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Cable tops streaming networks among GLAAD media award nominees
By Sandra Gonzalez 2016-01-27 11:00:24 UTC
Streaming networks may be wracking up record nominations this award season but when it comes to fair, accurate, and inclusive representations of the LGBT community on TV this year, cable came out on top.
The GLAAD Media Awards on Wednesday gave 27 nominations to cable networks, 18 to broadcast and seven to streaming networks, up from three the previous year. Beyond the TV categories, Mashable's David Yi also scored a nod for his August feature, "The Faces of Transgender Teen America."
See also: The road to 'Transparent': A history of transgender characters on TV
Much of cable's edge is attributed to the host of reality programs that highlighted members of the LGBT community, but shows like Black Sails, Showtime's Shameless and HBO's Looking also added to the cable tally.
Broadcast, meanwhile, had shows like Empire, Grey's Anatomy, and How to Get Away With Murder grab nominations, with ABC garnering the most of any broadcast network.
Netflix garnered five nominations for streaming networks, with shows like Orange is the New Black, Master of None, Sense8 and Grace and Frankie making the short list, while Amazon's Transparent scored a nomination for the second year in a row.
A one-hour GLAAD Media Awards special will air on Logo in April.
Here are some more nominees:
Outstanding film — wide release
Carol (The Weinstein Company)
The Danish Girl (Focus Features)
Dope (Open Road Films)
Freeheld (Lionsgate)
Grandma (Sony Pictures Classics)
Outstanding film — limited release
52 Tuesdays (Kino Lorber)
Appropriate Behavior (Gravitas Ventures)
Boy Meets Girl (Wolfe Video)
Drunktown's Finest (Nehst Studios)
Tangerine (Magnolia Pictures)
Arrow (The CW)
Black Sails (Starz)
Empire (FOX)
The Fosters (ABC Family)
Grey's Anatomy (ABC)
How to Get Away with Murder (ABC)
Nashville (ABC)
Orphan Black (BBC America)
Sense8 (Netflix)
Shameless (Showtime)
Brooklyn Nine-Nine (FOX)
Faking It (MTV)
Grace and Frankie (Netflix)
Looking (HBO)
Master of None (Netflix)
Modern Family (ABC)
Orange Is the New Black (Netflix)
Please Like Me (Pivot)
Transparent (Amazon Instant Video)
Vicious (PBS)
Outstanding individual episode (in a series without a regular LGBT character)
"Gender" — The Carmichael Show (NBC)
"Please Don't Ask, Please Don't Tell" — Black-ish (ABC)
"The Prince of Nucleotides" — Royal Pains (USA Network)
"Rock-a-Bye-Baby" — NCIS New Orleans (CBS)
"We Build, We Fight" — NCIS (CBS)
Outstanding TV movie or limited series
Banana (Logo)
Bessie (HBO)
Cucumber (Logo)
Outstanding reality program
I Am Cait (E!)
New Girls on the Block (Discovery Life)
The Prancing Elites Project (Oxygen)
Transcendent (Fuse)
Outstanding TV journalism - newsmagazine
"Bruce Jenner: The Interview" — 20/20 (ABC)
"The Courage Game" — SportsCenter (ESPN)
"Dividing The United Methodist Church" — To The Contrary (PBS)
"Showdown in Indiana: The Battle Over Religious Rights" — CNN Special Report (CNN)
True Life: I'm Genderqueer (MTV)
Outstanding Digital Journalism Article
"How the Killing of a Trans Filipina Woman Ignited an International Incident" by Meredith Talusan, Vice.com
"The Faces of Transgender Teen America" by David Yi, Mashable.com
"The Ky Peterson Saga" [series] by Mitch Kellaway and Sunnivie Brydum, Advocate.com
"This Is What It’s Like To Be An LGBT Syrian Fleeing For Your Life" by J. Lester Feder, Buzzfeed.com
"This Tiny Clinic is Fighting for Trans Patients Illegally Denied Medical Care" by Jennifer Swann, TakePart.com
A list of nominations for all categories is available here.
Topics: Entertainment, glaad, netflix, reality television, streaming content, Television
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Home News Breaking News Major Jewish Group Calls on Obama to Denounce Iran’s ‘Quds Day’ Rallies...
Major Jewish Group Calls on Obama to Denounce Iran’s ‘Quds Day’ Rallies Featuring ‘Death to Israel’ Chants
Major Jewish human-rights group the Simon Wiesenthal Center called on U.S. President Barack Obama on Friday to denounce marches in Iran marking the country’s aggressively anti-Zionist international Quds Day.
“The SWC is urging President Obama to denounce today’s al-Quds Day demonstrations in Iran where chants of ‘Death To America’ and ‘Death to Israel’ could be heard,” said the Wiesenthal Center.
Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean of the Center, said despite negotiating with Iran, the U.S. remained one of the country’s core enemies, along with Israel.
“The burning in effigies of President Obama and Israeli [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu along with the burning of U.S. and Israeli flags sends a crystal clear signal to the world, that whatever the outcome of nuclear talks, the U.S. and Israel remain the Ayatollah’s top enemies,” charged Cooper.
The American Jewish Committee meanwhile said the massive Quds Day rallies — millions of marchers, according to Iranian media — sent a “chilling reminder of Iran’s worldview.”
These “mass demonstrations across Iran against Israel and the U.S. [are] a stark reminder that Tehran remains implacably wedded to a hateful, fanatical ideology that threatens the region and the world,” said the AJC.
AJC President David Harris said the Quds Day demonstrations were a reminder why the U.S. could not afford to let Iran obtain a nuclear weapon.
Iranian officials and the military had called for massive representation for Friday’s rallies, where purported moderate Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said demonstrators would declare their “hatred of Israel.” Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guard Corp released a statement in the lead-up to Friday’s ceremonies saying the destruction of Israel was the Muslim World’s top priority.
Though the unabashedly anti-Israel Quds Day was started by Iran to show support for Palestinians in 1979, it is observed internationally on the last Friday of Ramadan in Muslim countries around the world.
The Algemeiner
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Next articleTop Israeli Diplomat Says ‘Absurd’ to Believe Iran’s Claim it Will Join Fight Against Global Terror
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Fayetteville, AR Office: (479) 443 - 6677
☎ (479) 443 - 6677
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Home Capabilities About Us Business Careers Gallery Contact Surplus
Maynard, Inc.
Is a multi-tier manufacturer / supplier of parts, assemblies, services, and kits for Aviation, Defense and Commercial Industries.
We strive to be your choice based on our performance and value. Our diversified manufacturing processes and capabilities are recognized by many OEM, Tier I, Tier II and Tier III companies as a key resource in their supply chains. Please review our capabilities and let’s get to work.
Stretch Forming
Click on a tab above to read about a service we provide
Maynard, Inc. is an industry leader in Complex Aerospace machined parts and assemblies. Our facility utilizes the latest in CNC machining and inspection processes. We specialize in both medium-to-large quantity run and one-off complex single piece orders with short lead times.
Maynard, Inc. delivers a broad range of sheet metal fabrication capabilities, ranging from a single-piece component to complex, multiple-quantity orders. Our capabilities include everything from in-house tooling design and manufacturing to complex sheet metal design and programming. We bend, stretch, draw and form a myriad of materials such as aluminum alloys, stainless steel, titanium, and other high nickel alloys.
Maynard, Inc. is a Nadcap accredited welding shop. Our full-service operations include facilities dedicated to complex weld assemblies. We have successfully executed many programs, including large, complex aerospace welded assemblies for some of the world’s leading aerospace and defense companies
Our CNC machines provide high production repeatability and the capability to work with tube assemblies in all alloys to produce precisely contoured products from both sheet metal and extrusions. We provide a full range of tube bending and forming equipment along with an extensive tooling inventory. We specialize in complex tube and duct assemblies for Aerospace and Military use.
Maynard, Inc. is committed to customer service and quality. We have the ability to form aluminum, steel, stainless steel, titanium, inconel within the limitations of machinery and material properties. We stretch form extruded, roll formed, and press brake shapes up to 160”.
Maynard, Inc. offers products that comply with the most current aerospace and military requirements. At Maynard, we work with many different substrates employed by the aerospace and military applications. We provide corrosion resistant, wear resistant, and impact resistant paint, as well as painting for cosmetic and appearance improvement. Our well-equipped facility allows us to paint parts of all different shapes and sizes. We are NADCAP-certified and operate under AS9100 & ISO 9001:2008 quality management systems.
Maynard, Inc. is an industry leader in the assembly of multiple-detail components into larger subassemblies or finished assemblies. Our full-service operations include facilities dedicated to assembly and integration of aerospace and commercial structures, and are supported by dedicated project managers, engineers, and purchasing and production managers. We have successfully executed many programs, including large, complex aerospace assemblies for some of the world’s leading aerospace and defense companies.
Maynard, Inc. has the ability to work closely with your engineering department or product development team to help initiate a strategy to produce a part, component, or assembly.
Our partnerships in the industry have helped us deliver exceptional products for a wide variety of clientele.
Our continued investments in processes, key employees, and innovation have kept us on the cutting edge of manufacturing for over 35 years.
more about capabilities
Our qualifications and certifications include:
ISO 9001: 2015, AS9100: 2016 (D) technically equivalent to EN 9100:2016 and JISQ9100:2016, D1-4426, ANSI Z540-1
© Maynard, Inc. All Trademarks are property of their respective owners.
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UMBERTO’S CLAM HOUSE , MULBERRY STREET , LITTLE ITALY , New York
The flamboyant criminal career of Joey Gallo was ended early yesterday by a lone gunman who surprised the gregarious gangster in a downtown restaurant where he was continuing the celebration of his 43d birthday.
Gallo was struck only twice, but police estimated that about 20 shots, most of them fired by Gallo aides, were exchanged. Also wounded was Gallo bodyguard Peter (Pete the Greek) Diapioulas, 40. Police arrested him for possession of .32 caliber revolver.
The dramatic death of the Brooklyn mob boss – whose flair for violence earned him the nickname Crazy Joe – sent police to gangster haunts throughout the city in an attempt to head off a possible all-out mob war.
With Gallo in Umberto’s clam bar, 129 Mulberry St., when he was shot was his bride of three weeks, Sina, and her daughter, Lisa, 10. Also in the party, which had gone to the Little Italy restaurant after attending comedian Don Rickles’ opening night performance at the Copacabana, was the hood’s sister, Mrs. Ella Fiorella, and a friend, Edith Russo.
Diapioulas also sat at the table, which was on the right side and in the rear of the small restaurant. Police say that one and possibly two other Gallo men were seated on stools in the front of the restaurant.
Crazy Joe Gallo & Brother Larry
ENTERED TRHOUGH SIDE DOOR
Gallo had arrived at Umberto’s shortly after 5 a.m. and, according to witnesses, was loud and happy. The party ordered house specialties such as scungilli, calamari and mussels. Wine was brought to the table.
A Plate of MUSSELLS CLAMS SCUNGILLI & CALAMARI
Besides the Gallo party, there were nine other customers in the restaurant, which opened three weeks ago. The gunman entered through a side door and went directly to behind Gallo’s table.
The man, described as about 5-foot-8, stocky, about 40 years old and with receding dark hair, fired twice, striking Gallo in the left shoulder and, as the hood fell over, in the left buttock. Diapioulas drove for cover but was also hit in the buttock.
The killer calmly turned and walked out into Mulberry St. to a waiting car. Diapioulas apparently fired three times at the gunman. Other Gallo hoods ran to the street and began blasting at the car as it sped away.
Gallo managed to stagger toward the front door. He stumbled and then fell, smashing the plate glass. Gallo then plunged through the entrance and staggered 15 feet more before collapsing in the middle of the intersection of Hester and Mulberry Sts.
Patrolman Felice Agosta of the Elizabeth St. station, summoned to the scene, found the gang leader, Diapioulas at his side, lying on the street. The cop took both to Beekman-Downtown Hospital, where Gallo was pronounced dead.
Police estimate that as many as four guns, including the still missing murder weapon, were used in the shootout. Only Pete the Greek’s weapon was recovered, police said. Several buildings, including Graziano’s funeral home, directly opposite Umberto’s side entrance, bear pock-marked evidence of being struck by slugs.
Although Gallo had recently said he was retired from all criminal activity and was writing a book, police sources said this was not true, that in fact the mobster had built up a considerable organization since his parole from prison last June.
or as da Boys would say, “Gal-a-Mar
Gallo, who had spent nine years in Attica prison after being convicted for an attempted extortion, from a Little Italy restaurant owner, quickly became engaged in extortion, shakedowns and shylocking on his parole, according to ranking police officer.
The swaggering tough guy reportedly attempted also to move in on several night clubs that were controlled by other mob factions, and this activity may have led to the rubout.
Gallo’s death was not mourned in Little Italy. Most of the shopkeepers and people in the neighborhood refused comment. Underworld figures simply shrugged and said, “It had to happen.”
Gallo first came into underworld prominence in the early ’60’s when he and brothers, Larry and Albert (Kid Blast), broke away from the Joseph Profaci “family” and engaged in a gang war that left 14 dead and four other hoods missing.
Profaci died of cancer in 1962 and Joseph Colombo reportedly took over the family and patched up the grievances with the Gallo gang. Larry Gallo also died of cancer, in the mid ’60’s.
SHRIMP MARINARA
LEARN HOW to MAKE UMBERTO’S FAMOUS SHRIMP MARINARA
Recipe Is in DANIEL BELLINO “Z” s New Cookbook
MANGIA ITALIANO !
ITALIAN FOOD MEMORIES
Coming Soon … Click Here !
LINGUINE VONGOLE
WHEN ITALIAN AMERICANS COOK
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Robert Pattinson is now Batman, which we swear is not a Twilight joke
Photo: Dominique Charriau (Getty Images)
Robert Pattinson has spent the last several years shedding the shadow of (semi-) nocturnal predators, moving away from his career-making role in the Twilight movies—a franchise he reportedly viewed with a not-inconsiderable amount of eye-rolling amusement, if not outright disdain—in favor of more challenging films like last year’s Good Time and Claire Denis’ recent High Life. (And also that movie where he got totally 9/11-ed.) But just because you let go of the bat don’t mean the bat has let go of you, something confirmed this evening when Variety reported that Pattinson had stepped into the recently vacated cape and cowl of Warner Bros.’ Batman films.
Specifically, R-Pats will star in Matt Reeves’ The Batman, originally conceived as a directing and starring vehicle for Ben Affleck, before Affleck got terminally sick of all this Batman shit. There’s no word yet on whether Pattinson is on the hook for any other Batman appearances—Warner Bros. appears to have been warned off of its MCU-lite ambitions in recent years, but you never know—or if they’ll really try to blow Twilight fans minds by casting Kristen Stewart (who’s also worked long and hard to put that particular series in her rearview) as his corresponding Selina Kyle.
Update: The plot thickens, slightly: Deadline reports that Pattinson is still merely on the short list to play the Caped Crusader, with potential X-Men refugee Nicholas Hoult still also in the running. Variety is usually pretty reliable when reporting stuff like this, but it sounds like there might still be some uncertainty over the new real-life identity of Martha Wayne’s little boy. (Wait…your mother’s name was Martha, too?!!)
A wise, broken George Clooney urged Ben Affleck to pass on playing Batman
Ben Affleck finally achieves lifelong dream of not having to play Batman anymore
The Batman director Matt Reeves still out here acting like The Batman is actually going to happen
Recent from William Hughes
Woody Harrelson is the new king of Wimbledon
Scarlett Johansson says she "should be allowed to play any person, tree, or animal"
Arnold's rejected Predator cameo was supposed to be a Force Awakens, Luke Skywalker kind of thing
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Water Wisely: Five steps to conserving water in your garden
Media Contact: Allison Sandve, University of Minnesota Extension media relations, 612-626-4077 or 651-492-0811, ajsandve@umn.edu
From container plantings to lawns and gardens, the University of Minnesota Extension horticulture team is focusing on ways to help people use water wisely.
8 questions with Chris Tritabaugh
Golf course superintendent at Hazeltine National Golf Club, home of the 2016 Ryder Cup
You are building a whole village at Hazeltine to prepare for the Ryder Cup. It looks truly epic.
It is epic. We’re expecting 250,000 people, so there’s a lot to do. I’ve been involved in these tournaments before, but this is the first time that it’s really me managing the course and grounds from start to finish. It’s coming up quick!
Wiser water use on the golf course
Golf courses provide benefits well beyond a good round of the game when they are cared for in an environmentally friendly manner. A collaboration between University of Minnesota Extension and Minnesota Golf Course Superintendents Association (MGCSA), has helped golf courses reduce water use by 22 percent in recent years.
Manage insecticide use for soybean aphids carefully
ST. PAUL, Minn. (7/21/2016) — Science-based approaches to controlling soybean aphid numbers should be carefully integrated to maximize profitability for soybean farmers. An integrated pest management (IPM) approach minimizes the aphid’s impact on soybean yields and helps prevent insecticide resistance.
University of Minnesota honors farm families of the year
ST. PAUL, Minn. (7/14/2016) — Eighty-one Minnesota families are being honored as 2016 Farm Family of the Year by the University of Minnesota.
Peace Sanctuary Garden engages St. Paul residents
Master Gardener volunteers with University of Minnesota Extension hosted weekly afternoon Peace Sanctuary Garden classes at a community garden on Aurora Avenue in St. Paul during the summer of 2016. The purpose was to engage residents in investing in their neighborhoods by offering communal gardening time, a garden science lesson and a nutritious garden snack.
Extension and partners aim to better understand lake health
To better understand potentially harmful blue-green algae, University of Minnesota Extension educator Shahram Missaghi is part of a team studying Madison Lake in Blue Earth County. Mankato Free Press reporter Kristine Goodrich recently took a closer look at the work, which is led by University of Minnesota professor Miki Hondzo and the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency.
Missaghi and other partners in the project will study information amassed in floating data-gathering equipment to better understand origins of blue-green algae and potential ways to prevent it from occurring. The study is funded by the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources.
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John Cabot University Announces Italy Writes 2012 Italy Writes
On June 21st, JCU Summer 2012 Writer in Residence Joyce Carol Oates and Professor of English Carlos Dews welcomed a crowd of high school students and members of the JCU Community in the Aula Magna Regina for the first Italy Writes Creative Writing Contest Awards Ceremony.
Students from all over Italy sent a total of 135 entries, divided between fiction and non-fiction, which were read by a mixed committee of judges from John Cabot University and the University of Iowa’s International Writing Program. Six finalists were chosen – three per category – and they read an excerpt from their work during June 20th’s public reading, attended by students and JCU’s Institute for Creative Writing and Literary Translation faculty.
The following evening, Simone Possenti from Liceo Carducci in Milan and Francesco Tavani from Liceo Visconti in Rome were announced as winners by Joyce Carol Oates, and received their prize, an Apple iPad.
The finalists were:
Elisabetta Petrucci, Liceo Classico Statale ‘Socrate’, Rome, for ‘Behind the Appearance: The Thousand Faces of Life – in Search of identity’
Raffaella Maggi, Liceo Classico ‘Gaetano De Sanctis’, Rome, for ‘The Dark Side of Love’
Simone Possenti, Liceo Classico Statale ‘G. Carduccì’, Milan, for ‘Fairy Time’
Elena Mastrogregori, Liceo Ginnasio Statale ‘E.Q. Visconti’ Rome, for ‘The Green Line’
Daniele Morrone, Liceo Ginnasio Statale ‘Dante Alighieri’, Rome, for ‘Invisible’
Francesco Tavani, Liceo Ginnasio Statale ‘E. Q. Visconti’, Rome, for ‘Tears in the Sea’
About Italy Writes
Building on the tremendous success of its Italy Reads program, JCU has launched Italy Writes, a national English-language writing competition for Italian high school students that includes on its panel of judges professors from one of America’s most highly-ranked creative writing centers: the University of Iowa’s International Writing Program.
Italy Writes engages high school students in the development of their English creative-writing skills and is open to all students enrolled in Italian high schools that do not have English as the primary language of instruction. Students compete annually for awards for the best creative writing piece in the genres of fiction and nonfiction.
Academics, Creative Writing, Faculty, Students
Academics, Award, Creative Writing, Faculty, International, Italy Reads, Italy Writes, Students
The Syrian Civil War at Year Eight: A Talk by Professor Ibrahim Al-Marashi
Theory and Experiments in Macroeconomics and Finance: JCU Hosts International Workshop
Professor Rosa Filardi Curates “Inclusiva:” a Festival Dedicated to Social Inclusivity
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NMHS Wrestling: Continuation of Dominance?
Taha Rao
After winning Class L’s, finishing 3rd in state opens and 5th at New Englands, the expectations for The New Milford High School Wrestling team are extremely high going into the 2016-2017 season. The team is determined to add another year to their SWC banner, win state opens and hopefully be able to make some noise in New England’s.
The ambitious team has been restlessly awaiting the beginning of this season and preparing with their goals in mind. The team participated in the summer program at the high school while others also went to private institutions like Cactus and Iowa Style. “We feel very prepared for this season, especially the seniors and a lot of juniors too.” Said captain Cameron Berger (Senior) “They have been doing a lot of off-season work so we feel like this is going to be a good year for us.”
Head Wrestling coach, Chris Piel, is a very experienced coach, coaching many of the wrestlers since they were young. He has built a lasting bond with these athletes and has taught them valuable lessons both in the ring and out. Piel also has very high expectations for the team, as he knows full well what they are capable of. “This season should be very competitive.” Piel said, “We should be a competitive team as long as everyone works hard and does their job.”
The boys will be looking to come out of the gates firing with their first meet against Bethel, then onto a tournament at Wethersfield. Considering their outstanding performances last season, the team seems to be very confident in their abilities to dominate their competitors, as they should be. They will be led by returning standouts Mel Ortiz and Tyler Shultz who last year, as sophomores, placed in the Eastern States Classics, as well as Cameron Berger and CJ Shultz who both placed in SWC’s last year.
As talented as they are, nobody expects the competition to roll over for them this year. The team will face some very tough competition in the form of Newtown and Danbury. Also, despite their embarrassment of riches, it must be noted that they lost arguably two of the best wrestlers the school has ever seen. “When you lose wrestlers like Bryan Rojas and Brett Leonard, who were great captains and great leaders, you can’t replace [them].” lamented coach Piel. But the team remains positive, hoping this year’s captains Cameron Berger, David Angulo, and CJ Shultz can lead the team to the heights Rojas and Leonard previously have. With the work the wrestlers have put in during the off-season, and the heights they set the bar at each year, the pieces are together for yet another incredible run.
What are you doing for Spring Break?
Staying Home
New Milford High School Spring Sports
Statistical Review: Nurmagomedov takes the UFC Lightweight Title
Spring Sports: a Season in Review
Hockey Season Recap
Connecticut Athletes compete in the 2018 Winter Olympics
NMHS Girls and Boys Basketball displaying skillful promise
Green Wave Wrestling aims for great success
Green Wave Football continues to impress
Team chemistry shines through on Volleyball court
Positive outlooks for Boys and Girls Soccer
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The Plant Press
A quarterly newsletter from the Botany Dept (NMNH) and the U.S. National Herbarium.
Printed Issues
Botany Home
« Botany website redesign | Main | The search for Santessonia continues »
The digitization conveyor project hits 2 million scans
From Plant Press, Vol. 22, No. 1, January 2019.
After three years of production, the Department of Botany is excited to announce that the Botany Digitization Conveyor Belt has reached 2 million scans of botanical specimens this December 2018. This number also coincides with the transcription of 1.5 million conveyor specimen images. Total number of inventoried specimens from the US National Herbarium has now reached over 3 million records, and can be found in our online catalog (https://collections.nmnh.si.edu/search/botany/).
Sarah Evans prepares to scan an herbarium specimen. (Photo by I. Lin)
These landmark figures are the result of very hard work from the Department of Botany and the Smithsonian’s Digitization Program Office staff, in collaboration with the digitization company Picturae. The Botany Conveyor Belt runs five days a week, capturing the images of 3,000-4,000 pressed specimens every day, or one specimen image every 4-6 seconds. Staff are continually preparing, moving, scanning, filing, and repairing botanical specimens for this long-term project.
Euonymus americanus (Celastraceae), just one of the 2 million scanned botanical specimens from the US National Herbarium.
Which plant families can be found in the online catalog? The digitization team has completed a large portion of the dicotyledons, including Asteraceae, Fabaceae, Rubiaceae, Melastomataceae, Acanthaceae, Ericaceae, and many more. The pteridophytes and Cyperaceae are also complete. The team is now working their way through the last third of the dicots, and expect to be 80 percent complete with this group by late spring 2019. The goal is to digitize all pressed specimens in the US National Herbarium within the next three years, funding permitted. Stay tuned for updates in the coming months and years.
Posted at 10:30 AM in Botanical News | Permalink
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For more information about the Plant Press, please write to Dr Gary Krupnick (krupnick@si.edu)
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Plant Press Vol. 22 No. 2
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NOSTRADAMUS, ASTROLOGY AND THE BIBLE
substudY "WORLD WAR ii"
Information on Frans (Franz) Eduard Farwerck alias B.J. van der Zuylen (1889-1978)
Some facts about the pre-war life of Frans Eduard Farwerck
Frans (Franz) Eduard Farwerck was born in Amsterdam (NL) on March 4, 1889. His father, Franz Richard Otto Heinrich Farwerck, a merchant, born on February 24, 1856 in Schöppingen (Prussia), was German (on April 28, 1904, he got the Dutch nationality); his mother, Elise Dorothea Struve, born on May 1, 1850, was Dutch. Frans Eduard had one brother, Carl Wilhelm, born in Amsterdam on September 10, 1892. On December 7, 1920, Carl Wilhelm married Johanna Borrius, born in Amsterdam on May 3, 1901. From this marriage, three sons were born. As far as I know, Frans Eduard remained single.
Frans Eduard Farwerck passed through the 3-year "HBS" high school and the public trade school in Amsterdam. Next, he passed through a trade education in France, Germany and Great-Britain. In 1909, he started to work at the branch office of the NV Bruinkolen-briketten-handel in Rotterdam, of which his father was president of the board of directors. After two years, he became director of this branch office. In 1912, in Hilversum (NL), he founded a carpet factory, which in the course of the years was expanded by means of fusions. In 1933, the NV Verenigde Nederlandsche Tapijtindustrie was founded. Farwerck became its director.
Besides being director of the NV Verenigde Nederlandsche Tapijtindustrie, Farwerck had a number of secondary occupations. He was charrman of the board of the Hilversumsch Bankierskantoor and the Glasfabriek Leerdam. He was one of the founders of the "Goois Museum" and one of the founders of treasurer of the Hilversum Rotary Club. Until the thirties, he also did social work.
About the way he spent his free time, it is known that he practiced horse riding and collected antique objects.[1]
Le Droit Humain
Nostrodamus
In 1918, Farwerck joined Freemasonry. From 1923 to 1933, he was Grandmaster of the National Council of the Dutch Federation of the International co-mingled Freemasonry Order "Le Droit Humain", seated in Paris, in which, in contrast with other Freemasonry Orders, not only men were active, but also women, on an equal basis.[2]
In the period in which Farwerck joined Freemasonry, he wrote several publications.[3] In 1920, the Maçonnieke Uitgevers Maatschappij, seated in Amsterdam, 133 Keizersgracht, published the brochure Oordeel. That year, this publishing company also published a brochure, entitled De vrouw in de Vrijmetselarij, carrying the author's name J. Farwerck-Borrius, Farwerck's sister-in-law.
In 1927, carrying the author's pseudonym B.J. van der Zuylen, the Maçonnieke Uitgevers Maatschappij published his book Mysteriën en Inwijdingen in de Oudheid. With the use of the pseudonym B.J. van der Zuylen, Farwerck referred to his membership and activities for Freemasonry. The initials B and J referred to Boas and Jachin, the left and right pillar of the gate of King Solomon's Temple. The family name Zuylen was also an allusion to King Solomon's Temple.[4] In 1929, in issue 2 of the quarterly Bouwsteenen - voor een veelzijdige harmonische levens- en wereldbeschouwing: driemaandelijksch tijdschrift gewijd aan wijsheid en schoonheid van alle tijden, an article, entitled Nostrodamus, was published, carrying the name B.J. van der Zuylen. This was a non-political article in which Farwerck tried to demonstrate that it was possible to predict the future and that Nostradamus was a gifted seer, which could be seen in his predictions, in which he described the future in detail. Bouwsteenen was published by the aforementioned Maçonnieke Uitgevers Maatschappij. Later, this company, which was active until 1932, published Nostrodamus as a brochure.
In 1931, the Maçonnieke Uitgevers Maatschappij published De Hiram mythe en het 3e Rituaal.
In 1934, Farwerck ended his Freemasonry membership. According to some sources, he was expelled from Freemasonry because of his membership in 1933 of the NSB, the Dutch national-socialist movement.[5].
The NSB
At the time of the activities in the Hilversum Rotary Club, Farwerck met reverend Gerrit van Duyl, who later became speaker for the NSB. If this meeting finally resulted in Farwerck's joining of the NSB, is not clear for me. On November 28, 1931, in the period in which he was Grandmaster of the Dutch branch of the Freemasonry Order "Le Droit Humain", the Nederlandsch Ario-Germaansch Genootschap, a pendant of the German Edda-society, was planned to be founded in Utrecht (NL). By means of Arian literature and archeology, this society wanted to put an end to ignorance about ancestry and history. The members of this society postulated that primal-Arian culture was the source of all later cultures. Farwerck was one of those who signed the brochure in which the foundation of the Nederlands Ario-Germaans Genootschap was announced, but one day before the actual foundation, he withdrew himself.[6]
In 1933, the year in which Hitler came to power in Germany, Farwerck joined the NSB. It is possible, due to his involvement in the Nederlandsch Ario-Germaansch Genootschap, that he meanwhile became convinced that not Freemasonry, but Arian culture was the foundation upon which the world was based and which he could develop further. His membership of the NSB resulted in being expelled from the Dutch branch of the Freemasonry Order "Le Droit Humain".
In the beginning years of his membership of the NSB, he became one of the most influential advisors of ir. Anton Adriaan Mussert, the General Leader of the NSB. The most important function of Farwerck in these years was propaganda leader. He aimed the propaganda first at labourers and farmers, next at the middle classes. As far as I know, he did not write propaganda, based upon the Centuries.
In July 1937, Farwerck founded Der Vaderen Erfdeel, a foundation, identical with the German SS-organization Ahnenerbe. Its aim was to chart the archeologic, German past of "Dietsland" (Great-Netherlands). The field of activity of this foundation corresponds with the field of activities of the Nederlandsch Ario-Germaansch Genootschap, from which Farwerck, shortly before its foundation, end 1931, withdrew himself. The monthly De wolfsangel - Strijdblad voor Nederlandsch volksbewustzijn, founded in 1936, which contained articles about rune signs, archeology and old customs, became the official monthly of Der Vaderen Erfdeel. Due to a proposal of Farwerck, who advocated battle and warfare, the wolf trap (wolfsangel) became the emblem of the WA, the "army" of the NSB. In the NSB, Farwerck also introduced the use of old German names for the Dutch names of the months.
In 1937, reprinted in 1943, Nenasu published a brochure written by Farwerck, entitled Het volksche element in het nationaal-socialisme. This brochure carried the name F. van Schoping, another of Farwerck's author's pseudonyms. In 1928, under the banner of Der Vaderen Erfdeel, two publications of Farwerck were published under his own name: Het is anders dan men ons leerde and Levend verleden, for which he travelled a lot and investigated local folklore, myths and legends and made a lot of pictures of objects which were important for his study.[7] In 1940, the brochure Onze voorvaderen lieten hun stempel om den goudsberg was published.
Dr. L. de Jong, who extensively invesetigated the circumstances of the Netherlands in World War II, characterized Farwerck in his quality of member of the NSB as an ascetic, uncommonly zealous bachelor, one of the most educated in NSB-circles, who was not in the front, clearly dominated Mussert, was admired by many and envied by many. Against the fact that Farwerck was one of the most influential advisors of Mussert, was the fact that he had a sharp conflict with mr. Meinoud Marinus Rost van Tonningen, who in 1936 had joined the NSB. Rost van Tonningen was an adversary of Mussert and his confidants, among them Farwerck, about whom he knew that he had been a member of Freemasonry.[8]
The German national-socialists considered Freemasonry as a hostile organization which, together with the Jews, wanted to make a bid for world power. Whoever had been a freemason, no matter how short, was marked for the rest of his life. Despite these ideas, former freemasons could join the NSB. Within the NSB, however, this was not always supported. Shortly after joining the NSB, his past as a freemason became a source of troubles for Farwerck and finally resulted in his fall. On November 14, 1935, the Nieuwe Tilburgsche Courant published the article Het Fascisme der N.S.B. - onder leiding der Vrijmetselarij, in which was unveiled that according to La Franc-Maçonnerie feminine... (N. Smitkow, Paris, 1933) F. Farwerck was the representative of the Dutch Federation which, according to the daily, meant that the leadership of the NSB-propaganda was trusted to Freemasonry. The daily therefore asked if Christians still could be a member of a fascist movement, lead by Freemasons, and if fascists still could be a member of the NSB. In 1937, Van Duyl secretly prepared a campaign with the apparant intention to tackle Farwerck. As far as I know, this campaign was not carried out. By the end of 1937, after the failure of a conspiracy to put Mussert offside, Van Duyl had to leave the NSB. In the edition of January 21, 1939, the Nieuwe Tilburgsche Courant, basing itself upon Rondschrijven IV, an intern manifesto of harliners within the NSB, wrote about agitation in the NSB against the leaders of the movement (Mussert, Van Geelkerken and Van Bilderbeek) who instead of comeradship and decency put treachery and slander at the service of the people's principles. According to Rondschrijven IV, the spirit of secrecy, introduced by Farwerck, the former Grandmaster of Freemasonry, was undesired to the people.
In the summer of 1940, plans were made for the foundation of the Nederlandsche Kultuurraad, an institute which had to bring Dutch culture and science into line with Germany. Farwerck was one of the candidates for this institute. However, when rumours were spread about his being a Freemason in the past, probably due to the intervention of Rost van Tonningen (which would mean that the hostility between Farwerck and Rost van Tonningen, dating from 1936, would come to an escalation in 1940), the Sicherheitsdienst searched Farwerck's villa and found a letter, addressed to Farwerck, from the National Council of Freemasonry. Mussert had no other possibility than to let Farwerck fall, but he did not think it was easy, due to the merits of Farwerck. Der Vaderen Erfdeel was transferred to the Volksche Werkgemeenschap, an institute, related to the Dutch SS. Despite this, Farwerck, although embittered, remained a member of the NSB. From time to time, he agitated against Rost van Tonningen.[9] In 1941, Volk en Bodem publishers published Farwerck's brochure Wien Neêrlandsch bloed... het rassenvraagstuk en zijn beteekenis voor Nederland, which carried the pseudonym F. van Schoping.
Reprint of
Mysteriën en inwijding
in de oudheid
The years after 1945
After World War II, Farwerck wrote a number of publications about North-European (German) mysticism. Using his pseudonym B.J. van der Zuylen, he wrote Noord-Europese Mysteriën en Inwijdingen in de Oudheid and Noord-Europa, een der bronnen van de Maçonnieke Symboliek, both published in 1953 by Thule publishers in Hilversum, a company which in 1953 also published Het teken van dood en herleving en het raadsel van het Angelsaksische runenkistje, carrying Farwerck's own name, who in the preface wrote that this book was an elaboration of Van der Zuylen's Noord-Europese Mysteriën en Inwijdingen in de Oudheid, as if he had elaborated a book, written by someone else. Once again using his own name, he wrote the book De Mysteriën der Oudheid en hun inwijdingsriten, published in 1960 by Thule publishers.
In the period 1955-1960, Farwerck frequently wrote articles for the quarterly Nehalennia about topics like werewolves and the "wild heir".
In 1970, reprinted in 1978, Ankh-Hermes publishers in Deventer (NL) published Farwerck's book Noordeuropese mysteriën en hun sporen tot heden, which can be considered to be his completion of the material which he published in the years after the war. In Noordeuropese mysteriën en hun sporen tot heden, he reconstructed, basing himself upon literature, archeology and ethynology, German secret teachings and rituals such as initiation rites and funeral rites.
In 1976, Schors publishers in Amsterdam (NL) published a reprint of Mysteriën en inwijdingen in de oudheid, which in 1927 he wrote, using his pseudonym B.J. van der Zuylen.
After the war, Farwerck wrote nothing about Nostradamus and the Centuries, as far as I can see.
In 1978, Farwerck died.
Publications by Farwerck on Nostradamus, discussed on this website
Nostrodamus (brochure version of an article, originalle published in issue 2 of volume 1929 of Bouwsteenen - voor een veelzijdige harmonische levens- en wereldbeschouwing: driemaandelijksch tijdschrift gewijd aan wijsheid en schoonheid van alle tijden (Amsterdam).
De Meern, the Netherlands, July 3, 2011
Expression of thanks
The author of this article expresses his gratitude to mr. R. Dijkstra, librarian of the Theosofische Vereniging Nederland (Dutch Theosophical Society), for sending a Xerox-copy of the brochure Nostrodamus and for providing information about the magazine Bouwsteenen.
The titles, places and year of issue of the mentioned authors are listed in the bibliography.
Sources: Frans Eduard Farwerck (http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frans_Eduard_Farwerck) and a short biographic article about Farwerck in his quality of director of the NV Verenigde Nederlandsche Tapijtindustrie (http://www.iisg.nl/ondernemers/pdf/pers-0466-01.pdf). Biographical facts about Farwerck's family were taken from http://www.humanitarisme.nl/personen/index.php?m=family&id=I16790. [text]
Today, this Freemasonry's Lodge still exists (http://www.droit-humain.org/paysbas). [text]
Sources for Farwerck's publications: http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frans_Eduard_Farwerck en www.kb.nl. [text]
See: http://euro-synergies.hautetfort.com/archive/2011/01/20/frans-eduard-farwerck.html. [text]
Daily Het Vaderland, November 18 and 27, 1931. Online available on http://kranten.kb.nl, like the Nieuwe Tilburgsche Courant. [text]
De Jong-1972, 4-II, pp.582. [text]
De Jong-1972, 4-II, pp.581-582. [text]
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Home Entertainment Features George Lopez Rocks a Full House At The Las Vegas Hilton
George Lopez Rocks a Full House At The Las Vegas Hilton
Pete Allman
George Lopez Comedy
Appearing for a two day engagement on October 16 and 17, comedian George Lopez played to sold out crowds at the Las Vegas Hilton on both nights. With the lower priced tickets sold out virtually overnight, people were shelling out a minimum of $105 per ticket for George’s less than one hour show. He’s got some pretty loyal fans here; I watched about ten tickets be sold in the same number of minutes while I was waiting for my tickets five hours before the Saturday show.
Before the show started, monitors were used to play a review of his career and to promote his new late night show premiering November 9th. TBS ordered 24 weeks of the show and the 11 p.m. start time is intended to provide a jump on Dave and Conan, but after Leno with his 10 time slot. George’s late night show, “Lopez Tonight,” attempts to generate an interactive spark with a live audience and spontaneous guests like Samuel L. Jackson, Dane Cook and Sandra Bullock.
After a respectable six season run of the family sitcom George Lopez comprising 120 episodes on ABC, he’s ready for some high energy late night guests. Rumor has it that George was furious that his show was not renewed in 2008 because he wanted to wrap up some story lines. Adding insult to injury, this was the same time that ABC picked up 13 episodes of “Cavemen.” I guess George was pretty steamed about being valued at less than the “Cavemen” disaster.
George was raised by his grandmother in Los Angeles after his mother and father abandoned him. He worked his way up in comedy using Freddie Prince as a role model and got some good exposure appearing on the Arsenio Hall show. He appeared 16 times over the five years Arsenio was on the air, the most of any comic.
Did I mention he was Latino? Hard to forget, given the content of his stand up act. Slamming white people and promising that Latinos have all but taken over the United States gets some huge laughs, like having the white guy mow the lawn. Seems so crazy that it’s funny, I guess. Just as funny as beating your kid when he wants to have birthday party or how stupid whites are for talking about their kids going to college or trying to keep their kids from being hurt.
George Lopez standup routine
Hopefully “Lopez Tonight” doesn’t need to rely as much on ethnic humor as George’s standup routine. He’s way too talented for his energy to be cubbyholed into the Latino adding ethnic diversity to the late night circuit. It’s risky, but he’s got enough energy, talent and experience to pull it off.
The Las Vegas Hilton
Pete Allman, “The Man on the Scene,” is based in Marina del Rey, California, concentrating on producing feature films, television projects, and commercials. Pete also has an office in Las Vegas, which he visits occasionally.
Pete is also a restaurant critic, broadcast personality and celebrity interviewer. He produces inspirational messages for television and other media.
Of all the investigations he makes, we suspect he likes critiquing restaurants the most, because he can taste the food, savor the atmosphere, interact with people, and photograph all the goodies.
Subscribe to Pete Allman, NewsBlaze.com Writer by Email
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You are here: Home / Archives for Detroit Red Wings
Goodbye to the Joe
April 10, 2017 by Nicko Place Leave a Comment
Oh man, what a day.
First, Sergio Garcia finally wins the Masters, at his 73rd attempt at winning a major. Then comes news that John Clarke, one of the greatest comedians ever produced by New Zealand/Australia and a local of my hood, passed away while hiking in the Grampians on the weekend. And all this while I was watching the last ever Detroit Red Wings game at the Joe Louis Arena.
This last one was going to be enough to unravel me on its own, even without Clarke’s unexpected passing, or feeling happy for the Spanish golfer who burst onto the scene years ago as a wunderkind who was going to dominate the sport but sadly emerged at the exact same moment Tiger Woods appeared through another door and actually did dominate the sport.
Unfortunately, this was as close as I got to the Red Wings season-ending last game at the Joe today. I cried anyway, from half a world away.
‘The Joe’ was the Red Wings’ home for the last 38 years. It was an old barn of a building; one of the least attractive in a shiny new millennium NHL world, but of course the fans adored it and, until recently, other teams dreaded the lair of the all-conquering Wings. The Joe made its debut just as the infamous Dead Wings period of the club’s history was coming to an end. Within three years of its opening, Detroit pizza magnate Mike Ilitch would buy the team, start spending money, the recruiters would get a lot right and suddenly the team went on a roll that included four Stanley Cups and a record 25 straight years in the playoffs. Until this year, when the team finally fell off a cliff and missed the post-season.
Which is why today happened: the final game at the Joe, in early April instead of a month or so later during playoffs. But you know what? It was kind of perfect. Knowing it was the final game meant the Wings could do it properly, without the uncertainty of playoff success, home and away. The date could be penciled in and man, did they do it right.
For starters, by sheer luck, it was captain Hank Zetterberg’s 1000th game and the pre-game ceremony for that had me misty eyed. He’s always been a favourite of mine since I first tuned into the team and he was an absolute star. Then Riley ‘Tinky Winky’ Sheahan, a guy who had inexplicably not scored a goal all season, at last found the net for the Red Wings’ opening goal. Of course, Zetterberg scored because he’s Zetterberg, and then Tatar goaled and finally Sheahan again (to score his own tiny piece of hockey immortality: last goal ever at the Joe). Meanwhile, the Devils played the straight-men to this Detroit lovefest, a crammed-to-the-rafters Joe in a sea of red. Meanwhile, the TV coverage was keeping an octopi count, to note how many poor deceased octopi were hurled onto the ice (it’s a Red Wing thing), and the last tally I noticed was 27.
Rally Al the octopus’s only appearance this season: as part of the final game’s octocount.
At the very end, at the finale of a long ceremony where Red Wing greats spoke about the old building and the fans and how much they love this hockey team, the organisers showed they knew exactly how to play the heart strings of the fans one more time. The unofficial Red Wings victory anthem, Journey’s Don’t Stop Believin’, filled the Joe as the fade out. Born and raised in SOUTH DETROIT.
And to the exits for the final time.
Of course the franchise will move on and the fans will be more comfortable, the ice will probably be better, life will be generally more pleasant in the shiny new Ilitch family stadium, Little Caesar’s Arena, when it opens in September. When the Wings left the creaky but historic Olympia stadium for the brand new Joe in 1979, I’m sure there was just as much sadness and nostalgia.
But today, it was good bye Joe and tears in all directions.
I’ve written before about how being a sports fan is about the journey, not the silverware, because the vast majority of fans are disappointed every year in terms of premierships, cups, whatever the prize.
Flashback to 2011: The Podium Line of Place boys on the glass at the Joe. A life highlight.
In my entire hockey journey, the joy for me has been in being a Red Wing fan, among all the Red Wing fans, from Hockeytown to Australia and everywhere in between. I am so so so so so so so happy today that my boys and I visited the Joe in 2011 to watch some games there. It didn’t occur to me at the time that I would never be there again. The Wings managed to lose all four games we saw, and so we didn’t get to belt out Don’t Stop Believin’ in the flesh, but it didn’t matter. We sat there, in good seats, in a sea of red jerseys with white winged wheels. We saw our heroes – Lidstrom, Zetterberg, Datsyuk, even Helm and Jimmy Howard. We saw Gus Nyquist’s first game as a Wing and Mackquist bought his jersey – without doubt the first one of those to make its way to Australia. A Wings representative showed us around the back corridors of the stadium, showered us in free merchandise and let us watch warm-up from behind the goal. It was a total and complete lifetime-memory blast.
But it wasn’t the Joe that actually stayed in my head as much as the humanity of Detroit. The people of Motorcity embraced us so warmly, unable to believe three Australians had travelled all that way just to sit in the Joe and watch the team.
I have no doubt if and when we make it to the new arena, with slightly roomier seats with better lighting, fancier corporate boxes and a bigger, sharper jumbotron TV screen, we’ll be embraced just as much.
Captain Hank today: The Perfect Human 2.0.
That’s what it all comes down to in the end. It doesn’t matter where the hockey is played, no matter how much you love the arena and the history seeping out of the walls of the joint – and believe me, I really did with the Joe. But ultimately it’s the people. It’s the fans.
That’s why I wept when the Bulldogs won last year’s AFL flag. Not for the players, happy though I was for them, and sad though I was for Bob Murphy who was injured. My heart went straight out for the fans who have waited so long, who have stuck through thick and a lot of thin, who finally tasted the ultimate success. My unofficial footy coach at the Bang, Jimmy, flew back from Greece for the finals when he realised something was happening. The phone video of Jimmy and his family celebrating in the stands when they realised they had made the grand final was an all time highlight reel on its own. When they won the whole thing, he painted his house red, white and blue. The joy was so pure.
This year, my team, the Tigers, are 3-0 after three rounds, sitting in unfamiliar atmosphere at second on the ladder. Saturday’s game started in 27 degree sunshine and ended in a wild thunderstorm-battered, rain-drenched tempest. The fans stayed without blinking. We belted out the song in the wind and the rain. The players high-fived the fans on the boundary and we all started to wonder if we can dare to believe this side can do something significant this year.
The weird tradition of octopi on the ice (and Joe manager Al waving them crazily over his head) will no doubt start again in Game 1 at the new stadium.
We’re so lucky that we play at the MCG, the home of football, after a wrench away from the Punt Road Oval many years ago. Some older fans will have been have been there through that entire journey, through the flags of the sixties and the seventies and 1980, and then the dark wasteland years that have followed.
Whether Richmond plays at the G or in Oodnadatta, it doesn’t really matter. It’s those fans, my dedicated Tiger brothers and sisters, who count.
But having said all that, thank you, Joe Louis Arena, for the memories and for being the foundation for all the Wings adventures I have experienced so far. Thank you for honouring ‘The Brown Bomber’, one of the most legendary boxers ever, and for hosting my sons and I when we briefly, happily, took our place among the Wings faithful.
And one more time, rest in peace, John Clarke. Farnarkeling’s finest ever spokesman. You will be missed.
Filed Under: Ice hockey Tagged With: detroit, Detroit Red Wings, Don't Stop Believin', Goodbye to the Joe, Henrik Zetterberg, Hockeytown, Joe louis arena, MCG, motorcity, nick, nick place, nickdoeshockey, nicko place, place, Rally Al, red wings, Richmond Tigers, Tigers
Losing with a capital L
To be a fan is to be a loser.
I staggered back into Melbourne from overseas late last week, just in time for my beloved Richmond Tigers to get smashed by West Coast. The next day, the Detroit Red Wings got beaten by Tampa Bay, to go 2-0 down in a playoff series that they somehow fell into despite an underwhelming season.
By the weekend, I needed to shake off jetlag so I attempted to go for a run. As I plodded through Edinburgh Gardens, I heard an unmistakable roar from the Brunswick Street Oval on the other side of the tennis courts. Feeling excited, I made my way to the top of the small rise overlooking the oval to see that the mighty Reds (what’s left of the Fitzroy club that used to be a VFL/AFL side) had goaled to edge to within a straight kick of their opponents with minutes to go. Of course, as I watched, the opposition booted two to put the game away. I ran sadly on.
A big crowd in for the ‘Roys at home on a perfect autumn afternoon. Shame they lost. Pic: Nicko
It all got me reflecting on how the life of a sports fan, or player for that matter, is almost completely one of ultimate loss, apart from the occasional miraculous occasion.
At the most elite level, I have seen exactly one championship win by a team I support in my half century on the planet. Granted, Richmond won flags in 1967 and 1969, as well as 1973/74, but I was really young and only just tuning in by those Seventies flags, so they didn’t really resonate. By the time I was a foaming at the mouth, dedicated Tiger, we won the premiership in 1980 – my first live grand final at the MCG; the most epic of days, with my lifetime friend and fellow Tiger, Shaun.
I had no idea that by the age of 51, that would remain my only flag.
The Red Wings? I saw them lift the Stanley Cup in 2007/2008, when I fell in love with the team. But I can’t claim it. I only tuned in, as a flu-ridden, bored total hockey novice, for the Stanley Cup finals, and became engrossed over the course of the Wings victory over the Penguins. So I don’t feel that I can claim that as a cup that I ‘earned’ as a fan. Now, eight years later? Yes, I sweat blood for the Wings and can absolutely claim to be among the Motown army, even from half a world away.
Thank God for the Melbourne Ice with a quiver of men’s and women’s titles, and the Lorne Dolphins’ several flags over the years, in coastal footy, because as far as Richmond and now the Red Wings go, every single year except for once when I was 15, the season has ultimately ended badly.
Detroit’s 2008 Cup: I was lucky to see it.
Which is pretty standard, unless you happen to be a Hawthorn fan in the AFL, winning life’s lottery over the past three decades. For the vast majority of sports fans, barracking life is destined to end, year-in, year-out, at some stage in failure. Look at the Collingwood Football Club with its vast, ever-cocky army – and exactly one more premiership in my lifetime than the bedraggled Tigers. Meanwhile, my more recent love, the Wings, have made the play-offs now for an unbelievable 25 years straight – through salary cap introduction, through Hall of Famers’ retirements (God, I miss The Perfect Human, in defence), through everything, but it’s eight years since they actually won the Cup and could be a while yet.
The Tigers? God, don’t even start me.
And trust me, in footy I know that I’m doing better than fans of the Bulldogs, Saints and Demons, all without a flag in my half century on the planet, or, in the NHL, fans of the Blues, Canucks, Capitals, Sabres and Sharks: teams that have NEVER won the Stanley Cup.
The Tigers triumph in 1980. My one and only premiership. Back before the world was in colour.
Imagine being a player. Matty Richardson for the Tigers, maybe Bob Murphy for the Dogs; playing your guts out for almost two decades and never raising that cup … watching other players who maybe manage 50 AFL games for their career luck out to be on the ground when the stars align and it matters. I feel vaguely disappointed that I’ve played four seasons of summer hockey now without any medals to show for it, so how must they feel? But again, in 2016, for 17 AFL teams and 29 NHL teams, and all but one Summer Division Three team, this will be the way it goes.
For some reason, we never look at this big picture, at how we almost always see a season end in despair. Instead, the fans, and players, get lost in the individual games, even in the individual moments within those sirens or buzzers. Players are touted as genius or idiot, rising star or useless, game to game, or minute to minute. Us fans watch it all, riding every bump, pouring with emotions, sweating on the next puck or goal or wicket or farnarkle or whatever happens to be your poison. I read Winging It in Motown, a very enthusiastic and well-populated Wings blog, and the screen seethes with rage and frustration and elation and sorrow and anger and happiness and wistfulness and … well, you get the picture. Sometimes all during a single game feed.
My cluster of Richmond diehard mates are already wincing at another season wobbling alarmingly at the start, with the team down 1-3 and not inspiring much hope of a premiership run. Again. All the parts that looked so bright and formidable in the pre-season, a month ago, now looking blunt and harmless compared to the razor-sharp skills, game plans and promising rookies of other teams. But then again, if the Tiges suddenly win five in a row …
And so the road goes, as ever. Up and down, peaks, troughs, but hardly ever reaching the desired destination.
Alex Rance: life is about more than silverware.
Which is actually okay. In an excellent interview with The Age’s Emma Quayle during the week, the Tigers’ charismatic full back Alex Rance spoke about caring too much and about how his unstoppable competitiveness and passion for the game can get in his way. Raised a Jehovah’s Witness, Rance thought about leaving the game, leaning back into his beliefs to consider whether he even wanted to play football any more; worried that in the end it was pointless and took him away from his family and true priorities.
Rance said, ‘I’d play a crap game and think, “life sucks”. Then I’d play a good game and everything was awesome. It was like, how can you survive like this? There were peaks and troughs all over the place. It made me think about what faith is, and what I should really be basing my happiness on.”
You don’t have to be of a religious persuasion to see a general wisdom in Rance’s words. Sure, play hard, barrack hard, live or die on a swirling Sherrin in a breeze, or a deflected puck bobbling near a flailing goalie, or a putt curling towards the lip of a golf hole. But see it for what it is, win or lose; an entertaining aside to the real world that is ever travelling alongside, with much higher stakes and greater highs and lows.
In a day or so? Red Wings v Lightning, Game 4.
On the weekend? Richmond v Melbourne at the MCG.
Down at Lorne? Hopefully the Dolphins will be in action, so I can drink a beer on the muddy step grandstand and cheer the locals.
At the Icehouse? The Melbourne Ice men’s team begins another campaign, searching for a Goodall Cup, something has been tantalisingly out of reach for a few years now, but here we all go again.
I’m excited. As usual.
Giddyup.
Just remember it’s all in the journey.
Filed Under: Ice hockey Tagged With: AFL, detroit, Detroit Red Wings, Dolphins, Fitzroy Reds, Lorne Dolphins, melbourne ice, NHL, nick place, nickdoeshockey, nicko, place, red wings, Richmond FC, Richmond Tigers, Tigers
October 21, 2015 by Nicko Place Leave a Comment
Yes, we segwayed Washington. Not even sorry.
Four years ago, on this day, I was sitting up on an all-night train from South Carolina to Washington DC. I adore long train rides, always have, but on this ride, I was sad, having waved goodbye, for who knows how long, to one of my best friends in the world. Trent is a Horsham boy and an old journo brother-in-arms who married an American woman and now has to live over there, meaning I hardly ever get to spend time with him. On a big US trip, my boys and I had dropped into his world. We’d attended soccer training with his daughters. We’d gone past a freeway sign to a town called Batcave. I’d driven a left-hand-drive car for the first time. We’d drunk local beer in a folky bar in Asheville. We’d talked deep philosophy until late in the night. We’d talked shit until late into the night. We’d gone white water rafting, accepting a dare from the guide to go overboard, gasping and laughing in freezing river water, and I’d spotted a bald eagle lazily flapping ahead of us. We’d gone camping in bear country where Trent had told me that you didn’t really need to worry about bears unless you were stupid enough to have food in your tent. One guy got mauled because he had a chocolate bar in his pack, for example. I tried to sleep, knowing my two boys were in a tent just on the other side of the dying fire; sleeping soundly but at the mercy of bears that almost certainly would never come. At about 4 am, I became convinced I had a chocolate bar in my bag. I gave myself a lecture about paranoia and finally slept. In the early morning, the sun just rising, Trent and I creaked to our feet, straight-shot local authentic moonshine to jolt ourselves awake, and grinned at one another. I checked my bag and found a chocolate bar.
Camping by the South Toe River, North Carolina. Bear country. 2011.
Now I was aware that Trent was fading with every mile as American countryside rolled by. This train’s seats were annoyingly about 10 centimetres too close together, just short enough in leg room so there was no way to get comfortable. My youngest son, Macklin, trying to sleep, stirred and shifted and then lay in my lap. I put my arm across his shoulders and it occurred to me that this moment may never come again. When kids are young, you get used to them flailing all over you, sleeping in your bed, or slumping asleep on top of you when they hit that moment kids get when they just can’t stay awake. But Mack was 15 now and at an age where he was starting to want his own space. He had outgrown holding hands as you walk along the street, or overt displays of affection. Was midway through that awkward teenage stage of growing and separating. So it was a rare thing to have him curl up in my lap.
And so we rolled into Washington, a city I had never particularly cared to visit but this time had a reason. As our endless train ride came to an end at Union Station (Paul Kelly: ‘He came in on a Sunday, every muscle aching, walking in slow motion, like he’d just been hit’) a private plane, the Red Wing 1, the Detroit hockey team’s plane, was getting ready to fly from Motor City.
And we had tickets to our first ever NHL game, Detroit @ Washington at the Verizon Centre.
We had a day and a half to fill and hit Washington hard. Peered through the fence at the White House, toured the Smithsonian museums – highly recommend the space museum and the pop culture one – ate at the spy museum café, bought the t-shirt, took a Segway tour of the monuments. Visited Abe Lincoln in his big chair. Stood where Martin Luther-King stood, looking not at a million people by the reflection pond but instead at a work site; an uprooted, drained pond-full of pipes and mud. The boys headed to the Washington zoo while I grabbed a public rent-a-bike and pedalled my way around town, seeing the monuments, the Newseum and other treasures.
And then, finally, it was game time.
Something I had waited years to see. Pic: Nicko
I can still remember walking into the building; worrying that my first-ever Stubhub ticket purchase would be declared invalid at the door. Relieved as they bleeped us through. So many hockey jerseys, including enough Detroit red and white that I relaxed about us being targeted as the enemy in the building. Americans so friendly, Caps fans or Wings; mostly so happy to meet three crazy Australians who had travelled half a world to be there. I remember watching warm-ups; marvelling at seeing Henrik Zetterberg, Pavel Datsyuk and Nick Lidstrom in the flesh. Other favourite players like Helm, Bertuzzi and Howard. Taking photos of everything from a pyramid of pucks on the bench to the crowd filling the venue.See the video below: this is my film of my heroes emerging onto the bench and then to the ice (plus a baby-faced assistant coach, Jeff Blashill, making his way onto the bench alongside Babs).
After decades as a journalist, including covering world title fights, grand slam tennis and many other major events, I was like a kid; a fan again. It wasn’t just seeing the Wings either. Our seats were close to the Washington bench and we were only metres from Alexander Ovechkin, the huge Russian with the Bond-villain face, and the hardest shot I have ever seen. He flicked his wrist like every other player but somehow the puck that came off his stick looked like it would blast clean through a brick wall. No wonder he scores so many goals.
It was Nick Lidstrom’s 1500th NHL game. During a break in play, the achievement was written on the four way big screen above the ice and the entire building gave him an ovation. Lidstrom glancing up to the screen, realising the applause was for him and graciously raising his stick, in his under-stated Perfect Human kind of way.
Good seats at my first ever NHL game. Shame about the scoreline. Pic: Nicko
The Wings lost 7-1. Got jumped 3-0 early and never got it back, Ty Conklin having a less than stellar game in net. No matter, we thought. We have three looming games in Detroit, at the Joe, to console us. We’ll watch the Wings win at home and sing ‘Don’t stop believing’ with our people. We flew off to Chicago, then to Motor City, and Detroit lost every game. We flew back to Australia and Detroit proceeded to set a NHL record for winning the most consecutive games at home.
But do I care? Not at all. At the time, I thought I’d be back in a year or two to watch more NHL games. In fact, when the Wings were announced as a Winter Classic team, Big Cat and I started trying to measure up a trip.
But four years is a lot of sand through the hourglass. Life has changed. My boys have grown, become more independent, as they should. Are planning overseas trips that don’t include me – and on their own coin. Meanwhile, I returned to Australia, felt my heart lurch one or two more times and then met a French woman who turned out to be the unlikely piece of the puzzle I needed for my life to make sense. All my overseas travel since has been aimed at Bretagne instead of Detroit, but believe me, I am okay with that. If you’d seen Chloe’s home town of Rennes, you’d understand.
But exactly four years since I saw the Wings first hand, I find myself wondering when or even if I’ll ever see them again in the flesh? Lidstrom’s No. 5 is now in the rafters of the Joe, which itself is on borrowed time as a new stadium starts to take shape in Detroit’s midtown. Zetterberg and Datsyuk are in deep, deep hockey middle age – although I have them covered on that front, even if I am only two games into my fourth competitive summer.
I was among a group of backpackers in Greece a long time ago, who gathered for a communal meal in Delphi. I got talking to a bloke from Yorkshire who had cycled to Delphi in the hope of seeing a pelican. He was a twitcher and pelican was high on his never-seen bucket list. An unimaginably exotic bird if you were from Yorkshire; something he couldn’t quite believe he might actually see, if he was lucky in the next day or so at a nearby lake. I thought of all the pelicans I’d seen in Australia. Even on the wastelands of the Geelong Road, you see flocks of them flapping overhead. Once, between waves while I was surfing alone around the coast from Lorne, a pelican flew up and landed right next to me, in the water. It hung out for 20 minutes or so and, high on nature and surfing and the beauty of life, I talked and sang to this enormous bird. Not unreasonably, it left soon after. Yet for this Yorkshire cyclist, he’d worked so hard to try even to glimpse one. Such a rare jewel.
Maybe live NHL hockey will be that for me? Both my boys are studying careers that could easily see them end up living overseas, including Toronto and LA so perhaps that’s how I will cross paths with the Winged Wheel once more; on a visit to my sons as they take on the world?
Or maybe I never will. Maybe money will tighten or health will change or circumstances will dictate that my days of jetsetting are done? I t took me until I was 24 years of age to manage to leave Australia and I’ve always felt it is a privilege to fly, to see other countries. I’ve never taken it for granted. And one day it will be over.
Maybe Washington and Detroit in 2011 was my one shot. Maybe I’m destined to be huddled in front of NHL Gamecenter for however many years I have left on the planet, riding a televised puck and Detroit’s fortunes, but with the blessing that in my memory bank is the additional colour and flavour of what it was like to Be There. Of having walked into the Verizon Centre and the Joe Louis Arena; of having seen the numbers and the pennants in the rafters; of having lived NHL hockey live and in the flesh.
How blessed am I to have done that? For that experience, and the wider trip with my sons, four years ago. I saw my pelican. And it was amazing.
Filed Under: Ice hockey Tagged With: babcock, blashill, Datsyuk, delphi, detroit, Detroit Red Wings, helm, Lidstrom, nick place, nickdoeshockey, north carolina, pelican, rafting, red wings, south toe river, verizon centre, washington, zetterberg
Going under in Paris.
October 7, 2014 by Nicko Place 1 Comment
Catacombs art. Picture: Nicko
The tunnel is maybe 600 years old. At times I can walk upright; at times I have to crouch. There are parts of it where crawling on your stomach is the only option. And slightly higher parts where you can sort of crawl on your hands and knees.
Which is when I start laughing, startling my much younger ‘cataphile’ companions, who are also grunting, sweating and struggling forward.
I start laughing because I realize that to get through this part of the illegal catacombs, deep under the city of Paris, I need to do what my personal trainer, Lliam Webster, and I call ‘Spider-man-ing.’ Knees out, core strong, hips low, moving forward, one hand then the other.
It’s training I’ve been doing for a year or so, week in week out, and it becomes apparent in this bizarre underground world that while I thought I was training for ice hockey, I was actually doing the perfect training for catacombs adventuring.
‘Spider-man’ training kicking in. Picture: ‘Twist’.
My training at Fluid with Lliam kicks in everywhere. Sliding on my stomach, I use my hands to push a backpack ahead of me across the muddy clay. Isolating upper body strength and movement from my legs. In parts of the tunnels where you can’t stand upright, classic hockey stance is the perfect way to keep moving; knees bent, back straight, headtorch shining ahead.
I am with three Frenchmen, all around 30 years of age. They are true cataphiles, as they call themselves. They have nicknames so that if we are caught by the French cops, no real names are used. One is known as Syphilis, and I’m not sure I even want to know the origins of that name. Apparently, by day, he’s a doctor so maybe it’s less sordid than it seems. Another is Twist, or the Philistine. One is so stoned so quickly that I don’t bother with his name much because every time we stop, he either lights up or dozes off. He offers me drags of whatever he’s smoking but I politely decline because the illegal catacombs are NOT a place I want to be out of my head, even one per cent. I want my wits about me. We headed into this place at dusk, from a hole in a wall of a disused rail line, keeping an eye out for the gendarmes, and now it’s closing in on midnight and we are deep deep deep within the rambling catacombs tunnels. If I didn’t have a head torch, I would literally not be able to see a thing. I turn it off occasionally, just to get a sense of how dark darkness can be, when you’re 20 metres below Paris in 15th or 16th century tunnels with zero natural light.
Edging along a particularly narrow part of the illegal catacombs, below Paris. Picture: ‘Twist’.
