigrants in the US could actually take a 30% loss on the value of their gift card while still achieving more Nairas delivered to their families than any other traditional remittance channels offered.
If you look at the chart below, you can see how Nigerians were able to sell Bitcoin for tens of percent above the official exchange rate during much of 2017–2018 as Nigeria imposed various sweeping measures in an attempt to control the value of its currency.
However, since that fortuitous time in 2017–18 the situation seems to have changed and that premium appears to have evaporated. More recently, the government of Nigeria has allowed the official exchange rate to float closer to the black market rate and, correspondingly, remittance companies like Western Union have been able to honor exchanges rates at or close to the black market rate as well.
If we compare the two potential remittance methods as it would play out in the present day, a crisp $100 bill brought to Western Union would yield (after all fees) 32,208 Naira available for pick-up at a Western Union location in Nigeria. If on the other hand you chose to use the gift card remittance method made possible by Paxful, you would need to get 88.5 cents on the dollar for your gift card in Bitcoin to get as many Nairas as Western Union would offer (see Appendix 4 for a full breakdown and calculation). In looking at the “Top 10 Gift Cards by Volume Histogram” again, you can see that no gift cards on Paxful are able to fetch 88.5 cents on the dollar. This would imply that gift card remittance is no longer economically viable and that any such continued remittance using gift cards would involve factors other than sheer cost, namely convenience and speed.
Annotations indicate the implied “convenience cost” of using gift cards instead of Western Union.
In the course of my research I purchased several Amazon gift cards on Paxful for 65 cents on the dollar, and the Nigerian counterparties I spoke to cited remittance as the reason. This means that they were receiving 26% less Nairas than the Western Union method. If we are to believe their account then we need to ask ourselves why this use case has continued to play out despite the costs.
In my estimation, the ingrained habit, convenience, and speed of using Paxful for remittance may have caused this use case to persist even though cheaper options may have re-emerged. In other words, old habits die hard and convenience trumps efficiency. The Nigerians I spoken with seemed to indicate as much as well.
In addition to convenience and speed, I’ve also come up with other reasons as to why gift cards may be the superior remittance method for some:
Some Nigerians do not live near a Western Union and it appears that Western Union is currently not doing bank transfers to Nigerian bank accounts [Appendix 5]. This means that the only way to receive money via Western Union in Nigeria is to travel to a remittance counter there. Gift card remittance on Paxful however allows for near-instant bank transfers and so the entire remittance process could be done from the phone of the Nigerian family member in the comfort of their home.
Gift card remittance (including the final bank transfer step) works 24/7 whereas Western Union only works during business hours of Nigerian Banks (all Western Union locations are inside of banks in Nigeria).
Another factor may be that undocumented and/or underbanked immigrants in the US may not have or be willing to provide the necessary documents to conduct official remittance.
While losing this much value to conduct remittance seems crazy, consider the irrational success of payday lending where a significant percentage of customers are ‘regulars’ and perpetually lose money on the majority of their paychecks over the course of years. Human behavior isn’t always rational.
Nigerians that I’ve spoke with tell me that in reality, they use a hybrid of traditional remittance and Paxful to meet their needs. Larger transfers of hundreds of dollars tend to go through Western Union or informal Hawala networks whereas smaller, quicker transfers covering unexpected costs at home fall to Paxful.
If you still cannot get past the idea of an immigrant willing to turn $100 into as little as $65 worth of Nigerian currency in a single remittance transaction (26% less than Western Union), then we must acknowledge another possible (and previously documented [Appendix 3]) use case playing out here which is that the gift cards being brought to Paxful are coming from nefarious activity, namely West African cyber crime and the associated money laundering that goes with it.
On a related note, it was reported in August of this year that Western Union locations in Texas (home of over 40,000 Nigerian-born immigrants) blocked the sending of money to Nigeria on the heels of a major cybercrime operation in the US which resulted in the arrest of nearly 80 Nigerian nationals. In moments like these, Paxful and Bitcoin are likely answering the call for these disenfranchised communities.
In addition to this single observation of a service outage, based on my reading of the subject over the last few years, Western Union transfers to Nigeria have been unreliable on a few occasions as the company struggles to deal with both the ramifications of anti-cybercrime policy in the USA as well as capital control mandates forced upon them by the Central Bank of Nigeria.
To summarize my thoughts on the viability and prevalence of “gift card remittance” on Paxful, I have definitely observed it happening but I also want to qualify my opinion in saying that the jury is still out in terms of how prevalent it is in comparison to other use cases.
Who in Nigeria needs to trade their Naira for Bitcoin?
Looking back on the “gift card remittance” flow chart from earlier in the article, we have yet to touch upon the potential reasons people in Nigeria would want to give away their Naira to acquire Bitcoin. What is Bitcoin offering them?
As mentioned before, Nigeria has enacted a number of capital control measures on its citizens and residents. One flavor of these controls allows only permissioned and registered individuals and entities to exchange local Naira for foreign currency. I believe that a good amount of the people who are acquiring Bitcoin in Nigeria are ones who are not permissioned to trade for foreign currency and who still desire to gain access to it. These people fall into two groups:
The first group would be local Nigerians who seek to purchase goods on the international market and who use Bitcoin to do so. This use case has been anectdotally confirmed by Paxful CEO Ray Youssef’s customer interactions where he learned that a group of Nigerians were using Bitcoin to purchase, ship, and sell flood-damaged automobiles from the US in Nigeria after the Central Bank of Nigeria clamped down on foreign currency exchange in 2016. I also heard something of this nature several times in the course of my interviews but it instead involved Nigerians purchasing Chinese goods from Chinese vendors who accepted Bitcoin.
The second group of people who seem to have a need for Bitcoin in Nigeria are Chinese nationals. In this scenario, the Chinese people conducting business in Nigeria are filling their bank accounts with Naira but have little recourse in repatriating the value of that Naira back to China due to the aforementioned foreign exchange controls.
In such a scenario, the Chinese national in Nigeria would conduct a P2P OTC transfer on Paxful to trade the Naira in their bank accounts for Bitcoin which they could then use to enter into a second trade to convert their Bitcoin to Yuan in their Chinese bank account. Also, an added bonus here is that Bitcoin now trades slightly below global spot against the Naira and so the transaction is likely also a nice arbitrage opportunity for them [Appendix 6].
Chinese national in Nigeria using Bitcoin to perform a capital flight and/or remittance maneuver
The other side of the trade: Who is buying these discounted Gift Cards and why?
While theoretically anyone could benefit from buying discount gift cards on Paxful for their own personal use, because buying gift cards on Paxful requires a fair amount of risk management, the majority of the discount card purchasing is actually attributable to a smaller group of professionals who perform what is known as dropshipping.
Paxful user who has bought millions of dollars worth of Amazon gift cards
Dropshipping, put simply, is where a business sells items which they do not have in their current inventory. That is, a business will post an advertisement for a particular item online and wait for a customer to come along and buy it. Once the customer elects to buy the item, the dropshipper will purchase the item directly from a supplier and have it shipped directly to the customer. In the context of Paxful and gift card trading, the most simple manifestation of dropshipping is shown in the diagram below:
Dropshipping comes in many flavors, however, and can be conducted from any place in the world and to any place in the world. More sophisticated forms on dropshipping involve intermediate warehouses called shipping forwarders and play out on a global scale like this:
Based on interviews I’ve done with people familiar, dropshipping done with Bitcoin-traded gift cards may primarily be conducted by (1) Americans dropshipping domestically, (2) Asians with American connections/accounts shipping to Asia, and (3) Nigerians with American connections/accounts shipping to West Africa. It isn’t exclusively these groups, however, and the model can be done by anyone anywhere.
In light of this dropshipping revelation, it is now clear why certain cards on Paxful are more popular than others. In general, the most popular and voluminous gift cards tend to be ones which can be redeemed for small and shippable items or which are wholly digital (Steam Wallet, iTunes, etc) and therefore globally redeemable. Additionally, I suspect that many of the goods involved in dropshipping are ones which have limited availability in various countries for reasons relating to import tariffs and protectionism.
Dropshipping as a business ranges in sophistication and is talked about at length on a variety of online forums where people strategize how to hide from and/or not upset the terms of service of Amazon or others as well as the best logistics practices, and so on.
Paxful is truly a showcase of the interesting, beautiful, novel, and bizarre ways that Bitcoin is manifesting itself into our world. While I’ve focused primarily on gift card trading across the United States, Nigeria, and China corridors, there are many other stories playing out on Paxful as well. I tried my best to use a mixture of both qualitative and quantitative data to bring a full and accurate picture forward, but there are still many stones left unturned. Furthermore, it was a real challenge to get many of these market participants to speak with me because their activity often times fell into a legal grey area and/or were a form of proprietary knowledge and so at the end of the day I feel like what I’ve uncovered is only a small representation of the true diversity and scale of these activities. I will also be very eager to learn new lessons from some of my more informed readers regarding the topics that I’ve covered. :)
In the next two days I will be releasing the Paxful data to my website, UsefulTulips.org, with daily updating charts and paired with other data layers for the public to study for themselves. If you enjoyed reading this article please follow me on Twitter where I regularly post pithy data observations and trends relating to utility use of cryptocurrency around the world. Also feel free to reach out to me on LinkedIn if you wish to chat there.
And if you would like to contribute to the project, please do so!
3DT599SqPhDakzL4cJ3tnbFTKxVBk3fwvo
Americans have tens of billions of dollars in spare gift cards laying around the house. It is a certainty that some of these gift cards are making their way to Paxful for sale. However, there are many other places on the internet where you can sell gift cards at a greater convenience and get a better price so I would think that Paxful is not the first choice for most regular Americans selling spare cards and probably does not constitute the majority of the volume there.
It is quite common for a freelancer from a developing country to accept gift cards as a form of payment. This isn’t because they want the gift cards, rather, it is because it is often times the most convenient and easy way for people in other countries to pay them. Services like Paypal would generally be the first choice for freelancing, but Paypal is not available or heavily restricted in many countries and this includes most of West Africa. In these instances, gift cards are often times the next best thing. In addition to paying professional-level freelancers, there any many websites which use gift cards to pay for what I call digital micro-services. These micro-services are related to websites like mechanical turk, swagbucks, surveymonkey, and dozens of others which pay out hundreds of millions of dollars in gift cards every year to earners in developing countries. The interesting thing about freelancing and digital-microservices using gift cards as payment is that the freelancer receiving these gift cards is fully aware of the fact that they are not spendable in their own country and they instead treat them as fungible stores of value which they can take to places like Paxful to redeem for cash and eventually local currency.
A report published earlier this year showed that Nigerian based romance scammers were using Paxful to cash out gift cards sourced from their victims. Additionally, it’s also seems possible that Paxful is a tool used in the vast world of credit card fraud.
6. Despite the logic of this activity and hearing of it second-hand from Nigerians, I wasn’t able to get testimony from a Chinese person in Nigeria who could confirm this.
Thanks to my research sponsor dlab, several employees at Paxful for interviews, Reggie Adaka, LocalBitcoins and forex trader of Nigerian origin residing in the UK, Eduardo Gomez, Head of Support at Purse.io, Venezuelan-born LocalBitcoins trader, and sovereign individual, several Nigerian gift card sellers including Victor Oluwasegun, several gift card buyers/drop shippers, and Nick Plante for reviewing my grammar and overall readability.
Also thanks to my data analysis volunteer Boaz Sobrado. We are looking for some front end help with the website so if interested please contact me.
Conflict of interest disclosure:
Paxful has discussed paying me to research and write future articles.
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Updated paper Travel: Symbol of and Vehicle for Change"
"Travel: Symbol of and Vehicle for Change"
Edited Spanish version presented to Congreso de Pensamiento, Holguin, Cuba 10/23/19
(revised and updated from talk presented at XVI Edicion de la Serie de Conversaciones Cuba en la Politica Exterior de los Estados Unidos de America del 13 - 15 de diciembre de 2017
Centro de Investigaciones de Politica Internacional (CIPI)
Instituto Superior de Relaciones Internacionales (ISRI)
When I wrote the original version of this paper in 2017, I expected to be able to describe an uneven progression towards near normalcy for travel between our countries. However, events have muddied the waters and the future is harder to chart—although ultimately positive.
Before the revolution in 1959, Cuba was the primary Caribbean destination for Americans and we provided 80% of its visitors.
Being able to drink legally during prohibition was certainly an early attraction, but Mafia investments in hotels, gambling, drugs and prostitution transformed the destination in the 1950s. At least as important were the same attractions that bring millions of visitors today: history, culture, baseball, beaches and the engaging people of Cuba—plus the ease of arrival whether by air, cruise line or by ferry.
Symbolically the ninth convention of ASTA, the American Society of Travel Agents (recently renamed “Travel Advisers”), took place at the former Havana Hilton from October 17 to 24, 1959. According to a post by FIT Cuba
“More than two thousand travel agents from 82 countries, accompanied by their families, visited the Cuban capital. These were unprecedented figures when compared to the previous eight conventions.” http://www.fitcuba.com/en/fit-cuba/historia/
Fidel Castro was a special guest, warmly received when he declared,
“we in Cuba are very happy and grateful to you for honoring us all with your presence … please put all your political ideas aside. You and your friends are professionals, not politicians, and your mission is to help your friends find the happiness our world may provide.
We don’t have many things; we are not an industrialized country and lack a number of things, but in the field of tourism we have many advantages, like our sea, bays, beaches, all kinds of medicinal waters, mountains, game and fishing preserves, and the best temperature in the world. ”
He went on to say,
“we are determined to develop tourism as much as possible, with a good service and, especially, fair prices, because rather than having 100,000 people paying for expensive hotel rooms and items we would like many hundreds of thousands to come, not only the wealthy but also those who are not rich and those who have no other fortune than their job… our ambition, which is a well-intended ambition, is to turn our Island into the best vacation resort and the most important destination worldwide.”
Presciently he noted
“We’re aware of the fact that many U.S. citizens come here with wrong ideas and then they find exactly the opposite of what they believed. That’s why we think that regardless of all the propaganda against Cuba we will make headway and have more tourists every year. Who is telling the truth, those who lie or those who open the doors of the nation for everyone to come and see for themselves what is truly going on in Cuba”
For just that reason, the threat of reality overcoming propaganda, the end of US tourism was a major and, for many years, a successful goal of the embargo.
It dovetailed with Cuba’s disinterest in tourism in the initial decades of the revolution. As the country’s turn toward socialism faced growing threats from the US, Fidel’s early enthusiasm apparently cooled. Tourism flourished domestically, but until the mid-1970s foreign visitors were largely welcomed from politically aligned countries or movements, either as holiday rewards or as demonstrations of solidarity. Conventional tourism was seen as carrying the subversive seeds of social inequality. Cruises received special denigration.
Entry to Cuba was also discouraged by obstacles created by neighbors who followed the US goal of isolating and undermining the revolution. I remember that on my first trip to Cuba in 1971 even Mexico only allowed us to transit by air to Cuba but not to return. As a result we went home via a freighter to Canada in the dead of winter.
From the beginning, there were people who ignored the travel embargo, either acting in solidarity with the revolution or simply because they resented US government infringement on their personal freedom. The Office of Foreign Assets Control chased after violators, penalizing them with fines and intimidation, notably through constant repetition of overstated legal risks in newspaper articles. Individual travelers were most vulnerable, often settling for payment of reduced fines rather than risk criminal prosecution. Probably the first US NGO to send visitors was Sandy Levinson’s Center for Cuban Studies in 1973. Its delegation of lawyers used the loophole of being fully hosted by Cuba. The Venceremos Brigade and later Pastors for Peace famously defied the travel embargo with little consequence.
President John Kennedy imposed travel restrictions in 1963 and President Jimmy Carter let them lapse in 1977, the same year that Interest Sections were opened in both capitals. However, the opportunity for a breakthrough was missed. On the Cuban side there was not the political interest or capacity to open the door to commercial tourism from the US, nor did US companies take advantage of the opportunity. President Ronald Reagan reimposed restrictions in 1982.
The change of perspective on the Cuban side began in the mid 1970s, but dramatic change is linked to the collapse of the Soviet Union and the need to obtain new sources of national income during the Special Period.
Henry Louis Taylor Jr. and Linda McGlynn of the Center for Urban Studies at SUNY Buffalo wrote in 2009:
“International tourist arrivals in Cuba fell from a peak of 272,000 in 1958 to less than 4000 annually from 1959 until 1973. By 1975, Cuba had begun to promote tourism reaching over 300,000 visitors annually by 1990. As the Special Period began, the industry exploded during the nineties and by 2000, the number of tourist arrivals to Cuba had doubled.” [“International tourism in Cuba: Can capitalism be used to save socialism?” https://ubwp.buffalo.edu/aps-cus/wp-content/uploads/sites/16/2015/07/using-capitalism-to-save-socialism.pdf]
A growing stream of Americans illegally joined the stream, flying from Mexico, Canada or Jamaica and usually escaping sanction. However, legal travel for a diverse clientele only began in the Clinton Administration. Clinton did not believe he had the authority to unilaterally end the embargo with Cuba as he had with Vietnam, but he could provide categories of licensing to provide exceptions. Thus began the process of applying to OFAC for approval of a specific license on a trip by trip basis. Initially that was not so complicated and my organization was one of many to do so, even without using a lawyer. Cuban Americans were allowed to visit once a year, plus anytime for humanitarian reasons, but no effort was made to enforce that limit.
It was not lost on the hard line ultras among Cuban Americans that the negative propaganda about their homeland was losing effect as more and more mainstream Americans personally witnessed and even enjoyed a more complicated reality. Regardless of whether visitors admired or despaired of Cuba’s political and economic system, they came home convinced that the Cuban people did not hate Americans and that the embargo was harmful to average people and counterproductive.
The tactic adopted by the ultras to challenge Clinton’s opening was Brothers to the Rescue. It used a humanitarian mission of saving refugees at sea to mask deliberately provocative flights dropping political leaflets over Havana in blatant violation of national airspace. One can argue that Cuba had no alternative in defense of its sovereignty, or that it swallowed the bait of Miami. In any case the political reaction in the US to the shoot down of the Brothers to the Rescue planes led to Clinton’s support of the infamous Helms-Burton legislation and no more opening of travel based on executive authority. In 2000 the legal authorization of agricultural sales was paired with the codification of categories of permitted purposeful travel.
Although President George Bush took power with the help of Cuban American interference in the vote count in Florida, he initially made little change in Clinton’s travel regulations. There was considerable bipartisan momentum in Congress to find ways of ending travel restrictions. The Miami ultras response this time came via allies in the Administration. James Cason, the head of the US Interests Section, had been directed by superiors in the State Department to create enough provocations to push the Cubans to close it. His notoriously direct and public engagement with US government supported dissidents led to a large number of arrests and controversial trials that were labeled internationally as the Black Spring and widely denounced in the US and Europe. Again Cuba could be seen as defending its sovereignty, but the political consequence in the US was the total collapse of Congressional efforts for freedom of travel and agricultural sales, much to the satisfaction of the ultras.
As President Bush approached his reelection campaign, he paid his political debt to Miami, drastically restricted travel licenses and limited Cuban Americans to one trip in three years with no humanitarian exceptions. However by 2007, enforcement was virtually ended because the appeals process had ground to a halt. Violations by Cuban Americans were completely ignored except when a company tried to profit from them.
When President Obama took office, he brought an anti-embargo disposition but also political caution of how fast he could proceed. As promised during his campaign, and despite pressure from some Cuban American supporters, he fundamentally transformed the relationship between the Cuban diaspora and their country of origin in April 2009, an approach welcomed by the government in Havana. He ended all restrictions on their travel and on remittances, permitting a process of grass roots family investment that fit well into the new Cuban reality outlined by the Lineamientos and the initiatives of President Raul Castro.
There were news stories at the time that Obama also was considering travel for the rest of us but the White House acceded to pressure from Senator Menendez. Obama did restore the definition of categories from the Clinton era in January 2011. There was a boom in licensed group tours, but OFAC created arbitrary and politicized obstacles in both the application and renewal processes that limited most access to those with expensive legal support. During this time, my organization was denied a license five times until Senator Leahy’s office intervened, at the same time it also successfully challenged unduly bureaucratic renewal requirements.
The ultras weapon this time was USAID democracy programs that their allies had rushed to create in the closing months of the Bush Administration but that were implemented during the ignorant or uncaring tenure of Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State. Among them was the contract received by Alan Gross to set up a network of satellite linked internet communications. Instead of apologizing for and terminating such programs, Clinton played into the hands of the ultras making Gross’s imprisonment a human rights cause celebre and an obstacle to any further opening. Her position that the US had the right to unilaterally sponsor projects in Cuba naturally inflamed Havana’s sensitivity to infringement of sovereignty. The issue became more complicated when Cuba chose to link the release of Gross to freedom for the Cuban Five. One can only speculate what the consequences might have been if the Gross issue had been quickly resolved through mutual compromise and Obama had opened the door to wide scale travel in his first term rather than waiting until January 2015.
The decisive transformation made by Obama at that time was to turn the Clinton categories of specifically licensed travel into self-regulated general licenses, removing all bureaucratic impediments of an application process. That enabled virtually any group or travel business to organize its own trip under the people to people general license. The description of purpose and internal administration of group trips was not changed, but absent a requirement for applications and renewals they were virtually unenforceable. The separate licensing of travel providers by OFAC was also ended.
A moment of silence for victims of terrorism in Europe before the US-Cuba baseball game.