Apart from the locals, who are showing me around, there are three other guys, Israelis in their twenties. Two are trainee Rabbis, about to be ordained or however you officially become a Rabbi, when they return home to Jerusalem in a couple of days’ time. The other guy runs an abseiling business but is heading home to be commandeered into the Israeli army, for compulsory military service. We stumbled across them in the catacombs, without a map, hoping that they’d find their way back out using a compass and taking notes on when they turn right or left. To my mind, they might have died if we hadn’t happened to be down there on the same Monday night. On a weekend, a hundred people or more might sneak into these catacombs; parties are held most Saturday nights for those in the know. But this is a Monday and once your torch battery runs out, there is nothing. And the concept of turn right/turn left gets fluid as the tunnels veer and fall and rise and curve and do their medieval thing. These three had tried to abseil in earlier in the day and roped straight onto a beehive, being stung hundreds of times each. But came back and somehow did find their way in.
A shallow part of the water-logged section of the tunnels. Picture: Nicko
‘Can we come with you?’ they asked Syphilis and he said, ‘Well, you need to stay with us the whole way. We’re in here for six hours or more.’
By the end of the night, when we stumbled up a ladder and out a manhole into the middle of a major St Germaine street at 3 am, they were starting to realize how lucky they were to find him.
Me too, as we wander through a big party room called The Beach, with all kinds of street art on the walls, or the Santa Claus room, or past what is occasionally a cinema, or past a sobering tunnel where the roof fell in. There is a part of the catacombs elsewhere in the city that has been cleaned up, made safe and opened for tourists, but we’re in the other part – the catacombs that are officially blocked off and supposed to be out of bounds. There’s no guarantee that the exit we aim for won’t have been locked by council workers, or blocked by cops. At least, now we’re in, we know we can always hike all the way back to where we arrived, if necessary, but that would see us emerge around 7 am and I’m hoping that is not the case.
The catacombs are closed for a reason. They can be dangerous and, among other things, are apparently part of the Paris reserve water supply, so that even as we walk through parts where the water is up to our mid-thigh, it feels clean and fresh. But of course, people find their way in, and I love that there are always those who will find cracks in the city, other dimensions beyond the ordinary. Once inside, the place doesn’t feel overly dangerous, especially with a map (hello, Israel) and the right equipment. There are no rats, no spiders; there is no life at all. We walk past graffiti from the 18th and 19th century, we walk past skulls and bones. We crawl through a tiny hole into a circular room loaded with a mountain of human bones from the Cimetière des Innocents, a large cemetery that was in the heart of Paris in the 1700s and 1800s. Twist tells me that there was a plague, maybe 500 years ago, and it was blamed on the cemetery, so the bodies were dug up and dumped down here. I work hard not to step on a single bone. One of the Israeli dudes laughs, grabs a skull and pretends to be eating lunch.
Five hundred years ago, there was a plague …
We head on to the Oyster Room, and have one of the best pic-niques of my life. Twist pulls out a dozen or so candles and we turn off our headtorches, preserving batteries. By candlelight, we drink beer, eat breadstick and pate, Camembert cheese and the awesome Petit Écolier chocolate biscuits that would be the best thing ever invented in France if it wasn’t for French women and wine. The stoner tokes and dozes, and Twist peers at a map of the catacombs, downloaded off the internet, plotting our next course. I chat about the stark difference between the word ‘normal’ in Israel and Australia with the army-bound abseiler (Him: ‘We had a war last month. Three of my friends died. It’s how it is where I live. It’s normal. You cry for two days and then you move on. My parents both carry guns. I carry a gun sometimes, to move around town. People don’t want peace. They want revenge. They want to fight.’ Me: ‘So let me tell you about Melbourne, where I come from …’)
Spongebob makes an appearance among the catacomb artwork. Picture: Nicko
And again, I am struck by the mysteries and wonder of my blessed life. That I have the means and contacts and spirit and ability to be sitting in a candlelit cave, deep within the bedrock of Paris, somewhere under the Jardin Luxembourg or thereabouts, chatting war and peace with a Jerusalem native while his Rabbi friends softly prays and then sings next to us. I had been genuinely apprehensive, leaving my flat and heading off to this adventure, but I have a policy that if fear is the only thing stopping me doing something, then I have to do it. So I went, and oh man, I am so glad at this moment that I did.
And as we literally crawl through tiny tunnels and I slide into holes so small I am not sure I’ll fit through, being the lead explorer at this point and needing to bend in an L-shape and corkscrew my torso to make it, feet dangling, unsure where the floor is or, shit, even if there is a floor on the other side, I give thanks for Lliam Webster and hockey and the fact that at almost 50 years of age I am fit enough and supple enough (and stupid enough) and have built enough trained core strength to be able to embrace a fucking crazy adventure like this one and come through it in one piece, smiling.
A candlelight dinner in the Oyster Room.
We pass a former font of the Chartreuse monks, who invented that lethal spirit. We decide it’s past 2 am and we haven’t got time to detour to the German war bunker nearby. (Urban legend has it that Hitler pissed in the toilet there.) We also can’t visit the only official underground grave of the catacombs – a gatekeeper who started walking them 200 years ago (possibly hunting Chartreuse) and one day didn’t return, his body found 21 years later in the tunnels. This trip, the cataphiles won’t make it all the way to under the military hospital, where punk concerts have been known to happen.
It takes both Syphilis and Twist to push against the solid metal manhole cover and release us into the early morning air of a deserted Paris street. Covered head to toe in yellow clay, seven men emerge from the ladder and run for the darkness of a nearby sidestreet. No yells. No sirens. No flashing lights. We jump a fence into the deserted jardin, peel off our wading boots and rainjackets, stash headlamps and I try to regain some sense of normal appearance for the 4 am bus ride back to where I’m staying. My hair is caked in yellow clay and dust. Twist and I share one last beer, grinning at one another like maniacs, like brothers who have shared secrets, like friends who have seen things most don’t get to see, like outlaws who have somehow, against all odds, escaped the law.
And the next day, I avoid a trip to the Eiffel Tour with my travelling companions, because I’ve climbed it before and anyway, oh God, I need to sleep. But my body isn’t even that sore, given what I put it through underground. My hockey training has come through again. When I needed it. In the most unlikely circumstances.
Resting in not much peace. Picture: Nicko
Today, I’m back at my desk, more than a little jetlagged, and tomorrow night I’m back at the Icehouse, wobbling around in yet another round of development training. On Friday, the Detroit Red Wings begin another NHL campaign, playing the Bruins, and then that night I dress for a practice match with my summer league team, the Cherokees, to see if all my fitness work will translate into actually being a better competitive player.
In other words, life is back to normal, but I have a whole new batch of memories to carry me along.
Here’s to hockey, and to Lliam Webster, and to keeping fit, and to embracing adventures when you can. This was a good one.
Ah, Paris.
Filed Under: Ice hockey Tagged With: catacombs, Chartreuse, Cherokees, Detroit Red Wings, fluid, France, Icehouse, lliam webster, nick, nick place, nicko, nicko place, Paris, red wings, street art
Kettlebells, rubber bands, Icelandic horse sex and me.
August 13, 2014 by Nicko Place Leave a Comment
I’ve been going to a lot of Melbourne International Film Festival screenings over the past week. French films about relationships, relationships or, maybe, relationships. A strange Icelandic film about horse sex and people who are slightly mad. A beautiful but strangely emotionless Japanese animation. Robert Connolly’s fantastic new live-action kids film, Paper Planes. Between sessions, we walk from the Forum to the Capitol or maybe Hoyts at Melbourne Central, rugged up in puffy jackets and beanies, huddled against the biting breeze.
The Podium Line does the red carpet, at the world premiere of ‘Paper Planes’.
But then, on Facebook yesterday, somebody posted: ‘Only six weeks until daylight savings.’ I blinked. Really?
Meanwhile, in the AFL, it’s coming down to the wire with less than a month to the finals, which means two things: Richmond will finish ninth and the sun will start to shine and the grounds will become less muddy.
At the Bang, my footy brothers and I will stop and sniff the Spring in the air and start to lairize even more than we do now, with one handed marks, drop-kick attempts and other shenanigans we’re too old and only occasionally skilled enough to attempt.
And, most importantly of all, Ice Hockey Victoria’s summer season will loom and my team, the Cherokees, will again continue our quest to be competitive in Division 3.
Just like all the other summer players, we’re busy getting ready, doing the training, hoping we’re better than last season.
I can hardly wait for the competition to start. Last summer was pretty much blown out for me by the much-chronicled Year of the Knee, as I could hardly skate or, when the knee finally repaired, didn’t have enough legs to feel like I was at my best.
Even, so, I unfortunately did better than Big Cat Place who broke his ankle before the season had found full stride and barely played from that point until the last few games months later.
Big Cat and I committed there and then to play at least one more summer together, both fit, both able to be true teammates, before the inevitable happens and he gets too good to play on the same team as me, and so the summer of 2014/15 is shaping as a critical time of my hockey life.
I haven’t written much here lately because, as always, I don’t want the blog to just repeat the same old stuff and I would get as bored writing it as you would reading about every development league game or Red Wings playoff blowout.
Plus I had a manuscript to finish, which I just have, and so all my writing hours were taken up with that 135,000 word-mountain.
But between my real job and the novel draft, I have been training hard, getting ready for summer. I’m currently heavier on the scales than I have been for a while but feel fitter than I have been for a long time, which either means I’m delusional or I’ve gained extra (heavier than fat) muscle where I need it. Maybe those two things aren’t mutually exclusive.
Fluid Health: just a few of the tools of happy torture.
All I can do is the work. Twice a week I trek to Port Melbourne to meet with the bearded one, Melbourne Ice and Australian captain Lliam Webster, to toil on improving my functional body movement, core strength and explosive power. This training remains the best and most entertaining I have done after years in gyms, lugging weights. It involves everything from Spiderman crawling along the floor to carrying barbells as far and as fast as I can while a giant rubber band threatens to twang me through the opposite wall. Some days I’m pushing a sled loaded with weights across the room, or deadlifting a barbell, other days I’m sliding on the slide board while Lliam has fun frisbeeing plastic cones at me to swat away as I glide.
The muscles being worked are all core hockey muscles and I can feel the extra balance and strength through my deep stomach muscles, glutes and hamstrings. As a happy aside, my dodgy lower back is better than it’s ever been, I have shaken off a shoulder that was hurting me for months and The Knee is now strong enough that I’m hopping onto platforms or over distances and landing on the same left leg.
In other words, for the first time in at least 18 months, I am pain free. Amen.
This has all been a long process involving Fluid Health, acupuncture needles, Enzo the magic osteo and a lot of damage to my credit card, but it feels fine to sit here and be able to write that I am pain free and feeling fit, with a couple of months to go before I skate out in the Braves jersey for a new season.
On days I’m not at Fluid, I hit the gym near my work in Richmond, lifting weights and building upper body strength.
The weights room at my local gym. Every now and then, I actually turn up there.
On Wednesday nights, I have signed up for power skating, which is an hour of pure Hell – well, actually, that’s not strictly true: the bag skating and explosive speed stuff I quite like. The outside edge work, not so much, because I remain so shit at it.
But I made a conscious decision – with much support from hockey friends: ‘Do power skating. You need to. You NEED to.’ – to spend at least one term of Wednesday nights working specifically on my still dubious skating, instead of playing dev league.
Getting better on skates is such a slow, gradual thing that it is difficult to chart progression. Some games, friends/opponents vow that they were astonished at how much faster I have become. Other times I know that I sucked dogs balls, as an old girlfriend used to say. Wobbling around like an Intro Class rookie.
One thing, though: I’ve actually reached a significant point in my skating, where I don’t mostly think about it during games. I see the puck and go to get the puck, or make position. I don’t have to think abut my legs or where my feet are moving.
It’s like learning a language where they say you have truly made progress when you think in that language. At some point, skating stopped being something I had to concentrate on and became something happening while I was playing hockey, so that’s an improvement.
But then come those moments where I get run down from behind on a breakaway because I’m not fast enough, or I have to turn fast, clockwise (my “bad side”) and I curse that I’m less nimble. Or I just watch others who I started with, several years ago, who now skate like a dream. Or I realize that there are entire moves, like backward crossovers, that I simply don’t ever attempt under pressure in a game.
The beauty and balance of an Icehouse power-skating class. (Ten bucks says one of us, probably me, was on his arse within 30 seconds of this being taken.) Pic: Macklin Place
And so I trudge off to the Bradbury Rink for skating lessons with Zac, not the Henke Rink for the fun of playing actual games.
Today, I’m hitting the gym at lunchtime for some weights. Tonight I have power skating. Tomorrow, Fluid with Lliam. Friday? Maybe the gym again, if I don’t have a social game of hockey with or against the IBM team. Sunday: the Bang.
This is not to brag. I need to do this to even attempt to keep up with those young’uns I’ll be skating with and against this summer.
I need to do this anyway. I long ago realised how important regular exercise is to maintaining my potentially fragile mental health. I also long ago realised how draining on my emotional and mental health writing fiction can be. So it’s no coincidence that I’m on a big fitness campaign while driving a draft to the line.
Anyway you look at it, I believe that’s known as win-win. My body is coping. I have miles in my legs. Spring is in the air. My book first draft is done. The Cherokees are starting to get excited.
Bring on the summer.
Filed Under: Ice hockey Tagged With: big cat, Big Cat Place, braves, Cherokees, Detroit Red Wings, fluid health, ice hockey, IHV, lliam webster, nick place, nicko, nicko place, Paper Planes, place, red wings, Richmond Football Club, Robert Connolly, the bang
A heatwave, the Winter Classic and question marks
January 15, 2014 by Nicko Place Leave a Comment
“Don’t ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive. The world needs more people who have come alive.”
– Jonathan Harris
It’s been an unusual summer. Of course, in Melbourne, there’s the weather, which did its perverse trick of being cold, grey and mostly un-beachy through the two weeks or so that almost everybody is on holidays and sitting in traffic jams along the coast, dreaming of sitting on a beach, so they can fret about how they look semi-naked in swimwear, and, all going well, just bask. Now most people are back at work, it’s hitting 40 degrees Celsius. Every. Day. And they say God, that complex woman in the sky, doesn’t have a sense of humour …
I had all kinds of plans for my Christmas-New Year break. Six days clear? Let’s hit LA!!!! Hmmm, timezone issues, and we’d lose an entire day (literally – that fun/crazy phenom where you leave LA near midnight on, say, a Friday, and arrive back in Melbourne on Sunday, Saturday having somehow evaporated in space or science or something). So, not LA. Then, hey, Tokyo!!! No? Lombok!! Umm, Byron! Err, shit, another few days at my parents’ place at Lorne?
In the end, Chloe and I mostly hung around Melbourne., enjoying how awesome the city is when there aren’t any actual people living in its canyons, the crowd absent from its streets. Riding bikes along mostly empty roads and bike trails, and watching films in sparcely populated cinemas.
More and more, as is my brain’s way, I fell into introspection and wondering where I’m heading next? Off the ice for almost a month, I found myself with no real desire to attempt a general skate at the Icehouse. Part of this was practical: Facebook told me that the Henke Rink was being relaid, so I knew general skates and any other on-ice activities would be crammed onto the Bradbury Rink, and general skates on half or two thirds of a rink are remorselessly crap. You need some room to move.
But I also started to worry that I had so little desire to skate, to be on the ice.
A panorama of the Big House: the largest hockey crowd ever, and in snow and 12 degrees F.
I watched a lot of hockey. On my Apple TV and iPad, the NHL continued, and my Red Wings were lurching along, as they have this season; suffering injury after injury, patchy results building as a play-off spot becomes less certain. The Wings suffering from star goalie Jimmy Howard losing form, confidence and health, plus an ongoing inability to score goals, and a bunch of Grand Rapid Griffins kids filling holes (although one of my absolute favourite prospects, Tomas Jurco, debuted, scored, looked great in a Wings jersey!)
Nevertheless, we believe. Big Cat Place turned up at my house for a 5 am alarm so we could watch Detroit play Toronto in the outdoor Winter Classic. Man. Two Melburnians in Winter Classic merchandise huddled in the dark in an Australian summer, watching 105,000 people brave sub-zero temperatures at the Big House, in Ann Arbor (and receiving gloating snapchats from Ice stars Tommy Powell and Shona Green, in head-to-toe Toronto gear, a few suburbs away). Snow on the seats, snow on fans’ heads. The weather so cold as the polar vortex approached the mid-west of America that the goalie waterbottles had to be constantly replaced because the water was freezing inside.
Cold, cold seats at the Winter Classic, half a world away from a Melbourne summer. Pic: Detroit Free Press.
It looked awesome, and fun, and freezing. The Wings, of course, lost in a shoot-out, looking ineffectual when it mattered most.
But then, in their next start, smashed the Dallas Stars, 5-1, with Tomas Tatar, ever-growing in confidence, scoring a fantastic lone-drive goal. Then had a few days off and got belted by the Sharks. And so it goes.
Between Wings angst, I read an amazing book, by Bill Bryson. It’s called ‘One Summer’ and is about America in the summer of 1927. Charles Lindbergh became the first aviator to fly the Atlantic, and became a national hero, before turning into a Nazi enthusiast. The crazy art project of Mount Rushmore began. Sacco and Vanzetti were tried and executed, rightly or wrongly. The Jazz Singer was released, making talking pictures a mainstream reality. Baseballer Babe Ruth was hitting home runs at unprecedented levels, and living an impressively sordid lifestyle to go with it. The entire mid-west was flooded to unbelievable levels. Pre-Nazi America First ‘pure race’ theories were so extreme the Klu Klux Klan looked tame (tens of thousands of Americans regarded as being of ‘lower race’ or ‘lower intelligence’ or ‘lower morals’ were sterilized against their will. No, seriously.) Even as I read of these horrors, in this much more enlightened world, almost 100 years later, Liberal Senator dipshit Cory Bernardi was declaring to Australia that ‘non-traditional’ families with a single parent are more likely to have higher criminality among boys and promiscuity among girls.
Tomas Jurco celebrates knowing he’s pretty much NHL ready. Pic: Ducks website.
Where Australia is headed worries me more and more.
And then the holiday was over, work was back and my usual world started to return to its normal rhythms. I belted out 4000 words of my new novel in one day, showing that, as I’d suspected, my brain had really needed some time off by the end of 2013. But then found myself staring at the screen once more. Hey ho. Do the work.
And I wondered what 2014 will hold, should hold? An American philosopher/artist Jonathan Harris wrote a heartfelt essay on being ‘stuck’ and assessing why he’d been stuck at various points in his life and how he’d moved past those moments. (Thanks Kayt Edwards, for finding it and posting it.)
I’d fully recommend reading it, but ultimately Harris argues that you have a very limited time on Earth and you need to spend it doing things that move you, inspire you, fully engage your creativity and energy. It’s a nice theory for the wealthy: he’s the kind of guy who apparently can afford to go and sit in a cabin in Oregon for months at a time without having to worry about paying for groceries. People with mortgage headaches and medical bills and whatnot might not have his free-thinking luxury. Nevertheless, there is merit in what he says.
Squinting at 2014 from the top of the ride, I find myself wondering whether I’m stuck? What most moves me, what most excites me? Is it still working in media? Is it still hockey? Is it still writing novels? Is it Little Big Shots, the kids film festival I work on? Is it still living in Melbourne?
Is it still being, well, Me?
These are questions I ask myself a lot and I think it’s mostly healthy, if it doesn’t paralyze you. According to Harris, being ‘stuck’ precedes a fundamental shift of some sort, but I don’t think I’m at that point. Am I? I can see friends who definitely are, whether in their relationships, or work, or other aspects of their life. It’s always easier to see clearly looking in, as against looking out. But where am I at?
A highlight of summer: Big Cat Place back on two legs and back in skates, at the Charlie Srour game. Pic: Nicko.
One definite way to avoid paralysis and to keep the brain process moving is to retain context. On Sunday evening, I picked up Big Cat and made the long trek to the (freshly-painted and spruiced up!) Oakleigh Ghetto. Tried to remember the order my armour goes on, and strapped on skates for the first time since mid-December. Nobody in the rooms but close friends from the hockey world, all united for a game in honour of Charlie Srour, a treasured member of our little gang who died a year ago on New Year’s Day, to eternal regret. We toasted Charlie with Russian vodka, Big Cat spent the warm-up managing to stand in skates and move around on the ice for the first time since breaking his leg, and then we had a very informal scrimmage for the sheer joy of being back on the ice.
It was one of those games where nobody cared about the score. In fact, I honestly can’t recall what it was, three days later. We played four-on-four and laughed a lot. Melbourne Ice women players attempted figure skating moves between face-offs, the standard good-natured sledging hit astronomical levels, and I felt fantastic for about three shifts before my rusty legs started to run out of steam. Man, that happened fast. In the photos that Big Cat took, I can see myself return to my bad-old legs-wide flat-foot skating, as I get tired. God, another year of trying to move my legs, to become more mobile on the ice. That’s where one of my 2014 challenges lies – not to listen to the voice inside that says I don’t seem to be getting any better, that I’m only ever going to be mediocre; that after three years, I remain so so-so.
I have to banish those thoughts. The fact was, it was fun to be back out there. I did love playing again. I still have chapters of this hockey journey left, I think. I just have to keep doing the work.
Wayne McBride does his best Frank the Tank post-brawl celebration, after ‘fighting’ Apollo Patrick in the Charlie game. Pic: Big Cat.
And so yesterday, in 43 degree heat, I made my way to Port Melbourne and survived a training session with Lliam Webster at Fluid; remorselessly working my stomach and core and every skating muscle in my legs and butt. I’d only wished I was wearing a Stetson so I could have tugged it meaningfully over my eyes, showing I mean business as I face down a new year.
Because I am going to train like a mothertrucker now my knee is troubling me less.
I am going to get generally super-fit, using the functional movement training ideas, to hit the end of 2014 in better, different shape to now.
I am going to return to the Bang, able to run once more, and kick a footy with that bunch of guys.
I am going to improve my skating on the ice, so that I can play one more summer at least, and really smoke it.
I am going to watch the Red Wings somehow pull themselves together, get healthy when it matters, and storm the 2014 play-offs.
I am going to have non-hockey adventures to add diversity, adventure and different angles to my existence.
I am going to adore every member of my complicated, non-traditional family, and I’m going to fully believe in my two boys and my step-son, even if a misguided Liberal whacko Senator doesn’t.
And I am going to let my brain free, to write fiction and explore new paths for my company and to fully engage in my working life.
Mostly, I’m going to laugh, and have fun. Because in hockey and life, it’s amazing how easy it is to forget that we’re supposed to be enjoying the journey. When I shake off expectations and fretting, and just enjoy, everything is simpler.
These are not New Years resolutions. These are just the wanderings of life, now closing alarmingly on a half century within two years.
‘The world needs more people who have come alive,’ writes Jonathan Harris.
In 2014, on the ice and off, I plan for that to continue to be me.
My first ice-time of 2014: facing Brendan Parsons (right) in a face-off with his girlfriend, Lex, dropping the puck. Life’s a loaded deck, folks, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be fun. Pic: Big Cat.
Filed Under: Ice hockey Tagged With: 1927 america, big cat, bill bryson, charles srour, charlie srour, cory dipshit bernardi, Detroit Red Wings, jonathan harris, nick, nick place, nicko, nicko place, Oakleigh, one summer, place, tomas tatar
Can you feel it? A new NHL season begins.
October 2, 2013 by Nicko Place Leave a Comment
The puck dropped in a new NHL season today and you can feel the energy coursing through the veins of the Australian hockey community. None of last year’s depressing extended lock-out with its owner-player political bullshit. Just a set date for the full season and 30 elite teams ready to go. There’s been no shortage of action on Day One, either, with three games producing 7, 10 and 9 goals.
The Wings play tomorrow, against Buffalo, and I can’t wait to set up my trusty iPad on my desk, and see my team go to it, stopping only for a new year’s range of Belle Tyre adverts and occasional cries of ‘Pizza Pizza!’ Hoping captain Zetterberg and genius Datsyuk can brain ’em from the jump.
Pavel Datsyuk: ready to rock the eastern conference.
It works so beautifully that the AFL season finishes on a Saturday and four days later NHL action streams onto my Gamecenter. It’s not just the Big Show, either. We’re all gearing up for Victoria’s summer league, which is looming fast; ordering jerseys, training, wondering about linemates we haven’t played with yet, secretly hoping we win a C or an A on our jersey, finding a new enthusiasm for stick-and-puck sessions or even general skates at the Icehouse. A bunch of the Melbourne Ice players have headed to North America for a wedding, and so are planning to attend NHL games over there, including most of our coaches, which will make the start of dev league next week kind of interesting. But I can’t wait to talk to them about the experience of walking into the Joe Louis Arena for the first time.
And meanwhile, here in Melbourne, half a world away, I find myself surfing far-flung corners of the interweb, devouring anything I can find about all the levels of hockey underneath the NHL. For example, Australia’s Nathan Walker scored a goal for the Washington Capitals in the pre-season, celebrated wildly by all of us Antipodean skaters – the 19-year-old is the first Australian to make it so far – before he was sent down to the Hershey Bears in the AHL.
The magnificent Youngstown Phantoms jersey.
Walker’s continued rise got me looking at the team he was with before the Bears, and so I found myself thinking seriously about spending a hundred bucks on a Youngstown Phantoms jersey. And found myself also checking out the home site of a team Youngstown played – the magnificently-named Green Bay Gamblers.
And over coffee, with old Interceptor friends, tried to come up with the perfect team name (Agreed best effort was ’20 Canadians and a Swede’), and pre-dawn, woken by howling wind, read about the Wings’ top draft pick, Anthony Mantha, scoring four goals and adding an assist for the Les Foreurs de Val-d’Or against the Quebec Remparts. Or watching insane goals like this one.
Or revisiting shenanigans like this:
All between sweating on whether Gustav Nyquist will get his deserved chance soon in the winged wheel, after being shunted back to the Wings’ feeder term, Grand Rapids, because of a roster crunch. And debating the Wings’ defence with fellow fans on Facebook. And hoping my broken toe will fit into a skate at training tonight. Looking forward to a practice match against the
It’s not often fans can openly cheer a bunch of gamblers.
Tigersharks, featuring plenty of mates, on the weekend. And watching social media ramp up among fellow local players.
Somewhere I read that Michael Clarke, the Australian Test cricket captain, won’t be going on an Indian tour, as he nurses his bad back for the looming return Ashes series in the Australian summer. I got through maybe one paragraph before his plight sort of ‘keyword-connected’ in my brain and I was flicking the browser over to the Detroit Free Press to see if Darren Helm’s back has improved enough to join general training? Put on injured reserve, to help that roster squeeze; but edging closer to health. OK, that’s cool.
How long until that Red Wings-Sabres game starts at the Joe to start the 2013-14 campaign?
Oh man … one more sleep.
Filed Under: Ice hockey Tagged With: braves, Buffalo Sabres, Datsyuk, detroit, Detroit Red Wings, Green Bay Gamblers, Nathan Walker, NHL, red wings, summer league, Youngstown, Youngstown Phantoms, zetterberg
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They are going to build a Great Wall
... and they’re going to let the Mongolians Aliens pay for it. Very illegal Aliens. But not from Mexico. They’re from space! But the white dude is going to make China great again! Somehow all movies about great walls are more political than you thought... Spoilers for The Great Wall. (Do you really care? It’s a movie about Matt Damon fighting Aliens at the Great Wall....)
Matt “Hawkeye” Damon
OK, in case this comes as a surprise, historical accuracy is not - really on the forefront of this film, so - could they have cast a Chinese for the part ans still tell the story? Sure. Did they whitewash an existing character? Of course not. Casting Matt Damon and Oberyn Martell (I had no idea Pedro Pascal was in this) doesn’t seem more damnable than casting Chinese actors in American movies to appeal to the growing Chinese market. Also - not all white guys are the heroes,,. there’s also Willem Dafoe in it, who - is not.
And then there’s the Commander of the super secret Alien fighting Order of the Wall. Who’s a woman. Good for her. I don’t think that happened a lot in that time period...
Combat Bungee Jumping, though - totally legit!
Weeeeeeeeee....
So is it any good? It’s perfectly fine. It’s Cowboys vs. Aliens, wirt less Cowobys and more bungee jumpers. The Aliens are cool, but mostly pretty generic, Matt Damon’s archery skills out Legolas to shame, for some reason we never find out. (I’m sure it has something to do with his super-tragic backstory of killing - someone that burdens him so much that we hear two whole sentences about it. from Oberyn Martell.)
The Wall and all of its built in gadgets are pretty nifty - like the color coded army and their pretty costumes. That whole flick is very nice to look at.
The actors are not exactly phoning it in, but considering we have a Dafoe villain and an Pedro Pascal semi-villain, all the humans seem to come from the same computer program for stock characters as the aliens do. Adequate.
What I liked most was what the film lacked - the female General, played by Tian Jing (look out for her in the next Pacific Rim) was not only highly capable, she also was in no way inclined towards a romantic relationship with one of our leads. Who are after all Matt Damon and Pedro Pascal. The film has no love story, which would have been a very easy way to fill some time.
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Funny coworker gifts for your office bestie, your work spouse, or your actually rad boss
If you're lucky, you find an ally at work: someone with whom you can commiserate and who makes the bad days better and the good days funnier. Your work bestie, your work spouse… you know the one. If you need to gift them something funny, here are a few ideas. From a "Didn't kill anyone" award ribbon to surviving another meeting that could have been an email, these coworker gifts will make another day a good one. At least until tomorrow…
Clean, bring meals, or GTFO: what should you ACTUALLY do when visiting new parents?
Way back in 2011, we published this post about the dos and don'ts of visiting friends after they have a baby and recently realized how GOLD the comments were.
Here's advice straight from our readers about what you should actually do when visiting new parents…
Making mom friends: playgrounds & gonorrhea pee
Remember when I wrote about making friends as a grown-up? I talked about putting the work in, being forward and direct, and making plans — not just talking about making plans! Friendships don't "just happen." But sometimes the work that goes into making friends means reaching out to be there for people when they need you. Here's a story…
39 Comments March 22, 2018
What would it take to get you to quit Facebook for good?
Cambridge Analytica, the U.K. data firm which acquired 50 million user profiles in the U.S., and may or may not have used them to help the Trump campaign, is just the latest in a long line of Facebook-related mishaps surrounding security, privacy, ye olde fake news, and so many other issues. But it remains almost as popular as ever, or at least it has been up until now. The online campaigns encouraging us all the quit Facebook are ramping up. So I wondered, what would it take for most of us to actually quit Facebook for good?
To my (unhappily) single friends on Valentine's Day
To my unhappily single friends on Valentine's Day (happily single friends, you won't need this one!): I love you. I wish I could look you in the eyes and tell you, without a doubt, that someday the void you feel today will be filled in exactly the way you want it to be. That if you just stop looking for a partner, one will find you. Bliss will be forever yours. I know we both wish the future was as predictable and happy-ending filled as a movie.
I think perhaps this May, on Mother's Day, I will feel the same way you do today. Last Mother's Day I was blissfully looking forward to becoming a mother; a month later I lost that pregnancy.
Hey, welcome to Offbeat Home & Life, the sister site of Offbeat Bride. We're all about supporting you as you create a space in this world where you feel comfortable. Questions? Email us!
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Slavery-like working conditions at suppliers to world’s largest coffee company
Coffee giant Nestlé confirms it bought coffee from two plantations where Brazilian authorities liberated workers from slavery-like conditions in 2015. Furthermore, both Nestlé and its competitor Jacobs Douwe Egberts have sold coffee from suppliers who sourced from plantations with working conditions analogous to slavery. Coffee produced under slavery-like conditions may also have ended up in the supply chains of other major players in the coffee industry.
Debt bondage, IOUs instead of wages, non-existent work contracts, lack of protective equipment, and lodging in houses without doors, mattresses or access to clean drinking water.
Many coffee workers in Brazil work under illegal conditions, and every year authorities liberate coffee workers whose working conditions qualify under the Brazilian criminal code as “analogous to slavery.”
Danwatch has accompanied Brazilian authorities on inspections, gained insight via confidential inspection reports, and investigated the supply chains of some of the world’s largest international coffee companies.
Based on this reporting, Danwatch can now document that coffee from plantations with slavery-like conditions has on several occasions been bought and re-sold by middlemen from whom international coffee companies purchase their coffee. In two cases, Danwatch can also document that the world’s largest coffee company, Nestlé, bought coffee from specific plantations where workers were freed from conditions analogous to slavery in 2015.
Nestlé and JDE concede
Together, Nestlé and Jacobs Douwe Egberts (JDE) make up about 40% percent of global retail coffee sales.
Following Danwatch’s investigation, both firms concede that beans from plantations that have been on the so-called “dirty list” may have ended up in their coffee. Plantations are placed on the dirty list when the Brazilian authorities discover that their employees are exposed to conditions analogous to slavery.
Nestlé has also confirmed to Danwatch that the company bought coffee from two specific plantations from which the Brazilian authorities freed workers from slavery-like conditions in the summer of 2015.
Nestlé, the global firm behind brands like Nescafé, Nespresso, Dolce Gusto, Taster’s Choice and Coffee Mate, disclosed in a written reply to Danwatch that deliveries from the two plantations in question have been suspended “until the government investigation is closed.”
Nestlé and JDE account for nearly 40% of global retail coffee sales
Coffee is one of the world’s most-traded commodities, but despite its enormous sales, just two companies make up a significant portion of the global market. Sales by Nestlé and Jacobs Douwe Egberts (JDE) accounted for 39% of the value of all retail coffee sales in 2013, putting them well ahead of their nearest competitors: JDE, in second place, had sales nearly five times larger than Green Mountain Coffee, in third place. Nestlé’s considerable market share is due largely to the company’s internationally dominant instant coffee brand, Nescafé, as well as its strong position in the pod coffee market. When measured by volume, however, Nestlé must cede its first-place spot to JDE, who sold 15.3% of the world’s retail coffee. Nestlé, with 10.8%, was in second place.
JDE: No guarantees
Both Nestlé and JDE purchase Brazilian coffee via exporters without knowing the names of all the plantations that grow their coffee. This makes it hard for the companies to ensure that they are not buying coffee that has been picked under conditions analogous to slavery.
By volume, JDE is the biggest player in the global coffee market and is known for brands such as Gevalia, Senseo, Jacobs, Maxwell House and Tassimo. In a written communication to Danwatch, JDE admits that the company cannot guarantee that their products are free from coffee picked under slavery-like conditions.
“Due to the nature of how coffee is traded, we cannot guarantee that there are no labour-related issues on each and every farm in Brazil from which coffee is sold to cooperatives, exporters, traders, and eventually to us.”
Contradictory statements from Nestlé
Danwatch also asked Nestlé if the firm can guarantee that coffee from plantations that have been on the “dirty list” because of slavery-like working conditions has not ended up in products sold by Nestlé. At first, Nestlé answered “Yes” to this question.
However, Nestlé sells some of its coffee to McDonald’s. After questioning from Danwatch, McDonald’s asked Nestlé to verify that the plantations with conditions analogous to slavery are not in their supply chain.
In its answer to McDonald’s, obtained by Danwatch, Nestlé writes, ”Nestlé does not purchase coffee beans from ‘blacklisted’ plantations, but produce from these farms sold to sub-suppliers could form part of our supply chain.”
On the one hand, Nestlé guarantees Danwatch that coffee from plantations that have been on the “dirty list” has not ended up in Nestlé products, but on the other hand, it tells McDonald’s that this may indeed be the case.
Coffee produced under slavery-like conditions may have ended up in the supply chains of major players in the coffee industry. Photo: Maurilo Clareto Costa.
When asked why it made these conflicting statements, Nestlé did not answer directly, telling Danwatch, “It is probably just a question of timing.”
The investigation carried out by Danwatch has documented that one of Nestlé’s own suppliers does not know whether its shipments contained coffee from one specific plantation on the dirty list. Danwatch asked how this fact conforms to its original guarantee that no beans from listed plantations have ended up in Nestlé’s coffee.
Once again, Nestlé did not answer directly, writing instead, “On the basis of this survey, we acknowledge that there remains more to do to address labour issues in Brazil’s coffee supply chain and are grateful to Danwatch for drawing these matters to our attention.”
McDonald’s and Dunkin’ Donuts
Other large international players in the coffee market, such as Starbucks, Illy, Mother Parkers, McDonald’s and Dunkin’ Donuts, have confirmed to Danwatch that they have purchased coffee via cooperatives and/or middlemen that have done business with Brazilian plantations where authorities have liberated workers from slavery-like conditions.
Starbucks and Illy affirm that they know the names of each individual plantation from which they purchase coffee via their middlemen. On that basis, the two companies guarantee that coffee from the plantations named by Danwatch with slavery-like working conditions has not ended up in their products.
Slavery-like conditions in 2015
Danwatch has studied one by one a number of coffee plantations where authorities found slavery-like conditions in an attempt to trace the coffee’s path from individual plantations, through cooperatives and exporters, to the international coffee market.
With the help of judicial rulings, publications from coffee cooperatives, and shipping data, Danwatch was able to assemble a detailed description of the route taken by coffee from plantations with slavery-like conditions to coffee companies.
One of these stories began during the coffee harvest, in July 2015, when inspectors from the Brazilian Ministry of Employment and Labour liberated workers on two coffee plantations in the country’s largest coffee-producing state, Minas Gerais.
On the coffee plantation Fazenda Lagoa, inspectors freed nineteen migrant workers from the neighbouring state of Bahia.
Brazilian law regarding conditions analogous to slavery
According to the Brazilian criminal code, Article 149, it is illegal to subject a person to conditions analogous to slavery. This includes subjecting a person to forced labour, subjecting a person to degrading working conditions, and restricting a person’s freedom of movement because of debt to an employer or agent.
According to a confidential inspection report obtained by Danwatch, the migrant workers came to the plantation on June 12, 2015. The plantation owner collected their official work documents the same day, but he had not returned them to the workers when the inspectors arrived on the plantation a month later, which is illegal. According to the International Labour Organization (ILO), the withholding of identity papers is an indicator of forced labour. Even though the plantation owner had withheld the workers’ documents, he had not completed and signed them, meaning that his employees were working without official contracts and without the ability to accrue the rights to social benefits like unemployment compensation and pensions. In addition, the workers were only supplied with some of the protective equipment required by law, and lacked access to clean drinking water.
On the other plantation, Fazenda da Pedra, inspectors freed twenty-two workers, many of them from Bahia state, according to the confidential report obtained by Danwatch. Here, the squalid living conditions on the plantation were the biggest problem. There were no doors to the workers’ bedrooms. In two of the three buildings, there was no refrigerator, whereas in the third, the interior of the filthy refrigerator contained a large pool of blood. Lacking facilities to keep their food cold, the workers had hung pieces of meat with string in an attempt to cure them with salt. The workers had no access to clean drinking water. Only one of the buildings had a water purification filter, but it had not been properly cleaned, and the water in the tank was clouded with mud.
Nestlé confirms that it purchased coffee via export firm Carmo Coffees from both Fazenda Lagoa and Fazenda da Pedra, where Brazilian authorities found conditions analogous to slavery in summer 2015.
Nestlé has suspended sourcing from the two plantations until the authorities’ investigation is completed.
Nestlé did not observe problems
Nestlé’s agronomists visited Fazenda Lagoa in August 2015 and Fazenda da Pedra in August 2014, but according to Nestlé, these visits “did not reveal any misconduct”. Danwatch asked Nestlé how it could be that its agents did not observe the problems noted by the inspectors: the workers’ lack of contracts, the withholding of employees’ work documents, the lack of protective equipment, the lack of doors in employees’ lodgings, and the lack of clean drinking water.
A coffee worker pulls the cloth with the coffee cherry, he has just picked along the ground. Photo: Danwatch
Nestlé responded, “Since the harvest season was already over, temporary workers were not present and houses were empty. Moreover, our August 2015 visit to the Fazenda da Lagoa farm did not reveal any evidence of misconduct as the farmer is very likely to have already taken corrective action to address the issues brought to light by the local authorities in their audit earlier in the year.”
Coffee from the two plantations where inspectors found conditions analogous to slavery in 2015 may also have been purchased by other brands. The coffee cooperative Cocarive told Danwatch that it had sold coffee from the plantations in question until the farms were inspected by the Ministry of Labour and Employment; Cocarive has now suspended both plantations. Cocarive’s clients include the coffee exporter Volcafe. Volcafe confirmed this, acknowledging that it cannot guarantee that it did not resell coffee from Fazenda Lagoa and Fazenda da Pedra, and assuring Danwatch that Volcafe will begin an internal investigation based on Danwatch’s inquiries.
Danwatch’s research shows that Volcafe supplies coffee to JDE. We therefore asked JDE whether it can guarantee that no coffee from Fazenda Lagoa or Fazenda da Pedra made it into the products sold by JDE and its brands.
JDE did not answer this question, instead stating generally that, “It is a long and complex supply chain, with an estimated 260,000 farmers and, despite our best efforts, it is possible that coffee from coffee farms in Brazil with poor labour conditions has found its way into our supply chain.”
Placed on the dirty list by authorities in 2014
In 2014, Brazilian coffee plantation owner Eduardo Barbosa de Mello was placed on the dirty list for violating Article 149 of the Brazilian criminal code, which states that it is illegal to subject persons to conditions that resemble slavery.
Slavery-like conditions put you on the dirty list
Until December 2014, owners of coffee plantations at which the Brazilian authorities found conditions analogous to slavery were placed on a ‘dirty list’, called the lista suja, published by the Brazilian Ministry of Labour and Employment. In December 2014, the dirty list was temporarily removed from the website of the Brazilian Ministry of Labour and Employment because an organisation representing the Brazilian construction industry (Associação Brasileira de Incorporadoras Imobiliárias) sued for its removal in the Supreme Federal Court of Brazil. As long as the suit is in progress – which could take years – the list will not be published on the website of the Ministry of Labour and Employment. Nevertheless, an alternative dirty list, based on exactly the same information about the labour ministry’s inspections, is still published by the National Pact for the Eradication of Slave Labour and Repórter Brasil, a Brazilian NGO. If after two years, a listed plantation owner has paid all court-ordered fines and has not subjected employees to slavery-like conditions again, the owner is removed from the list.
Link to the dirty list:
http://reporterbrasil.org.br/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/listadetransparencia_setembro_20151.pdf
According to records of the fines assessed to Mello, Brazilian government inspectors freed twenty-seven workers from his plantation. The workers lacked both contracts and mandatory safety equipment. In addition, Mello violated regulations regarding both the monthly payment of wages and guidelines for suitable worker housing: employers must provide beds, mattresses, bed sheets and closets, as well as separate accommodations for men and women.
The plantation owner was also fined because the workers did not have access to clean drinking water, to toilets at their workplace, or to a place where they could eat their lunch that was sheltered from wind and rain. Finally, according to these records, machines without proper safety systems were used on the plantation, and the rules requiring the storage of pesticides were ignored (they must be at least thirty metres away from employee housing and from places where food, water and medicine are stored).
Sales continue despite listing
Danwatch’s investigation revealed that Mello sells coffee via one of Brazil’s largest coffee cooperatives, Cooperativa dos Cafeicultores da Zona de Três Pontas (Cocatrel), on whose audit committee he used to sit. Cocatrel confirmed to Danwatch in an email in September 2015 that Mello is still a member and is still selling coffee via the cooperative, despite the discovery of conditions analogous to slavery on his plantation and his subsequent placement on the dirty list in 2014.
The coffee collective Cocatrel resells its members’ coffee to international coffee exporters that supply coffee brands around the world. Coffee from Cocatrel’s members has been sold to several large international exporters that supply Brazilian coffee to Nestlé and JDE; Danwatch has confirmed with exporters Tristão Companhia de Comércio Exterior (Tristão), Cooperativa Regional de Cafeicultores em Guaxupé (Cooxupé) and Volcafe that they buy coffee from Cocatrel.
After questioning by Danwatch, Tristão contacted Cocatrel to find out if Tristão had bought coffee from Eduardo Barbosa de Mello via the cooperative. Based on these inquiries, Tristão can affirm that no coffee from Mello’s plantation has been resold by Tristão in the last five years.
Neither Cooxupé nor Volcafe was able to make guarantees that they had not bought and resold coffee from the plantation owned by Mello where slavery-like conditions were found.
In their reply to Danwatch, Volcafe writes,
Men, women and children are liberated from slavery-like working conditions on a coffee plantation during the coffee harvest in July 2015 in Minas Gerais, Brazil. Photo: Maurilo Clareto Costa.
“Cocatrel is one of the largest cooperatives in Brazil, comprising several thousand individual farmers and plantations. Cocatrel receives over a million bags of coffee each year from these several thousand farmers. I can confirm we bought coffee from Cocatrel between 2008 and 2015 but have yet to receive any evidence that the coffee we bought from Cocatrel included coffee from Eduardo Barbosa de Mello’s plantation.”
Volcafe, meanwhile, says it takes Danwatch’s information regarding its supply chain “very seriously,” and has initiated an internal investigation to shed light on the subject.
Cooxupé advises that it buys coffee from Cocatrel, but that it has no mechanisms in place to investigate which members of Cocatrel it buys its coffee from. Cocatrel is therefore not able to rule out that it may have purchased coffee from Eduardo Barbosa de Mello’s plantation, where employees worked under conditions analogous to slavery.
In answer to Danwatch’s question as to whether Cooxupé can guarantee that it did not resell coffee from Mello, Cooxupé said, “Cooxupé buys coffee from Cocatrel and not from individual members of this cooperative.”
Cooxupé stated in addition that it will demand the ability to trace coffee bought from Cocatrel in the future, to ensure it does not come from coffee producers on Brazil’s dirty list.
May have been sold to Nestlé and JDE
Nestlé has confirmed to Danwatch that it buys coffee from middlemen Cooxupé, Volcafe and Tristão, all of whom purchase from the Cocatrel cooperative, which has continued to sell coffee produced by Eduardo Barbosa de Mello despite the fact that inspectors found conditions analogous to slavery on his plantation, and despite his inclusion in 2014 on the dirty list by the Brazilian Ministry of Labour and Employment.
Following requests for comment by Danwatch, Nestlé contacted its suppliers to find out whether coffee from Mello’s plantation was present in coffee sold by Nestlé.
According to Nestlé, Volcafe guarantees that it did not sell coffee from Mello’s plantation to Nestlé in 2014. Nestlé did not, however, answer Danwatch’s corresponding question about Cooxupé. Danwatch asked how Nestlé could guarantee that it did not obtain deliveries of Mello’s coffee from Cooxupé, when Cooxupé itself does not know whether it has bought coffee from Mello.
Nestlé did not answer directly, but responded instead, “Nestlé has zero tolerance for slavery. It is illegal and against everything we stand for. We are thus very concerned by serious allegations regarding potential instances of forced labour and poor labour conditions in some of Brazil’s coffee plantations.”
Nestlé also conceded, based on the results of the investigation carried out by Danwatch, that there remains more to be done to address labour issues in Brazil’s coffee supply chain.
Nestlé and JDE's ethical guidelines
The world’s two largest coffee companies, Nestlé and Jacobs Douwe Egberts, both have ethical guidelines with which their suppliers are obliged to comply. Both sets of guidelines require the protection of human rights and reject the use of both child labour and forced labour. Suppliers must also ensure proper working conditions, in which regulations regarding working hours are respected, and workers do not receive less than the minimum wage. Nestlé’s guidelines also specifically require that workers have access to clean drinking water and that the supplier ensure a safe and healthy working environment.
https://www.jacobsdouweegberts.com/globalassets/about-us/ethics–integrity/supplier_code_of_conduct_july2015.pdf
https://www.nestle.com/asset-library/documents/library/documents/suppliers/supplier-code-english.pdf
JDE shares Danwatch’s concerns
Coffee from Mello’s plantation may also have ended up with Jacobs Douwe Egberts (JDE). Like Nestlé, JDE sells coffee it acquires from exporters who are supplied by Cocatrel, including both Cooxupé and Tristão. Danwatch’s research also shows that JDE buys coffee from Volcafe.
Danwatch has asked JDE whether it can guarantee that no coffee from Mello’s plantation, where workers experienced slavery-like conditions, was present in the products sold by JDE or any of its coffee brands. JDE did not answer this question, but replied instead with a general statement explaining that it cannot guarantee the absence of labour problems on every single coffee plantation that sells beans to cooperatives, exporters, and finally to JDE.
JDE writes that the company shares Danwatch’s concerns, and highlights a series of initiatives it has undertaken to ensure JDE contributes to the resolution of these problems. For example, JDE has asked all of its suppliers to describe how they ensure that they are not buying coffee from plantations on the dirty list.
Weak link in the chain to fast-food giants
The list of potential consumers of coffee from Mello’s plantation includes fast food chains McDonald’s and Dunkin’ Donuts. Both buy coffee from Canadian coffee distributor Mother Parkers, which is supplied by the Brazilian firm Cooxupé; as we have seen, Cooxupé is unable to confirm that it did not purchase Mello’s coffee.
Danwatch asked Mother Parkers whether the exporter can guarantee that no beans from Mello’s plantation have ended up in the coffee sold by Mother Parkers.
Every year, the Brazilian Ministry of Labour and Employment liberates workers from slavery-like conditions on Brazilian coffee plantations. Photo: Danwatch.
Mother Parkers did not answer Danwatch’s question, but instead sent a general reply, saying that Cooxupé’s control mechanisms ensure that the coffee it delivers to Mother Parkers and their customers does not come from plantations “either under suspicion or convicted of any activities deemed illegal under Brazilian law.”
However, Cooxupé’s reply to Danwatch indicates that it bought coffee from the Cocatrel cooperative, and knew neither which of Cocatrel’s plantations it was buying from, nor whether the coffee could have come from Mello’s plantation, on which employees worked under conditions analogous to slavery.
Based on these conflicting reports, Danwatch asked McDonald’s and Dunkin’ Donuts directly whether they can guarantee that they did not sell coffee from Mello’s plantation. Dunkin’ Donuts marked neither ‘yes’ nor ‘no’, but instead answered that it will continue to communicate its code of conduct to coffee suppliers.
McDonald’s did not answer the question either, writing generally that it has been advised by its suppliers that slavery-like conditions are not present in the McDonald’s supply chain, and making reference to the same guarantee from Cooxupé as Mother Parkers.
Starbucks and Illy confirm to Danwatch that they also purchase coffee from Cooxupé. However, Starbucks and Illy know the names of each plantation from which they buy coffee via Cooxupé, and so are able to guarantee that no coffee from Mello’s plantation is present in Illy or Starbucks products.
Illy cited the problem of slavery-like conditions on Brazilian coffee plantations as one of the reasons it has committed to buying coffee only from farmers the company knows and visits regularly.
IOUs instead of wages
A survey of some of the other coffee plantations on which inspectors had found conditions analogous to slavery turned up evidence that these plantations had also sold coffee via middlemen who exported coffee to large international coffee brands.
Danwatch’s investigation shows, for example, that plantation owner Paulo Roberto Bastos Viana, who was put on the dirty list by the Brazilian Ministry of Labour and Employment in 2013, sold coffee to Tristão Companhia de Comércio Exterior (Tristão), an exporter. In 2010, inspectors from the Brazilian labour authorities freed seventeen workers from Bastos Viana’s coffee plantation.
Danwatch has obtained the confidential inspection report that describes how workers on this plantation were not given their wages in cash, but instead received chits indicating how much they had earned. Meanwhile, they ran up debts buying food at a shop on the plantation itself. The promised wage was under the legal minimum, and workers were housed in dilapidated buildings without beds or mattresses; some of the workers slept on the floor. In addition, the plantation owner had neither provided them with the mandatory safety equipment nor with access to clean drinking water.
Inspectors also found two teenage boys, aged 14 and 15, who were picking coffee on the plantation. In 2013, Bastos Viana was put on the dirty list by the Brazilian Ministry of Labour and Employment because the working conditions on his plantation were analogous to slavery.
Danwatch obtained the transcript of a legal proceeding showing that in September 2010 – about one month after inspectors liberated workers on his plantation – Bastos Viana delivered coffee to Tristão. Tristão told Danwatch that it subsequently ended its business relationship with Bastos Viana. However, the coffee that was delivered in 2010, after the slavery-like conditions were discovered may have been sold to Nestlé and JDE, which both purchase coffee from Tristão.
Nestlé confirms that it purchased coffee from Tristão in 2010. Danwatch asked Nestlé for comment on the possibility that coffee produced under conditions analogous to slavery was sold by Nestlé.
Nestlé replied, “We are working closely with our suppliers to address these allegations as well as to proactively tackle these complex social and labour problems in our value chain.”
JDE confirmed in a general answer to Danwatch that it is possible that coffee produced on Brazilian plantations under poor working conditions has made its way into JDE’s supply chain.
Debt bondage and missing contracts
Danwatch’s research has shown that coffee from a plantation where workers were kept in debt bondage has been sold to yet another exporter that supplies international coffee brands.
The coffee export firm Outspan Brasil Importação e Exportação Ltda (Outspan), which supplies coffee to both Nestlé and JDE, confirms that it purchased coffee from Neuza Cirilo Perão, a plantation that was put on the dirty list by the Brazilian Ministry of Labour and Employment in June 2013 because the authorities found conditions analogous to slavery.
A coffee worker composes himself after being liberated from slavery-like conditions on a Brazilian coffee plantation during the coffee harvest in July 2015. Photo: Maurilo Clareto Costa.
In December 2011, Perão contracted with Outspan to deliver 4700 sacks of coffee. This agreement was made after Brazilian authorities found conditions analogous to slavery, as well as serious breaches of Brazil’s labour code, on Perão’s plantation in 2009, according to legal transcripts obtained by Danwatch.
The inspection led to the release of twenty-one workers from a system of debt bondage in which expenses related to protective equipment, food and lodging were deducted from their pay. According to the confidential inspection report obtained by Danwatch, even if employees were prevented from working and earning money because of weather conditions, they still had to pay for food. Some of the workers told inspectors that their foreman threatened to prevent them from leaving the plantation if they did not pay their bills.
Fifteen of the twenty-one workers lacked official contracts. The workers were housed in buildings where holes gaped in walls and roofs, and where some made do without beds, sheets, or blankets. Based on the seriousness of the offenses, one of the plantation’s owners was sentenced to a term of 7 years and 6 months in an open prison. He appealed the verdict, and in 2015 his sentence was reduced to 4 years and 6 months.
Outspan informed Danwatch that it bought coffee from Neuza Cirilo Perão until 2012 – that is, for several years after the original inspections that brought the slavery-like conditions to light in 2009. Outspan says that it stopped buying coffee from the plantation in 2013, when it was put on the dirty list by the Brazilian Ministry of Labour and Employment.
Nestlé was in touch with their suppliers after being contacted by Danwatch, and denies that Perão’s coffee could have ended up in products sold by Nestlé.
Danwatch also asked JDE if it can guarantee that Perão’s coffee was not sold by JDE or its coffee brands. JDE did not answer this question, but in a general response said that it is unable to guarantee that each and every one of the Brazilian plantations that sell coffee to the cooperatives and exporters that sell to JDE are free from labour related problems.
Slept on coffee sacks on the floor
In June 2013, plantation owner Joaquim Reis da Silva was put on the “dirty list” by the Brazilian Ministry of Labour and Employment. During an inspection in 2010, the authorities liberated seventeen workers from Silva’s coffee plantation. The inspection report obtained by Danwatch notes that none of the workers were given employment contracts or mandatory protective equipment. The workers were housed in miserable conditions, where some lacked beds and slept on coffee sacks on the floor.
According to a 2008 list from the Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food Supply, Silva is a member of the coffee cooperative Cooxupé. Cooxupé confirms that Silva is a former member who used to sell coffee to the cooperative, but that it has not purchased from him since 2010. Cooxupé also asserts that it has expelled four of its members in the last few years.
Even though Cooxupé ended its collaboration with Silva in 2010, coffee from his plantation where illegal working conditions were found was sold until then to Cooxupé, which sells coffee to a wide range of international coffee brands.
The tip of the iceberg
Even though Danwatch has documented several instances in which coffee from plantations with conditions analogous to slavery could have ended up in products sold by large international coffee brands, the investigation only hints at the true scope of the problem.
Part of the challenge is that authorities do not have anywhere near the necessary resources to help all the workers that experience slavery-like conditions. According to the director of the ILO’s Special Action Programme to Combat Forced Labour in Brazil, Luiz Machado, they lack personnel and resources.
“Only about half of the cases in which workers report conditions analogous to slavery are inspected. The last fifty percent are never reached by the authorities”, he says.
At the same time, the cases of slavery-like conditions represent only some of the many problems faced by coffee workers on Brazilian plantations. Danwatch’s investigation revealed that problems like sub-minimum wages, ten-hour workdays, workplace accidents, lack of protective equipment, and wretched housing arrangements are commonplace.
One of the most widespread problems, according to Minas Gerais’s largest agricultural labour union, FETAEMG, is that about 40-50% of coffee pickers work without contracts registered in their carteira de trabalho, the official document that ensures workers earn the right to social benefits like sick pay, vacation pay, pension and unemployment compensation.
Dangerous pesticides and deficient safety equipment
Another serious problem is that the coffee raised in Brazil is sprayed with dangerous pesticides that are outlawed in the EU in part because they are classified as acutely toxic. Some of these pesticides are so poisonous that they can be fatal upon contact with the skin; others may cause gene damage and cancer.
Even though protective equipment is required by law, many workers apply pesticides on Brazilian coffee plantations without it. Photo: Maurilo Clareto Costa.
Danwatch’s investigation showed that workers on Brazilian plantations often apply pesticides either partly or entirely without protective equipment, and that symptoms of pesticide intoxication are widespread.
Danwatch asked JDE and Nestlé, who together account for nearly 40% percent of global retail coffee sales, what they plan to do to ensure that coffee workers in their supply chain work under conditions that are not dangerous to their health.
JDE did not answer this question, but Nestlé wrote, “Nestlé supports the banning of dangerous chemicals and promotes the proper use of protective equipment.”
Nestlé also noted that the company has been involved in initiatives to distribute protective equipment, upgrade pesticide storage facilities, and provide training programmes for farm workers.
Danwatch's documentation
Danwatch participated in an inspection that liberated seventeen men, women and children from conditions analogous to slavery on a coffee plantation in Minas Gerais, Brazil, during the 2015 harvest. The Brazilian authorities determined that the workers were victims of human trafficking.
Danwatch has obtained more than fifteen confidential reports from the Brazilian Ministry of Labour and Employment describing instances of slavery-like conditions on Brazilian coffee plantations.
Danwatch is in possession of materials, including documents from legal proceedings, export documents and coffee cooperative publications, that describe how coffee farmed under slavery-like conditions was sold.
Danwatch sent surveys to Brazilian coffee cooperatives, international coffee exporters, and large international coffee companies and brands in order to document where coffee from the plantations with slavery-like conditions ended up.
This is what the coffe companies wrote
Nestlé - reply to survey
Nestlé: Clarification on different answers to McDonald's and Danwatch
Nestlé's svar: a question of timing
Nestlé's answers to follow-up questions
Dunkin' Donuts: reply to survey
Dunkin' Donuts' answers to follow-up questions
Illys svar reply to survey
Illys' answers to follow-up questions
JDE's reply to survey
JDE's answers to follow-up questions
McDonalds' answers to follow-up questions
McDonalds' reply to survey
Mother Parkers' reply
Starbucks' reply to survey
Starbucks' answers to follow-up questions
Dirty lists with planters mentioned in the article 1
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Is “Left” the new “Right”?
It all started after the 9/11 fiasco and the “historic” declaration by Bush that “Either you are with us or you are with the “Terrorists”, without defining what was a “Terrorist” and thereby leaving the ground open to play as it would suit their vested interests.
However there was a wider implication that started taking shape in the wider Muslim “world” and more so in the minds of those caught in the middle of the storm, the Pakistanis.
As is always the case, the elite started following the “Enlightened Moderation” slogan by the then CEO and now accused “Devil” of Pak, Mr. Musharraf. This trickled down to the masses and the middle class. This created a new left, claiming to be liberal Muslims. Initially it was good in the sense that it made people think and question. But than it started verging on the fences of self-bashing. Islamic morals were seemed not to be fit for the modern age, ridiculed and laughed at. There was everything and anything wrong with Pakistan specially if coming out from the West, authenticity or critical appraisal were not important anymore.
The effects still haven’t receded after almost 9 Long Years. Even today a controversial writer would write a piece with a disclaimer that it is based on the interviews (and hence perceptions of) the (hostile) Afghan officials and Nato commanders, and not surprisingly would be picked up by the international media to “prove” the “guilt of Pakistan. Suggesting the Pak Army and Intelligence is somehow behind the scenes in the Mayhem in the country is like suggesting to Indians that their Establishment carried out the Mumbai Attacks. Just imagine the response you would get. Still interestingly it found vocal support amongst some segments of the self-depreciating Pakistanis.
Let me share one particular incident from just last year, while in London, there was news in the media that a Muslim guy raped an innocent Christian girl and then killed her. It resulted in extreme Islam and Pakistan bashing for almost a week untill the police declared that the guy was actually a mentally disturbed person of Christian faith. And guess what? Let alone an apology not even a single media outlet bothered to run the clarification.
Let us now move to East London to see another interesting incident that happened in this “Muslim area” of London termed as a “Muslim Ghetto” indirectly by the ex-PM Mr. Brown.
A Masjid was planned to be built there in line with all the applicable laws and regulations. It wasn’t of any particular sect or involved with any political party and the project was in the pipeline for several months. The funding was to be done by the “Tabligi Jamat” (Preachers’ Group).
Come time to gain the final planning permission and suddenly there was a big outcry, initially started by the White-supremists but later on joined in by guess who?………… ………. None other than the infamous self-bashing “Liberal” Muslims specially of Pakistani descent. They not only started leading the campaign but some signed petitions that they have “serious concerns that this Masjid would result in their children being radicalized“. The fate was than sealed. It was to be shelved, atleast for the time being. This was what a prominent Pakistani British, ex-councillor had to tell me:
Ok now a Masjid will radicalize your Children?
How?.
That I don’t know but I don’t want our “perception” to be “badly affected” by having a Masjid in our area.
Well, your son just last week was arrested for a drunken brawl after an all night party, doesn’t that give you a “bad image”?
I don’t need to give explanations to people. It wasn’t his fault.
What? . Give me a break. So the actual issue is that you are concerned people would hate you for being a practicing Muslim but being an anti-social element doesn’t even create an issue for you.
Let’s now move to North London, home to the biggest Jewish community in the whole of UK. Shamon (not his real name) is walking in the garden with the traditional skull-cap, a beard and the long black Jewish dress with his little daughter. He works in a leading bank.
Don’t you have issues at work due to your appearance?
No. Why should I. I’m competent at what I do.
Ok but don’t you worry what others will think of you?, you look so .. err. …. traditional
(Laugh) You mean fundamentalist. Well, this is my faith and no one has a right to judge me. Do I laugh at them? Than why should they have a problem with my way of life.
But what about your daughter. You wouldn’t want her to be influenced by extreme ideas?
As I said this is my faith. And my daughter would be better in the hands of God than the hands of people.
So much assured and confident, despite the worst persecution of the Jewish faith for centuries, for whatever reasons. I wonder if Muslims specially a Pakistani Muslim would have the same confidence and faith to stand tall amid the criticism.
The culture, religion and heritage of a person is not only their identity but defines essentially what they are. Changing that due to some misconceptions is as low as it can get. One should try to clarify the misconceptions rather than give in. We owe it to our forefathers, our future generations and ourselves. It is something the new “left” should learn from the Jews.
Left has been the term to refer to the liberals and right for the “religious fundamentalists”. However with the new times the left is effectively becoming the new right, void of confidence and logic, self-pitying and trying to appease others in the fear of being declared an outcast.
I remember being told once that Fear kills the abilities of a person by taking away the faith and confidence. And I can say confidently that I’ve seen plenty of examples.
Posted in Political | 17 Comments
Misconceptions re MFB & Islam – Reply to Mr. Patel from India
Dear Mr. Patel,
Thanks for the appreciation and please find below the answers to your questions:
1. Congratulations for bring the latest news about MFB and keeping us entertained, was is a big gaffe on your part by using the Facebook Blue in the early days of Millat Facebook? What prompted you to change to green?
Thank You Mr. Patel. There have been and will be constant improvements. Green is the color of peace and harmony which is also our message for everyone.
We are Muslims, Ambassadors of PEACE and we are NOT terrorists
Furthermore as your question seem to stem from the popular misconception that MFB was meant to be a FB clone, which is not true, let me dwell on this a bit more.
The theme is certainly different, the logos and color scheme are unique. There are many different, additional and better features. However, there may be a similar feel due to some common basics all social networking platforms have. It’s just like asking Toyota or BMW why they have an accelerator or gear box when Mercedes have them too. Well, these are the basic essentials but their designs, models and basically the products are different.
Same is the case with Millat Facebook.
2. How do you define sweet people of other religion? Is there some taster (like wine taster) in your organization?
This question is already answered in the blogs and in an interview with the Executive Editor of Hindustan Times, Mr. Gautam Chikermane as below:
Who will define who a “sweet” person from other religions is?
No-one needs to, as it is already defined by the socially accepted norms.
All the things a decent person would not do in real life should also not be done sitting behind a computer.
Islam has a fundamental principle that asks humans to treat their fellow humans just the way they would like to be treated themselves.
Therefore we all should exercise our freedoms with care, consideration and concern for our fellow human beings. Freedom is not and therefore should not become an assault on others.
3. Will there be a segregation of sexes? Because as far as I know it is not allowed for men and women to mix freely unless they are related as per Islamic social values. &
4. What is different here that you will offer from Facebook apart from anticipated censorship of any caricature of religious figures? (mainly Islam).
“Basically the objective is to provide a platform for all people, not only Muslims, but nice and decent people of all faiths, to come together and interact in a decent way that is socially responsible by providing them all the freedom of expression, however respecting each others’ sensitivities and faiths. This would allow the decent people to interact without any fear of abuse, hate-mongering and attacks and try to better understand and interact with each other.
[Facebook] seems to allow mockery of religions it has an issue with… The caricatures of the prophet Mohammed were uploaded, and instead of taking any consideration and action, they came out and said they were supporting it.”
Moreover, unlike Mark’s FB that shares its data with NSA (which ends up with CIA for FB users profiling), we have ensure the privacy and security of our members data is upheld to the extent that some of the most private data cannot even be accessed by Administrators and in any case it is and will never be shared with anyone.
In addition to all the above, unlike Mark’s FB, Millat facebook offers the best, most secure and straightforward privacy settings for its members. FB on the other hand has been doing contrary to that despite its members’ constant protests.
5. As you are inviting sweet people of other religions, then would MFB also launch a campaign for Islam followers to accept other religions and learn to respect them. Would you create a page to pressurize Saudi King to allow building temples, churches and synagogues in Saudi Arabia?
Although beyond the scope of MFB, I’d answer your question in the best interest of inter-faith understanding.
Islam teaches that all humans are the children of Adam and Eve and hence are cousins. Those who embrace Islam than become a part of the Islamic Brethren. All Muslims love all humans including non-Muslims (Yes and you might be surprised at this due to popular misconceptions). Now Muslims believe that our non-Muslim cousins are misguided yet are sensitive to their religious sensitivities. Therefore per Islamic orders non-Muslims are allowed to practice their faith freely non-publicly. This is because of the reasons mentioned below:
Muslims, despite believing that our non-Muslim cousins are misguided, respect their right to their religious sensitivities and beliefs.
As per Islam, Muslims DO NOT insult our non-Muslim cousins, their religion and Idol Gods (as applicable), despite knowing that they are misguided and their beliefs largely false, just for the sake of harmony and respecting their beliefs.
Islam and therefore Muslims love all humans and our non-Muslim cousins. Now as per Islam they are proceeding towards eternal failure and hell fire. Islam doesn’t want that for them.
We want them to be successful and rather lead us into Heavens. Therefore Islam directs believers to spread the message of peace (Islam) and call all to the One true God (Allah) and eternal success.
As there is no pressure in religion (unlike popular non-Muslim misconception), an environment needs to be created for our non-Muslim cousins so that they can find it less difficult socially to heed to the call of their True and ONLY creator.
This is the reason why Islam, though respects and allows the practice of the religion and beliefs of our cousins at personal levels, it is not allowed for them to do this publicly in an Islamic Country so that it is easier for those non-Muslim cousins who want to come to the true path to embrace success.
In addition, it ensures, that while having all the religious freedom to freely exercise their religion personally, our non-muslim cousins as well as the “Muslim State” do not indulge in the further sin of misguiding others or stopping someone from heeding to the call of their own creator as Devil’s best weapons include deception, false pretences and material & social fears.
I hope this answers your questions and that you will consider them with an open heart and mind. Once again thanks for your interest and the queries and please feel free to ask again re any more that you may have.
ACCA (UK), BSc (Hons) (UK), CAT (UK), Adv. Financial Diploma (UK), Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist (UK)
& Certified CSM (LCCI & SMEDA – PAK)
CFAI (USA), PRIMA (USA), ACCA (UK), UKSIP (UK), PRMIA (USA), LCCI (PAK) & MPDD (PAK)
Posted in MFB | 1 Comment
Express Tribune – Controlled by its Jewish Partners? An open email by a MFB member
Following is an email received from a Millat Facebook member, which got us quite surprised. It is reproduced below in the interests of public awareness, without any modifications.
What do you think about this, are they really controlled by Jews or is it just unprofessionalism by one of their bloggers?.
Disclaimer: This does not necessarily represent the views of the blogger or MFB.
Express Tribune (Pak) is controlled by Mr. Arthur Ochs Sulzberger. Jr. the Jewish owner of its partner Herald Tribune
Dear Mr. Meer,
Congratulations to you and your team on a positive and great effort. Though initially I had some reservations with a pro-Islamic social network, I’m now very much clear that this is a positive step by Muslims and would foster decency and greater understandings between religions.
MFB is a great effort by any standard considering it’s still in infancy. Having followed the progress of MFB very closely I was very surprised by the constant MFB bashing by Express Tribune. This led me to do some research of my own. I found some very interesting facts which may be of interest to you and MFB members.
I found out that Express Tribune is affiliated with the International Herald Tribune,
which is part of the NewYork Times Company,
whose CEO is Mr. Arthur Ochs Sulzberger. Jr. who is a Jew.
Now I’m not suggesting anything least the Neo-Cons would come out bashing me with anti-Semitism. However the links are clear.
A Jewish owned company (NY Times) is helping another Jewish owned company (facebook) through its affiliated venture (Express Tribune) by putting aside all journalistic ethics.
Also I don’t understand why Mr. Arthur wants to hide his Jewish identity by claiming he is Evangelical, is there something more than meets the eye.
And this is no conspiracy theory. Please see below for all the links to the authentic and genuine sources:
The Express Tribune is a Pakistani English-language daily newspaper established in 2010 that is partnered with the International Herald Tribune.
(Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Express_Tribune)
The IHT (International Herald Tribune) is part of The New York Times Company.
(Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Herald_Tribune)
Arthur Ochs Sulzberger, Jr. has served as Chairman of the Board since 1997. he Class B shares provide a mechanism by which the descendants of Adolph Ochs, who purchased the New York Times newspaper in 1896, maintain control of the company by holding nearly 90 percent of this “special class of stock.”
(Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_New_York_Times_Company#Company_stock_profile)
Arthur Ochs Sulzberger, Jr. CEO, Present Publisher NY Times Co is a Jew.
(Source: http://www.jewwatch.com/jew-leaders-sulzberger.html)
And though not a Muslim myself I feel Express Tribune has been highly unprofessional in trying to criticise MFB without any basis and even a basic research.
The above explains why this Herald affiliated, foreign funded, online Pakistan based newspaper is the only newspaper to be involved in extreme one-sided anti-MFB bashing based on various regularly changing pretexts without ever contacting you guys (I’m sure they never did), thereby ignoring the journalistic ethics.
I’d say that I may disagree with you but I will fight for your right to be treated justly.
J Mathews
Posted in MFB | 5 Comments
Congrats – Documentary on MFB by Aljazeera Network – 22/06/10 (6:30 AM GMT) 11:30 AM PST
Alhamdulillah ….. Another Milestone
Tune into Aljazeera (English) tomorrow (22nd June 2010) at 11:30 AM PST (6:30 AM GMT) to watch a documentary on Millat Facebook by Aljazeera Network.
Please watch and spread the message to others to spread the awareness.
Together we CAN and we WILL WIN (InshAllah)
Posted in MFB | 17 Comments
Update from Millat FB – Decisive battle between MFB & Zionist owned Mark’s FB
Time has finally come, what would we do? ….. Surrender is not an option; Fear is never a feasible policy
It is a matter of the Honor of our Prophet Muhammad (Saww) for whom we can sacrifice everything.
We do not compromise on the Honor of our Prophet Muhammad (Saww)
It’s a war we cannot and will NOT lose.
Let us all be united and l show the World together that YES we CAN & WILL win (InshAllah)
Mark’s FB and its allies did all they can to try to stop MFB including:
Personal threats to MFB team
Monetary offers (they don’t know we are Muslims and unlike some of their poodle rulers CANNOT be purchased at any cost).
Getting help from CIA and launching persistent and MASSIVE DDOS attacks on YOUR MFB
Subversion attacks on Millat
Propaganda campaigns against Millat
Collaborating with Yahoo, resulting in YAHOO blocking any emails containing Millat’s website link (You can check that yourself)
Islamophobic fascist launching global appeals for attacks on Millat
But Alhamdulillah with Allah’s help and your support we defeated these fascists in their hate-campaigns. All their tactics failed and your MFB kept on going.
NOW THEY HAVE GONE TO NEW LOW’s:
They are pressurizing and bullying our Service Provider in the USA for no legal reason, who are in turn disrupting our services for NO LEGAL REASON.
It shows their hypocrisy and the reality of their “tolerance”. Where they can only tolerate anything attacking and ridiculing Muslims but even a civilised competition from Muslims in a decent and tolerant manner is not acceptable to them and they want to use all means, from unfair to outright illegal to stop us. This exposes their true face, their tyranny. All the decent people despise such acts by them.
But they are foolish to think that they can stop us. They don’t know that we do not surrender.
With Allah’s help and your support we will defeat them again (InshAllah).
We are moving our servers (our first preference is any Islamic country with a reliable infrastructure if not than we have the backup option of Russia and China)
This way the Zionist Owned FB has NO Influence
Meanwhile you are appealed to have patience, stay united and fill the new form available on the MFB to show your support and tell the world that we are all UNITED & that YES WE CAN. Your MFB would be back very soon.
Our message to the world is:
Yes we are MUSLIMS, Ambassadors of peace and we are NOT terrorists.
MFB, ISLAM & MUSLIMS ………… An Interview with Hindustan Times …… Part 5 of 5
Below is the 5th and final part of the interview with Mr. Gautam Chikermane, Executive Editor, Hindustan Times
Answer to Q 15 – Continued:
Mark’s PAIN:
Impact on FB:
Mark’s FB was growing at 10.27% 3 months ago
After their Backing and support of the Caricatures and the launch of MILLATFACEBOOK.COM, this dropped to 2.05% in the past month
With Millat’s rising popularity, FB’s growth has plummeted to 0.8% in the last 7 Days.
The result is a decline from a 10.27% growth to the level of 0.8% ONLY. This is over 92% fall in their Growth and a SERIOUS KICK which has resulted in several explicit and not-so-explicit attacks by Facebook and its associates to try to stop MFB.
http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/facebook.com
FB and its supporter’s attempts to stop MFB:
Constant DDOS Attacks on Millat including from Israeli and CIA owned IP’s (YES ……… We have the IP’s logged and have the proofs)
False Rumor Mills
Personal Threats to the Millat Administration
FB’s partnership with Yahoo resulting in YAHOO refusing to deliver any emails containing our website address (YAHOO and FB recently entered in a business deal and this explains YAHOO’s actions to help FB)
Yahoo Mail is BLOCKING MFB emails ………………….. Yahoo is blocking our emails stating that “your website contain offensive content”.
This is very strange that Mark’s Facebook which allows and supports RIDICULE of Holy Prophet (SAWW) is not objectionable to them but Millat Facebook which prohibits the ridicule of any faith and offers a very decent environment is” Objectionable” ………….
When asked specifically what is “Objectionable” Yahoo REFUSED to specify saying they “cannot disclose” as per their “policy”.
So is it objectionable because http://www.millatfacebook.com is by Muslims and is uniting Muslims as well as all decent people from all faiths on one platform?
16. Who is funding this venture?
Being a Muslim it’s our faith that Allah Almighty is funding it. And Global IT Vision (Pvt) Ltd is honored to be the initial source for this.
17. What is the current valuation of Millat Facebook?
One can estimate the value of Millat Facebook based on its current ranking of 18,860th amongst OVER 6 BILLION websites globally in just 2 weeks as per Alexa. In Pakistan it is now ranked at 186th, 359th in Indonesia 490th in Malaysia, 524th in Bangladesh and 6,872nd in India amongst the millions of websites in each of these countries, again all this in just approximately 2 weeks.
http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/millatfacebook.com
18. What is your exit strategy? & 19. Do you have an IPO in mind?
We don’t have any such intention at the moment as it was not a business venture.
So the question of an exit strategy doesn’t arise.
The purpose is to create a platform as mentioned before.
I’d like to share with you a very interesting incident from the Islamic history.
Once the Prophet (Saww) went to one of his Sahabi’s (companion’s) house. He saw a ventilator there and asked why it was made. The reply came so that the air and sunlight can pass through.
The Prophet (Saww) said to the nearest effect that had you INTENDED that this would let the sound of Azan (call to prayer) come through, the light and air would still come through, but you would have been rewarded for your intention till this ventilator is there.
The purpose is to express how important intention is. However to survive and grow this venture we would certainly welcome the support, contributions and associations by all.
Profiteering is not the objective rather the aim is to provide a platform for all muslims as weall as decent people of all faiths to come together in a decent enviornment without any fear of been ridiculed or directed hatred at. Also we want to send a message to FB and its zionist owner Mark Zukerberg that you cannot continue your hate-mongering, Islamophobic and Hypocritical policies unchecked. You cannot earn profits from us while ridiculising our faith and values.
And Finally our message to the world is that:
Yes,we are Muslims, Ambassadors of Peace and we are NOT terrorists.
MFB, ISLAM & MUSLIMS …………….. An Interview with Hindustan Times …………. Part 4 of 5
Part 4 of the Interview with Executive Editor of Hindustan Times, Mr. Gautam Chikermane.
12. What do you do when you’re not saving Islam?
I’m a very highly qualified and experienced Finance and Investment professional and have over 9 years experience in various International and Multi-national organizations in the international financial hub of London.
I’ve my own practice too.
Some of my credentials are as below:
PRMIA (Professional Risk Managers’ International Association) – USA
ACCA (Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) – UK
PRIMA (Public Risk Management Association) – USA
UKSIP (UK Society of Investment Professionals) – UK
CFAI (Chartered Financial Analyst Institute) – USA
LCCI (Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry)- PAK
MPDD (Management and Professional Development Department)- PAK
BSc (Hons) Applied Accounting – UK
CAT – (UK)
Adv. Financial Diploma – UK
Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist – UK
Certified CSM – LCCI & SMEDA, PAK
For more details please visit: https://omerzaheermeer.wordpress.com/about/
13. Where are you based out of right now?
We have our setups in Pakistan and UK. Beside we also have our technical setups in different countries across the globe.
14. When was Millat Facebook launched?
Its formal launch was reported on 28th May 2010.
15. How many members as of now?
Let me give you a quick comparison between MFB and FB, the effect of MFB on FB as well as the hurdles and attacks on MFB by those who doesn’t want it to succeed:
Birth and Launch of Millat Facebook:
Millat FB was launched by a team of Pakistani Muslims by working round the clock within just 2-3 days and was Launched Globally
Mark Zukerberg’s (a Zionist) FB took YEARS to develop and was than run as a prototype for years. Its domain was than registered in 1997 but it wasn’t until a YEAR LATER in 1998 that they could formally launch it.
Response and Growth:
In approximately 2 weeks MFB has OVER 333,000 members forming its community
FB who in the ENTIRE FIRST MONTH could manage ONLY 3,000
World Ranking:
The most reputable internet stats provider Alexa Ranked MFB 18.860th site out of over 6 BILLION WEBSITES Globally, in just 2 Weeks approximately.
The Zionist owned FB which took 7 years to gain popularity
Global Media Recognition:
MFB has been hailed in the international media as a serious threat to FB as well as a positive answer to the provocations thereby improving the image of Muslims and Pakistanis.
They have reported Millat Facebook and overall hailed it as a brave and unique step by Muslims which poses a serious threat to FB ……..and it is termed a REAL alternate ………….
Despite an attempt by a Herald affiliated and foreign funded online Pakistani newspaper to crush Millat Facebook at its launch, all are now amazed with the results (Alhamdulillah)
Mark’s Facebook which took around 6-7 years after its launch to get recognition.
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A Tribute to One-Hit Wonders
Mike Farber
Filed to: listFiled to: list
Cars can be considered household names as well. Camry, Civic, Mustang, Corvette. Nobody needs to have driven any of these cars to know what they are. That’s because they have been around for longer than many of us can remember. The ‘Vette and the ‘Stang have even been around for more than half a century. But there are some models that haven’t made the cut. Some that many forget; probably because they only were in production for one model year. I have two listed here. See if any of these jog your memory.
1. Saab 9-4X (2011)
Given that this car started production around the time when Saab started showing telltale signs of desperation, just before the company went defunct, the 9-4X was their jab at the ever-competitive luxury crossover market. Unlike its Cadillac SRX cousin, the 9-4X didn’t explicitly show off any upscale features that made it worthy of its price point. While heated leather did come standard, navigation was only optional, and the interior looked on par with the likes of the Chevrolet Equinox and Ford Edge, but not much more than that. The worst part was that the top-of-the-line Aero model ran upwards $50k. In 2011, that was far too expensive when people knew that they could lay down $10k less for a far more luxurious SRX, RX, RDX or MKX. (Did I just now notice that all luxury crossover model names sound the same?) And, brace yourselves, only 267 were sold nationwide!
2. Kia Borrego (2009)
It was a shame that Kia decided to release their full-size SUV entry just as the automotive industry crisis hit the United States. The Borrego, itself, was by no means a bad vehicle. It had all the right appeals for its predicted clientele—families. 10,530 examples were sold during its model year, which was a good start for an all-new model that had yet to become a household moniker. It had sufficient features and it was also reasonably priced. And along with that came the 10 year 100,000 mile warranty that Kia’s famous for—and depreciation, which was only worsened by the bad timing, the cause of this truck’s demise.
Remember anything else that only lasted a year? Tell me in the comments below.
Recent from Mike Farber
This BM's On Fire: The Mystery, or rather, Bullshit of the Bavarian Infernos
Tomorrow's Election Day: Which Car is Which Candidate?
Automotive Irony, 4/5/16
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Purge of Fire
From ORC Edinburgh RPG Wiki
Revision as of 20:53, 17 October 2014 by Bill (talk | contribs) (1 revision)
The Purge of Fire refers to the invasion of Volkrania by the beings known as the Mandragora, and the war that followed. Volkranians see the destruction of the Kratishold fishing fleet as the first major act of war. The Mandragora fleet destroyed this fleet almost in passing as they grew inexorably closer to Erilya. The Attack on Kratishold describes the actual events in full of that fateful night when the Mandragora made landfall.
With a beach-head secured, the Mandragora fortified their position and quickly began systematically eradicating any resistance. The quick-thinking by a group of adventurers meant that the lives of many refugees from Kratishold were saved by evacuation to Hammerfall Pass. The same adventurers also escaped to warn the King in Volkraad.
However, the Mandragora cut off all traffic into and out of the region. They wiped out any settlement they discovered, burning it to the ground and usually slaying anyone they found, although some people were taken as slaves. Were it not for Koshrak's View, both Shimmerbridge and Summervale would likely have been burnt to the ground. Both saw few attacks, although anyone travelling in the region would rarely make it to their destination alive. With Western Volkrania effectively under their control, the Mandragora expected to easily secure their position before attacking Volkraad and the eastern cities.
It is unclear as to how the Goblin tribes came to unite under the BlackClaw banner, and there are many theories as to what the Mandragora leaders promised the tribal leaders. Regardless of how they did it, it provided the Mandragora with a large force of infantry that began harrying the Eastlands, and provided a second front for Volkranian forces to deal with. Fearing a second Orcgate War, Volkranian military leaders chose to concentrate mainly on the threat from the East. When survivors of the attacks made known the Mandragora attack, the Volkranian forces were already committed.
Koshrak's View
The Mandragora had reckoned without the Dwarves. According to Mandragora intelligence, the Dwarves would be kept busy fighting a subterranean war with the BlackClaw Goblins and Black Mandragora TunnelRunners. This proved to be far from true. The Dwarves gleefully entered battle with the cowardly goblins and proved to be capable of taking on the TunnelRunners too. They collapsed tunnels, caused landslides, and even flooded part of their mine. Despite being heavily outnumbered, the Dwarves fought the invaders to a standsstill.
Near-impregnable in their fortress and with their allies from Hammerfall Pass at their back, the Dwarves effectively contained the Mandragora: they sat back and waited. Enraged by the lack of progess, some of the Mandragora leaders ordered a surface assault, the details of which are covered in the Battle of Koshrak's View.
Volkraad
After their defeat at Koshrak's View, Wings of Mandragora closed in on Volkraad, with a large number of BlackClaw goblins at the van. The Legions of the Volkranian army raced to meet them, although they were poorly prepared and had effectively been caught wrong-footed. With no aid forthcoming from the other cities, they prepared to fight to the last.
On the banks of the Tarcrzy river to the north and west of Volkraad, the bridges were destroyed and a series of earthworks were constructed. These earthworks were the last line of defence before the Volkraad city walls, and became known as The Line.
Here the heaviest fighting of the war was carried out, resulting in a months-long stalemate. While the Mandragora forces could be repulsed, the Volkranian defenders lacked the mobility for a pursuit, with little or no cavalry. Instead the Mandragora would regroup and attack another part of the Line. Even with the support of Magi from the Royal Academy and the priesthood of Pelor, it proved a nigh-impossible task to defend against these raids.
The fighting was close and bloody. Veterans talk of whole infantry squads being destroyed by eldritch fire; of fighting hand-to-hand waist-deep in bloodied mud; being showered by gory debris as magic and siege engines pummelled the line, and of fighting on the Tarczy on creaking and splintering ice when it froze.
The stalemate continued for some time, up until the Accords of Volkraad were signed. Even then, the forces of House Xeduus nearly broke the Line, as news of a Mandragora column marching from Volkraad had a negative effect on morale - rumours flew up and down the Line that the city had already fallen. As the Volkranian commanders fought to keep order, the Xeduus forces attacked, seizing upon the confusion.
While the Volkranians fought for their lives, messengers from Volkraad raced up and down the line, warning troops that reinforcements were coming to their aid. Crossing the Tarczy south of the Line and the Xeduus pickets, the Imperial Mandragora slammed into the right flank of the House Xeduus forces, sweeping aside their defences and wreaking havoc. As the two armies battled, the Volkranians regrouped and troop commanders were tasked with a counter-attack for the first time in months. They were told to warn the troops that any Mandragora dressed in a grey tabard, was an ally not an enemy.
The joint counter-attack effectively ended the House Xeduus threat, although The Remnant still continue to cause problems. The Purge of Fire officially ended with the signing of the Accords of Volkraad, although a number of skirmishes continued for several months afterwards.
The Battle in the North
Although Goblins and Bugbears dominated the BlackClaw Goblins, there was a question: why were there no Orcs in these forces? The warlike and bloodthirsty race would have been eager to sack and despoil Volkrania. Reports coming periodically from the Norland shed more light on the matter: the Norlanders were fighting for their existence in the ice-fields of Norland against Orc war-bands.
Little is known about the events that happened in the frozen north, but it is safe to say that the Norlanders won, but the cost was high - fewer than one in ten warriors survived. Many of the heroes of the Norlander battles now exist only in the song and memories of those who were there.
It is unclear as to whether this invasion was orchestrated to neutralise aid from Norland, or just a coincidence - however, Orc warbands have been seen to work with The Remnant forces since then, which implies a certain amount of cooperation between the two factions.
Retrieved from ‘https://orcedinburgh.co.uk/wiki/index.php?title=Purge_of_Fire&oldid=3841’
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DayZ Getting a Physical Release on PS4 and Xbox One
On Jun 05, 2019, by Christian Anderson and Gabriel Stanford-Reisinger
Popular zombie survival game, DayZ, will be getting a physical release on the PS4 and Xbox One this year. After a week following release on the PSN store, publisher Sold Out announced a physical copy will be available later this year, but offered no release date. Hopefully, by then, they will fix many of the game’s criticism like its buggy game, poor server connections, and poor melee combat.
Originally a mod, DayZ is the spiritual successor to the mod of the same name. Gamers who don’t own a powerful computer will soon be able to play it on their console.
DayZ Physical Copy Sold Out
Hollow Knight Dev, Team Cherry, Cancels Physical Release
DayZ Will Soon Come out of Alpha
Staff Writer @ PixelBay
Christian loves horror games and movies. He's a horror connoisseur, if you will.
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Home / Computer science and Engineering final year complete projects and materials / design and implementation of a computerized career guidance information system (46 pages) CHAPTER 1-5
design and implementation of a computerized career guidance information system (46 pages) CHAPTER 1-5
Category: Computer science and Engineering final year complete projects and materials.
Man in search of comfort struggle to meet up with good career and for this to be achieved, it has to be started as early as possible. From the time man is born, expectations abound to know what likely he will be able to do as he grows up. This has to do with his natural behaviour and mental exercise display. This continues in family/parents and other relaxation acting as counselling unit until the child goes in to school. In school the teacher takes over the counselling, it is a continuous exercise until one finds ones feet, then he can continue from there and equally be in a position to guide and counsel others.
The stages where much work is carried out on counselling is in secondary schools .This is a stage when a child is grown to be able to understand maturely and when the childs attitude is fully studied in line with academic performance . In all secondary school across the country , there exist a guidance and counsellor office where people knowledgeable in the area of psychology are employed in order to help advise the younger ones in school which way forward to their future career . There people through class visitation, Observing students during recreation and calling on them at intervals for questioning, came to know the students betters and be able to guide and counsel them in their future career probably in university or in any other area of endeavour.
The job of counselling in secondary school is not an easy job to be taking into consideration the number students involved with respect to the number of staff involved. It is always very difficult to handle all the students and to remember everything about the students. This Counselling exercise needs a sophisticated system for the operation of counselling alliterates some of the problem associated with exercise.
Personal behaviour and area of interest, they keep very close marks with the students to make sure that no stone is left unturned. This aspect of ones life is taken very seriously in schools because that is mainly the reason people go to school for the academics tests and examination only. The battle of career choice is handed over to individual when he/she attain a stage of being able to duct for himself what he/she really wants and how best possible to get such height. The person can steer the wheels directly to his destination or deviate in the other way due to carelessness or youthful exuberance; but the end justifies the means. Sometimes, due to laxity and incapability on the side of the career guidance and counsellor in schools, most of the students are led astray.
Hoyfield (1997) argues that a good career in life, makes a lot of meaningful process in life. He queried „what is comfort and where comfort without a good career. In his own views, it takes a long and rough way to arrive and clinch a good career but when one finally gets to it, life comes to be what nature made it
be. He made it clear and that life is associated with a good career and that such a career is what can give full meaning of life a priceless gift of nature. Statistics shows that people who find good career are enjoying high standard of living and the unlucky ones cry of frustration and negatives social factors that limits life.
The number of students involved in schools counselling are very enormous and few staff in counselling cannot handle the job effectively.
It is always very easy to forget information about students and to reach all the students, contributes and problems.………….ORDER FOR COMPLETE PROJECT MATERIAL NOW!! .
design and implementation of an online library system (71 pages) CHAPTER 1-5
design and implementation of campus online help desk information system (82 pages) CHAPTER 1-5
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Queen 18.8
Posted on February 12, 2013 by wildbow
I signalled Bitch to stop so I could communicate with the others.
“I fucked up,” I said.
“What?” Grue asked. “How?”
“She’s been absorbing my bugs. She’s spitting out some, and I can’t control them. They’re methodically destroying my swarm, and they’re hunting down people and attacking them.”
“She probably absorbed some before she even ran into us,” Tattletale said. “And she just needs one of a given type to make copies. I wouldn’t blame yourself.”
“Did she absorb hornets, black widows, brown recluses?”
“Maybe not,” Tattletale admitted.
“Okay,” I said. “Because there’s homicidal hornets and spiders out there now. Because of my fuck-up.”
“Don’t focus on the mistake,” Grue said, “Let’s focus on making up for it.”
I took a deep breath. “Okay. Bitch and I will be going ahead to deal with some unpowered clones. I’ll be in touch through the swarm. You guys keep moving forward, and I’ll signal you about any clones that Eidolon or my bugs aren’t able to take down.”
“Eidolon’s gone quiet,” Tattletale said. “He might be changing powers, chasing at a distance to safely keep track of her while he adjusts.”
“I’ll try to signal him,” I said. “Let him know we’re here, and that we’re engaging Noelle if and when we’ve managed the clones and we see an opportunity.”
“Hopefully he doesn’t accidentally wipe us off the face of the planet,” Regent joked.
“Hopefully,” I echoed him, except I wasn’t joking.
“Then I’ll suggest that this can be where we part ways,” Tattletale said. “I’ll take Imp, I can do more good with a phone and computer, and she’s no good to anyone right now.”
I nodded. I helped Imp climb down to the others.
Bitch whistled, and Bentley sprang into motion once more.
The people inside the building lobby were only now starting to recover from whatever Noelle’s power had done to them. Their clones hadn’t suffered any such drawbacks, though, and the abuse that had been heaped on the victims was more than making up for their recovery speed. They were helpless.
None of the victims were standing. I reached forward, putting one hand on the chain that Rachel was using to keep Bastard close.
She looked back at me.
“Clothesline!” I raised my voice to be heard over the rushing wind.
Rachel let some chain out and caught it under her left foot, forcing it lower. She managed to hook it on one of the growths of bone of Bentley’s ribcage.
We stampeded into the building lobby, through the hole Noelle had made, and Bitch whistled, flicking the chain as Bentley and Bastard passed through the space.
“Left!” she shouted, while steering Bentley right.
The chain was just low enough to catch the standing and crouching clones. The clones were caught by either the chain or by the bodies of their fellow clones, pulled back en-masse, drawn together into a tangle of bodies and distorted body parts. I moved my bugs through their midst to ensure they were all mutants. There was only one innocent who’d been dragged long with them. His clone had a grip on his clothing, and hadn’t let go when the chain had caught it.
“Getting down,” I said, sliding off the dog’s back. I hurried to the mass of clones before they could get themselves in order, drew my knife and slashed the hand that gripped the one innocent. I managed to pull him free without any of the clones hitting or grabbing me.
I was left coughing by the exertion and the pain in my side. Bitch steered Bentley to put his bulk between me and the clones.
“I got ’em,” she said.
“I’ll handle the others,” I told her.
“Right,” she grunted the word. “Bastard, hurt ’em! Bentley, kill! Kill!”
The canines threw themselves into the mass of clones the chain had caught.
There were three clones in the remaining group. One continued thrashing her alter-ego, while the other two stood to face me. I held my knife in one hand, drew my baton with the other and flicked it out to its full length. Not nearly as threatening as either of the canines, but I’d make do.
It was odd that Rachel was having Bastard hold back, being limited only to a ‘hurt’ command. Come to think of it, she’d had Bentley do the killing when fighting the Vista-clone, too.
My rib throbbed even now, just from riding Bentley and hauling the one victim out of the mass. I was left breathing hard, though the exertion had been mild. My stamina wasn’t a tenth of what it might otherwise be, to the point that I was worried I might get dizzy, start coughing or wind up too tired to fight if it came down to a straight hand-to-hand brawl.
I couldn’t afford to take it easy, though. Where I might otherwise have tried to distract them or buy enough time for Bentley to finish off the others and deal with these guys, the person that the female clone at the back was thrashing wasn’t going to last long. The two who were facing me were both men, both bigger and tougher than they might have been as humans, one fat, the other tall and broad-shouldered and narrow-waisted to the point of being a caricature.
My swarm was my best offense and my best defense, here. My bugs went for eyes and ears, and that was excuse enough for the two mutants to charge me.
They were half blind, and the mass of bugs that clung to me billowed out to mask my location. I started to move to my left, but I felt the fat one veer slightly in that direction and chose to head between them, instead.
The pair stumbled forward into my swarm, arms swinging wildly in a blind attempt to hit me. I ducked low, then moved forward to the mass of fallen and wounded. The female clone had her more normal self by the neck, and was repeatedly raising her and slamming her down. If someone else’s leg wasn’t in the way, she might have had her head dashed against the ground. As it was, a beating was still a beating, and something vital was bound to give sooner or later.
The clone looked up at me as I approached, still cloaked in a thick cloud of bugs. I realized why she hadn’t stood to face me. Her left leg was gone, barely a flipper. She raised her arms in self defense, and I batted one aside with my baton before stabbing her just above the collarbone.
They’re not people. They’re mockeries.
The small, helpless sounds she made as blood bubbled around the throat-wound weren’t helping my attempts to assuage conscience.
Damn Noelle, damn her for making me do this.
“You leave Steph alone!” the fat clone bellowed.
The words caught me off guard as much as the fact that he’d seen the attack. He charged, and I swiftly backed up, bringing my weapons to the ready.
He didn’t come after me. He stopped by ‘Steph’, the one-legged clone with the fatal throat wound.
“You care about her?” I asked.
“She’s Steph,” he said.
“I… what?” My train of thought was interrupted further by the snarling and gnashing of Bentley fighting the clones. One tried to break away from the group to come after me, but Bentley caught him, striking him flat against the ground with both front paws, like how a cat might pounce on a mouse.
“She’s Steph. She’s Steph. Of course I care. Fucking bugs!” He lashed out with one arm, as if he could hurt the swarm, drive them away. His arms folded around the clone-Steph.
I pulled the attacking bugs away, leaving only enough to track his movements. I wasn’t sure I wanted to open up a line of dialogue, but my conscience couldn’t afford to let me not. “But… what about the person she was beating up? You don’t care about the real Steph?”
“Ignored me. Looked down on me because I was fat. Fuck her,” he spoke with such force that my bugs could feel the spit flying from his mouth.
“She’s still Steph, isn’t she?”
“Bitch. Brushing me off. Made it so we were friends, not boyfriend and girlfriend. Bitch,” he said.
He let the mutant-clone Steph drop limp to the ground, clenched and unclenched a fist. “Fuck her. Fuck you for killing Steph.”
“Why do this? Why hurt people?”
“I’m a soldier,” he said, his words dull. “It’s what I am.”
I sensed his girth, used my swarm to sense his equally heavy alter-ego. “You… don’t strike me as a soldier.”
“It’s what I am.”
“Is… is he a soldier?” I gestured in the direction of his other self.
“No. Fat fuck could never be a soldier. Kill him. Dig my fingers into that gut and rip and tear until he dies. Strangle him. No willpower, hide from the world behind that disgusting fat. Choke the life out of him. He’s useless anyways. Waste of air, waste of a life.”
Projecting much?
“And when he’s dead? What will you do?”
He moved toward me, and I backed away a step, bringing my bugs closer to him. He went still again, glanced around. “Kill others. Kill Dad and Mom and Sammy and the cats. Kill teachers and classmates and burn my house and burn the school. Fuckers. All of them. Looking down on me.”
His words struck a chord, and it was the closest experience I’d ever had to the sort of flashback that happened in the movies. I could remember being in the school bathroom, dripping with juice. Being so frustrated, so angry, so hurt that I just wanted to lash out.
Was that all he had left? Was that all he was?
“And if they all die?”
“Kill others. Burn this fucking disgusting city. Burn this fucking country. Keep burning, keep killing.”
“Do you really think that’ll make anything better?”
“Then why? Is there any way I can get you to stop?”
“No. Won’t stop. I’m a soldier.”
“Whose soldier? Hers? Noelle’s? The monster who spat you out?”
“And you?” I asked, turning so my back wasn’t to the broad shouldered one in the midst of my swarm.
He didn’t answer. He charged for me instead. The obese one took the opportunity to come after me from a different angle.
Again, I drew my swarm around me, put each of my bugs on the offensive to distract, and used my swarm-sense to figure out where they were moving, getting out of the way.
Ducking low, I felt a sharp pain in my side. I grunted in pain and barked out a cough. The cough made me need to cough more, which only helped inform them of my position.
The coughing fit took the strength out of me at a time when I needed to move most. Swimging blindly, the fat one struck me across the face. My mask absorbed the worst of the impact, and I stuck my knife out in his general direction, sticking it into the general area of his chest, hitting bone rather than anything substantial.
“Bugs fucking hurt,” he growled, apparently oblivious to the pain of the knife wound. “Stop it!”
He swung again, but I managed to get out of the way. With the stinging, biting insects in his eyes, crawling into his mouth and nose as he talked to gag him, I managed to distract him enough that I could safely retreat. My entire body shook as I suppressed coughs, and I dropped to one knee to try and catch my breath. I hoped that being closer to the ground would mean I didn’t get hit; I was too breathless to move out of the way if he swung a punch at me.
The broad-shouldered one stepped close, his cheeks wet with the vitreous fluids of torn eyeballs and blood where my swarm had dug in deep. I suppressed another cough and slid my knife’s blade against the back of his knees. It might not have cut deep enough if he’d been wearing clothes, but he was naked, and there was nothing to stop the knife.
He collapsed just in front of me. I hesitated a moment, then stabbed my knife into the side of his throat.
They’re not real. Not real people.
Bentley had finished tearing apart the other eight or so clones, and at Rachel’s instruction was closing in on the fat clone. I moved my bugs to give her a clearer view.
I was ready for him to make a break for it. He didn’t. He turned toward us, clenching and unclenching his fist.
There’s no saving them. Whatever had happened to their heads while they were grown inside Noelle, they’re twisted. Their perspectives are warped.
“Stop him,” I said. “Finish them, Rachel.”
Rachel whistled, and Bentley leaped. The clone tried to come after me, but didn’t make it two steps before the dog got to him.
“Feels wrong,” I said. Rachel gave me a hand in climbing back up.
She didn’t offer a reply. It wouldn’t feel wrong to her.
I started searching with my bugs, looking in the direction Noelle had last gone.
Without even the ability to tentatively feel Noelle out with my bugs, I was having trouble keeping track of her. Every passing minute meant that there was more sunlight, but even with that I couldn’t see Noelle. It was as though a painter was working with white and black paint, throwing handfuls of it onto a canvas from three feet away. It didn’t convey a picture so much as a blurry, indistinct abstract.
I should have been able to follow movement, to track Noelle by the way the patches of light and dark changed. The issue was that there were countless things moving across my radius. Water was running where some streets were still draining, plastic bags blew in the wind and shadows shifted as the sun and clouds moved. Each changed the canvas, altered the blurry, muddy blotches of light and dark.
I could hear Grue give an order, and his group started moving with purpose.
“Grue just saw her, I think,” I said. I pointed the way.
I’d started another coughing fit by the time we caught up with the others, and I could feel my skull pounding as if it had a three pound heart inside of it instead of a brain.
“She found some of the other capes who were holding position,” Grue said, when I’d managed to get my breath. “Lights in the distance.”
“Fuck,” I said. I was about to comment on how we were too close to Ballistic’s headquarters for comfort, but remembered that Grace and Tecton were listening. I stopped myself before the words left my mouth and coughed instead.
“You okay?” Tecton asked.
“Little worse for wear.”
“Sounds like more than a little.”
As we got closer, I tentatively moved the bugs closer, until I had them on the flying heroes. I made an effort to discover and eliminate the hostile bugs that Noelle had created, and tried to find identifying details on the capes we were approaching.
“One of the heroes is a guy with an emblem, I think it’s a book with chains around it,” I said.
“Maybe Chronicler,” Tecton said.
“Three more flying ones,” I said. “One with antlers on his chest emblem.”
“All guys?” Tecton asked. When I nodded, he said, “That’d be Strapping Lad, Intrepid, and Young Buck. And the one you mentioned before would definitely be Chronicler.”
“Seriously?” Regent asked. “Strapping Lad?”
“They’re from the Texas Wards team,” Tecton said, as if that was explanation enough. “Lad, Intrepid and Buck are all about the harassment. Flying, teamwork, hitting hard and adjusting their battle plans to match the enemy threat level, staying out of danger.”
“Up until they get too close and she grabs one,” I said.
“Could happen,” Tecton replied. “Eidolon’s probably up there too, too quiet. Might be waiting for new powers to finish manifesting before he makes any moves.”
“What can we do?” Grace asked.
“I remember those Wards from the Leviathan fight. Some of them,” I said. “They fly? All of them?”
“Yeah,” Tecton said.
“Then we support on the ground,” I said. “You, Grue and maybe Regent can slow her down. Bitch keeps us mobile. We stay ready to move at a moment’s notice if it comes down to it. Staying safe is a bigger priority than anything else.”
Noelle was limited to moving on the ground. It gave the young heroes a natural advantage: each of them flew, and two of the three were armed with long ranged tinker-made weapons. The guns weren’t anything flashy or spectacular, more the kind of laser weapon that a fan of science fiction might create, but the young heroes apparently thought it was worth keeping up the onslaught, and the guns didn’t appear to rely on any ammunition or reloading.
The one without the gun was apparently Young Buck, going by the raised image of antlers on his chest emblem. He would fly around Noelle, close to the ground, then turn himself, his gear and the bugs I’d placed on him into a living projectile. Or, maybe, he was using some kind of uncontrolled breaker power to go faster than the speed of sound, unable to change course or take any action while he traveled. Whatever he was doing, he flashed across the battlefield as a straight, living projectile before materializing again. The ground shook with his impacts he delivered to Noelle.
The one I took to be Chronicler was casting out a hazy field around himself and the other two with the guns. The field shifted, drifting closer to the ground, and then solidified in a semisolid image of the heroes, complete with the laser fire. A quick check with my bugs verified that the shots were just as real as what the real selves were creating. The aim wasn’t so hot. It was more of a replay of the actions they’d just taken than proper clones.
Young Buck moved beneath Chronicler, and passed through the field as he turned into a beam. When the images appeared, they mimicked the same beam attack, their paths a perfect parallel to the real Young Buck.
We stopped as she came into view. For the others, anyways.
“Fuck me,” Regent said. “Anyone else noticing what I notice?”
“Bitch’s dogs,” Grue said.
“Not that similar,” Rachel grumbled, but she didn’t sound confident.
“Pretty fucking similar,” Regent said.
I leaned forward, hand on Rachel’s shoulder, whispered, “What is it?”
“Her entire lower half, it looks like my dogs. Bit on the back doesn’t look like it, though. More like a hand, but same look.”
“Thanks,” I replied.
“We good to go?” Grue asked.
“Go,” I gave the order.
Tecton slammed his piledriver-gauntlets into the ground, and a fissure opened beneath Noelle. The ground shattered around her, denying her the footing to move out of the way as Chronicler and Young Buck worked together to multiply Young Buck’s offensive power. Tecton repeated the process, disintegrating the ground beneath her.
“I can’t do a lot to her,” Regent said. “Only some of her is normal, and it doesn’t really connect together.”
“Try, or focus on the clones,” Grue ordered. He sent a blast of darkness my way, enveloping me. I could feel the quality of my bug-senses decline, my degree of control degrading.
A moment later, he withdrew the darkness. Did he just want the view? The sense of what was where?
Raising his hands above his head, Grue fired a thick stream of darkness at Eidolon.
The hero moved out of the way before the beam made contact.
“Work with me!” Grue growled. “Damn. I can’t throw darkness over Noelle without hurting our side as much as we hurt her. I need powers. Grace?”
“You want to copy my power?”
There was a rumble as Tecton shattered more road beneath Noelle. With the way he’d directed the attack to place it off to one side, I suspected she was trying to climb out of the funnel-shaped depression the explosions had made. Given her speed from before, it was surprising how slowly she was climbing.
Then it struck me. An antlion pit. The sides of the pit weren’t giving her any traction. Any time she set her weight down, she only pushed the sand to the bottom.
“Let me test it, see what I can get,” Grue told Grace.
I scouted the area with my bugs, and accidentally ran into Noelle with a handful of houseflies as she slid backwards into the pit. I wasn’t going to agonize over the fact, but I didn’t want to give her any more ammunition. My bugs did find a mess of vomit at the very bottom of the shallow crater.
“There’s vomit, but no clones,” I said. “She’s trying something.”
“The two-dimensional Vista. She’s ambushing,” Grue said.
“Ambushing who?” Tecton asked.
“I don’t know. Can you see them?” I asked. “When they’re moving on a surface, are they visible?”
“Why are you asking us?” Grace asked.
“Tecton,” I said, “As much ground as you can affect, now!”
He didn’t hesitate, punching the ground and driving both piledrivers into it. There were no fissures, this time. The entire area rumbled, and the ground spiderwebbed with cracks in every direction, not leaving two square feet of ground untouched. Bentley nearly lost his footing, and Bastard growled, until Rachel pulled on his chain.
The first clone stepped out of a piece of plywood that had been placed across a shattered balcony door. An Über. He pulled the plywood free and disappeared into the apartment, swatting at the bugs that I’d set on him.
A Circus emerged beneath the flying heroes, cradling a shattered arm. Bugs began drifting toward her, as if a strong wind were pulling them in. The normal Circus packed a pocket dimension she could put things into. This one was only storing air, forming a strong vacuum around herself. Chronicler’s cloud dissipated as it was sucked in, and the heroes with weaker flying abilities were swiftly being dragged her way. Regent hit her with his power, and the effect slowed, but she recovered faster than the fliers did.
My swarm could see a large blob of shadow, Noelle, taking advantage of the distraction to climb free of Tecton’s antlion pit.
“Now!” Grue said.
Grace ran forward, having little trouble moving on the shattered road. She leaped and kicked Noelle, no doubt putting her invincibility in one foot. As the kick was delivered, Grace used Noelle as a foothold and thrust herself away. Grue chased her attack with a stream of darkness, enveloping Grace as she stuck her landing, leaped, and did very much the same thing Grace had, slamming one fist into Noelle.
Noelle toppled with a rumble my bugs could feel, then slowly slid back into the crater Tecton had made before she could get her feet under her again.
The Über stepped out onto the balcony with a block of kitchen knives in hand. Though they weren’t weighted for throwing, he had no problem throwing a knife to hit Young Buck as the hero flew by. Young Buck spiralled out of the air, stopping himself only a moment before he hit the ground. When he righted himself, his hands were pressed around the knife that had embedded in his stomach.
I sent more bugs after the Über, my bugs tearing at his eyes and hands in earnest. He threw another knife blind, hitting Chronicler in the arm before he collapsed and started thrashing to get the bugs off himself.
The Circus, for her part, had used her pocket-dimension vacuum to draw one of the fliers close enough to get her hands on him. The hero, Intrepid or Strapping Lad, was set aflame from head to toe, his costume ignited in entirety. He kicked out, blind in the midst of the flames that were immolating him, and she ducked out of the way.
Grace saw the flames of the burning hero as Grue banished his darkness. She made a break for the Circus. Regent knocked the Circus off balance, momentarily interrupting the suction yet again, and Grace punched with enough force to cave in the clone’s chest. The Circus dropped to the ground, dead.
Grace couldn’t see in Grue’s darkness, so they were limited as far as their partnership went. He backed away slowly, searching for another opportunity or another power he could borrow. Without Grace’s natural agility, the individual pieces of road made for unsteady footing, each tilting and sliding as weight was placed on them.
Noelle screamed with frustration and rage. As far as I could tell, she was still at the bottom of the pit.
I couldn’t follow what was happening, not without giving her more bugs to work with, but then again, I wasn’t sure that anyone else was having more luck on that front. Not with the pit around her.
“She’s pulling something!” Tecton shouted. He raised his voice to be heard by the other capes, “Get back!”
Everyone moved away, excepting Young Buck, who was frozen, hands to his wound. Grace retreated, holding onto the incinerated young hero.
When Noelle vomited, the slurry came out as one stream, a geyser that extended six or seven hundred feet. Rachel steered Bentley out of the way before it hit, and the others danced off to either side to avoid getting splashed. Grace got clipped, and went sprawling, almost glued to the ground under the weight of the fluid, the cape in her arms falling.
A dozen bodies began climbing free of the vomit. Ten or so clones had been deposited on the street, along with a real Leet in civilian clothes. One of the clones was a Circus, folding herself into her pocket dimension.
“She’s walking on the bodies,” Tecton said. “Incoming!”
The bodies. She vomited bodies into the pit to keep stuff from sliding underfoot.
Young Buck charged through Noelle, but he wasn’t flying when he finished his maneuver. He tumbled to the ground, rolling after he landed.
I could hear armbands informing others of the fallen.
My arm jerked in pain, and I slapped at a hornet. One of Noelle’s.
Noelle advanced on the burned cape and Grace. Tecton slammed the ground, but the effect was muffled. He’d shattered the ground for blocks around, had maybe killed or eliminated several of the two dimensional clones, but his piledriver gauntlets wouldn’t be as effective on this soft surface.
Two of the Southern Wards opened fire from above, pelting Noelle with laser fire. I could sense her growing tall, or rearing up on her hind legs, and she vomited a stream into the air. Chronicler and the other cape were splashed, caught by the clotted liquid and a flying body. Chronicler’s power remained, the hologram images sustaining the same fire at the same angle, not adjusting as Noelle moved to one side.
Eidolon made his move. My bugs could sense the air growing heavy and humid. Vomit dried, and clones staggered and fell.
The humidity increased to the point that I could feel the moisture flowing through the air in thick clouds, rising from every surface, heavy off the bodies of the clone, off Noelle and the streams of vomit.
My bugs were dying. The flying insects were first to die, their wings crinkling. The ones closest to me were alive, but they were suffering too.
Dessication.
“You’re killing Grace!” Tecton bellowed at the sky. I doubted Eidolon would hear from his vantage point. I had only his word to go by. Grace was in an area my bugs couldn’t reach.
“Acceptable losses,” Grue said. Tecton whirled around to face him. Grue’s voice was calm, “His plan isn’t working. Tattletale said he wanted to experience enough danger to get a power boost, and I’m not getting the feeling he’s had that. He’s too experienced to panic, but with everything he’s seen, everything he’s done over the past decades of work, maybe he’s thinking he has to do something here, and he’s decided he can’t let there be another Endbringer. Can’t let there be another monster in this world.”
“She’s on our side! She’s one of the good ones!”
“If it makes you feel any better,” I said, “Eidolon might be assuming she’s already dead.”
I’d positioned some bugs so that they could distinguish Noelle’s vague lumbering frame against the background of the dimly lit sky. Her flesh was drying and flaking off in chunks as the moisture was pulled out with force.
But the ground still rumbled with the vibrations of her steady advance, and for all the dried flesh that was falling free, she wasn’t getting noticeably smaller to my bugs’ senses.
Eidolon hit her with a gravity slam. More flesh came free. I saw a change, with that, but the edges of the silhouette filled in.
“She isn’t dying?” I asked, my voice a murmur.
“She’s regenerating,” Grue said.
The effects of Eidolon’s dessication were starting to get to me. The air was too dry. I coughed once and briefly held my breath to keep from succumbing to another fit.
There was a sound like a firecracker taking flight, and Noelle lurched. Even with my bug’s less than stellar sight, I could see the aftermath. A hundred slightly different angles. Noelle’s true body, the human half perched on top of the monster, arched her back, her chest out, head turning toward the sky. A spray of blood and gore marked a small explosion ripping out the front of her chest.
And another, a shot from behind, tearing through her cranium.
My bugs ventured into the dessicated area. They would only last for a minute at best, but they’d serve to scout, to give me eyes. They found Ballistic.
He hadn’t come alone. Scrub was with him, and Trickster swapped rubble out of the area to move his teammates in. He swapped himself in for Grace, appearing in the middle of the vomit-slurry.
I opened my mouth to speak, coughed at the dry air instead.
“You decided to help?” Grue called out.
“She’s our responsibility,” Genesis said, “We made a promise to each other. To get home, no matter what it took. But there were other parts to it. Things we added on when the whole situation became clear. Fixing Noelle was one of those additions.”
Getting home?
“We knew it was fucked up,” Sundancer said. “But we promised ourselves that if it came down to it, we’d step in before it got bad. And this is bad. So we’re acting on it.”
Her orb burned above her head. Its crackle sounded slightly different in the dry air.
Noelle’s growl was accented by a noise from one of the larger canine mouths. “Traitors.”
She’s alive. Shot through the heart and brain, and she’s talking.
“If you were thinking straight, you’d agree with us,” Genesis said. “You’d agree this is right. That we can’t let people get hurt, just for your revenge.”
“I didn’t ask for this,” Noelle said.
“I know,” Trickster spoke. He looked up toward the sky, tilted his head, and then Eidolon disappeared. I could sense Eidolon’s new location, a few blocks away. He tried to fly closer, and Trickster teleported him again, keeping him a distance away. Eidolon had given up his power invulnerability.
“I… I’ll use my sun, Noelle,” Sundancer said. “We’ll burn you. It’ll be complete, thorough. And this ends. There’ll be no more hurting people. And we put all this behind us, remember you the way you were. It’s better if it’s us.”
“I don’t want to be a memory,” Noelle said.
“You already are,” Ballistic said, from behind her.
She turned, and a low growl sounded from one of her lower mouths, deep enough I could feel the rumble of it.
Ballistic shook his head. “The old Noelle’s long gone. Do you think she would have survived getting shot like that?”
Noelle didn’t answer.
“You have her memories, nothing more,” Trickster said.
“Krouse,” Noelle said. “You turn on me like this?”
“I don’t know what else to do.” He teleported Eidolon away again. This time Eidolon stayed put. Choosing a new power?
“You did this to me. This? The old Noelle disappearing? It’s your fault. You know it. You created me.”
He’d created her?
He’d dosed her.
“Yeah,” Trickster said. He lit a cigarette, put it in the mouth-hole of his mask.
“And I listened to you. I bought your promises. Your hollow assurances. I listened and cooperated when you said I should be locked up. I listened when they shut me in that vault, in the dark, alone, with that fucking beeping that wouldn’t let me sleep. I waited all this time because you said I could get better.”
“I know. It eats away at me. But I don’t know what else to do.”
“I spent the past two years listening to you. Doing what you wanted. Just do what I want here, and I’ll let it all end. I’ll let her burn me, and then you guys can find your own way home.”
“I know what you want,” he said, “But the consequences-”
“-Don’t matter,” she said. “It’s not our world. It’s… it’s as screwed up as the things I make. They’re just dark twisted copies of people in this dark, twisted, fucked up world.”
“No’-” He started.
“You owe me this.”
Trickster sighed, spat out the barely-touched cigarette. Even though I couldn’t identify tone, I felt a cold feeling in the pit of my stomach.
“Shit,” I said. “Grue-”
Trickster was already turning. Grue was only beginning to raise a cloud of darkness around us when he disappeared, Trickster standing in his place.
“Grue!” I screamed. He was where Trickster had been, half a city block away from Noelle.
Noelle lunged. Trickster could have moved out of the way fast enough. Grue wasn’t so lucky. The shattered ground under her feet shifted, and she slammed into him, her lower body catching Grue, adhering to him.
He was giving her us.
Trickster was already gone from the midst of our group. There was gunfire and incoherent shouting as people tried to identify his location. Ballistic was gone, replaced by a piece of rubble. He was taking the most immediate threats out of the picture. Eidolon, Ballistic, Grue…
Who came next on that hierarchy?
I found myself only five paces away from Noelle, plucked from the midst of my cloud of bugs. There were too few to hide me from Trickster’s sight, with the way the dessication had thinned their ranks.
She caught me with the back of one claw. There was a sound like a gunshot going off, my ribs feeling like my bones had turned to white-hot brands, and I stuck. She set her claw down on the ground, and my back exploded with pain as I struggled to contort my body, get in a position where I wasn’t being folded in half under the weight of an eight ton monstrosity.
I was spared being snapped in two not by my own struggles, but by the pull of her flesh as it folded around me. It simultaneously consumed me and pulled on me, as if by a hundred hands. The process was smooth and inevitable, flesh flowing around me like hot candlewax, even as I was drawn upward and inward.
I could sense Regent appearing nearby. Noelle turned to face him. He didn’t fight, didn’t try to run. He said something, but I couldn’t make out the words, couldn’t hear them with the dark, hot, rancid-smelling flesh that had enveloped me.
The last of the flesh closed behind me, my power stopped working, and I was left with only absolute darkness and the pounding flow of Noelle’s blood in my ears.
This entry was posted in 18.08 and tagged Bastard, Bentley, Bitch, Carnie, Eidolon, Grace, Grue, Imp, Noelle, Pwn, Regent, Scape, Tattletale, Taylor, Tecton, Unter by wildbow. Bookmark the permalink.
191 thoughts on “Queen 18.8”
wildbow on February 12, 2013 at 00:04 said:
What do you guys think? A good place to end the arc?
If you don’t think so, vote for Worm on topwebfiction.
If you think so, vote for Worm on topwebfiction.
…This is why I leave the attempted humor to PG.
WyldCard4 on February 12, 2013 at 00:18 said:
The arc? Come on, this is the perfect end to the serial! Worm ends in exactly the right place if it ends here. At most have a followup where we see how the world ends.
MrVoid on February 12, 2013 at 00:37 said:
I do hope you are joking, as that would be the most rediculous buzzkill ever.
In other news, Trickster may have just doomed everyone. Why Eidolon? Why anyone? Even though he did cause her to become what she is, he shouldn’t be stupid enough to think that he owes her anything. She was his mistake, so he should’ve manned up and taken responsibility for his monster; he should not have decided that feeding the angry beast was in any way just. Also, now that Noelle doesn’t have anyone direct her sentient anger into, what is to stop her from letting go of that part of her psyche and just going full beastmode?
Anzer'ke on February 12, 2013 at 06:51 said:
Yeah, I’m guessing dawn just struck.
Trickster was insane if he thought that giving her these people was a good idea. Of all his bad calls, this was the very worst. He should have gone the friendly route and allied properly with them. Might actually have succeeded that way.
Psycho Gecko on February 13, 2013 at 02:25 said:
I’m not actually sure which one is named Dawn
liminal2016 on May 25, 2017 at 11:18 said:
Remember when Dinah said Noelle wouldn’t cause any real trouble until the sun rose?
Five bucks says the sun just rose.
Alternatively, Dinah’s prediction was also referring to Sundancer’s sun. Almost immediately after she created it, Trickster turns on the good guys. Most likely I’m just being poetic, though.
Random Lurker on February 13, 2013 at 11:16 said:
That was pretty mild coming from you, Gecko. You losing your touch? XD
Lord Evil on September 20, 2017 at 05:13 said:
When they were in the other world a few chapters back, it was mentioned what was tweaked in their memories. Four were distracted, one was angered, and Trickster was devoted. To Noelle. He makes bad decisions because his devotion to her has become unshakable. So unshakable that he cannot think rationally. Even though he already figured out *exactly how* he’d been brainwashed. He agrees she needs to die, but still gives her what she wants. The Endbringer set Trickster on the same path to insanity as Manton and Alan. And possibly The Doctor; but that is just my speculation.
The Endbringers’ goal is, in my view, to manipulate the timeline to keep creating more Endbringers until they have the sufficient might to attack the earth on the other side of the portal, which has way more capes. Assuming I’m parsing that dimension crap correctly, I may not be.
Dread Pirate on February 20, 2018 at 03:03 said:
Nope, Earth Bet (home of both our protagonists and the Endbringers) has far more capes than Earth Aleph. That said, you may be right about wanting to end more than just one world.
Worm’s a good story, isn’t it? Be a shame if anything happened to it because it wasn’t voted up enough. An awful shame.
That’s why you’re going to send 100 votes, unmarked, to topwebfiction by the next update, or else you might find worm sleeping with the fishes. And you know how much fish like worms.
That’s why you don’t mess with La Typo Nostra.
Fear The Banjo on June 16, 2017 at 20:10 said:
Please I promise I’ll give you the votes I just need more time … just a little longer
hammerade on December 31, 2013 at 22:27 said:
I’m just really curious what evil Taylor will be like. The clones seem to lay everyone’s resentment flat.
By the way, the clones kind of remind me of the monsters that came with Simurgh’s attack. Any relation?
Eddy on October 9, 2015 at 14:18 said:
Same, they seem just as deformed, and we know the monsters from the other universe have powers.
Conceptually they’re pretty similar- they both have “nasty,” “alternate,” “powered,” and “minions” all in one. It’s just that they’re getting it from different sources- the Simurgh found some people who already fit parts 1/2/3 and deployed them as 4, where Noelle actually makes 1/2/4s and focuses on building instances that fit 3.
soulpelt on February 12, 2013 at 00:17 said:
F….fuck…I…I….Wildbow you great mad genius! My God! I’ll need to reread this. Trickster you ass I hope you die of incurable cancer…..and oh God…….Taylors dad….so much went wrong so fast…
*incurable cancer
Damned autocorrect…..
I dunno. Cancer’s pretty tame, aside from the whole lethality thing. Don’t you think that Bonesaw could administer more…enduring punishment? Or maybe those nice Birdcage folks?
Three Lefts Make a Right on February 12, 2013 at 00:18 said:
Well then. Good chapter. I’m struggling to see how things can get much worse for the Undersiders at this point.
*Well. A pox on all typos.
greatwyrmgold on July 26, 2013 at 10:59 said:
Easy. Bitch, Imp, and Tattletale get eaten as well.
three rights make a left. on February 12, 2013 at 00:19 said:
so…. Eidolon defeated by trickster LOL
It didn’t seem like Eidolon was trying. And “move him away from the fight” doesn’t seem much like “defeat” to me.
randomsoul2 on February 12, 2013 at 00:21 said:
…..Well, crap.
In the mortal words of Minmax:
Sonofa crap.
TheAnt on February 12, 2013 at 00:21 said:
Well the heroes are boned. Clone Grues/Skitters are BAD news. Looks like we will get that BIzarro Undersiders fight people predicted. I am hoping that Taylor has a new trigger event. She is trapped in a cramped, dark, suffocating, and disgusting place. Great chapter Wildbow.
Reozul on February 12, 2013 at 16:52 said:
Cloned Grues are bad,yes. Cloned Skitters actually not so much. Even if they can control both normal bugs and cloned ones there is a limited amount to go around and a lot of what is in the vicinity is already dead. The only thing multiple clone-skitters mean is that if you kill one, the bugs don’t leave as another just takes over.
No, what I am deathly afraid of are cloned Imps and to a lesser degree Regents.
ward on February 12, 2013 at 19:22 said:
who said any thing about controling bugs?
Hydrargentium on February 13, 2013 at 02:18 said:
Alan on February 13, 2013 at 23:11 said:
What if Noelle started spewing mutant spiders, bees and hornets non-stop for the next 24 hours?
That would require her to be ingesting normal spiders, bees, and hornets for that period.
The powers of the clones are different. I seem to recall a nice little mutant named Scurry, controlling rodents. Not so different from humans, are they…
Individuo on February 12, 2013 at 00:24 said:
FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU
UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUuuuuuuuuuuuuuu
uuu……………………………..
……………………………..ck.
Edited your comment, as it was distorting the page. Sorry.
Bryce on April 26, 2014 at 01:09 said:
Cusses that distort the medium they’re posted on are rare
mc2rpg on February 12, 2013 at 00:27 said:
I can’t imagine ANYTHING more similar to Taylor’s original trigger. Being sealed into a mess of organic material that she can’t escape? There is nothing else that could be a better second trigger for her. Not only does it perfectly mirror her original, now she also has people to save to go along with it. I wasn’t sure that Taylor was ever going to have a second trigger after Grue did, but now the setup is just too perfect.
JN on February 12, 2013 at 00:33 said:
But she’s inside Noelle, which means instant clones of second trigger event skitters. How good can that be?
What if second trigger event Skitter gains control of Noelle!!!!!!
Nah. Too over the top.
Second Trigger event Skitter can fix Noelle somehow? Eat Noelle? End the world?
Yeah, the Travellers are pretty deep in the dog house after this. Ballistic is going to yell at Krouse as well, about how much he needs to stop making incredibly stupid calls all by himself.
Heck, I think the entire rest of the Travellers will have commentary on this being a dumb move. I suppose Francis loved her too much to deny her last wish, even if it was filtered through crazytown.
At this point I don’t think ballistic is going to yell at Krouse.
He’s going to kill him via too-fast-to-react-to airborn truck.
zoetewey on February 12, 2013 at 18:17 said:
That’s possible. I”ll be interested to see if that happens.
Too nice for the idiot, but he’s too dangerous to delay stopping.
Ballistic goes ballistic.
There. I’ve been wanting to use that one for a while.
Hexa on July 19, 2016 at 06:11 said:
This comment made me think of something: Ballistic could theoretically use his power on his own costume, couldn’t he. A weapon of last resort that consists of flying at the enemy.
It would probably be fatal, but might be more practical with a specialized suit.
Just imagine it, Ballistic’s heroic sacrifice:
A Big Bad is about to kill the Travelsiders, who’ve all been disarmed.
Then suddenly Ballistic dissapears from the group, mingling with the enemy in a mass of body parts pushed through a wall.
Well, she was EATEN as one-trigger-Skitter, so maybe her clones (or the first one, at least) will lack whatever the second trigger event gives. (Modified, of course, by Noelle’s warping.)
If Worm was a roleplaying campaign I was in, I know I’d use that argument.
munkyfud on February 13, 2013 at 10:22 said:
And they have a theory that the nature of the trigger affects the powers that come from it. Im wondering if Skitter will be able to overcome the Manton effect if she does have a second trigger.
“It is unknown why the Manton effect exists or how to bypass it, but bypassing it is often linked to a second trigger event. Faultline surmises that the rule might be a mental block set in place when an individual gets their powers, protecting them from hurting themselves with their abilities, which is overgeneralized to include all living things rather than just the user. Her attempts to retrain and circumvent this mental block prove futile.”
Um…what would that be? Taylor gains the ability to control paper clips as well as bugs?
Patrick Reitz (@dreamfarer) on February 12, 2013 at 00:29 said:
Oh ye of little faith.
Think what we have to look forward to now… that’s right, Saturday, when Wildbow gets to try to write himself out of this one. Based on past episodes I’m looking forward to that with evil glee 🙂
Next Tuesday. This ends the arc. 🙂
Pinkhair on February 12, 2013 at 00:46 said:
…You magnificent bastard. I READ YOUR BOOK!
(I’ve wanted to have a good excuse to say that for a long time.)
Kudos. That is an excellent quote drop.
Someguy on February 12, 2013 at 02:01 said:
Interlude this Saturday YAY!
Wildbow, I hate your rotten guts! Jk
You would get some kind of book award if you ended Worm like this! But please Saturday, come sooner!!!!!!!!!!
I don’t even think it’s a good place to end the chapter. I mean I can handle a cliffhanger or two, but…
YOU’RE FREAKING ME OUT HERE!!!!
Undead-Spaceman on February 12, 2013 at 00:31 said:
Trickster is is desperate of a boot the face, preferably the kind with a lot of sharp and point cleats.
Also, I agree TheAnt. If Taylor’s going to have another trigger event, it’s probably going to be now.
Well we have had this conversation numerous times but I wonder what she will get if she has a trigger event? Wildbow is amazing at coming up with new and interesting powers so I am curious what he could come up with. If she does trigger, can’t be 100% sure with Wildbow, it will have to be something very specific to deal with Noelle one way or another.
Dinah expects Taylor to survive, though not the same Taylor.
Yog on February 12, 2013 at 01:37 said:
Not the same Taylor? Ah, yes “you are different” line.