The final step of Obama on March 15, 2016, was to permit individuals, families and friends to organize travel independently under the individual general license for people to people travel. This dramatically opened travel to Americans who could not afford or disliked group travel—or who wanted to share Cuba with their children. A natural consequence was the increase of business for Cuba’s emerging private sector of casas particulares and paladars as well as support enterprises, thanks to dramatically reduced costs and the convenience of direct credit card payment on line in the US for commercial flights and to AirBnB.
At this stage one could say travel had become nearly normal, barring only all-inclusive beach holidays.
The character and goals of the Trump Administration are well illustrated by travel. Some of us had been optimistic that Trump would leave alone or even expand Obama’s initiatives. His professional involvement in the leisure industry had led him to fund an illegal exploratory team in Cuba and a legal delegation to discuss golf courses and hotel. A participant in the second trip, the Trump Organization’s counsel, Jason Greenblatt, whose father or father in law emigrated from Cuba seemed will disposed toward normalization and had been given a special portfolio on Cuba in the new Administration.
Even when Trump gave an anti-Obama red meat political speech in June in Miami, the changes he proposed in travel were substantively minor. Untouched were virtually all forms of travel, including group tours, cultural exchanges (such as the Irish traditional music and dance performances we undertook in Holguin and Santiago in 2017) and the most touristic kind of interaction, cruise ships. His attack on hotels under GAESA could have been easily countered by restoring Habaguanex to the Historian’s office, reopening most of the banned facilities used by Americans in Habana Vieja. His elimination of the individual general license was minimized by the widening of a different path for independent travelers under a different license category, Support for the Cuban People.
Irish, Irish American and Cuban musicians perform traditional music for dance practice in Holguin, November 2017
Despite the unjustified 60 % draw down of US diplomats in September, the June model was largely implemented when the new OFAC regulations were announced in November of 1917. Support for the Cuban People was modified so it no longer was restricted for use by people who embodied a subversive agenda. (see text below)
Despite this reality, the number of US visitors plummeted. In part that is due to the political climate. Hostile words, even from an unpopular and morally discredited President, change the atmosphere for uncertain travelers impacted by half a century of conflict and mistrust.
The drawdown of US diplomats bureaucratically obligated an unjustified travel warning in January 2018 because of the limited capacity to provide services to US citizens. In addition to the psychological impact flowing from half a century of negativity about Cuba, a travel warning triggered insurance and legal prohibitions on university, business and other institutional travelers.
The New York Times, for example canceled three months of group tours to Cuba because of diminished interest and canceled reservations. Even its affluent and relatively well-informed clients were easily scared off.
We still don’t know what was behind the mysterious illness said to have afflicted US and Canadian government personnel in Havana. Cuba says it was all psychological or a deliberate ruse to reverse improving relations. The original victims were reportedly US intelligence operatives. That could fit into a narrative of a false provocation or it could mean they were a deliberate target of some force opposed to normalization. Canadian research now points to the chemical biological effects of heavy spraying of insecticide. The postulation of a chemical cause opens the door to suspicion of specific targeting. It is also possible that the problems were the unintended consequence of the interaction of surveillance and counter-surveillance technology that neither side wants to acknowledge.
In any case, it is certain that the ultras quickly moved to exploit the situation. Senator Rubio and four colleagues had called for the US to close both embassies a few days before Secretary Tillerson withdrew 60% of staff, perhaps to prevent worse. Rubio held hearings during he ascribed the blame to a hard line faction in Cuba or a country that wanted to undermine US-Cuba relations. Oddly Rubio also interjected that “it was not us”, meaning his collaborators in the US. Rubio and Rep. Diaz-Ballart also criticized the revised travel restrictions as having been subverted by the bureaucracy so their game was not over.
Despite the State Department’s apparent intention to make Support for the Cuban People a replacement for the individual general license, the published language, although modified favorably, was open to misunderstanding or deliberate misinterpretation for reasons of economic self-interest or politics. In my view if the goal of travelers is to promote independent activity to strengthen legal civil society and their activities enhance meaningful contact with the Cuban people, their presence in Cuba will be seen positively by authorities in both countries as legitimate support for the emerging private sector.
If they are motivated by the other listed goals (support for “Recognized human rights organizations; Independent organizations designed to promote a rapid, peaceful transition to democracy”) and act on them, their presence could be regarded as intrusive and not respectful of Cuba's sovereignty. The same could have been said for then legal group people to people tours which were politically justified by the same presumptuous language.
The ultras no doubt welcomed the effective termination of US visa granting authority as the result of withdrawal of diplomats. They are spared the permanent addition of at least 20,000 Cuban immigrants annually, most of whom will eventually become anti-embargo voters, and of tens of thousands of non-immigrant visitors who deepen personal links across the straights.
No doubt the ultras were hoping that the drastically diminished utility of the embassy could lead Cuba to righteous actions that can be used to justify termination of diplomatic relations. If in fact the Trump Administration strategy is to make the embassy a facade, the effective Cuban response would be to make it more real by constantly inviting participation by US diplomats in broader aspects of Cuban society than has been the case.
The political climate changed when John Bolton was named to lead the National Security Council and he chose Mauricio Claver-Carone to head its department of Western Hemisphere Affairs. Bolton had a history of anti-Cuba actions during the Bush Administration, including the charge that Cuba was engaged in bacteriological warfare research, a lie intended to undermine the historic visit by former President Carter. Claver-Carone was the principle Washington lobbyist opposed to President Obama’s policy on Cuba. He published a blog called Capitol Hill Cubans (that can still be read on line) and directed the Cuba Democracy PAC which funneled hundreds of thousands of dollars in contributions to Republican and Democratic candidates all over the country.
The Bolton/Claver-Carone presence was first felt when the US launched a regime change campaign against Venezuela. They convinced President Trump, prominent politicians of both parties and much of the US media that Juan Guaido had legal and political legitimacy and would be welcomed by the Venezuelan people and military. While they enjoyed early diplomatic success, and claimed recognition of Guaido over Maduro by over 50 countries in the Western Hemisphere and Europe, every subsequent tactic failed. They explicitly saw the collapse of Venezuela as a path to also overthrowing the government of Cuba. The people of Venezuela and Cuba suffered harsh economic sanctions but the strategy failed and President Trump concluded he had been misled.
Their direct attack on Cuba was launched in Bolton’s speech to veterans of the Bay of Pigs invasion in April. It is likely that Claver-Carone wrote it and he was present in the audience. Bolton announced an intention to restrict remittances to $1000 a quarter and restrictions on travel to stop “veiled tourism”, a favorite talking point by Claver-Carone against Obama.
Significantly these goals did not become regulations until June 5th when President Trump was in Europe, visiting the Queen of England and commemorating the D-Day invasion. One can speculate that the timing was deliberate to avoid last minute intervention by the President and those on his staff who favor travel.
The most destructive step was against cruises, whose rapid growth was particularly aggravating for the ultras. The cruise companies were shocked that the restrictions imposed by the Department of Commerce would be immediate and total, unlike the treatment by OFAC of people to people ground tours that were grandfathered, i.e. could take place if payments had already been made. Customers arrived at docks in Florida to learn that the boat they were boarding would not go to Havana. The cruise lines lost 800,000 passengers and enough revenue that their stock declined in value by as much as 5%. Some of the larger tour operators for whom Cuba represented only a small portion of business gave up when people to people hotel based tours were also forbidden. The agencies that specialize in Cuba relabled their programs as Support for the Cuban People.
The biggest difference was that they normally needed to place travelers in privately owned bed and breakfasts rather than state hotels. For all but small groups, the itinerary still had to be organized through the State receiving agencies.
Although there were still pathways, US travel declined dramatically. The political atmosphere set by the government is a big factor in relieving or increasing anxieties created by decades of conflict and propaganda from both sides. The reason for the great success of the cruises is that they created a safe bubble while providing a taste of once forbidden Cuba.
Regrettably the cruise companies, the big tour operators and the airlines did almost nothing to oppose the damage to their business and to the people of Cuba for whom they presumably cared. They could have used their prestige and wealth to lobby the White House and Congress. Even more important, they failed to mobilize any of the million US citizens they had brought to Cuba.
Claver-Carone claims that the limits on travel are designed to keep dollars away from the Cuban state and military and the enterprises they control and profit from. Were that the case they would be promoting independent travel. In fact their goal is to destroy anything that undermines their hostile and prejudiced narrative about Cuba. American visitors carry home a variety of positive and negative impressions of Cuba, but few if any agree with the embargo and regime change—or with restrictions on travel.
The following data demonstrates how rapid the growth of US visitors , even in the first year of the Trump Administration when the rules were in effect unchanged. The growth can largely be attributed to cruise passengers. 2019 figures up to the end of September reflect also cruise traffic up until June 5th.
Cubanos en el exterior (todos)
Estados Unidos (no C-A)
Everything has become more complicated and negative. There have been a series of annoyances initiated by the Trump Administration. Two Cuban representatives to the UN were expelled for undertaking “influence” with US citizens, a normal practice all over the world, including by US diplomats in Cuba. One of them was my principle interlocuter with the UN Mission. Aspects of the embargo have been tightened, some symbolic, some with practical consequences. Most recently the US denied Cubana de Aviacion and Gaviota the right to rent safe aircraft from European companies.
Ending the suspension of Title III in Helms-Burton has created legal complexity for US and international business engaged with Cuba. At the end, US and Cuban Americans who claim ownership of property nationalized in Cuba may never gain anything but the costs of lawyers and of uncertainty for prospective investors are high—and give them one more reason to repeal Helms-Burton.
Much of what has transpired may be attributable to Claver-Carone, a skilled bureaucratic practitioner. A vital question is when he follows Bolton out the door. If he does, we could see a more reasonable approach to Cuba, even in this Administration. My personal fantasy is that in return for Cuban support for a political solution in Venezuela, Trump supports legislation to end all travel restrictions. We are very close to a majority in the Senate already and can expect success in the House. A legislative end of all restrictions would permit return of cruises and real tourism at all-inclusive resorts as well as an upsurge of independent individual and family visits.
If Cuba opened the sector to private Cuban travel agencies, tour operators and guides as transformed Vietnamese tourism, the direct impact on the economy would be dramatic.
The elephant in the room is how Trump responds to his very likely impeachment by the House of Representatives. During this period of great political stress, he may avoid any change that could upset his allies in Florida. However, he might also calculate that an agreement for fair and open UN supervised elections in Venezuela combined with an historic commercial breakthrough in travel with Cuba could build broader support and be more consistent with his anti-interventionism and business orientation. (Trump sent two teams to Cuba to explore hotel and golf course opportunities before he ran for President.)
In any case, our Presidential election of November 2020 is promising for a serious opening of reasonable relations with Cuba. Every Democratic candidate who is already a Senator is already a cosponsor of legislation to end all travel restrictions. Jill Biden, the wife of the former Vice President, was an enthusiastic visitor to Camaguey, as you can see from a White House video on line. Several candidates have already promised to end the full embargo, the “bloqueo”.
Just as Beijing's arrogance in the South China Sea and Moscow’s in Ukraine damage their security by strengthening US ties with Vietnam and Ukraine, Washington's arrogance toward Cuba gives strategic benefit to Russia and China.
The essential reforms to improve daily life in Cuba are a completely domestic matter, but at least we can anticipate that within eighteen months the US will no longer be such an obstacle, and could even become a partner. It can be very dark before the dawn.
--John McAuliff, Fund for Reconciliation and Development, 10/23/19
Full text of Support for the Cuban People section
CUBAN ASSETS CONTROL REGULATIONS
§515.574 Support for the Cuban People.
(a) General license. The travel-related transactions set forth in §515.560(c) and other transactions that are intended to provide support for the Cuban people are authorized, provided that:
(1) The activities are of:
(i) Recognized human rights organizations;
(ii) Independent organizations designed to promote a rapid, peaceful transition to democracy; or
(iii) Individuals and non-governmental organizations that promote independent activity intended to strengthen civil society in Cuba; and
(2) Each traveler engages in a full-time schedule of activities that:
(i) Enhance contact with the Cuban people, support civil society in Cuba, or promote the Cuban people's independence from Cuban authorities; and
(ii) Result in meaningful interaction with individuals in Cuba.
(3) The traveler's schedule of activities does not include free time or recreation in excess of that consistent with a full-time schedule.
Note that virtually identical language describes authorized people to people educational travel for groups:
§515.565 Educational activities.
(b) General license for people-to-people travel.
(2) Travel-related transactions pursuant to this authorization are for the purpose of engaging, while in Cuba, in a full-time schedule of activities that enhance contact with the Cuban people, support civil society in Cuba, or promote the Cuban people's independence from Cuban authorities;
(3) Each traveler has a full-time schedule of educational exchange activities that result in meaningful interaction between the traveler and individuals in Cuba;
https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=37bf4f2d6625a976add5c8a750e9d070&mc=true&node=pt31.3.515&rgn=div5#se31.3.515_1574
My layman's interpretation: if a travelers’ view of their goal is to promote independent activity to strengthen civil society and their activities enhance contact with the result of meaningful interaction, their presence in Cuba will be positive in support of the emerging private sector and they qualify for this general license. If they are motivated by the other listed goals and act on them, their presence could be regarded as intrusive and not respectful of Cuba's sovereignty.
-- John McAuliff
Updated paper Travel: Symbol of and Vehicle for ...
Cause of "Havana Syndrome" Identified by Canada
Venezuela Update #13: Democratic Candidates, Guai...
Venezuela (and Cuba?) as a Trading Chip for Russia...
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Dystopian Society “Cages” LP review and interview
by Oliver Sheppard
Oliver Sheppard 2012-09-11
Oliver Sheppard · September 11, 2012
Italy’s Dystopian Society, like Germany’s Tanzkommando Untergang, employ imagery and use a name that might make one think they were a political thrash band. But — wait just a minute! Although the band do have a strong sense of political ethics, they’re like New Model Army and Rubella Ballet in that they couple social observations with a compellingly gloomy postpunk sound.
They will be playing along with The Mob and UK Decay at this year’s Drop Dead Fest, on November 3rd, in Berlin, Germany. (Info below.)
Dystopian Society’s new LP, Cages, is much in line with this. It is basically a political deathrock LP — if such a thing could be permitted to exist under the heavens — much like Christ vs Warhol’s excellent Dissent LP married the sounds of postpunk and deathrock with astute political observations, including an anti-Tea Party song in the latter’s case!
Dystopian Society were originally interviewed by Oliver in May, 2012.
Dystopian Society’s Cages is one of the best purist deathrock LPs of 2012 I have heard. This power trio bring on old school dathrock solidly in the vein of early, Rikk Agnew-powered Christian Death, or Voodoo Church, or the Superheroines. Along with Blue Cross, Tanzkommando Untergang, and Arctic Flowers, they point the way forward for dark gothy postpunk. Dystopian Society’s 2012 Cages LP is highly recommended. Although the members are from Italy, they sing in English. The liner notes and lyrics reveal that there is a real intelligence behind the band; none of the songs are stereotypical “graveyards and bats” fare, althoug the atmosphrics are suitably gloomy.
As the interview with singer Max Skam and guitarist Sara Red Hexe shows below, the goth-punk scene in Italy, as in much of Europe, is characterized by playing at squats, self-managed social centers, and other institutions of alternative political culture that simply have no parallel in the US, where being into underground music can be neatly divorced from anything political. Regardless of one’s political stance, Dystopian Society make an extremely potent type of gloomy postpunk that incorporates (to my ears) the influences of Paralisis Permanente, Christian Death, and Shadow Project.
You can buy their killer new album/CD, Cages, here!
Oliver: So, first thing’s first — how long have Dystopian Society been around, who is in the band currently, and what instruments do they play?
MAX: Dystopian Society are around since the end of 2010; me and Sara were playing already together but never released anything because we felt the need to have a drummer. Finally we found the right person at a party we were organizing in a squat in Florence, and so here’s the original and current line-up: Max Skam on bass and vocals, Sara Red Hexe on guitar and Mariglen on drums.
Oliver: Who came up with the name “Dystopian Society” and what is it supposed to mean?
Max: I had in mind to choose this name for a project for a long time. I’ve always been obsessed with dystopian books and movies and found more and more analogies with the actual models of societies we are forced to live in. When I proposed it as the name of the band, the others immediately agreed. We felt it was perfect to describe the situation of our country, dealing with mass-media propaganda, repression, discrimination, and underlying modern fascism. Of course the meaning of the name is wider than that; savage capitalism all over the world can be much more totalitarian than people think.
Oliver: For someone who has never heard Dystopian Society, how would you describe your sound? In other words, what would you say you all sounded like?
Max Skam: Our sound can be described as a gloomy and rough mix of punk and goth, with some hardcore punk influences. This seemed to us the perfect sound to describe the loss of hope and, at the same time, the rage of our lyrics.
Oliver: What bands’ sounds went into influencing Dystopian Society? Also, as far as lyrics, who has influenced you all the most? You have done cover songs of Paralisis Permanente, but are bands like The Mob or Killing Joke really your main influences?
Max Skam: We love all the bands you mentioned, but it is really difficult for us to make a full influences list; we could include bands like old Christian Death, Dead Kennedys, Killing Joke, Theatre of Hate and some of old-school anarcho-punk. Anyway, we did not calculate to sound like other bands, even if it is clear enough what we like most we prefer the listener to make the comparisons. When we make music, we try to sound like Dystopian Society. Same reasoning can apply to our lyrics.
Oliver: What are some of the common topics that Dystopian Society sings about? Generally, people don’t expect deathrock or goth-punk bands to be political – they expect them to sing about bats and graveyards. Is that what Dystopian Society sings about, or do you sing about political topics?
SARA: (laugh) Yes, I got your point, Oliver.. we made a song, “Masquerade,” talking about scene stereotypes. In our lyrics we try to talk about all the bad aspects of modern societies, like war, marginalization, isolation, insanity, loss of individual freedom, earth exploitation, class-ism, repression and so on, along with celebrating the purity of so-called “losers” and people who have been labeled as “dangerous” because of the way they act or think. We find all this “political” because it’s the system that created all these side effects. We all have the power to change this and make the world a better place, but first we need to be aware!
Oliver: Italy was recently rocked by a lot of scandals involving Silvio Berlusconi and his “bunga bunga” parties. These are very sensationalistic news stories, but do you think they are distractions for the public, when larger economic issues, about austerity cutbacks in programs for the poor, the recession, and the crises of capitalism are ongoing and more important?
Max Skam: It is not as simple as that; the scandals you talk about have been useful to awake some people from their numbness, so it is not negative on the whole that they came out. Unfortunately there are still lots of people who exalt this kind of sexist behavior based on male supremacy.
Despite his lifestyle, Berlusconi’s regime was totally supported by most of the political, economical, financial and religious powers, even by the Vatican. They used his power to bring us to the condition they had already decided for us: a classist society, with the destruction of workers rights, crisis, unemployment, limited freedom of speech and, generally, loss of hope in the future. Everything has been done to control us more and more. Consequently, we could say that this kind of disguised democracy anticipated the effects of the worldwide crisis of capitalism.
Oliver: Italy has a very strong history of communism, council communism, Marxists like Antonio Gramsci, but also of producing a very militant anarchist movement, like Errico Malatesta and others. Is this a tradition that you feel Dystopian Society belongs to, ideologically? Why or why not?
Max Skam: We strongly respect everyone who has fought for freedom and equality of peoples; both Gramsci and Malatesta, in their different ways, have dedicated their lives to these issues in a very difficult historical period for Italy. In this sense, we can say we feel close to both of them.
As for today, we think that we have to run back to the “revolutionary ideal,” rejecting corporate economic interests of any kind that are guilty in spreading poverty and disparity, because to us it is the only way to survive and obtain something really close to Freedom.
Oliver: Where can folks buy your records online? Also, do you plan to tour Europe or maybe even North America some day?
Max Skam: You can find our self-produced album Cages in pre-listening on here:
http://dystopiansociety.bandcamp.com/
It will be available both in digital download or physical copy and will be distributed in Europe by afmusic.de from june 8th, otherwise you can contact us directly at dystopiansociety@rocketmail.com.
We would love to tour Europe and North America one day but as for now, we haven’t got anything planned…let’s see what future holds for us!
Oliver: What is “The Egregor”? I’ve wondered who is behind the Facebook page and if it is a collective, a zine, or….?
MAX: The Egregor does not exist in a definite form; it’s a mind collective group composed by people who do not necessarily know each other but nevertheless started to follow the original spirit of positive punk and anarcho-punk. We found many people who were really tired about how fashion and superficiality of the recent goth and punk “scene” took over music and ideals and decided to go back to the purity of the origins. The funny thing is that this process happened at the same time, with a lot of new bands coming out from different parts of the world.. well, we hope to see the whole thing getting wider and wider!
Dystopian Society’s Bandcamp page, from which you can buy their CDs, is here: http://dystopiansociety.bandcamp.com/
Tags:anarcho punkanarchopunkcageschristian deathDEATHROCKdrop dead festivaldystopian societyflesh unitedgothic rockgothpunkKILLING JOKELost Tribemax skampeacepunkrubella balletsara red hexeshadow projectsuperheroinestanzkommando untergangThe MobUK Decay
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Oliver Sheppard
Oliver Sheppard is a writer from Texas. He's been writing for CVLT Nation since 2012. He's also written for Maximum Rock-n-Roll, Bandcamp.com, Souciant, and others. He started the Radio Schizo podcast in the early days of podcasting (2005) and began the Wardance and Funeral Parade event nights in Dallas and Austin, respectively, in 2012. He is the author of Destruction: Text I and Thirteen Nocturnes.