That’s an easy answer. Given the “transfers part of her mind / expands her mind into the swarm” theory of Taylor’s power…
She’ll be able to transfer between her clones at will. Or all her clones will share one consciousness.
This may not even need secondary trigger to happen.
link please?
Irrevenant on May 4, 2014 at 02:16 said:
Gnarker on February 12, 2013 at 00:48 said:
My personal favourite is dissolving into and reforming out of insect swarms, not necessarily the same one. Since trigger events usually give powers suited to escaping from the cause, that one doesn’t seem entirely unplausible to me either.
Doesn’t really give more combat options besides making her almost impossible to catch/kill. In the end her bugs are still going to get absorbed. While I could see it allowing her to escape, she can’t stop Noelle with it. I prefer some kind of transformation ability as well but maybe one where she becomes a bug hybrid. Makes her tougher/freakier and Taylor has always been self-conscious about the way she looks.
Personally, I think her main offense should continue to consist of her bugs. She is an extremely tactical fighter, turning into a heavy hitter herself would kind of take away from that.
Alternatives however would be extinding the ‘reforming from swarm’ route to formbigger insects out of smaller ones, or maybe go Bitch on them.
I like the idea of her ending up like Noelle. A minion controller with heavy combat function herself. Basically the classic Overlord role.
Makes her into a Queen piece, however in both cases their personal capacity really only avoids a quick defeat, their strength remains focused in the minions.
Chances are, she’ll gain the superpower of being a broken shell of a human being prone to flashbacks and doomed to insomnia because sleep finds her thrust into nightmare fo being encompassed in her worst fears, over and over again, with no escape until her inevitable death that rides toward her at quickened pace because of her scarred psyche edging her on to self destruction.
Ow, my neck. That was one hell of a mood whiplash.
The tools in my nefarious arsenal are many. I can store a lot up in that arsenal, even more if I oil everything up properly. On top of my ability to compel victims toward self-inflicted head trauma, I can also induce neck injury.
Sometimes the best way to cause neck injury is with a sudden onslaught of penis.
I tremble before your genital assault.
Pardon, your -oiled- genital assault.
Though we are moving back into the realm of pschological injury here.
Warning: before reading Worm, please ensure your computer’s seatbelt and airbags are in working order.
Well your comment gives me ideas for a telepathy sort of thing. Maybe she can send a signal to people like her bugs that disorients and causes terrifying hallucinations to those near her. Sort of like scarecrow’s fear gas. But I had forgotten about the negative mental damage she will probably have to go through from another trigger event. So Taylor has to again go through terrible crap even if she wins. The power that would probably be ideal for Wildbow would be something like Genesis’s power which gives alot of variety and allows him to showcase Taylor’s imagination/tactical thinking.
Vagina.
Supernatural creepiness on top of the normal one. Heh. I like.
You do raise a valid point there though. Even if she triggers and they win, she kind of loses too.
Yeah, giving her better bugs seems a pretty expansive possibility.
STH on February 12, 2013 at 11:29 said:
In Gargoyles, whenever Xanatos lost he still won. In the Wormverse, everyone loses no matter how well they’re doing.
I’ve never really said it, but Worm is one of three media I follow that is truly “GRIMDARK AS FUCK.” The other two being Dwarf Fortress and Fallout: Equestria. Success is really a question of how far you get before dying horribly like everyone else.
(40K is too bogged down in maintaining the status quo for it to be on that list.)
toafan on February 10, 2016 at 20:00 said:
Wildbow is the anti-Xanatos?
This continues to be my one real dislike about this series. I just don’t think it adds to the story, rather it feels like it degrades the setting ever closer to an inevitable point where nothing matters any more.
I guess I just like endings that are on the happy side of ambiguous. Then again I also like lots of loose ends. XD
I don’t think Worm is really “GRIMDARK” or even “GRIM”. It’s not light fluffy happy bunnies, but it’s also not a world where there is no hope and everyone is violated at every possible opportunity.
Grimdark, in my view, is where the misery and crappiness of the world is the end-all-be-all of existence. The whole point of a Grimdark story is to argue that the world is crap and nothing but crap. People in those worlds who think there’s something good about the world are demonstrably wrong and all anyone ever gets is misery piled on top of misery.
Read “1984” if you haven’t yet for Grimdark. Or (as best as I can recall) the Elric of Melnibone series (or any of the rest of Moorcock’s Champion Eternal books).
It’s a fairly juvenile sort of storytelling because there’s no nuance in Grimdark stories, no sense that the world’s anything more than what a pouty, angst-obsessed teenager might be capable of believing it to be.
Worm’s not like that. Taylor’s been through a lot, but, seriously, she’s been winning too. That doesn’t happen in a Grimdark world.
In a true Grimdark setting, the Nine would have brutally murdered, on screen, nearly every character we, the audience, had any connection to. Our heroine would have been torture-porn murdered to death after being forced to murder her own helpless newborn or something.
Instead of that Taylor kicked the asses of a group no other team of heroes in the world have been able to stop. She didn’t do it alone, and she didn’t do it without cost because victories come at a price in the Wormverse, but in the end the Nine were gone and she was still standing.
Hell, she even gave Godzilla an anti-matter enema and lived to fight another day. If that’s not absurdly out of the realm of Grimdark I don’t know what is.
I’ve got no idea where Wildbow’s going to go from here. Every single chapter has been a surprise. He could choose to go straight into the Grimdarkest territory ever for the rest of the story. Sometimes authors just go nuts after all. From what we’ve gotten so far though, I’m willing to trust that the story will have more to it than that. Wildbow’s earned that and more with what he’s given us so far.
Skitters’ had victories, sure, but I feel confident in saying that every one of them has cost nearly as much as she gains out of it, if not more. If that applies across the entire universe (unless you’re the Smurf, presumably), then that seems like a pretty good candidate for grimdark to me.
Patrick, did you just call Michael Moorcock a “pouty, angst-obsessed teenager”?
bundle on November 6, 2014 at 22:09 said:
worse, i think he called George Orwell a “pouty, angst-obsessed teenager”.
I’m with Anzer’ke about wanting an ambiguous happy ending. Somebody get Taylor a Thai masseuse!
Reveen on February 13, 2013 at 22:12 said:
Yeah, that’s a pretty good assessment of things Pat.
In alot of poorly done grimdark stories I find that the characters are always at the mercy of the utter crapness of the world. Even the most badass characters become helpless when the angst gremlin comes along to give them their designated dose of rape/torture/dead loved ones. They can’t successfully resist or fight it an it often feels like the author considers them foolish for trying. Worm isn’t really like that, the Taylor and the “good guys” give as good as they get. The only characters who sort of fit that grimdark mold are Amy, GG and the Dallon’s, and they we’re fucked up on a pretty fundamental level.
Also, I think Worms level of darkness is more about writing tone than content (barring the S9, but they’re an extreme case for the setting). Alot of “dark” fiction is dark because the author hits the reader over the head with fucked up shit over and over again. I mean, Taylor hasn’t been raped/attempted raped at any point, that definitely puts it above alot of dark stories in my book.
That seems the likeliest outcome. It even enhances a power she already has!
Well, it was a good run, but now the main character is dead. See ya next series!
Also, I had faith that Trickster would make me scream for his gruesome death yet again before too long. The man can’t keep any sympathy he garners.
I find him sympathetic but stupid. He keeps being inches from success and screwing it up because he can’t trust other people and their ideas. Too buried in his own head, I imagine Noelle likely helped with that…so box, crowbar, inside…
People got spit out of Noelle alive before. Skitter’s alive.
Great chapter, but the ending was one heck of a gut-punch. Right after we think the Calvary has arrived, they stab ’em in the back. And now Noelle has the Undersiders. Guess this was what Dinah predicted would happen. They can only hope that Triumph will do something after reading that note. But what happened to Tecton? It feels a bit unclear in the story, like it just stopped mentioning him.
Anyways, while I hate the arc ending on such a note, you really had to. Now that the Undersiders are taken, you need one or two Interludes to show other capes’ view of the action, since our normal perspective is…unavailable.
“can’t let people get hut,” instead of “hurt” was the only spelling mistake I caught with one read through. Action sequences were a bit confusing, but given Skitter’s need to use her swarm in a new, more careful way, that’s understandable. I’m surprised, though, that she only got stung once. I figured she’d have been attacked sooner.
What will happen next time? Let the comment section WMG begin!
*Right after we think the Calvary has arrived, they stab ‘em in the back.*
“Rohirrim! Ride… on MINAS TIRITH! Death! Death to the foes of Sauron! DEEAAAATH!”
Trickster: Well, look at this! Appears we got here just in the nick of time. What does that make us?
Sundancer: Big damn backstabbers, Trickster!
Trickster: Ain’t we just? *starts to teleport the good guys around*
khiruki on February 12, 2013 at 00:37 said:
If a second trigger occurs or not, there’s enough evidence either way that I’ll be surprised. Grraagh. And I’m supposed to take a test in the morning. There goes that sleep.
Nakigara on February 12, 2013 at 00:37 said:
Fuckin’ Simurgh and her goddamned Endbringer-by-proxy bullshit!
“Endbringer-by-proxy”. Heh. I like that.
If not for the tendency for longstanding protagonists like Taylor to not be killed off, I think most of us who don’t want a second trigger event would be worried right about now. Because the Undersiders just became acceptable casualties.
Happens so soon after Taylor’s reasonable moral quandary over the cloned people. Their reasoning loses some potency when they wish to burn the world, however. At the same time, I feel for them. Just not completely. Fuck you and I apologize for the inconvenience.
The way Eidolon’s sucking moisture out, you’d wonder if he has some practice, eh? Eh? He’ll go to desperate lengths for a little power booster.
Let’s see, for Hobbes’ step 4, you have to replace HG with mc2rpg and for the reason of not being humorous enough, with steps 5, 6, and 7 not applicable.
Don’t know where you got 8.
Sooo…
Trigger or No Trigger, Ladies and Gentlemen, place your bets.
Really, the conditions are perfect.
The clones in the beginning of chapter, yes, that’s pretty twisted.
The Sandlion trap was a cool idea.
I can kind of understand Trickster, but I still don’t really like it. Question is, will Noelle keep her word?
Eidolon’s an ass.
Tecton and Grace seem to be set up perfectly for losing their faith, and the ‘joining the Undersiders’ idea that’s been proposed.
Great chapter. Only bad thing about it that I can see is the dammned cliffhanger that we’ll have to wait for until the end of the week.
“Joining the Undersiders” — yeah, inside Noelle’s bloated flesh.
Beware! That pun path leads to the Gecko side!
Truthfully, if there’s some shared mindscape inside Noelle, they might understand them better and may join up. No matter what, seeing everyone sharing dream, especially the nonsensical ones, would be an interesting read.
And here is the 4.25th circle of hell. It is made up of nothing but lovely clifffaces where the damned are forced to hang on for the rest of their existence while listening to stories that end abruptly at dramatic moments. Those who are too weak to hold on or who are shocked at the interruption enough to let go and grab their head are forced to plummet until they either grab the cliff again, or land below in the 4.35th circle of hell which we like to call “Warhammer 40k/My Little Pony/Twilight/James Bond Slashfic Central”
Pirates of Dark Water, No Country for Old Men, thousands of unfinished blogs or stories, all without an ending, all will show up here. We’ve even managed to make the damned souls hate porno night.
And there goes Noelle, recreating Taylor’s trigger event.
But damn, that was good. Poor Taylor, I wonder if she’ll think surviving was worth the cost. Assuming she does survive; It is entirely reasonable to suggest Noelle hasn’t, after all.
Edge of my seat, the whole time. I’m a bit unsure about the bug-sense, sometimes, in this update, but at other points the visualization was quite strong.
““I got ‘em”” missing comma.
“I’d make to.” make do.
“I eralized why she” Realized.
“The Über appeared in the window once again…” This paragraph confused me; it wasn’t clear whether he was poking out of an opening(in which case it would be weird for Skitter to phrase it like he was emerging into her view, since she seemed to already have bugs on him) or if he was literally emerging from a 2d surface(in which case it was weird both that she caught him so fast and got bugs on him immediately).
“almost gued to the ground under the weight of the fluid the cape in her arms falling.” ‘Glued,’ and needs a comma or something between fluid and the cape.
“point that I coul feel” Could.
“people get hut, just” Hurt.
“iron brands” Bands?
I will be officially on the edge of my seat till the next update.
Okay I have to ask how sentient/in control the clones are. I assume that the Travelers didn’t kill them right away at the start, at least a normal civilian. I picture them capturing them and trying to test their intelligence. They seem to be naturally psychotic but I wonder if Panacea could have fixed their brain to make them normal. Or what would happen if one escaped and survived long enough. I can picture Wildbow letting a Taylor clone get away only to reappear years later and attack her dad.
The fat one appears to be someone who was friendzoned and who felt a greater connection to the clone of Steph. He had feelings for her anyway and now he has a chance with her because they are deformed together.
But can you really blame a guy for wanting to destroy the world because of an epic spurning?
I think that the clones generated lack Egos and instead had them replaced with Psychosis, therefore creating 3D reflections of the Originl’s worst mental aspect.
Jenna K. Moran on February 12, 2013 at 00:55 said:
If a Skitter clone—or Skitter, but it seems a useless powerup in this one circumstance—can get past the Manton effect, or is on the other side of it, I wonder if routers act as relay bugs.
UnlikelyLass on February 12, 2013 at 01:11 said:
I kinda hope the next intermission is a vignette from a clone-Skitter’s POV.
Here’s another thing — granted, we already know that Noelle’s manipulations can create bugs Taylor can’t control, but wouldn’t a clone’s nervous system be… Well, Taylor’s nervous system? A version of it, anyway? Maybe the familiarity would allow her to interface with ‘herselves’?
I’ve been wrong on pretty much all my speculation, but that’s what occured to me.
I take it that either Sundancer’s attempt to burn her fails, or Noelle doesn’t really let them take her down that cleanly.
I wonder how long of a time gap Taylor is going to have before she gets out, assuming she does…
I’ll say it again — wow.
Necessary sacrifices and collateral damage… Hah! A person’s true nature is revealed in the face of adversity, how do Tecton & Grace feel now that they have seen the true face of the “Hero” Eidolon? On a more homorous note, I’m surprised that the Texas Wards team that has someone calling himself Strapping Lad isn’t labelled unofficially as “Team Brokeback” (no offence to anyone homosexual).
I think a hero in Empowered is called Strapping Buck, so it could have been worse.
Alex Emm on February 12, 2013 at 13:24 said:
Having one or more of the Texas wards bat for the other team would make for a more interesting group , so i’m going to keep that idea safe and neatly labeled as “fannon”.
yes, we probably won’t see much of them, seeing as they’re tag-less, but I wouldn’t mind another cameo role later in the story.
I was wondering why someone decided to do a whole bunch of wordpress searches for ‘worm parahuman gay’ and ‘www.parahumans.wordpress.com gay’ (and so on) last night after the chapter went live.
Reminds me now of a crude saying, may not be about Texas though I think I heard it in a Western…”Texas? Ain’t nothin’ out there but steers and queers.”
Apparently I am remembering a part of Fullmetal Jacket. Which I have never seen.
So does that mean you have developed a reference-based clairvoyance power?
Asmora on February 14, 2013 at 18:15 said:
Hegemonic resonance.
yeah, that wasn’t me.
Well, I’m sure about one thing atleast. Fucking Trickster.
Uh… bright side? Let’s see; I can’t see clone Skiittters being THAT problematic, Taylor’s at her best thinking quickly and clearly, something that the clones obviously aren’t good at. Taaylor may inherit her forbears mind, but she’ll be too much of a reckleass screwup to really be anymore of a threat than the Vistaas.
Also, maybe we’ll get some interaction between Skitter, Vista and the other clonees? People in Noelle get dumped out of the same orifices so they probably share a “cell”. Soooo, character development in the belly of a semi-insane teenage hellbeast from another dimension! Yay?
Guile on February 12, 2013 at 16:02 said:
If all the Skitters (I’m going to call them Worms) controlled the same swarm, they’d just get in each others’ way. But given the variety we’ve seen in the Vista clones…
It’s interesting that the Travelers were basically created by an alternate universe world-shifting event, and Noelle’s power is to create alternate versions of people.
Wageslave on February 12, 2013 at 02:16 said:
And my brain just went to a weird place (well, weirder than usual after reading one of these.)
There’s more than one ‘dawn’ approaching. If Sundancer really pours it on, not realizing quite what Trickster is doing before it is too late…
riceraider on February 12, 2013 at 03:54 said:
This is kind of a side note… But None of the clones come out with clothes if my understanding is correct. And Dragon is an AI… And probably has Satellites all over looking at this right now, as well as access to all of the cameras. So when Team Undersiders pops out of Noelle, they will have the real faces of all of the members.
And also: Why is it that I enjoy seeing characters I like get into bad situations? Am I evil like PG? Or is that just a hope on my part.
Loki-L on February 12, 2013 at 06:32 said:
If they are as mutated as the other clones were she probably won’t see too much to attempt facial recognition on. Clone-Grue will immeditely clad himself in darkness and Clone-Skitter will cover herself in insects immeditely anyway. However psychopatic the clones were they all seemed to consider clothing a priority.
That might either be a leftover of Noelle’s issues or something from the clone people or possible something like the comic code authority at work at higher level.
Sant on February 12, 2013 at 04:08 said:
Fuck. No words. I have no words.
“She’s pulling something!” Tecton shouted. He raised her voice to be heard by the other capes, “Get back!”
Damn, Tecton sure does change gender quickly.
Well I don’t know what I was expecting, with the “everything always gets worse” theme of the story this was practically ineviatble.
On a postive note Skitter is now in a prime location to attempt to rescue Vista or at least be close by as the young hero tries to take down Noelle in a suicidal attack from within and gets killed in the process. Naturally Skitter would be blamed for this.
Another positive thing might be that clone-skitter likely won’t be able to control cloned insects anymore than the original did and that thanks to Eidolon there aren’t too many of the original insects left. On the other hand, a clone might well have a twisted version of her power that does not necessarily just work by controling insects.
I expect that Noelle has some sort of protection that prevents people she has absorbed from fighting her or using their powers, but perhaps this will only physically disable skitter and allow her to communicate with the outside. (proving that its her and not a clone that is communicating might be a problem)
At the very least none of the clones so far have exhibited any confusion about their identity so we likely won’t have to content with clones beliving they are the original.
Hopefully Tecton hasn’t gotten the idea that Skitter is blind and to attempt to exploit that weakness in her fully healed clones.
Skitter Clones who are fully healed and want to see the world burn are a bit frightening even without many insects left to control. Her twisted mind alone will be a formidable weapon.
I can’t wait for the next update to see what else will go wrong.
I just thought of the worst thing that might happen:
One of Taylor’s clones goes after her dad!
In such a scenario Lisa might be the only one who would know enough to help, but she appears to be lacking in trustworthy muscle that she might dispatch to the correct location.
It would of course be even worse if Skitter somehow through her powers (boosted in range by her helplessness or in a weird resonance though her clone) could sense what her clone was doing and was powerless to help.
The villains controling the city, banes to the heroes, are now trapped inside an S class threat where acceptable casualties are allowed when heroes are inside it.
One fell swoop, anybody?
Nuke ’em all to Hell and give each other a pat on the back for a job well done.
In the authorities’ position, I’d give that order.
I guess Vista gets that soldier’s death she’s been after.
No-one seems to have pointed this out so I’ll say it.
The three people inside Noelle are the three absolute worst possible people.
Power Copying.
Total Human Control.
Mass Total Non-Human Control.
Variations on these themes are utterly terrifying. No wonder things don’t really get bad until the dawn. Grue alone could potentially lead to everyone dying. Skitter? I really doubt her dad’s making it out of this…
The darkness in this setting is getting downright overwhelming. Even our back-up comedy villains have been destroyed by the latest of it.
anonymus on February 12, 2013 at 09:01 said:
nice ending
could you make a sequel following an evil skitter clone trying to destroy the world and everyone the original cared for?
Why stop at that though? why not write “Evil Skitter: The Musical!”.
Paging Psycho Gecko…
Dues on February 14, 2013 at 20:58 said:
“The hills are alive!”
“With the sound of music?” asked Eidolon.
“No, you don’t understand. It’s Evil Skitter’s new power. The hills are alive and they’re coming this way! You have to save us!” said Tecton.
An ominous shadow looms over the stage.
“Crushing the heroes under a landslide.
Morals that have been cast aside.
Taking Slaughterhouse 9 under my wings.
These are a few of my favorite things.”
“Let the dogs bite.
Let the bees sting.
I am going mad.
I’ll simply unleash some of my favorite things,
And then I will feel… so glad.”
umthemuse on February 12, 2013 at 09:12 said:
They might still have an option: Regent might be able to control his own clones. After all, he should know his own nervous system. Maybe the distortions will be too big, but there’s still that hope.
I wonder how Bitch is going to handle her dogs. Will she have them attack or run away? Would the cloned dogs still be monstrous or regular dogs?
At least Skitter’s getting the rest that she needs 😉
Um the Muse on February 12, 2013 at 09:13 said:
Oops, sorry for changing the name. Stupid WordPress!
Unfortunately, I doubt he does know his own nervous system that well. I don’t think his power works on himself, so he may not have the right kind of familiarity with it.
pallandrome on February 12, 2013 at 09:12 said:
You know you’ve written a great piece when people are assuming that it’s the final post of the entire Worm serial.
Pretty sure this was a typo.
Fixed a bit ago.
Yeah, I didn’t hit post when I first typed it and I was reading the new comments after doing so. I’ll get the next one 😉
Truthseeker on February 12, 2013 at 12:55 said:
So, let’s see. Is Imp going to murder Trickster horribly, or just do the job right quick-like? I can’t decide. I mean, she clearly likes to take her time, but circumstances aren’t ideal.
Yeah, it’s one of those things with a betrayal of mentally unstable villains. Quantity is only important in a binary sense.
He needs to be blind if you’re taking your time, so first we remove the eyes. From there, I suggest taking either a cigarette or a cigarette lighter to his genitals.
Then we give him an oxygen mask and IV drip and proceed to have his ticklish spots tickled for 24-48 hours. Then we pour teriyaki sauce on him and let him marinate a minimum of 3 hours alone in a dark and soundproofed room. Who wants to take it from here?
Maybe alternate the room temperature rapidly between extremes and at irregular intervals so the discomfort is compounded.
“Yodeling potato” Dr Danco style like in Dexter
Well given this serial, the next step is obvious. BEES!
Gabe on February 12, 2013 at 13:53 said:
This is a great story Wildbow. It has kept me interested longer than any other web fiction that I have read. Do you have anything else, web or bookstore, that I can read?
Thanks for saying so, Gabe.
I do not have anything else I could point you to. Worm is the only thing thus far that I’ve written, and I’ve yet to publish anything.
When I finish worm, I hope to get it edited and put it out there, then move on to another work. Hope I’ll have you as a reader when I’ve gotten that far.
Thanks to G.H. for his donation. 75% of the way there.
leinadrengaw on February 12, 2013 at 16:21 said:
So Tecton’s whole team may be dead at this point- I didn’t think he would be joining the Undersiders but it seems more likely at this point.
On another note, are the clones directly under Simurgh’s control? The fat guy said he was a soldier and didn’t serve Noelle, and these clones seem like what Simurgh was bringing through her portal. Is Noelle somehow tapping into that dimension or is something even weirder going on?
He’s a soldier, chapter is called queen. Chess or hive allusions a plenty.
I get the allusion but he said he didn’t serve Noelle, so Noelle is not the queen; I was wondering if Simurgh is since these clones are very similar to what she was bringing through the portal in migration- horribly mutated and sometimes with powers.
Evionth on February 12, 2013 at 19:05 said:
I can’t help but suddenly (randomly) think, “What is Noelle isn’t actually spewing out evil copies, but bringing the alternate versions from other worlds?” I mean, we pretty much got confirmation that the Travelers are from somewhere, and then what if when Noel’s victims get ‘used’ up it means they get sent to a random other world from one of the ‘evil clones’. (Noel might not know it herself too.) (And then Skitter has to deal with being targetted for the random Other!Skitter’s villainy or somethings like that for the next arc while trying to return to her old world.)
(Maybe this is too ‘out there’? What do you guys think?)
Of course not. A giant-winged, far future seeing angel with no known origin ripping an apartment block in half with her mind and flinging it through time and relative dimensions in space into an alternate universe/dimension is perfectly plausible, but your idea is way too out there.
Now let’s get back to the character who acts as an organic wireless router unconsciously utilizing some unknown form of energy or wavelength to override basic nervous impulses of the planet’s most numerous species and bend them to her will without having to lift a finger.
Superhero fiction is able to get away with things that would be far fetched in other media, casually mentioning “I’ve seen weirder.”
Holy fucking wow.
Thank you to Matthew for the donation.
In a way, I am reminded by something brought up in a great horror deconstruction recently. Is the world worth saving that makes those kinds of sacrifices cor its own survival. That time, of course, yes. Will Skitter change her mind on tbis when fqced with her own near death in Noelle?
After all, slasher movies make a point of safety in a womblike area, only for the survivor girl to come out to survive and fight back. Already done that once in a less deadly way though.
John Galt on February 13, 2013 at 11:50 said:
Two words: Plausible Deniability. As demonstrated earlier in the arc, the “heroes” only just barely sided with the Undersiders against Noelle in the first place. The “good guys” couldn’t just off them or hand them over to Noelle w/o it being a PR fiasco (the Endbringer accord would probably take a serious hit). On the other hand, if a rougue element/villian (Trickster) were to hand them over, then the heroes avoid the majority of the PR fallout.
Also, remember the conversations between Coil and Dinah. Dinah states at one point that a different group of Undersiders has a higher chance of success than the group at that time. Predictions 1. Sundancer proves useless once again. She just doesn’t have the mental fortitude necessary. 2. PRT forces suffer a schism in the near future. Think Marvel civil war. 3. We get to see the new Undersiders next arc (been waiting for this one for a long time).
As always, excellent job WB. Publish this thing so I can buy a copy.
My prediction is that the less cynical heroes will realize their idols don’t deserve the pedestals or the gold plating when they try to kill the Undersiders too.
Also, they’ll fail because Noelle will pop out Undersider clones that make it more difficult to stop them and wind up causing all that damage that was predicted while simultaneously killing off Skitter’s good name by controlling bugs the way they do.
More WMG: the clones would be perfectly well-made copies except the power juice in Noelle’s system mutates them similar to the case 53s. And the other thing in Noelle that they are soldiers of is either Noelle’s chimera or Krouse had sex with her a short time before that fateful day of gaming. Which leads us to the possibility that the Endbringers are what happens when embryos are exposed to that stuff in perhaps some attempt by Cauldron to create someone with powers all their life.
beyondperformant on February 13, 2013 at 13:21 said:
Noelle with multiple clones of Krous would be formidable. Any threat would be swapped into range as easy prey. And Noelle could suddenly appear in the midst of a crowd and feed/absorb people as fuel.
Goddamn you’re totally right. A group of Tricksters would be near impossible to deal with on their own, but swapping themselves to bring enemies closer to Noelle would be the ultimate synergy.
since Noel absorbed skitter i find myself wondering how much her costum protects against stomach acid.
noel is absorbing organic material and either “uses it for herself” or “stores them to copy”,… what are the undersiders costumes made of again? if she absorbes the cloth they will think of the undersiders as of clones (they threw away the non spidersilk identification armband form dragon)
eduardo on February 13, 2013 at 15:56 said:
Most clothes are made of organic materials, cotton, wool, …
Ok, there are also synthetic fibers, but I still don`t think that taking out the organics will leave anything that is wearable.
A big thank you goes out to Aaron for topping off the donation meter.
Scheduling another bonus chapter for mid-March. Maaaybe sooner. No promises.
MrMoray on February 13, 2013 at 18:02 said:
I, for one, welcome our new evil Undersiders: Grendel, Pest, Snitch, Worm, Mongrel and Usurper.
anon on May 3, 2013 at 22:53 said:
“Dessication” is spelled wrong. 1 s 2 c’s
One thing that occurred to me as a Crazy Fan Theory:
These things have personalities, memories. The one guy recognized “Steph”. Could Noelle be getting the people from alternate universes? Perhaps something like the monsters that Smiurgh was pulling through the portal?
Like I said, Crazy Fan Theory.
Pablo on August 16, 2013 at 18:53 said:
Hey. Been re-reading Worm, and, good gosh this is epic shit.
You must feel real happy, wildbow.
Also, typo, not corrected yet, if you wanna:
“Who came next on that heirarchy?” (near the end of this part)
Should be hierarchy that one.
Fixed, thanks.
sagrei on September 22, 2013 at 19:43 said:
Still reading voraciously. Loving the story. Hoping Taylor gets a few days to relax soon, but somehow I doubt you’ll let up on her.
also: OMFG WHAAAAAAAAT.
Well you know what they say: you can sleep when you’re dead…
worm fan on October 29, 2013 at 14:23 said:
misspelled “Desiccation”
blindey on November 5, 2013 at 04:15 said:
>Dessication, Dessicated
->Desiccation, Desiccated
Just got to this series about 3 weeks ago and rapidly worked my way though it. I love it. 😀
Senalishia on December 9, 2013 at 12:55 said:
Wow. Awesome! I honestly have no idea what’s going to happen to our friends but I bet it’s going to be amazing. And geez, Trickster, sacrificing an entire team of quasi-allies just to grant your girlfriend’s dying wish? You just never stop being a dick, do you?
AlsoSprachOdin on December 14, 2013 at 06:06 said:
“She’s our responsibility,” Genesis said,
Where’d she come from? Needs more description of where she is and her current form. Sundancer appears pretty abruptly too.
“Just do what I want here, and I’ll let it all end.” – Somethings missing, could be intentional.
“The ground shook with his impacts he delivered to Noelle.” – not technically incorrect, just awkward.
PacifistGod on January 8, 2014 at 22:23 said:
Why would there be cloned spiders if she was just using bugs to scout?
I thought she saved her more deadly bugs as trump cards. I don’t know, the deadly clones struck me as weird. I’d have expected flies and wasps.
Distopian on February 8, 2014 at 03:03 said:
That occurred to me as well. My best guess is that Skitter kept the deadlier bugs with her in case they were needed for attacking, and sent them out to supplement her swarm as those in the field died off.
Although, she got rid of all her personal bugs on the ride to the PRT building, so she should only have local ones now. Unless the rest just followed outside or hitched along with the rest of the Undersiders, but I can’t imagine a swarm of bugs following the van could be seen as entirely non-aggressive.
Ben on February 3, 2014 at 14:45 said:
“Swimging blindly” should be “Swinging blindly”
thomas on February 22, 2014 at 10:52 said:
Sorry for the Necro-comment but I can’t help imagining something very, very disturbing.
Skitter never notices, obviously, but everyone else can see that Noelle is wearing an “I Beat Anorexia” novelty t-shirt. Maybe the one with the ever-stylish “Junk In The Trunk” across the back.
Mostly because I had a fridge-horror moment wherein I realized that Wildbow made bulimia a superpower. And then made it apocalyptic.
Dude… Gross.
Jenny Creed on May 4, 2014 at 14:29 said:
There are those moments when you just have to stop and marvel at the beauty of the world. Here, halfway through the chapter with the six legged monster elephant projectile vomiting naked evil mutant twins at people, was one of those moments.
Kertys on October 10, 2014 at 03:56 said:
Forget clones, forget Bonesaw. THIS is the real nightmare fuel.
MisterTeatime on November 5, 2014 at 20:59 said:
I like that you gave the evil twins their own codenames.
axle on August 6, 2015 at 18:43 said:
I AM TEARING MY HAIRS OUT NOW! I defended trickster for a long-ass time, but fuck that guy. (I’m gonna rant off about him because I’m finally fed up with him.)
First off, he didn’t have to lie so much to his teammates. No wonder each of them hated him at one point. The worse part was, he didn’t HAVE to lie. His lies didn’t even help anyone. “Don’t worry about how many people Noelle killed, I’m not telling you for your own protection.” Wtf? Are your teammates children? Lack of trust there, lack of confidence in their own leader. Completely unnecessary.
Second of all: adopt democracy yo. You can’t just take charge because you started everything.
Third: You incompetent moron.
Fourth: You know the Simurgh was messing with your heads that day, you know there was a reason why. Hmmmm? I wonder why herp deep?
Five: Fuck you.
Shay on September 2, 2016 at 22:02 said:
I think it’s spelled desiccation, not dessication. I’ve noticed a few other typos in the last few chapters, but figured they were posted long enough ago that you (wildblow) don’t care anymore/stopped checking.
I’m only mentioning this one because it’s less obvious
Anonymous on November 10, 2016 at 22:45 said:
“Dessication” is misspelled, should be “desiccation”. One S, two Cs.
Barely a third through the chapter but I’ve been forgetting to leave a comment of my recurring thought for several chapters since they’re deliciously long.
-swirls as a cloak unfurls around him, villainous grin-
I am getting so sick of Skitter’s attitude of “oh no, I can’t kill someone, that’s BAD!” In this case they need to kill these clones, who aren’t really humans, who didn’t exist moments ago and SHOULDN’T exist in the first place, their only seeming biological imperative is to maim or kill as many people as possible.. and she won’t kills them because they’re human shaped and make vaguely human noises.
Doubly irksome she won’t kill pesky enemies who need killing. Pff. MORALS. What do they ever really accomplish? Nothing!
-cloak billows as he sits in a comfy chair and sips on a cherry pepsi seasoned with the blood of his enemies-
-beats head against the wall like that bird-
C’mon, Trickster, MAN, I LIKED you!
«Eidolon had given up his power invulnerability.» missing word “of”, I think.
Xialoh on May 13, 2017 at 06:04 said:
Well, wow. I remember when the story started I liked Trickster most of the times I saw him. Then more recently started to hate him. Then the flashback happened and I got some perspective and thought, “oh, this guy is a bit of a dick but I like him”. And now this happens. Fuck Trickster.
I suppose I should have realized it sooner, after he swapped himself for a girl and got her killed back in 17.8. His reaction to it was about what I’d expect a normal person to think after accidentally bumping their car door into someone else’s vehicle and giving it a small scratch. He even goes on to swap for her corpse one more time before he’s done. “Whoops.”
Hell, I’m starting to think the Travelers as a whole are pretty fucked in the head, and have been all the while. Very first thing we see them doing is abandoning a teammate who’s been working harder than anyone. I’d been attributing Noelle’s current actions entirely to the power, but she was probably a bitch to start. Ballistic wanted to murder Parian, meanwhile Sundancer and Genesis are perfectly on board with standing by and letting an entire team of people they’ve worked with get murdered by Coil, even after he’d just blatantly admitted he lied to them and was offing them for being inconvenient.
And yet, Sundancer and Ballistic couldn’t bring themselves to actually attack Slaughterhouse Nine members with intent to kill (or at least they had extreme hesitation as I recall). Yet they’re going to facilitate the murders of the Undersiders. Trickster even going so far as to actually *feed* them to this monster they’ve created?
Seriously, fuck these kids and their highly convenient morality. I have to give Trickster one point for actually being Trickster 100% of the time rather than pretending he’s anything else, horrible as that person is. The rest of his team are basically little wishy washy cowards, lying to themselves as much as anyone else. Should they happen to get their shit together later, everything up until now won’t be forgotten.
That interlude arc painted Cody as the bad guy to an extreme, but I’m beginning to wonder if he might have just been seeing a reality that was heavily skewed for the reader when seeing the world through Trickster’s eyes. He was an asshole no doubt, and had his priorities all wrong almost 100% of the time, but he may have been seeing things clearly…
Now maybe it’s a little unfair to judge Noelle harshly, given that we got minimal development on her since she was incapacitated for most of the development arc, but at least I can feel less sympathy for her if I assume she could have been *relatively* evil all on her own with sufficient nudging, like the rest of her team >_>.
Canon on April 10, 2018 at 23:16 said:
In all fairness, Ballistics reluctance to attack the Nine was because of Cherish’s power. Other than that yeah I have to agree.
Simianpower on December 4, 2017 at 18:35 said:
So… damned… predictable. When anything that can go wrong does go wrong, there’s absolutely no suspense. I saw this coming at the beginning of this arc.
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USPS to Deliver Packages Seven Days a Week During Holidays
Nov. 7 2014 02:16 PM
WASHINGTON — The Postal Service kicked off the holiday shipping season today by announcing that it will be delivering packages seven days a week in major cities and high volume areas starting Nov. 17 through Christmas Day in response to expected double-digit package volume growth.[1]
“The Postal Service will be out making deliveries every single day during the holiday season, including Christmas Day,” said Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe. “During the holidays, no carrier makes more deliveries to more places than the Postal Service, and this year, we’re raising the bar with enhanced tracking and Sunday delivery.”
The demand for package service has grown as online retailers ship more products to their customers. The Postal Service is adding package delivery on Sundays during the holidays to prepare for the heavy shipping season.
“Every household in America relies on us to get their packages in time for the holidays, and we take great pride in taking on that responsibility,” said Donahoe. “We’re prepared to do whatever it takes to deliver for our customers.”
Double-digit Growth
Due to continued e-commerce growth and improvements to its Priority Mail product line, the Postal Service is expecting double-digit growth in its package business this holiday season, likely in the range of 450 to 470 million packages. That equates to roughly 12 percent growth over the same period last year.
“Football has its season. But the holidays? That’s our season,” said Donahoe. “That’s crunch time for us, and year after year, we step up our game. E-commerce package business continues to be a big player now more than ever, so we’ve enhanced our network to ensure America that we’ll deliver their cards, gifts and letters in time for the holidays.”
While its competitors recently announced price increases, the Postal Service lowered some of its prices for businesses and frequent shippers. The new Priority Mail pricing offers affordable shipping options along with improved tracking and reliability for business customers.
“The Postal Service is a vital business partner for small and large businesses and lowering shipping prices will save them money and improve their bottom line,” said Nagisa Manabe, chief marketing and sales officer. “With our affordable shipping options, we hope to attract new business customers and become their preferred delivery service.”
2014 Christmas Shipping Deadlines
For expected delivery of holiday mail and packages by Christmas, the Postal Service recommends keeping the following mailing and shipping deadlines in mind:
• Dec. 2 – First-Class Mail International/Priority Mail International
• Dec. 10 – Priority Mail Express International
• Dec. 15 – Standard Post
• Dec. 17 – Global Express Guaranteed[2]
• Dec. 20 – First-Class Mail/Priority Mail (domestic)
• Dec. 23 – Priority Mail Express (domestic)
Skip the lines and ship online
Consumers can avoid holiday hassles by visiting usps.com — the Postal Service’s website that will help make mailing and shipping easier. Nearly 75 million customers will skip the trip to the Post Office altogether and take advantage of convenient online shipping this holiday season. Click-N-Ship and other online services allow customers to print shipping labels, order free Priority Mail boxes, purchase postage and even request free next-day Package Pickup.
Launching holiday advertising campaign
The Postal Service is also launching its advertising campaign today with a wide range of media activities, ranging from direct mail to television and print advertisements, to social media and digital promotion.
“Our holiday marketing effort will be built around the idea that the Postal Service has been planning all year for this season and we are prepared to deliver the holidays for America,” said Manabe. “Our advertising goal is to attract new consumer and business customers and provide assurance for our customers that they can depend on our affordable and reliable service to deliver their mail and packages during this season.”
The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations.
Postal Service Statement on Cyber Intrusion Incident Next
Purolator Named to Top 100 Truckers 2014 Previous
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BÖWE SYSTEC: Branching out into postal and parcel logistics
DHL Express Certified in the U.S. as a Top Employer for 2017
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Signing with a Philly accent
Nina P. put together this episode.
Cheesesteaks, Peanut Chews, Tastykakes, oh yeah, the Liberty Bell — there’s so much to love about Philadelphia, but one of the best things about the city of Brotherly Love is the accent. We’re not talking about spoken English — we’re talking about American Sign Language. This week on the podcast we learn about the Philadelphia accent in ASL.
What is an accent in ASL? ASL speaker and researcher Jami Fisher explains it all. Fisher, along with University of Pennsylvania linguistic professor Meredith Tamminga, is working on a study to document and explain this “weird,” as Fisher calls it, way of signing. (For the hearing impaired or those who cannot access audio immediately, there’s a full transcript here.)
Also on the podcast, we hear from the actors of the Broadway musical, “Spring Awakening.” This production features eight deaf actors. John Hockenberry from our friends at The Takeaway got the chance to interview some of the actors.
PODCAST CONTENTS:
0:00 Sean Monahan doing the Philly accent. He does a series of PhillyTawk videos on YouTube.
1:18 Murph (Nick Kroll) of Pawnsylvania
1:39 Meet Jami Fisher, ASL Coordinator at the University of Pennsylvania. She is studying the Philadelphia ASL accent
2:54 What is an accent in ASL?
3:56 Why does Philadelphia have an accent in ASL?
4:29 Laurent Clerc and Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet found the first deaf school in Hartford, CT in 1817
5:35 Pennsylvania School for the deaf is founded in 1820
6:27 Theory about the Philadelphia signs
7:54 Theories as to why the ASL Philly accent may be disappearing
9:31 Jami Fisher recruited her father to help interview deaf participants in the study
10:31 What are some similar sign language accent studies around the world?
11:07 Growing up “CODA” (child of deaf adults)
12:16 The story of Jami’s parents learned to sign
13:55 Broadway actor Daniel Durant on speaking American Sign Language
15:37 John Hockenberry, the host of The Takeaway interviews some of the cast members of the current ASL Broadway production of “Spring Awakening”
Music heard in this episode:
“Peas Corps” and “Bad Scene” by Podington Bear
Music from the Deaf West production of Spring Awakening
Please write a review of The World in Words on iTunes or Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks!
Listen above or on iTunes.
The World in Words is also at PRI and on Facebook .
Tagged as Culture, History, language, Linguistics, Podcast
Minnesota’s Umlautgate
The post comes from my Big Show pal David Leveille.
The Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton issued a quirky executive order on Wednesday concerning the spelling of the name of the small Minnesota city of Lindström (population, 4,442).
Somehow, it seems when highway crews last updated the road signs leading into town, they removed those little twin dots that hover over the O. Lindström became Lindstrom. The transportation department defended the decision, citing federal policy that highway signs include only letters in a standard alphabet.
The omission wasn’t much noticed, though, until a Minneapolis Star-Tribune reporter spotted it. Soon enough, many of the town’s Swedish American residents were up in arms. They wanted the dots restored to reflect their heritage.
Keep in mind that the city of Lindström is nicknamed America’s Little Sweden. Many locals speak Swedish when buying Scandanavian donuts at the local Swedish bakery. A sign near the city center reads “Välkommen till Lindström.”
So on Wednesday, the governor predictably set things right by ordering the umlaut to be put back on the green highway signs that welcome tourists. “Nonsensical rules like this are exactly why people get frustrated with government,” Dayton said. “Even if I have to drive to Lindström, and paint the umlauts on the city limit signs myself, I’ll do it.”
“Underbar, and that means wonderful!” said local historian and tour guide Sally Barott reacting to the governor’s order. “We are ecstatic he’s making the umlauts come back.”
Barott says the dots affect the pronunciation and, more importantly, express the region’s cultural history and link to Swedish immigrants. “It’s important,” she says. “We have the old and the new. The blend is happening all over America, but I believe being able to retain our history and cultural ways, and to recognize and be traditional, honors the way we were taught and the way it was meant to me.”
Barott regularly escorts tourists around the city that was founded by Swedish immigrants back around 1850. One of her favorite stops is the Lindstrom Bakery where she orders Swedish glazed donuts and Swedish gingersnaps, called pepparkakor.
The Lindstrom Bakery does not use an ö in its name. Go figure. (Photo courtesy of Lindstrom Bakery)
Those gingersnaps have likely just come out of the oven, thanks to baker Bernie Coulombe, the woman behind the counter.
“This is a Swedish town. It has always been known for the Swedish settlers who first came here. So it is important to our customers and people who live here,” she explains. She says the town proudly shows off its heritage to tourists with a statue of Karl Oskar (a character in Vilhelm Moberg’s novels about Swedish emigration to the United States) that honors the early Swedish immigrants. There’s also an old water tower that’s in the shape of a coffee pot and a small Lutheran church that’s “strictly Swedish.”
But Lindstrom isn’t just hanging onto the past. “This is the way we were brought up, this is our Swedish inheritance, and you’ve got to keep your inheritance going,” says Coulombe.
This case of what might be called Lindstrom’s “umlautgate” is on the radar of The World’s language editor Patrick Cox. “Generally speaking English is thought of as the language where diacritics go to die.” All of the accents and the dots usually disappear, he says.
“America is the place where when you come to America, you sort of drop your clothes from the Old World and you embrace the New World. Names, surnames get changed, also the names of towns and cities get changed, and generally speaking the accents go.” But keep in mind, he says, “there are no rules in the English language right? I mean nobody’s going to stop the governor of Minnesota from saying ‘throw in some Cyrillic letters if you want to do that.’ He has every right to issue a decree like this.”
Strictly speaking, the Swedish ö does not use an umlaut. It is considered a separative letter in the Swedish alphabet. The umlauted o is a German thing.
But if you want to learn more about the linguistic difference between Lindstrom and Lindström, or the distinction between an umlaut (which has its origin in German) versus the happy twin dots that show up in Swedish words, and hear why rock bands ranging from Blue Öyster Cult to a Ukrainian band named Flëur like to play with umlauts, then you really must listen to Patrick’s podcast, The World in Wörds.
The World in Words Podcast on iTunes
The World in Words Podcast via RSS
The World in Words on Facebook
Patrick Cox on Twitter
Tagged as Culture, History, language, Linguistics, politics
Spanglish is older than you think
Hugo Reid at Rancho Santa Anita, as imagined in a 1885 sketch (Wikimedia Commons)
Read this post from Nina Porzucki. Or listen to the podcast above.
To truly explore the early roots of Spanglish, we have to go back to the dawn of the Dons.
Picture California in the early-19th century, when Los Angeles was known simply as the little “pueblo” and “Alta California” as the region was then called, was still a part of Mexico.
And living in the a rancho just north of the pueblo was a young Scottish adventurer named Hugh Reid. In the 1830s he left the old world for the new — Mexico. And in his adopted home he was rechristened with an additional Spanish name, Perfecto Hugo Reid. Reid would eventually settle down on a ranch in southern California near the San Gabriel mission in what’s now Arcadia, a suburb of Los Angeles, where he married a local woman, Doña Victoria.
Robert Train has been obsessed with Hugo Reid’s backstory for the last few years. Train is a professor of Spanish at Sonoma State University. We met recently at the Huntington Library archives in Pasadena, to read Reid’s extremely yellowed letters.
Reid wrote to a man named Abel Stearns, another gringo — yes, that was a term, Train says, that was used around that time — living in Alta California. Stearns had emigrated from Massachusetts and, like Reid, he had also become a Mexican citizen. Reid’s letters to Stearns detail daily life in early California.
In one letter, Reid tells Stearns about his recent trip around other parts of Mexico. It’s a fairly ordinary letter at first, except woven into the mostly English letter are phrases in Spanish. Often sentences will start in one language and shift to fluidly to the other language. Neither Spanish nor English, this is pure Spanglish.
Letter from Hugh Reid to Abel Stearns (Nina Porzucki)
Hugo Reid wrote letter after letter to Abel Stearns in Spanglish. That’s not to say he couldn’t write in strictly Spanish or strictly English. He could. And he did — Train has plenty of examples of those — but often the Scotsman chose to use both at once doing what Train calls code-switching.
“It’s not about not knowing one language or the other. That’s a sort of myth that some people seem to think — that code-switching is all about not knowing one language, not being able to find the word. But that’s not typically the case. He knew how to say “take a little rest,” says Train.
Reid could’ve easily communicated to his English-speaking-mate in English. But instead he chose Spanglish.
Both Reid and Stearns married native Spanish speakers. Historians don’t know for sure but assume they spoke Spanish inside their homes. And Reid’s correspondence reflects a sort of back and forth between worlds. The Spanish words often key into domestic affairs, like requests from Reid to buy cloth from Abel Stearns store. Stearns was a merchant. He is credited with helping to start the port in San Pedro.
In another letter, Hugo Reid writes, “… the old woman requires for the house a piece of percale and best in manta blanca. Si no hay percala send her pura manta blanca. I remain yours truly, Perfecto Hugo Reid.”
“Percala” is a type of cloth called percale in English and “manta blanca” is coarse cotton, but the most curious part of the exchange is not Hugo Reid ordering fabric for his wife in Spanish but what he calls his wife in English: “the old woman.” It’s a direct translation, says Train, of how men in Alta California might’ve referred to their wives in Spanish.
“La Vieja, which I guess is the standard use of this time for ‘the old lady,’” Train says.
So what’s the big deal? A few native English speakers spoke Spanglish to each other way back when. What’s this have to do with anything today? Simple, says Train. Hugo Reid’s letters are reminders that California was, is and has always been a multilingual place.
In fact, when California became a state in 1850, the new constitution was written in both English and Spanish. For many years, California laws were written in both languages. But somewhere along the way, English usurped Spanish. And Spanish became, well, a foreign language.
When I learned Spanish in southern California public schools, I learned it as my foreign language prerequisite.
Reading the signs as you drive down Third Street in East LA, Spanish is far from a foreign language. But the real lingua franca is Spanglish. The sign for the East LA institution, King Taco is a great example. “King Taco. The Best Food in Town. Burritos y Tacos Al Pastor. Y Carne Asada. Park here.”
King Taco is an East LA institution. (Nina Porzucki)
Robert Train and I did park and eat and I couldn’t help but eavesdrop on the women sitting at the table next to us. Two young mothers, Desiree Gardenas and Brenda Padilla, and their toddlers are speaking Spanish and English and, yes, Spanglish.
Do you ever mix the languages together, I asked them. Yes, of course they said. It’s normal.
Post lunch, around the corner from King Taco, Train and I made one final stop at the Calvary Cemetery.
It’s a beautiful, old cemetery on a hill. Thousands of stone monuments commemorate the early residents of the pueblo of Los Angeles. And the modern city, with her tall skyscrapers and her smoggy skies, can be seen in the distance. This is where Hugo Reid and Abel Stearns — these early Spanglish speakers — are buried mere miles from where Spanglish continues to thrive.
“I read this part of a whole immigrant story, part of an unexpected one really,” Train says.
Hugo Reid died at the age of 42, just two years after Mexican Alta California became the 31st United State. Incidentally, in his final days he became obsessed with saving another language, the language of the Gabrieleño Indians, the ancestral language of his wife Doña Victoria. Sadly, that language has not survived.
Tagged as American history, California, Culture, English, History, language, Podcast, Sociolinguistics, Spanglish, Spanish
Remembrance of the Man who Translated Proust
Photo: louveciennes/Flickr Creative Commons
It’s not often that a translator has a story as good as the author himself. But C.K. Scott Moncrieff’s was wild enough to seem like fiction.
Moncrieff was the first person to translate Marcel Proust’s seven-volume epic, “Remembrance of Things Past” into English. He was also a poet, a soldier during World War I and a spy in Mussolini’s Italy.
But Moncrieff’s own life was mostly hidden, according to his great great-niece Jean Findlay. She recently published the book “Chasing Lost Time: The Life of C.K. Scott Moncrieff: Soldier, Spy and Translator.”
“All I really knew about him is that he had translated Proust,” Findlay says. “His life story was really kept hidden from me. Nobody had investigated it very much — mainly because they were ashamed of the fact that he was a homosexual.”
Findlay’s own interest in her great great-uncle began after her mother handed Findlay a suitcase full of his poetry.
“He had a book of poems that he’d kept since adolescence, which were mainly written in pencil,” she says. “A lot of them were first dedicated to a girl, and then dedicated to a boy. A lot of them were erotic and a lot of them were poems which had multi-layers and hidden meanings, and I realized that this was a very complex and exciting person.”
Charles Kenneth Scott Moncrieff was born at the start of the 20th century. “He was a bit of genius: He learned French when three from a Belgian nanny, and then he was a brilliant translator of Latin and Greek at the age of 11,” Findlay says.
He was a voracious reader, going through the entire library at his boarding school. He also began writing and publishing his poems at age 16.
He started working as a translator after returning home from World War I, and even his first translations weren’t anything to scoff at. He translated “La Chanson de Roland,” or “The Song of Roland,” from medieval French, and then went on to translate Beowulf from Old English.
In 1922, he tackled “Swann’s Way” — the first volume of Proust’s epic, “Remembrance of Things Past.”
The translation proved to be a challenge, not the least because of the dense and complicated prose — one page could often be one whole sentence. But, according to Findlay, the manuscript itself was a mess as well.
“The version he was given was a very complicated version, because it had been published during the first World War, when there weren’t very many typesetters,” Findlay explains. “They mixed up a lot of the objects and subjects of the sentences. So very often it was a work on interpretation and guess work.”
Even Moncrieff’s translation of the title, “Remembrance of Things Past,” was also called into question. It’s a line from Shakespeare’s Sonnet 30:
When to the sessions of sweet silent thought
I summon up remembrance of things past,
I sigh the lack of many a thing I sought,
And with old woes new wail my dear time’s waste:
Then can I drown an eye, unus’d to flow,
For precious friends hid in death’s dateless night,
And weep afresh love’s long since cancell’d woe,
And moan the expense of many a vanish’d sight:
Then can I grieve at grievances foregone,
And heavily from woe to woe tell o’er
The sad account of fore-bemoaned moan,
Which I new pay as if not paid before.
But if the while I think on thee, dear friend,
All losses are restor’d and sorrows end.
“He thought that that line from Shakespeare contained enough references to cover the ambiguities in the French [“À la recherche du temps perdu”], which is about in search of lost time and wasted time,” Findlay says.
Proust himselt didn’t like Moncrieff’s title: He wanted the translator to put a “To” at the beginning: “To Remembrance of Lost Time.”
“And then [Proust] said, ‘Well my English isn’t that good, so that might not be a good idea,’” Findlay says.
Moncrieff’s translation of Proust went on to be the authoritative version for many years. A new translation wasn’t even published until 2002. That attempt took seven translators and seven years to write. Moncrieff also took seven years to complete the work — in between spying for the British in Mussolini’s Italy as well as translating other authors, like Italian dramatist Luigi Pirandello.
Moncrieff’s version went on to influence authors like James Joyce and Virginia Woolf. “In fact, Virginia Woolf wrote in her diary that she was reading Scott Moncrieff’s Proust, and it was so exciting it was almost like a sexual experience,” Findlay says.
She re-read her great great-uncle’s translation while she was working on his biography. “I think he’s better and better the more you read him,” she says.
“You can actually open Proust anywhere in the enormous novel and find something which is utterly poetic and meaning and will take you back into yourself,” Findlay says. “It’s a bit like meditation: It takes time apart. It can make one second an entire chapter.”
Tagged as books, Culture, French literature, History, language, Podcast, translation
How the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have shaped military slang
A jinglytruck (British English)/jingle truck (American English) in Afghanistan. (Photo: Kurt Clark via Flickr)
Here’s a post from The Big Show’s Leo Hornak.
How do you feel about doing armourbarma on the way to Butlins? Or getting a craphat to check for Terry in a jinglytruck?
Unless you’re a member of Her Majesty’s Armed Forces, you’re probably totally confused.
The British Army has a centuries-long tradition of picking up slang terms from the many countries in which it serves, both within the British empire and from other places around the world. And while the British Army lowered the flag at its last base in Afghanistan, the country has left its own mark on British military language and culture.
So in the above example, armourbarma is a method of checking for IEDs; Butlins was the name given to Camp Bastion, the army’s main Afghan base; craphats are members of a rival unit; and a jinglytruck is a highly decorated Afghan vehicle.
And Terry? Terry is short for the enemy — Mr. “Terry” Taliban, of course.
If some of those names sound oddly light-hearted, writer Patrick Hennessy, a former army captain, says that shouldn’t be a surprise. “The British Army has a particular tradition of black humor,” he says. “It’s much easier to fight someone if they are an object of ridicule than if they are an object of fear. The tendency towards something like ‘Terry’ is not intended to humanize the enemy — quite often the opposite.”
Terry has overtones of Jerry, the sarcastic name British soldiers used for German forces during the world wars. Giving a foreign enemy a banal, suburban British name helped Brits — who were similarly, maybe ironically, nicknamed “Tommies” during World War I — psychologically cut their opponents down to size.
Hennessy says he still has a fondness for Terry, at least as a name if not as an adversary. “There’s a famous comedian called Terry Thomas [in Britain] who was a bit of a ridiculous clown,” he explains. “I always loved the fact that the nickname we came up with was more ridiculous than threatening.”
Army jargon still carries the legacy of the British empire with it. Soldiers still refer to washing as “dhobi,” derived from the Hindi word for laundry. Something obtained for free is said to be “bukshee,” meaning “bribe” in Urdu and Hindi.
These words are looked on with pride as a sign of military heritage and history. Hennessy believes that tradition will carry over to include the slang of the Afghan war. “We worked very closely with the Afghan National Army, and a lot of the terms — like kandak for a battalion, or tolai for a company — [have been included],” he says. “I’m sure that in a hundred years time, sergeants on the drill square at the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst will still be talking about kandaks to show their historical credibility.”
[Patrick Cox adds: We invited American vets of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars to tell us their favorite slang terms. Listen to the audio above for some of the cleaner responses.
To join The World’s SMS community of veterans, text “RETURN” to 69866]
Tagged as Afghanistan, Culture, History, Iraq, language, language podcast, military, slang
Cajuns are fiercely proud of their culture, but they’re divided over the word ‘coonass’
Photo: Veronica Zaragovia
Here’s a post from Veronica Zaragovia.
The town of Eunice, Louisiana is one of those places that lets you know exactly where in America you are.
“I’m the owner of KBON 101.1 FM down in Cajun Country,” says Paul Marx, whose station began broadcasting music in 1997.
Much of life in so-called Cajun Country involves the French language, and Marx is fluent in what he calls Cajun French.
“We do speak different French here, a little different from Canada or France but it’s still our language — French,” he explains.
Cajun culture and the French language weren’t always so valued, though. In fact, French as a spoken language nearly disappeared, but the language and culture have made a comeback.
Paul Marx, owner of KBON radio station in Eunice, LA, stands near a collection of autographed photos and a wall covered in signatures. His station mostly plays music by Louisiana musicians, including Jamie Bergeron & The Kickin’ Cajuns, whose song “Registered Coonass,” has not been received well by all Louisianans. (Photo: Veronica Zaragovia)
“We do a variety of music with a Louisiana flavor,” Marx says about his radio station. “About 75 percent of our overall music is Louisiana record artists.”
Artists like Jamie Bergeron & the Kickin’ Cajuns. People from around here either love or hate one of Bergeron’s songs, called “Registered Coonass.”
You can hear the song on Marx’s radio station because he likes it. Not all Cajuns do.
“I kind of got a threat by an attorney that if I continued playing the song, there’d be a lawsuit,” Marx says. “Well, that made me put the song on the playlist.”
The attorney was Warren Perrin, who threatened to file a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission if KBON kept playing the song. Since then, the station now only plays it if a listener requests it, and DJs announce it not as “Registered Coonass” but “RCA.”
Warren Perrin’s law office is 40 miles away from Eunice in Lafayette, on a street called Rue de La France. Perrin regularly sends letters to people asking them to stop using the word “coonass.”
“We ask that the person voluntarily do so and that is usually the end of it,” Perrin says. “We have not had to institute any type of formal suit or claim with the Human Rights Commission or anything like that.”
Warren Perrin, an attorney in Lafayette, LA, has a stack of files documenting how The Council for the Defense of French in Louisiana has attempted to stop people from using the term “coonass” in certain instances. Perrin served as president of the state agency for 16 years. (Photo: Veronica Zaragovia)
For 16 years, Perrin served as president of an organization called the Council for the Development of French in Louisiana.
“That state agency is the only one in America existing, supported by the state of Louisiana, to promote the French language,” he says. “We have 30 French immersion schools — eminently successful. So we turned it around and we developed along the way pride in ourselves.”
Pride in your roots and the word “coonass” don’t go together, says Perrin, who’s part of a movement that has tried to stamp out the use of the word. The movement won a big victory back in 1981 when it got the Louisiana State Legislature to condemn the word as offensive. Legislators not only condemned it, they outlined the word’s etymology.
“In that concurrent resolution, the politicians in Baton Rouge wrote: The word coonass comes from the standard French word connasse, which means dirty whore or stupid person,” says local Cajun historian Shane Bernard, paraphrasing what’s in the 1981 resolution. “Cajun GIs were called this when they were in France during World War II. Anglo GIs were standing nearby, didn’t know what that meant, but said, ‘Sounds like coonass, so that’s what we’re gonna call you from now on.’”
1943 photograph of the C-47 Cajun Coonass, with enlarged inset. (Photo: Credit: National Archives and Records Administration via Shane Bernard)
That’s the official take on the origin of the word – a vulgar ethnic slur. But it’s not correct, Bernard says. He found a photo from the National Archives taken in April 1943 of a plane called the “Cajun Coonass.” The photo was taken before the allied invasion of France.
“Because there were no Cajuns in France or any Americans in France until June 6, 1944, which is D-Day, that means that if the connasse theory were true, it had to have been created sometime after D-Day because you had to have Cajuns in France to be called connasses,” Bernard says. “Presumably you had to have some extended period of time for the word to morph into coonass.”
Bernard says he’s found other references to the word predating D-Day, as well. As far as he’s concerned, no one can be sure where the expression came from.
Whatever its origins, coonass isn’t a slur these days to people like Angie Sonnier. I found Sonnier on a rainy afternoon taking shelter beneath a roof of a Shop Rite store in Duson, Louisiana. The store sells bumper stickers and T-shirts with a “Registered Coonass” logo on them. Sonnier doesn’t care about tracing the history of the term “coonass.”
“If it was meant being ugly when it first came out, it’s not ugly now,” Sonnier says. “Not unless you look at it that way, and some people may. I just don’t.”
Instead, “coonass” is shorthand for her rural Cajun identity.
“I was raised, you know, running crawfish traps with my dad, and working on a farm with my dad, and doing different other things — going fishing with my family and, you know, generally doing all this type of stuff that is around here,” Sonnier says. “It’s in your blood.”
At his radio station, Marx echoes that sentiment. He remembers when speaking French at school was really frowned upon.
“‘You tried to shame us but now you know what? There are a lot of people who want to be coonasses,’” Marx says. “It’s kind of our way of slapping them in the face and saying, ‘You didn’t accomplish anything. We’re still here. You’re just an American. We’re Cajun, baby! We’re coonasses!”
It seems that, for better or for worse, the expression will be sticking around for a while.
Tagged as Cajun, Culture, ethnic identity, History, language, language podcast, Linguistics, racisim
A brief history of simultaneous interpretation, from the Nuremberg trials to now
From left, Capt. Macintosh of the British Army translates from French into English, while Margot Bortlin translates from German into English and Lt. Ernest Peter Uiberall monitors the translations at the Nuremberg trials after World War II. (Photo courtesy of Francesca Gaiba)
Here’s a post from Nina Porzucki.
Lynn Visson was a UN interpreter during the height of the Cold War. She can still rattle off grandiose Soviet titles like it was yesterday.
“General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party — you had that practically memorized,” Visson recalls.
After 23 years, she’s still at it, interpreting from French and Russian into English. She’s witnessed — and spoken for — some pretty heavy hitters. “I remember Castro spoke for all of eight minutes, but the charisma was incredible,” Visson says. “The electricity the man generated — Bill Clinton could do that, too, Gorbachev could do that. Some other delegates were great speakers, but they didn’t light that spark.”
These days, we’re long used to seeing diplomats at the UN plugged into earphones, listening to speeches that are instantaneously translated into one of the six official UN lanugages — English, French, Arabic, Chinese, Spanish and Russian, but simultaneous interpretation is actually a rather recent invention, developed in 1945 for a very different global event: the Nuremberg Trials.
Defendants, Defense Counsel and Interpreters rise as the eight members of the Tribunal enter the courtroom. Monitors, front: Leon Dostert, back: E. Peter Uiberall and Joachim von Zastrow. (Photo courtesy of Francesca Gaiba)
Before the Nuremberg Trials, any kind of interpretation was done consecutively — talk first, and then wait for the interpreter to translate. But at the end of World War II, the Allies created the International Military Tribunal, which was charged with an explicit mission: “fair and expeditious trials” of accused Nazi war criminals.
“Those two words put enormous constraints on the people organizing the trial,” says interpreter and historian Francesca Gaiba, who has studied the origins of simultaneous interpretation at the Nuremberg Trials.
She says holding a trial that was “fair” and “expeditious” meant speeding up translations of the four languages of the nations involved: English, German, Russian and French. The solution was thought up by Col. Leon Dostert. Born in France and a native French speaker, Dostert became an American citizen and a foreign language expert for the US Army.
“He was the person who thought it was possible for a human being to listen and speak at the same time,” Visson says.
Possible, yes, but far from easy. And then there was the problem of transmitting all of those languages in real time. This was 1945, so digital recordings and tapes weren’t around. But Dostert pressed on and consulted with IBM to develop a system of microphones and headsets to transmit the cacophony of languages. He hired interpreters and practiced this new type of interpreting with them.
And somehow, despite a few episodes of tripping over cords in the courtroom, Dostert’s system worked.
Interpreters at the Nuremberg Trial; Front: English desk; Back: French desk. To the left, monitor. (Photo courtesy of Francesca Gaiba)
Even before the Nuremberg trials were over, Dostert had taken his system to the UN in New York. It’s still the model being used today, albeit with some minor upgrades in technology.
“When I started, all interpreters were lugging around heavy dictionaries,” Visson remembers. “Now they’re lugging around iPads and notebook computers because most glossaries are in those.” She says TV monitors in the back booths also let interpreters watch the expressions of diplomats and the movements of their mouths.