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EPD worked with Indiana County’s Office of Planning and Development and Clymer Borough to create a hybrid form-based code that addressed the requirements of Pennsylvania’s planning regulations and the community’s desires. The code preserves the existing neighborhood form that is shaped through connections, blocks, density and streetscape elements that were documented in partnership with Indiana University of Pennsylvania’s Geography and Regional Planning Department.
Critical components to the effort were dedicating time to understand the perceptions and realities for the Borough and working to educate the public and elected officials in the creation of the Borough’s first Zoning Ordinance. Public meetings utilized a series of diagrams to clarify ways that future infill development could be guided to meet community needs, preserve property values and accommodate future uses. Sketched ideas in real-time throughout the meetings gave participants instant feedback, fostering understanding between the public and the planning team.
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Vol.5 No.15(2014), Article ID:47668,12 pages DOI:10.4236/ajps.2014.515242
Winter Oilseed Crops after Soybeans as Tools for Weed Management in Brazilian Savannah Cropping Systems
Germani Concenco1*, Cesar Jose da Silva2, Michely Tomazi3, Rodolpho Freire Marques4, Sabrina Alves dos Santos5, Maxwell Eliezer dos Santos Alves5, Waggner Gomes Palharini5, Air Lisboa Froes5, Denise Nascimento Fabris5
1Weed Science, Embrapa Western Agriculture, Dourados, Brazil
2AgroEnergy, Embrapa Western Agriculture, Dourados, Brazil
3Climate Change, Embrapa Western Agriculture, Dourados, Brazil
4Federal University of Dourados, Dourados, Brazil
5Embrapa Western Agriculture, Dourados, Brazil
Email: *germani.concenco@embrapa.br
Received 14 May 2014; revised 16 June 2014; accepted 2 July 2014
We aimed with this study to evaluate the potential of oilseed crops planted following soybean, in terms of their ability to inhibit the occurrence of weed species under Brazilian Savannah cropping systems. The long-term experiment was installed in 2010 at Dourados, MS, Brazil, and in completely randomized blocks design with five replications with 12 × 24 m plot size. For three consecutive years (2010/11, 2011/12 and 2012/13), soybeans were planted in all the area by October/November being harvested in February/March, when previously marked plots were planted in April with: (1) radish (Raphanus sativus); (2) rapeseed (Brassica napus); (3) crambe (Crambe abyssinica); (4) winter fallow-no plantation after soybeans. In all years the same crop was repeated at the same plots, with no crop rotation. Phytosociological characterization of weed species was carried out in winter (after oilseeds harvest), pre-planting and post-emergence of soybean for the three years. Relative abundance, frequency and dominance, as well as the importance value for each species, was obtained. Areas were also intra-characterized by the coefficients of Simpson, Shannon-Weiner and Shannon-Weiner’s Evenness Proportion, and areas were compared for species dissimilarity with Jaccard’s presence-only coefficient, by multivariate cluster analysis. Oilseed crops definitely contribute for sustainable weed management as a cultural tool. The most important oilseed crop weeds in the Savannah-like region of Brazil were Amaranthus hybridus, Richardia brasiliensis, Lepidium virginicum, Leonotis nepetifolia and Hybanthus parviflorus. After three years of repetitive crop succession, some weeds were selected, and rotation in Winter is advised at least every two or three years.
Keywords:Phytosociology, Diversity, Similarity, Sustainability
Soybean is one of the leading economical crops grown in Brazil, with about 27.7 million hectares planted in the 2013/2014 cropping season. Soybean yields in Brazil had significantly increased in the last decades, and current Brazilian average yield is 3035 kg∙ha−1 [1] . Among the factors which limit crop yield, the occurrence of weed species can be highlighted as one of the most relevant facts [2] .
Recent GMO technologies have aimed to employ herbicide resistance to soybean varieties and the weed infestation have drastically reduced in most fields with such technologies. Lack of Government regulation and Farmer’s mismanagement of such technologies, however, led to the selection of weed species tolerant or resistant to the herbicides applied with these technologies [3] . The glyphosate-resistant Roundup Ready® soybean was widely used in Brazil for at least ten years, and currently Conyza bonariensis, C. canadensis, C. sumatrensis, Digitaria insularis, Lolium multiflorum [4] and Eleusine indica [5] are resistant to this herbicide, due to its extensive and almost uncontrolled use in Roundup Ready soybean. This abuse, moreover, resulted in the selection of weed species naturally more tolerant to glyphosate, namely Ipomoea spp., Richardia brasiliensis and Commelina benghalensis (tropical spiderwort), among others.
These facts have made researchers and companies retreat from the excessive reliability in GMO crops and has provided new possibilities to researches that regard integrated weeds management and integrated cropping systems [6] [7] . Researchers also started to notice that it is important to know the key traits of weed plants intended to be eliminated from the system, in order to develop management techniques that are efficient to the controlling of such species [8] . Phytosociological surveys started to gain relevance at the Weed Science field.
One of the main management practices which contribute to the reduction in weeds infestation is the continuous maintenance of straw on the soil surface [9] , which limits weeds access to light. In addition, some plant species produce chemicals which usually exudate to soil through the root system, inhibiting germination and/or growth of other plant species. This phenomenon is called Allelopathy [10] .
The intercrop of corn second crop (planted after soybeans) with Brachiaria ruziziensis was developed to allow the maintenance of a bold layer of mulching from the forage on soil after corn is harvested [9] , thus soil would not be exposed to direct rainfall and sunlight when crop is not present. The crop succession soybean-corn + B. ruziziensis year after year, however, also started to select pests and weed species, urging for diversification at the second cropping season in Brazilian Savannah.
In addition, the demand for partial or total substitution of petroleum-based fuel oil for biofuels has become a topic of strategic security for many countries [11] , aiming to meet both the increasing demand for energy and the new required limits for emission of gases responsible for the greenhouse effect [12] . Radish (Raphanus sativus), crambe (Crambe abyssinica) and rapeseed (Brassica napus) are promising for producing biofuels [13] , being these winter oilseed crops good choices for a profitable second crop while keeping soil protected during fall/ winter; they can be planted later than corn, developing well even when planted after march 10th, which is a deadline for corn planting in the Brazilian Savannah [9] .
Even being a profitable option to replace corn after soybean, the potential of these oilseed crops suppress the occurrence of weed species in areas where these are rotated with soybeans that need to be assessed. Oilseed crops could either demand additional herbicide application in the cropping system throughout the year for not suppressing weeds, or reduce herbicide demand supposing the most important weed species that are properly suppressed—the latter would be a highly desired side-effect.
This study aimed to evaluate the potential of oilseed crops planted following soybean, in terms of their ability to inhibit the occurrence of weed species under Brazilian Savannah cropping systems.
The long-term experiment was installed in 2010 under field conditions at Embrapa Western Agriculture, Dourados city, state of Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil, at coordinates 22˚16'S and 54˚49'W at 408 m above sea level. The trial was installed in completely randomized blocks design with five replications with plot size of 12 × 24 m.
For three consecutive years (2010/11, 2011/12 and 2012/13), soybeans were planted in all the area of the experiment by October/November, being harvested in February/March of the following year. After each soybean crop, each previously marked plot of the experiment was planted in April according to the treatment: (1) radish (Raphanus sativus); (2) rapeseed (Brassica napus); (3) crambe (Crambe abyssinica); (4) winter fallow-no plantation after soybeans. In all years the same crop was repeated at the same plots, with no crop rotation.
Soybean was planted, fertilized and managed according to the official Brazilian Recommendations for Soybean Crop in Cerrado (Savannah). Winter oilseed crops were planted in rows spaced in 0.4 m, at plant densities of 32, 25 and 54 plants∙m−1 in the row, respectively for radish, rapeseed and crambe. Fertilization was accomplished by applying 347 kg∙ha−1 of NPK 08-20-20 in the seeding furrow at planting every year. Pest control was necessary only at the initial growth stages, being accomplished by a single application of 35.2 g∙ha−1 of thiamethoxam + 26.5 g∙ha−1 lambda-cyhalothrin 20 - 30 days after planting. No further management (fertilization or pest control) was accomplished.
The amount of straw (in terms of dry mass) and its resultant percentage of soil covered were evaluated right after the harvest of winter crops every year. Data for these parameters were presented in histograms as a function of means and standard errors.
Phytosociological characterization of weed species was carried out every year for all areas, at three periods. “Winter” evaluations were accomplished right after harvest of the winter oilseed crops, by July/August; “PrePlanting” evaluations were accomplished about 30 days after chemical burndown (no residual herbicides were used) prior to planting soybean, usually by end of September or beginning of October; “Post-Emergence” evaluations occurred about 25 days after soybean emergence, in November. For that, the Random Quadrats method [14] was used and 5 areas of 0.50 × 0.50 m were sampled in each plot (25 quadrats per treatment in each evaluation). All the emerged seedlings inside each quadrat were identified by species, collected and stored in paper bags, being dried in oven with continuous air circulation for posterior dry mass determination. Sampling precision was estimated as follows:
where Pr.De = sampling precision based on density; Pr.Do = sampling precision based on dominance; s2 (De) = variance of sample density means; s2 (Do) = variance of sample dominance means.
Estimations of relative density (based on number of individuals), relative frequency (based on the distribution of the species in the area) and relative dominance (based on the ability of each species to accumulate dry mass) were done for each species present. The Importance Value (I.V.), which ranks species in terms of importance within the studied area, was also determined [14] [15] , with the following equations:
where rDe = relative density (%); rFr = relative frequency (%); rDo = relative dominance (%); I.V. = importance value; I = number of individuals of species x in the area r; TI = total number of individuals in the area r; Q = number of quadrats assessed in area r where species x is present; TQ = total number of quadrats assessed in area r; DM = dry mass of individuals from species x in the area r; TDM = total dry mass of weeds in the area r.
At the phytosociological analysis, oilseed crops were pool analyzed against the area under fallow both as a function of cropping season (average of Winter + Pre-planting + Post-emergence) and evaluation season (average of 2011 + 2012 + 2013), being presented for each area only the 10 most important weed species, according to the I.V., plus a discriminative analysis per crop (three-year average). Areas were also intra-characterized by the diversity coefficients of Simpson (D) and modified Shannon-Weiner (H’) [14] , as well as by the Shannon‑ Weiner’s Evenness Proportion (SEP) coefficients [16] , as follows:
where D = diversity coefficient of Simpson; H’ = diversity coefficient of Shannon-Weiner (based on density); ni = number of individuals from species “i”; N = total number of individuals in the sample; pi = proportion of individuals in the sample from species “i”; SEP = Shannon-Weiner’s Evenness Proportion; H’ dominance = Shannon-Weiner’s diversity based on biomass; H’ density = Shannon-Weiner’s diversity based on number of individuals.
After these analyses, areas were compared by Jaccard’s presence-only similarity coefficient [14] in a way to estimate the current degree of weeds similarity between areas. Based on Jaccard’s binary coefficient, areas were grouped by cluster analysis considering the qualitative trait only (presence or absence of the species), according to the dissimilarities obtained from the inverse of Jaccard’s similarity matrix, as follows:
where J = Jaccard’s similarity coefficient; a = number of plant species in area “a”; b = number of plant species in area “b”; c = number of plant species common to areas “a” and “b”; and Di = dissimilarity.
Hierarchical grouping was determined from the distance matrix (dissimilarities) [12] by using the Unweighted Pair Group Method with Arithmethic Mean (UPGMA) method [17] . Grouping validation was accomplished by the cophenetic correlation coefficient, using the Pearson linear correlation between the cophenetic matrix and the original matrix of distances [18] .
All analyses were run under the R Statistical Environment [19] , using functions made available by the following additional packages: vegan, Hmisc, cluster and ExpDes. All formulas and procedures, both at sampling and description of the areas, as well as at species clustering, followed the requirements suggested by Barbour et al. [14] for synecological analyses.
Sampling precision proved most areas were precisely sampled, according to the demanded by Bordeau [20] and Goldsmith & Harrison [21] , who stated the variance of sample means increases as the number of sampled quadrats per area decreases. Barbour et al. [14] finally proposed the inverse of the variance (Equation (1)) as an indicator of precision; in this study, we considered a threshold level of “1” as the minimal precision accepted for a reliable sampling. Only dominance of rapeseed in Winter was considered not reliable (Table 1), being considered with restrictions in the further analysis.
The percentage of soil surface covered by straw resulting from the winter crops, as well as crop stubble dry mass, is shown in Figure 1. There was a direct relationship between the volume of dry mass produced by each crop/management and the respective the percentage of soil covered by this stubble (Figure 1) (Pearson correlation = 82.5%*). On the other hand, there were only weak relationships both between the percentage of soil covered and the number of plants of weed species, and between soil covered and dry mass of weeds, which were not significant.
The number of weed individuals and dry mass of weeds per area was lower in areas planted with any oilseed crop compared to fallow areas, for all seasons (Figures 2(a)-(d)), except dry mass of weeds in crambe at
Figure 1. Soil covered (%) and dry mass (kg∙ha−1) accumulated by winter oilseed crops, evaluated right after harvest. Embrapa Western Agriculture, Dourados, MS, Brazil, 2014.
Figure 2. Number of plant individuals (█—m−2) and its respective dry mass (█—g∙m−2) of weed species in Winter (a), pre-planting of soybean (b); early post-emergence of soybean (c) and season-pooled analysis (d). Data as average of three cropping seasons (2011/2012/2013). Embrapa Western Agriculture, Dourados, MS, Brazil, 2014.
Table 1. Sampling precision as a function of season, crop and parameter evaluated. Embrapa Western Agriculture, Dourados, MS, Brazil, 2014.
Precision was obtained as 1/(variance of sample means), according to Barbour et al. [14] , based on 25 sampled quadrats per area. Pr.De = sampling precision based on density; Pr.Do = sampling precision based on dominance.
pre-planting (Figure 2(b)). In Winter (Figure 2(a)), about 27 plants∙m−2 were observed as average of the winter crops while 108 plants∙m−2 were observed at the fallow area, immediately after oilseed crops harvest. The same was observed for dry mass, where 30 g∙m−2 were observed in the oilseed crop areas against 83 g∙m−2 at the fallow area. This translated to about 25% and 36% of the infestation, respectively for number of weed individuals and dry mass accumulated, for areas planted with oilseed crops compared to areas under fallow (Figure 2(a)).
At the pre-planting of soybean (Figure 2(b)), infestation was kept at low levels in areas previously planted with radish and rapeseed, but crambe straw failed to suppress weeds at the same level. While 12 and 21 plants∙m−2 were observed for areas previously planted with radish and rapeseed, respectively, at the area with crambe 32 plants∙m−2 were reported, against 71 plants∙m−2 at the fallow area. Dry mass presented similar behavior, except for rapeseed, where plants emerged but did not grow at the same rate of the ones observed at radish and crambe areas (Figure 2(b)).
All oilseed crops were able to inhibit weeds emergence and establishment during winter, when crops were present, but at the pre-planting crambe did not perform well. This may be due to two reasons: 1) both soil covered and crop dry mass accumulated at the post-harvest of oilseed crops were smaller for crambe compared to radish or rapeseed, in part because this crop has shorter cycle thus being harvested about 60 days in advance (Figure 1), and 2) the allelopathic effect of radish and rapeseed in suppressing weeds may be more pronounced than crambe. In fact, Uygur et al. [22] reported that extracts of radish completely inhibited the germination of 4 crop plants and 11 weed species. Although radish accumulate greater dry mass than crambe (Figure 1), its ability to suppress weeds (Figure 2) was higher than what would be attributed to the differential dry mass accumulation, being attributed to the allelopathic effect of radish, as previously reported.
At post-emergence of soybean (Figure 2(c)), there was still effects of the winter management on the level of weeds infestation, where areas previously planted with oilseed crops were always less infested than the area under fallow, and similar among them in terms of number of weed individuals per area. Dry mass of weeds, however, differed not only from the fallow but also among oilseed crops (Figure 2(c)). Weed dry mass was about 13, 37 and 46 g∙m−2, respectively at areas previously planted with rapeseed, radish and crambe. Although weed dry mass accumulation was not pronounced at the fallow area by the time of evaluation-probably due to the coupled effect of soybean shading and glyphosate application, the high number of individuals at this treatment indicated that weeds were smaller than the observed at the areas under oilseed crops, but the latent infestation was high.
The season-pooled analysis (Figure 2(d)) showed that radish and rapeseed performed better than crambe in inhibiting the occurrence of weed species, and winter fallow should not be adopted in areas where soybeans are to be cropped. Although infestation at the area with crambe was higher, this crop was still able to suppress in more than 50% the occurrence of weeds compared to fallow, which also resulted in smaller weed dry mass per area (Figure 2(d)).
When number of weeds and its respective dry mass are compared in Pre-Planting (Figure 2(b)) and PostEmergence (Figure 2(c)) of rapeseed, it is possible to infer that weeds were smaller compared to the ones present at the other areas, thus with delayed emergence. This delayed emergence of weeds in rapeseed is most probably a consequence of the time needed for seeds forced to a quiescent or dormant state to restart their metabolism and allow germination [23] .
The longer cycle of rapeseed compared to radish and crambe could also participate in this delayed emergence of weeds, but evaluations where plants took longer to germinate were conducted at pre-planting and post-emergence of soybean, where the effect observed on weeds could be more reliably attributed to the rapeseed mulching left on soil than to rapeseed cycle. In practical terms, weed infestation at this area would be less severe due to the time needed for plants of weed species to establish themselves, allowing crop to have good advantage in development, causing shading and suppressing weeds [24] [25] .
The evolution of weed occurrence from the assembly of the trial (Table 2, upper section) showed that species changed from the first to the third year of the trial both for the oilseed crops and the fallow area. At the areas with oilseed crops, in 2011 R. brasiliensis and A. hybridus were the most important weed species, which accounted for 36.4% of the Importance Value (IV); in 2012 part of the IV from R. brasiliensis was shifted to A. hybridus, but both were still the most important weed species. At the third year of the experiment, R. brasiliensis and L. virginicum were the most important ones.
While R. brasiliensis was important all throughout the trial, accounting for 16.1% - 32.6% of the IV, L. virginicum started as a weak weed species which jumped from IV = 0.3% at the first year to IV = 26.7% at the third year (Table 2). This greatly highlights weed management in areas often planted with oilseed crops should focus on controlling these two weeds if they are present, besides A. hybridus, H. parviflorus and L. nepetifolia which were also important in years where climatic conditions favored its occurrence. L. nepetifolia (klip dagga) is a common, but low competitive weed, which is usually either easily controlled with herbicides or suppressed by other plant species.
For the area under fallow (Table 2), H. parviflorus was responsible for about 15% of the IV at the first and third years, while R. brasiliensis also ranged from 16.1% to 25.7% in IV. At the first year infestation was more balanced, with five weed species presenting IV of about 10% - 15%; at the third year, however, L. nepetifolia and R. brasiliensis suppressed most weed species, representing together 53.6% of the overall infestation in the area under fallow (Table 2).
Besides the I.V., H. parviflorus, L. nepetifolia, L. virginicum and R. brasiliensis are highlighted for its numerous offspring (De), each species solely representing, in most cases, more than 20% of the individuals accounted at the experiment (Table 2). In the same way, A. hybridus, L. virginicum and R. brasiliensis were the most vigorous weed species as their Dominance (Do) was often higher than 20% (Table 2).
When the evaluation season is considered (Table 2, lower section), it is noted that the most important weed species in the system were present all throughout the year. For the area grown with oilseed crops, R. brasiliensis was the most important one from Winter to Post-Emergence, followed by A. hybridus in Winter and PostEmergence. At the intermediary assessment, L. virginicum surpassed A. hybridus in importance. For the area under fallow, R. brasiliensis was also the most important and persistent weed species, but contrary to the observed for the oilseed areas, L. nepetifolia surpassed L. virginicum and A. hybridus as the second most important species in Winter and Pre-Planting, and H. parviflorus was the second most important one in Post-Emergence (Table 2). Overall, there was no weed species most present in a certain season; important weed species were the ones with year-round occurrence (Table 2).
Mas et al. [26] observed that weed communities after five or more years of no-till glyphosate-tolerant soybean cropping systems had: (i) higher relative abundance of perennials (52.1% versus 31.7%), and (ii) higher relative abundance of dicotyledons (66.3% versus 38.5%) than the weed communities of fields with <5 years of no-till. At this study, a predominance of broadleaved weeds was also observed (Table 2), although the absolute level of infestation was reduced in areas planted with winter oilseed crops (Figure 2).
When areas were compared among them, as average of three years with three assessments per year (Table 3), R. brasiliensis was reported as the most important weed in crambe following L. virginicum, and the second most important in radish, rapeseed and fallow areas. A. hybridus was the most important species in radish and the third most important in rapeseed, crambe and fallow. H. parviflorus, reported as the most important one in rape
Table 2 . Phytosociological parameters of the 10 most important weed species, as a function of year (average of Winter/Pre-Planting/Post-Emergence evaluations), and cropping season (average of years 2011/2012/2013). Embrapa Western Agriculture, Dourados, MS, Brazil, 2014.
Winter Oilseed Crops: radish, crambe and rapeseed areas; Winter Fallow: planted with soybean, no crops in winter; De = density; Fr = frequency; Do = dominance; I.V. = importance value; (-) = species absent from the area. Evaluations: “Winter” = right after harvest of the winter oilseed crops, by July/August; “Pre-Planting” = about 30 days after no-residual chemical burndown prior to planting soybean, by September/October; “Post-Emergence” = about 25 days after soybean emergence, in November.
seed, is not a traditional weed species but its importance is increasing at the Center-West region of Brazil. This species is not efficiently controlled by the glyphosate or 2, 4-D, the main burndown herbicides used prior to planting soybean.
A. hybridus and R. brasiliensis are reported as the most dominant species in radish, rapeseed and crambe areas, highlighting its ability to accumulate dry mass and compete for physical space with the crop. Both species were also the ones with the highest densities in radish, while H. parviflorus, L. virginicum and L. nepetifolia were the densest ones, respectively in rapeseed, crambe and fallow areas (Table 3).
Table 3. Phytosociological parameters of the 10 most important weeds infesting winter oilseed crops and fallow, as average of three years (2011/2012/2013) with three evaluations per year (Winter, Pre-planting and Post-emergence of soybean). Embrapa Western Agriculture, Dourados, MS, Brazil, 2014.
De = density; Fr = frequency; Do = dominance; I.V. = importance value; (-) = species was absent from the area.
The diversity coefficient of Simpson (D) quantifies, in simple terms, the probability of two individuals randomly collected in the same area to be from the same species [14] . In Winter, D showed a most homogeneous group of areas in terms of diversity, while H’ discriminated two groups, with radish and rapeseed into the first group, and crambe and fallow into the second (Table 4). The diversity coefficient of Shannon-Weiner (H’), on the other hand, derives from the Theory of the Information and sometimes confuses diversity with richness of species [14] . This difference, although not highly remarkable, shows that the overall group of important weeds was mostly composed by the frequent species, as H’ was greatly changed while no correspondent shifts in infestation were noticed in the phytosociology (Table 2 and Table 3).
At Pre-Planting, both D and H’ reported rapeseed area as the one with the lowest diversity in terms of plant species (Table 4), which may be due to the longer cycle of rapeseed compared to radish and crambe, whose residues were later deposited lasting longer and covering soil more efficiently (Figure 1).
At Post-Emergence of soybean, both coefficients agreed while forming two groups in terms of species diversity: the first included radish and rapeseed while the second was represented by crambe and fallow areas (Table 4). We hypothesize that the higher allelopathic effect attributed to radish and rapeseed [27] compared to crambe, may be one of the responsible for such results; in addition, the longer cycle of rapeseed compared to radish and crambe contributes to its higher mulching, once it is harvested later than the others. This demonstrates that the beneficial effects of the winter oilseed crops last longer into summer helping to reduce weeds occurrence.
Table 4. Diversity and stress coefficients of areas as a function of crop and evaluation season (average of 2011/2012/2013). Embrapa Western Agriculture, Dourados, MS, Brazil, 2014.
D = Simpson; H’ = Shannon‑Weiner; SEP = Shannon-Weiner’s Evenness Proportion. Evaluations: “Winter” = right after harvest of the winter oilseed crops, by July/August; “Pre-Planting” = about 30 days after no‑residual chemical burndown prior to planting soybean, by September/October; “Post-Emergence” = about 25 days after soybean emergence, in November; “Pooled” = Winter + Pre-planting + Post-emergence.
According to Correia & Durigan [28] , diversity is not directly related to higher infestation levels, and we found that to be true by comparing data in Figure 2 and Table4 As both diversity coefficients are weighted not only by the number of species but also by the balancing in the number of individuals from each species [14] , one can infer the allelopathic potential often attributed to radish and rapeseed will be even more positive to the cropping system if they are able to inhibit the germination or emergence of the main weed species previously nominated, which should be verified in further studies.
The season-pooled analysis reported a single group of diversity among crops according to D, while H’ removed rapeseed from the homogeneous group due to a lower diversity coefficient (Table 4). This lower diversity pointed out by H’ could mean rapeseed is more efficient in inhibiting rare species compared to the most frequent ones, but the equivalent V.I. attributed to “Other species”, for all areas (Table 3) does no support this hypothesis; so, weed suppression caused by rapeseed in the cropping system throughout the year is most probably effective on all weed species at similar levels, which resulted in the lowest overall infestation (Figure 2(d)).
The Shannon-Weiner’s Evenness Proportion (SEP) is able to evaluate trends of stress in a given environment over time, and as its relation with the Difference in Area by Percent (DAP) is log-linear [16] , the cropping system is likely to be as stressed as the SEP grows. In Winter there was a trend for areas often planted with radish or rapeseed to be less stressed than the others, with smaller selection pressure (Table 4). This trend was moderately observed in the Pre-Planting assessment being almost diluted at Post-Emergence. In the pooled analysis, however, there is indication that areas grown with radish and crambe may be under less intensive stress, thus contributing for selection of less specialized weed species. The general behavior of rapeseed was considered as intermediary between radish/crambe and fallow, the less and most stressed production fields, respectively, in terms of weeds selection (Table 4).
The cluster analysis showed the nesting pattern for areas, according to their levels of similarity (Figure 3). The clustering tree obtained by the UPGMA method was validated for Winter and Pooled Analysis, with respective cophenetic correlation coefficients equal to 99% and 98%. Both at Pre-Planting and Post-Emergence, the cophenetic coefficient was equal respectively 0.75% and 0.78%, which was considered not sufficient for reliability thus being discarded (data not shown).
Both valid nesting patterns grouped radish and crambe at 29% and 40% dissimilarity, respectively for Winter and year-round (Pooled) analysis (Figure 3). In Winter, rapeseed and fallow areas were not nested, consisting in two distinct groups with a single component each one; at the pooled analysis (Figure 3(b)), the fallow area was
(a) (d)
Figure 3. Cluster analysis by dissimilarity of weed species in areas submitted to distinct winter managements for three years. (a) = Winter (evaluation right after harvest of the winter oilseed crops, by July/August); (b and c) = evaluations at pre-planting and post-emergence of soybean; data not shown and not considered due to a low cophenetic coefficient; (d) = pooled analysis (Winter + Pre-planting + Post-emergence). Distances were found by using the inverse of Jaccard’s coefficient, and grouping was accomplished by the UPGMA method. Embrapa Western Agriculture, Dourados, MS, Brazil, 2014.
grouped with radish and crambe, while rapeseed was separately classified. The nesting pattern (Figure 3) is according to the observed for the SEP analysis (Table 4), where radish and crambe were considered, in general terms, in the less stress-prone areas in terms of weed selection.
Overall, oilseed crops may constitute an economically viable alternative for rotation with the intercrop corn + Brachiaria, which is planted after soybean in most areas of Brazilian Savannah (Cerrado), and definitely they contribute for a more sustainable weed management as a cultural tool. The most important weed species in cropping systems involving oilseed crops (radish, rapeseed or crambe) in the Savannah-like region of Brazil, were Amaranthus hybridus, Richardia brasiliensis, Lepidium virginicum, Leonotis nepetifolia and Hybanthus parviflorus; thus, any weed control practice applied to the field should focus on and be efficient on these species. After three years of repetitive crops successions, although no serious species selection was noticed, there were some weeds which started to be selected, and rotation in Winter of oilseed crops for the intercrop corn + Brachiaria is advised at least every two or three years of cultivation. This is most critical for areas planted with rapeseed after soybean, since this area was more stressed for weed species selection compared to areas planted with radish and crambe.
The authors would like to thank MCT/FINEP (Research Agreement # 01.08.0565-00) and FUNDECT (Approval term # 00154/10) for the financial support granted for this research.
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Inderjit and Mallik, A.U. (2002) Chemical Ecology of Plants: Allelopathy in Aquatic and Terrestrial Ecosystems. 1st Edition, Springer, Basel.
Correia, N.M. and Durigan, J.C. (2004) Emergência de Plantas Daninhas em Solo Coberto com Palha de Cana-deAç úcar. Planta Daninha, 22, 11-17. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S0100-83582004000100002
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Film Capsule
Take two daily
Films by Rating
Films by Decade
Writing & Media
Where to Start With…
The Clock (1945)
The Clock / Vincente Minnelli / 1945 /
Active Ingredients: Charming and mature romance; Dramatic, mobile camerawork
Side Effects: Odd pacing
In Vincente Minnelli’s elegant and sophisticated war-time romance The Clock, a charming and tender lonely-hearts love story slowly cedes to a sober consideration of the costs of love and commitment. It seems a rare trick for an Old Hollywood genre piece, to indulge in the populist pleasures of its form while undercutting its naiveté with a dose of realism. But it’s the sincerity of Minnelli’s tone that elevates The Clock; the director isn’t interested in easy cynicism, just in engaging with the romance this genre provides in the first place.
The clock begins ticking when Robert Walker‘s wide-eyed, small-town G.I. Joe pulls into New York for the first time. He has 48 hours of leave, but he seems too intimidated by the sprawl and scope of the city to even leave Penn Station. Among the throngs of travelers, he bumps into Judy Garland‘s Alice (the prototypical meet-cute scenario, it’s true, but Minnelli explores this theme of serendipity rather than simply using it as a device), who agrees to show him around town.
As the pair slowly fall for each other, Minnelli’s camera becomes drawn to their young faces, framing woozy close-ups that replicate the weightlessness of being drunk on love. Minnelli allows himself this moment of indulgence, and even the swell of a romantic score, but he avoids cheap sentimentality by rooting the story in sincere and convincing emotion. Unlike other Hollywood romances, however, The Clock isn’t over when its young lovers unite. Instead, the impending end of Joe’s leave forces the pair to confront their separation, and stop the momentum of their growing affection to consider the consequences.
Here, the film ingeniously uses the backdrop of New York City to represent the one-in-a-million odds they seem to be facing. The skyscrapers loom large for Joe, the avenues teem with people, and the lovers struggle to drown out the chaos of life to commit to each other. The city, then, represents a giant mixing pot, not of cultures but of souls, a force of fate that thrusts people together and just as easily separates them.
This consideration of the costs of commitment—the film’s impressive restraint to temporarily put the breaks on an alluring, whirlwind romance—is The Clock‘s greatest accomplishment. In this way, it succeeds in dramatizing an emotion akin to the feeling of Richard Linklater‘s Before… trilogy, something much deeper and truer than mere romantic attachment. Somehow, Minnelli brings his characters and his audience from the cliches of Hollywood’s idealized version of love, to a mature understanding of what it truly means for two people to be together, all without sparing the happy ending which—it’s true—occasionally happens in life.
1940s, 4 Stars
Judy Garland, New York, Richard Linklater, Robert Walker, Romance, The Clock, Vincente Minnelli
« Under the Skin (2014)
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) »
Thom Hickey
Thanks John. One of my favourite films. Garland had the ability to wring the heart in a way that’s rarely been matched. Regards from Thom at the immortal jukebox.
filmcapsule
Thanks, Thom. Yes, she and Robert Walker are so great and unguarded in this film.
by John DeCarli
on the Art and Politics
of Jean-Luc Godard
FilmCapsule.com features reviews of movies new and old, essays on film form, director interviews, and more.
I hold an MA in Media Studies, and have contributed to Cineaste Magazine and the Christian Science Monitor.
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Questions? Comments? filmcapsuleblog@gmail.com twitter.com/filmcapsule
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Is This The Real Reason Tariffs On Mexico Got Suspended?
Via Oilprice.com
A couple of late Friday tweets have managed to avert an event that would have caused a great amount of distress to the US refining industry – the imposition of tariffs on all goods imported from Mexico. In a fast-moving negotiation scuffle, President Trump first announced the levy of sanction on May 30, only to have them „indefinitely suspended” having received guarantees from Mexico on tightening the southern border security. Although it is true that the oil sector would not have been the biggest victim of the potential tariffs, automobiles and agriculture would suffer more, the eschewal of escalation saved US refiners from direct multi-million losses and severe sourcing problems.
One could hear a unified sigh of relief when the tariffs were called off. Implemented under the International Emergency Powers Act of 1977, the tariff plan would have seen the first 5 percent levied on June 10, 2019, with additional 5-percent hikes slapped on Mexico for every month in which the Mexican authorities fail to stop the wave of migrants towards the United States. The ultimate threshold was set at 25 percent (for all goods, services are not subject to sanctions). As we will see further on, the White House need not even go the full way in sanctioning Mexico to render US-Mexico crude trade economically unviable, even a 10-15 percent hike would be enough to do that. Yet the underlying truth is that was Mexico to be sanctioned, there is no one to replace it with.
1. US Gulf Coast Refiners Need Heavy Crude
Of the 3.7mbpd crude Texas refineries imported in March 2019 (the last month for which official data were available at the time of this writing), 98 percent were heavy barrels. Mexico is the top seaborne supplier of heavy barrels to the United States, in fact it exports more than double than its closest contender Colombia. With Venezuela now degradated to a second-tier crude exporter, the exports of Maya (21-22° API, 3.5 percent Sulphur content) currently make up approximately 15 percent of global heavy crude trade.
READ ALSO "Buy The Dip" - An American Tradition Since 1987
From this one can easily deduct that any disruptions in Maya supply would not only compel US refiners to go for sub-optimal solutions as there is not enough heavy production worldwide but also see heavy crude prices skyrocket into previously unseen heights. Aggregate heavy crude exports, i.e. comprising all seaborne grades whose density is below 25 degrees API, have dropped almost 0.5 mbpd year-on-year and more than 1mbpd compared to May 2017. India and China alone account for one-third of global heavy demand and are willing to pay the extra premium if need be, placing US refiners in a difficult situation were they to search for alternative heavy streams, all the more so as the remaining ones are substantially farther off than Mexico.
This is further accentuated by the fact that whatever new production emerges in the United States, it is most likely a very light and sweet resource. Almost 60 percent of all new Permian Basin production was within the 40-45 API degree interval, with a further 13 and 8 percent in the 45-50 and 50-55 API slate. This has had some consequences in the crude market – take the creation of a new US crude stream, West Texas Light (WTL) – yet it will impact product markets even more substantially. The lighter the American crude output, the bigger the problem for refiners as they run the risk of facing oversupply in the naphtha segment, potentially even the gasoline one, to the detriment of heavier yields.
2. US Gulf Coast Refiners Need Mexican Crude
READ ALSO Gun industry gathers amid slumping sales, rising tensions
In view of the data above, one has to highlight the crucial role Mexican crude is playing in keeping normal refining operations afloat in times of sanctioned Venezuelan supply and dropping Colombian output volumes. If the first 5-percent tariff hike would take place, Mexico’s flagship crude grade Maya would appreciate 2.5-3 USD per barrel for American refiners – were this to happen under current circumstances, the USGC coking margins would fall to 5 USD per barrel. The introduction of a 10-percent tariff would already raise the question of financial profitability, whilst a 15-percent tariff rate would eliminate any doubts on the impossibility of buying Mexican crude.
Let’s just take US Maya imports for one specific month. In May 2019, US refiners took in 24.8 million barrels of Maya (equivalent to 810kbpd), meaning that merely the first tariff rate of 5 percent would result in monthly $80-85 million losses for them. In a hypothetical case that the tariffs are hiked to 25 percent and US refiners keep on buying Maya crude, the monthly loss rate would be in the $400-420 million range. Without even adding Isthmus and Olmeca imports to the US, one can get a clear understanding of what guided US refiners in their vocal non-admission of the tariff plan. That is not to account for the fact that now it would not seem very politic to jeopardize the „new NAFTA” trade agreement, the US-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement (USMCA), at a time when a lot of political capital has been invested into it and it was just freshly submitted to the US Congress.
3. Mexico Needs a Period of Calm to Sort Itself Out
All the tariff-slapping flareup came at one of the worst possible moments for Mexico. It might be argued that it tried to halt the migrant flow to the best of its capacities – April 2019 saw the highest number of entry denials and apprehensions (almost 100 000 in just one month) in the whole of this decade – yet due to the scarcity of available resources and its unwillingness to antagonize Central American nations it could only do so much. The administration of Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO) is struggling to render the national oil company PEMEX lean and efficient, reshaping it so that it no longer remains the world’s most indebted oil company.
READ ALSO ‘OK, Boomer’: Gold trader bemoans ‘lost’ bitcoin over forgotten password, Twitter can’t resist roasting him
The country being Mexico (and not Switzerland), there has been little progress so far – in fact, the tariff mayhem happened concurrently with Fitch and Moody’s cutting Mexico’s credit rating, arguing that the government-sponsored bailout of PEMEX will jeopardize Mexico’s own economic outlook. With this being said, one has to point out that the bailout package is generally perceived as sub-optimal, despite taking up 0.2 percent of Mexico’s GDP, and apparently a lot more money is needed to save the sinking giant. Although it is true that tariffs might raise the price of Mexican crude globally, it would be counterintuitive for AMLO to seek them as they would weaken the Mexican state, the ultimate savior of PEMEX.
Needless to say, there still persists a risk of a deterioration in US-Mexico political ties and the tariff threat might be raised once again. Now, too many factors converged to tilt the balance towards pacification, yet the future might hold for us another escalation of tensions. In case tariffs are back on the agenda, Mexico has little space to retaliate – it cannot sanction natural gas and light US crude imports as it needs them for industrial power generation and crude dilution, respectively.
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Last year, Finnpilot’s customers gained access to an electronic pilotage ordering system. “Pilot Online further enhances the efficiency of our operations and supplements our existing digital services,” says Kari Kosonen, the CEO. Finnpilot broke several records last year, and the number of pilotage assignments along Finland’s coasts increased by more than 5%.
“Of course, the reason for this is the general growth in maritime traffic. Approximately 35% of the ships visiting Finnish ports use pilots,” explains Kari Kosonen, the CEO Finnpilot.
Last year, 25,616 pilotage assignments were completed, racking up 484,959 nautical miles of pilotage.
“We are particularly happy to see that our customer satisfaction ratings have remained excellent and 99.9% of all pilotage assignments were carried out within the waiting time limits set in our targets.
“Thanks to the continuous development and cost-efficiency of our operations, we have also succeeded in keeping the pilotage prices stable. In fact, our price level is moderate compared with the other countries in Northern Europe.”
“Our new Pilotage Act now enables trials of remote pilotage”, explains Kari Kosonen, the CEO of Finnpilot.
Added value for customers
Kosonen states that developing various applications is the everyday business of the company.
“This is how we develop our own operations from the perspectives of safety and efficiency. At the same time, we can also offer added value to our customers. For example, the introduction of the mPilot mobile app has consigned paper-based pilotage processes to history, and all the information related to pilotage is transferred electronically to all parties involved as soon as the pilotage assignment has been completed.
We have just launched a new pilotage ordering system – Pilot Online – which enables customers to submit preliminary information, order pilotage, change information they have previously entered and monitor the orders they have placed.
“In practice, this provides customers with the option of monitoring the up-to-date situational picture on pilotage concerning the ships they operate that our pilot dispatchers maintain 24/7 in our center. We now aim to point customers towards placing more orders using the app and fewer by the phone or email.”
The next step will be to offer customers additional information from the Pilot PRO application, which was deployed for pilots two years ago.
“In the near future, the ships engaged in the STM project information exchange will be able to download Finnpilot’s route plans onto the ship’s own navigation system, so the ship’s master and pilot are almost literally ‘on the same page’.”
Data for development work
In 2018, Finnpilot’s AISLab system also underwent further development. The system is able to analyze and visualize numerous different simultaneous vessel movements and changes in ships course and speed. The system provides the option of processing historical data on how various situations have developed during pilotage.
“AISLab lays a strong foundation for organizational learning and for using the collected data for training purposes. Automated analysis functions will also be integrated into the system.”
Trials of remote pilotage
Remote pilotage means that pilot performs his or her duties somewhere other than onboard the vessel. For example, they may be located in an on-shore monitoring center.
“Our new Pilotage Act now enables trials of remote pilotage. Conducting a remote pilotage experiment will require wide-ranging collaboration between maritime industry and academia. We are heavily involved in developing remote pilotage as a part of the Sea4Value (S4V) project prepared within the One Sea ecosystem. Funding application for S4V was submitted to Business Finland earlier this year.
www.finnpilot.fi
Text Vaula Aunola Photos FINNPILOT
Centrum Balticum Foundation is an active communicator of multisectoral development of the Baltic Sea region. Centrum Balticum acts as a catalyst for public debate and offers fora for dialogue.
The FIMAC cooperation between maritime authorities was initiated on 1994, when the ministerial committee for administration development approved a report of a working group on the rationalization of maritime functions and organizational streamlining.
Kotka Maritime Research Centre forms a unique international research community that combines environmental sciences, economics and engineering. Multidisciplinary approach is needed to tackle complicated maritime questions.
One Sea is seeking to create the world’s most advanced and competitive ecosystem in the field of autonomous maritime transport in Finland.
A timetable, location and arrival time service for ferry traffic; an app that shortens queuing times for lorries; a service that provides an overview of harbor traffic; and a carpooling service for ship passengers. This is the FinEst Smart Mobility project.
The Coast Guard as a multifaceted authority of maritime safety and security within the Finnish Border Guard. In the past fifteen years, the maritime role of the Finnish Border Guard has grown significantly.
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Becoming A "Nielsen Family"...
By Eat News, August 4, 2018 in General TV
Eat News 4,700
KBEX-TV
My neighbor showed this to me today wondering what it was all about. It came to her via the good old U.S. Postal Service...