But technology still hasn’t advanced enough to replace the interpreters themselves. “The computer can’t pick up the intonation,” Visson says.
But one of the biggest challenges for interpreters is often not the tone, but simply figuring out what a diplomat is saying.
“People with foreign accents for example, you want to be careful that when you hear somebody saying, ‘Mr. Chairman, we wish to congratulate you on your defective leadership.’ You know he didn’t mean his ‘defective leadership,’ he meant his ‘effective leadership.’” Visson says. “But you’ve got to not be simply auto-translating word for word, because heaven help you if you say we congratulate you on your defective leadership.”
Of course, relaying the words of world leaders also means not mincing them, be they Holocaust denials, carefully crafted insults or strongly worded Cold War rhetoric.
“One of the things you are taught is that you’re like an actor on stage,” Visson says. “There are plenty of actors who play the part of people who are absolutely vile. So I think if you look on it as acting, it can almost become fun — even if you are saying things that you personally find repugnant or hateful.”
Tagged as History, interpretation, language, language podcast, Nuremberg Trials, translation, United Nations
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Anglish and English: Why our language is 750 and not 1,500 years old – Isham Cook on Some people have re-imagined English as Anglish, with no words derived from French or Latin
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Terrorist? Ekstremist? | LARS GULE – YTRINGER on The Words that Armed Anders Breivik
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Results for 'Paul Boswell' (try it on Scholar)
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Intelligibility and the Guise of the Good.Paul Boswell - 2018 - Journal of Ethics and Social Philosophy 13 (1):1-31.details
According to the Guise of the Good, an agent only does for a reason what she sees as good. One of the main motivations for the view is its apparent ability to explain why action for a reason must be intelligible to its agent, for on this view, an action is intelligible just in case it seems good. This motivation has come under criticism in recent years. Most notably, Kieran Setiya has argued that merely seeing one’s action as good does (...) not suffice to make the action intelligible. In this paper, I show that this objection has bite only because the Guise of the Good’s theory of intelligibility has yet seen little sustained articulation. Properly understood, this theory holds that an action is intelligible to an agent only if it appears to them to possess some substantive evaluative property. I then argue that this response to the objection has a significant implication for contemporary Guise of the Good theories, for it shows that the currently ascendant version of the theory, the attitudinal theory, cannot avail itself of the intelligibility motivation. (shrink)
Grit.Sarah Paul & Jennifer Morton - 2018 - Ethics 129 (2):175-203.details
Many of our most important goals require months or even years of effort to achieve, and some never get achieved at all. As social psychologists have lately emphasized, success in pursuing such goals requires the capacity for perseverance, or "grit." Philosophers have had little to say about grit, however, insofar as it differs from more familiar notions of willpower or continence. This leaves us ill-equipped to assess the social and moral implications of promoting grit. We propose that grit has an (...) important epistemic component, in that failures of perseverance are often caused by a significant loss of confidence that one will succeed if one continues to try. Correspondingly, successful exercises of grit often involve a kind of epistemic resilience in the face of failure, injury, rejection, and other setbacks that constitute genuine evidence that success is not forthcoming. Given this, we discuss whether and to what extent displays of grit can be epistemically as well as practically rational. We conclude that they can be (although many are not), and that the rationality of grit will depend partly on features of the context the agent normally finds herself in. In particular, grit-friendly norms of deliberation might be irrational to use in contexts of severe material scarcity or oppression. (shrink)
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Temporal Experience.L. A. Paul - 2010 - Journal of Philosophy 107 (7):333-359.details
The question I want to explore is whether experience supports an antireductionist ontology of time, that is, whether we should take it to support an ontology that includes a primitive, monadic property of nowness responsible for the special feel of events in the present, and a relation of passage that events instantiate in virtue of literally passing from the future, to the present, and then into the past.
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Believing in Others.Sarah K. Paul & Jennifer M. Morton - 2018 - Philosophical Topics 46 (1):75-95.details
Suppose some person 'A' sets out to accomplish a difficult, long-term goal such as writing a passable Ph.D. thesis. What should you believe about whether A will succeed? The default answer is that you should believe whatever the total accessible evidence concerning A's abilities, circumstances, capacity for self-discipline, and so forth supports. But could it be that what you should believe depends in part on the relationship you have with A? We argue that it does, in the case where A (...) is yourself. The capacity for "grit" involves a kind of epistemic resilience in the face of evidence suggesting that one might fail, and this makes it rational to respond to the relevant evidence differently when you are the agent in question. We then explore whether similar arguments extend to the case of "believing in" our significant others -- our friends, lovers, family members, colleagues, patients, and students. (shrink)
Descartes’s Anti-Transparency and the Need for Radical Doubt.Elliot Samuel Paul - 2018 - Ergo: An Open Access Journal of Philosophy 5 (41):1083-1129.details
Descartes is widely portrayed as the arch proponent of “the epistemological transparency of thought” (or simply, “Transparency”). The most promising version of this view—Transparency-through-Introspection—says that introspecting (i.e., inwardly attending to) a thought guarantees certain knowledge of that thought. But Descartes rejects this view and provides numerous counterexamples to it. I argue that, instead, Descartes’s theory of self-knowledge is just an application of his general theory of knowledge. According to his general theory, certain knowledge is acquired only through clear and distinct (...) intellection. Thus, in his view, certain knowledge of one’s thoughts is acquired only through clear and distinct intellection of one’s thoughts. Introspection is a form of intellection and it can be clear and distinct. Ordinarily, however, introspection isn’t clear and distinct but is instead confused with dubitable perceptions of bodies. To make introspection clear and distinct, we need to “sharply separate” it from all perceptions of bodies by doubting all perceptions of bodies. Without such radical doubt, introspection remains confused and we lack certain knowledge not just of the specific features of our thoughts, but even of the minimal claim that a thought exists. Far from being the high priest of Transparency, Descartes is radically opposed to it. (shrink)
A One Category Ontology.L. A. Paul - forthcoming - In John A. Keller (ed.), Being, Freedom, and Method: Themes From the Philosophy of Peter van Inwagen. Oxford University Press.details
I defend a one category ontology: an ontology that denies that we need more than one fundamental category to support the ontological structure of the world. Categorical fundamentality is understood in terms of the metaphysically prior, as that in which everything else in the world consists. One category ontologies are deeply appealing, because their ontological simplicity gives them an unmatched elegance and spareness. I’m a fan of a one category ontology that collapses the distinction between particular and property, replacing it (...) with a single fundamental category of intrinsic characters or qualities. We may describe the qualities as qualitative charactersor as modes, perhaps on the model of Aristotelian qualitative (nonsubstantial) kinds, and I will use the term “properties” interchangeably with “qualities”. The qualities are repeatable and reasonably sparse, although, as I discuss in section 2.6, there are empirical reasons that may suggest, depending on one’s preferred fundamental physical theory, that they include irreducibly intensive qualities. There are no uninstantiated qualities. I also assume that the fundamental qualitative natures are intrinsic, although physics may ultimately suggest that some of them are extrinsic. On my view, matter, concrete objects, abstract objects, and perhaps even spacetime are constructed from mereological fusions of qualities, so the world is simply a vast mixture of qualities, including polyadic properties (i.e., relations). This means that everything there is, including concrete objects like persons or stars, is a quality, a qualitative fusion, or a portion of the extended qualitative fusion that is the worldwhole. I call my view mereological bundle theory. (shrink)
Embarking on a Crime.Sarah K. Paul - 2014 - In Enrique Villanueva V. (ed.), Law and the Philosophy of Action. Rodopi. pp. 101-24.details
When we define something as a crime, we generally thereby criminalize the attempt to commit that crime. However, it is a vexing puzzle to specify what must be the case in order for a criminal attempt to have occurred, given that the results element of the crime fails to come about. I argue that the philosophy of action can assist the criminal law in clarifying what kinds of events are properly categorized as criminal attempts. A natural thought is that this (...) project should take the form of specifying what it is in general to attempt or try to perform an action, and then to define criminal attempts as attempts to commit crimes. Focusing on Gideon Yaffe's resourceful work in Attempts (Oxford University Press, 2010) as an example of this strategy, I argue that it results in a view that is overly inclusive: one will count as trying to commit a crime even in the far remote preparatory stages that we in fact have good reason not to criminalize. I offer an alternative proposal to distinguish between mere preparations and genuine attempts that has its basis not in trying, but doing: a criminal attempt is underway once what the agent is doing is a crime. Working out the details of this schema turns out to have important implications for action theory. A recently burgeoning view known as Naive Action Theory holds that all action can be explained by appeal to some further thing that the agent is doing, and that that the same explanatory nexus is at work even when we appeal to what the agent is intending, trying, or preparing to do -- these notions do explanatory work because they too refer to actions that are in progress, albeit in their infancy. If this is right, than the notion of 'doing' will also be too inclusive for the purposes of the criminal law. I argue that we should draw the reverse conclusion: the distinctions between pure intending, trying, preparing, and doing serve an important purpose in the criminal law, and this fact lends support to the view that they are genuine metaphysical and explanatory distinctions. (shrink)
First Personal Modes of Presentation and the Structure of Empathy.L. A. Paul - 2017 - Inquiry: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Philosophy 60 (3):189-207.details
I argue that we can understand the de se by employing the subjective mode of presentation or, if one’s ontology permits it, by defending an abundant ontology of perspectival personal properties or facts. I do this in the context of a discussion of Cappelen and Dever’s recent criticisms of the de se. Then, I discuss the distinctive role of the first personal perspective in discussions about empathy, rational deference, and self-understanding, and develop a way to frame the problem of lacking (...) prospective access to your future self as a problem with your capacity to imaginatively empathize with your future selves. (shrink)
How Should Claims For Religious Exemptions Be Weighed?Billingham Paul - 2017 - Oxford Journal of Law and Religion 6 (1):1-23.details
Many philosophers and jurists believe that individuals should sometimes be granted religiouslygrounded exemptions from laws or rules. To determine whether an exemption is merited in a particular case, the religious claim must be weighed against the countervailing values that favour the uniform application of the law or rule. This paper develops and applies a framework for assessing the weight of religious claims to exemption, across two dimensions. First, the importance of the burdened religious practice, which is determined by its level (...) of obligatoriness and centrality, according to the beliefs of the individual claimant. Second, the extent of the burden on the practice, which depends on the cost the individual bears if she both undertakes the religious practice and obeys the law or rule, where costs are assessed using an impartial account of individual interests. Exemptions should be granted when claims are weighty on either of these dimensions and the countervailing value is relatively weak. The final section of the paper responds to an important objection to this approach, which concerns administrability. (shrink)
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Naturalistic Approaches to Creativity.Dustin Stokes & Elliot Paul - 2016 - In J. Sytsma W. Buckwalter (ed.), The Blackwell Companion to Experimental Philosophy.details
We offer a brief characterization of creativity, followed by a review of some of the reasons people have been skeptical about the possibility of explaining creativity. We then survey some of the recent work on creativity that is naturalistic in the sense that it presumes creativity is natural (as opposed to magical, occult, or supernatural) and is therefore amenable to scientific inquiry. This work is divided into two categories. The broader category is empirical philosophy, which draws on empirical research while (...) addressing questions that have traditionally been regarded as philosophical. The second category is experimental philosophy, a special branch of empirical philosophy in which experiments are designed (by philosophers) with the explicit purpose of addressing philosophical questions. All of this highlights the relative theoretical neglect of creativity, while at the same time suggesting ample opportunity for experimentally minded philosophers to break new ground. (shrink)
The Subjectively Enduring Self.L. A. Paul - forthcoming - In Ian Phillips (ed.), Routledge Handbook of the Philosophy of Temporal Experience. Routledge.details
The self can be understood in objective metaphysical terms as a bundle of properties, as a substance, or as some other kind of entity on our metaphysical list of what there is. Such an approach explores the metaphysical nature of the self when regarded from a suitably impersonal, ontological perspective. It explores the nature and structure of the self in objective reality, that is, the nature and structure of the self from without. This is the objective self. I am taking (...) a different approach. In addition to objective reality, which is usually understood and explored from an impersonal, quasi-observational and metaphysically realist perspective, we can also explore the nature and structure of subjective reality. The nature and structure of subjective reality is defined by the nature and structure of first-personal, conscious experience. Subjective reality is as real as objective reality, and a metaphysical realist such as myself can endorse the existence of both kinds of ontology. The mental states that, as experienced from the first-personal or subjective perspective, capture the nature and structure of subjective reality, are included in objective reality. The questions to explore in a subjective ontology of the self concern the nature and structure of the self from the first-personal or subjective perspective, that is, the nature and structure of the self from within. This is the subjective self. (shrink)
Papers, Please and the Systemic Approach to Engaging Ethical Expertise in Videogames.Formosa Paul, Ryan Malcolm & Staines Dan - 2016 - Ethics and Information Technology 18 (3):211-225.details
Papers, Please, by Lucas Pope (2013), explores the story of a customs inspector in the fictional political regime of Arstotzka. In this paper we explore the stories, systems and moral themes of Papers, Please in order to illustrate the systemic approach to designing videogames for moral engagement. Next, drawing on the Four Component model of ethical expertise from moral psychology, we contrast this systemic approach with the more common scripted approach. We conclude by demonstrating the different strengths and weaknesses that (...) these two approaches have when it comes to designing videogames that engage the different aspects of a player’s moral expertise. (shrink)
Apes with a Moral Code? Primatology, Moral Sentimentalism, and the Evolution of Morality in The Planet of the Apes.Carron Paul - 2015 - Journal of Cognition and Neuroethics 3 (3):1-26.details
This essay examines the recent Planet of the Apes films through the lens of recent research in primatology. The films lend imaginary support to primatologist Frans de Waal’s evolutionary moral sentimentalism; however, the movies also show that truly moral motions outstrip the cognitive capacities of the great apes. The abstract moral principles employed by the ape community in the movie require the ability to understand and apply a common underlying explanation to perceptually disparate situations; in contrast, recent research in comparative (...) psychology demonstrates that the great apes lack this capacity. Since the capacity for abstraction is required on even the most basic version of moral sentimentalism—Shaun Nichols’ sentimental rules account—the lack of the capacity for abstraction reveals a qualitative distinction between primate social behavior and human morality. (shrink)
Revisiting Friedman’s F53: Popper, Knight, and Weber.Hoyningen-Huene Paul - manuscriptdetails
Neither Karl Popper, nor Frank Knight, nor Max Weber are cited or mentioned in Friedman’s famous 1953 essay “On the methodology of positive economics” (F53). However, they play a crucial role in F53. Making their con-tribution explicit suggests that F53 has been seriously misread in the past. I will first show that there are several irritating statements in F53 that are, taken together, not compatible with any of the usual readings of F53. Sec-ond, I show that an alternative reading of (...) F53 can be achieved if one takes seriously Friedman’s reference to ideal types; “ideal type” is a technical term introduced by Max Weber. Friedman was familiar with Max Weber’s work through Frank Knight, who was his teacher in Chicago. Given that in F53’s view ideal types are fundamen-tal building blocks of economic theory, it becomes clear why both instrumentalist and realist readings of F53 are inadequate. Third, the reading of F53 in terms of ideal types gives the role of elements from Popper’s falsifica-tionist methodology in F53 a somewhat different twist. Finally, I show that the irritating passages of F53 make good sense under the new reading, including the infamous “the more significant the theory, the more unrealistic the assumptions”. (shrink)
The Courage of Conviction.Sarah K. Paul - 2015 - Canadian Journal of Philosophy 45 (5-6):1-23.details
Is there a sense in which we exercise direct volitional control over our beliefs? Most agree that there is not, but discussions tend to focus on control in forming a belief. The focus here is on sustaining a belief over time in the face of ‘epistemic temptation’ to abandon it. It is argued that we do have a capacity for ‘doxastic self-control’ over time that is partly volitional in nature, and that its exercise is rationally permissible.
Good Intentions and the Road to Hell.Sarah K. Paul - 2017 - Philosophical Explorations 20 (2):40-54.details
G.E.M. Anscombe famously remarked that an adequate philosophy of psychology was needed before we could do ethics. Fifty years have passed, and we should now ask what significance our best theories of the psychology of agency have for moral philosophy. My focus is on non-moral conceptions of autonomy and self-governance that emphasize the limits of deliberation -- the way in which one's cares render certain options unthinkable, one's intentions and policies filter out what is inconsistent with them, and one's resolutions (...) function to block further reflection. I argue that we can expect this deliberative "silencing" to lead to moral failures that occur because the morally correct option was filtered out of the agent's deliberation. I think it follows from these conceptions of self-governance that we should be considered culpable for unwitting acts and omissions, even if they express no ill will, moral indifference, or blameworthy evaluative judgments. The question is whether this consequence is acceptable. Either way, the potential tradeoff between self-governance and moral attentiveness is a source of doubt about recent attempts to ground the normativity of rationality in our concern for self-governance. (shrink)
Attributing Creativity.Elliot Samuel Paul & Dustin Stokes - 2018 - In Berys Gaut & Matthew Kieran (eds.), Creativity and Philosophy. Routledge.details
Three kinds of things may be creative: persons, processes, and products. The standard definition of creativity, used nearly by consensus in psychological research, focuses specifically on products and says that a product is creative if and only if it is new and valuable. We argue that at least one further condition is necessary for a product to be creative: it must have been produced by the right kind of process. We argue furthermore that this point has an interesting epistemological implication: (...) when you judge a product to be creative--attributing creativity--you are not just judging it to be new and valuable. Even if you did not witness how it was produced, you are also making a judgement about how it was produced. (shrink)
Intention.Sarah K. Paul - 2013 - International Encyclopedia of Ethics.details
A survey of the notion of intention as it relates to debates in the philosophy of action, moral psychology, and ethics.
Making Worlds with Symbols.Teller Paul - manuscriptdetails
I unpack the metaphor of “Making worlds with symbols” with the Kantian attitude that all our cognitive contact with the world, including perception, is representational. Using two ideas, Carnap’s frameworks and Stalnaker’s common ground that I take to illustrate the metaphor, I develop a broader conception of frameworks. I then develop and defend my main thesis, that all our framework bound access to the world is through frameworks that stand to be improved in accuracy, precision, and usually both. Such improvement (...) is characterized in pragmatist terms. (shrink)
René Girard and Philosophy. An Interview with Paul Dumouchel.Paul Dumouchel & Andreas Wilmes - 2017 - Philosophical Journal of Conflict and Violence 1 (1):2-11.details
What was René Girard’s attitude towards philosophy? What philosophers influenced him? What stance did he take in the philosophical debates of his time? What are the philosophical questions raised by René Girard’s anthropology? In this interview, Paul Dumouchel sheds light on these issues.
Moving, Moved and Will Be Moving: Zeno and Nāgārjuna on Motion From Mahāmudrā, Koan and Mathematical Physics Perspectives.Robert Alan Paul - 2017 - Comparative Philosophy 8 (2):65-89.details
Zeno’s Arrow and Nāgārjuna’s Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way Chapter 2 contain paradoxical, dialectic arguments thought to indicate that there is no valid explanation of motion, hence there is no physical or generic motion. There are, however, diverse interpretations of the latter text, and I argue they apply to Zeno’s Arrow as well. I also find that many of the interpretations are dependent on a mathematical analysis of material motion through space and time. However, with modern philosophy and physics (...) we find that the link from no explanation to no phenomena is invalid and that there is a valid explanation and understanding of physical motion. Hence, those arguments are both invalid and false, which banishes the MMK/2 and The Arrow under this and derivative interpretations to merely the history of philosophy. However, a view that maintains their relevance is that each is used as a koan or sequence of koans designed to assist students in spiritual meditation practice. This view is partly justified by the realization that both Nāgārjuna and Zeno were likely meditation masters in addition to being logicians. The works are, therefore, not works that should be assessed as having valid arguments and true conclusions by the standards of modern analytic philosophy—contrary to some of the literature—but rather are therapeutic and perhaps more appropriately considered as part of an experientially focused philosophy such as existentialism, phenomenology or religion. (shrink)
Rabindranather Dharma o Somajbishoyok Bhabna : Nirbacito Chithipotrer Prekkhite.Minakshi Paul - 2012 - Pratidhwani the Echo (I):26-30.details
If we follow we will see that one third of Rabindranath's Poetry are indication of expand of literature of letters. Viewing the subject variant of multiple thinking of the literature of letters, it seems that Rabindra paragraph could not get full form if he did not present it to us. In his every letters we see subject variant. Religion, Society, city life, Independence of women, Education, thinking about nature, love; nothing left in his script. All letters written by him in (...) different time are contained in books named “Chinnopotro”, “Bhanusinger Potro”, Russiaer Chiti”. His first countable Book “Europe Probashis Potro”, describes the story of his England journey at teenage. In spite of these the number of letters which are written addressing to his wife, son, relative-friend, pal, colleague & co-operator, are not a lesser quantity; some of these are attached in the book “Chiti Patra”.Where we find Rabindranath as a human being. Answers toward questions of Hemantabala Devi (Beloved, personable, Hemantabala is daughter of zaminder Brojendrakishore Roychoudhury of Moimonsing District of Gouripur, & wife of zaminder Brojendrakanta of Rongpur Bhitorbongo. She left her family & had become Baishnav, and in alias name communicated with Rabindranath through writing letters, appreciated for “Sesher kabita” & thus starts corresponding by Rabindranath of miscellaneous religious & socialism questions, we find the thinking of Rabindranath about religion & society. Rabindranath thinks the dirt of body clean through taking bath, but the thinking about clean of mind through taking bath is nothing but foolishness. So, estimating any community as worthless is a sin. All people in spite of different cast & creed should understand that God is devoted always for every era, not let think them personal property which degrades God. If this thinking will not become clearly known to all, till then in ‟India" Gods are degraded, Human being are degraded; never this defame will go away. (shrink)
The Ends of Politics : Kant on Sovereignty, Civil Disobedience and Cosmopolitanism.Formosa Paul - 2014 - In Paul Formosa, Tatiana Patrone & Avery Goldman (eds.), Politics and Teleology in Kant. Cardiff: University of Wales Press. pp. 37-58.details
A focus on the presence of unjustified coercion is one of the central normative concerns of Kant’s entire practical philosophy, from the ethical to the cosmopolitical. This focus is intimately interconnected with Kant’s account of sovereignty, since only the sovereign can justifiably coerce others unconditionally. For Kant, the sovereign is she who has the rightful authority to legislate laws and who is subject only to the laws that she gives herself. In the moral realm (or kingdom) of ends, each citizen (...) is both a member of that realm and an equal co-sovereign of its categorically binding laws (GMS, 4:433-34, Reath 2006, p. 5). As such, each citizen is 'subject to the moral law' only insofar as she is 'at the same time lawgiving with respect to it and only for that reason subordinated to it' (GMS, 4:440). But when Kant comes to think about sovereignty in the political sphere, a number of tensions emerge. These tensions emerge because a doctrine of absolutist popular sovereignty, according to which the people are the ultimate holders of sovereignty, seems to be implied by Kant’s underlying normative theory. However, Kant also makes numerous explicit statements which seem to imply a doctrine of absolutist ruler sovereignty, according to which the ruler is the ultimate holder of sovereignty. And this seems inconsistent. However, despite the appearance of inconsistency I shall argue, by exploring the issues of civil disobedience and cosmopolitan peace, that Kant consistently defends an account of absolutist popular sovereignty which is compatible with his core normative commitments. Exploring these issues will also illuminate Kant’s political teleology by showing us the political ends towards which we should work and the means by which we should pursue them. (shrink)
Introduction: The Connection Between Politics and Teleology in Kant.Formosa Paul, Goldman Avery & Patrone Tatiana - 2014 - In Paul Formosa, Avery Goldman & Tatiana Patrone (eds.), Politics and Teleology in Kant. Cardiff: University of Wales Press. pp. 1-18.details
Kant develops his political philosophy in the context of a teleological conception of both nature and human history. For Kant, political thought must be undertaken in the context of a progressive historical view of humanity’s place in nature. For this reason Kant would strongly agree with John Rawls’s claim that one of the key roles that political philosophy plays in a society’s political culture is that of ‘probing the limits of practicable political possibility. In this role, we view political philosophy (...) as realistically utopian’ (Rawls 2007, pp. 10-11). The fact that political philosophy has this public role helps to explain the close links that exist between politics and teleology in Kant’s work. Teleology is the study of ends and of the purposiveness of both nature and history. One of the key roles of political philosophy is, for Kant, to probe what politics and human societies more generally can, will and should become in the context of the historically developing and purposive natural systems of which humans are part. Politics must be understood in its natural and historical context, but nature (especially human nature) and history must in turn be understood from a progressive political perspective. For Kant, the historical outcome of this purposive natural system, the end of history, is the full development of humanity’s predispositions for the use of reason within a moral and just society. This volume explores these issues. (shrink)
Professor William Craig’s Criticisms of Critiques of Kalam Cosmological Arguments By Paul Davies, Stephen Hawking, and Adolf Grunbaum.Graham Oppy - 1995 - Faith and Philosophy 12 (2):237-250.details
Kalam cosmological arguments have recently been the subject of criticisms, at least inter alia, by physicists---Paul Davies, Stephen Hawking---and philosophers of science---Adolf Grunbaum. In a series of recent articles, William Craig has attempted to show that these criticisms are “superficial, iII-conceived, and based on misunderstanding.” I argue that, while some of the discussion of Davies and Hawking is not philosophically sophisticated, the points raised by Davies, Hawking and Grunbaum do suffice to undermine the dialectical efficacy of kalam cosmological arguments.
Paul Gauguin y Mario Vargas Llosa, entre el arte y la literatura. Manao Tupapau-El espíritu del muerto la recuerda, 1892.Carlos Vanegas - 2015 - Poliantea:227-251.details
Entre el arte y la literatura se han generado múltiples reflexiones que han sido estudiadas por la historia del arte, la teoría literaria y la estética, entre otros. Igualmente, podemos considerar una larga tradición de artistas y escritores que se han empeñado, por medio de ensayos, críticas y manifiestos, en considerar los ámbitos y lugares de competencia de cada forma artística, así como sus lugares de similitud y diferencia en una larga tradición de préstamos interartísticos entre la palabra y la (...) imagen. En el seno de esta discusión, se quiere analizar el diálogo disciplinar entre la literatura y el arte que se da en torno a la figura del pintor post impresionista Paul Gauguin y el escritor Mario Vargas Llosa. Para ello, reflexionamos a partir de una de las obras fundamentales del pintor francés, que tiene su correspondencia y complementariedad en la obra literaria del escritor peruano. De esta manera, se presenta una revisión de una fuente literaria que propone no solo una alusión temática a la obra del pintor, sino que se enmarca bajo coordenadas estéticas, que superan los armazones de las teorías o historias meramente literarias. (shrink)
Dread Hermeneutics: Bob Marley, Paul Ricoeur and the Productive Imagination.Christopher Duncanson-Hales - 2017 - Black Theology 15 (2):157-175.details
This article presents Paul Ricœur’s hermeneutic of the productive imagination as a methodological tool for understanding the innovative social function of texts that in exceeding their semantic meaning, iconically augment reality. Through the reasoning of Rastafari elder Mortimo Planno’s unpublished text, Rastafarian: The Earth’s Most Strangest Man, and the religious and biblical signification from the music of his most famous postulate, Bob Marley, this article applies Paul Ricœur’s schema of the religious productive imagination to conceptualize the metaphoric transfer (...) from text to life of verbal and iconic images of Rastafari’s hermeneutic of word, sound and power. This transformation is accomplished through what Ricœur terms the phenomenology of the iconic augmentation of reality. Understanding this semantic innovation is critical to understanding the capacity of the religious imagination to transform reality as a proclamation of hope in the midst of despair. (shrink)
Sprawiedliwość a prawo w nauczaniu Jana Pawła II [Justice and Law in the Teaching of John Paul II].Marek Piechowiak - 2014 - Przegląd Tomistyczny 20:209-237.details
The contribution focuses on philosophical issues of justice of positive law in the light of the social teaching of John Paul II. The analyses start with consideration of anthropological foundations of justice as virtue, develop with the reflexion upon justice of actions realizing justice and finally arrive at examination of the criteria of justice of law. -/- It is argued that relations between a human being and goods (ends of actions) form ontological basis of natural law and justice of (...) actions – orders and prohibitions are secondary in respect to these relations. An aim of just law (and natural law) is not preservation or restoration of abstractly understood moral order based on norms – orders and prohibitions) but integral development (good) of a person – a being possessing dignity. John Paul’s II philosophy of law takes advantage primarily of Thomas Aquinas’ approach to law and combines it with constructions which are typical for modern human rights protection. John Paul’s II conception of natural law is anthropocentric and bases on subjective rights thinking. Human dignity and human rights which derive from it provide basic criteria for the justice of law. Human rights as subjective rights disclose natural law which is understood as a set of goods for a human person. These goods are ends of actions and as such they determine actions and their forms. This point of view is compatible with Aquinas’ definition: “law is nothing but a rational plan of operation, and … the rational plan of any kind of work is derived from the end” (Summa contra gentiles, lib. 3, cap. 114, n. 5). -/- Positive (human) law which is not just has no normative power in this sense that it does not in itself provide reasons for concrete actions of a concrete actor. Sometimes there are moral reasons for following unjust law, however if its norm prescribes actions which are wrong in themselves (internally wrong) there is moral obligation to act contrary to such a legal norm. -/- Zasadniczym przedmiotem opracowania jest filozoficzna refleksja Jana Pawła II nad sprawiedliwością prawa stanowionego. Analizy przebiegają od zagadnienia antropologicznych podstaw sprawiedliwości poprzez problematykę działań realizujących sprawiedliwość do zagadnienia sprawiedliwości prawa stanowionego. Opracowanie zamykają uwagi wskazujące na kontekst teologiczny istotny dla problematyki sprawiedliwości, którego analiza wykracza jednak poza podjęte zamierzenie koncentrujące się na problematyce filozoficznoprawnej. Argumentuje się, że u podstaw tej refleksji leży namysł nad relacją człowieka do dobra, która stanowi ontologiczną podstawę prawa naturalnego i sprawiedliwości – nakazy i zakazy są wtórne wobec tej relacji. Celem prawa i sprawiedliwości jest dobro konkretnego, obdarzonego godnością człowieka, a nie np. przywracanie abstrakcyjnie pojętego porządku moralnego. Od strony konstrukcji teoretycznej, filozofia prawa Jana Pawła II jest osadzona przede wszystkim na koncepcji Tomasza z Akwinu łączonej z konstrukcjami typowymi dla współczesnej ochrony praw człowieka. To w godności i wynikających z niej prawach człowieka poszukiwać trzeba zasadniczych treściowych kryteriów sprawiedliwości prawa. Prawa człowieka jako prawa podmiotowe są podstawowym wyrazem prawa naturalnego, stanowiącego ontyczną podstawę sprawiedliwości i które pojmowane jest jako zespół dóbr dla osoby, zatem i celów kształtujących działanie. Perspektywa pojmowania prawa naturalnego jest antropocentryczna. Prawo stanowione, które nie jest sprawiedliwe, nie ma „mocy prawa”, przede wszystkim w takim sensie, że nie stanowi samo w sobie racji działania. Niekiedy, ze względów moralnych, niesprawiedliwe prawo wymaga posłuszeństwa. Jeśli jednak prawo stanowione daje uprawnienia do czynów wewnętrznie złych i nakazuje takie czyny, to nie tylko nie obowiązuje w sumieniu i nie jest racją działania, ale obowiązkiem jest postępowanie wbrew takiemu prawu. (shrink)
Introduction: Symposium on Paul Gowder, the Rule of Law in the Real World.Matthew J. Lister - 2018 - St. Louis University Law Journal 62 (2):287-91.details
This is a short introduction to a book symposium on Paul Gowder's recent book, _The Rule of Law in thee Real World_ (Cambridge University Press, 2016). The book symposium will appear in the St. Luis University Law Journal, 62 St. Louis U. L.J., -- (2018), with commentaries on Gowder's book by colleen Murphy, Robin West, Chad Flanders, and Matthew Lister, along with replies by Paul Gowder.
Imagination and Interpretation On the Dialogue Between Cornelius Castoriadis and Paul Ricoeur.Alexandros Schismenos - 2018 - Imaginal Politics.details
On March 9th, 1985, Paul Ricoeur and Cornelius Castoriadis met at the studio of the France Culture “Le Bon Plaisir” radio broadcaster. In 2016, the transcript of their dialogue, their only public debate, was published. This publication is significant not only because it highlights the points of convergence and divergence between the two prominent thinkers, but also because the issues they discuss: the relation between society and history, tradition and creativity, imagination and collective action, are relevant to the philosophical (...) and political discourse of our time. (shrink)
El argumento ontológico en Paul Tillich Y Jean-Luc Marion.Carlos Arboleda Mora - 2010 - Escritos 18 (40):36-51.details
Se presentan las concepciones sobre el argumento ontológico en Paul Tillich y en Jean-Luc Marion. Paul Tillich no ha creado una propia escuela de pensamiento, pero ha influido sobre muchos pensadores. Abre el camino a posteriores reflexiones, desde diversos puntos metodológicos, sobre el problema ontológico, sobre la realidad de Dios y sobre la relación del Ser con la cultura. Se puede decir que, a partir de él, se abren caminos para pensar el papel de la mística en el (...) conocimiento del Being itself (el ser mismo), la relación dinámica en la vida del hombre, el darse del Ser como ágape, la correlación entre mística y cultura. Y Jean-Luc Marion lleva a su plenitud las ideas de Anselmo y Tillich: Dios no se piensa sino que se da. (shrink)
Paul Ricoeur's Surprising Take on Recognition.Arto Laitinen - 2011 - Études Ricoeuriennes / Ricoeur Studies 2 (1):35-50.details
This essay examines Paul Ricœur’s views on recognition in his book The Course of Recognition . It highlights those aspects that are in some sense surprising, in relation to his previous publications and the general debates on Hegelian Anerkennung and the politics of recognition. After an overview of Ricœur’s book, the paper examines the meaning of “recognition” in Ricœur’s own proposal, in the dictionaries Ricœur uses, and in the contemporary debates. Then it takes a closer look at the ideas (...) of recognition as identification and as “taking as true.” Then it turns to recognition (attestation) of oneself, in light of the distinction between human constants (and the question “What am I?”), and human variables (and the question “Who Am I?”). The last section concerns the dialectics of struggles for recognition and states of peace, and the internal relationship between the contents of a normative demand and what counts as satisfying the demand. . (shrink)
“Textualidad” Y hermenéutica de la acción: Aportes a la polémica epistemológica en ciencias sociales desde Paul Ricoeur.Luis Felipe Rodríguez Manrique - 2012 - Cuadernos de Filosofía Latinoamericana 32 (105).details
El documento expone los antecedentes sugeridos por Paul Ricoeur sobre lo que podría denominarse “la polémica epistemológica en ciencias sociales”, referidos a la formulación de un método legítimo para la investigación en dichas ciencias que responda a las particularidades propias de su objeto de estudio. En este sentido, se rastrea la cuestión en la tradición hermenéutica romántica, concretamente en el pensamiento de Wilhelm Dilthey, pasando por la teoría estructural de estudio del texto escrito y la formulación de una teoría (...) de la acción anglosajona, para finalmente terminar en la ricoeurtiana consideración hermenéutica de la acción significativa, que asume al texto como paradigma y propuesta de superación de los escollos en torno a la referida polémica. (shrink)
Observation, Meaning and Theory: Review of For and Against Method by Imre Lakatos and Paul Feyerabend. [REVIEW]Nicholas Maxwell - 2000 - Times Higher Education Supplement 1:30-30.details
Imre Lakatos and Paul Feyerabend initially both accepted Popper's philosophy of science, but then reacted against it, and developed it in different directions. Lakatos sought to reconcile Kuhn and Popper by characterizing science as a process of competing research programmes, competing fragments of Kuhn's normal science. Feyerabend emphasized the need to develop rival theories to facilitate severe empirical testing of accepted theories, but then, as a result of a disastrous mistake, came to hold that theories that are incompatible with (...) one another cannot be compared empirically. He ended up rejecting method in science. All four philosophers, Popper, Kuhn, Lakatos and Feyerabend missed the decisive defect in Popper's philosophy of science: persistent acceptance of unified theories only when endlessly many empirically more successful disunified rivals are available means that physics makes a big, highly problematic metaphysical assumption about the nature of the universe: it is such that some kind of underlying unity exists in nature. We need to adopt a new conception of science. In order to subject this implicit metaphysical conjecture to sustained critical assessment in an attempt to improve it, we need to see science as making a hierarchy of metaphysical assumptions about the knowability and comprehensibility of the universe, these assumptions becoming less substantial and more likely to be true as we ascend the hierarchy. Elements of Popper, Kuhn and Lakatos are to be found in this picture, but it also differs radically from all three. It more closely resembles Einstein's mature views about the nature of science. (shrink)
Wat vastgelegd is, misleidt ons: de Cahiers van Paul Valéry.Martijn Boven - 2008 - Deus Ex Machina 127:5-6.details
Paul Valéry is de dichter die zwijgt; de denker die weigert filosoof te zijn; de schrijver die de taal in staat van beschuldiging stelt; de expert die volhoudt een amateur te zijn; de mysticus die zijn heil zoekt bij de wiskunde; de stamelaar die aan een kwaal van precisie lijdt; de Narcissus die misschien toch liever Orpheus had willen zijn. Hij is de chroniqueur van het denken en de meester van de tegenspraak. Ik probeer me hem voor te stellen. (...) Het is 1894 en hij zit gebogen te schrijven in de schriftjes waarin hij elk ochtend 'entre la lampe et le soleil' zijn denken fileert, een project dat uitmondde in ca. 30.000 bladzijden weerbarstige onvoltooidheid: de Cahiers. (shrink)
L’éthique narrative selon Paul Ricoeur : une passerelle entre l’éthique spinoziste et les éthiques du care.Éric Delassus - 2015 - Les ateliers de l'éthique/The Ethics Forum 10 (3):149-167.details
Éric Delassus | : Selon Fabienne Brugère, un point de rencontre existe entre l’éthique spinoziste et les éthiques du care, le care pouvant être envisagé comme une réactualisation du conatus spinoziste. Cet article vise à démontrer que cette convergence peut s’établir à partir d’une éthique narrative inspirée de la pensée de Paul Ricoeur. Cela concerne principalement la perception que l’on peut avoir de soi en tant que corps et esprit, dans la mesure où l’esprit est défini par Baruch Spinoza (...) comme « idée du corps ». L’éthique spinoziste invite à se rendre utile aux autres pour augmenter notre puissance d’être et nous libérer d’une servitude qui n’est pas sans rapport avec la vulnérabilité telle que définie dans les éthiques du care. L’humain.e vulnérable a besoin pour se sentir exister d’avoir une idée cohérente de son corps, et le récit est l’une des voies lui permettant de progresser dans cette direction. Encore faut-il, pour y parvenir, trouver des pourvoyeuses et pourvoyeurs de care disposé.e.s à écouter, aptes à susciter en soi le désir de se raconter. | : According to Fabienne Brugère, there is common ground between Spinoza’s ethics and the ethics of care, which can be regarded as a renewal of the Spinozan concept of ‘conatus.’ This article aims to demonstrate that this form of convergence can be based upon a narrative ethic as inspired by Paul Ricoeur’s thought. It is mainly about how people can perceive themselves both as mind and body, insofar as “mind” is defined by Spinoza as the “idea of the body.” The Spinozan ethic leads us to make ourselves useful to other people in order to expand our capacity to be and to free ourselves from a form of servitude that is somewhat linked to vulnerability as it is defined in the ethics of care. Therefore, vulnerable people each need to develop consistent ideas of their bodies if they wish to feel that they do exist. Narrative is one of the many ways of advancing in that direction. However, vulnerable people should not be alone; they must be accompanied by care providers who have a sympathetic ear and who can arouse in them the desire to tell and share their stories. (shrink)
Die Korrektheit von Paul Weingartners Klassifikation der Wissenschaften.Georg J. W. Dorn - 1981 - In Edgar Morscher, Otto Neumaier & Gerhard Zecha (eds.), Philosophie als Wissenschaft. Comes Verlag.details
Paul Weingartner's classification of the sciences is analyzed in detail. There is a small mistake in the definition of the set of descriptive-normative sciences, which makes the classification incorrect, but which can easily be remedied.
Paul Ricœur : Problématique de la méthode et herméneutique du dialogue.Housamedden Darwish - 2017 - Dissertation, University of Bordeauxdetails
Cette recherche se concentre sur la problématique de la méthode dans l’herméneutique ricœurienne et sa relation étroite avec les sciences humaines et sociales. Cette problématique concerne aussi bien l’herméneutique ricœurienne des symboles et des signes, que les théories du texte, de l’action et de l’histoire. Notre recherche vise premièrement à analyser la dialectique que Ricœur s’efforce d’établir, aussi bien dans l’herméneutique que dans les sciences humaines et sociales, entre des approches explicatives et des approches compréhensives, entre l’herméneutique du soupçon et (...) l’herméneutique de la foi, entre l’archéologie et la téléologie, et particulièrement entre la compréhension et l’explication. Deuxièmement, tout en analysant la relation entre la compréhension, l'explication et l'interprétation, la recherche propose une herméneutique du discours oral, en général, et du dialogue, en particulier. L'herméneutique proposée dans cette recherche dépasse relativement l'herméneutique de Ricœur qui exclut explicitement le discours oral de son herméneutique. Toutefois, elle est également considérée comme une extension de l'herméneutique ricœurienne, car elle est fondée sur son paradigme du texte et celui de la traduction. La recherche suggère que le paradigme ricœurien de la traduction peut être considéré, à la fois, comme le paradigme principal de l'herméneutique proposée du discours oral, d’un côté, et comme le troisième paradigme de l'herméneutique ricœurienne, de l’autre côté, tout en sachant que le paradigme du symbole et celui du texte sont considérés respectivement comme le premier et le second paradigme de cette herméneutique. ..................... This thesis focuses on the problem of method in the hermeneutics of Paul Ricœur and its close relationship with the human and social sciences. The problem of method is discussed in Ricœur’s hermeneutics of symbols and signs and his hermeneutics of text and of action. The thesis analyses Ricœur’s dialectics between explanatory method and comprehensive method, the hermeneutics of suspicion and the hermeneutics of faith, archaeology and teleology, and particularly between understanding and explanation. This dialectic was established by Ricœur in his work on the different theories of symbol, text, metaphor, action and history. While discussing the relationship between understanding, explanation and interpretation, the thesis proposes a hermeneutics of oral discourse in general and of dialogue in particular. The hermeneutics proposed in this thesis go beyond Ricœur’s hermeneutics which explicitly excludes spoken discourse. However, it is also considered as an extension of the hermeneutics of Ricœur since it is based on Ricœur’s paradigm of text and translation. Thus, in addition to Ricœur’s hermeneutic paradigm of symbol and of text, this thesis suggests that Ricœur’s paradigm of translation is the main paradigm of the proposed hermeneutics of oral discourse and can be considered as the third paradigm of Ricœur’s hermeneutics. (shrink)
Metaphor, Poiesis and Hermeneutical Ontology: Paul Ricoeur and the Turn to Language.Kenneth Masong - 2012 - Pan Pacific Journal of Philosophy, Education and Management 1 (1).details
Reacting against the turn to transcendence that heavily characterized the medieval worldview, the modern worldview is fundamentally exemplified by a threefold turn to immanence, consisting of a subjective turn, a linguistic turn and an experiential turn. Language plays a pivotal role here since it mediates between the subjective and the experiential. Ricoeur’s treatment of metaphor, significantly laid out in his The Rule of Metaphor, is crucial in bringing about this linguistic turn that mediates the subject and its experience of the (...) world. Through an analysis of “seeing as” as a poietic reconfiguration of reality in the subject’s experience, language transforms and founds the world as a “being as.” What is disclosed in this interpretative transformation of reality is not simply an hermeneutical ontology but possibly—also through language—an hermeneutical axiology. (shrink)
Paul Grice on Indicative Conditionals.Rani Lill Anjum - manuscriptdetails
Grice argues that indicative conditionals ‘if p then q’ have conventional, truth conditional meaning according to the material conditional ‘p q’. In order to explain away the known paradoxes with this interpretation, he distinguishes between truth conditions and assertion conditions, attempting to demonstrate that the assumed connection between ‘p’ and ‘q’ (the Indirectness Condition) is a conversational implicature; hence a matter only relevant for the assertion conditions of a conditional. This paper argues that Grice fails to demonstrate i) that (...) the Indirectness Condition is cancellable, hence a conversational implicature, ii) that the Indirectness Condition is not part of the conventional, truth-relevant meaning of ‘if’, and accordingly, iii) semantic or logical equivalence between indicative and material conditionals. (shrink)
Paul Feyerabend in Wien 1946-1955: Das Österreichische College und der Kraft-Kreis.Daniel Kuby - 2010 - In Michael Benedikt, Reinhold Knoll, Franz Schwediauer & Cornelius Zehetner (eds.), Auf der Suche nach authentischem Philosophieren. Philosophie in Österreich 1951–2000. Verdrängter Humanismus – verzögerte Aufklärung. Vienna, Austria: pp. 1041-1056.details
Review of Paul Edwards' Heidegger's Confusions. [REVIEW]Matthew C. Halteman - 2007 - Philosophical Review 116 (2):310-313.details
The Common Sense Personalism of St. John Paul II.Tarasiewicz Pawel - 2014 - Studia Gilsoniana 3 (supplement):619-634.details
The article aims at showing that the philosophical personalism of Pope John Paul II stems from the common sense approach to reality. First, it presents Karol Wojtyla as a framer of the Lublin Philosophical School, to which he was affiliated for 24 years before being elected Pope John Paul II; it shows Wojtyla’s role in establishing this original philosophical School by his contribution to its endorsement of Thomism, its way of doing philosophy, and its classically understood personalism. Secondly, (...) it identifies a purpose of Wojtyla’s use of the phenomenological method in his personalism and reconstructs Wojtyla’s possible answer to the question whether there is a link between moral sense and common sense in human experience. (shrink)
Paul Ricoeur, Leitor de Freud: Contribuições da Psicanálise Ao Campo da Filosofia Hermenêutica / Paul Ricoeur, Reader of Freud: Contributions of Psychoanalysis to the Field of Hermeneutic Philosophy.Medeiros Jonas Torres - 2015 - Natureza Humana 17 (1):74-107.details
This work aims to spell out clear the tensions manifested by the meeting between the project of a reflexive philosophy and psychoanalysis, from a very specific event: the publication, in 1965, of the thesis De l'interprétation: essai sur Freud by Paul Ricoeur. Our question arises from the fact that psychoanalysis has introduced one of the greatest embarrassments to the philosophies of consciousness, as it established the unconscious psychic as foundation and array of subjectivity. In contrast, Paul Ricoeur strengthens (...) its belonging to the reflective tradition initiated by Husserl, but with a fundamental deviation: in your access to subjectivity, this reflexive philosophy must take the form of a hermeneutics that interprets the signs of man’s existence. Given this, the present study seeks to find out what difficulties, tensions and contributions the reading of Freud offers to hermeneutic project proposed by Ricoeur. The article aims to show how the philosophical reading of Freud allowed Ricoeur to arbitrate the different and sometimes conflicting hermeneutics approaches around the problem of symbol. (shrink)
Review of Paul Ricoeur's Evil: A Challenge to Philosophy and Theology. [REVIEW]Subhasis Chattopadhyay - 2016 - Prabuddha Bharata or Awakened India 121 (June (6)):529-30.details
This review shows how Pierre Gisel's comments on Ricoeur are redundant; how Graham Ward gets Ricoeur's understanding of evil clearly; but then it goes on to show how both Gisel and Ward do not understand/mention the influence of St. Paul and Jürgen Moltmann on Ricoeur.
The calling and ministry of Paul, following in the footsteps of the prophets of Israel.Élcio Bernardino Correia - 2016details
This article aims to show that although the apostle Paul did not call himself a prophet, still makes his presentation in his letters in the same way that the Old Testament prophets. The article points out the many similarities between Paul and the prophets. It seeks to analyze and interact with Scripture and literature concerning the matter.We conclude that the Apostle founded the authority of his call, highlighting the prophetic aspect of his apostolate. It is evident that the (...) Apostle had a awareness of the prophetic character of his person, mission and message. It is called and sent directly by God, records the Scripture inspired by the Spirit and has a fruitful ministry of preaching and teaching. (shrink)
Faithful to Nature: Paul Tillich and the Spiritual Roots of Environmental Ethics.Jeremy D. Yunt - 2017 - Santa Barbara, CA, USA: Barred Owl Books.details
Paul Tillich (1886-1965) is generally considered the most original and influential Christian theologian of the 20th century. What's not as widely recognized, outside of academic circles, is his stature as a first-rate existentialist philosopher—in the lineage of Kierkegaard, Heidegger, Nietzsche, and Pascal. Few people have analyzed more areas of existence: from art and architecture to culture, science, economics, politics, technology, psychology, world religions (particularly Buddhism), history, and health and healing. But one of Tillich's primary and enduring concerns was humanity's (...) troubled relationship with the natural world. It was his belief that empathizing with and defending nature was of vital importance to the human spirit, bringing great depth and meaning to our experience of life itself. -/- Though the 1962 publication of Rachel Carson's Silent Spring is seen as a pivotal moment in awakening the environmental movement, Tillich was writing decades before this of the commodification and desecration of the natural world. He witnessed the rise of industrialization and the power of this synthetic world to bend humanity to its demands, and warned that “we are living in the late stage of the self-destruction of industrial society, as a world above the given world of nature." Though creative in many respects, he also saw this technical enterprise impoverishing our spiritual lives and inflicting untold suffering on a defenseless planet and our fellow nonhuman animals. -/- With great implications for environmental ethics, a central part of Tillich’s theology is his “multidimensional unity of life,” a unique scientific and moral perspective that vastly expands our concept of life, granting deep significance to even the inorganic dimension. Perhaps most importantly, Tillich challenges religious views that see life on this planet as subordinate to the "real" lives to come after death, famously stating that “there is no salvation [salvus: to heal and make whole] of man if there is no salvation of nature, for man is in nature and nature is in man." -/- In this timely and original assessment of Tillich, Yunt provides a philosophical bulwark against the modern world's increasing assault on science, reason, and nature. And by examining contemporary environmental movements such as deep ecology and ecopsychology, as well as current issues like climate change and the impact of human diet and new technologies on the planet, Yunt brings clarity to the increasingly obvious fact that humans are within the realm of the natural world, not above it. (shrink)
Jean Paul Sartre: The Mystical Atheist.Jerome Gellman - 2009 - European Journal for Philosophy of Religion 1 (2):127 - 137.details
Within Jean Paul Sartre’s atheistic program, he objected to Christian mysticism as a delusory desire for substantive being. I suggest that a Christian mystic might reply to Sartre’s attack by claiming that Sartre indeed grasps something right about the human condition but falls short of fully understanding what he grasps. Then I argue that the true basis of Sartre’s atheism is neither philosophical nor existentialist, but rather mystical. Sartre had an early mystical atheistic intuition that later developed into atheistic (...) mystical experience. Sartre experienced the nonexistence of God. (shrink)
Transformative Experience and the Knowledge Norms for Action: Moss on Paul’s Challenge to Decision Theory.Richard Pettigrew - manuscriptdetails
to appear in Lambert, E. and J. Schwenkler (eds.) Transformative Experience (OUP) -/- L. A. Paul (2014, 2015) argues that the possibility of epistemically transformative experiences poses serious and novel problems for the orthodox theory of rational choice, namely, expected utility theory — I call her argument the Utility Ignorance Objection. In a pair of earlier papers, I responded to Paul’s challenge (Pettigrew 2015, 2016), and a number of other philosophers have responded in similar ways (Dougherty, et al. (...) 2015, Harman 2015) — I call our argument the Fine-Graining Response. Paul has her own reply to this response, which we might call the Authenticity Reply. But Sarah Moss has recently offered an alternative reply to the Fine-Graining Response on Paul’s behalf (Moss 2017) — we’ll call it the No Knowledge Reply. This appeals to the knowledge norm of action, together with Moss’ novel and intriguing account of probabilistic knowledge. In this paper, I consider Moss’ reply and argue that it fails. I argue first that it fails as a reply made on Paul’s behalf, since it forces us to abandon many of the features of Paul’s challenge that make it distinctive and with which Paul herself is particularly concerned. Then I argue that it fails as a reply independent of its fidelity to Paul’s intentions. (shrink)
Review of Paul Crowther The Kantian Aesthetic. [REVIEW]Jennifer A. McMahon - 2011 - British Journal of Aesthetics 51 (2):229-231.details
Paul Crowther provides interpretations of key concepts in Kant’s Critique of Aesthetic Judgment, indicating (particularly in very informative footnotes) how his views compare with those of other Kant commentators such as Paul Guyer, Rachel Zuckert, Béatrice Longuenesse, Henry Allison, Donald Crawford, Robert Wicks and others. One might be inclined to ask whether yet another interpretation of Kant’s third critique was needed, yet compared to his other two critiques, Kant’s Critique of Judgment can still be regarded as the neglected (...) sibling. Its relevance to his system as a whole and in particular to his moral theory is still under appreciated. However, if one is after a study of Kant’s third critique along these lines, this is not the place to find it. Crowther has his philosopher of art hat firmly in place in the writing of this study. Even so, adopting this approach Crowther shows us that there is still work to be done. Crowther takes the core of Kant’s thesis and argues that its implications extend far beyond what Kant could have envisaged. (shrink)
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“The Notorious George Barlow” – Part 1
Posted on March 28, 2014 by poorirish
I’m thankful for a sprinkling of heretics (or as they are politely called today, – Protestants) that add color to an otherwise monotonous Roman Catholic background. I owe the debt to my paternal grandfather, James Patrick Henry Roane, Senior who, in 1921, married a devout Baptist, Edna Mae Keirstead.
Nana’s line includes clergymen, even saintly men, who suffered for their faith, among them, the Reverend Obadiah Holmes, an ancestor of Abraham Lincoln. At the other end of the spectrum, is my ninth great-grandfather, George Barlow. His claim to fame is that he made people suffer for their beliefs, and worse, – he enjoyed it.
Barlow made his mark decades after the Mayflower Pilgrims established their little commonwealth in Plymouth. As that colony’s population multiplied, the founders’ ideals gave way to a new generation’s lust, — the lust for land. Families spread out and new settlements sprang up. By 1640, another 20,000 English settlers had come to New England.
The most notable arrivals disembarked further up the coast in 1630. They were another group of reformers, the Puritans. While the Pilgrims were religious refugees, chased from England to the Netherlands, the Puritans voluntarily left an England they found too tolerant.
Backed by investors expecting a good return from Massachusetts Bay, the industrious Puritans did not disappoint. The industrious newcomers rapidly established Boston as the political, commercial, financial, educational and religious center of New England. Granted authority they were denied in England (and blind to historical irony), the Puritans introduced religious persecution to the New World.
They mounted a particularly vicious campaign against the Quakers, which always struck me as odd, as I suspect it does most of us. If we modern folks know anything about this small Protestant denomination, also known as the Religious Society of Friends it’s the following:
– Quakers hold silent devotional meetings;
– Quakers organize to relieve human suffering worldwide;
– Quakers go to jail rather than kill for warring nations;
– Quakers engage in nonviolent protests against militarism and environmental destruction.
So how could the Puritans, fellow Christians, treat these peaceful souls so barbarously? Well, it turns out that present day Quakers have changed considerably since the 17th century. Shiny new Quakers were fervent believers, like new converts in any century. Among the early leaders were zealous evangelicals determined to sow god’s latest message in New World soil. But it wasn’t simple religious heresy that enraged the Puritans, – Quaker ideas threatened the social order.
Quakers believe that each human being is born with “inner light,” and therefore, all men and women are created equal. At meetings, anyone might be moved to share a divine insight, and they did not have a paid clergy class. Quakers addressed others as “friend,” – whether rich or poor, black or white, titled or commoner. Furthermore, owing allegiance only to god, Quakers refused to swear oaths to civil authorities.
To Puritans who saw wealth and position as signs of god’s favor and expected have-nots and other moral inferiors to show deference to those god had placed above them, Quakers were more than disobedient, they made themselves downright obnoxious. Consider that –
– Quaker men did not remove their hats to their ‘betters’ (for in god’s sight, no man was better than any other);
– Quakers lined the streets of Boston to hoot and heckle the governor as he passed by;
– Quakers burst into churches, interrupting Sunday worship, and provoking arguments with clergymen in front of their congregations.
So while these offenses will never justify the atrocities the Puritans committed against Quakers (and other dissenters), they add a dimension that helps us understand (a little) how it happened. And it was under these circumstances, in 1658, that the General Court of Massachusetts awarded drunkard and bully, George Barlow, his dream job.
In Part 2 in which I’ll fill you in on my ignoble ancestor’s reign of terror on colonial Cape Cod!
SELECTED SOURCES:
The title quote comes from The American Genealogist; Vol. XXVI, No. 4; October, 1950; Barclay, Mrs. John E.; Ann (Besse) Hallet, Step-Mother of Abigail (Hallet) Alden.
Obadiah Holmes at Wikipedia; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obadiah_Holmes
Quakers: Persecution in colonial Massachusetts;
http://www.publicbookshelf.com/public_html/The_Great_Republic_By_the_Master_Historians_Vol_I/quakershi_dg.html
Persecution of Quakers in Colonial New England, Excerpt from The Beginnings of New England by John Fiske, 1892; edited by Dainial MacAdhaimh, 2005.
This entry was posted in American history, Colonial History, Family History, Keirstead / Kierstead, Massachusetts History, Roane / Roan / Ruane, social history and tagged Abraham Lincoln, Baptist history, Cape Cod history, England, George Barlow, James Patrick Henry Roane, Massachusetts Bay Colony, New England, Obadiah Holmes, Plymouth Colony, Quakers, religious history, The Mayflower by poorirish. Bookmark the permalink.
1 thought on ““The Notorious George Barlow” – Part 1”
supernova1c on March 29, 2014 at 2:12 pm said:
Very interesting Christine, I’m looking forward to part two!
Have a great weekend 🙂 James.
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Study Strongly Supports Public Banking To Finance Infrastructure
By The Public Banking Institute.
| Create!
Study Strongly Supports Public Banking To Finance Infrastructure2019-02-172019-02-17https://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2017/12/popres-shorter.pngPopularResistance.Orghttps://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2019/02/1nd-e1550428108236.jpg200px200px
Above photo: Minot, North Dakota. On November 12, 2015, the finished intersection at Central Avenue and Main Street in downtown featured concrete roads, new street lights, park benches, and pedestrian bump-outs. Photo from City of Minot.
In honor of the Bank of North Dakota’s centennial anniversary, here is an excellent academic report from Cornell University that includes a detailed case study of BND’s 2015 Infrastructure Loan Fund. The report examines the “unique benefits of public banksand explores strategies for the implementation of similar structured institutions in New York State and the broader US context.” Prepared by Shareef M. Hussam for Professor Mildred Warner at Cornell’s Department of City and Regional Planning, it provides strong academic reinforcement for advocates’ testimony, concluding:
“The public banking model offers several lessons for governmental entities seeking to affordably and sustainably finance infrastructure. First, funds for infrastructure investment should not be separated by sector, but rather commingled to enable cross-subsidization. Second, by pooling municipal capital and resources into an umbrella institution, local governments could access cheaper financing and improve their ability to compete for federal and state grants. Third, the institution should have profit motive, market discipline, political independence, and good governance. Through implementation of these strategies, it may be possible to sustainably finance critical infrastructure through public banking.”
The report continues:
“Despite being owned and managed by the public sector, the governance structures and aims of BND often mirror those in the private sector – there is a still a profit motive, although driven not by shareholder interests but by citizen interests. Although members of the Industrial Commission and Advisory Board are appointed by the Governor, the management of BND has been described as “professional, conservative, and independent of political forces, in similar ways to private banks,” and BND financial accounts are separate from those of other governmental entities engaged in more politically sensitive projects such as public housing or mass transit (Kodryzcki and Elmatad, 2011).
“BND’s Financing Tools
“BND utilizes a variety of financing mechanisms to support development in North Dakota. The most prevalent is in loan participation and loan purchases originated by private community banks, which make up approximately 50% of BND’s business (Kodryzcki and Elmatad, 2011). BND also directly contributes capital to new projects, provides interest rate buy-downs, and loan service guarantees. Historically, BND also purchased municipal bonds, essentially financing governmental debt, although their balance sheets have now shifted away from securities (Kodryzcki and Elmatad, 2011).
“The Bank places a strong emphasis on sound lending practices, leaving riskier financing activities to private sector entities or other quasi-public entities. In addition, the BND also supports the state government’s finances and is viewed by the state as a revenue source. BND may even make loans to the state general fund at interest rates set by the Industrial Commission, essentially allowing North Dakota to “loan itself” money in times of fiscal stress.”
[Read the full report]
Finance and Economy Infrastructure New Economy Public Banking
chetdude
I hope that Bank of North Dakota didn’t make the mistake of “investing” in fracking…
Huge mistakes like that could put ’em under.
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A Spoonful of Poison
Spoonful crops up periodically in the history of The Protest Family, from my early solo appearances at its original incarnation in the front bar of the Rhythm Factory (banished to the main room eventually after too many noise complaints), to me, Doug and Lol debuting our non-Orient Barron Knights stuff as Fuck Off White at the Legion*, to Lol trying not to bash his head against the unfeasibly low ceiling in the Trash Bar, and that night in a basement in Stoke Newington when Andy realised that The Protest Family probably wasn’t for him.
What is A Spoonful of Poison you ask? Well if you really don’t know, it is, in Spoon’s own words “a night of joyfully shambolic, chaotically entertaining, multi-discipline open mic anarchy”. And that’s not far from the truth. Spoonful at the Rhythm Factory was the spiritual home of the London Antifolk scene and the place where you’d catch all of the capital’s most interesting performance poets. Kate Nash, Milk Kan and Scroobius Pip all cut their teeth at Spoonful. Without Spoonful we’d never have had Spinmaster Plantpot, nor that glorious night when me and Chris The Lips ended up opening for Babyshambles.
As the years went by there were fewer poets (“Go back to your ghettos and bring me poets!”) as the spoken word slots were filled by stand-up comedians (I invariably preferred the poets) and the realities of running an open mic in London forced a series of venue changes** but the important things remained constant: the great, and sometimes challenging, acts, Spoon’s progressive drunkenness as the evening wore on and the variable timekeeping that meant it’s always ran late, but everyone always made the last bus.
There was, and is, something very special, and hard to define, about A Spoonful of Poison. Not everybody gets it, but for those that do, they realise that there’s no other night out like it, and for proof of that you’ve got to look no further than last night. After something of an extended break, Spoonful’s back. Well for five Saturdays in March and April anyway. And last night’s opener was a cracker featuring a bunch of old-school Spoonful acts: Scrappy Hood, Stu Crane (did Stu have a stage name last night?), Ernesto the Naked Poet and of course, JJ Crash and The Lips….
Spoonful’s back. You should definitely go.
* Yes, that was the night that Lol first set eyes on Ernesto.
** I lost count somewhere along the way, but if we haven’t played at all of them, then it’s nearly all of them.
This entry was posted in Steve and tagged a spoonful of poison, jj crash, jj crash and the lips, kate nash, milk kan, scroobius pip, spoon, spoonful, steve white & the protest family, vis the spoon on March 13, 2016 by protestfamily.
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1 thought on “A Spoonful of Poison”
A Spoonful of Poison May 24, 2016 at 6:18 pm
aWWW ! thanks big guy, that’s perfect, gawd bless ya, come back soon 🙂
We’re now happening on the first Saturday of every month, here’s the next one :
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DH Methods Presentation
I made a handout for my presentation in RMH’s methods course. I tried to structure the presentation as a conversation in which I (attempted) to answer questions and show examples. I created text files from our exam reading list to mine/visualize, but we ran out of time. We were going to explore/compare Bitzer’s “The Rhetorical Situation” with Vatz’s “Myth of the Rhetorical Situation” in voyant tools. I also had an idea to look at “rhetoric” in each book of Aristotle’s “On Rhetoric” in voyant tools to look for how the term was situated. I could still pursue these projects myself, but what arose was an interest in comparing rhet/comp exam reading lists from as many institutions I can find. I don’t know what I’ll do with the data yet, but I am curious to look at the lists across institutions.
Working DH Literature Review
April 1, 2014 June 26, 2015 / Jana Rosinski / Leave a comment
For Rebecca Moore Howard’s CCR 635: Textual Research in Composition and Rhetoric
In creating a literature review for doing digital humanities work, I had to eventually take pause—DH is active, and in looking for it, I seem to find it everywhere. Even employing methods of reading distantly, that is using digital tools to allow me to read a large number of texts I have collected for the keywords that are illustrative of their focus, I still couldn’t cover enough of the smart work that is being done, the critical questions being raised, the collaboration and conversation taking place. This synthesis of works is by no means comprehensive or perhaps even representative of work being done under the umbrella of DH. I have attempted to immerse myself in the flow of conversations and materials circulating on the web—bookmarking every crumb that makes mention of tools, programs, articles, arguments, definitions, and projects. In a meeting, you (RMH) asked “is it more accurate to talk about tools than methods?”, to which I couldn’t give an answer. I’m not sure I can now either, but I will work to provide coverage of responses that both answer and complicate this question in doing research that employs DH methods. I will discuss some approaches to framing DH work; how texts become sets of data; creating visualizations of data; interactions of scale in creating and reading visualizations; ethical, social, political, economic and cultural considerations; and curation of DH research.