It's a survey from Nielsen Research asking participation in small questionnaire about where you get your programming from...
They ask name, age range, sex, what you like to watch and how you watch it...
For the time and effort to answer 9 questions they send you 1 crisp new $1dollar bill...
The best part is if you return the survey in it's paid return envelope within 3 weeks...you will get another crisp new FIVE dollar bill as a token of thanks from Nielsen.
This usually leads to you becoming a "Nielsen Family Member" where you will be asked to do more surveys...
The pay is small...but there are various surveys they may ask you to participate in including radio,TV Internet or whatever else they are doing.
And for those of you who don't care about being a Nielsen family...
I am adding this neato picture of an old L.A. Airways helicopter landing at Disneyland....before the bad crash in '68.
Eat News
rkolsen 1,597
A Member of Sinclair Broadcast Group
They called my house about satellite radio. The survey took 20 minutes and I got $5 bucks. I made the mistake of saying other members use it because they kept calling.
I was got equipment once for your retail purchases after filling out a form online. It was a scanner system but I promptly sent it back. Didn’t want the commitment of scanning every purchase in.
C Block 1,003
TVNT Local 1544 Union Boss
Wow, I had no idea they literally mailed cash.
I do remember my aunt had a Nielsen diary for a while. I was a kid, so it was the first time I'd ever heard about ratings. What's funny is that she only ever watches Mother Angelica on EWTN over the air.
8Viewer 241
Vice President and General Manager
I just recently completed one of these. I also completed a survey from them in 2015.
It's made me more skeptical about how accurate the ratings really are. It relies entirely upon the person filling it out to be accurate.
Don't they also have a program where they put an actual 'box' in your home to monitor what you watch? I've never been part of that or known anyone who did that.
I would have figured you would keep the scanner...and gut it for parts to make a TV transmitter, or some kind of other diabolical electronic creation.
Yes, it's called the people meter. Most big markets switched from diaries to meters a while ago, and now small markets are getting the meters too. Families keep them for two years and then they're reallocated all throughout the market.
It's a fairly big difference as far as producing newscasts go. When it was a diary market, stations would want to emphasize their branding as much as possible so that (hopefully) people would remember which channel they were watching, and that they would remember to write it down. But now, the meters record the best five minutes of every 15 minutes of every hour. Stations try to strategically go to breaks at specific times (but no earlier or later!) so as to make sure as many people are watching at :15, :30, and :45.
oknewsguy 720
The Spirit Of Oklahoma
When did they mail you the survey, Eat?
It came to my neighbor in the mail today.
Nielsen won't make me a Nielsen family... because of my many felonies.
Ntropolis 508
News Director
I had a Nielsen survey sent to me a few months ago. It was the general consumer habits survey that not only asks you about TV/radio viewing, but things like retail spending, etc.
ABC 7 Denver 502
News Savant
Many?
When it was a diary market, stations would want to emphasize their branding as much as possible so that (hopefully) people would remember which channel they were watching, and that they would remember to write it down. But now, the meters record the best five minutes of every 15 minutes of every hour.
I didn’t realize it was the best five minutes. I thought was an average of the whole 15. As for the branding that makes sense. There was a lot of repetition in the past with call signs or their news title (Action/Eyewitness News). Where to me it seemed stations have dropped that now when they rebrand (perhaps it was prompted by WJZ) that I started a thread. Now the meters just listen to an embedded code in the audio and people have to press a button on whose watching / listening.
That and you work/ed in the industry.
So I guess the mail carrier put it in the wrong mailbox
My neighbor even brought me breakfast...
And what do they say about sending cash in the mail?
This room gets tougher and tougher each day...you all show me no mercy.
Do I need to report the cash to the IRS???
My name is on that envelope oh no!
That was very nice of your neighbor to do that, as for whether or not you should report it to the IRS, that's something you need to talk to your tax agent about next year. Otherwise, don't worry about it
TheRob 467
I was a Nielsen "family" (my family being just me) for a month many years ago (pre-meter), even though I work in television. I completed the form accurately. Nielsen didn't seem to care. Arbirtron also chose me for a radio survey, but then disqualified me because I work in TV.
Northerner 31
I was asked before to join the Canadian version of the Nielsens (they were called the BBM's then to avoid confusion with a certain mobile phone maker, changed their corporate name from the Bureau of Broadcast Measurement to Numeris).
I had to fess up to working in the industry and that was it. They called again a few years ago, same story played out.
CLT-DCA-ORF-PTI 47
I was a neilsen family for almost 2 years. They gave me a little meter, that I had to wear everywhere. They paid me 30-90 dollars a month that, and we pretty neat.
Cute, but you should have been salaried.
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7.04 "the Raiders Minimization" (October 10)
Episodes 7.04 "the Raiders Minimization" (October 10)
By Tripper, September 26, 2013 in Season 7
Your Episode Rating
1. How would you rate this episode?
Tensor 31922
Ratings Guru
I rated the first three episodes of the season as Very Good. But apparently that's not good enough for the majority.
As I stated before, it's kind of naive to post critical comments, on a site where the majority of posters will defend the show because they like it, and not expect rebuttal comments.
I'm not trying to change anyone's opinions. I simply state my opinion of each episode.
And others are stating what they think of your opinion. So how is that trying to change opinions, and your post aren't?
And I stated before, I rated the first three episodes as Very Good.
Which has nothing to do with my point, but it's a good distraction.
But anything short of glowing adoration of every second of every show is attacked as heresy.
Well, how is your complaining about the posts of others who dislike your opinion, different from their complaining about your posts on your opinion of the show?
djvang 206
Public Enemy #1
I've never accused anyone of trying to change opinions. They accused me of that.
It has everything to do with the point. People keep accusing me of hating the show but I've rated three of them as Very Good.
Because my opinion is about the show, not about the opinions of others.
It's not that difficult, is it?.
Guest I'm not dead Cheryl
Exactly, so why didn't he know this? I knew it! Sheldon has extreme cult film and television obsessions. They all do and I usually learn something, whenever the guys have one of their arguments but this was dead obvious. Also, I have seen loads of people on other sites come up with other arguments to refute her 'revelation' so why couldn't Sheldon? It's completely out of character. He's just getting dumber.
It doesn't have anything to do with being "dumber" or not. It has to do with the adoration that some movies can cause that we are blind to their flaws until someone points them out like I think it was the case with Sheldon in this episode.
Sheldon and the guys must have surely seen the film when they were kids. Kids will not make judgments on the plot generally so it makes sense that they didn't catch it. Years pass by and they keep watching it, but always under the "adoration glasses", therefore it makes sense that they didn't see it.
It happens to me a lot with movies I watched as a kid that I absolutely adored and that as I grew up some people pointed flaws (some others I noticed myself) that I never saw before, even with dozens of times watching them. Gremlins being the finest example (HOW F** HARD IT WAS, DO NOT GET THEM WET, DO NOT FEED THEM AFTER MIDNIGHT FOR HEAVEN'S SAKE. AND THEN IT HAPPENED AGAIN IN GREMLINS 2!")
Edited October 21, 2013 by Sursonica
Really:
The Protectors of the Show need to lighten up.
How's that not trying to change their opinion?
It has everything to do with your point, not my point. But, again, a good distraction.
Well, it wouldn't be that difficult, except:
That sure sounds like a complaint about someone's opinion or, again, how about this:
Again, a complaint of someone's opinion and trying to change their opinion.
It happens to me a lot with movies I watched as a kid that I absolutely adored and that as I grew up some people pointed flaws (some others I noticed myself) that I never saw before, even with dozens of times watching them.
That exact thing happens to me too, and I get pissed about it at first, but later I understand that when remembering a movie we saw (and loved) as kids we are not only remembering the movie itself, but how it made us feel, and I think that is why we hold to those opinions as tightly as we do, even beyond reason (sometimes).
I don't care if someone else loves every second of the show. But when I say I don't, they get offended. Why should they care about my opinion? Why does it bother them so much? When I said that the Protectors of the Show need to lighten up, I'm not trying to change their opinion in any way. Just asking that they allow others to disagree without being accused of hating the show.
You're arguing just for the sake of arguing. Your entire spinning is just distraction. Can't be bothered to play your silly game anymore.
Edited October 23, 2013 by djvang
I don't care if someone else loves every second of the show. But when I say I don't, they get offended. Why should they care about my opinion?
Why should you care enough about their opinion to reply?
Why does it bother them so much?
Why does their opinion bother you so much?
When I said that the Protectors of the Show need to lighten up, I'm not trying to change their opinion in any way. Just asking that they allow others to disagree without being accused of hating the show.
If you don't like being accused of hating the show, then lighten up on the tone of your complaints. The wording you use makes it appear that you do indeed hate the show.
I'm also dismayed that the writers have apparently settled on the tired old "silly, childish boyfriend and the wise, patient girlfriend who loves him inspite of his buffonery" type of relationship for Sheldon & Amy. They threw away the refreshingly unique robot-couple in favor of a much-easier-to-write romcom cliche relationship.
It's sad that to TPTB it seems to be that IS all that now matters.(in regards to ratings)
Was it really necessary to demean the writers, or the producers when you could have simply said that you don't like the direction the relationship is taking? Is it any wonder with comments like this (among all your other highly negative comments) that someone would determine you hate the show?
You're arguing just for the sake of arguing. Your entire spinning is just distraction.
Spinning? Using your own quotes to show you contentions are wrong is spinning now? LOL
Can't be bothered to play your silly game anymore.
The usual answer when someone doesn't have a cognizant reply to points brought up. I can point out many more examples of insulting language in your "opinions". I simply pointed out that you are complaining about others doing the exact same thing you are doing, stating your opinion. Your opinion is of the show, and their opinion is of your comments(and then you make comments about their opinions, an even better example of how your complaints are silly). If you want to state your opinion, state your opinion, but you should just realize that using demeaning, insulting, or unnecessarily negative language in your comments is going to be seen as hating the show, and will get a response.
I HAVE said that. My first post about this episode was "I didn't really like the episode." I was met with "Just wondering why you exactly didn't like the episode." So when I explained why I didn't like the episode I got a long lecture on how I was "wrong" and I just don't understand the variables and nuances of the show....blah blah blah. So you see, simply stating that I didn't like the episode leads to all this. Over and over and over.........
I dont even know, or care, what your "points" are. You argue just to argue. Enough.
3ku11 13203
That was me lol, I wasen't lecturing you, you gave an opinion, I think you said you don't like the relationship's in the show, I was just explaining why they are their that's all. And beside's aren't you arguing too? If you don't want to argue just ignore someone's post's simple.
Edited October 24, 2013 by 3ku11
I HAVE said that. My first post about this episode was "I didn't really like the episode." I was met with "Just wondering why you exactly didn't like the episode."
So, you thought it would make it better by becoming demeaning and insulting to the show?
So when I explained why I didn't like the episode I got a long lecture on how I was "wrong" and I just don't understand the variables and nuances of the show....blah blah blah. So you see, simply stating that I didn't like the episode leads to all this. Over and over and over.........
So, you got upset over someone giving you their opinion, over and over. Why exactly do you think other posters shouldn't be allowed to give you their opinion? Especially when you demand that they allow you to give your opinion.
I dont even know, or care, what your "points" are.
Of course you don't care, you haven't refuted any of them yet.
You argue just to argue. Enough.
You complain about me arguing just to argue, yet you continue to reply. So, aren't you by your definition, arguing just to argue?
So saying you don't like something about the show is considered insulting and demeaning? Fine. The forum should have a rule that no criticism is allowed. Problem fixed.
There's nothing to refute. You all act as if there's a right or wrong answer about whether someone likes the show as much as someone else. There isn't. You simply don't tolerate disagreement.
Done. Go play with someone else.
phantagrae 13664
I think this horse is not only dead, it's now been pulverized...
HollyAndOatmeal 197
It's hard to stop replying to people on the internet
Nogravitasatall 8472
Onwards!
No, it's really easy... Oh, wait.
Actually, insinuating that the writers are lazy is insulting and demeaning.
This whole thing started with you complaining about people complaining about your opinion. You want to be able to give your opinion of the show. Fine, no problem. But, if you want to do that, then others should be able to give their opinion of what you think of the show. If you want the right to give your opinion of the show, then others have the right to give their opinion of what you think of the show. Yet, when they do, you complain about it.
Let's see, you've couldn't be bothered to play my silly game anymore, there was "Enough", and now your "Done".
gwhh 112
Edited October 25, 2013 by gwhh
coopernokia 0
I enjoyed this episode, especially Raj's starting of the scavager hunt.
Have a question related to this episode though hopefully you can help with?
Leonard is wearing a jacket in it with a blue hood. Does anyone know where to get it?
Below is a picture of the jacket
http://www.tvequals.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/The-Big-Bang-Theory-Season-7-Episode-4-The-Raiders-Minimization-1.jpg
Tweeted by Paramount Entertainment last night:
@ParamountMovies
Amy can never ruin #RaidersOfTheLostArk for us @BigBang_CBS! #WeLoveIndy pic.twitter.com/lj0C2W2H6M
Retweeted by The Big Bang Theory
dellamino 1
I have to admit I tuned out at around 6x5/6x6 and I'm just catching up (I'm currently at 7x6) but I just had to comment on this one, because of Beverly. Love what she had done to her hair.
She may be 20 years my senior, but, aside from Sophia Loren, I'd be hard pressed trying to figure a woman more attractive.
Now, please stop staring at me that way and get back to business. >
Mislav 1097
Follow my Rivers
I find Beverly hilarious - Christine Baranski is so funny she makes my toes curl. In this particular instance, Leonard got what was coming to him. He took Penny's kindness and sympathy and then milked it egregiously, and then bragged about doing so to Howard. He was clearly owed a major smackdown, and it was brought from the place all his greatest smackdowns stem - his mother. I really have no arguments with it. I understand that Leonard has looked for sympathy and understanding his whole life and never really found comfort - until this instance with Penny. I think that having someone be sympathetic and sweetly try to make him feel better rather than show cold indifference to his emotional state was so unusual that he got completely drunk on it and then ran away with it. I find that totally understandable and certainly don't hate him for it, but I also don't see it as an excuse. I'm always fond of the lesson that kharma is a bitch, and I liked the storyline and resolution here better than I did, say, Leonard having a legitimate problem with Priya and Beverly just telling him to, "buck up, sissy pants." He really didn't deserve any of that in that case, but in this case he did, so I appreciated the humor and Beverly's appearance more. Leonard went too far with milking Penny's sympathy, and it got shut down in such a way that you know he learned his lesson and will stop doing it, and you kinda feel sorry for him even if he got himself into that particular mess.
I thought that Raj and Stuart were incredibly funny. Kevin's faces to the camera during his photo shoot were pure genius. I was laughing so hard over those. Also, I think that the experience of online dating is genuine to how it really works. Even if you're relatively attractive or sweet-natured, the dating world can be total hell. Putting yourself out there like Raj and Stuart are doing is brave, and that they keep being hopeful despite all of the smackdowns makes me root for them.
Amy and Sheldon's storyline was both funny and interesting. I got chills when Amy tells Sheldon he can be honest about his feelings, and he snaps from trying to seem at ease with some of his nervous twitching as he was suppressing his emotions to the way he leaps forward, suddenly his body connecting with how he feels, and he tells her that he's mad at her. It was some amazing acting there on Jim's part, and quite fascinating to the development of their relationship and Sheldon's evolution. They seem to be hitting a nail on the head about Sheldon connecting to his emotional side and, most importantly, displaying them openly and directly to the people around him. It takes more trust in the people around you to be able to do that.
And if you think that Sheldon has no problem voicing his emotions and feelings, I'm really not sure what show you have been watching. This is a guy who, seasons back, was asked, "How does that make you feel," and answered with, "I don't understand the question." Or, when riddled with jealousy by watching Amy date Stuart, took such backwards routes as stalking Stuart's Facebook page, lashing out and defriending all of his friends when they suggest he has feelings for her, and then trying to ask Penny out on a date as part of a manipulative game to make her jealous. As recently as Leonard leaving for the North Sea, Sheldon dealt with this by warning him about death by drowning or sharks, and even went so low as to throw Leonard's relationship with Penny in his face to try to make him consider not leaving. When confronted by Leonard about his unique blend of "concern and selfishness," Sheldon will not admit to having those feelings even while he plunges on with behavior clearly motivated by those feelings.
Even while Leonard is gone, Sheldon sits on the couch with Penny, denying strenuously that he misses Leonard while listing off waffles, zipper-help, and night time knocks on the wall in loving detail as clear evidence of how desperately he actually misses him. In fact, he's so worried about Leonard, and misses him so much, it manifests in his subconscious in the form of a nightmare of Leonard being taken by the Kraken. His response is to show up at Penny's and suggest he better sleep there because SHE is the one who is probably having a hard time sleeping, again, operating from denial of his feelings which he projects onto her. Another example of Sheldon going sideways instead of straight when in emotion distress is when Leonard dissolves the roommate agreement. Sheldon throws the circuit breaker and tries to demonstrate all the reasons why he's a valuable asset to Leonard as a friend and roommate to make him resign it and come back again. This sideways dealing is clearly Sheldon's established modus operandi. He could just tell Leonard he misses him, wants him back, and appreciates all that Leonard does for him, but he's not capable of it.
The level of denial, particularly his inability to express his emotions in a straightforward manner, with Sheldon is immense and has been a front-and-center issue with him since the beginning. It's been portrayed a zillion different ways throughout all 6 seasons, and is a major theme coming into season 7 as well. In this episode, I find it greatly fascinating and in total keeping with the canon that when Amy confronts Sheldon about his mode of operation he says it's because that's how it's parents did it. He goes sideways at things because of trauma from watching his parents marriage implode, and he's learned these passive-aggressive and indirect ways of dealing from watching them and from his relationships from his youth. (I imagine that the bullying only double-downed on reinforcing the idea that "being himself" and "being honest about the way he feels or thinks" was completely unacceptable, and he had to find other ways to manage himself. He looked externally for other role-models, and found Spock, Data - brilliant, emotionless, in control, untouchable - and the rest is history.)
Oh, and he also does this because it's funny.
I know a lot of people latched onto Sheldon's "how can someone not know how they feel" from last season as evidence that Sheldon knows precisely how he feels, but I think that just because Sheldon knows he loves trains, hammerhead sharks and dislikes holding hands that's hardly proper evidence that the man's crystal clear on how feels about everything in his life. He's obviously mixing up opinions and emotions. I thought the man was clearly fooling himself, but apparently the statement also fooled some people in the audience because a lot of people use that as evidence that Sheldon has no inward uncertainy or emotional turmoil. However, I think there's far more evidence to the contrary. Sheldon has used denial and condescension as his primary coping skills all his life, but they aren't getting him where he wants to go anymore. So they are starting to bleed off at times, and watching that happen is as fascinating. Almost as fascinating is watching what type of viewer does or does not like seeing Sheldon make this progress, but that's another post for another day.
Back to Leonard & Beverly - Sorry, Phanta, but I have to disagree with you on the idea that it's clear Beverly loves Leonard and Leonard loves her. I think Beverly's ability to love is pretty limited. And I have to disagree with you that she wasn't incredibly abusive towards him or that he was not deeply scarred psychologically and emotionally by his upbringing. Also, I believe that Leonard is the middle child or that the show didn't really think that one through. When Raj threatens to have his way with Leonard's sister, Leonard says she's 36 and married, indicating that she was at least 6 years older than him. But when Beverly comes to visit Leonard the first time, she mentioned his YOUNGER brother, Michael. So, apparently, Leonard is the oldest boy but middle child, but I think he really gets the dirty end of the stick between all his siblings.
Beverly's books don't show any love towards Leonard at all - Needy Baby, Greedy Baby and The Disappointing Child. What she did with the Easter Eggs?
Beverly is a nightmare of a parent, and she messed up Leonard something fierce. He has consistently shown and mentioned this throughout the series. He was on a continual quest for love that was never given, and as this episode proved, he was angry at him Mom all the time and unable to express his feelings without her misunderstanding and twisting it into something it was not. Not only that, but she has put every single one of his most empbarrassing moments growing up out there for the world to read about, leaving him with barely a single shred of dignity. His issues with insecurity, which hamper his relationship with Penny, all tie back to her. I think Leonard got a hard smackdown in this episode - and he deserved it this time - but overall I feel for him greatly and think he had a horrid, horrid childhood in which, just like Sheldon, he was denied self-expression and understanding and room in which to be himself.
The most fascinating thing about Leonard and Sheldon's relationship is that they both come from embattled backgrounds and borderline abusive childhoods, but they took entirely different defensive and coping strategies. Sheldon decided to shut down emotionally, and to place himself above it all. He aspired to be detached and unemotional and used his brilliance in academics to get out as fast as he could. On the other hand, Leonard "knuckled under" and went the people-pleasing route, trying to jump through every hoop, such as giving up rap music for academics, writing papers to be graded for Christmas, striving for the highest academic achievements in the sciences in a fruitless, hopeless bid to try to win his parent's attention, love and approval. They couldn't have taken more different strategies, but I think that there's an unspoken understanding between the two of them that they know the horror the other faced and what coping methods they took, and their entire relationship is built on sometimes using the others weaknesses to their advantage, sometimes just accepting the other and the comfort in being around someone who accepts you for who you are as a shelter against the world outside, and supporting the other through thick and thin.
Sometimes you need episodes which might not seem exciting on the surface, but which build certain blocks necessary for plot development later. Obviously, those types of stories come early in the season. I think that this was one of them - we hit on issues for all 7 characters here (oh, and no, I don't think that Bernadette was a shrew or that there was signs of divorce for Howard and Bernadette. If anything, it showed that they are settling into their marriage and operating at a higher level than the other two couples as far as relating to each other) that show where they are "on the path of life." To me it was a very fascinating check in with everyone's psychological standpoints and issues, which I find deeply interesting and gives the show more than the take-it-or-leave-it fluff we get most of the time.
So for me it was actually a very good episode, one that I found funny but also very interesting.
I feel weird for even replying on this thread, after almost a year passed since the episode aired. But since I stumbled upon this thread and read some comments I feel need to reply.
Don't get me wrong, but I honestly found Penny's behaviour repulsive. Both she and Leonard were in wrong them and I actually really like Lenny. But with her previous behaviour in mind, also keeping in mind how the whole thing started (with her refusing to stop reading a book basically based on childhood abuse that Leonard had suffered and even trying to make a joke out of it despite him clearly showing that he is uncomfortable with that) and the fact that she rarely ever shows her "kindness and sympathy" (please), to Leonard or anyone else, and that her punishment was basically forcing Leonard to re live her childhood traumas, I feel little to no sympathy to her. I felt that this episode was for Penny the same that "The Itchy Brain Simulation" was to Sheldon (though she wasn't behaving very well in that episode either). Also when you had been abused and neglected for years from the hands of your own parents chances are memories still haunt you as an adult even without your girlfriend teasing you about that, and I think that Leonard finding out that he can have sex with Penny by bringing it up was his way of trying to get something good from an overly traumatic experience to make it easier to live with. He was still in the wrong and had no right to use Penny but I honestly feel that Penny was more in the wrong there and I can't think of any possible way to justifie her behaviour since she had many more ways of dealing with the situation, we may actually have a very emotional episode dealing with some serious problems and have Leonard and Penny coming to terms with their flaws and making up if the writer's weren't going for laughs (I didn't get any).
Stephen Hawking 6834
On 10/10/2013 at 4:19 AM, Shamyfan said:
Sneak peak for 7x4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XlKsKn-Fijw&sns=em
I'm getting "This video is private"
Edited March 18, 2016 by Stephen Hawking
Why is Leonard so proud of having sex with Penny, in his lab?
He already had sex in the lab with her, a whole season ago.
Edited April 17, 2015 by Stephen Hawking
When Raj and Stuart are writing their dating profiles, they take a break and have a beer.
On the table is a stand, on which are three glass domes, colored red, yellow and green.
Anyone know what it is?
Why was Beverley swatting her husband's bottom with a ping pong paddle, when, according to her:-
"Aside from a pro forma consummation of our marriage, his father and I only had intercourse for the purposes of reproduction."
joyceraye 6547
7 minutes ago, Stephen Hawking said:
Assuming Beverley was telling the truth, they would have been indulging in foreplay with the intention of trying for another child.
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Chiefs can use Confederation Cup to change mood at Naturena
1yNick Said
St. Pauli badge listed on UK anti-terrorism guide
Kaizer Chiefs can use Confederation Cup to change mood at Naturena
Kaizer Chiefs players dejected after defeat Samuel Shivambu/BackpagePix
Nick SaidSpecial to ESPN
The 2018 CAF Confederation Cup is not yet over but already the new campaign starts in the continent's secondary knockout competition on Tuesday as teams enter the preliminary round.
Raja Casablanca hold a commanding 3-0 first-leg lead over AS Vita Club in the final of the current competition but still face what will surely be a daunting trip to Kinshasa for the return fixture on Sunday, especially as the Congolese felt hard done by in the opening game.
But before that matter is concluded, the first legs of the preliminary rounds of the 2018-19 competition get under way as the Confederation of African Football (CAF) squeezes what has traditionally been a 10 month tournament into a helter-skelter version that will run from now until May.
It sees the return to African competition of Kaizer Chiefs, South Africa's most successful club who have endured something of a love-hate relationship with continental football in the past.
They were 2001 winners of the now-defunct African Cup Winners' Cup, but have since also shown disdain for competing, especially outside of the elite Champions League.
How they will tackle this year's tournament will be intriguing as they battle on the domestic front after more than three trophyless years.
Do they play fringe players and concentrate on the South African league and upcoming Nedbank Cup, which starts in January, or do they see the Confederation Cup as a vehicle to reignite the imagination of supporters and finally end their trophy drought?
Looking at the entry list, they should be one of the favourites, on paper at least, if they can find the energy and the desire to compete.
Raja Casablanca will enter again if they go on to lift the trophy, otherwise their spot will be taken by compatriots SM Sanga Balende. There is also the Egyptian duo of Zamalek and Al-Masry, and the Tunisian pair of Etoile du Sahel and CS Sfaxien.
All of those have byes into the first round proper and, of course, there will be entrants that drop out of the Champions League later in the competition, but it does not look like the most taxing of fields.
Samuel Shivambu/BackpagePix
Chiefs start their campaign against Zanzibar minnows Zimamoto in Port Elizabeth on Wednesday, and their beleaguered Italian coach Giovanni Solinas, so desperate for success, appears to be taking the competition seriously.
"We started the season with several targets, several objectives," Solinas told reporters on Saturday.
"The first one was the MTN8 and now we lost the opportunity to win this cup [the Telkom Knockout]. Now we have three more trophies - the league, CAF Confederation Cup and the Nedbank Cup. We'll continue fighting.
"Me, I know I'll never give up. I'll continue to work hard to try and win the trophies. I'll try to improve the team."
South African side Free State Stars will make their debut in African club competition when they host Rwandan side Mukura Victory Sports at the Bidvest Stadium in Johannesburg, some 275 kilometres from their usual Bethlehem home.
The move is in part to cut costs because if Stars had wanted to play the game at their Goble Park home they would have had to fly the entire Rwandan entourage to Bloemfontein as CAF do not allow visiting teams to travel more than 200 kilometres by road.
It will be a feature of Stars' campaign for as long as they stay in the competition, but should not worry co-caretaker coaches Sly Mosala and David Vilakazi, who have taken charge of the side after the departure of Belgian coach Luc Eymael.
The Bidvest Stadium pitch is among the best in the country and will allow Stars to play their fast-paced football.
Zambia also have a pair of teams in the competition as Green Buffaloes host Al-Merreikh Juba from South Sudan on Wednesday and Green Eagles entertain Young Buffaloes from Swaziland 24 hours earlier.
Nigeria's Enugu Rangers will host Defence Force from Ethiopia on Wednesday, while Ivory Coast side Stade d'Abidjan face a difficult trip to Mauritania to meet Nouakchott Kings.
Miracle Club from the Comoros might need just that when they host Libyan side Al-Ittihad, who have proven difficult customers in the past and have been semifinalists in African club competition three times in the past.
One team already through to the next stage is Ghanaian side Asante Kotoko, who received a walkover after the Cameroon authorities did not confirm Eding Sport as their entrant by the CAF deadline.
The second legs of these ties will be played on December 4-5.
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Interview Interrogation: Eternal Halloween (USA)
Halloween is once a year, or is it? Not according to American quintet Eternal Halloween whose demonic stature is sure to garner attention from overseas as arguably the States answer to the UK's Evil Scarecrow. Moreover this Los Angeles (or as they might call Los Hellos), California-based horde have only been around a year and are already causing a buzz across the American Metal underground, let's just hope their name is not a reference to the Aiden song otherwise things could get quite confusing. Eternal Halloween were happy to spare some time to answer some questions GMA had in store for them...
"There are bigger things destroying youth and humanity than Satanism don’t you think? Racism, hatred, greed, ignorance, stupidity, politics and the list keeps going. "
Hi guys, firstly your band name, is the meaning self-explanatory or is there a story behind it? Have you been in any bands before?
"The meaning is pretty self-explanatory for sure but it goes beyond that. We’re Halloween lovers as many people are out there, but don’t get me wrong, Halloween has a deeper meaning than just being a night of dressing up in costumes and kids walking around town asking for trick or treats. It’s the night where spirits from the underworld cross the portal to the land of the living to feast and celebrate while claiming their rewards.
Sadly Halloween has mutated to accommodate a society that gets easily offended by every single thing. Now everything is racist, everything is inappropriate or politically incorrect. Twenty years ago if you wanted to dress up as a Jewish refugee or a cross-dresser everyone would get it. Now? Pfftt! Good luck if you try to play that card… It’s so ridiculous and sad but people like weakness and conformity in their lives. We’re here to make you think deeper and to open some eyes. Everywhere we go we want people to enjoy that celebration the way they want with no restrictions so we invite everyone to the Sabbat. That’s why we are the Eternal Halloween.
Now regarding your second question, have we been in other bands? Yes we have been and we are currently in other bands but you won’t know which..."
How would you distinguish yourselves from the likes of Lordi, Evil Scarecrow and GWAR, all of whom have similar imagery?
"There are a lot of differences, not only visually but also musically. I think each of the bands mentioned and Eternal Halloween have their own personality. Some like Lordi and GWAR take it to the extreme and they look great. Evil Scarecrow is more like a comedy club with cool music. We’ve been compared also to Rammstein, Rob Zombie, Mushroomhead, Slipknot or Manson; I see us pretty different under a common line: We all have a concept, ours happens to be purely Halloween under the Devil’s command."
Are you worried that some states or countries might ban you from touring due to the Satanic connotations?
"No, not at all. You have to remember that society is ruled by humans and that is the main problem. If there is anyone dumb enough to get offended by us, our music or our videos there will be a hundred who will like them and will get our stuff somehow. Let’s take the example of Poland where most metal bands are not allowed to tour but Polish people are always travelling somewhere else to see these bands live, why do you think this happens?"
Given the history of metal in the US and it's court cases against censorship and 'Satanic support', are you simply mocking those who claim metal music is Satanic and destroying the youth?
"Absolutely! There are bigger things destroying youth and humanity than Satanism don’t you think? Racism, hatred, greed, ignorance, stupidity, politics and the list keeps going. As we said before, people like blaming what they don’t fully understand in order to feel safe or right. Good and Bad is a necessity in each aspect of life since it’s the natural balance. What I can assure you is that we’re already in hell so there is no need to worry about the devil any more, let’s just “sit back and enjoy the ride, it will get bumpy so you better hang tight!”"
Your debut album is out now, will you be touring in support? If so where? Could Hell in Norway be a future place to play?* Would you stream your album launch gig (if there was one)?
"We will be touring in support of the album for sure and we will play in as many places as we can since we want to share the Eternal Halloween with as many people as we can to wake them up so Norway, Finland, Poland, China, US, Brazil, Mexico, Germany, Greece, Africa, Antarctica, Asia, Hawaii, Blah Blah Blah… all the places on earth and beyond must get ready for what is coming. Streaming or live you’ll have a chance to experience us, we’re coming for the kill!"
How long does it take to get all your gear on (make-up, etc)? Will there be variations?
"Our human faces take about two hours to take them off and put on. What takes the most is sticking the horns back inside your skull so we need to numb the pain with tons of Jager, Vodka or Scotch. About variations we don’t know what future awaits so stay tuned."
https://www.facebook.com/eternalhalloweenofficial
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Label Video
M2TM
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After the Abdication – HRH or not HRH?
Home/British History, English History/After the Abdication – HRH or not HRH?
/ Britannica.com
The popular Prince of Wales who should have become the crowned and annointed Edward VIII (q.v.) gave up his throne because Church and State would not recognise his plan to marry a twice-divorced lady from America. As we know, the Prince married his lady from Baltimore, and abdicated as well. When all the fuss had died down in the Thirties, and the Prince became the Duke of Windsor, the question arose as to whether or not his American wife should become ‘Her Royal Highness’, as indeed her husband was HRH.
The problem British governors had was that many considered it unconstitutional that the Duchess of Windsor should not be HRH, perhaps because the Law in England does not recognise a morganatic marriage. But then where did that leave George VI. He had married a fine Scottish girl with an ancient name and the castles to go with it, but she was not royal. In our times a Prince of Wales has twice married morganatically too – Lady Diana Spencer, and after her awful death Camilla Parker-Bowles.
If we look further back into history we find George III’s sister-in-law was a HRH as well as being Duchess of Gloucester (a royal title) and she was the illegitimate daughter of a dress-maker. We also discover that a good deal of ignorance is spread about in our highest circles. Even known writers on ceremonial sometimes make silly statements. For example, in the corridors of power people insisted that the Duke of Edinburgh should be made a Prince, by a special grant. Those insisters should have consulted the genealogists, as all British Dukes, Marquesses and Earls are princes already, as honorary cousins of the Monarch. Thus the Duke of Northumberland, the Marquess of Hertford and the Earl of Derby are all princes. Most people do not know that of course, but it used to be proclaimed by the herald in the most formal style in the old days of great ceremonial, such as state funerals and other superior occasions. After all, a Duke is addressed officially by the Crown as ‘Our right trusty and right entirely beloved Cousin’. On some other occasions it is: ‘Most High, Potent and Noble Prince’, or ‘Most Noble and Puissant Prince’. The Duke of Edinburgh, who is, thank Heaven, still with us was and is automatically a Prince, quite apart from being a Royal Highness.
All this is all very well, but the lady from Baltimore who married King Edward VIII was disallowed the HRH, with a lot of pushing behind from Church, State, and the royal family itself, on the female side. Indeed she was denied this undoubted right, up to her death in 1986.
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The abdication of Edward VIII (1936)
Disasters waiting to happen: Edward VIII
Two proud Dukes of Buckingham (too proud perhaps?)
Scotland’s many rulers
By Dean Swift| 2014-08-02T17:49:14+00:00 July 17th, 2014|British History, English History|0 Comments
The revolt of Portugal
Further thoughts on Thomas Becket, martyr and saint
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Viewpoint: Gene editing poised to revolutionize agriculture—if we can fix biotech regulations
Alison Van Eenennaam, Nina Fedoroff | March 13, 2018
In his speech at the recent American Farm Bureau convention, President Trump said his administration was “streamlining regulations that have blocked cutting-edge biotechnology.”
Why is this necessary? Paraphrasing New York Times columnist Paul Krugman’s words on economic policy, it’s because we’re still living with “zombie” biotech regulatory policies that “should have been killed by the evidence … but keep shambling along nonetheless.” The time to end this “reign of error” is now.
Why now? Because the evidence is in: Biotechnology methods are safe. And because new, precise gene-editing approaches are poised to revolutionize agriculture. But for that to happen, we have to start regulating from common sense instead of fear.
For the past 30 years, every organism improved using modern biotechnology methods, no matter how innocuous, has been regulated as if it were potentially hazardous. The price of compliance with such fear-based regulation has been huge – more than $100 million for a single biotech crop. And it can take years to obtain regulatory approval.
Nina Fedoroff
The result? We have no agricultural animals improved using biotechnology on the market and we have just a handful of commercial biotech crops. Most are commodity crops with big enough markets to allow recovery of hundred million dollar expenditures on development and deregulation. Is it any surprise that they were developed by big companies with deep pockets? Few small companies or academic scientists have been able to get into the game.
American farmers were quick to adopt biotech crops. They’ve been growing biotech corn, soybeans and cotton for more than 20 years. Trillions of meals with biotech ingredients have been consumed with no ill effects. Biotech crops have added billions to our national wealth and made farming kinder to the environment.
And yet we’re still regulating as if biotech methods were dangerous. Today, scientists around the world are overwhelmingly convinced by the evidence that biotech methods are safe. Biotech approaches are much less disruptive to the genetic machinery than the chemical and radiation mutagenesis used for crop improvement – with no regulation at all – for most of the last century. And they’re much more exact than cross-breeding.
New gene-editing tools are even more precise than the older methods. They can be used to make predictable changes in a selected gene and leave behind no extraneous genetic material. Such changes are just like the natural variants that underlie the domestication of agricultural plants and animals. And they’re the same as genetic changes introduced by the mutagenic methods used to produce most of today’s high-yielding grain varieties and such favorites as Rio Red grapefruit.
Related article: CRISPR study reporting 'off-target mutations' draws skepticism from other researchers
This means that many of the organisms produced using today’s high-precision gene editing will be indistinguishable at the molecular level from those produced by nature and by previous generations of breeders. This presents a conundrum for our current regulatory approach.
Alison Van Eenennaam
Fortunately, the solution is in plain sight: Confine regulatory scrutiny to the novel properties of improved organisms. That is, regulate the product, not the process, as the U.S. National Academies of Science and Engineering have long recommended.
Regulators must identify the (handful of) novel properties of improved organisms that present unreasonable risks to people, animals, agriculture or the environment and they must restrict regulatory scrutiny to such organisms.
The rest present hazards no different from those posed by plants and animals improved by long familiar plant breeding techniques and require no regulation. To move quickly in a highly competitive international environment, developers need the certainty that they will not face burdensome bureaucratic barriers if they use gene editing to develop products whose properties are no different from those that can be derived by conventional breeding methods. Australia has already begun to move in this direction.
Dispelling the suffocating cloud of fear-based biotechnology regulation is a must if the U.S. is to maintain global leadership in biotechnology. Bringing common sense to regulation by recognizing that modern biotech methods are just the next step in our 10,000-year history of agricultural innovation will unleash investment in small biotech start-ups, a heavy lift today because of the regulatory costs. And perhaps most important, it will free agricultural scientists to use the very best biological methods to do their critical work of helping farmers and ranchers provide us with healthful, sustainably grown food.
Nina Fedoroff is a molecular biologist and professor emeritus at Penn State University. She was awarded the National Medal of Science in 2007 and served as president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) from 2011 to 2012. She also served as a science adviser to the Secretary of State and to the administrator of USAID.
Alison Van Eenennaam, Ph.D. is an animal geneticist and Cooperative Extension specialist in the Department of Animal Science at the University of California, Davis. Follow her on Twitter @BioBeef
The GLP featured this article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion and analysis. The viewpoint is the author’s own. The GLP’s goal is to stimulate constructive discourse on challenging science issues.
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The Cerinthians (Epiphanius, 28.5.1-3)
Featuring Laura Nasrallah
Album Early Christianity: The Letters of Paul
The Cerinthians (Epiphanius, 28.5.1-3) Lyrics
EPIPHANIUS
[The Cerinthians] (ca. 375)
For they use the Gospel according to Matthew-in part, because of the human genealogy, but not all of it-and they adduce this proof-text from
the Gospel: "It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher" [Matt. 10:25]. What then, they say-Jesus was circumcised; be circumcised yourself. Christ lived according to the Law, they say, and you must do the same. Hence some of these, like men seized by poisonous drugs, are convinced by the specious arguments based on Christ's having been circumcised. They break with Paul because he does not accept circumcision, but they also reject him because he said, "You who would be justified by the law have fallen away from grace" [Gal. 5:4] and "If you receive circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you" [Gal. 5:2].
About “The Cerinthians (Epiphanius, 28.5.1-3)”
HOW TO ANNOTATE
HOW TO ADD TO AN EXISTING ANNOTATION
"The Cerinthians (Epiphanius, 28.5.1-3)" Track Info
Early Christianity: The Letters of Paul Laura Nasrallah
1. The Pauline Epistles (Contents)
2. Romans 1 (NRSV)
10. Romans 9 (NRSV)
11. Romans 10 (NRSV)
19. 1 Corinthians 2 (NRSV)
27. 1 Corinthians 10 (NRSV)
47. Galatians 1 (NRSV)
53. Ephesians 1 (NRSV)
59. Philippians 1 (NRSV)
63. Colossians 1 (NRSV)
67. 1 Thessalonians 1 (NRSV)
75. 1 Timothy 1 (NRSV)
85. Titus 1 (NRSV)
88. Philemon 1 (NRSV)
89. Hebrews 1 (NRSV)
98. Hebrews 10 (NRSV)
100. Hebrews 12 (NRSV)
102. Prescripts
103. A Boy’s Letter
104. Isias to Hephaistion: Time to come home!
105. Letter from Birmingham Jail (HarvardX)
106. Thirty-Ninth Festal Epistle (Concerning the Divine Scriptures)
107. Ecclesiastical History (Book 3, Chapter 25: The Divine Scriptures that are accepted and those that are not)
Of Death
The Wish
The Corinthian Body (Chap. 2: The Rhetoric of the Body Politic)
The Corinthian Women Prophets: A Reconstruction Through Paul’s Letters (Chap. 2: The Rhetoric Characteristic of 1 Corinthians with Implications for the Corinthian Women Prophets)
Slavery in Early Christianity (Body Work: Slavery and the Pauline Churches)
Beyond the Heroic Paul
The Corinthian Women Prophets: A Reconstruction Through Paul’s Letters (Introduction)
Introduction to Poetry Genius
Study Guide for Reading Ancient Sources
The Jewish War (2.254-270)
On Baptism (Chap. XVII: Of the Power of Conferring Baptism)
HarvardX Student User Guide
The Histories: Book I (Chap. 4)
Selections of Clementine Recognitions
Daniel 2 (NRSV)
Why I Love the Bible
Politics (Book I)
Irenaeus Against the heresies 1.41.1 on Marcion
John 9:1-12 (NSRV)
Rituals and Power
Racial Roots and Religion: An Interview with Howard Thurman
Letter of Paulus Fabius Maximus and Decrees by Asians Concerning the Provincial Calendar
DAY 13 Philemon 1 (NRSV)
Acts of Paul and Thecla
How to Read a Poem (Chap. 1: The Functions of Criticism)
Slaves In The New Testament: Literary, Social, and Moral Dimensions (Introduction: Imagining Slaves)
Biblical Views
Poverty in Pauline Studies: Beyond the So-called New Consensus
Rhetoric and Ethic: The Politics of Biblical Studies (Chap. 8: Pauline Theology and the Politics of Meaning)
Writings and the Spirit
Paul Among Jews and Gentiles
Paul in Fresh Perspective (Chap. 8: Jesus, Paul and the Task of the Church)
A New New Testament (Forward)
Paul On Women And Gender
The Power Of Images
A New New Testament (Introduction)
The Corinthian Body (Chap. 1: The Body in Greco-Roman Culture)
The Oldest Extant Editions of the Letters of Paul
The Histories: Book 1 (Chap. 1-2)
Selections from “The Preachings of Peter” (Selections from Pseudo-Clement, ”Homilies”)
Histories (4.81)
Tradition and the Canon of Scripture
A Radical Jew: Paul And The Politics Of Identity (Chap. 9: Paul, the “jewish Problem,” and the ”Woman Question”)
Antiquities of the Jews (18.1)
2 Peter 3 (NRSV)
“Ascents of James” (Epiphanius, Pan. haer. 30.16.6-9)
1 Corinthians: A Case Study of Paul’s Assembly as an Alternative Society
The Description of a New World, Called the Blazing-World
The Disappointment
Rhetoric and Ethic: The Politics of Biblical Studies (Chap. 4: Challenging the Rhetorical Half-Turn: Feminist and Rhetorical)
A Radical Jew: Paul And The Politics Of Identity (Chap. 10: Answering the Mail Toward a Radical Jewishness)
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Washington’s waterfalls–behind each one is a rock!