Framing DH: Definitions, Justifications, Orientations
I thought a reasonable place to begin my research into DH methods would be to define what they are. However, I quickly learned that DH is difficult to define as a uniformly accepted term. From my reading, I attribute this to variations in definition of what it means to do digital humanities work (as influenced from what disciplinary affinity – computer sciences, artificial intelligence, social science, etc.); how tightly one aligns themself with the “digital” or the “humanities” (which are both rich terms as themselves); or how one envisions the joining of the two terms—what work is possible and what work should be of concern. Often DH is referred to as a large, overarching structure: a tent, an umbrella, something under which different alignments, investments, and affinities can find space. DH isn’t singular in its material base, projects, methods, or scholarly sphere. What seems to surface with frequency is an conceptualization of research that works to answer the call of the humanities to increase the use of evidence in work, conducting RAD research that is replicable, aggregable, and data supported. This suggests a move that engages the materials of humanities—texts— in ways that can yield more than anecdotal accounts of experience or interpretations of a small scope—a close reading of a text or a small handful of texts. The form(s) this research takes—how it is designed, from what data it works to find pattern within, how its findings are presented (which methods of data analysis and visualization) are what makes DH so varied—the textbase (that allows for the creation of textual data), the emergent questions and curiosities, and how to illustrate what is of interest vary from inquiry to inquiry. The forms and the content develop in relation to one another to best see something interesting. In Graphesis, a work by Johanna Drucker that works to articulate the creation of visualizations of data in humanities research, Drucker explains that how we know what we know about any given concept, is based on our models of knowing—our models, our visuals, “mediate our experience by providing conceptual schema or processing experience into form” (15). I think this is a provocative and durable statement to hold on to in thinking about DH methods because it both captures the essence of intrigue in the work—the desire to look at something differently to look for things we have not yet seen—as well as the relationship between how we represent data as visual constructions of patterns that exist within the materials we care for and research from.
A line of tension relative to these visuals—our forms of what we know and how we know—exist in DH as issues of disciplinary alignment, often vis a vis tensions in thinking of research method or methodology. This is perhaps too tidy an explanation for something I do not have the history nor breadth of examples to represent more robustly, but is something in need of articulating nonetheless. DH can be oversimplified at times as “tools”, or a fixation on technologies for collecting, reading, and visualizing as neutral or ahumanistic and more akin to work of the (computer) sciences . While these tools are essential to DH work, there are other accounts of research going on that care more for who designs the tools, has access to the tools, and what they afford and constrain—not just in findings, but in context of people, institutions, and social, economic, cultural, political, and philosophical factors. Johanna Drucker, in “Humanistic Theory and Digital Scholarship”, questions of humanities scholars what impact the humanities have had on the digital environment, and the possibility of digital platforms and interfaces that are created from humanistic methods instead of the borrowing of methods from outside of the discipline, which she describes as at odds with the cares and concerns of humanities work. She explains that humanities work has encountered digital tools, but what of humanities tools in digital contexts? I see this, again maybe too simply, as deep concern with methodology—how and what researchers are doing for what reasons, for whom or what. A humanistic approach, she explains,
“means that the premises are rooted in the recognition of the interpretative nature of knowledge, that the display itself is conceived to embody qualitative expressions, and that the information is understood as graphically constituted”.
While I will continue to refrain from defining DH too tightly or narrowly, or too constrained in one epistemology over another, I can say from my readings that DH is not just tools, or rather, DH is not about the uncritical creation and use of tools that don’t care for matters of concern in the tools interaction with contextual and textual networks of relations (person, place, time, and so on).
Text as Data: Mining, Encoding, and Method
For many, data has numerical connotations—in sciences, data begins as quantified observations, which visualization methods are selected to highlight; so what does data mean when as a discipline, texts are what are created as observations? Some scholars wish to distance data in the humanities from data in the sciences because it functions differently. Johanna Drucker compares data versus capta explaining that capta is “taken” actively while data is assumed to be a “given” that is able to be recorded and observed. The difference Drucker sees arising is that humanistic inquiry acknowledges that its knowledge is “situated, partial, and constitutive”—this is the recognition of knowledge as a construction, “not simply given as a natural representation of pre-existing fact” (“Humanities Approaches to Graphical Display”). While Drucker calls for a rethinking of data as capta that better expresses its ambiguity over certainty—which gets at what she describes as interpretative complexity—DH data needs to acknowledge the lens that it is constructing to look at its texts. I will provide a gloss of how data is garnered from humanities texts along with some methods for collecting it: data mining, textual analysis, and differentiated reading. To begin, data in the humanities does not have the same aims as data in the sciences. In the sciences, data is used to attempt to arrive at a truth, but in the humanities data is used to arrive at the questions we desire to ask (Stephen Ramsay, Reading Machines 68). The digital humanities exist to collect and create data, to notice something of interest, to formulate questions, to work to create visualizations that will allow us to better see patterns of interest, and to postulate all over again: data transforms theory, and theory transforms data into interpretation for further theorizing (Cathy Davidson, “Humanities 2.0: promise, perils, Predicitons”). Data is the locus of digital humanities work because it functions as a representation of information, that can be interpreted and reinterpreted, in a manner (or form) that functions as something to communicate, something to interpret, or something to process – it is what research works to articulate, make visible, and let articulate (Alex Poole, “Now is the Future Now?”). Texts are data, or are the potential to become sets of data because they are addressable as a thing of many parts; one can query a position within the text at a certain level of abstraction, like that of a character, word, phrase, line, etc. (Michael Witmore, “Text: A Massively Addressable Object”). Data are created from text based on what is of interest to look for, and are data as singular texts and as large corpora of texts, the size of the base relating to what is of interest t the researcher. Texts are used to create textbases from which various methods and tools might be implemented to draw out patterns and examine trends, which serve as catalyst for further questioning and research (Lang and Baehr, “Data Mining”). Text bases are “coherent collection of semi or unstructured digital documents” that “can come from any written discourse” which “all cohere in some manner”, existing as a corpora of documents assembled around a specific unifying principle that is either thematically or generically similar (Cooney et al.”The Notion of the Textbase”). A data set might come from a collection of romantic poetry in which the researcher wishes to see what adjectives are used to describe love—those adjectives from that set of texts would be the data. This data is created through a process called data or text mining. Text (or data) mining is, to put simply, is knowledge discovery; creating data to apply DH tools to is not just a step in a process toward results, but a practice of curiosity and inquiry in what might result—this process can be exploratory, descriptive, and even predictive in its function (Lang and Baehr, “Data Mining”, 176-179).
Data mining works in this way: first, the features of the text that are of interest to examine are determined, this is often done as texts are collected because something of interest surfaces to help determine how the texts will be read; the texts are then rendered into plain text format so that they can be read as their text only (this means they are stripped of style and layout in their publications); a number of tools can be used to perform mining on texts, but what is determined is what parts will be looked for as differentiated from other parts of the text—this means that a script must be created that informs the tool (computer program) how and what to read. Directives for reading the texts (for their particles, their pronouns, their adjectives, etc.) are created along with lists of words to not get hung up on, more commonly referred to as stop words. An algorithm is run on the texts to bring to the surface words that fit the criteria set and to disclude words that do not. What results will vary widely based on topic of inquiry, tool being used, and how the inquiry was framed. Distant reading and text analysis are not, to my understanding, different form data or text mining conceptually. All of these terms work to describe a shift in the scale at which we read texts—a move from closely reading one text from beginning to end as a whole, to ways of reading parts of a text or collection of texts that can shift scale on interaction based on what is driving inquiry. If I had to define each of these concepts to better frame this concept of texts as data, I would explain distant reading as a concept that drives DH work—a way of looking at texts differently, with distance or changes in scale, that seeks patterns that can become visible with this differentiated reading. Data or text mining is more procedural in that it is what is done to texts so that they can become data sets for inquiry. Text analysis is like text mining in that it is looking at parts of a text, however, instead of singular terms, text analysis is interested in concordance or the association or proximity of terms (Geoffrey Rockwell, “What is Text Analysis Really?”).
Visualizing Data: Making Visible the Form of Content
Visualizations are as diverse and varied as the imagination can conjure—pie charts, line graphs, scatter plots, bar graphs, word clouds, bubble diagrams, maps, and so on. Visualizations are what are created from the data to represent findings. While I can’t account for all of the types of visualizations (but will include links to some resources lists at the end of this review), I would like to discuss what thinking goes into creating a visual of textual data. Visuals can work by: offering a visual analogy, providing a visual image of non visible phenomena, and providing visual conventions to structure operations (Johanna Drucker Graphesis, 5). Because visualizations are articulations of patterns found in research, their design, or their form matters a great deal. A visualization brings attention to patterns, and thus needs accommodate a mix of evidence and argumentation. Visualizations are intended to show patterns of interest and should provide a way to find possible patterns to investigate and a means to locate those patterns against a baseline provided by a set of other relevant works (Radizkowsa et al. “Information Visualization for Humanities Scholars”).
In deciding what type of visualization should be sued, experimentation with forms is encouraged to develop a perspective in which to situate the interpretations (Radzikowsa et al). Tanya Clement, quoting computer scientist Ben Schneiderman, describes visualizations as providing “a window into research results but have an inherent limitation of space that results in the ‘occlusion of data, disorientation, and misinterpretation’” (“Text Analysis, Data Mining, and Visualizations in Literary Scholarship”). Visualizations are digital humanities’ lens to see its text differently and at different scales.
Scales of Seeing
Scale is a matter of concern in creating visualizations of data because it determines what is seen. Franco Moretti, in his oft cited work “Graphs, Maps, Trees: Abstract Models of Literary History” (which based on frequency of citation might be a seminal work in digital humanities), coined the term distant reading, which is a difference in scale in how texts are “Read” or encountered from a distance in a large corpora with the assistance of computational tools. He describes the significance of scale:
“What do literary maps do … First, they are a good way to prepare a text for analysis. You choose a unit–walks, lawsuits, luxury goods, whatever–find its occurrences, place them in space … or in other words: you reduce the text to a few elements, and abstract them from the narrative flow, and construct a new, artificial object like the maps that I have been discussing. And with a little luck, these maps will be more than the sum of their parts: they will possess ‘emerging’ qualities, which were not visible at the lower level” (53).
Differential reading, or reading at scales, defamiliarize texts, making them unrecognizable in a way (putting them at a distance or oppositely at a proximity) that helps identify features otherwise unseen, to make hypotheses, generate questions, and figure out patterns and how to read them (Clement, “Text Analysis, Data Mining, and Visualizations in Literary Scholarship”). Scales of interaction share a common objective: detail in our data – “The objective is much the same: to restore to our field of view precisely that which is right beneath our nose but too ubiquitous to be synthesized in the human mind” (Flanders and Jockers, “A Matter of Scale”). Reading close and distant isn’t necessarily how we think of close and distant as binaries in proximity to an object. Scale more operates along a continuum that shifts as attention to particular parts of texts or across text shifts; which allows us to “pay attention to databases, data flow, data architectures and the human element behind them” (Clement). Scale can take place through the construction of the data set, or textbase, the number of materials in the corpora, or in the tools being used to read the data. This notion of scale as both close and distant, micro and macro, surfaced in how scholars discussed tools as supportive of that kind of shuttling between different levels of scale: seeing patterns, seeing outliers, zooming in and zooming out (Flanders and Jockers, “A Matter of Scale”). “The computer revolutionizes, not because it proposes an alternative to the basic hermeneutical procedure, but because it reimagines that procedure at new scales, with new speeds, and among new sets of conditions” (Stephen Ramsay, Reading Machines, 31)
Critical Considerations
“We need to acknowledge how much the massive computational abilities that have transformed the sciences have also changed our field in ways writ large and small and hold possibilities for far greater transformation in—research, writing, and teaching—that matter most” (Cathy Davidson “Humanities 2.0: Promise, Peril, Predictions”).
Criticisms and cautions in DH work are complex negotiations of context, resources, and cultural value. What emerged from many texts was the notion that DH work is done to advance the goals of humanist scholarship; what differs, though, are the affordances and constraints of working in the digital. Jamie Skye Bianco asks “does DH need an ethical turn?” to which she responds yes because it operates through webs of people, institutions and politics in uneven networks of relation. People and institutions are a part of DH work: they have/n’t access to texts to research, are/n’t represented in texts, have/n’t access to tools for research, and have/n’t access or representation in what is created. Texts are contextual, they are heterogeneous and dynamic; but reading them for their semantic parts and rendering them as visualizations of selected parts that are oft negligent of situating in the whole being can run the risk of de-emphasizing the human element of the humanities. This risk may come from separating the methods of doing DH work (the tools) from the theories that give impetus to the work. This separation of theory and method risks flattening context by not revealing difference; “the constellation of context, affect, and embodiment must remain viably dynamic and collaborative in digital and computational work” (Bianco, “The Digital Humanities Which is Not One”). Because digital and computational work “documents, establishes, and affectively produces an iteration of real worlds” that are “multimodally layered” (Bianco), not losing context (and its embedded elements) becomes matter of concern. The challenge is to shift humanistic study from attention to effects of technology to a humanistically informed theory of making of technology – considerations of affect, the constructivist force of knowledge as observer dependent and emergent (Drucker, “Humanistic Theory and Digital Scholarship”). Digital work needs to consider the realms of the digital, and the context that are digitized and situated around digital materials, need to be envisioned as “shared knowledge, culture, and semantic content” (Bianco).
Sustainability, Durability, and Curationability of DH
In reading about the tremendous labor that goes into this work—from digitizing and collecting texts in searchable databases with flexible metadata, to inventing and maintaining the tools, to creating and housing projects—I could not help but question who cares for DH and according to what protocols. For work that is necessarily digital, I wondered about the durability, even the lifespan, of such projects. While some work is being done to curate DH research, the uptake is, at this time, thin. Matters of concern in terms of accessibility and availability of data seems of highest priority. Work is being done, from a variety of institutions and organizations, devoted to the preservation and representation of DH research to promote research on texts as cultural artifacts (Cooney et al.”The Notion of the Textbase: Design and Use of Textbases in the Humanities”). The goal is to move beyond issues in just aggregating data toward managing DH content as knowledge (Graban et al.), which requires larger dialogues about access, proprietary rights, the boundaries of technologies, and conflicts between personal and communal interest (Graban et al. “In, Through, and About the Archive: What Digitization (Dis)Allows”). Key issues that affect curation include the size of the data set (digital files of large corpora are tremendous in size), the number of objects to be curated and their complexity, the interventions needed to care for the data, ethical and legal concerns, policies, practices, standards, and economic incentives (Poole, “Now is the Future Now? The Urgency of Digital Curation in the Digital Humanities”). Aside from standards that would need to be set in care of each of these issues, much would have to be created in terms of infrastructure to take on such content—it would need to be flexible, scalable, and economically and technologically sustainable. Interfaces for both human and machine curators would have to be created as standardized for managing this content. Additionally, in order to create such a system and an interface to that system, metadata standards would have to be created and agreed upon for content to be identified/identifiable and retrievable so that it is useful (Poole). While digital content, and some tools and services exist, they are, currently, not necessarily useful or usable (Poole).
Treading Water in DH Flows
This literature review, as to be expected in being a beginner orienting myself in new texts and ideas, barely scratches the surface. Because I’m talking about DH more generally, instead of focusing on any particular tool or method, this work is more like a survey of establishing traces of work to re-immerse myself in, orienting as interest or use dictates. Until then, I take pause on thinking through this handful of sources to establish connections, figures, concepts, ways of doing, and navigating DH not as a singular discipline, but an assemblage of many.
This is in no way comprehensive (but on the web it can be amended and tended to, maybe in a separate location on my blog). Here is a (small) handful of lists and links to explore DH tools, concepts, and projects.
Glossary of terms from MLA Commons by Daniel Powell, Constance Crompton and Ray Siemens
DH tools for beginners
Getting Started in the Digital Humanities from Lisa Spiro – executive director of Digital Scholarship Services at Rice University’s Fondren Library
CUNY Digital Humanities Resource Guide
HASTAC (Humanities, Arts, Sciences, and Technology Alliance and Collaboratory) Digital Humanities Resource Guide
Digital Humanities at Princeton Resource Guide
Digital Humanities Research Tools and Resources Guide by University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Digital Humanities tool list built by Alan Liu
Tutorials for DH Tools and Methods list built by Alan Liu
Journal of Digital Humanities -“comprehensive, peer-reviewed, open access journal that features the best scholarship, tools, and conversations produced by the digital humanities community”
The International Directory of Digital Humanities Centers
In conversations in our Rhetoric, Composition and Digital Humanities seminar with Collin Gifford Brooke, CGB has described an interest in creating bibliographies that assign and visualize weight in the use of texts in a written work. I rather liked this idea and attempted to make visible how much I used each text in my bibliography. Texts used the least are in 12 point font (one citation), while texts used the most are in 24 point font (five citations) —with a range in between to capture the distributed attention the text received.
Bianco, Jamie “Skye”. “This Digital Humanities Which Is Not One.” Debates in the Digital Humanities. By Matthew K.. Gold. Minneapolis: Univ Of Minnesota, 2012. Print.
Clement, Tanya. “Text Analysis, Data Mining, and Visualizations in Literary Scholarship.” Literary Studies in the Digital Age. MLA Commons. Web.
Cooney, Charles, Mark Olsen, and Glenn Roe. “The Notion of the Texbase: Design and Use of Textbases in the Humanities.” Literary Studies in the Digital Age. MLA Commons. Web.
Davidson, Cathy N. “Humanities 2.0: Promise, Perils, Predictions.” Debates in the Digital Humanities. By Matthew K.. Gold. Minneapolis: Univ Of Minnesota, 2012. Print.
Drucker, Johanna. “Graphesis: Visual Knowledge Production and Representation”. Poetess Archive Journal 2.1 (2010): 1-50. Web.
Drucker, Johanna. “Humanities Approaches to Graphical Display.” Digital Humanities Quarterly 5.1 (2011). Web.
Drucker, Johanna. “Humanistic Theory and Digital Scholarship.” Debates in the Digital Humanities. Minneapolis: Univ Of Minnesota, 2012. Print.
Graban Tarez Samra, Alexis Ramsey-Tobienne and Whitney Myers. “In, Through, and About the Archive: What Digitization (Dis)Allows”. Rhetoric and the Digital Humanities (forthcoming).
Jockers, Matthew L. and Julia Flanders. “A Matter of Scale”. UNL Digital Commons. Web.
Lang, Susan and Craig Baehr. “Data Mining: A Hybrid Methodology for Complex and Dynamic Research”. College Composition and Communication 64:1 (2012): 172-194.
Moretti, Franco. “Graphs: Maps, Graphs, Trees: Abstract Models for Literary History”. New Left Review: 28 (2003): 67-93.
Poole, Alex H. “Now is the Future Now? The Urgency of Digital Curation in the Digital Humanities.” Digital Humanities Quarterly 7.2 (2013). 30 Jan. 2014. Web.
Radzikowsa, Milena, Stan Ruecker, and Stéfan Sinclair. “Information Visualization for Humanities Scholars.” Literary Studies in the Digital Age. MLA Commons. Web.
Ramsay, Stephen. Reading Machines: Toward an Algorithmic Criticism. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2011. Print.
Rockwell, Geoffrey. “What is Text Analysis, Really?” LLC 18.2 (2003): 209-219.
Witmore, Michael. “Text: A Massively Addressable Object.” Debates in the Digital Humanities. Minneapolis: Univ Of Minnesota, 2012. Print.
Annotated Bibliography: Digital Humanities Methods
February 11, 2014 June 26, 2015 / Jana Rosinski / Leave a comment
I feel like this annotated bibliography should come with a disclaimer: this isn’t any sort of definitive digital humanities methods collection. That’s not an expression of self-deprecation, but a sincere reflection on how difficult it is to frame a research method in DH when there isn’t one. If I could put digital humanities simply (and this is of course a too flattened depiction of the work), the research methods are the ways of doing DH work, and there’s any number of ways to do DH work based on variances in tools, textbases (text collections), and purpose. Going into this project, I was aware that I was going to encounter some difficulty in selecting core texts to the discipline about research methods. While digital humanities isn’t new per se, and there is an abundance of texts at varying scales and scopes and domains, I was looking for resources that attended to the tools and ways of doing digital humanities work that also cared for the methodological (or epistemological) impetus for the work, while not neglecting visualizing the work being done—not leaving it in theoretical abstraction.
I am fortunate enough to be taking Rhetoric, Composition, and Digital Humanities with Collin Gifford Brooke this semester, whose syllabus served as a conduit for finding sources. While some of the resources are texts (collections) we discuss/encounter in class, many of them were located vis a vis these texts. I found that Collin’s class functioned, for me, as the anchor in Cheryl Geisler’s “Anchoring in Literature” approach to finding good sources. As someone who identifies as a scholar of digital humanities, as he puts it “I’m a digital humanities person, back from before there was a digital humanities”, his knowledge was entry into locating texts in the discipline. Looking at my collected sources, it can be seen that Johanna Drucker comes up as three different sources, and that two collections—Debates in the Digital Humanities and the MLA Commons volume “Literary Studies in the Digital Age”— house a large percentage of the other collected resources, serving as foundational texts. Here, though, I would like to unpack what makes these foundational texts foundational, even though they don’t quite follow Cheryl Geisler’s cited reference search process (image page 3 from “Anchoring in the Literature”)
Many of these texts are digital and were designed to be digital—that is, many of these are not digitized version of print texts, but texts designed to be interacted with (though to varying extents and with different tools) through layered textual features. These foundational texts, while being foundational due to their being collections of selected works, seem to retain a certain fluidity that keeps them from becoming “The Collected Works of DH, edition 2013”—they’re responsive and responding to developments in the discipline.
I approached collecting these sources thinking about them as tags or keywords within a digital humanities cloud—representations of tools, interfaces, ethics, durability, text materials, etc. With further (or maybe closer and more distant reading) reading, I would like to visualize these texts more as an interface to doing digital humanities work, treating these texts as a textbase to apply DH methods to. What I would like this annotated bibliography to become is less an inventory of “big names” or key articles, and more a representation of what DH work can do.
“The digital humanities is one subset of computational and digitally mediated practices, though its current discursive regime articulates itself as an iteration of the one world, a world both felt and real. But work in computation and digital media is, in fact, a radically heterogeneous and a multimodally layered—read, not visible—set of practices, constraints, and codifications that operate below the level of user interaction. In this layered invisibility lies our critical work.”
Bianco is calling our attention to the “layered invisibility” of DH work that goes beyond consideration of context. It is the goal of DH research to reach broader publics outside of institutional academic, which takes on complicated considerations of ethics at every level of the research—the textbase created, how the textbase will be “read” for what interpretations, how the interpretations will be represented, collaboration, and access.
Clement, Tanya. “Text Analysis, Data Mining, and Visualizations in Literary Scholarship.” N.p.: n.p., n.d. N. pag. Literary Studies in the Digital Age. MLA Commons. Web. 5 Feb. 2014.
Clement opens with an oft evoked resistance to digital methods in humanities research based on the interpretation of “these tools seem too objective or deterministic—digital tools seem to take the “human” (e.g., the significance of gender, race, class, religion, sexuality, and history) out of literary study”. Clement sets out to challenge this resistance by “presenting several computer-assisted modes of scholarship that depend on differential (close and distant, subjective and objective) reading practices, technologies of self-reflection and collaboration, and the value of plausibility, all of which have always been crucial to literary inquiry”.
Clement offers a rich sampling of projects using a variety of digital tools, and explores the complex negotiation between the human and nonhuman actors in DH research as co-actors, or extensions of one another. Clement reveals work that connects method to methodology.
Cooney, Charles, Mark Olsen, and Glenn Roe. “The Notion of the Texbase: Design and Use of Textbases in the Humanities.” N.p.: n.p., n.d. N. pag. Literary Studies in the Digital Age. MLA Commons. Web. 5 Feb. 2014.
Cooney et al. define textual database as “a term that denotes a coherent collection of semi- or unstructured digital documents – any realm that produces written discourse”. They explain that
“Textbases all cohere in some manner. Unlike their cousins, large repositories of digitized texts like Project Gutenberg or Google Books, textbases exist as corpora of documents assembled around some specific unifying principle” and are built to enable text-centered scholarly research. Cooney et al. work to describe a selection of humanities databases with attention to their design principles that inform how they can be used, as well as scholarly approaches to work that can be done from textbases. This exploration between design of a textbase and what it dis/allows provides a more nuanced look at data mining, patterns, and visualization.
Davidson explains that “Humanities 2.0 is distinguished from monumental, first-generation, data-based projects not just by its interactivity but also by an openness about participation grounded in a different set of theoretical premises, which decenter knowledge and authority.”
There are a number of texts that seek to define digital humanities and differentiate, to varying degrees, how DH is distinct (or not) from humanities. Davidson’s text calls attention to the need of our attention—that technological changes have transformed the humanities (massive computational abilities) and that the discipline should be critically considering the implications on working and the future of work:
“Perhaps we need to see technology and the humanities not as a binary but as two sides of a necessarily interdependent, conjoined, and mutually constitutive set of intellectual, educational, social, political, and economic practices”.
Ducker carefully explains the conceptual use of a methodology of data visualization explaining that “How we know what we know is predicated on the models of knowing that mediate our experience by providing conceptual schema or processing experience into form” (15). Visualizing our materials (the texts of our discipline) as a data set “is concerned with the creation of methods of interpretation that are generative and iterative” which have the potential “of producing new knowledge through the aesthetic provocation of graphical expressions” (41). This text carefully articulates descriptive critical language for the analysis of graphical knowledge and makes the case for studying visualization from a humanities perspective. Given that much DH work involves visualizations of data from some textbase, this text seems a useful exploration of the conceptual use of visualizations both in terms of creating and reading them.
Drucker, Johanna. “Humanities Approaches to Graphical Display.” Digital Humanities Quarterly 5.1 (2011): n. pag. Web.
Like Drucker’s Graphesis, which is working to situate quantitative visualizations not typical to humanities research, she continues to carefully explain the use of conceptual borrowing of natural and social sciences methods of graphical displays of information, but the limitations it carries into humanities work. Due to the nature of knowledge in humanities work as interpretive and co-dependent with the observer, Drucker is making the case for a humanities terming of data as constructed, and for expression to show ambiguity and complexity.
This has potential for DH work in that Drucker is working to make the quantitative methods humanities research is borrowing more fitted to humanities research—that is, moving from objective to interpretive. Although DH uses nonhuman agents in its research as ways of doing work, the human element, the semantic, is essential.
Drucker, Johanna. “Humanistic Theory and Digital Scholarship.” Debates in the Digital Humanities. By Matthew K.. Gold. Minneapolis: Univ Of Minnesota, 2012. Print.
Drucker frames her project with the question – “Have the humanities had any impact on the digital environment? Can we create graphical interfaces and digital platforms from humanistic methods?”
She sets out to articulate digital methods and theory that fit the humanistic value of humanities research, instead of explaining how digital methods might be applied to humanities research.
“We can cast an interpretative gaze on these instruments from a humanistic perspective, and we can build humanities content on their base; but we have rarely imagined creating computational protocols grounded in humanistic theory and methods. Is this even possible? Desirable? I suggest that it is essential if we are to assert the cultural authority of the humanities in a world whose fundamental medium is digital that we demonstrate that the methods and theory of the humanities have a critical purchase on the design of platforms that embody humanistic value.”
Drucker’s project is useful to DH research in that the methods or tools used should appropriately fit the purpose of the project to assert validity, authority, and value in the research.
Jockers, Matthew L. and Julia Flanders. “A Matter of Scale”. UNL Digital Commons. Accessed on 5 February 2014. Web.
These slides and accompanying script represent the keynote lecture of the Boston Area Days of Digital Humanities Conference at Northeastern University on March 18, 2013. The keynote was a staged debate between Julia Flanders and Matthew Jockers addressing the “matter of scale” in DH research. While scope is something that is addressed in designing humanities research projects, scale needs to be considered for DH projects—how closely or distantly the textbase is being “read”. Scale, or the micro or macro approach, influences the patterns, what is uncovered, that can be represented. Scale dis/allows patterns to be seen.
The process of data mining works to move from the lore, or anecdotal evidence of relative small sample size as justification and evidence of our assertions in scholarship (174) to uncovering, or making visible, interesting information in large amounts of data – the texts produced (176). They are cautious to note that data mining cannot provide simple answers from noticing, but is a methodology that operates as exploratory, descriptive, and predictive of patterns (177).
Lang and Behr work to define data mining as a research methodology—a move toward quantitative research that cares for the qualitative, or narrative, aspects of humanities research. This source is useful to illustrate how DH methods that seem unhumanistic because they are graphically based and are absolutely co-dependent on humanistic interpretation.
Moretti is considered one of the key, or originating scholars in DH due to his work on distant reading, or reading a large textual corpus from a distance with computational aid. Instead of closely reading a text for meaning, Moretti explores what meaning might arise from a collection of texts if they can be represented at the level of patterns across a corpus. Moretti calls us to question not just how we interact with our materials in scholarship, but at what scale. Distant reading alters the scale at which we encounter and interact with our materials by moving away, that is gaining distance from, the manner in which we read, understand, question, and act Moretti described as the impetus to his work, that “a field this large cannot be understood by stitching together separate bits of knowledge about individual cases, because it isn’t a sum of individual cases: it’s a collective system, that should be grasped as such, as a whole” (68).
Moretti’s distant reading models of literary historiography serve as a representation of DH research projects: creating a textbase, establishing a cultural significance or purpose in looking across the textbase, creating a means to mine the textbase to identify patterns, and creating a visualization that allows the patterns to be seen as emergent from the corpora.
Poole, Alex H. “Now is the Future Now? The Urgency of Digital Curation in the Digital Humanities.” Digital Humanities Quarterly 7.2 (2013): n. pag. Digital Humanities Quarterly. The Alliance of Digital Humanities Organizations, 30 Jan. 2014. Web. 5 Feb. 2014.
Poole concludes his article with the call of “now” that served a simpetus for his work:
“In 2009, Christine Borgman asserted that “Digital content, tools, and services all exist, but they are not necessarily useful or usable” [Borgman 2009]. Despite obvious progress in digital curation in the humanities, she issued a “call to action” to stakeholders and insisted the “future is now.” Three years later, we may — we must — ask the same question, lest we are reduced ultimately to exclaiming, along with Michael Buckland, “What a waste!”
Poole sets out to:
define and situate the digital humanities and both data and Big Data
probe digital curation
discuss the professionals who curate data, the key issues in data curation and how best to approach them, the importance of a lifecycle approach, the machinations of sharing and reusing data, and the role of data management planning.
explore reports on and case studies of digital curation undertaken
consider the trajectory of digital curation efforts
assess the state of digital curation in the humanities in 2013
While Poole is not alone in raising concerns over durability of DH work, this resource looks at digital curation for research that is being undertaken.
Powell, Daniel, Constance Crompton, and Ray Siemens. “Glossary.” N.p.: n.p., n.d. N. pag. Literary Studies in the Digital Age. MLA Commons. Web. 5 Feb. 2014.
While a glossary might not seem useful in terms of an account of research method, there is usefulness in having a collection of tools, textbases, DH projects, and potential methods for research. This glossary does represent keywords in the discipline, but not as definitions, more like a resource collection.
Radzikowsa, Milena, Stan Ruecker, and Stéfan Sinclair. “Information Visualization for Humanities Scholars.” N.p.: n.p., n.d. N. pag. Literary Studies in the Digital Age. MLA Commons. Web. 5 Feb. 2014.
Radzikowska et al. define their project as creating “A primary index to the quality of visualizations for humanities scholars is the quality and originality of scholarship that the systems support. In each of the projects mentioned here, we have been working with humanities researchers in an effort to produce a useful visual form of the data. Since humanities scholarship is often exploratory, we have also come to believe that interactive formats are in most cases preferable to static ones, since they allow the person using the system to add and subtract elements, experiment with different forms, pursue hunches or insights, and so on.”
The usefulness of this work, of which they have created two, is a change in the interface of available materials to do DH work from. Interactive visualizations work to explore available information by visual grouping instead of hierarchical classification schemes.
Rogers, Richard. Digital Methods. Cambridge: MIT, 2013. Print.
“This is not a methods book, at least in the sense of a set of techniques and heuristics to be lugged like a heavy toolbox across vast areas of inquiry. It is also not the more contemporary exemplar of the instruction manual or list of answers to frequently asked questions…Rather, this book presents a methodological outlook for research with the web” (1).
Rogers is setting out to term “methods of the medium”, what he explains as methods embedded in online devices, to think along with online methods and digital objects. Rogers is setting out to argue that thinking along with devices and the digital objects they handle that digital methods as a research practice will work to follow the evolving methods of the medium (1).
This text, while not definitively DH, nor a text on methods, holds potential for research that repurposed methods of the medium for research that is not exclusively about digital or online culture—using methods and tools for what they make visible in topics of cultural interest.
Witmore, Michael. “Text: A Massively Addressable Object.” Debates in the Digital Humanities. By Matthew K.. Gold. Minneapolis: Univ Of Minnesota, 2012. Print.
Witmore’s text explores what it means to be a text as evidenced in these excerpts:
“What does it mean to be an “item” or “computational object” within this collection? What is such a collection? In this post, I want to think further about the nature of the text objects and populations of texts we are working with”
“I would argue that a text is a text because it is massively addressable at different levels of scale. Addressable here means that one can query a position within the text at a certain level of abstraction.”
This resource has potential as it opens up texts to better understand how and why they are sites for researching. Understanding texts as addressable at different levels of scale helps conceptualize the how textbases and text corpora can articulate a purpose or interest for DH research. While the data mining approach (how one is sifting through texts) and the visualization (representation of what is uncovered) are important, many texts seem to focus on those aspects of research, and not how the projects come to light in the first place—their textual origins—from what we can envision DH projects.
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100+ Funny Questions to Ask Your Crush
Updated on February 19, 2019
Cheeky Kid
Cheeky Kid is a cybernaut who spends a lot of time browsing the web, grasping at infinite information and reveling in entertainment and fun.
Funny Questions to Ask Your Crush | Source
Ah, is that puppy love I smell in the air? It appears that you’re crushing on someone, and you just don’t know how to interact with them. Lucky for you, this list is here to help!
All you need to do is muster some courage to approach your crush. The next step is easy. You grab some questions from this list and spark a conversation filled with hilarity and curiosity.
Most of the questions listed here are amusing. If they’re not funny, then that means the answers they evoke will be funny. Either way, all of the questions here are interesting—they’re all meant to engage your crush in one way or another.
Seize the moment and ignite a chucklesome conversation that’ll bring both you and your crush closer together!
Hilarious Questions You Can Ask Your Crush
How many licks does it take to get to the center of your heart?
What are the things that you find exceedingly laughable but other people don’t?
What does “fun” look like to you?
Choose one: bread or bed? (If you know what I mean.)
What would you do if you get a revelation that we’re actually living in a computer simulation? Would it change anything in the way you are living your life?
What qualities do you look for in a potential romantic partner?
Are you ticklish?
How would you describe the first crush you ever had?
How many times did you look at a mirror today?
On a scale of 1-10, how crushable do you think you are?
Amongst all the smells in the world, which is one is your favorite?
How do you think you would fare in a zombie apocalypse?
Do you want me to find out where your tickle spots are?
Can you fold a fitted sheet? (If they answer yes, then he/she is a keeper!)
What conspiracy theories do you believe in?
What are you proud of but never get the chance to talk about?
What is the most normal thing about you as a person?
If humans were capable of detaching one of their body parts, which one would you want to be able to detach and why?
What songs do you usually sing in the shower?
Who was your first crush?
How vivid are you dreams?
Would you rather trade intelligence for good looks or good looks for intelligence?
Who do you listen to more, your heart or your brain?
Have you ever dreamed about me?
If you were an animal, what would you be and why?
What’s the largest animal you think you would be able to knock out with a single punch?
If you were a flavor, which one would you be?
Do you have a secret hunch on how you are going to perish?
If you had a time machine, would you go back to the past or travel to the future?
Who do you think is the best actor/actress to play as you in a movie about your life?
Do you believe in love at first sight? If not, then would you like me to pass by before you again?
What’s the most hilarious nickname anyone has ever given to you?
What’s the most foolish purchase you’ve ever made?
What’s the one thing that you’re too tired of explaining to people?
What happened the last time you almost died?
Humorous Queries to Ask Your Crush
Do you have any weird talents/skills? Are you willing to show said talents/skills to me?
What are some good make-out moves?
What easily makes you flustered?
How do you usually react when you’re crush is nearby?
What’s you plan-of-action when the zombie apocalypse arrives?
So...do you like potatoes?
How many walkers have you killed? How many people have you killed? Why?
What’s your excuse for your existence in this world?
Do you have any kinks? Do you mind telling them to me?
Have you murdered anyone recently?
How do you position a roll of toilet paper, over or under?
If you were a pizza topping, what would you be and why?
Do you think I’m a crushable person?
Would you rather be twice as smart or twice as beautiful?
Choose one: happiness or knowledge?
If you have to sit on a person for the rest of your life, who would it be and why?
If peanut butter wasn’t called peanut butter, what would it be called?
What do you spend way too much money on?
If you were a superhero, what super power would you possess?
Do you like observing people? What do you like observing about them?
How would you like to be disposed of after your die?
Would eat someone if it was the only choice left for you to survive?
What’s something that you think I wouldn’t believe about you?
How long does it take for food that has been dropped on the floor before it’s considered unsafe to eat? Would you still eat it if it hasn’t exceeded your time limit yet?
If you were to turn into a mount animal, would you let me ride on you?
Who would you eat first if you suddenly turned into a zombie?
What’s the worst advice you’ve ever given someone?
What are the funny things that you believed as a child?
What’s the most humorous joke you know by heart?
If you were arrested for something, what would your family and friends assume it would be?
What’s the craziest fact about you?
What are the things that you’ve done that you’ve never been caught doing?
What’s the worst name you could ever give your own child?
What’s the funniest name you’ve ever given to a pet?
How funny was your first-ever email address or username? Do you mind telling it to me?
Amusing Questions That Renders Any Conversation Funny
What’s your most bizarre pet peeve?
If I was under your complete control, what are the things that you would ask me to do?
If you were a cop, would you detain me right here and now?
If money wasn’t an issue, what would you do with your life?
If I got stuck with you on an isolated island, what would you do with me?
What’s the worst date you’ve ever had?
Would you rather be able to fly or teleport?
If I was the only person left in the world (besides you), would you cherish me dearly?
Could you please tell me A LOT about yourself?
What question do you hate being asked? May I ask it to you?
What are the strangest and weirdest things you believe in?
What would the epithet on your tombstone say?
What do you think is the best way to get rid of a dead body?
If you had a plane ticket that can take you anywhere you want in the world, where would you go?
What question do you want me to ask you?
Do you know what a potato is?
If I suddenly die, what would you do?
What work would you do if you had enough money to not have to work ever in your life?
What is the color of your underwear right now?
If real life was like a video game, what level are you now?
Would you like to get sushi with me?
Could you spare me some alms?
The world is ending in 24 hours. How do you spend the rest of your time in this world?
If good people suddenly looked better and bad people suddenly looked uglier, what would you look like?
What is something you’ve never told anyone?
If you could change your name, what would you like it to be?
Do you have a pet dinosaur?
What was the color of your poop the last time went to the toilet?
What takes most of your time in your everyday life?
A/S/L?
What do you believe is the greatest accomplishment in human history?
Which website do you waste most of your time in?
What makes you, you?
What do people usually get wrong about you?
If you were to write a book, what would it be about?
Interesting Conversation Sparkers for Your Crush
If I was infected with a virus that would turn me into a zombie in a few minutes, would you end me now, or wait until I fully turn?
What’s the most horrifying thing you could think of?
What would you do if you knew that no one would judge you for it?
What’s the most interesting question you can ask someone in order to get to know them?
What do you want to be remembered for after you leave this world?
Would you rather be a cat or a dog?
How many ducks can you defeat if they all came at you at once?
If all condiments suddenly get erased from existence except for one, what would it be and why?
What do you judge people for most often?
What would be the title of the book/movie about your life?
If you won the lottery, what would you spend your fortune on?
What is something really important to you that you rarely get the chance to talk about?
Where do you want to be in an hour?
What’s the weirdest animal you would want as a pet?
Which historical person would you like to have lunch/dinner with if it was possible?
What’s the weirdest thing you find attractive in a person?
If you could pick a day to relive over and over, what day would it be and why?
What can you talk about for hours? *10 hours later* Okay, I regret asking that question.
Would you rather have sexy time with a cow but no one would know, or not have sexy time with a cow but everyone believes you did?
If you were an inanimate object, what would you be and why?
If you could have any mythical creature as a pet, what would it be and why?
What do you think is the most attractive thing about you?
If you could change one thing about yourself, physically, what would it be and why?
What’s the quality you admire the most in the person that you dislike the most?
If your house suddenly caught fire, what’s the most important object you’re gonna save?
Do you ever wonder why we’re here?
Do you want to play a game? (Saw this in Jigsaw’s voice for maximum effect.)
What’s the last thing you did for the first time?
What’s you spaghetti policy?
Choose one: Bulbasaur, Squirtle, or Charmander?
What’s the pettiest thing you’ve ever done in your life?
If you could jump into a pool of anything, what would it be?
What’s the place you would definitely not go to and why?
What food do you want to be served as your very last meal?
Would you rather be a bird or a fish?
What should I know about you that I’d never think to ask about?
Questions must be on-topic, written with proper grammar usage, and understandable to a wide audience.
100+ Funny Questions to Ask a Girl
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100 Funny Questions to Ask Your Boyfriend
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by Sam Mendoran1
150+ Funny Questions to Ask a Guy
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Signs Your Crush Likes You Through Facebook
Signs He Likes You Through Body Language
by Andrea Lawrence206
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Gates Promotes PC Training in Colombia
Gates said Microsoft was helping set up computer learning centers in areas where demobilized paramilitary fighters are in dire need of job training.
(Cartagena, Colombia) In his first trip to this violence-wracked country, Bill Gates said Microsoft Corp. was helping set up computer learning centers in areas where demobilized paramilitary fighters are in dire need of job training.
Given the low Internet penetration in Latin America, he said, the software company's focus for getting people online in the region is to promote computer centers in libraries.
The company said it was donating $1 million over three years to set up nine training centers in some of the Colombia's most conflictive regions.
Wearing a traditional Caribbean guayabera shirt tucked into dark slacks, Gates held an outdoor news conference in this colonial port with President Alvaro Uribe after meeting with the Colombian leader, government ministers, educators and business executives.
The Microsoft chairman later spoke on the digital revolution's impact on the newspaper industry to some 600 people at a meeting of the Inter American Press Association.
The government and Microsoft also two signed agreements Monday stressing Uribe's strong commitment to Microsoft products at a time other countries in the region are promoting the non-propietary Linux operating system.
Gates, who arrived late Sunday and was to depart Monday evening after addressing a regional Microsoft leadership conference, had been approached by Uribe in New York in October about getting the job-training help.
"They wanted me to go to those locations. Unfortunately, my schedule didn't offer me the opportunity," Gates said.
The Colombia training centers, first announced in October, have yet to open. A Microsoft spokeswoman, Carolina Sanchez, could only name two cities--Valledupar and Cucuta--where she was sure centers would be created.
More than 30,000 right-wing militias fighters have demobilized under a peace pact with the government but authorities have encountered huge difficulties finding jobs for the demobilized paramilitaries. Hundreds have rejoined illegal armed groups that continue to kill, extort and intimidate.
Under one of the deals signed Monday, Microsoft will provide database software that will assist Colombia's government track demobilized fighters and internal refugees forced from their homes by the country's long-running conflict, said Sanchez.
Another deal will help put 15,000 more computers in Colombian schools.
Uribe said the nation has one computer per 40 students and wants to drop that number to 25. Fewer than 7 percent of Colombian households have broadband Internet access, higher than the Latin American average but well below the U.S. broadband penetration of just over 50 percent.
Asked at the press meeting about the hundred-dollar computer project being promoted by Nicholas Negroponte of the One Laptop per Child association, Gates said "We agree with his goal in bringing the price down."
However, he said, "The personal computer just part of it. The Internet connection, the broadband connection is far more expensive than the computer itself."
Hence the regional focus on libraries. Gates said 3,000 libraries have been connected in Mexico with Microsoft help.
Microsoft is helping Colombia develop a system where citizens can go online for information and services.
"Microsoft has decided to put a particular emphasis on Colombia to demonstrate some of our possibilities," Gates said.
A competing model is being promoted by Cuba and Venezuela, who seek to free themselves of Microsoft dependence by converting government computers to the Linux operating system, which is developed by a global community of programmers who freely share code.
Other countries--China, Brazil and Norway among them--have encouraged Linux development.
The hundred-dollar computer (actually they're to cost $150 each) is expected to begin reaching children in July or so in Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Nigeria, Libya, Pakistan, Thailand and the Palestinian territory. The Inter-American Development Bank is trying to get the laptops to multiple Central American countries.
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Search Results for dura
Cultural Studies (8)
Qui Parle (8)
1-8 of 8 Search Results for
No Futures (Duras 72/77)
Martin Crowley
Qui Parle (1 December 2016) 24 (2): 109–136.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5250/quiparle.24.2.0109
...Martin Crowley Copyright © 2016 Qui Parle 2016 No Futures (Duras 72/77) martin crowley Money, even imaginary money, needs the future to give it force. Alasdair Gray, Lanark Nineteen seventy- seven was a very fi ne year. Particularly for fans of disillusionment and...
The Clamor of the Visible: An Introduction
Emily O'Rourke
Qui Parle (1 December 2016) 24 (2): 1–13.
... lms, Damon R. Young on Catherine Breillat’s “vaginal vision,” Eugenie Brinkema on the violence of the diagram and Tom Six’s The Human Centipede series, and Martin Crowley on the time-image and the void in two of Marguerite Duras’s fi lms from the 1970s. The fi ft h, a short essay by Georges...
Can We Save What We Have Destroyed?: Transmitting Literature
Hélène Merlin-Kajman
Qui Parle (1 June 2011) 20 (1): 179–204.
... thinking. In 1971, Marguerite Duras wrote a children’s book called Ah! Ernesto! about a boy who refused to go to school be- cause the teacher made him learn things he did not already know. His worried parents visit the headmaster, who proves remarkably stupid and brutal...
Gardens of Resistance: Gilles Clément, New Poetics, and Future Landscapes: Translator's Introduction to Gilles Clément
Jonathan Skinner
... entails a certain hospitality to “invasive” species, whose displacements are neither culturally nor politically neutral. Myung Mi Kim’s “kind of strange autobi- ography,” Dura, avoids the “I” in clashing interlingual valences.8 Craig Santos Perez’s map poems in from Unincorporated Territory...
Being Beyond Politics, with Jean-Luc Nancy
A Short History of Language Poetry according to “Hecuba Whimsy”
Benjamin Friedlander
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1215/quiparle.12.2.107
Digital Copyright and the Possibility of Pure Law
Gordon Hull
Qui Parle (1 June 2003) 14 (1): 21–47.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1215/quiparle.14.1.21
... allowable "fair use," increasing the dura- tion of copyright protection, attempting to criminalize copying technology, and attacking individual infringers are all tactics recently employed by the copyright industry, and none of them have made a real dent in digital copying. They...
Who Speaks? Thirtieth Anniversary Dossier: Interventions
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Mustangs gallop to Wharf
Linda Gillette talks about her 1966 Mustang Coupe that was her first car, purchased for $200. — Tarmo Hannula/Register-Pajaronian
By: TARMO HANNULA - Updated: 2 months ago
SANTA CRUZ — Ford Mustang buffs had their day in the sun last week on the Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf at the second annual Mustangs on the Wharf.
Cami Corvin, president and director of the Santa Cruz Mustang Club, said 100 Mustangs were in the free show.
“The show looks awesome,” she said. “It’s all about sharing and enjoying these beautiful cars. Our club does a lot of charities; this one is entirely for the O’Neill Sea Odyssey.”
Corvin said Mustang owners came to the wharf from around California, including the Bay Area Mustang Association, for the one-day event that drew thousands of visitors. Corvin said she owns a 2005 Coupe Legend, which is lime green and a 2004 convertible, both with V6 engines.
“I used to cruise the Boardwalk in earlier days,” Corvin said. “My family has been here since 1924. The Mustang is such a classic car.”
Watsonville Municipal Airport manager Rayvon Williams brought his white 1968 Mustang to the show. Manufactured at the Ford plant in San Jose in 1967, the coupe is powered by a “Stroker” V8 with an automatic four-speed transmission with overdrive.
“There’s always a few things you have to do to keep these things going,” he said. “You just do a little bit here, a little bit there.”
Linda Gillette, president of BAMA, drove her 1966 baby blue Mustang Coupe, with a white vinyl roof, into the show.
“This was my first car,” she said. “I bought it for $200. I’m the third owner. It has 150,000 miles and runs perfectly.”
Indeed, the car was as spotless as a surgery room, including under the hood.
“It has a three-speed stick, a 289 cubic-inch engine, and a rare rear bench seat,” she said. “Mustangs, to me, are a very emotional car; they’ve lived so long. Everybody has a story about someone who has owned a Mustang.”
City to start making reductions across board
Two arrested after thwarted drug robbery
Ambitious changes proposed for Capitola Mall
About Town, Week of June 17
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Tag: bamboo
Nagato Yuki-chan no Shoushitsu – 14
Nagato Yuki-chan’s last episode was so awesome, it would have made a fine end to the series, and part of me kinda wished it was, as I’ve got a full Summer plate. This week didn’t reach the dizzying dramatic highs of last week, it did make me glad after all we got three more episodes.
It was worth it just to see Ryoko welcome Yuki home, with a blend of joy and sadness in her eyes even a dope like Yuki can pick up on. Indeed, she doesn’t remember anything about the time her other self took over, or even the dream in which her other self explains things to her.
But Kyon remembers, and he hasn’t been able to help but act differently around Yuki ever since. He also stares at the call log entry, as if it’s the entry of someone deceased. In a way, it is; Kyon wants to be able to believe New and Old Yuki were separate people with separate sets of feelings, but he can’t. Like Ryouko, he’s found he likes both equally, and the more they think about it, the more confused they get.
New Yuki’s words let something in Kyon out that he can’t put back in or compartmentalize behind his stoic surface. It’s plain to see, especially from the newly-returned Haruhi, whose return I thought would be a pain but turned into a wonderful change of perspective, a marvelous use of Haruhi’s character beyond mere comic relief, and a resumption of the love triangle. Haruhi, like Kyon, is dealing with feelings she has for someone who doesn’t remember the same things about him that she does.
The day they hold Tanabata celebrations is the fourth anniversary of Haruhi meeting Kyon, helping her paint messages to aliens in the schoolyard, and telling he he has no reason not to believe aliens are out there somewhere. He came into her life at a time when she was starting to feel the “senselessness” of her earlier youth give way to more and more common sense, leading to despair.
And he saved her from that despair. She hasn’t forgotten, but he has. People don’t need random car accidents to forget moments that are important to the ones they love. All it takes is time. It’s kind of heartbreaking: even if Haruhi brought up that day to Kyon and he remembered, it wouldn’t change the fact that he forgot in the first place.
But here’s the thing: that past Kyon wasn’t in love with Haruhi. Both Yukis love/d Kyon, and Kyon loves/d both Yukis. They’ve got two episodes to figure out what to /do about it!
Author sesameacrylicPosted on Fri, 3 Jul 2015 Categories Anime Reviews, Nagato Yuki-chan no Shoushitsu, Spring 2015Tags Asahina Mikuru, asakura ryouko, bamboo, common sense, disappearance, dysmnesia, 長門有希ちゃんの消失, feelings, flashback, forgetting, Koizumi, koizumi itsuki, Kyon, literature club, love triangle, memories, Nagato Yuki, romantic comedy, satelight, Suzumiya Haruhi, tanabata, The Disappearance of Nagato Yuki-chan, wishes, youth
Koufuku Graffiti – 05
I’ve been intentionally conservative with rating KG’s episodes thus far because, at the end of the day, while the artistry is clear and present and the presentation of food is deliciously creative, the story is as ultra-lightweight and fluffy as a marshmallow. But this show will still make you think a little more about what you’re eating, why you’re eating it, who you’re eating it with, and how it really makes you feel. It will also, obviously, make you hungry.
I decided to be a little more generous this week because, of all weeks, this KG brought the house; compressing an entire notebook of Summer vacation activities (much of it involving eating) into one gorgeous episode. It’s all achieved thanks to Shiina, who finally invites her new friends to her house.
“House” doesn’t quite do it justice; it’s more like a sprawling estate that looks like the countryside even though they’re still within the Tokyo Metropolis. It reminds me of Kabaru Suruga’s place, though like Suruga, Shiina isn’t the least bit stuffy, stuck-up, or spoiled as her luxurious quality of life would suggest.
In this gorgeous, ornate new setting the painters and director can really let their hair down, and they don’t disappoint with Shiina’s digs. It’s also the kind of place where Kirin can start to cross off various items from her Summer Activity checklist, even if some are merely technically being fulfilled (animal traps for a zoo, etc.)
The episode also fakes us out by first having Kirin meet Shiina’s quiet, kimono’d mom in her garden (who is actually the house maid, Tsuyuko), then showing us that her real mom is like a hyperactive version of Shiina, and just as warm and generous, dispensing ungodly amounts of sweets, and even inviting the girls to partake of flowing somen noodles, a whole big production that requires cutting down bamboo to make the track, before any cooking commences.
Ryou and Kirin get a little overzealous with the manual labor, but once they’re in the kitchen they’re back in their element, and Ryou helpfully goes over all the sauces and condiments that go with somen, including an orthodoz kombu-and-katsuobushi dashi, which I have made from scratch only a couple times but is far superior to the powdered stuff. I also accidentally leave green onions connected on occasion, as Tsuyuko did.
Yeah, that’s not how flowing somen works…
Shiina’s mom gets a nice little meta moment when she expresses relief her daughter isn’t the only one who acts like this when she eats, what with the saturated color, slow-motion and eye-sparkling. As Kirin says in the cold open, eating is a serious duel between the eater and the eaten. In enjoying their noodles so thoroughly (and explaining in detail why), they do their food the attention and justice it deserves.
While Shiina is inside, her mother thanks Ryou and Kirin for continuing to be her friend, as she was also worried her daughter didn’t have any. Now she notices that Shiina talks a lot more about her day, much of it involving the two of them. The girls react to this by being so overly affectionate to Shiina, she’s a little creeped out, but it’s all cute and charming as hell.
And thanks to Shiina, Kirin could cross every last item off her checklist (in one way or another), not to mention create priceless memories, which was the purpose of the checklist. An episode that started with three miserable friends stuck in school drawing Summer became three elated, satisfied friends experiencing Summer to its fullest.
Author sesameacrylicPosted on Sun, 8 Feb 2015 Categories Anime Reviews, Koufuku Graffiti, Winter 2015Tags akiyuki shinbo, bamboo, cooking, delicious, estate, flowing somen, foodgasm, friendship, gourmet girl graffiti, happy cooking graffiti, loneliness, machiko ryou, maid, morino kirin, mother, noodles, onigiri, shaft, shiina, summer vacation, tokyo, tsuyuko, 幸腹グラフィティ1 Comment on Koufuku Graffiti – 05
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Meghna Tare
Institutional Characteristics
IC-1: Institutional Boundary
IC-2: Operational Characteristics
IC-3: Academics and Demographics
AC-1: Academic Courses
AC-2: Learning Outcomes
AC-3: Undergraduate Program
AC-4: Graduate Program
AC-5: Immersive Experience
AC-6: Sustainability Literacy Assessment
AC-7: Incentives for Developing Courses
AC-8: Campus as a Living Laboratory
AC-9: Academic Research
AC-10: Support for Research
AC-11: Access to Research
Campus Engagement
EN-1: Student Educators Program
EN-2: Student Orientation
EN-3: Student Life
EN-4: Outreach Materials and Publications
EN-5: Outreach Campaign
EN-6: Employee Educators Program
EN-7: Employee Orientation
EN-8: Staff Professional Development
EN-9: Community Partnerships
EN-10: Inter-Campus Collaboration
EN-11: Continuing Education
EN-12: Community Service
EN-13: Community Stakeholder Engagement
EN-14: Participation in Public Policy
EN-15: Trademark Licensing
EN-16: Hospital Network
Air & Climate
OP-1: Greenhouse Gas Emissions
OP-2: Outdoor Air Quality
OP-7: Low Impact Dining
OP-10: Landscape Management
OP-11: Biodiversity
OP-12: Electronics Purchasing
OP-15: Inclusive and Local Purchasing
OP-16: Life Cycle Cost Analysis
OP-17: Guidelines for Business Partners
OP-21: Support for Sustainable Transportation
OP-22: Waste Minimization
OP-26: Water Use
OP-27: Rainwater Management
OP-28: Wastewater Management
Planning & Administration
Coordination, Planning & Governance
PA-1: Sustainability Coordination
PA-2: Sustainability Planning
PA-3: Governance
PA-4: Diversity and Equity Coordination
PA-5: Assessing Diversity and Equity
PA-6: Support for Underrepresented Groups
PA-7: Support for Future Faculty Diversity
PA-8: Affordability and Access
Health, Wellbeing & Work
PA-9: Employee Compensation
PA-10: Assessing Employee Satisfaction
PA-11: Wellness Program
PA-12: Workplace Health and Safety
PA-13: Committee on Investor Responsibility
PA-14: Sustainable Investment
PA-15: Investment Disclosure
Expired Meghna Tare
Does the institution provide secure bicycle storage (not including office space), shower facilities, and lockers for bicycle commuters?:
A brief description of the facilities for bicycle commuters:
Does the institution provide short-term bicycle parking (e.g. racks) within 50 ft (15 m) of all occupied, non-residential buildings and make long-term bicycle storage available within 330 ft (100 m) of all residence halls (if applicable)?:
A brief description of the bicycle parking and storage facilities:
Does the institution have a “complete streets” or bicycle accommodation policy (or adhere to a local community policy) and/or have a continuous network of dedicated bicycle and pedestrian paths and lanes?:
A brief description of the bicycle/pedestrian policy and/or network:
The University has adopted a Master plan that supports more bike lanes
Does the institution have a bicycle-sharing program or participate in a local bicycle-sharing program?:
A brief description of the bicycle sharing program:
Is the institution certified as a Bicycle Friendly University by the League of American Bicyclists (U.S.) or under a similar third party certification covering non-motorized transportation?:
A brief description of the certification, including date certified and level:
Does the institution offer free or reduced price transit passes and/or operate a free campus shuttle for commuters?:
A brief description of the mass transit program(s), including availability, participation levels, and specifics about discounts or subsidies offered (including pre-tax options):
Maverick Ride
This service assists students, faculty, staff, and campus visitors to reach their destinations after our regular shuttle hours. The hours of service are 7:00 p.m. till 1:00 a.m. Sunday through Thursday. An escort can be requested by calling 817-272-3381.
The Mav Mover operates every Saturday (except holiday weekends) to take the UT Arlington students for shopping in the Arlington area.
Demand for parking on the UT Arlington campus is at an all-time high. With more than 28,000 students enrolled in the fall 2009 semester, the University had sold 1,600 more parking decals by early September as it had at the same point last year. Popular student lots can become congested during peak class times, particularly from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Monday through Thursday. And circling parking lots, idling, and parking multiple times during one day not only waste time and gas but negatively impact air quality.
UTA offered discounted price for decals for the remote parking. Remote decals are less than half the price. Student permits allowing access to all student lots are $112.50 for the fall and spring semesters. Students who choose to park in Lot 26 at Maverick Stadium may purchase a “R” remote lot permit for $45. The full rate for faculty and staff is $150; faculty and staff who work east of Davis Drive may purchase a “R” remote lot permit for $60
Does the institution offer a guaranteed return trip (GRT) program to regular users of alternative modes of transportation?:
A brief description of the GRT program:
Does the institution participate in a car/vanpool or ride sharing program and/or offer reduced parking fees or preferential parking for car/vanpoolers?:
A brief description of the carpool/vanpool program:
The Dallas-Fort Worth region is the fourth largest metropolitan region in the nation with almost 6.5 million residents. Rapid population growth in the past decade has led to increasing transportation problems here in the region. The construction of additional roadway lanes has not kept pace with this population growth. As a result, traffic congestion has become a major concern for regional travelers; and with increased traffic congestion comes air quality concerns.
One way for commuters to help improve traffic congestion and air quality in the region is to reduce the number of vehicles that travel on our roadways by using alternatives to driving alone to work. Alternative commute options include carpooling, vanpooling, transit, walking, telecommuting, etc.
Try Parking It is a two-part solution for reducing the number of vehicles on the road and for tracking the savings that result from those vehicle reductions. By using Try Parking It, we can locate carpool or vanpool matches within the North Central Texas region. UTA can also track the contributions by the employees and staff and students to clean air and congestion reduction and receive an estimate of miles saved, trips reduced and harmful emissions reduced,
Does the institution participate in a car sharing program, such as a commercial car-sharing program, one administered by the institution, or one administered by a regional organization?:
A brief description of the car sharing program:
Starting fall 2010, the UT Arlington community is able to rent an environmentally friendly car by the hour or day, all for a low price through the Zip Car program
Connect cars are available by the hour or day, and the low rate includes gas; insurance, including coverage for the Connect car; GPS navigation; an iPod adaptor; Bluetooth technology; 24-hour roadside assistance; support of a 24-hour in-house member care center; and in-car communication, allowing drivers to reach the member care center with the touch of a button.
Does the institution have one or more Level 2 or Level 3 electric vehicle recharging stations that are accessible to student and employee commuters?:
A brief description of the electric vehicle recharging stations:
We have installed 2 charging stations in the College park Parking Garage
Does the institution offer a telecommuting program for employees as a matter of policy or as standard practice?:
A brief description of the telecommuting program:
Flexible Work Arrangements
UT Arlington recognizes that with the growing demands on employees who have both professional and personal responsibilities, flexible work arrangements such as telecommuting and flextime can be highly beneficial for the University and employees. Flexible work arrangements may promote productivity, enhance job satisfaction, enable recruitment and retention of valuable staff and reduce greenhouse emissions consistent with the University's environmental goals.
A flexible work arrangement is any variation in scheduling work hours and/or location from the traditional on-campus daily pattern. The categories of available arrangements are:
* Flex Time: Employees are offered a range of starting and ending times for the workday; most shifts with a mandatory "core" time in the middle of the day.
* Compressed Workweek: Employees work longer days for part of the week in exchange for a day off each week.
* Telecommuting: Employees work from home or another remote location on an approved schedule.
* Part-time Work or Job Sharing: Employees work fewer hours, or two employees share the same position, splitting the responsibility for the work between them.
UT Arlington realizes that because of its unique and diverse work environment, flexible work arrangements will not apply in all situations. Therefore, all flexible work arrangements must have prior, written approval from the employee's supervisor.
Flexible work guidelines are offered to help supervisors and employees create an arrangement that can support the institutional goals and improve employee satisfaction. These guidelines also provide concrete expectations of responsibilities and accountability and help the supervisor and employee consider potential ramifications of a proposed new arrangement.
Does the institution offer a condensed work week option for employees as a matter of policy or as standard practice?:
A brief description of the condensed work week program:
Does the institution have incentives or programs to encourage employees to live close to campus?:
A brief description of the incentives or programs to encourage employees to live close to campus:
Does the institution have other incentives or programs to encourage more sustainable modes of transportation and reduce the impact of student and employee commuting?:
A brief description of other sustainable transportation initiatives and programs:
The website URL where information about the institution’s sustainable transportation program(s) is available:
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Engineering a better UMBC
Jebrail Dempsey
The theme of this annual nationwide Engineers Week was “Inspiring Wonder.” Various engineering communities coordinated events around campus, including the Society of Women Engineers which hosted Let’s Get Techy.
Senior mechanical engineering major Shelbi Tippett and junior chemical engineering major Heather Rosario are respectively the president and vice president of the Society for Women Engineers. Tippett, who joined the Society during her freshman year, explained that Let’s Get Techy is an initiative to engage youth in engineering projects.
As members of the Society of Women Engineers, Tippett and Rosario have experience in working with younger students. “Most of what we do is reaching out to kids,” Tippett says.
General body meetings aim to prepare members for postgraduate life. The group offers “professional development and STEM outreach,” which include bringing guest speakers to the general body meetings, endorsing the Career Center’s career fairs, interviewing tips, and resume reviews.
In addition regularly held general body meetings, the Society of Women Engineers also works with current members and alumni to build community. It has brought UMBC alumni to its meetings, held graduate student panels, and “class picking socials,” where younger students receive advice from upperclassmen.
“The best thing about [the Society of Women Engineers] is that it’s for all ages, all majors,” said Tippett.
When asked about her experiences as women in the STEM field, Rosario mentioned the lack of women in her engineering major. “There are not [sic] many women in [chemical engineering],” she said. “There are never more than five women in a class; it’s all men.” The size of the Society of Women Engineers reflects the number of women in engineering; meetings sometimes have as few as five attendees.
Tippett talked about how the Society of Women Engineers helped her grow. She mentioned building connections on campus and having to be a leader, both of which UMBC promotes with career fairs and programs like LeadFest, that promote joining student organizations on campus. Rosario stated that reaching out to mentors in her major has helped during her studies at UMBC.
Tippett ended with advice for new students navigating UMBC: “It’s all what you make it… Be confident, know your professors well,” Tippett said. “As long as I breathed confidence, nobody doubted me.”
Spring cleaning starts a semester early for Environmental Task Force
In a wooded area off Poplar Avenue just behind Patapsco Hall 26 students tr
At Commonvision, employees are anything but common
From the outside, Commonvision looks like a well-oiled machine that constan
New and returning students’ advice for surviving freshman year
Welcome Week and orientation make it easier for incoming students to connec
Historic class size and March Madness victory not linked
“U Must Be Cinderella.” “All Bark and All Bite!” “Bracket Busters
Coffee and Conversation cultivates civil communication
After the 2016 presidential election, the divide between America’s two ma
Higher education hazing prevention
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You’re Too Soft for That Hard Reality, Taylor: Part Two
September 24, 2018 | romcomdojo
In case you missed Part One, you can either scroll down the page, or if you are as lazy as I am and can’t even bear the scrolling for god’s sake, you can click here you useless so and so.