Of all the many reasons why waterfalls are great, here’s another: they expose bedrock! And that bedrock tells a story extending back in time long long before the waterfall. This posting describes 9 waterfalls that together paint a partial picture of Washington’s geologic history. The photos and diagrams will all appear in my forthcoming book Roadside Geology of Washington (Mountain Press) that I wrote with Darrel Cowan of the University of Washington.
Rainbow falls along WA 6 in the Coast Range
And waterfalls in heavily forested areas are especially great because they may give the only view of bedrock for miles around! Take Rainbow Falls, for example–the small waterfall on the left. It’s in Washington’s Coast Range along State Highway 6–a place where a roadside geologist could otherwise fall into total despair for lack of good rock exposure. But this beautiful waterfall exposes a lava flow of the Grande Ronde Basalt, which belongs to the Columbia River Basalt Group. Significant? Yes!
This lava erupted in southeastern Washington and northeastern Oregon between about 16 and 15.6 million years ago and completely flooded the landscape of northern Oregon and southern Washington. We know how extensive these flows are because we can see them–and they cover the whole region. The photo below shows them at Palouse Falls in the eastern part of Washington. Take a look at my earlier blog post about the Columbia River Basalt Group? (includes 15 photos and a map).
Palouse Falls in eastern Washington drops more than 180 feet over lava flows of the Grande Ronde and Wanapum members of the Columbia River Basalt Group.
You might also notice in the photo above that the waterfall is actually pretty small compared to its amphitheatre. That’s because Palouse Falls is part of another flood story –of the Ice Age Floods, described in rich detail on the Ice Age Floods Institute website. Basically, some 40 or 50 gigantic floods coursed through the area towards the end of the Ice Age, between about 15-18,000 years ago. and among other things, carved this canyon. Lobes of the continental ice sheet repeatedly dammed the Clark Fork River in northern Montana and then failed, repeatedly, after forming Glacial Lake Missoula. Imagine the flow volume in the above photo multiplied more than 100,000 times!
Mount Rainier and the Cascade Volcanoes
At 14,410 feet above sea level, Mount Rainier is the highest volcano in the Cascade Range –and one of the highest spots in the conterminous United States. The volcano itself consists mostly of andesite flows that date back nearly a half million years.
Beneath those lava flows are older rocks that speak to a history of volcanic activity reaching back 70 times that of Rainier’s oldest lavas –to about 35 million years ago. At Christine Falls, you can inspect granitic rock of the Tatoosh Pluton, which is a crystallized magma chamber that formed beneath some early Cascade volcanoes. It was probably active at different times between 26-14 million years ago. At Narada Falls, you can see where Rainier andesite actually flowed over the top of the granite–which tells us that the granite was exposed at the surface 40,000 years ago when that flow erupted. Both these waterfalls are right along the road that winds its way from Longmire up towards Paradise Meadows.
Christine Falls (left) cuts through granitic rock of Tatoosh Pluton; Narada Falls (right) flows over Rainier Andesite that itself flowed over Tatoosh granodiorite, exposed on the rocky hillside.
If you go to the south entrance of the national park, you can walk a quarter mile from the highway to Silver Falls and exposures of Rainier’s oldest rocks. The Ohanapecosh Formation, made mostly of tuffs and re-deposited volcanic particles, formed by explosive volcanic activity that stretches back 35 million years. The Ohanapecosh Formation forms cliffs throughout much of the national park –and shows up northward as far as Interstate 90.
Silver Falls in Mount Rainier National Park, spills over outcrops of Ohanapecosh Formation, the park’s oldest rock.
Finding the oldest volcanic rock in the Cascade Volcanoes is important because this incredibly active volcanic chain is fueled by magma generated through the sinking of oceanic lithosphere at the Cascadia subduction zone –and the oldest rocks allow us to estimate when this process started. They get even older at Snoqualmie Falls, just north of I-90. There, rocks of the Mount Persis Volcanics reach ages of 38 million years. Most geologists agree that for Washington, these rocks mark the first volcanic activity after the formation of the Cascadia subduction zone.
Snoqualmie Falls drops more than 250′ into a gorge of Mt. Persis Volcanics –rocks that mark the onset of volcanic activity related to today’s Cascadia subduction zone.
Early Volcanic Roots and Continental Accretion
Here it gets a little complicated, because subduction also drove much of Washington’s geologic history before the Cascade volcanoes started to form. This older subduction also formed volcanic chains and through the process of continental accretion, caused Washington to grow westward.
This diagram, modified from my book Roadside Geology of Oregon, illustrates the process of accretion. Basically, some element of the subducting seafloor is unable to fully sink beneath the continent, probably because it’s topographically high– such as with a series of seamounts. This material jams up the subduction zone and causes the sinking to stop temporarily. Eventually, a new subduction zone forms farther offshore and the thing that jammed up the zone in the first place gets added, or accreted, to the edge of the continent. In Washington and Oregon, the younger Cascadia subduction zone is the one that formed the Cascade Volcanoes and the stuff that jammed the zone was a huge fragment of oceanic lithosphere called “Siletzia”. Siletzia now makes up the bottom of Washington and Oregon’s Coast Range. The older subduction zone that got jammed up is the one that’s responsible for the rocks described below.
Gorge Creek cuts a slot through orthogneiss (inset) of the Skagit Gneiss Complex along State Highway 20 in Washington’s North Cascades.
Gorge Falls along State Highway 20 in the North Cascades cuts this narrow slot through rocks formed because of that older subduction zone. These rocks started as the granitic roots to volcanoes, much in the same way as the Tatoosh Pluton formed the roots to some Cascade volcanoes. Those roots then got squeezed and reheated to make a metamorphic rock called gneiss. In some places it even partially re-melted.
The inset gives a close-up view of the rock. It’s called “orthogneiss” because it started out as an igneous rock. It forms a big part of the Skagit Gneiss Complex, which makes up the core of the North Cascades.
It’s hard to say if the Skagit Gneiss Complex was actually added to the edge of North America from somewhere else, but a lot of other rocks in Washington were–and those episodes of accretion are what caused much of the metamorphism in the North Cascades.
For accreted rock, here’s probably my favorite waterfall: Nooksack Falls, along State Highway 542 between Bellingham and the Mt. Baker ski area. It’s made of conglomerate of the Nooksack Group, which accumulated in a submarine fan somewhere off the coast of North America during the Jurassic and Cretaceous Periods, maybe 140 million years ago.
Nooksack Falls in the North Cascades. the horizontal lines across the falls mark traces of bedding in the rock that’s inclined directly upstream.
Ancient North America
If you go eastward towards Spokane, you eventually find yourself on the North America that existed before all this accretion. Of course, much of the area is now covered by the Columbia River Basalt, but in the northeast corner of the state, you encounter Paleozoic sedimentary rocks that formed along the continental margin of that older continent. Sweet Creek Falls is one place to see these rocks, right off State Highway 31. There, the beautiful stream spills over ledges of Ledbetter Slate, deposited as shale during the Ordovician Period. In the foreground are cobbles of Addy Quartzite, formed as beach-deposited sandstone in the Cambrian.
Sweet Creek Falls spills over Ledbetter Slate. Cobbles of Addy Quartzite lie in the foreground.
Washington’s Geologic Timeline
The timeline below shows Washington’s main geologic events –and you can see where these 9 waterfalls fit. The red text and red-colored bars represent geologic events represented by individual waterfalls, shown in blue. Kind of amazing… these 9 waterfalls show many of Washington’s most important elements: the Cascade Volcanoes, the Columbia River Basalt Group, continental accretion, and the old continental margin.
And they’re nice places to hang out!
Timeline of Washington’s geology. Red text signifies events described in this post and represented by various waterfalls (in blue).
For more geology photos, please check out my website–it contains a searchable database of more than 2000 geology photos for free download.
Roadside Geology of Washington should be out and available in August, 2017.
Posted in Geologic Time, Geology, Geology, Geologic Time, geophotography, mountains, national parks, photography, science, Uncategorized, volcanoes and tagged accretion, Christine Falls, Columbia River Basalt Group, continental accretion, Earth Science, geologic history, Gorge Falls, granite, Ice age floods, landscape, Mount Rainier, Mount Rainier National Park, mountains, Narada Falls, Nooksack Falls, Ohanapecosh Formation, Palouse Falls, photography, plate tectonics, Rainbow Falls, science, Silver Falls, skagit gneiss, Snoqualmie Falls, subduction, Sweet Creek Falls, Tatoosh Pluton, travel, volcano, Washington, Washington geology, washington waterfalls, Waterfalls
5 thoughts on “Washington’s waterfalls–behind each one is a rock!”
Paul Braterman on April 26, 2017 at 10:29 pm said:
Beautiful. It will encourage readers (though perhaps yours don’t need such encouragement) to see landscape in context, enhancing their pleasure. My only regret is that the images have no click-to-expand, which would add greatly to their value
Marli Miller on April 26, 2017 at 10:41 pm said:
Thanks for the nice comment! –and “click-to-expand”- do you know how I can make it do that? I thought it was automatic, as I noticed it on an earlier post, but apparently not!
I am no expert, and this may also depend on which WordPress theme you’re using, but I have found that if I save a jpeg image to computer and then transfer it to my post using “add media” and “retrieve files from computer” it is transferred to my WordPress library and I am asked if I want to insert into text. The answer of course is yes. Clicking on the image in the draft enables me to choose its size and location, whether there is text to one side, and to write a caption. Simply hovering over the image in the actual post (or preview, but not draft) turns the cursor into a hand, and clicking bbrings up an expanded image which can be expanded further.
I’m not sure that this always works but it does a lot of the time. Visit for example my post https://paulbraterman.wordpress.com/2014/12/14/time-turned-to-stone-part-2-the-giants-causeway-time-as-process/ which I’m pretty sure you’ve seen.
Marli Miller on April 27, 2017 at 7:28 pm said:
thanks Paul! I’m not sure just what I did –so I’ll have to give that a try.
Marli Miller on September 7, 2017 at 9:47 pm said:
Hi Paul!
Just wanted to let you know that I just learned how to make my images appear at full size when you click on them! Thanks for the suggestion –and the waterfall post is fixed now!
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Beaches Near Port Hueneme, California
Cities Along the Beach in Texas
Ocean Beaches Near Pennsylvania
by Susan DeFeo
Atlantic City Activities for Teens
Public Beaches in the Hamptons, New York
Lake Huron Public Beaches
Beaches With Boardwalks in Florida
Jersey Shore residents have a running joke that you see more Pennsylvania license plates than you do New Jersey plates on summer weekends. Every Memorial Day marks the waving of the official green flag for the race to the Shore along Interstate 95, the Atlantic City Expressway and Routes 70 and 55. Towns all down the Jersey coast swell with "shoobies," a South Jersey term for tourists from Philadelphia and eastern Pennsylvania, looking for cool breezes, boardwalks and 127 miles of Atlantic Ocean beaches.
Shoot Across I-95
Travelers from northern and central Pennsylvania can shoot across Interstate 95 to plant umbrellas at a number of beaches at the northern tip of the Jersey Shore. Gateway National Recreation Area at Sandy Hook, about 75 miles east of Levittown, has a lighthouse, museum, nature trails and wide beaches with unparalleled views of New York's skyline. A budget-friendly fee per vehicle gives all-day access to beaches, including Gunnison Beach, the only legal nude beach in New Jersey. Asbury Park, 13 miles down the coast and immortalized by Bruce Springsteen, has seen better days, but its wide white-sand beaches have some of the Shore's least expensive daily beach tags fees. Tags are twice as much at Ocean Grove, Sea Girt and the more upscale Avon-by-the-Sea and Spring Lake beaches. Parking is a hassle during the summer at these towns, but the elegant Victorian homes, noncommercial boardwalks, waterfront restaurants, pristine beaches and parades of dolphins swimming by make it a worthwhile trip.
Route 70 Beaches
Sun and fun await Pennsylvanians who can withstand Route 70's grueling traffic on summer weekends. The Barnegat Peninsula is at the end of the line, stretching from Point Pleasant through Island Beach State Park to the Barnegat Inlet. Point Pleasant is home to Jenkinson's Boardwalk, a conglomeration of carnival games, ice cream shacks and pizza joints overlooking the beach. Beach tags are required to set foot on the sand in front of the boardwalk, but a small fee gives you access to the public beaches at the southern end of town. After the lifeguards go home for the night, young surfers hang ten at the Pocket along Point Pleasant's inlet, with veteran surfers driving five miles up the coast to Manasquan's Inlet Beach for reliable, year-round breakers. Manasquan also boasts the only handicapped-dedicated beach along the Jersey Shore. Island Beach State Park, at the southernmost tip of Barnegat Peninsula, has hiking trails and one mile of guarded ocean beach. From the park's southern tip, you can see views of the Barnegat Light and Long Beach Island beaches.
Take the AC Expressway
To get relief from the sizzling city heat, Philadelphians hop on the Atlantic City Expressway to make the 60-mile trip to Atlantic City beaches. Home to the Steel Pier, Vegas-style casinos and a boardwalk spelled with a capital "B," Atlantic City is a playground for all ages. That means crowds, little parking and barely enough room to walk around the beach blankets covering the sand. The beaches do have two things going for them, however, that most Jersey Shore beaches do not: they're free and alcohol is permitted. Surfers can catch waves at Crystal, Delaware Avenue and Downtown Beach, and Jackson Avenue Beach allows kayaking and windsurfing. Swim and boogie-board to your heart's content at all beaches except the no-bathing-zone Jackson Avenue Beach, and don't miss the free jazz concerts at Chicken Bone Beach every Thursday night during the peak season.
Route 55 Recreation
If you don't hit traffic, it takes about 1.5 hours to drive the 80 miles from Philadelphia to Victorian Cape May, a National Historic Landmark City. A paved promenade runs the length of the city beach, a short expanse of sand that gets packed in the summer. Going north up Ocean Drive, Wildwood has free beaches that are a half-mile wide and growing, so wear flip-flops or you'll have scorched feet. Watch the beach-goers -- and the tramcar, please -- from the T-shirt shacks, arcades and amusement parks that line the 2-mile-long Wildwood Boardwalk. Families flock to the upscale and uncrowded beaches of Stone Harbor and Avalon, while young adults prefer the bars and beaches at Sea Isle City. The alcohol-free town of Ocean City bills itself as "America's Greatest Family Resort," drawing moms and dads with kids looking for outdoor recreation, pristine beaches and boardwalk amusements. And a word of advice: don't eat on the beach. Aggressive Jersey seagulls have been known to steal sandwiches right out of the mouths of babes.
NPS.gov: Gateway National Recreation Area: Things to Do – Sandy Hook
New Jersey Shore: New Jersey Shore Beach Badges
Ocean Grove, NJ: The Beach
Sea Girt, NJ: Beach and Boardwalk
Spring Lake: Beach and Pools
Avon-by-the-Sea: About
Point Pleasant Beach: Point Pleasant Beach, NJ Beach Information
New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Division of Parks and Forestry: Island Beach State Park
Atlantic City, NJ: Things To Do – Atlantic City Beaches
Chicken Bone Beach: Home
CapeMay.com: Cape May Beaches
Wildwoods, New Jersey: The Beach
Stone Harbor, New Jersey: Beaches
Avalon: 7 Mile Beach Information
Sea Isle City Beach Patrol
Ocean City, NJ: Home
State of New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Coastal Engineering: Shore Protection
Susan DeFeo has been a professional writer since 1997. She served as a community events columnist for New Jersey's "Cape May County Herald" for more than a decade and currently covers the family and pet beat for CBS Philadelphia. Her health, fitness, beauty and travel articles have appeared in various online publications. DeFeo studied visual communications at SUNY Farmingdale.
BananaStock/BananaStock/Getty Images
Siesta Key, Florida, Public Beaches
What Florida Beaches are Closest to Disney?
Beaches for Tourism in Puerto Rico
Things to Do With Toddlers in Orange Beach, Alabama
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UN Trafficking Fund for NGO
The first steps toward the establishment of a UN-led 'Small Grants Facility' for victims of human trafficking were taken recently in a move aimed at strengthening on-the-ground assistance to survivors of this brutal crime. The SGF aims to provide tangible support, through established channels, to victims of trafficking in persons.
The Fund affords people the world over the opportunity to make a tangible difference to the lives of trafficking victims. NGOs and Governments can all play a part. Each and every contribution, big and small, will make a difference in the life of someone who has been trafficked.
Key Facts of the 2011 SGF
The 2011 Small Grants Facility will accept project proposals from eligible not-for-profit, non-governmental organizations (NGOs). NGOs can submit applications on behalf of a coalition (more than 4 organizations), a consortium (minimum of 2 other organizations and a maximum of 4), but the NGO will be the primary focal point and will be financially responsible for the delivery of the grant.
Applicants may request grants of up to USD 25,000 per year, for project proposals ranging between 6 and 36 months.
All applications must be submitted in English. The Small Grants Facility 2011 launched on 8 March 2011 and will close on 30 April 2011 at 24:00 CET.
Thematic Priorities
In 2011, two thematic priorities have been established:
- Cross-border and inter-regional activities providing direct humanitarian, legal and/or financial assistance to victims.
- Effective remedies for victims of human trafficking, including, but not limited to, legal support, access to justice and compensation.
All proposals must focus on either one or both of the above-listed thematic priorities. If an application fails to respond to at least one of the two thematic priorities, it will be ineligible to receive funding.
For consulting on UN-led 'Small Grants Facility' for victims of human trafficking' please write or call to skf NGO consultants.
Seeking foreign (FCRA) funds / grants?
click on FREE Registration Tab on top menu to register your NGO in skf NGO directory or simply write to: ngo.directory@sudeshkumar.org
skf NGO Consultants
SUDESH KUMAR FOUNDATION
www.sudeshkumar.org
The Vegan Organization for Social Justice Worldwide
@ ngo_grant_fund | fb.com/sudesh.kumar.foundation
CSR Consulting Services
Exclusively for Corporate & NGO
Website @ http://csr.sudeshkumar.com
Email: csr.consultant@sudeshkumar.net
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aircraft carrier, flagship
«aircraft carrier, flagship» в словарях и энциклопедиях | перевод «aircraft carrier, flagship»
флагманский авианосец
aircraft carrier, escort
aircraft carrier, large
Смотреть что такое "aircraft carrier, flagship" в других словарях:
Japanese aircraft carrier Akagi — The Akagi ( ja. 赤城) was an aircraft carrier serving with the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II. The only ship in her class, Akagi played a major part in the Attack on Pearl Harbor, but was sunk along with three other large carriers by… … Wikipedia
Japanese aircraft carrier Katsuragi — Katsuragi redirects here. For other uses, see Katsuragi (disambiguation). Katsuragi serving as a troop transport in 1946 Career (Japan) … Wikipedia
Japanese aircraft carrier Ryūjō — Ryūjō (Japanese: 龍驤, prancing dragon ) was a light aircraft carrier of the Imperial Japanese Navy. She was laid down by Mitsubishi at Yokohama in 1929, launched in 1931 and commissioned in 1933. Her small design when launched she displaced only 8 … Wikipedia
French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle (R91) — Career (France) … Wikipedia
Russian aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov — Career (Soviet Union ⁄ Russia) … Wikipedia
Courageous class aircraft carrier — HMS Glorious in the early 1930s Class overview Name: Courageous class Operators … Wikipedia
Italian aircraft carrier Giuseppe Garibaldi (551) — Giuseppe Garibaldi (551) is an Italian aircraft carrier, the current flagship of the Marina Militare Italiana, the Italian Navy. She is named after the Italian general Giuseppe Garibaldi.It was built by Fincantieri (Italcantieri) at the… … Wikipedia
Brazilian aircraft carrier São Paulo (A12) — For the 1909 dreadnought, see Brazilian battleship São Paulo … Wikipedia
French aircraft carrier Clemenceau (R98) — Career (France) … Wikipedia
Invincible class aircraft carrier — The Invincible class is a class of light aircraft carrier currently serving with the British Royal Navy. Of the three vessels of this class, HMS|Illustrious|R06|6 and HMS|Ark Royal|R07|6 are in operation, with HMS|Invincible|R05|6 decommissioned… … Wikipedia
Centaur class aircraft carrier — The Centaur class of aircraft carriers of the British Royal Navy was the last of the light fleet carrier designs started during the closing years of World War II. Originally conceived as a class of eight vessels, with the end of hostilities, work … Wikipedia
Carrier Strike Group Three, Frederic P. Miller, Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Carrier Strike Group Three (CSG-3) is one of six U. S. Navy… Категория: Книги, которые не отнесены ни к одному разделу Серия: - Издатель: Книга по Требованию, Подробнее Купить за руб
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The Witcher 3 Director Hopeful for Fourth Game
That doesn’t mean it’s happening but time will tell in the future.
Posted By Ravi Sinha | On 12th, May. 2016 Under News
CD Projekt RED’s The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt was lauded both critically and commercially when it released and will be receiving a new expansion with Blood and Wine on May 31st. Even with the studio working on Cyberpunk 2077 and other projects, game director Konrad Tomaszkiewicz hopes that the studio will return to the Witcher universe for another game.
Speaking to Eurogamer, Tomaszkiewicz said that, “Personally, I hope that someday in the future we will do something more because I love the setting and I work on The Witcher games around 12 years right now. But I don’t know what we will decide. The strategy plan they’ve got they will share with us soon. We’ll see.”
Though Geralt’s story has been wrapped up in The Witcher 3, it’s certainly possible that another hero – like Ciri – takes his place in future games. CD Projekt RED is busy with other things right now though. Cyberpunk 2077 could be out as late as 2021 with another unannounced AAA RPG in development. Then there’s the game out this year that’s apparently in a format unexplored by CD Projekt RED till now.
Would you like see The Witcher 4 in the future? Let us know in the comments.
Tagged With: CD Projekt RED, Cyberpunk 2077, pc, ps4, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, The Witcher 4, Xbox One
Publisher: CD Projekt RED
Developer: CD Projekt RED
Platforms: PS4, PC, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch
Nioh 2 Beta Survey Shows Positive Reception; Adjustments Coming For Final Game
Hideo Kojima Hopes You Felt Positive From Playing Death Stranding
The Outer Worlds Will Receive DLC In 2020
Godfall’s First Gameplay Clip Appears Online
Resident Evil 2 R.P.D. Demo Adds Scream Of The Dreaded Nemesis
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Archive for the ‘NES’ Category
Retro Game Night (NES Favorites): California Raisins, Robocop, Parodius, Castlevania
This week Fred focuses on NES titles:
0:00 – 19:15: California Raisins (Unreleased)
19:16 – 42:20: Robocop
42:21 – 1:11:19: Parodius Da! From Myth to Laughter
1:11:20 – 03:01:44: Castlevania (FDS version) and two ROM hacks of Castlevania (Stairs of Doom and The Holy Relics)
The sound appears to lose sync by about half a second after starting Castlevania, but it’s not that noticeable. You’d think by now I’d learn to turn off the stream when switching games, which I will do moving forward.
Posted in NES, Retro Game Night, Videos
Tagged with california raisins, castlevania, parodius, robocop
Joust Review
Joust. Yes, that ostrich game you may have read about in the fiction novel Ready Player One by Earnest Cline. Well I’m going to talk about it today because the site needs more arcade love and its about time Joust had a review. Full disclosure, I did review this game across a few emulators including MAME and multiple Midway Collections on Mega Drive (Genesis), PSP, and Xbox. This review will feature some brief discussion on the cabinet itself, which I have been fortunate enough to try at retro gaming conventions.
Released in 1982 by Williams Entertainment, Joust is single screen joystick and one button flapping mash fest. You play a knight riding on the back of the magnificent ostrich. With a lance in hand, your goal is simple: take out every enemy rider on screen. Then you repeat that wave after wave until you run out of lives. The single button on the cabinet is responsible for flapping wings of your feathered beast. You have to rapidly press the button to get your bird off the ground, but once you have the momentum going it becomes quite the skill to take down the other riders. You need to be slightly above the other rider and hit them to take them down. Once they are out of action an egg will drop which you’ll need to collect before it re-hatches a new rider and you have to take them out all over again. It becomes a juggle of priorities, choosing to take out the other riders or collect the eggs. The first wave, titled “Buzzard Blitz,” is fairly easy. Just three opponents spawn to ease you into the game, but like with a lot of these Williams games don’t be disappointed if you do loose all your lives on the first wave. It can take a few attempts to come to grips with the controls and figure out your strategy. By this point – back in the arcade days – you would have sunk a decent chunk of change into the cabinet.
Written by jamalais
Posted in Arcade, Dreamcast, Gameboy, Gameboy Advance, Genesis, NES, PC/Mac, Playstation, PS2, PS3, PSP, Reviews, Saturn, SNES, Wii, Xbox, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged with Bill Pfutzenreuter, John Newcomer, joust, midway, williams
Podcast: Castlevania III Dracula’s Curse Game Club
This week Jam and Fred do the game club thing with Castlevania III: Dracula’s Curse for the NES. This title was popularized due to its technological leap, overall quality, and the fact that it’s really hard to get to work properly on third party hardware. In this episode they dissect the development, concept, and branching campaign.
https://gaminghistory101.podbean.com/mf/play/yfu4i3/110216.mp3
RSS iTunes Google Podbean
Posted in game club, NES, podcast
Tagged with akumajo densetsu, castlevania, castlevania iii, draculas curse, konami, mmc5, vrc6
Dissecting Nintendo’s Famicom Classic Edition (Mini) Differences
This week, Nintendo announced the Eastern component to the NES Classic Edition (or NES Mini) that most of us knew were coming. Nintendo did allow some hands on time and offer new information on the NES Classic that will probably apply to the Famicom Classic as well, so check that link above if you haven’t already. The delightful Famicom Mini is officially called the “Family Computer Classic Edition” and it appears to be quite similar to the Western version save for the obvious aesthetic difference, but also with some details and games. Like the NES Classic Edition it will contain 30 games, it does not accept cartridges, and it will retail for ¥5980 (which at time of writing is literally $59.80). Those of you already hoping to import should expect international shipping to be approximately $20-$30 depending on the speed of shipment and retailer. I’ve already checked and no one currently has it on pre-order, although some bigger import sites do have pages for it, but I suspect it will not have a supply problem as the price point for these consoles suggests it needs to sell a large quantity.
Now there are some notable differences that you should be aware of. Of course the games will all be the Japanese counterpart and contain the Japanese versions, but the universal HDMI out means that any HDTV worldwide should easily support either console. On the other hand the USB power supply is not included in the Family Computer Classic Edition and can be purchased for ¥1000 ($10) if needed. Those picking up both versions can most likely use the included NES Classic Edition cable and it’s probably the common micro-USB plug type. Also the Famicom Mini, like the original Famicom, has two controllers wired directly into the console and are not removable. As for games, 8 titles are unique to each region, so 22 of these titles are on both consoles. Here’s a quick list of those and you can expect a video of these region specific titles coming soon.
Posted in Blog, NES
Tagged with atlantis no nazo, bubble bobble, bumping sumo, castlevania ii, donkey kong jr, downtown nikketsu, downtown nikketsu monogatari, famicom classic edition, famicom mini, final fantasy, final fantasy iii, kid icarus, march soreyuke, mario open golf, nes classic edition, nes mini, nes open tournament golf, punch out, river city ransom, solomon no kagi, solomons key, star tropics, tecmo bowl, tsuppari oozumou, yie ar kung fu
Podcast: The Astyanax or Lord of the Kings
Developer Aicom had a slew of interesting titles in the late 80s and early 90s, one of which was called The Astyanax or Lord of the Kings in Japan. Oddly enough the game also had one of those infamous ports to the NES that changed and extended the original arcade concept, which Fred loved as a kid. In this episode Jam and Fred discuss their discovery of the arcade original and a replay of the Nintendo port.
https://gaminghistory101.podbean.com/mf/play/gsb2rb/091416.mp3
Posted in Arcade, game club, NES, podcast
Tagged with aicom, astyanax, jaleco, lord of the kings
New Podcast: Gaming Tech 101 (Episode 0)
There has been much appeal to the hardware side of retro gaming and with so many new products coming out it’s time to get back to basics. While Gaming Tech 101 will have its own feed and episodes, Fred figured he’d give you a taste over here on the GH101 feed. In episode 0 Fred discusses what GT101’s intentions are and then delves into the growing world of NES clone consoles hitting the market. From NOACs to FPGAs and even Nintendo’s own “mini” slated for holiday, it’s all covered in this first preview episode. GT101 will be a bi-weekly podcast.
https://gaminghistory101.podbean.com/mf/play/yrrhjg/gt101_ep0.mp3
Posted in Gaming Tech 101, NES, podcast
Tagged with analogue nt, avs, nes, nintendo, nintendo on a chip, noac, retron 5
Nintendo Announced the NES Mini and Here’s the Important Details
Update 09/30/2016 at 12:45 pm: Nintendo has released more information on the NES Classic Edition in conjunction with the announcement of Japan’s Famicom Classic Edition. The Classic Edition models will contain multiple visual modes: CRT Filter, 4:3, and Pixel Perfect. CRT Filter adds scanlines, 4:3 presents the game in its original aspect ratio, and Pixel Perfect upscales everything in a perfect square (which seems to suggest 720p output). In addition you can have up to 4 suspend points that act just like save states in emulators. You will also get a QR code on the screen with each game that will allow you to access the original manual. Bob Mackey at US Gamer also just did a write-up that claims the controller cords are short, like 3 feet or so short. You also have to reset the console to pick a new game, although those of us with flash carts should be used to that. This probably won’t change your opinion, but it does get closer to finally finding answers to these early questions from the summer.
Update 07/14/2016 at 12:45 pm: A reader (TeenNick) has mentioned that Nintendo Life has reported the device will not support additional games, either in cart form or other alternative forms. This better explains the list being so strong and varied. Not sure if this is still going to be of value to me, but for most fans of the NES as a child this is a quick and dirty solution for your favorite classics.
First of all, Nintendo, 5 am? Really? Clearly Reggie and the gang are up much earlier than I am – and for the record I work in healthcare so I have a bit earlier of a schedule than the typical games media writer. Either way, the great news came down with this announcement from Nintendo of America (NOA) that this November we will be getting the NES mini. I have an NES and I have a lot of games for it, not to mention the 100+ titles I also have on the Virtual Console, and lets not forget that a dozen or so clone consoles are just a used game store away, so why care? Well, on the surface of this announcement, you don’t. It’s not until you get the details, which I do have below, that suddenly this is an intriguing endeavor.
Thanks to Gamespot’s Eddie Makuch, who appeared to be equally inquisitive with Nintendo as opposed to most other sites who merely said “mini NES with games, isn’t that cool?” we have some important details. It will cost $60 in the US, releases November 11, and includes 30 games (the list is below). From what it sounds like the cart slot will support any NES game you put in there, but I have yet to see that actually stated, however you would hope. That will also be significant in the next paragraph. Nintendo confirmed that the console has HDMI out and uses a USB power adapter for AC, which is free and included in the US but not in Europe (and probably not in Japan as we traditionally see). The controller is a classic NES style and one is included in the box, but more can be purchased for $10 apiece. These use the classic controller port like we see on the Wiimote. Also Nintendo confirmed that “suspend points” will be available. This means a lot of things, so lets break down what this information seems to indicate and why you may want to purchase this, even if you own an NES.
Posted in NES, News
Tagged with mini nes, nintendo
Podcast: Old Console, New Hardware (Part 1)
We all love old video games, but the frank reality is that as they age our consoles run solely on obsolete technology. As the basic capabilities of modern hardware increases, so does the ability to mod classic consoles to keep up. In addition, new accessories also come on the scene to serve needs that were either impossible or too expensive in the past. This episode covers the earliest cartridge-based consoles and the many modifications and accessories you can get for them. In part 1 of this two-part series we get a bit technical, but also present the many options you can potentially research.
https://gaminghistory101.podbean.com/mf/play/gszxw7/050416.mp3
Posted in Genesis, Master System, NES, podcast, SNES, Turbografx-16/PC-Engine/CD
Tagged with composite, flash cart, hdmi, modifications, mods, rgb, s-video
Maniac Mansion Retrospective
Maniac Mansion is a significant game in the evolution of the medium, but interestingly enough it’s also a game that is hard to find and not many have played. Perhaps it’s the fact that the point-and-click genre went away long ago and until recently, really hadn’t seen a resurgence. It also likely has to do with the fact that Lucasfilm was for many years no longer in the publishing business, didn’t have much interest in rehashing these older titles, and the fact that it was originally on microcomputers like the Commodore 64 made it hard to port. The reason Maniac Mansion holds such an important role and special place in my heart – which is impressive considering I generally hate point-and-click adventure games – is because it started a new trend for the genre.
When it was conceived in 1985 the rift between computer gaming and console gaming was vast. On consoles the experiences were more action oriented and based on feats of skill in the moment with titles like Super Mario Bros. or Gradius. This makes sense because consoles like the NES were tailor made for an experience like that with the ability to scroll and a gamepad as an interface. On computers, the story was a bit different. Microcomputers were terrible at scrolling and any attempt to do so was clunky with the player literally able to see the vertical lines being drawn as they progressed. Games had to have rudimentary sound, supported single button 9-pin joysticks, and could come from various sources such as cartridge, tape, and floppy disk. One thing the computer had over the console was the fact that it could use a full keyboard for its interactions and this is where the adventure genre really takes off. From text adventures like Zork and Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and RPGs like Ultima came the point-and-click adventure. In the early 80s these were dominated by Sierra On-Line, a development house that also published and was responsible for notable graphical point-and-click adventures like King’s Quest. These titles, while incredibly immersive and entertaining for more mature gamers, suffered a fatal flaw in that you could overlook simple items in the beginning only to have them render the game unbeatable several hours later. Gamers like myself also hate the fact that the concept is basically to read the developer’s mind and in the end succumb to the horrid tactic of “try everything on everything.” Back then Sierra was even meaner, with fail states that could kill your character and thus if you forgot to save resulted in the loss of progress, sometimes large sometimes small. That’s not to say that Sierra games aren’t good or enjoyable, many of my peers will admit to loving the Sierra catalog and they are a welcome addition to the library at Good Old Games, but Lucasfilm Games hoped to do something different.
Posted in NES, PC/Mac, Reviews
Tagged with commodore 64, david fox, gary winnick, lucasfilm games, maniac mansion, ron gilbert, scumm
Altered Beast Review
Altered Beast was a game that lived in screenshots. Like it or not, the arcade System 16 classic was less known for the roller skating rinks, bars, and bowling alleys that it was intended to get popular on and instead became the poster child for early Genesis advertising. I say this as someone who was under 10 years old at the time it premiered, though, so perhaps it was burning up the arcades, but all I seem to remember was it coming home. I did get a chance to play the title in coin-op form at my local bowling alley, but after a handful of attempts that never got me further than the second level I gave up on replaying the game. When it came home, however, I needed it on my Genesis and I replayed it constantly. In fact, for a game that is not only easy but also quick to complete (probably about 30 minutes), I find myself replaying it more than most other games from my past. This even more odd given that, sadly, Altered Beast is not a very good game.
The premise is that of a centurion of Greece brought back by Zeus to save Athena, his daughter, who has been kidnapped. Upon your resurrection, you now gain the ability to take the form of different animals in a sort of “were-” hybrid (werewolf, weredragon, werebear, etc) that can be accomplished by collecting power-ups in the level. Beyond that Altered Beast is nothing more than a walk to the right and beat up everything in your path game, often known today as a brawler, but given that it pre-dates most of the Konami licensed brawlers and Capcom’s Final Fight, it was significant for the time. Levels can vary in length, but if you know the game in the least – and what needs to be done – you’ll clear each one in 5 minutes or less. Given that there’s only 5 levels, that’s a short time span. When I refer to knowing what needs to be done, that’s the need to destroy the albino wolves in each level, which contain the power-ups needed to make your character’s strength grow and eventually trigger “beast mode.” Each level rotation has 3 albino wolves and it takes 3 power-ups to go into beast mode, so you have to do it right the first time through or go through another rotation of the level that is usually harder than the first. Beast mode refers to your character transforming into the aforementioned were-beasts from earlier and has even crept its way into pop culture as a meme. While there are new enemies in each level, they all take basically the same amount of hits to defeat and aside form some basic change in behavior, don’t differentiate very much. That’s still not to say this game didn’t have talent behind it because designer Makoto Uchida would earn some notoriety for his future work on Golden Axe and a personal favorite Dynamite Deka (Die Hard Arcade series). Co-designer Hirokazu Yasuhara is even more notable with his planning and design on the early Sonic the Hedgehog titles before moving on and being involved in the design of Jak & Daxter titles with Naughty Dog and eventually the first Uncharted.
Posted in 3DS, Arcade, Dreamcast, Genesis, Master System, NES, PC/Mac, PS3, Reviews, Turbografx-16/PC-Engine/CD, Wii, Xbox 360
Tagged with altered beast, hirokazu yasuhara, makoto uchida, sega, tohru nakabayashi
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ART, THEATER, MUSIC, FILM, POETRY
You are invited to the opening reception for the exhibition at Green Kill of Ali Shrago-Spechler on Saturday, December 1, from 5 to 9. Refreshments will be served.
There will be a special performance at the reception by Line Eldi of the band Line on Some Trip (L.O.S.T.) at 6:30 pm for 30 minutes. The exhibition is on view from December 1 to 29, 2018. Best viewing hours are Tuesday-Saturday 3-6 PM. Green Kill hours are Tuesday-Saturday, 3-9 PM
About Ali Shrago-Spechler
Ali Shrago-Spechler “Volksempfaenger VE17”, 2017, Cardboard and paper mache, $200 without sound,sound, k $236 with sound
Ali Shrago-Spechler , “Altneuland “, 2018 ,Concrete, 2” x 2”, $36 (large), $25 (medium) $18 (small) $100 / group of five magnets
Ali Shrago-Spechler, “untitled”, Acrylic on canvas, NFS
Ali Shrago-Spechler, “A Briss Before Dying II”, 2015, Oil on canvas, $518
Ali Shrago-Spechler,, “Harold’s Dream”, 2018, Oil on canvas, $518
Ali Shrago-Spechler, “Semitic as Fuck”, Cardboard and paper mache, paint, NFS
Ali Shrago-Spechler, “Holy Shit, Holy Shit”, 2017, Cardboard and paper mache, gold paint, $36 ea
Ali Shrago-Spechler, “I love NY But Jerus…”, Acrylic on canvas, NFS
Ali Shrago-Spechler, “Mr. Meanie”, 2018, Oil and a acrylic on canvas, $818
A smooth brow looks so ugly, 2018
With a humorous, sentimental, and sensory approach, Ali’s installations and performative actions address the malleability of history and the invention of tradition. I make videos, paintings, sculptural objects, and interactive events to create a fun, familiar, and strange space for my audience. Her hybrid actions employ a reflective nostalgia; exploring the comedy and violence of Jewish history and culture and encouraging viewers to question their own narratives, self-imposed alienation, and the source and effect of memory.
By occupying established traditions and national symbols filtered through a secular Jewish-American lens, Ali’s multidisciplinary works merge fact and fiction into a new narrative that maintains cultural cues while revealing and celebrating the absurd. Signifiers from popular culture are combined with religious iconography and ritual, reflecting a bizarre integration of social practices. She contextualizes these symbols to explore stereotypes, revealing the structures that root us in our language and lifestyles.
Ali Shrago-Spechler is an interdisciplinary artist from Hollywood, Florida. Through painting, parties, and performative installation, her work explores the source of rituals practiced within religion, nationalism and bureaucracy and the allegiance required to participate. Ali is the recipient of the Emerging Artist Naomi Anolic Family Award (2017), studied fine art at Bezalel Academy of the Arts’ exchange program in 2010 and attended residencies at Trestle Artist Residency (2018), Art Kibbutz NY on Governors Island (2016) Vermont Studio Center (2016) and The Studios at MASS MoCA (2017), with work has been featured in The Forward, VICE Creators Project, Time Out NY, New Times, and The Miami Herald. She received her BFA in painting and art history from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn and her MFA in fine arts from School of Visual Arts in New York. Ali lives and works in Brooklyn.
About Line Eldi
Born and raised in the suburbs of Paris, Line grew up in a muslim immigrant family from Syria and Palestine. She travelled across Europe and lived in England, Italy, Scotland and Hungary where she found many human and artistic inspirations. She moved to NYC in 2014 and started her official musical project. With a soft voice that can turn into a storm of rage and strumming strings, Line tackles the topic of depression caused by the consumption society. She composes Post-punk and Antifolk sometimes psychedelic songs with simple and quirky lyrics full of irony. “Music is a tool that helps me tame my anger and achieve self and death acceptance.”
Ali Shrago-Spechler, December 2018
Green Kill, 229 Greenkill Avenue, Kingston, NY, 12401, 347-689-2323
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