Let me tell you something else, soft-shell. This is going to be difficult for you to hear.
You’re not Daryl.
No matter how much you think you’re the Daryl of your friend group, you’re not Daryl.
Judith, the actual infant on The Walking Dead, has a better chance of surviving than you do. If someone gave you a crossbow, you would pick it up and be like, “How does this thing…where is the…how do you…” and then accidentally shoot yourself in the face with it immediately and you know it. I can practically hear the “Fwoop! AHHHHHHHHH!!!!” sound right now.
You know who you really are? You’re Carl’s backup hat. You’re not even the real hat. You’re the hat they use for far away stunt scenes. Know who you’re not? You’re not Daryl.
Maybe if you had spent more time being a degenerate growing up and less time on your “thesis” you’d have a leg up, but noooo. You decided that your late teens and early 20s would be better spent getting an education than being a dirtbag in the woods, albeit a dirtbag with a heart of gold.
That’s the thing, too. Everybody wants to be Daryl, but nobody wants to put in the prerequisite dirtbag work to get there. People are just like, “Oh, I have a feeling that I would be good at survivalism in the woods!” as they put a ramekin of artisan hummus into their smart-fridge and cozy up to a loved one on the chaise lounge they were finally able to track down from that Pinterest page.
You want to be Daryl? That means you have to spend your formative and adult years living in the gutter with MERLE. You can’t be Daryl unless you’ve done your Merle time. It’s just not possible. Just like you can’t hunt squirrels for dinner with a crossbow with such precision unless, prior to the zombie invasion, you actually had to hunt squirrels for dinner on a regular basis. No amount of present-day zombie fighting is going to magically transform your liberal arts degree into 35 years’ experience of living in abject poverty – with MERLE.
What I’m saying, is that I’m looking into the zombie apocalypse future, and you’re definitely drying your tears with a diploma from a small college in Vermont, while the actual dirtbag grown-ups are trying to pull a crossbow arrow out of your face.
Also, just throwing this out there, but growing up as a dirtbag does not typically lend itself to becoming Daryl – Merle experience or not. Daryl is an anomaly.
Daryl is, perhaps, the most anomalous character who has ever existed in the history of the world.
As a dirtbag myself, I knew many a potential Daryl in my youth. Poor, dirty boys shredding at a flattened roadkill raccoon with their pocket knives and then chasing each other around with the raccoon dick bone.
Stinky-assed moppets covered with impetigo, with globs of snot perpetually underneath each nostril like slimy, green Chiclets hanging out of their nose, who always, always had that weird white stuff in the corners of their mouths.
Boys who were left to fend for themselves because their parents could only ever be found either at the bar or in lock-up.
Boys who ate their own scabs, who when asked what they would wish for if they found a genie in a magic lamp, would take a moment to glance around and study the squalor they lived in and then definitively answer, “I wish I could kick Bobby ‘The Brain’ Heenan in the nuts.”
Had the Walking Dead been on television back then, every last one of those boys would have told anyone who would listen that they most certainly, most definitely, most absolutely were the Daryl of their friend group.
***Spoiler alert! ***
They all grew up to be MERLE.
Stay tuned for the exciting conclusion in Part Three…
You’re Too Soft for That Hard Reality, Taylor: Part One
I saw a grown adult drinking a grape soda the other day so I ran outside, put both of my arms out to the side Michael Jackson-style and yelled, “Ahhhhhhh!” and waited for the onslaught of zombies to sweep through the city. The world, clearly, was ending.
Hang on. World’s not ending? You mean you’re gonna drink grape soda with plans to live? That shit is a zombie apocalypse beverage!
Grape soda is the thing you drink either right as the apocalypse is happening because “screw it” or save for after the apocalypse when every other form of liquid on Earth has already been consumed. You only drink grape soda if it’s your last resort before drinking Florida pond water which, by the way, is currently 90% zombie particles as of the date of this post.
I wouldn’t be around very long for either scenario, so I guess I shouldn’t really care. That’s because any time I watch a post-apocalyptic zombie movie or TV show, the following fact is made abundantly clear to me: I have no will to live.
It’s not from an underlying case of depression, although my built-in, super deluxe, ultra luxurious, wall-to-wall nihilism is a fun quirk that makes me a real hit at baby showers. Everybody loves it when they open a pack of bibs and some asshole says, “You should keep those around for when you’re old and frail and unable to feed yourself after this kid has zapped 10 years off your life when they decide to skip college in favor of selling hacky-sacks at Dave Matthews Band shows.”
The main problem can really be traced back to straight-up laziness. Back when I used to watch The Walking Dead, before it got SO GROSS that I had to stop watching it, I was always amazed at how much work people were willing to do to stay alive. And not “work” to stay alive in an awesome world that’s like a permanent disco with free waffles. “Work” to stay alive in a world that thoroughly sucks.
A sucky world that’s like, “Oh, I hope I survive through this day of bashing in zombie heads and barely escaping with my life and eating rats and fighting factions of cannibal survivors with bad teeth and foraging for expired antibiotics…so that I can do the same shit tomorrow. And the day after that. And the day after that. And don’t even get me started on Carl’s hat.”
Did they kill Carl’s hat yet? Please tell me they killed Carl’s hat.
Honestly, if you’re still alive on that show it’s only because you’re some kind of shitty, overly-optimistic Pollyanna. You took that “Which Sex and The City character are you?” quiz in Cosmo and it said, “You’re a Charlotte!” You refuse to accept reality. You’re living in a dream world. Everyone is tired of your shit. Just die already.
And I tell you what else – I don’t do well with jump-out scenarios at all – and I imagine zombie world is chock full of jump-out scenarios.
Ask Bobby. Even if I know he’s home, and he walks into a room and quietly says, “Oh, hey…” I scream and nearly jump out of my skin. Then I have to sit down from the head rush. The possibility of post-apocalyptic jump-out scenarios alone would be enough to make me go leap off the top of a tall building at the first zombie I saw, even if the zombie was just on the evening news and I was otherwise safe inside the building at the moment. I’d be too jacked-up to deal with any of it. I know this about myself.
I’m too soft and I’m too lazy and I startle way too easily. I’m not going to burden you with rescuing me. I will take myself out to save you the trouble. It’s a gift to you.
I’d see the zombie on the TV screen, all wrangle-jangled up tearing the entrails out of someone, and I would be like, “Huh. Well would you look at that.” Then I would chug a bottle of copier toner, or whatever was nearby, and pitch myself off the top of the building, because no. Not dealing with that.
Even if they said there were zombies in Guam that were nowhere near mainland U.S., I would still go sit on the roof of the building and pop open the cap on the copier toner just in case. The moment the evening news said “At least one zombie has gotten out of Guam,” I’d yell, “It’s Go Time!” and begin my last meal of copier toner and eventual dessert of high-speed sidewalk. Because I know my limitations.
Plus, on top of everything else, my sensitive skin would never survive the zombie apocalypse. If I didn’t have access to clean water to wash my face twice a day, I’d be all splotchy and fugged just like *that*. So besides dealing with zombies, now I’d be hideously ugly, too? I’d have to start using my “personality” to make friends and influence people? Fuuuuuuuck. GREAT. JUST GREAT. This post-apocalyptic world just keeps getting better and better! Why don’t you just have a couple zombies chomp off both my ass cheeks while you’re at it and make me learn how to do math to survive?!
Stay tuned for Part Two…
In Defense of Hair Bands
September 12, 2018 September 12, 2018 | romcomdojo
This, dear friends, is the exact moment that a frontman in a hair band locked eyes with me for the very first time. (Please note the super boss Metal Edge magazine t-shirt.)
This particular frontman is CJ Snare from Firehouse. A great triumph of mine in recent years was finding a karaoke list that included Firehouse “Don’t Treat Me Bad”, and I sang the shit out of that song.
I’ve drifted apart from many things of my youth – things that I thought I’d love forever. Winn-Dixie Superbrand individually wrapped cheese slices, white Fayva high-top sneakers, respect for Corey Feldman as a dancer, but the one thing I’ve never parted ways with is hair bands.
If you’re wearing red and black tiger-striped spandex leggings and suspenders with no shirt and preening around a stage singing songs about (a) strip clubs, (b) the Sunset Strip, or (c) strip clubs located on the Sunset Strip, then hell yes. Count me in.
If your band name is filled with deliberate misspellings and needless accent marks, names of cities in east Asia even though you’re from Scandanavia, or is simply the last name of the person who has the coolest last name in the band – I’m all about it.
I was thinking about it last month when Anne and I went to see Poison for the tenth time, or as most of my “cool” musician friends refer to them, “Do you seriously like those bands? I have lost all respect for you. Don’t ever talk to me again. Ever.”
Fact: The only reason I ever took my Poison door poster down was to put up a Skid Row one, that I promptly covered with red lipstick kisses. The Skid Row door poster was surrounded by posters of Kip Winger. I bear no shame, and I shame no bears. Related, Kip Winger is an unapologetically hairy man.
My cool friends will often accuse me of just trying to be “ironic” by liking these bands, even after I assure them that I’m not, and pull out my collection of Winger t-shirts, much to their horror, as proof. My love for all things hair band runs as deep as the swimming pool in the L.A. Guns video for “The Ballad of Jayne”.
It blasts forth from my heart like a fire hydrant in the Slaughter “Up All Night” video.
It is as pure and platinum as Matthew and Gunnar Nelson’s long, blonde locks.
That’s right. I’m at Nelson level hair band fandom.
I feel like you really need to know the depths to which my feelings lie, or else this entire conversation will be for naught. I don’t want you walking away from this thinking I’m talking about rock bands like Van Halen, a band that managed to be the perfect hybrid of wicked fun and incomparable talent. I don’t want you to think, “Hey, that Maggie sure does like AC/DC! What a cool lady!” and then call it a day.
Motley Crue is, in fact, the most cerebral band I like from the 80s.
I want you to know what you’re getting into here. If you put on an Enuff Z’Nuff video, my eyes will glaze over and I will sing along.
Hair bands came along at a time in my life when things really couldn’t have been worse. Poison, in particular, came around when I was in middle school, the literal worst. The god awful, miserable, worst of the worst. The onset of the hideousness that was puberty, living in a house with caved-in bathroom walls and falling-down ceilings, carpets blackened with ground-in cigarette ashes, and piles of old furniture rotting in the yard. Where when you flipped on the kitchen light, you could be assured that at least 200 cockroaches would scatter for cover, and at least one of them would stand there, defiantly, like “Fuck you, kid. This is my house,” and you’d know that, deep down, they were right. Getting shipped off to live with out-of-state relatives when the shit really hit the fan at home. Getting groped in school nearly every day when the going attitude was, “Ignore it. Maybe all these guys with their hands all over your body just like you!”
Having a goddamned perm at the exact same time as 2-in-1 shampoo/conditioner became popular.
Mr. Belvedere being cancelled.
Middle school in the mid-to-late 80’s: It was a real crap festival.
No matter how shitty things got, when I turned on the television, I could be assured that Bret Michaels would be there wearing leather chaps, fingerless gloves and a bandanna, literally humping his way up a microphone stand while singing about bops that were unskinny and dancing with laser beams in the shape of ladies. You could always count on fun times with those bands. And as a matter of fact, as a singer my entire vocal affectation can be directly attributed to the thousands of hours I spent singing Poison songs as a tween/teen. I wanted to be Bret Michaels.
Fun was always part of the package with hair bands. They were like a candy necklace around the bag of garbage that was my life.
I’m not telling you this to get your sympathy for my troubles. I’m telling you this to get your sympathy for hair bands.
Hair bands provided me with an escape from the misery of my life, and I know I’m not the only one who feels this way. I know it because I can see it on the faces of the thousands of people who still show up for the reunion tours, who still scream like it’s Beatlemania when Kip Winger walks out onto a stage in his leather pants, and to women like me who feel proud to see Lita Ford still tearing that shit UP.
It’s the pageantry. The wink-winkiness of it all. The pointy guitars and choreographed moves while ripping out scales at nearly supersonic speeds. The men in frosted pink lipstick and thigh-high red boots and the women in flamey leather jumpsuits pouting for the photographer in Circus magazine. The frontman wearing a pair of cow-print chaps and doing high-kicks onstage. My god, how could you not love it? How could you not love every single second of it?
I mean, it’s just rock ‘n roll. Why you “cool people” gotta be so uptight about it?
And I’ll tell you this much, smartypants, the fact that I love hair bands doesn’t detract from my love for “ooh serious bands” like Wilco and Dinosaur Jr even one little bit. Just because you love sumo wrestling doesn’t mean you can’t also love greco-roman wrestling, or professional wrestling, or mud wrestling. The love for one thing doesn’t detract from the love for all the other things.
That being said, if Jeff Tweedy from Wilco and CC DeVille from Poison were both tied to train tracks and I could only save one of them…
I’m just saying the guy doing the high-kicks in the leather pants is probably not going to be the one who ends up becoming train meat.
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Written by: Brianna
BP releases huge volume of toxic benzene shows a history of malevolence
It appears that BP tried to bury this news over the weekend while everyone else was watching a saw get stuck in the blow out pipe a mile underwater. That’s right BP hid the fact that they released incredible amounts of highly toxic benzene into the air for 40 straight days.
TEXAS CITY, Texas — At BP’s Texas City refinery, more than 400 pounds a day of benzene — 40 times the state reportable levels — was released during a 40-day period while a subunit of the refinery’s ultracracker unit was offline, according to a company filing with the state’s environmental agency Friday.
In all, BP officials said more than 500,000 pounds of pollutants and nonpollutants were released while the company increased flaring as they tried to repair a compressor on the faulty unit.
Refinery spokesman Michael Marr said in its follow up reporting with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, BP estimated 36,000 pounds of nitrogen oxides and 17,000 pounds of benzene were released in the 40 days. State law requires 10 pounds or more of benzene and 200 pounds or more of nitrogen oxide during a 24-hour period must be reported through the commission’s air emissions database.
Benzene is a carcinogen naturally found in oil that has been linked to some forms of cancer, according to U.S. Health and Human Services records. Nitrogen oxides react to sunlight to form ozone and can damage lung tissue and cause respiratory problems.
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Q & A: Rosie Phan & Zach White
Rosie Phan (4th Year MIS/Economics) & Zachary White (New Media Marketing/MIS '17)
1. Where and when did you study abroad?
I studied abroad at Bond University at Queensland, Australia during the spring semester of 2015. Rosie and I studied abroad at the University of Westminster in London during the spring semester of 2016.
2. What did you find challenging about the classes abroad? How did you cope?
I misread how the grading worked for passing the classes. Specifically, I read that if I had an overall percent in the class I would pass it, when in reality I had to have a passing grade on 3 individual exams. I spent a week freaking out about it, but then just studied as much as I could and passed all three.
3. How did you adjust to living abroad on your own?
I personally loved the freedom and chance to make new great impressions on a new group of students. It did feel like freshman year again since you have to really put yourself out there and meet new people. It helped since all the study abroad students were in the same boat, and once we all knew each other it was an amazing experience.
4. What did you miss about home or RIT?
I missed the rigor of the RIT classes by the end of the semester. When I studied abroad I took classes that were necessary for graduation, but not ones that pushed me extremely hard. By the end of the semester I was ready to be really challenged again.
5. Do you think your study abroad experience helped you (or will help you) in your career?
I fully think that the success that I have right now is partly from studying abroad. Studying abroad helped me find my passions in life and that helped push me to where I am today. The experiences abroad also helped me learn to plan, be flexible and push myself to get the most out of life.
6. When did you returned to RIT? Did you feel different? If so, how?
It definitely felt different when I returned the first time. I had all these AMAZING expereinces, crazy stories and changed perspectives, but not much had changed with the people back home. Even now, to this day, I relate much more with die hard travelers than others. I find it a good thing though since travelers are often more open to ideas and perspectives.
7. You guys did a lot of independent traveling. Where did you go?
Together we went to these places:
• London, York, Lake District, UK
• Munich & Hamburg, Germany
• Lyon & Paris, France
• Innsbruck, Austria
• Dubai, UAE ( We stayed on the Palm Tree man made Island!
• Mumbai, India
• Maldives
• Athens, Greece
• Bern, Switzerland
• Luxembourg
• Liechtenstein
• Norway
• Milan Rome, Venice, Pisa, Florence & Palermo, Italy
• Barcelona, Spain
• Prague, Czech
• Budapest, Hungary
• Slovakia
• Slovenia
• Poland
• Croatia
• Netherlands
• Belgium
• Sweden
• Vung Tau, Vietnam (Rosie’s Home town)
8. What was your favorite country to visit? Why?
Italy- It had some of the best foods, beautiful weather, and speed of life.
9. What was your favorite memory from your travels?
Making a last minute, 24 hour, out of the way, trip to climb pulpit rock in Norway. It was unplanned, but one of my favorite experiences since it was so beautiful and last minute.
10. What was the most challenging thing you had to overcome during your travels?
When we were traveling, we sometimes missed trains or buses to the next location. The hardest part of the travels was figuring our how to deal with these situations the most fast and safe way.
Ex. A train came to a stop at 2-3AM in a small low-income area in Hungary on our way to the next country. They said we had to get off the train until the next train arrived at 6-7 in the morning. It was raining and very cold, plus we had our big bags on our back. Very few people spoke English or just didn’t want to speak to us at all. We didn’t have wifi or data in this country. So we decided to stay in the train station... Until they kicked us out for "cleaning." We decided to navigate to the closest hotel about a half mile away, trusting a man who spoke very broken English that was hanging outside the train station (We kept our distance and stayed extremely alert). It was one of the scariest nights of my life, but I look back and am proud of how we handled it together. We had to stay calm, aware, and confident that we were going to figure out a way out of that situation. And we did. Now, from all the traveling we have done, I honestly feel like I could go anywhere in the world and figure out how to find somewhere.
11. What say to students to convince them to go abroad?
The way I found out about studying abroad (and general traveling) was from speaking with people who have retired from their careers and/or were nearing the end of their life. Their number one regret was not traveling while they were young. They said once they started working, there was no time for traveling, adventure and newness. That was enough to push me to go when I did.. and it turned out to be the best decision in my life. You end up learning more about yourself in those few months abroad than you ever would have during years of work.
12. What were some challenges to travelling on this type of journey together and what did you learn about each other coming out of it?
Zach- There were times it was challenging since we both had things we wanted to go do and see. We learned to be patient with each other in the hard times and we learned to accommodate in times that we had disagreements on locations we wanted to go to.
I personally felt at some times I had to step up and act like a “tough guy” or be overly aggressive in situations I would usually have not. Like one night we were out late (referring to the train situation in my last response) and there were a ton of drunken people. I tried to step up and act tough so no one would take advantage of us. I had to be flat out rude to some people to make sure hey would leave us alone and know that we were not going to be taken advantage of.
We learned to be free together though, which is what I loved the most. We could change our plans at the drop of a hat to visit another country and it made us have a passion for going out and getting the most out of life. We truly didn’t waste a minute when we were traveling together.
Rosie- For me I was glad that Zach and I got the opportunity to travel together. We really learned new things about each other that we wouldn't know without traveling. For example, I like setting up a list of things I want to see whenever I visit a city and planning out a whole day. For Zach he prefers to relax and go by the flow. At first we didn't really know about this, so when we were in Milan, I found out you could buy tickets to see Da Vinci's original painting "The Last Meal", but it was too late so the tickets were sold out. I was very upset thinking that if Zach planned it ahead, we could have seen the painting. But after that we worked together and rotate who would plan what during our backpacking trip, and it went smoothly. I think we've got our traveling skills down now so it's so much easier for us to plan a trip together.
Other thing I have learned is that how much I enjoy traveling with Zach. I wouldn't be able to do the backpacking trip without him to be honest. During the trip I did a detour to Istanbul, Turkey for 2 days by myself, although it was fun, I didn't enjoy it as much. I think after you've been traveling together like that for so long, you can figure out if that person is the one or not. I think that's one of the reasons why Zach proposed to me a few months after our trip (Zach can correct me if I'm wrong though.
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Hyper IgM syndrome associated with defective CD40-mediated B cell activation.
Recent studies show that most patients with X-linked hyper IgM syndrome have defects in the gene for CD40 ligand. We evaluated 17 unrelated males suspected of having X-linked hyper IgM syndrome. Activated T cells from 13 of the 17 patients failed to bind a soluble CD40 construct. In these patients, the sequence of CD40 ligand demonstrated mutations. By contrast, T cells from the remaining four patients exhibited normal binding to the CD40 construct. Sequencing of the cDNA for CD40 ligand from these patients did not show mutations. The possibility that hyper IgM syndrome in these four patients was due to abnormalities in the B cell response to CD40-mediated signals was examined. Peripheral blood lymphocytes were stimulated with anti-CD40 alone, IL4 alone or anti-CD40 plus IL4. In comparison with B cells from controls or patients with hyper IgM syndrome and mutant CD40 ligand, B cells from the patients with hyper IgM syndrome and normal CD40 ligand were defective in their ability to secrete IgE (P < 0.02) or express activation markers, CD25 and CD23 (P < 0.02) in response to stimulation with anti-CD40. The failure of these B cells to respond to CD40-mediated activation could not be attributed to a generalized deficiency in B cell activation because IL4 induced normal up-regulation of CD23 and CD25 expression. These findings indicate that hyper IgM syndrome may result from defects in expression of CD40 ligand by activated T cells or defects in CD40-mediated signal transduction in B cells.
Buckley, Rebecca Hatcher
Conley, ME; Larché, M; Bonagura, VR; Lawton, AR; Buckley, RH; Fu, SM; Coustan-Smith, E; Herrod, HG; Campana, D
10.1172/JCI117476
Antigens, CD40
Antigens, Differentiation, B-Lymphocyte
CD40 Ligand
DNA Mutational Analysis
Hypergammaglobulinemia
Immunoglobulin E
Immunoglobulin M
Receptors, IgE
Receptors, Interleukin-2
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Optical Imaging of a Tactile Illusion in Area 3b of the Primary Somatosensory Cortex
Li M. Chen1,
Robert M. Friedman2,
Anna W. Roe1,*,†
1 Department of Neurobiology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06520, USA.
2 Department of Anesthesiology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06520, USA.
↵* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: anna.roe{at}vanderbilt.edu
↵† Present address: Department of Psychology, Vanderbilt University, 066 Wilson Hall, 111 21st Avenue South, Nashville, TN 37203, USA.
Science 31 Oct 2003:
Li M. Chen
Department of Neurobiology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06520, USA.
Robert M. Friedman
Department of Anesthesiology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06520, USA.
Anna W. Roe
For correspondence: anna.roe@vanderbilt.edu
vol. 302 no. 5646 881-885
https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1087846
American Association for the Advancement of Science
Received for publication June 10, 2003
Accepted for publication August 27, 2003
Previous version (September 18, 2003 - 11:03).
Article usage: October 2003 to July 2019
Oct 2003 386 160 303
Nov 2003 397 384 435
Dec 2003 80 200 111
Jan 2004 66 110 90
Aug 2004 40 102 38
Dec 2004 30 55 21
Apr 2005 6 22 14
Oct 2005 24 115 23
Dec 2005 7 22 5
Apr 2008 16 14 9
May 2008 24 6 13
Jul 2008 22 9 10
Sep 2008 21 8 12
Nov 2008 34 9 21
Jan 2010 12 9 11
Mar 2012 49 4 10
Apr 2012 60 5 13
Dec 2016 8 0 0
Mar 2018 32 16 6
You are going to email the following Optical Imaging of a Tactile Illusion in Area 3b of the Primary Somatosensory Cortex
By Li M. Chen, Robert M. Friedman, Anna W. Roe
Science 31 Oct 2003 : 881-885
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Why was the entrance to the Stone's dungeon hideout located on the third floor?
I've been reading the Harry Potter books for years and there's something I noticed the other day which I can't believe I hadn't spotted before.
The Philosopher's Stone is hidden in some dungeons beneath Hogwarts. This is confirmed by Dumbledore.
"What happened down in the dungeons between you and Professor Quirrell is a complete secret, so, naturally, the whole school knows."
(Philosopher's Stone, Chapter 17, The Man With Two Faces).
Hermione also comments on how far the drop is after they fall through the trap door.
"We must be miles under the school," she said.
(Philosopher's Stone, Chapter 16, Through the Trapdoor).
So the Stone is kept in the dungeons. But the entrance is on the third floor. How does that make any sense?
The fall from the trapdoor is clearly not meant to kill or harm the intruder. So why not have the entrance in the dungeons themselves - or at least on the ground floor?
Surely that means a lot of architectural effort in rejigging Hogwarts. Harry, Hermione and Ron start off on the third floor and end up falling through the second, first and ground floors. Did they have to insert this chute into the middle of their ancient castle? Was it there by design? Or are we to suppose that this huge funnel running through the core of the building and a series of connected underground chambers were part of Hogwarts all along? It's a happy accident, if so.
harry-potter hogwarts philosophers-stone
TimSparrow
The Dark LordThe Dark Lord
Someone going down into the dungeons and disappearing for a long while would be suspicious, someone just casually cruising through the third floor would go virtually unnoticed. (I dunno, hair-brain theory) – Edlothiad Sep 21 '17 at 8:11
The nature of Hogwarts castle is that it is always shifting and changing. What was there by design could change by magic later. It might be that the only way to that part of the dungeon was through the trapdoor on the third floor. – TimSparrow Sep 21 '17 at 8:44
It's funny: you mentioned a "huge funnel" and I immediately pictured Chamber of Secrets and the chute from Myrtle's bathroom to the nether regions of the castle. Wasn't that bathroom on the 2nd or 3rd floor? – scott Sep 21 '17 at 17:23
The dungeons seems like the kind of place you would hide something. Putting the entrance somewhere else adds just a little to the complexity of finding the stone. – Blackwood Sep 29 '17 at 12:47
We don't really know as it is not stated in the books. But here is my educated guess: We learn from Chamber of Secrets, that there are hidden places within Hogwarts that are only accessible from certain places. I don't think it is unlikely that there are more hidden places like that.
Take the Room of Requirements as an example: Its entry is in the seventh floor and still there is a secret passage to Hogsmeade...
I think that the dungeons had been there forever and they happened to be accessible from that trapdoor on the third floor.
Their single -hidden- entrance makes them predestined for the task of hiding the Philosophers Stone.
So I guess: They did not build the place to hide the stone originally but rather chose the best place they had and made it even harder to access with their traps / spells.
Edlothiad
Torsten LinkTorsten Link
The Room of Requirement created the tunnel through to the Hog's Head because Neville wanted it to, though. It was part of the Room's magic. Other parts of Hogwarts don't work the same way so I'm not sure you can use it as a parallel. – The Dark Lord Sep 21 '17 at 19:34
I don't think rearranging Hogwarts would be such a hard task, given that the castle is able to rearrange itself (for example staircases are reportet to lead to different places at different times). I coul imagine the headmaster having some control over it.
That leaves the question why they decided to do so. Well, I can see three main advantages of the 3rd floor vs. the dungeons:
It's in a more populated part of the castle, so breaking in is more likely to raise suspicion. The dungeons are mostly used for potions classes, Snapes office, the Slytherin common room and that's it. The 3rd floor is home to classrooms and would be regularly crossed by students from differnt houses on their way to class (Slytherins and Hufflepuffs for classes >2nd floor, Gryffindors and Ravenclaws for classes in the grounds or <4th floor).
Most teachers offices aren't in the dungeons. More teacher offices and more classrooms nearby means higher chances of a teacher present should something happen.
You also have to consider the houses: Would a Slytherin report another Slytherin, schould they try to break in? Propably not, all they'll have to gain is loosing points for their own house. Would they report a Gryffindor? Sure! Why is that important? The third floor is pretty much the middle ground between the houses, Gryffindor and Ravenclaw being located in towers, Hufflepuff near the kitchens (so below ground level), Slytherin somewhat deeper in the dungeons - house loyality impact on reporting of suspicious behavior is minimized.
d_hippod_hippo
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Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged harry-potter hogwarts philosophers-stone or ask your own question.
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Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince: Why was Tonks on the 7th floor corridor in Hogwarts?
Why did Harry and Hermione arrive in the Entrance Hall after having used the Time-Turner in the hospital wing?
Did Snape know that Quirrell was possessed in The Philosopher's Stone?
If Harry finished the potion, how could Dumbledore get past the black flames?
How could Ron and Hermione meet Dumbledore in the Entrance Hall?
Was the Sorcerer's Stone already in the Mirror of Erised when the Mirror was moved in the third-floor corridor?
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Talking Taboos #Porn
June 9, 2015 by She Speaks We Hear 5 Comments
by Sabrina Mahmood
‘Hot Girls Wanted’ promotional poster
Yep. You heard it. It’s time we all stopped blushing and avoiding the hugely important topic of porn. By chance I came across a documentary called ‘Hot Girls Wanted’ about how young women (aged 18/19/20) break into the amateur porn industry in America. It was scary but gave an insight into the mindset of some of the young women who wanted to ‘make it’, have ‘freedom away from home’ and ‘make money’. It’s a perfectly normal aspiration to want to be successful and to be known for something, and everybody is entitled to their own lifestyle choices. Let’s be totally honest, porn is never going to be eradicated, especially not in the digital age that we live in.
However, our approach to it needs to change. If we look at the girls in the documentary, they were looking for jobs through an online advertising site called ‘Craigslist’. The advert was entitled ‘Hot Girls Wanted’ and immediately drew their attention to a ‘new life in the city’. After a quick search on Google myself, I found the UK ‘Craigslist’ and went to the TV/film/radio section where the adverts, as in the documentary, are centred on adult film work. One push of the button and it is so easy to source work like this. Imagine young and vulnerable people who are looking to ‘make it big’ and they find adverts like this. Where are the regulations to safeguard people from exposure to these adverts and similar content? Surely if people wanted to find adult work, it should be posted within specific adult sites or adult job search engines, rather than the wider search engines.
“Where are the regulations to safeguard people from exposure to these adverts and similar content?”
To break down some of the key issues from the documentary, one of the first things I noticed is that the young women believe sex is just a part of modern society and no longer has any value or meaning. And that’s where sex education comes, our children are taught about the mechanics of sex and porn, but not the principles and values. If as a society we are so adamant for them to learn, let’s at least teach them the crucial things. When did we actually ever learn about the mechanics of a healthy and normal relationship both emotionally and physically? And the emotional connection between a couple or the huge amount of trust and respect involved? When did we have an understanding of a woman’s role in porn and subsequently a woman’s role in society? If we aren’t taught about respect, and if we aren’t shown it, we will never learn it or have it.
One of the young women was subjected to ‘facial abuse’ porn which uses sexual humiliation of the partner and physical violence towards them during sexual acts and involves forcing them to vomit. She said that ‘acting’ in scenes like this were ‘harmless’ as people were watching it on their screens rather than committing the acts in person. In the UK crime and statistics release from 2013/2014, the number of sexual offences recorded was ‘highest recorded’ in over ten years (64,205) http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/crime-stats/crime-statistics/focus-on-violent-crime-and-sexual-offences–2013-14/index.html.
Image credit: http://media.salon.com/2013/11/woman_shame.jpg
“One of the young women was subjected to ‘facial abuse’ porn which uses sexual humiliation of the partner and physical violence towards them during sexual acts and involves forcing them to vomit.”
So, evidence shows otherwise, when young people consume these violent and graphic portrayals of ‘normal’ sex, there is a greater chance of replicating the violence they have seen. In the Prevent Together report on impact of pornography on youth, results from meta-analysis show that there is a “significant overall relationship between pornography consumption and attitudes supporting violence against women”. And all of this is available freely by typing the word ‘porn’ into Google.
A hugely concerning issue raised in the documentary was the lack of protection for the women in terms of contraception and sexual health. Without the use of condoms, the risk of sexually transmitted diseases including HIV/AIDS is significantly high. The young women in no way were warned of the dangers associated with their sex work and they were led to feel a false sense of security in the routine fortnightly testing for STIs. As with any job, health and safety issues should always be prioritised and there should be safeguarding protocols in place to allow these women sufficient training and education to understand the great risks they are face whilst performing sexual acts. As a society we have an obligation to protect our vulnerable women and girls regardless of the choices they make. Sadly they are often misinformed or coerced as shown in the documentary.
Some of the women discussed having breast enlargement as they also felt it was more desirable in the industry. On the other hand the documentary states that the word ‘teen’ is the most common one used in porn searches. So there are two main desirable pornographic ideals, a young under-developed female, and a woman with big breasts and a curvy figure. Both of these images cannot relate to real life women, who all vary in shape and size. When the viewers of porn are looking for gratification in these images, they become disillusioned with real life women and therefore real life sex. And isn’t it a horrific thought that grown men are increasingly looking to watch porn that involves young females?
It’s time we muster up the courage to speak up about the issues surrounding violence against women and girls every day. We need to be brave enough to challenge the abuse our young people endure in a culture created to view porn as a norm. We must give appropriate and relevant sex education to our young people before they start seeking answers themselves on the all too familiar Google search box.
Image credits: ‘Hot Girls Wanted’ promotional poster; ‘Sex Education’;‘Girl with heads in hands’
Categories: Film, Pornography, Sex Education, Violence against women and girls | Tags: porn, pornography, sex education, VAWG | Permalink.
5 thoughts on “Talking Taboos #Porn”
sabrina01m
Reblogged this on theinternaldebate.
abiharashid1993
I agree Sabrina, women should not feel the need to let themselves be endured into something so sexual and inappropriate without knowing the full extent, that can in fact lead to damaging consequences. But you need to remember, as much as these women are exposed to these kinds of ads, they eventually choose to fall into the trap with open arms. Sex has never been painted in a pretty picture and we do get taught sec education, but the amount of which it is consumed is similar to anything else at that age – it’s not! It’s really good to see you raise this as an issue in the modern era but how much attention this will get remains a question! With the media the way it is sexualising women and girls in music videos , and through newspapers and magazines it is no wonder that the porn industry is so big! But who is really going to make them see the truth of the disgusting lie they are actually living?
ChristalBlogs
We really need to break down taboos and have open, honest and respectful discussions about these subjects. Brushing them under the carpet only perpetuates the problem as with anything. Great article!
Very true Christal! How do you think we can break down those taboos?
The main way would be to talk more. Sex and Islam is such a taboo subject in general and it shouldnt be, I feel like we’re misleading our children and directing them to other unattainable false ideas of beauty and sexuality that are equally as harmful
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Seurat, Georges — 1859-1891
Artists — Biography
Modernism (Art)
Georges Seurat [electronic resource]
In 1886, at the last Impressionist Exhibition in Paris, an unknown painter, Georges Seurat, exhibited a large canvas which caused a scandal for its technical daring and lack of concern for the accepted conventions of painting. A multitude of small dots created an astonishing light, and "pointillism" was born. In this program, video graphics are used to focus on key elements of Seurat's A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte and to analyze its structure and composition.
Encoded with permission for digital streaming by Films Media Group on October 18, 2013.
Films on Demand is distributed by Films Media Group for Films for the Humanities & Sciences, Cambridge Educational, Meridian Education, and Shopware.
Palettes: Great Artists and Their Paintings
Palettes (Film for the Humanities (Firm))
A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte (2:08)
Seurat's Perseverance (1:38)
Summer of 1884 (1:28)
Drawings Conceived in Paint (2:25)
Painting in Stages (0:46)
Composition (1:51)
Capturing Tint Facets (2:37)
Reworking "A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte" (3:35)
Implementing Frames (1:40)
Impression of Depth (3:35)
Mixed Reviews (1:38)
Analogy of Opposites and Likenesses (3:32)
Painter of the Edge (2:17)
Credits: Georges Seurat (1:21)
New York, N.Y. : Films Media Group, [2013], c1991.
7783s Films Media Group
7795 Films Media Group
Access requires authentication through Films on Demand.
1 streaming video file (32 min.) : sd., col.
System requirements: FOD playback platform.
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a| 7795 b| Films Media Group
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a| AzPhAEM
a| eng
a| Georges Seurat h| [electronic resource] / c| ARTE France.
a| New York, N.Y. : b| Films Media Group, c| [2013], c1991.
a| 1 streaming video file (32 min.) : b| sd., col.
a| Palettes: Great Artists and Their Paintings
a| Encoded with permission for digital streaming by Films Media Group on October 18, 2013.
a| Films on Demand is distributed by Films Media Group for Films for the Humanities & Sciences, Cambridge Educational, Meridian Education, and Shopware.
a| A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte (2:08) -- Seurat's Perseverance (1:38) -- Summer of 1884 (1:28) -- Drawings Conceived in Paint (2:25) -- Painting in Stages (0:46) -- Composition (1:51) -- Capturing Tint Facets (2:37) -- Reworking "A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte" (3:35) -- Implementing Frames (1:40) -- Impression of Depth (3:35) -- Mixed Reviews (1:38) -- Analogy of Opposites and Likenesses (3:32) -- Painter of the Edge (2:17) -- Credits: Georges Seurat (1:21)
a| Access requires authentication through Films on Demand.
a| In 1886, at the last Impressionist Exhibition in Paris, an unknown painter, Georges Seurat, exhibited a large canvas which caused a scandal for its technical daring and lack of concern for the accepted conventions of painting. A multitude of small dots created an astonishing light, and "pointillism" was born. In this program, video graphics are used to focus on key elements of Seurat's A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte and to analyze its structure and composition.
a| 12 & up.
a| System requirements: FOD playback platform.
a| Seurat, Georges, d| 1859-1891.
a| Artists v| Biography.
a| Modernism (Art)
a| Educational films.
a| Internet videos.
a| Videorecording. 2| local
a| Films for the Humanities & Sciences (Firm)
a| Films Media Group.
i| Originally produced: d| ARTE France, 1991.
a| Palettes (Film for the Humanities (Firm))
z| Part of the Films on Demand collection. u| http://proxy01.its.virginia.edu/login?url=http://digital.films.com/PortalPlaylists.aspx?aid=29178&xtid=7795
Part of the Films on Demand collection.
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MAIN AND REGENT STREET CHANGES
Date: August 3, 2016Author: slcecondev 0 Comments
“Make no little plans; they have no magic to stir men’s blood.” – Daniel Burnham
Identified as a need more than 50 years ago, the development of a large theater to accommodate high-quality touring productions finally gained traction in 2005, with a triumphant grand opening set for October 2016. Originally conceived as a stand-alone project, Salt Lake City viewed a new performing arts center downtown as a catalytic development that would spur private investment nearby. What City residents ended up with is much, much more.
The changes coming along Main & Regent Streets represents a visionary transformation of a pivotal part of Salt Lake City’s downtown into a vibrant entertainment district that grew out of a unique partnership to develop a new publicly funded civic theater and adjoining privately funded office tower. These projects quickly grew to include the reimagining of Regent Street, a narrow and neglected secondary road, from a potential future as a service alley into a lively row of restaurants, shops, and performance spaces linking the City Creek shopping center to the north with the Gallivan Center public plaza to the south. A new art-lined pedestrian walkway now connects Regent Street with Main Street, replacing a narrow, run-down building with an inviting connection into the center of the vibrant new entertainment zone.
The changes are coming soon with new buildings, attractions and infrastructure improvements to open in October 2016! Included in these changes are:
George and Dolores Doré Eccles Theater
148,000-sq. ft., 2,500-seat performing arts center with support spaces
Annex space on Regent Street with potential use for retail, studio/black box, rehearsal space, classrooms, offices and storage
A mid-block walkway connecting Main Street and Regent Street
Use of approximately 650 parking stalls in the Regent Street parking garage
Generous lobby and other public areas
Convenient stage-level loading
Proximate mixed-use amenities (e.g., restaurants, retail, hotels)
111 Main office tower
450,000 sq.-ft., 20- to 25-story state-of-the-art, iconic, office building, targeting at a minimum LEED® certification for shell and core
Scale and scope complementary to theater and adjacent City Creek Center
Parking, access, functionality and design integrated with theater from foundation through the façade
Overall project design will appropriately bridge the gap between City Creek and the rest of downtown
Office building will drive daytime pedestrian traffic and provide theater audiences at night
Development represents a significant private investment in downtown
Regent Street transformation
“Festival” street improvements – covered walkways and pedestrian amenities
Multi-use plaza
Cantilevered, “transparent” black box theater
Regent Street garage
Aesthetically pleasing “re-skinning” of structure
10,000 square feet of street-level retail to activate Regent Street
Parking for 1,000 cars serves 111 Main, theater and other businesses, attractions
Mid-block walkway to connect Main & Regent
Secure, lighted, art-lined walkway
Adds easy access to parking for Main Street businesses
Allows inviting sightlines from Main into the center of the block
Thanks to the our private sector partners, Mayor Biskupski, the Salt Lake City Council, the RDA Board and special thanks to Justin Belliveau and the entire team of the Redevelopment Agency of Salt Lake City (RDA) for having the vision and tenacity to bring this project together. This is one of many outstanding efforts happening in the City. Come be a part of the excitement!
Published by slcecondev
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Next Next post: ARTISTS OF UTAH’S 35×35 EXHIBITION RETURNS TO FINCH LANE GALLERY
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See More info here: http://www.kellogg.ox.ac.uk/life/sport/
Taking part in any form of physical activity or recreational pursuit not only improves your fitness but also enhances your general well-being. Research shows that exercise can boost your self-esteem and improve sleep quality and energy levels, as well as helping to reduce any feelings of stress. It is also a great way to meet people and make friends.
Whether you want to compete at the highest level or try out something new, be part of a team or exercise at your own pace, there is something for you at Oxford. Click for an A to Z of Sports Clubs at Oxford.
Sport at Kellogg College
In addition to University-wide activities, the College also offers a range of opportunities just for Kellogg members.
Kellogg has obtained membership of the gym at the University Sports Centre on Iffley Road, which means you can enjoy free access. Before using it, you must first complete a membership form at the gym reception. Please remember to take your University card when registering, and be aware that there may be queues at reception in the first couple of weeks of term. Once you have been registered, you will be able to access the gym on showing your card.
There is also The Oxford University Club, which is a sport and social club for staff, postgraduate students and alumni. Membership is free for staff and postgraduate students. If you would like to join the Club’s gym, which offers a schedule of exercise classes, at the time of writing this costs £65 per year. For more information, including how to join, please visit www.club.ox.ac.uk.
Kellogg students participate in a wide range of individual and team disciplines. Kellogg has its own football team, which plays matches in the MCR league on Saturday mornings during Michaelmas and Hilary terms. Kellogg students also participate in intercollegiate cuppers tournaments. As a Kellogg student you will have additional opportunities to take part in yoga, join a squash ladder, and play in tennis and volleyball teams. Kellogg also has a punt that members can book free of charge during the summer punting season. It’s ideal for outings and picnics on those long sunny days. Another popular summer pastime is croquet. Ask at Reception to use the MCR croquet set.
Kellogg is particularly strong in the area of rowing. We are proud to have had no fewer than three Kellogg rowers at Rio 2016. Alumnus Paul Bennett (2013) and student Grace Clough both won gold medals for Team GB and were recognised with MBEs, while alumnus Charlie Cole (2008) came seventh in the US Men’s coxless four rowing team. Their success is echoed by other Kellogg students: as can be seen from this report on the 2017 summer races, the combined Christ Church / Kellogg M1 team were Head of the River. W1 weren’t far behind, coming third overall. Whether you want to compete in the Boat Race or simply try out the sport that is so typical of Oxford, there are plenty of opportunities. We have a close affiliation with Christ Church Boat Club providing Kellogg students (men and women) with the opportunity to row during your time at Oxford, whether you are a beginner or an experienced rower. Kellogg students row in the Christ Church boats for inter-collegiate competitions but if you are chosen to row in the University boat you will be listed as representing Kellogg College.
Grace Clough, MBE, rower and Kellogg student. Grace won gold at the 2016 Rio Paralympics.
Kellogg College Rowing Society is an informal and friendly group, meeting regularly for land-training sessions on rowing ergometers as well as weight circuits. The society is for all abilities and fitness levels including those who want to start rowing during their time at Oxford, but do not know where to start. The aim of the society is to have fun and get fit. Experienced rowers will lead the training sessions aiming to develop the skills and fitness of all participants. For further information, contact Jeremy Howick.
We were also delighted that Kellogg alumnus Tom Mitchell (2011) won a silver medal in rugby sevens at the Rio Olympics.
We offer financial support to students for membership of University sports teams and funding for sports equipment purchases for their own use.
To find out more about sport at Kellogg College, including information about Kellogg team sports and access to sporting facilities, please email the Kellogg Sports Committee at sports@kellogg.ox.ac.uk. You might also like to take a look at the Hilary 2017 Kellogg College News for a flavour of the varied sporting pursuits enjoyed by Kellogg students.
Nintendo Switch: New model announced with vastly improved battery life
It’s Amazon’s Prime Day but other big retailers also benefit 17/07/2019
Data shows that retailers like Walmart and Best Buy also saw a spike from Amazon Prime Day.
Metals Stocks: Gold loses some luster, two-day skid seen 17/07/2019
Gold looked headed for its second straight decline early Wednesday, with traders pointing to an uptrend for the U.S. dollar and some doubts about the magnitude of Fed interest rate cuts as a drag on appetite for bullion.
Bond Report: Treasury yields slide after Trump casts doubt on trade deal 17/07/2019
Treasury yields fall Wednesday after as fears Trump will not reach China trade deal resurface, weighing on equities, stoking appetite for government bonds.
With U.S. stimulus fading, Fed can’t ignore stagnant global growth, Morgan Stanley argues 17/07/2019
As the Federal Reserve gets set to cut interest rates, one question that keeps popping up is why the central bank feels a need to act, given the underpinning of a strong domestic jobs market.
London Markets: London markets fail to gain from falling pound as Trump reignites trade war fears 17/07/2019
London markets drifted lower as the pound continued its descent and fresh trade war fears hit the FTSE 100.
Three fund managers may one day control nearly half of all company voting shares, researchers warn 17/07/2019
Index funds managed by three firms will soon control more than one-third of all corporate voting shares, according to a research paper.
Room and board costs have gone up so much that these students drive 3 hours to attend college 17/07/2019
The Wall Street Journal: Amazon probed in Europe over third-party selling 17/07/2019
Amazon.com Inc. will face a formal European Union antitrust investigation into its dealings with third-party merchants, expanding a multipronged regulatory push that has ensnared other big Silicon Valley giants like Facebook Inc. and Alphabet Inc.’s Google.
U.S. stocks are poised to open slightly higher on Wednesday, a day after markets retreated from record territory following comments from President Donald Trump on the lack of progress between Beijing and Washington in a long-running tariff dispute.
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Ardennes Fury
As the Battle of the Bulge rages on, an American tank unit gets trapped behind Nazi lines. With just hours before the bombs of Operation Ardennes Fury fall, the tank’s commander makes the risky decision to rescue an orphanage.
Genre : Action, War
Actors : Analiese Anderson, Bill Voorhees, Elvin Manges, Eric C. Schmitz, Kyle Golden, Larry Gamell Jr., Lauren Vera, Tino Struckmann, Tom Stedham, Trey Hough, Yaron Urbas
Director : Joseph J. Lawson
Keywords: Battle of the Ardennes: Fury
Slastan, a Karadjistan man, is willing to blow himself up aboard a Moscow plane bound for Madrid, but his plan is complicated when, due to a snowstorm, the flight is delayed. Staying in a hotel, the terrorist will have to live with the 332 people who he will kill until the storm ceases, which prevents him from continuing his mission. Slastan knows, speaks and relates to his future victims and begins to wonder if suicide and ending the lives of all these innocent people is really right.
Genre: Action, Comedy, Drama
1st to Die
A homicide inspector — Lindsay Boxer — who teams with three other professional women to catch an ingenious serial killer targeting newlyweds on their wedding nights.
Jason Thunder: Legends
Jason Thunder has retired and left the safety of the world in the hands of Honest John, and former partner Felix. When word is out that Harvey Bone is still alive, Jason must return to form and fight side by side with old friends to defeat the evil that is taking over.
The Cage Fighter
A blue-collar family man breaks the promise he’d made to never fight again. Now forty years old, with a wife and four children who need him, Joe Carman risks everything to go back into the fighting cage and come to terms with his past.
Genre: Action, Documentary, Drama
The Powerpuff Girls Movie
The Powerpuff Girls Movie tells the origin story of how the Powerpuff Girls were created and how they came to be the defenders of Townsville. It was the first Hanna-Barbera/Cartoon Network Studios theatrical feature film since 1993’s Once Upon a Forest, and is the only film based on a Cartoon Network series to be released theatrically.
The film “Amen.” examines the links between the Vatican and Nazi Germany. The central character is Kurt Gerstein, a member of the Institute for Hygiene of the Waffen-SS who is horrified by what he sees in the death camps. Moreover, he is shocked to learn that the process he used to purify water for his troops, by using zyklon, served as a basis to kill people in gas chambers.
Country: France, Germany, Romania
Genre: Biography, Crime, Drama, War
December 1942. Two young soldiers leave their posts at checkpoint 83 in North Värmland, Sweden and make their way through the ice cold winter night towards the Nazi-occupied Norwegian border. Sweden stands on the brink of invasion and they want to see the enemy everybody’s talking about. But the adventure ends in disaster and soon thereafter Lieutenant Aron Stenström finds out that his brother Sven is one of the missing soldiers. With the odds stacked against him he is forced to go behind enemy lines on a secret rescue mission. Deep inside the Norwegian forests Aron realizes that a completely different kind of line must be crossed if they’re to come out alive.
Belleville Cop
When a childhood friend from Miami gets killed after he comes to warn of encroaching drug gangs, Baaba moves to Miami and teams up with a local officer to bring down the criminals.
Bhikari
An unfortunate event in Samrat’s life puts him in a situation where he has to make a choice. A choice that very few will ever make. A choice to try and get back his mother’s life.
Genre: Action, Drama, Family
A family man who turns out to be a retired mob enforcer must travel across the country to find his daughter who has gone missing.
Country: UK, United States of America, USA
The ongoing war between the canine and feline species is put on hold when they join forces to thwart a rogue cat spy with her own sinister plans for conquest.
Country: Australia, United States of America, USA
Genre: Action, Comedy, Family, Fantasy
The Youth
This omnibus film takes a unique approach to the experience of youngsters.
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A single mum receives an anonymous text message, claiming her new boyfriend is having an inappropriate relationship with her 11 year old daughter. Over one weekend the accusation fractures the relationship between the couple.
Actors : Abigail Wisdom, Anil Desai, Indira Varma, Jordan Whyte, Kate Ashfield, Lucas Bond, Lucinda Holloway, Luke Treadaway, Neil Maskell, Nina Sorrentino, Will Thorp
Director : David Nath
Country : UK, United Kingdom
Keywords: The Truth
Beyond Outrage
As the police launch a full-scale crackdown on organized crime, it ignites a national yakuza struggle between the Sanno of the East and Hanabishi of the West. What started as an internal strife in Outrage has now become a nationwide war in Outrage Beyond.
Damian Wayne is having a hard time coping with his father’s “no killing” rule. Meanwhile, Gotham is going through hell with threats such as the insane Dollmaker, and the secretive Court of Owls.
Genre: Action, Adventure, Animation, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Hypnotist uses his powers for revenge against King Louis XV’s court.
Country: Italy, United States of America, USA
Genre: Drama, Mystery, Romance
Vada Sultenfuss is obsessed with death. Her mother is dead, and her father runs a funeral parlor. She is also in love with her English teacher, and joins a poetry class over the summer just to impress him. Thomas J., her best friend, is “allergic to everything”, and sticks with Vada despite her hangups. When Vada’s father hires Shelly, and begins to fall for her, things take a turn to the worse…
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Family, Romance
Exit in Red
Ed Altman is a psychiatrist who relocates to Palm Springs, Calif., in order to avoid a lawsuit. However, he happens to wander directly into more trouble when he begins an affair with the rich and beautiful Ally Mercer (Annabel Schofield), who has her own reasons for becoming involved with Ed. Soon Ally’s other lover, the volatile Nick, is caught in the intrigue, which results in murder, betrayal and numerous shady dealings.
Transatlantic Coffee
Inspired by a true story, ‘Transatlantic Coffee’ is a tale of boy meets girl, boy falls in love with girl …only the boy is a 41 year old clown, the girl, a teenage stripper from London. Alex is battling bleak circumstances within his version of a hostile world. However, his outlook evolves with the emergence of the young, sharp and adventurous, Mandie. The oddball duo embrace each other for who they are, until Alex’s secret trauma bubbles to the surface, leaving for a climax that should not be missed.
Dirty Dead Con Men
A cool and dangerous neo-noir crime film that revolves around the disturbed lives of two unlikely partners: Mickey Rady, a rogue undercover cop and Kook Packard, a smooth and charismatic con man. Together they rip off those operating outside of the law…for their own personal gain. But things go awry when one heist suck them deep into a city-wide conspiracy…
Life on the Line
A crew of men who do the high-wire work of fixing the electrical grid are hit by a sudden deadly storm.
Toad’s Oil
The Yazawa family consists of the father Takuro (Koji Yakusho) – who is always busy day trading, charming wife Erumi (Satomi Kobayashi), and teenage son Tetsuya (Eita) – who dreams of becoming an astronaut. The family is also joined by Saburo Akiba (Junichi Sawayashiki), a good-natured teen recently released from a juvenile corrections facility. Then one day Tetsuya falls into a coma from a car accident. A chain of events is set to occur set-off by the father taking a phone call from an unsuspecting girl named Hikari. The father pretends to be his son Tokuya…
October Kiss
Poppy Summerall is hired near Halloween as a temporary nanny by Ryan Lawson, a widowed, work-obsessed executive. Through a series of adventures, the eternally optimistic Poppy sets out to teach Ryan and his two young children what is important in life – unconditional love, family and the joy of everyday occurrences. Poppy and Ryan soon find they are drawn to each other. Could it become more than temporary?
Antoine has agreed to follow a writing workshop where some young people in insertion must write a black novel with the help of Olivia, a recognized novelist. The work of writing will bring to life the working-class past of the city. Its shipyard is closed for 25 years, a nostalgia that does not interest Antoine, influenced by the anxiety of the present world
Scream Girls
According to an urban legend, a girl named Hikiko Mori was taunted and bullied relentlessly by her classmates, eventually resulting in her accidental death. Holding a grudge against all bullies, her spirit now haunts her former school, slowly gathering the strength to exact vengeance on the living. A group of frightened school girls decide to investigate the rumors further and what they find convinces them that they have to stop the spirit of Hikiko-san before it’s too late.
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HomeNDTVPunjab Police On Alert After Input On JeM Terrorists Moving Towards Delhi
Punjab Police On Alert After Input On JeM Terrorists Moving Towards Delhi
By admin 15th November 2018 NDTV 0 Comments
The Punjab Police is on alert after its counter-intelligence wing today informed that six to seven Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) terrorists are “planning to move towards Delhi” from the state.
The police commissioners and district police chiefs have been put on alert following the input, according to a letter issued by the Punjab Inspector General of Police (Counter Intelligence) office.
The letter stated that “according to an input, a group of 6-7 JeM terrorists are reportedly in Punjab, India (possibly in Ferozepur area) and are planning to move towards Delhi from Punjab side.”
The letter has been sent to all police officials in Punjab. They have been asked to set up checkpoints at all important routes, conduct strict vehicle inspection and take suitable counter measures for all sensitive locations, it stated.
The letter stated that police areas along the India-Pakistan border have been asked to coordinate with the Border Security Force (BSF).
The officers have been advised to plan and implement precautionary measures to thwart any untoward incident, it said.
https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/punjab-police-on-alert-after-input-on-jem-terrorists-moving-towards-delhi-1948192
Tamil Nadu Boy, 7, Allegedly Sold Off By Father For Rs 20,000; Rescued
Donald Trump’s Nomination For Nobel Peace Prize Possibly A Fake
Gujarat Seeks Time From Court Over Documents On Hardik Patel Rioting Case
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DjPatrickM
Originally from Buenos Aires, Argentina, Patrick M’s name has become synonymous with the Miami music scene. Patrick has made a name for himself reaching different audiences and demographics across the globe through his ingenious beats, original productions and charismatic performances. With his unique , deep-funky house music style, Patrick M was part of a select group of DJs that helped pave the way for house music in Argentina. In 2003, Patrick arrived at was to become his home away from home: Miami Beach. Ready to conquer the international market, Miami’s dynamic club scene ensured Patrick’s success. He joined forces with Chopin Hagen, a Buenos Aires based music store, and helped introduce the Grooveman Music concept to the world. The store quickly gained prominence and became the leading dance and dirty house music supplier for South Florida. His numerous collaborations and original beats helped brand him as part of the “Miami Sound” by many Miami resident DJs and producers, including Oscar G, Robbie Rivera and Ralph Falcon. Ceaseless bookings in Miami’s hotspots such as Crobar and Nikki Beach allowed Patrick to become the notorious dance music producer and DJ we know today. His residencies in such venues infiltrated his music, reflecting Miami’s vivacious energy. Collaborations and close friendships with DJs like Chus, Erick Morillo, Danny Tenaglia, Eric Prydz, Pete Tong, Roger Sanchez,, Behrouz, and Yousef have led to legendary on-deck team-ups, delivering mind-blowing performances to audiences across the globe. In 2005, Patrick’s talent landed him a spot at Creamfields dance music festival where he performed in front of 45,000 enthusiasts, and delivered a performance to be remembered. Shortly after, Patrick M became The Terrace Resident DJ at the legendary SPACE MIAMI, where he has become known for his unforgettable marathon sets. Just recently, Patrick M wrapped up his 2011 world tour. Ibiza, Madrid, Bilbao, Roma, Tunisia, Tel Aviv, Tokyo, Portugal and multiple stops in both North and South America were just some of the locations where Patrick dispersed his infectious beats. Soon to celebrate his 2 years with record label Stereo Productions, one of the most respected and coveted record labels in the industry, Patrick M shows no signs of slowing down. With his talents on the decks and in the studio, it seems there is nothing Patrick M can’t do
DjPatrickM’s tracks
Patrick M Guest Dj Mix_Circo Negro Radio Show_FREE DOWNLOAD by DjPatrickM
PATRICK M LA HAVANA Analog Master by DjPatrickM
**FREE DOWNLOAD** _ PATRICK M AT MAXIMA FM RADIO SHOW by DjPatrickM
Patrick - M-Live - At - Treehouse - Proper - House - Music by DjPatrickM
PATRICK M -ROB MORE PLASMA by DjPatrickM
Patrick M_Rob More - Disko by DjPatrickM
PATRICK M - ROB MORE -INTO THE CLUB by DjPatrickM
PATRICK M LIVE At Xima Records Private Yacht Party MMW 18' by DjPatrickM
Patrick M & Rob More - Level Up mp3 (Original Mix) by DjPatrickM
DJ Wady, Patrick M, Dvit Bousa - Torias (Original Mix) by DjPatrickM
DjPatrickM's likes
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DjPatrickM's tracks
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‘THE EU COPYRIGHT DIRECTIVE CREATES A FAIRER PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN CREATORS AND BIG TECH.’
by Spanish Point - Apr 4, 2019
The following blog comes from Gadi Oron (pictured), Director General of CISAC (the International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers), CISAC – the International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers. With 239 member societies in 122 countries, CISAC represents over 4 million creators from all geographic regions and artistic repertoires including music, audiovisual, drama, literature and visual art.
Last week’s adoption of the EU Copyright Directive by the European Parliament lifts a cloud that has been hanging over creators, and creative industries for many years.
For years, creators have watched the growth of global digital platforms using their works, dictating the terms, accumulating vast revenues and paying them next to nothing in return. Now, with the directive, policy makers have helped rebalance the market place.
Yet despite the controversy around the debate, the new directive does not have to be about winners and losers; it is really about bringing more fairness to the symbiotic partnership between big tech and the creative community.
The internet has transformed since international copyright rules were last laid down for the digital world two decades ago. YouTube, Facebook and today’s other global tech giants, did not even exist. Updated laws have been overdue, helping to restore the imbalance that has developed between the power of those tech giants on hand, and the rights of creators on the other.
The directive achieves that. It adjusts existing copyright rules to today’s digital landscape. It crafts a fairer environment, achieved by securing a more balanced negotiating relationship between the artists, authors and composers who make creative works, and the digital platforms who control their distribution.
So what does the EU Directive change?
First, it simply makes clear that user generated content platform (such as YouTube) to which consumers upload songs, pictures or other creative content, are subject to copyright rules, and must be licensed by creators, just as other digital platforms are (from Spotify and Amazon to Apple and Netflix).
Looking at YouTube, the world’s single largest provider of music with nigh on 2 billion users, this might seem an obvious, uncontroversial proposition. CISAC’s societies around the world collect royalties for creators worth nearly €10bn annually – but royalties from YouTube are a miniscule percentage of that. The data from the wider music industry shows the same gross anomaly.
The reason for the mismatch has been creators’ weak negotiating position in licencing their works. YouTube has been able to claim exemption from copyright laws by claiming it is not responsible for the content uploaded on its network, and that it is protected by “safe harbour” rules.
The new directive clears this up: YouTube and other user uploaded content platforms are responsible, they must be licensed, and they can no longer hide behind outdated rules. This is a hugely welcome clarification. Rights holders have known for years that safe harbours are a 20th century solution to a 21st century problem. A necessary aid to protect start-ups from liability in the 1990s, but obsolete and unfair for use by the global tech giants of today.
Second, the directive establishes an essential principle in law – that of proportionate remuneration for creators. This is especially important for audiovisual creators – film and TV directors and screenwriters – who currently lack the negotiating power to secure an equitable share in the success of a project they have worked on and helped flourish.
“COPYRIGHT AND AUTHORS’ RIGHTS ARE ABOUT THE FREEDOM OF CREATORS TO DO THEIR JOB. THEY ALLOW CREATORS TO BE RESPECTED FOR THEIR TALENT, THEIR LONG WORKING HOURS AND THE SWEAT AND TEARS THAT GOES INTO THEIR CREATIONS.”
GADI ORON, CISAC
Directors and screenwriters are vital contributors to audiovisual works and the vast economy and millions of jobs they support. The acknowledgement of their right to proportionate remuneration is an important step towards correcting this injustice.
The directive also brings something which creators have long felt they lack in a digital environment increasingly controlled by a few global platforms – more freedom and more control over their creative futures.
That freedom comes at absolutely no expense for consumers, despite a flood of misleading claims by opponents of the Directive. There is no meme ban; no censorship and no broken internet. The directive is good news for the digital world. It will lead to creators’ works being better valued on digital networks, and creators being more fairly remunerated.
That is real progress. And it sends a strong message from Europe to governments worldwide.
This article was first published in Music Business World on April 1st 2019.
EU Directive
Addressing music metadata issues through music matching technology
How social media platforms increase access for users and the potential impact on royalties for songwriters
CISAC – Annual Report 2019
SharePoint Bootcamp & Training
Azure Data Analytics and Machine Learning Bootcamp & Training
Azure Bootcamp & Training
Irish Music Rights Organisation (IMRO)
Wed, 17th July
Location: The Plaza EastPoint Business Park Clontarf, Dublin 3
More details & Registration →
Tue, 23rd July
Thu, 25th July
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THE SPECTRE LIBRARY PRESENTS: The Pulp and Paperback Fiction Reader
Reading and reviewing rare vintage fiction stories
Love Traffic by Gaston Lamond
“Murder Mayhem” by Ray Stahl (aka: Bart Carson)
Murder Gets Around by Robert Sidney Bowen
Spider Pete by Claude Stewart
Morgan A. Wallace on Murder Gets Around by Robert S…
Neal Macdonald on Murder Gets Around by Robert S…
Morgan A. Wallace on Strange Hunger by Michael Herv…
Dirk Broer on Strange Hunger by Michael Herv…
Morgan A. Wallace on The Finger of Death by Henry…
American Pulp Fiction
British Postwar 1945-onward
British Postwar Mushroom-era Digest Paperbacks
British Wartime Pulp Fiction
Garden City Publishing 1923-1927 Digest Paperback Novels
Gerald G. Swan
Items I Want to Buy
“Quinton Clyde: Private Investigator” by Trent McCoy
October 25, 2017 Morgan A. Wallace"David Boyce", "UK Gangster", Stanley Baker, Trent McCoyLeave a comment
Published 1952 by Stanley Baker Publications Ltd., “Quinton Clyde, Private Investigator” was written by Trent McCoy, alias of David Boyce.
The novel, as indicated, is a humorous detective thriller, and they aren’t joking.
The protagonist (not depicted on the cover) is a copper-headed, out-of-town, nosey ‘dick’ investigating the murder of one gangster, formerly answering to the name of ‘Muscles.’
Certain that a local lower-tier gangster (O’Brane) was behind the assassination, Clyde is up against the following henchmen:
1. Sammy Stetson (a cowboy turned gunman)
2. Larry the Louse (a petty crook with a penchant for drunkenness and being nearly blind)
3. Brent Brewer (a behind-the-scenes whom we never officially meet)
Throw in a strip-tease dame operating under the name Jade Kavan (a name more at home in a Tarzan novel, no less), a seemingly useless police captain as Simon J. Stride (whom takes everything according to his surname and is more fond of never leaving his seat and listening to flute music), and the captain’s young, capable lieutenant, Champion (seriously), and you truly have an unusual crime story (or, at the least, an unusual mix of characters).
The crimes taking place in the isolated city of Gorryville are home to a multitude of underworld denizens, waiting to whack the competitor. The police are either corrupt or don’t seem to give a damn. Clyde is fed-up with the local police department and the inadequate attention to the murderous situation. And what’s with the moll that seems drawn to both gangsters? Throw in a bank robbery, a pharmaceutical theft of cocaine and other assorted drugs, a lunatic asylum, and you enter your own realms of insanity, wondering what possessed me to read this book, let alone, asking yourself, why are YOU still reading the plot synopsis?
Clyde eventually manhandles the cowboy, provides liquid courage to Larry the Louse, is delivered a final death sentence by O’Brane, Brewer is jacked up with enough poison by the lunatics in his asylum to eventually kill him but he escapes and Larry sets Brewer’s own starving hounds loose and they rip him to pieces. Larry also rescues Clyde, fatally wounding O’Brane once in the spine and gut, despite being now 100% blind.
The cops finally prove that they are not bystanders, but covertly working on a secret operation. Jade Kovan turns out to be in cahoots with the police force but in the end retires to pursue an acting career in Hollywood. And Clyde doesn’t get the girl? Don’t be too sure. He insinuates that he’ll relocate to Los Angeles, and pursue his career there….
The name “Trent McCoy” is home to numerous mushroom jungle-era publications.
1951 – Wake Not the Sleeping Wolf (Hamilton & Co.)
1952 – Order a Coffin, Now! (Hamilton & Co.)
1952 – I’ll Come Quietly (Cooper Books)
1953 – Lady, What Now! (Cooper Books)
1952 – Quinton Clyde, Private Investigator (Stanley Baker)
1953 – Treasure of the Yukon (Stanley Baker)
1955 – Railroad Renegade (Fiction House)
1955 – Justice of the Canyon (Fiction House)
1956 – Outlaws of the Range (Fiction House)
1958 – Stagecoach to Santa Fe (Fiction House)
???? – Dynamite Trail (Fiction House)
STAG: Man’s Own Magazine (Summer 1946)
October 12, 2017 Morgan A. Wallace"Michael Hervey", Brett Ogilvie, Dennis Wynne, Ralph L Finn, Stag: Man's Own Magazine, Sylvester McNeilLeave a comment
Earlier, I had read and reported on the first issue of Stag. Now, we return, to learn that the magazine is here to stay, this time additionally filled-out with advertisements. What? oh yes, the last issue (that being the premier edition) featured NO ADS!!!
STAG: Man’s Own Magazine (Vol 1 # 2, Summer 1946) was published by Winter Bros. Press Ltd., and proclaims now to be published quarterly.
Bevis Winter (Editorial Manager)
Brett Ogilvie (Associate Editor)
J. Robert Breen (American Editor)
Again, it is jam-packed with stock-photos of Hollywood actresses in various poses.
Page 13 – unidentified lady
Page 33 – Marie McDonald
Page 34 – Vivian Austin
Page 35 – Leslie Brooks
Page 36 – Evelyn Keyes
Page 43 – Jane Russell
Page 44 – Paulette Goddard
Page 66 – Rita Hayworth
Once more, it is filled with an assortment of masculine articles dealing in sports, men’s dress code, household, automobiles, etc., along with cartoons and joke-snippets interspersed by artists such as Arthur Potts (3 ), John J. Walter, and others.
The quality of the writers and fiction drops off in this issue (the former contained heavy-hitters Gerald Kersh and Denys Val Baker). This edition features:
Ralph L. Finn – What the Butler Saw (pages 8-11)
The late Judge Mannering died falling down a staircase. Nobody really laments his passing. Mannering was hard on local drunkards, stamping them with hefty fines or imprisonment. But, when the butler learns that Mannering is a hypocrite, he pushes the intoxicated judge down the steps…to his death!
Michael Hervey – Grandstand Charlie (pages 17-20)
Charlie does nothing without an audience. But when he takes one audience endeavor on too many… Let’s just say that he witnesses a person drowning in the ocean and while diving in, he breaks his own neck. Why dive in? He believed the water deeper than it was. The person drowning? A midget, in two feet of water.
Sylvester McNeil – Strained Relations (pages 24-25)
A odd story involving a penniless man applying to marry a rich man’s daughter, whom he claims, quite honestly, to love. The father laughs off the whole matter. It’s unclear to me just what is implied, unless he is not the first man to approach the father for her hand in marriage, before going into the Air Force.
Dennis Wynne – Love Me, Love My Juke-Box (pages 41-42)
A young man in love pushes his piano through town and under the window of the young lady he loves, in order to satisfy her desire to be musically serenaded. Sadly, she despises pianists!
Brett Ogilvie – Keep Your Hair On (pages 45-50)
A slightly weird tale involving a man’s desire to grow hair on his head. After various quack treatments, oils, salve, lotions, etc., he discusses the issue with his friend. Said friend learns of a doctor (of sorts) claiming to have discovered a sensational cure. However, he hasn’t had anyone to 100% try it on. Applying it to the hairless-one, the next day, he becomes covered head-to-toe in hair. Despite shaving it throughout the day, it keeps quickly re-growing. Eventually, they re-approach the “doctor,” whom sprays weed-killer all over the man! The next morning the pair return, and he is again covered in hair! The spray failed. The friend slowly rolls up his sleeves, and suggests, at the very least, a full refund….
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, 25-Sep-2015 at 11:17 AM (10199 Views)
What is an SQL Injection attack?
“SQL injection is an attack in which malicious code is inserted into strings that are later passed to an instance of SQL Server for parsing and execution. Any procedure that constructs SQL statements should be reviewed for injection vulnerabilities because SQL Server will execute all syntactically valid queries that it receives. Even parameterized data can be manipulated by a skilled and determined attacker. Source: Microsoft
How can SQL Injection affect my DataFlex application?
DataFlex applications using SQL are probably using one of Data Access’ DataFlex Connectivity Kits which can use SQL in two ways:
As converted DataFlex database requests
DataFlex database requests (find, save, etc.) are controlled by the compiled DataFlex program and must be converted to SQL requests. For each database request, the DataFlex Connectivity Kit creates SQL statements with parameters, also known as prepared statements. That means that those DataFlex generated SQL statements are compiled on the server, then user input is assigned to the prepared statement as parameters making it much, much harder—almost impossible – to implement SQL injection attacks from input to a standard DataFlex program.
The reason that prepared statements help so much in preventing SQL injection is because the values that will be inserted into an SQL query are sent to the SQL server after the actual query is sent to the server. In other words, the data input is sent separately from the prepared query statement. This means that there is absolutely no way that the data input can be interpreted as SQL, and there’s no way that a hacker could run his own SQL on your application. Any input that comes in is only interpreted as data, and cannot be interpreted as part of your own application’s SQL code. Source: ProgrammerInterview.com
For example, if the structure of an update instruction for a row in a table is converted to
UPDATE table SET field1 = ?, field2 = ?, … WHERE RECNUM = ?
by the DataFlex Connectivity Kit, the statement will then be compiled via an SQLPrepare operation, then, if successful, the user input data is added to the compiled statement with SQLBind operations and finally an SQLExecute is performed to complete the update and modify data in the table.
So for table operations, since the combination of a DataFlex program and Connectivity Kit uses parametrized queries, i.e. prepared execution, applications are much safer from SQL injection.
As direct statements to be executed by your application
Direct statements are SQL statements embedded by a developer in an application’s program code. In such a case, the SQL statements are executed as written by the developer assuming they are valid.
Since direct SQL statements are being written by the developer and not an end user, direct statements can be safe if written competently and with knowledge of SQL Injection attack avoidance. However, if SQL code is written in a way that makes it vulnerable to SQL injection, the application will be then vulnerable, too. In other words, when using embedded SQL, an application is as safe as the direct statements that the developer writes. The developer must take responsibility for his own code; DataFlex cannot protect against developers’ risky SQL code.
The only place that DataFlex itself uses SQL directly is through the Data Dictionary (DD) SQL filters and those filters are set by the developer. To protect against SQL Injection attacks, DataFlex DD SQL filters have their strings double checked by “escaping them” (see below) on the small chance that the filter strings are obtained from an end-user via some kind of user input. In DataFlex for Linux there are no DD SQL filters so the above does not apply.
What can be done to prevent SQL Injection Attacks?
When using embedded SQL and DD SQL filters, developers should avoid allowing user input to be used directly in SQL statements. If, for example, a program has a ‘search’ input where a user can compose any text (including SQL code!) as a search string, that text should not be used directly to compose an SQL statement. The developer should make sure that any such user input is first escaped and validated, and then used.
To assist developers in this task, DataFlex includes a function called SQLEscapedStr that changes a string to an "escaped" string that is better suited for being used in direct SQL statements. This function replaces a single quote with two single quotes, which helps protect against SQL injection.
In the programming world, escaping means
allowing special characters (like single/double quotes, percent signs, backslashes, etc.) in strings to be saved so that they remain as part of the string, and are not misinterpreted as something else. For example, if we want to include a single quote in a string (like in the string “it’s”) that gets output to the browser […], then we have to add a backslash to the single quote so that it is still interpreted as a single quote when generating the output. Source: ProgrammerInterview.com
Also, developers writing embedded SQL should always validate user input by testing data type, length, format, and range. When implementing precautions against malicious input, developers should consider the architecture and deployment scenarios of the application. Remember that programs designed to run in a secure environment can be copied to a non-secure environment.
The following suggestions should be considered best practices for embedded SQL:
Make no assumptions about the size, type, or content of the data that is received by your application. For example, developers should make the following evaluations:
How will your application behave if an errant or malicious user enters a 10-megabyte MPEG file where your application expects a postal code?
How will your application behave if a DROP TABLE statement is embedded in a text field?
Test the size and data type of input and enforce appropriate limits. This can help prevent deliberate buffer overruns.
Test the content of string variables and accept only expected values. Reject entries that contain binary data, escape sequences, and comment characters. This can help prevent script injection and can protect against some buffer overrun exploits.
When working with XML documents, validate all data against its schema as it is entered.
Never build Transact-SQL statements directly from user input.
Use stored procedures to validate user input.
In multitier environments, all data should be validated before admission to the trusted zone. Data that does not pass the validation process should be rejected and an error should be returned to the previous tier.
Implement multiple layers of validation. Precautions you take against casually malicious users may be ineffective against determined attackers. A better practice is to validate input in the user interface and at all subsequent points where it crosses a trust boundary.
For example, data validation in a client-side application can prevent simple script injection. However, if the next tier assumes that its input has already been validated, any malicious user who can bypass a client can have unrestricted access to a system.
Never concatenate user input that is not validated. String concatenation is the primary point of entry for script injection.
Do not accept the following strings in fields from which file names can be constructed: AUX, CLOCK$, COM1 through COM8, CON, CONFIG$, LPT1 through LPT8, NUL, and PRN.
Whenever possible, input that contains the following characters should be rejected:
Input character Meaning in Transact-SQL
; Query delimiter.
' Character data string delimiter.
-- Comment delimiter.
/* ... */ Comment delimiters. Text between /* and */ is not evaluated by the server.
xp_ Used at the start of the name of catalog-extended stored procedures, such as xp_cmdshell.
Source: Microsoft Technet
For further reading on best practices in validating user input, access SQL Injection.
John Tuohy, CTO, Data Access Worldwide
Martin Moleman, Software Engineer, Data Access Europe
DataFlex and SQL Injection
http://support.dataaccess.com/Forums...-SQL-Injection
How to prevent SQL injection attacks?
http://www.programmerinterview.com/i...on-prevention/
https://technet.microsoft.com/en-US/...=SQL.105).aspx
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Norwegian Cruise Line is the innovator in cruise travel with a 49-year history of breaking the boundaries of traditional cruising.
Most notably with the introduction of Freestyle Cruising that revolutionised the industry by giving guests freedom and flexibility to design their ideal cruise holiday.
Great Rates for Travel Industry Staff!
Cruising on Norwegians
Cruising on Norwegians means no fixed dining times, relaxed attire, several distinct dining options, relaxed disembarkation and more lounges, bars, theatres and other entertainment and activity options.
Today, Norwegian invites guests to Feel Free to explore the world on one of 14 purpose-built Freestyle Cruising ships, providing guests the opportunity to enjoy a relaxed, resort style cruise holiday on some of the newest and most contemporary ships at sea. Norwegian offers unique and exciting itineraries in all areas of the world, including the Caribbean, Bahamas, Bermuda, Mexican Riviera, Europe, South America, Canada & New England, Panama Canal, Alaska, Asia, Australia and New Zealand. Additionally, Norwegian Cruise Line's Pride of America is the only ship that sails year-round from Honolulu on seven-day intra-island Hawaiian cruises.
Recently, the line was named "Europe's Leading Cruise Line" for the eighth consecutive year, as well as "Caribbean's Leading Cruise Line" for the third time and "World's Leading Large Ship Cruise Line" for the fourth year by the World Travel Awards.
Wide Array of Accommodation
Norwegian offers several accommodation to suit every guest's need. Hidden away at the top of the ship is The Haven by Norwegian, an exclusive enclave with the most luxurious, well-appointed and spacious accommodation. Not only will guests have access to all the ship has to offer, they will enjoy the personal service of a 24-hour butler and concierge throughout their entire stay. Guests can opt to take up temporary residence in Norwegian's serene and rejuvenating Spa Suites, with access to the Mandara Spa and complimentary use of the thermal suites, sauna, hydrotherapy pools, steam room and heated loungers.
With ever-changing views from a private balcony, Mini-Suites and Balcony staterooms offer guests a new perspective almost every day, and feature comfy sitting areas, convertible and/or drop-down beds and plenty of storage space. Oceanviews, Insides and Studios let guests relax, embrace their personal space and get back to the action. For guests travelling solo, Norwegian's Studio staterooms are an industry-first, providing solo cruises the most affordable, stylish way to cruise. These award-winning staterooms feature vivid, contemporary décor and mood lighting. Studio guests also have access to their own private Studio Lounge, open morning and night, so studio guests can meet up, make plans for their trip and be social, available on Norwegian Epic, Norwegian Breakaway, Pride of America and Norwegian Getaway.
As the innovator of freedom and flexibility at sea with no set dining times and up to 28 dining options per vessel, Norwegian understands that dining is central to guests' holiday experience, from gourmet meals to superb service. Guests will find more dining options than days of their cruise, and they are free to enjoy them all on their own schedule. Norwegian offers both complimentary and specialty dining options. Included in cruise fares are the beautifully crafted menus from the main dining rooms, plentiful buffets and a variety of casual cafes, grills and on-the-go choices.
Dining rooms have open seating and extended hours, allowing guests to dine when they want, where they want and with whom they want. Guests have the option to choose their dinner companions and request tables of any size from two to 10 each evening rather than being assigned to a specific table for the length of the cruise. Guests can also make reservation in the main dining rooms up to 90 days prior to their cruise, if they would like to plan and customise their holiday prior to embarkation.
If guests want an even more memorable dining experience, Norwegian ships offer world of distinctive culinary possibilities at several specialty restaurants that provide refined choices for a small cover charge or à la carte pricing. Norwegian has a signature French restaurant, Le Bistro, where guests can discover Nouveau, Mediterranean and classic cuisine. Every ship in the fleet also features Norwegian's signature steakhouse, Cagney's, where guests can enjoy the finest cuts of Certified Angus Beef, cooked to perfection and served with all the trimmings of a traditional American steakhouse. Moderno Churrascaria is Norwegian's authentic Brazilian steakhouse, where dinner begins with an impressive salad bar, followed by skewers of slow-roasted meats carved tableside by Pasadores. Other cuisine options available on Norwegian ships include Italian cuisine, Teppanyaki, and sushi.
Award-winning entertainment
Freestyle Cruising means a huge range of exciting events and activities. Regardless of guests' ages or preferences, all Norwegian ships have something to keep guests entertained, with award-winning entertainment every day and every night. Guests can laugh till they drop with The Second City® comedy troupe or sing along with Howl At The Moon, or clap along with award-winning Broadway productions, from the multiple Tony Award-winning After Midnight to the smash hit Rock of Ages. Norwegian ships also feature acrobatic and aerialist spectaculars, magicians and illusionists, live musicals and themed parties every cruise.
The Norwegian Edge™
Norwegian Cruise Line has revealed The Norwegian Edge™, an innovative programme that promises to introduce a new standard of excellence that encompasses the entire guest experience, from ship hardware to culinary enhancements and exclusive private destination developments. The Norwegian Edge™ reflects a significant two-year $400 million investment by the company through 2017 and demonstrates the line's commitment to exceptional quality and extraordinary experiences.
The centerpiece of the programme is an extensive ship refurbishment initiative that will elevate the experience on board the Norwegian fleet to this new standard. The Norwegian Edge programme seeks to create modern, relevant and delightful holiday experiences for guests at every turn-an approach that aligns perfectly with the brand's unique promise of freedom and flexibility.
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Published April 25, 2019 | By Jeff Smith
A marijuana industry pioneer alleges that High Times infringed on her Women of Weed federally registered trademark and did so in a “sexualized” way.
Ah Warner, founder and CEO of Seattle-based Cannabis Basics, also said High Times has ignored repeated requests to stop.
Ah Warner launched Women of Weed in May 2013 in Washington state as a private social club. It now has 167 members with business experience in the cannabis industry and also includes industry activists.
In May 2016, Warner’s parent company, Mother Earth’s Green Services, secured a federally registered trademark for the name Women of Weed for business networking and social events.
She claims that High Times, which publishes a monthly magazine, has been creating market confusion and debasing her mark by sponsoring its own Women of Weed events for the past 14 months.
High Times didn’t immediately respond to Marijuana Business Daily‘s request for comment.
In an interview, Warner pointed in part to a promotion of a High Times Women of Weed event in September 2018 in which a naked woman was shown lying in a bed of marijuana.
“If you want, you can sexualize your own brand,” Warner told MJBizDaily. “But don’t dare do it to someone else’s brand, and that’s what’s happening.”
Warner’s attorney, who threatened legal action, has sent three cease-and-desist letters to California-based High Times since February 2018, including one this month.
Warner noted she found this dispute particularly painful because over the years High Times has written about her activism and her company and bestowed awards on her firm and its products.
“But this is not the High Times of yesteryear,” Warner said. “They don’t care about the relationship.
“They don’t know me, they don’t care about our shared history.”
Jeff Smith can be reached at jeffs@mjbizdaily.com
‘Decimated’ by oversupply, Oregon wholesale prices for outdoor-grown trim, flower for oil drop to $50 a pound
Arkansas aims for early 2019 medical marijuana launch
Washington state cannabis oversupply spurs calls for change
Categories: Cannabis Industry & Marijuana Business Briefs, Marijuana Legalization and Regulatory News for Cannabis Businesses, United States Cannabis Industry & Marijuana Business News
4 comments on “Cannabis publication High Times accused of Women of Weed trademark infringement”
Janice Bickel on April 25th, 2019 - 6:39pm
High Times, like all cannabis “bro” culture businesses, are about to be crushed like ants in the commercialization of cannabis. Only an idiot would put sexist ads out when women are the fastest growing cannabis segment. And only an incredible idiot would put it out while stealing a brand that empowers women in weed. They are not long for this business. Good thing.
Barry Herzberg on April 26th, 2019 - 10:24am
High Times has a brand new CEO, Kraig Fox, as of last month who likely has a different take on things. Give him a chance.
Ah Warner on April 27th, 2019 - 1:27pm
Kraig Fox recieved and ignored the third cease and desist like all the others at HT. He has been given a chance and chooses to continue the status quo.
Pam on April 29th, 2019 - 3:37pm
I just read the Variety article about Kraig being hired by THC. Looks like they’re out on the smash and grab path to secure their position for the IPO. Definitely a rough time to stand up to them for your business.
On a different angle…
Maybe HT wants to be the Hustler of the cannabis publication market. If so, don’t you think the women models would like a little respect and be brought into the Women of Weed circle of weed appreciation? If that’s the case, I’d nominate them to your group and pass a joint to them too.
I just don’t understand why it always has to be about the Bro-code and why the women models are not supported for working hard for those bodies and having courage to show them off provocatively.
If weed didn’t give me hives like grass does, I’d lie naked in it too but I don’t have the body for provocative public photo’s.
Anyways, maybe a little guerilla marketing is needed here. Approach the modeling companies instead of THC. Flip the women if the Bro-code is too dense.
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Legislation for Greater Agribusiness Empowerment
Lawsuit Challenges Obama Administration’s Targeted Assassination Policy
Progressive Radio News Hour Guests for September 2, 4 and 5, 2010
Legislation for Greater Agribusiness Empowerment – by Stephen Lendman
On July 29, 2009, the House passed HR 2749: Food Safety Enhancement Act of 2009 “To amend the (1938 as amended) Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to improve the safety of food in the global market, and for other purposes.”
An earlier July 2009 article discussed it, accessed through the following link:
sjlendman.blogspot.com/2009/07/hr-2749-agribusiness-empowering-act.html
On March 3, 2009, S. 510: FDA Food Safety Modernization Act was introduced as the Senate’s version of the House bill. On December 18, 2009, it cleared committee and was placed on the Senate’s Legislative Calendar for consideration. Thus far not addressed, it likely will be and passed in the wake of the egg salmonella scare though, like its companion bill, it’s for agribusiness empowerment, not food safety, used as cover to enhance greater industry consolidation at the expense of small farmers and consumers.
Current laws and regulations are adequate but not enforced, with good reason. Run by industry officials, the USDA is woefully understaffed, under-budgeted, and only performs perfunctory inspections. The FDA operates the same way, fronting for agribusiness, Big Pharma, and related industries, not consumer protection.
If House and Senate bills pass, it will gain new powers and fewer judicial restraints on its actions. Although some provisions address improving America’s food, the bills’ vague and deceptive language increases the potential for inappropriate application and enforcement, harming small farmers and consumers for big business, what’s vital to avoid but less likely given the egg recall.
Now there’s a push for corporate friendly legislation masquerading as pro-consumer, the way Congress always works. So expect the worst, for sure what Obama supports, stiff-arming his constituents across the board in deference to corporate and power interests.
According to the National Independent Consumers and Farmers Association, S. 510:
“will have the unintended destructive consequence of eliminating small farms and consumer access to local food (because it) grants sweeping powers to the (FDA) and US Dairy Association, (imposes harmful new regulations, and lets federal) agents go on to (small) farms, where less than one half of one percent of food-borne illnesses originate, (nearly all of it from factory farms) without having credible evidence that a problem exists, needing only ‘reason to believe’ in order to quarantine or shut down a farm.”
PPJ Gazette writer Marti Oakley calls the Senate bill (and by inference the House one) the “Making America Sick Through Adulteration of Food” act, saying the nation “is only as successful as its farmers and ranchers” able to feed the public at all times. “And by farmers and ranchers I don’t mean industrialized corporate farming for massive profits while we defile everything in sight,” including safe food because FDA and USDA officials front for business, not consumers, on their own without protection.
The Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund (FTCLDF) on Food Safety and Congressional Legislation Not Designed to Protect It
FTCLDF (the Fund) represents family farmers’ right “to provide processed and unprocessed farm foods directly to consumers,” and their right to buy them from family farms. It also protects small farms “from harassment by federal, state, and local government interference with food production and on-farm food processing.”
The Fund opposes the House and Senate bills, saying they threaten “to leave small farmers and local producers unable to afford the cost of complying with legislative requirements.” In addition, the FDA will be more greatly empowered to help agribusiness and harm local farming and consumers. Besides, “neither bill would improve food safety” because that’s not their purpose.
Their anti-consumer provisions will empower bigness, increase imported food, create new safety concerns, and restrict the ability of Americans to get food choices they want from sources they prefer.
Unmentioned in the House bill, S. 510 references the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) 22 times, especially in Section 108(a)(1), calling for the Health and Human Services (HHS) and Agriculture secretaries to coordinate with HHS to prepare and submit to Congress the “National Agriculture and Food Defense Strategy.”
Sounding more like preparing for war than food safety, Section 108(5) requires the strategy be consistent with the National Incident Management System, the National Response Framework, the National Infrastructure Protection Plan, and the National Preparedness Goals – programs created by presidential Executive Orders and National Security Directives, (not acts of Congress) to help big, not small farmers or consumers.
For example, over “terrorism” hysteria, the 2004 Homeland Security Presidential Directive (HSPD) 9 designated DHS “responsible for coordinating the overall national effort” to protect America’s food system, its Secretary “the principal federal official to lead, integrate, and coordinate federal, state, local and private sector elements.”
Of concern is HHS’ role in “food defense and critical infrastructure protection.” In 2007, its Office of Inspector General suggested why, based solely on three minor incidents, including:
— in 1984, an Oregon religious cult poisoning 10 salad bars causing 751 illnesses;
— in 1996, a Texas hospital employee tainting the facility’s snacks causing 12 illnesses; and
— in 2003, a Michigan supermarket employee infecting 200 pounds of beef causing 92 illnesses, hardly reasons to wage war on bad food and call out the Marines.
Yet, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), unintentional food contamination (raising no eyebrows) cause 76 million food-related illnesses annually.
In addition, the 2007 OIG report explained that:
— DHS consolidated 22 preexisting agencies and organizations, all unrelated to food;
— the sector’s size and complexity poses vexing challenges, compounded by new DHS food sector obligations compromised by incompatible internal documents;
— the agency has “no major organizational entity (focused) exclusively or even largely” on food;
— no DHS official has overall food responsibility; and
— other inconsistencies in its new mandate, assuring snafus doing more harm than good.
“A more effective way to protect our food supply is to create” more localized diversity nationwide, not greater concentration and a war against food terrorists.
Yet passing legislation with Section 108 “would be a major step toward” putting the nation’s food system “on a permanent crisis-mode footing.” Instead of federalizing supply and enhancing agribusiness power, our best food defense “is to promote the decentralization of food production, encouraging local communities” to be as self-sustaining as possible.
In other words, promote small and local, not big and global, a sure formula for higher prices, less variety, weaker consumer protections, and greater likelihood for tainted products because industry officials run the FDA and USDA before recycling back into high-paying corporate jobs. In both capacities, their job is maximizing profits, not food safety.
The Movement of Food
Information from the above-referenced link details concerns with HR 2749, including:
Establishing enforcement authority under Section 133 to restrict the movement of food, giving unelected officials power to shut down food movement in a state by quarantine without court order.
Criminal and Civil Penalties
Under Sections 134 and 135, criminal or civil penalties are imposed against anyone alleged to knowingly introduce or deliver adulterated or misbranded food through interstate commerce, the penalty being 10 years in prison.
Under current law, it’s one year or three in cases of willfully defrauding or misleading. Civil penalties are also stiffer, as high as $7,500,000 (up from a maximum $250,000) for a corporate offender (including small ones), each day in violation considered a separate offense. Even delays in complying with registration requirements carry substantial fines.
As a result, these provisions let the FDA “harass and bankrupt small farmers and local producers” to help large ones, the reason for their inclusion, corporate lawyers, of course, writing these bills, the same procedure for all congressional legislation, including healthcare and financial reform, to protect their bottom-line concerns.
HACCP Plans
HR 2749, Section 102 and S. 510, Section 103 require registered facilities to have written Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points (HACCP) plans, prepared by:
— conducting a hazard analysis;
— identifying, implementing, and monitoring effective preventive controls;
— instituting corrective actions if needed;
— providing verification;
— maintaining proper records; and
— reanalyzing for hazards as needed.
Evaluating HACCP based on past meat industry experiences shows that corporate slaughterhouses and processing plants “operate in the relative absence of USDA inspections,” in many cases none at all or personnel occasionally showing up but not doing their job.
Yet, the USDA’s Food and Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) web site states that “Slaughter facilities cannot operate if FSIS inspection personnel are not present (and) Only Federally inspected establishments can produce products that are destined to enter commerce.”
In contrast, small plants are harassed, burdened with extra paper work, and targeted with more enforcement actions – many, as a result, driven out of business; from 2000 – 2005 alone, a 21.9% decline in processing plants and 19% for slaughterhouses.
Food Traceability
Under HR 2749, Section 107, the HHS Secretary is mandated to establish a domestic and imported food tracing system, using “identif(ied) technologies and methodologies” burdensome to small producers. It’s to let the Secretary “identify each person who grows, produces, manufactures, processes, packs, transports, holds or sell such food” in the shortest practicable time but “no longer than two business days.”
Exempted is food produced on owner, operator or agent in charge farms, selling directly to consumers, restaurants or stores. Records must still be kept at least six months, and farmers selling to other ones or wholesalers are subject to traceability requirements.
The provision is about “further integrating the American food system into the global market” to help agribusiness and harm small competitors. Instead of greater globalization, US policy should promote local self-sufficiency, a notion not in Congress’ or regulatory agencies’ vocabulary in deference to the corporate interests they serve.
The FDA and USDA (like all federal agencies) don’t “protect the health of the American people but rather” the profits of industry producers.
Produce Safety Standards
HR 2749, Section 104 and S. 510, Section 105 deal with standards for produce safety to minimize health risks, from growing to transporting and storing it. Even local roadside stands and farmers’ markets would be subject to national safety standards, including record keeping, under FDA jurisdiction. Of concern is the cost burden on many, perhaps great enough shut them down, the whole idea behind these provisions.
Survey Results Reveal Other Problems
A 2008 Resource Conservation District of Monterey County, CA survey of 600 irrigated raw crop growers found 8% had their crops rejected for reasons including:
— deer intrusion;
— “potential frog habitat;”
— the “presence of frogs and tadpoles in creek;”
— planted crops “near trees needed a buffer of 100 to 150 feet;” and
— “deer tracks near” one farmer’s field.
Overall, so-called good agricultural practices (GAPs) are extremely burdensome to small producers, in many cases driving them out of business.
Codex Alimentarius (CA) Provision in S. 510
An earlier article explained Codex’s threat, accessed through the following link:
sjlendman.blogspot.com/2009/08/codex-alimentarius-threatens-human.html
Ostensibly created “to develop food standards, guidelines” and related “codes of practice,” CA, under
World Trade Organization (WTO) rules, is corporate controlled. It lets global food, pharmaceutical, and banking giants, in league with complicit UN and government agencies, promote GMO foods and drugs, not healthy natural ones. In addition, it will restrict or prohibit vitamin and dietary supplements, except ones they control. Also processed organic foods will be tainted by irradiation and harmful synthetic additives or ingredients.
If CA’s standards and guidelines are adopted, binding one-size fits all global rules will be established, overriding sovereign national laws and safe practices. GMO foods and drugs will proliferate. Labeling will be banned. Food and drug giants will decide what will and won’t be sold and at what price. Governments will have no power to countermand them, and everyone’s health will be jeopardized.
S. 510, Section 306, covers the capacity of governments with respect to food. Its subsection (5) recommends bilateral and multilateral arrangements and agreements, a giant leap toward implementing CA, what’s been ongoing incrementally for years, the Obama administration on board fast-tracking it.
On June 10, 2010, a White House press release announced “Executive Order – Establishing the National Prevention, Health Promotion, and Public Health Council,” a stealth CA-endorsing measure about profits, not public welfare.
Under a de facto CA council, its “Section 6(g) contains specific plans to ensure that all prevention programs outside the Department of Health and Human Services are based on (industry-crafted) science-based guidelines (said to have been) developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention under subsection (d) of this section.”
In other words, all non-corporate controlled good health, disease-preventing products and supplements will be banned under full CA implementation, what’s coming unless stopped, what S. 510 tries to legislate, what Barack Obama will sign into law if successful.
House and Senate bills “represent landmark legislation that will significantly increase the federal government’s power to regulate intrastate commerce while hurting (America’s) ability to produce safe food” and achieve local sustainability. Small farms and producers will be most harmed, the sector “producing the safest most nutritious food,” thus benefitting agribusiness and importers, those most responsible for food safety problems.
Rather than declaring war on food terrorism, Congress should decentralize food production, processing and distribution, assuring safer, cheaper, lower priced products. Instead it’s pushing the opposite.
Greater than ever FDA empowerment will be counterproductive and harmful, its record tainted by industry control, promoting hazardous to health GMO foods and unsafe industry practices like concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs), “the antithesis of food safety,” by an agency destructive to small farmers, local producers and consumers.
Passing S. 510 and reconciling it with HR 2749 will jeopardize food safety and make it harder to buy products consumers want from sources they prefer. Defeating S. 510 is thus crucial, now at risk by the egg salmonella scare, a large hurtle essential to overcome.
Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net. Also visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network Thursdays at 10AM US Central time and Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs are archived for easy listening.
www.progressiveradionetwork.com/the-progressive-news-hour/.
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America: Government by Terror, Torture and Tyranny
Texas: America’s State-Sponsored Execution Capital
Progressive Radio News Hour Guests for July 5, 6, and 7, 2013
Published by Stephen Lendman at June 30, 2013
America governs lawlessly. Out-of-control rogues run things. Conditions go from bad to worse. Tyranny threatens everyone. So does possible global war.
Fear-mongering, saber rattling, hot wars, proxy ones, drone ones, geopolitical ones, financial ones, anti-populist ones, mass incarceration, censorship, lawless sanctions, subversion, sabotage, targeted assassinations, mass murder, cyberwar, and horrific draconian harshness reflect out-of control governance gone mad.
Lying is official policy. So is state terror. Independent governments aren’t tolerated. They’re targeted. Regime change is prioritized. World peace is threatened. Humanity’s menaced. Survival’s uncertain.
Daily revelations explain more. War is called peace. State-sponsored assassins are called freedom fighters. Real ones are called terrorists.
Capital has divine rights. Monied interests run things. Plundering the earth for profit is prioritized. Popular needs go begging. Social America’s dying. Poverty, unemployment, hunger, homelessness and human misery go unaddressed. Corporate rights alone matter.
Democracy’s a four-letter word. Out-of-control power is unaccountable. Rule of law principles are mocked. Tyranny’s the law of the land. Advancing America’s imperium matters most.
Workers are exploited. They’re unprotected. Human and civil rights are sacrificed. Wealth, power and privilege are served. Militarized control supports them. Nonbelievers aren’t tolerated.
Torture is official policy. Gitmo is America’s public face. Innocent detainees suffer. So do many others. Thousands of political prisoners fill America’s gulag. It’s the world’s largest. It operates globally. Mercy isn’t in Washington’s vocabulary.
Diktat power rules. Police state terror threatens everyone. Freedom’s fast disappearing. Dissent’s not tolerated. Heroic whistleblowers are criminalized.
Even retired four star generals aren’t safe. More on that below.
Journalists are spied on. So is everyone worldwide. Big Brother watches everyone. It’s no longer fiction.
Censorship prevents truth and full disclosure. Managed news misinformation substitutes. Students are debt entrapped for life. Millions have no futures. An entire generation’s lost.
Madness substitutes for sanity. Unconscionable wrongdoing persists. America’s unsafe to live in. Oblivion awaits. Most people are too out of touch to notice. Others are dismissive.
Failure to act responsibly matters. It lets Washington get away with murder and much more.
Rogues running America take full advantage. Who knows what’s next.
The Pentagon’s former second in command’s being investigated. General James (Hoss) Cartwright allegedly leaked information higher ups want suppressed.
Cyberwar is official US policy. In spring 2010, Iranian intelligence discovered Stuxnet malwar contamination. Its Bushehr nuclear facility was affected. US/Israeli cyberwar bore full responsibility.
Cartwright perhaps explained. He ran cyber-operation Olympic Games. Obama ordered stepped up attacks. Targeting Iran is prioritized.
Perhaps there’s hope if retired four star generals become whistleblowers. Maybe other insiders will be emboldened to act. Legions more than ever are needed. Hopefully many will come forward responsibly.
Edward Snowden provided a vital service. He’s a hero in his own time. He’s globally recognized. He deserves praise, not prosecution. History won’t forget him. He revealed what everyone needs to know.
Unprecedented global spying is official US policy. It’s lawless. Spies “R” us defines it. Police states operate this way. America’s by far the worst. It’s unmatched in human history. No one’s safe anywhere any time.
Shoot the messenger. Snowden’s hunted. He’s a wanted man. Washington wants him arrested. It wants him prosecuted. It wants him imprisoned. It wants him silenced. Perhaps it wants him dead.
It wants information he knows suppressed. London’s Guardian revealed it. It plans telling more. On June 28, it headlined “US army blocks access to Guardian website to preserve ‘network hygiene.’ “
It wants truth suppressed. It wants its message alone circulated. “The US army has admitted to blocking access to parts of the Guardian website for thousands of defence personnel across the country.”
“A spokesman said the military was filtering out reports and content relating to government surveillance programs to preserve ‘network hygiene’ and prevent any classified material appearing on unclassified parts of its computer systems.”
Pentagon officials lied. Censorship is official US policy. NETCOM On-Line Communication Services operates from San Jose, CA. It’s an Internet service provider.
Spokesman Gordon Van Vleet said it filtered “some access to press coverage and online content about NSA leaks.”
“The Department of Defense routinely takes preventive ‘network hygiene’ measures to mitigate unauthorized disclosures of classified information onto DoD unclassified networks.”
An Army Network Enterprise Technology Command (NETCOM) spokesman said policy affects hundreds of defense facilities. Doing so suggests far worse future policy.
Washington may block anti-government content. It may do so routinely. Alternative media sites may be targeted. Vital truths more than ever may be suppressed.
Revealing them responsibly risks being criminalized. So may discussing what’s already known. Pointing fingers the right way is dangerous. Doing so risks being charged with aiding and abetting America’s enemies.
Van Vleet added:
“We make every effort to balance the need to preserve information access with operational security, however there are strict policies and directives in place regarding protecting and handling classified information.”
“Until declassified by appropriate officials, classified information – including material released through an unauthorized disclosure – must be treated accordingly by DoD personnel. If a public website displays classified information,” blocking it will follow.
“Classified” includes vital information people have a right to know. Suppressing it reflects police state harshness. Rogue states operate this way. It bears repeating. America’s by far the worst.
According to an unnamed Pentagon spokesman:
“The Guardian website is NOT being blocked by DoD. The Department of Defense routinely takes preventative measures to mitigate unauthorized disclosures of classified information onto DoD unclassified networks.”
On June 25, Guardian editors headlined “Edward Snowden: in defence of whistleblowers,” saying:
He’s no traitor. America’s First Amendment matters. It “prevents prior restraint and affords a considerable measure of protection to free speech.”
Obama violates its letter and spirit. He’s done so by “show(ing) a dismaying aggression in not only criminalising leaking and whistleblowing, but also recently placing reporters under surveillance – tracking them and pulling their phone and email logs in order to monitor their sources for stories that were patently of public importance.”
Thanks to Snowden, we know more about what NSA whistleblower Thomas Drake called “a vast, systemic institutionalized, industrial-scale Leviathan surveillance state that has clearly gone far beyond the original mandate to deal with terrorism.”
Snowden is today’s Daniel Ellsberg. Releasing the Pentagon Papers got him targeted. He also faced Espionage Act charges.
He might have gotten life in prison. He was lucky. Gross government misconduct saved him. His 1973 trial collapsed. At the time, judge William Byrne, Jr. ruled:
“The totality of the circumstances of this case which I have only briefly sketched offend a sense of justice.”
“The bizarre events have incurably infected the prosecution of this case.”
Federal judges today don’t speak this way. Ellsberg later said:
“The public is lied to every day by the President, by his spokespeople, by his officers.”
“If you can’t handle the thought that the President lies to the public for all kinds of reasons, you couldn’t stay in the government at that level….”
“The fact is Presidents rarely say the whole truth – essentially, never say the whole truth – of what they expect and what they’re doing and what they believe and why they’re doing it and rarely refrain from lying, actually, about these matters.”
Ellsberg’s a modern day hero. So is Snowden. Washington fears ugly truths revealed. Doing so arouses public anger.
Perhaps it emboldens others to tell more. Coming forward threatens America’s imperial ambitions. Preventing them responsibly matters most.
His new book is titled “Banker Occupation: Waging Financial War on Humanity.”
www.claritypress.com/LendmanII.html
It airs Fridays at 10AM US Central time and Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs are archived for easy listening.
www.progressiveradionetwork.com/the-progressive-news-hour
www.dailycensored.com/america-government-by-terror-torture-and-tyranny/
CNN Fake News About Julian Assange
The Big Lie About Europe Scrambling to Save the JCPOA
Damaging Fallout from Sino/US Trade War
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Editors' ChoiceCell Biology
Move or Divide?
Science Signaling 06 Jul 2010:
Growth factor receptors, such as the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), can trigger either cell migration or cell division, but generally these two responses are exclusive, a phenomenon called the “migration-proliferation dichotomy.” GIV, a nonreceptor guanine nucleotide exchange factor for Gαi, and Gαi have been implicated in the migratory response to EGF. By analyzing cultured cells (in which endogenous GIV was knocked down) expressing an siRNA-resistant GIV or a GEF-deficient mutant (GIV-FA), Ghosh et al. found that in response to EGF and scratch wounding, cells with the wild-type GIV exhibited a robust migratory response, whereas those expressing GIV-FA exhibited reduced migration but enhanced proliferation. A similar promigratory response was obtained by expressing either Gαi or a constitutively active mutant, and a proliferative response was obtained by expressing an inactivated Gαi. Analysis of the EGFR signaling pathways activated by addition of EGF indicated that GIV promoted migratory signaling events [phosphorylation of the EGFR at sites involved in the activation of Akt and phospholipase Cγ1 (PLCγ1), the phosphorylation and activation of which were also increased] and reduced mitogenic signaling [phosphorylation of the c-Src–dependent site on EGFR and phosphorylation and activation of extracellular signal-regulated kinases 1 and 2 (ERK1/2) and the transcription factor STAT5b]. In contrast, the dominant-negative GIV-FA promoted mitogenic signaling and inhibited migratory signaling. In response to EGF, EGFR persisted longer at the plasma membrane in cells with GIV, but its overall stability was reduced, compared to cells with GIV-FA, which showed rapid internalization of EGFR but reduced EGFR degradation. Coimmunoprecipitation and in vitro binding studies showed that EGFR and GIV interacted directly, whereas Gαi associated with this complex indirectly through the GIV GEF domain. Analysis of the poorly invasive, but rapidly dividing, MCF7 (breast cancer–derived cell line) and Ls174T and HT29 (colon cancer cell lines) revealed an alternative splice variant for GIV, which resulted in the production of a truncated protein lacking the C-terminal GEF domain (GIVΔCT). Introduction of GIVΔCT into HeLa cells showed that, in the scratch wound assay, these cells were promitogenic, with enhanced ERK1/2 and STAT5b signaling and reduced receptor degradation, and were poorly motogenic, with reduced Akt and PLCγ1 phosphorylation. The importance of this GIV and the splice variant for cancer progression from dividing to metastatic was revealed by immunohistochemistry of human colorectal cancer samples at various stages. Noninvasive tumors were positive for the short form of GIV but not the GEF-containing form, whereas invasive tumors had the GEF-containing form. These results suggest that whether a cell chooses to respond to EGF with division or migration depends on the recruitment of Gαi to the GIV-EGFR complex.
P. Ghosh, A. O. Beas, S. J. Bornheimer, M. Garcia-Marcos, E. P. Forry, C. Johannson, J. Ear, B. H. Jung, B. Cabrera, J. M. Carethers, M. G. Farquhar, A Gαi-GIV molecular complex binds epidermal growth factor receptor and determines whether cells migrate or proliferate. Mol. Biol. Cell 21, 2338–2354 (2010). [Abstract] [FullText]
You are going to email the following Move or Divide?
Science Signaling 06 Jul 2010 : ec203
A nonreceptor guanine nucleotide exchange factor for Gαi interacts with EGFR to tip cells from proliferating to migrating.
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Reportedly Apple is making a 7th-gen iPod touch and new iPads
Two of the iPads are Wifi only and two of them are cellular
in Gadgets, iOS
A few days ago, In the Eurasian Economic Commission Database, four new iPad model and a potential 7th-gen iPod touch have been found in upcoming iOS 12.2, according to the MacRumors. Developer Steven Troughton-Smith has discovered references to four new iPad models ranging from iPad 11,1 to iPad 11,4, while looking through the code of iOS 12.2.
Two of the iPads are Wifi only and two of them are cellular, Troughton-Smith speculates that the iPad model numbers could be iPad mini devices which would suggest a new iPad mini 5 is in the works. According to Troughton-Smith, none of the iPads have Face ID technology, this is what we expect how should a new iPad mini is likely to be positioned as an affordable and lower-end device.
There is also a reference to “iPod 9,1,” which is not known to any existing iPod touch devices and suggesting it might a new next-generation model and it does not look like it has Touch ID or Face ID. The current sixth-generation iPod touch is “iPod 7,1,” for reference.
According to some previous speculations, which suggested that Apple might be working on a 7th-gen iPod touch, an iPad mini 5, and a new version of the lower-cost 9.7-inch iPad, which may actually be upgraded to 10 inches in its next iteration.
read also:Rumors about OPPO first mobile camera with 10X optical zoom begun
Earlier this week, Apple registered seven iPads with the Eurasian Economic Commission, in which some of those could be the four iPod models Troughton-Smith has discovered in iOS 12.2. Those model numbers included A2123, A2124, A2126, A2153, A2154, A2133, and A2152. There have been mixed reports about what people can expect from an iPad mini update.
Moreover, A case leak suggested that a vertical camera and quad speakers, but a photo of an unreleased iPad mini which could be the new iPad mini featured an older A9 processor and a design which is similar to the fourth-generation iPad mini.
Tags: Apple
Human workers are listening to recordings from Google Assistant, too
Logitech updates its G Pro headset with Blue Microphones audio
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Vodka Recipes
Gin Recipes
Bourbon Recipes
Rye Recipes
Rum Recipes
Our Vodka Stands Alone
as a Pure Spirit.
Yet Mixes Well with Others.
Vodkaadmin2018-06-22T15:15:07+00:00
Our vodka is Pure Spirit. This is a big and bold vodka that’s also fat and luscious— slippery even—an unapologetic expression of the distiller’s art.
The duality on the palate gracefully reveals both heat and power that is the hallmark of this vodka. There’s a lot of character here too: a hint here and there of white pepper and cocoa, a bit of toffee as well. Here’s a vodka that will stand up to, yet still harmonize, with a myriad of mixers. Or simply set, like a jewel, in a bed of ice with a twist.
Our vodka is made from 100% corn and is absolutely gluten free. It’s distilled eight times ’til it’s an almost pure 190 proof before it’s reduced to 80 proof with some of the best water on the planet.
Delicious in a Martini where the silky texture really shines or in your favorite vodka cocktail, our vodka will get you there.
In Maine, tradition is always the perfect mixer for the present.™
The unctuousness on the palate gracefully reveals the heat and power that is the hallmark of this vodka. There’s a lot of character here too: a hint here and there of white pepper and cocoa, a bit of toffee as well. Here’s a vodka that will stand up to, yet still harmonize, with a myriad of mixers. Or simply set, like a jewel, in a bed of ice and a twist.
© 2018 Northstar Brands
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In 250 Words: Trump.
RU Student Life November 16, 2016 7:42 pm April 5, 2017
the 250 Words series, the RU Student Life writers are posed a question, and in 250 words they each offer their insights. These views represent the unique views of the RU Student Life bloggers.
Question 15: What do you think and what have you been feeling about the recent US Presidential Election results?
Sunita: No, No, No – With a Little Hope
As soon as I heard the news, I repeatedly said ‘no’ over and over again. I was in complete denial. What should have been a historic moment of celebration became one of the most tragic events I’ve seen unfold in my lifetime. I wish I could say I was more shocked, but something in my gut was telling me that America would never let a woman become president, as sad as that is. An overly-qualified woman lost out to a racist sexual abuser. I so badly wanted to be proven wrong. I so badly wanted to wake up to a world where minorities, women, immigrants, people with disabilities, muslims & the LGBTQ community were celebrated and loved. Instead it felt like I had woken up to a living nightmare, where hatred and bigotry prevailed. Van Jones said it best when he described this as “whitelash” against a black president. “People have talked about a miracle,” Jones said. “I’m hearing about a nightmare.” Glass ceilings should have been shattered. Instead, a wall is being built.
The one glimmer of hope I found was that the majority of the younger generation voted for Hillary Clinton to be president, just as they tried to prevent Brexit from happening in the UK. I have so much faith in our generation, that we will remain hopeful and purposeful, and that we will continue the fight for faith and strength and togetherness in the midst of this crazy world. I believe that people will prosper, despite their gender, race, age, religion, ability, or status in life. I believe in the little girls, may they all grow up to shatter glass ceilings and empower us all. Most of all I believe in love, that it will always be the small yet constant glimmer of light amidst all the darkness, and that light will lead us back home.
Jessica: Check Yourself
I have been feeling completely distraught and disheartened since discovering the US Presidential Election results. My friend texted me an analogy the other day that so perfectly describes how I’ve been feeling:
“I feel like I broke up with a partner every time I log onto social media. I’m going about my day happy until I go on social media and I see a picture of Donald Trump (the ex-partner in this scenario). Once again, I’m reminded that he’s president and I have to let reality sink in. Do you know that feeling I’m talking about? That feeling you experience right after a breakup where you keep forgetting it happened? And every time you remember, it’s almost like you’re hearing it for the first time and need to process it all over again?”
Every time Donald Trump gets brought up, my stomach churns. I consider myself to be very liberal in my thinking, which makes it extremely difficult for me to wrap my head around the idea that anyone (let alone half of America) would support a racist, misogynistic pig. But if I have learned anything from the Hunger Games trilogy, it’s that it’s entirely too easy to vilify the other side before checking to see if your own hands are covered in blood.
We are allowed to be angry about the results, but I don’t think being divided by politics is the answer to our problems. There is definitely something more sinister and corrupt with our system that permeates our society beyond these two unappealing candidates.
I wrote a fairly lengthy post titled ‘Trump is a piece shit, but Clinton isn’t our Mockingjay” on my personal blog to try to work through some of these rollercoaster of emotions I’ve been having. I was hesitant on sharing it with my peers on Facebook, but after receiving an outpour of positive feedback, it has pushed me to continue dialogue surrounding this topic. I am still upset, but I have not lost all hope.
Stef: Disbelief
I was sitting in my bed trying to re-read an essay while listening to the election results chime in through my computer. Earlier that day I told a friend there was no way America would elect Trump, so, watching it pre-occupied in my bed, I was not worried about the results. That is until Trump took Florida. Listening attentively to Peter Mansbridge and the other commentators on CBC, I was completely shocked. I could no longer focus on anything other than the results, so I put my paper down. Within the hour he took another state and another. I couldn’t focus on anything else. The clock kept ticking into the early morning hours but I couldn’t go to bed, I had to know who won. At 2:00 a.m. on CBC the conversation had changed. No longer were they saying “what if” Trump becomes president, they had started talking about Trump as the new president-elect.
Despite the articles and activism in the media surrounding the homophobia, racism, ableism, and sexism in America, I thought there was just no way he could be elected. How can anyone vote for someone as overtly bigoted as this man? How can someone tell their daughter they voted for a man who assaults women thanks to his position of power? How can someone tell their son they voted for a man who wants to keep immigrants, like their grandparents, out of the country? It seemed impossible; but I was wrong.
In an article in the Atlantic Salena Zito writes, “The press takes him literally, but not seriously; his supporters take him seriously, but not literally.” That would mean when Trump talks about building a wall, his supporters hear “stricter immigration laws” while the press hears sounds of construction starting, automatically asking about the logistics like, how much and how high? If this analogy were true across all voters, I would feel a bit better about the opinions of the majority of my neighbours, but the problem is there is no way to know for sure. In light of the recent protests, I hope that my neighbours can find some common ground among themselves and rise above this set back.
We know there’s a lot to be thinking about and a lot of feelings tied to these election results. Tell us what you think @RUStudentLife in your own 250 words.
Read more 250 Words questions and responses here.
americademocracygovernmenthillary clintonopinionpoliticsracismreflectionsexismstatestrumpunited states
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Critical Media Chats With Your Tween
by Marta Sánchez, Ph.D.
Media and Tweens: How Is Your Child Being Affected?
Images in the media can possibly affect your children’s behavior and grades and influence their future. It’s time for a serious talk right now. A 2010 study by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that social media, television, music, videos and cell phones overexpose children and youth to message after message and carry images and words that influence even the youngest of children. Let’s look at some of the statistics:
8-18 year-old youth devote an average of 7 hours and 38 minutes to using entertainment media across a typical day (more than 53 hours a week).
66% of light media users report getting A’s and B’s in school, whereas only 51% of heavy media users report doing so
TV was the biggest source of media exposure for all groups
Tweens were the most exposed group to TV content, computers and video games
Tweens had the highest level of media exposure and highest level of media use
Children and youth who reported more time using media also reported being less content
Children and youth’s relationship to media is inevitable. Even schools use videos, computers and television as teaching aids. What matters is that you talk to your child about how media exposure might be impacting them, and why it’s important to limit their use.
Media Influence Starts Early
Teach children as young as preschool-aged to question the words and pictures they encounter in their world.
Education professor and researcher, Vivian Vasquez, teaches children as young as preschool-aged to question the words and pictures they encounter in their world. One impressive experience she created for and with her preschoolers was questioning the language, images and packaging of Happy Meals. The children brought in examples of toys they had gotten from Happy Meals, and Vasquez showed them pictures of the packaging. The children focused especially on the name of the popular children’s meals, “Happy Meals.” In their weeks-long exploration, the children came to pose and respond to insightful questions, such as, “Why does McDonald’s want us to be happy?” and “Why do we get a toy with our meal?” Vasquez positions her work as ‘negotiating critical literacies with young children.’
Negotiating Media with your Tween
When you think about how your child encounters all sorts of images and words that s/he has to respond to, assimilate or reject, you know that they could use the gentle guidance of you, the parent. As parents and caregivers, you can embed Critical Media Chats (CMC) in your daily conversations with your pre-teen. Images and words come in all sizes and shapes, from a picture that goes viral on the internet to ads on a billboard, from comments on a talk show to fashion spreads in magazines, your tween is learning in both stealth and overt ways how the world sees her/him and others and what behaviors are considered okay and not okay for someone their age, race, gender, and and even socio-economic level. But how do children come to take on identities and behaviors? Do they model what they see before them, copying it?
“Tweens are still connected to family and your guidance but are increasingly looking to their peers for models and ways of being and to seek their approval and acceptance.”
Family Tensions Around Media Are OK. Parents Have to Step Up for Tweenhood On This One
Tensions will come up between you and your tween because of his/her changing identity. These tensions are opportunities for engaging in Critical Media Chats, or CMCs. Key to engaging in CMCs is being knowledgeable about social media, not just Facebook and Twitter; there are countless more choices. It’s also important to have a family computer that tweens use in sight of family interactions.
Having Critical Media Chats in
The focus here switches to talking with your tween about the media they encounter and use to launch their own images and words into the world.
Here are some possibilities for CMCs:
Play It Cool With Older Tweens
Ask. “What’s trending on [insert social media name]?”
Wonder out loud. “I wonder why that’s such a hot topic right now?” If no response, add, “What do you think?”
Prompt. “What response would you post to that [insert the trending topic]?
Play It Straight
Put the topic on the table. “I want us to have Critical Media Chats every other day. We’ll call them CMCs, and this is how we’ll do it.”
Outline the plan.
“I am going to pick an image or words from social media, a video, TV or a magazine, or something someone sends me, and you are going to do the same. Then, we’re going to talk about each one, yours and mine.”
“We’re going to do this every other day, or whenever it can’t wait that long.”
Explain why CMCs matter.
“You’re growing up, and that is the coolest thing in the world! So, I want you to think about who you’re becoming, the things we tell you here at home about growing up and what the world is telling you. I want to be part of that conversation in the same way your friends and people you admire, like [insert idol your tween might have or community role model you know they respect] are.”
“Media is everywhere and we can’t avoid its influence. There are cases when this influence is important, like when we receive important health information or we want to know how to act in an emergency. In a lot of cases, media is tricky. It seems like fun, but it has other layers to it. I want us to figure some of it out together.”
“It’s important that we do this together; there’s a lot going on out there, even in the shows we like to watch and the music we like to listen to, the pictures we take of each other. It’s good to figure out what stories these all tell about us, about you, and about who you want to become.”
“What do you think? We can make it like a game or a conversation.”
Structure them any way you want, or let them come up naturally.
In the grocery store, “Look at this cereal box. Do you think I can look that good if I eat this cereal?”
At the drive through, “Look, the more you buy, the cheaper it gets. Why do you think that is?”
Looking at a Billboard, “Do you think that girl is too thin?”
Paging through a magazine, “I wonder how long it took to get her hair to look that way. What do you think?”
Responding to the news, “Did she just say the person was ‘acting up’ and that’s why she got arrested?’
Responding to racialized bullying on social media, “Look at this comment, this man wrote, “‘Stop your whining, not everything is about race.’ Huh, what do you think he means by that?”
Responding to racial exclusion, “Why does this store’s advertising never features a Black person in it?”
Be prepared to bridge some of the prompts, especially with younger tweens who may not know what to say.
Don’t condemn your tween if his/her response isn’t what you want to hear.
Listen. Listen to them and keep the conversation going. If your child says, ‘The man is right, not everything is about race.’ Ask, ‘Okay, but why does he say ‘stop your whining’ when this article was about Black children being bullied because of their hair? Do you think that’s whining?
Pay attention to how your tween is responding to the CMCs. Don’t give up on these chats, but at the same time, realize that your tween, as every other person in the world, needs time to think about the conversations they’re having. Back off if you see a lot of resistance, BUT revise your strategy for getting back in.
If you have a CMC with your tween, or have had, let us know in the comments section below what your strategy was and how your tween responded.
Managing Editor | @SBPeditorial
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Devil's Deception, The
Ibn Al-Jawzi
Previous Article Determining the Right Way
Next Article Difference Between Splitting (Iftiraq) and Differing (Ikthilaf), The
All praise is due to Allah, Who only gives the criterion of justice to the most pious among scholars and intellectuals. It is He Who sent messengers bearing glad tidings of reward and warnings of punishment and He also revealed to them divine books containing perfect laws free from any deficiency, blemish, or fault, which explained the wrong and the right.
I praise Him as one who knows that He is the causer of all causes praises Him, and I sincerely testify to His oneness without a trace of doubt. I also bear witness that Muhammad is His slave and messenger whom He sent when disbelief hung like a veil on the face of belief. He removed the darkness with the light of divine guidance, lifted the curtains of ignorance and explained to the people what was revealed for them. He clarified all which was unclear in the Qur'an and left Muslims in a clear state, free from any distortion. May Allah's peace and blessings be on him, on all of his family and companions, and on all those who righteously follow in their footsteps until the Day of Resurrection and Judgement.
Surely the greatest God given blessing to humankind is the intellect, because it is the sole instrument by which God, Most Glorious, is known, and the only way by which belief in the Prophet is realized. However since the intellect can't take responsibility for everything humankind requires, messengers were sent and divine books were revealed. That is, the divine law is like the sun and the intellect like the eye which sees the sun, if the eye is open and healthy. When the true message of the prophets is accepted by the intellect after exposure to miraculous proofs, it submits to the prophets and depends on them for understanding the hidden and unseen world.
After blessing the world of man with intellect, Allah began humankind's earthly existence with the prophethood of Adam, peace be on him, who taught his descendants according to divine revelation. Humankind remained on the right path until Cain separated himself from the path of righteousness by following his desires and killing his brother. Subsequently, uncontrolled desires split people into factions and drove them into the wilderness of misguidance and the worship of idols. Many contradictory beliefs and practices which were incompatible with the message of the Prophets and confusing to the intellect arose among them. By following their desires, customs, and the influence of their leaders, people confirmed the Devil's wish - that they would all follow him except a handful of believers.
It should be realized that the prophets brought a crystal clear message which they successfully used to confront, the illnesses of society and to effectively cure them according to a common methodology.
However, Satan came and introduced ambiguities into the clear message, mixed poison with the cures, and obscured the straight path by creating around it countless deviant paths. Down through the ages Satan continued to play with people's minds until they fragmented into a multitude of absurd denominations and sects based on despicable innovations. Some eventually worshipped idols in and around the very Ka'bah, the first house of worship built for the worship of the One God, Allah. The Arabs made certain animals forbidden to themselves like the Sa'ibah, a she-camel left to graze freely; the Bahirah, its female offspring whose ear they used to slit; the Wasilah, a sheep which had given birth seven times each time delivering twin females; and the Hamm, a stallion-camel dedicated to the gods according to certain rites. They also buried their baby daughters alive, and deprived orphans of their rightful inheritance, etc.
Allah then sent Muhammad, may Allah's peace and blessings be on him, who cancelled these detestable practices and introduced laws for the benefit of mankind. As for his companions, they travelled by the light of his guidance, during his lifetime and after his death safe from the Devil and his enticements. But when the daylight of their presence faded and the shadows of darkness fell, desires returned, innovations arose and the clear wide path became narrow. Most people split their religion into factions and the Devil rose to the occasion, obscuring, deceiving, embellishing, dividing and fabricating. For, the Devil's deception can only take place in the dark night of ignorance. If the dawn of knowledge rises his deception is easily exposed.
I decided to warn people about Satan's cunning strategies by pointing out his traps because the exposure of evil is a warning against falling into it. In the Sahih of Al-Bukhari and Muslim there is a hadith related by Hudhayfah in which he said:
"People used to ask Allah's Messenger about the good but I used to ask him about the evil for fear of it catching hold of me."
'Abdullah ibn 'Abbas was also reported as saying:
"By Allah, I do not believe there is any one on earth today whom the Devil would like to see dead more than me." When he was asked why that was so, he replied, "By Allah, when the Devil makes an innovation in the West or the East and a man carries it to me I counter it with a sunnah and it returns to him as he sent it."
Consequently, I wrote this book to warn people against the trials of the Devil. I sought to frighten them by removing the Devil's mask and by exposing his evil tactics. And, Allah helps everyone who is truthful and whose intentions are wholly sincere.
The introduction to the book The Devil's Deception
ilm (knowledge) bid'ah (innovation) Shaytan (the Devil) sins desires & whims
Four Poisons of the Heart (Part 2 of 4) - Unrestrained Glances
Hunt of Thought, The
Falling into Sin
Abandonment of the Sinful and Heretics
Traps of Iblis, The
O people who take pleasure in a life that will vanish, falling in love with a faded shadow is sheer stupidity!
Al-Imam Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah (d. 751H), may Allah have mercy upon him
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Blue Lives
Handheld Device Hoodie
SKU: 57A76-18500-ORG-S-SHTT
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50% Cotton 50% Polyester Preshrunk Fleece Knit
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Machine Washable Inside Out
A handheld device is any portable device that can be carried and held in one’s palm. We can hardly remember a time when one did not always have a phone on hand. Portable media players: that would be a cassette-based walkman. It’s true that the Second Amendment was written when all we had were muskets. But that was all the government had as well! Times change; technology changes. Yet some things remain: our rights as citizens of the United States of America. Show your support for the rights afforded to you by the US Constitution with this witty Hoodie!
How many portable handheld devices do you own? Do you value one more than all others? Is it the newest technological marvel from Apple? Here at ™, our favorite handheld is our 9mm Smith & Wesson! Show your support for the Second Amendment with this Hoodie! Proudly state that instead of using your iPod, you prefer to “iPac!”
Need An AR15? T-Shirt
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2A Original Homeland Security T-Shirt
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Key Features: Heavy Cotton T-Shirt 100% Cotton Preshrunk Jersey Knit Classic Fit Print Size Varies By Garment Size Machine Washable Inside Out Printed in the USA Do you know why America is the land of the free? Because of a combination of our 2nd Amendment and the brave men and women serving in the armed...
2A Original Homeland Security Zip Hoodie
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Return Fire T-Shirt
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Key Features: Heavy Cotton T-Shirt 100% Cotton Preshrunk Jersey Knit Classic Fit Print Size Varies By Garment Size Machine Washable Inside Out Printed in the USA Perfect witty shirt to give as a gift to your favorite gun lover. We offer a wide selection of graphic design shirts printed right here in the U.S., that...
Need An AR15? Sleeveless T-Shirt
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You Tempting My Hammer Sleeveless T-Shirt
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Pamper Me With Pistols Ladies T-Shirt
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Never retreat T-Shirt
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Bullet Flag Hoodie
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Pretty in Pink Dangerous in Camo Junior Fit V-Neck T-Shirt
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Key Features: Softstyle Ladies V-Neck T-Shirt 100% Ring-Spun Cotton Preshrunk Jersey Knit Junior Fit, Runs Small Print Size Varies By Garment Size Machine Washable Inside Out Printed in the USA Do you know why America is the land of the free? Because of a combination of our 2nd Amendment and the brave men and women...
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Power of the Fashion Film
Fashion, Opinion
We have probably seen quite a few fashion films but have you ever thought of its importance? Not only does a fashion film have the power to influence a generation, inspire but most importantly as a focal point in selling. By making a fashion film, you bring your collection to life and have the open creative license to really capture the essence, the brand image and attitude associated with a collection.
Making a fashion film does not need to cost millions and have superstars featured for it to have an impact, unless that is what your brand represents. The most powerful fashion films have gone viral either because of the creativity, a powerful message or sometimes in its simplicity- to name but a few key traits.
We want to feature two striking fashion films capturing on the one hand creativity/awe and luxury and on the other the infallible simplicity that made this film go viral.
1. AngloGold ASHANTI “Celestial Origins”
AngloGold Ashanti is one of the world’s largest producers of gold, with operations on four continents. Proud to have their roots in South Africa, they are passionate about the metal they mine. AngloGold Ashanti hosts an annual gold jewellery design competition called AuDITIONS. The theme for the 2013 | 2014 competition is “Celestial Origins” and was inspired by the mystical journey of gold, billions of years ago, as it travelled from the celestial plane to land here on earth.
The resulting collection consists of 16 remarkable statement pieces, created by both student and professional designers selected for their original interpretation of the theme. While some finalists looked to the heavens for inspiration, others looked to find inspiration in the stories of their own origins.
This fashion film is a tribute to the extraordinary origins of gold and extraordinary designs it has inspired. Beautifully and creatively directed and produced by ANDREA•GWYNN, a young directing duo in South Africa. Take a look below!
2. First Kiss
It’s the fashion film that’s not really a fashion film and enjoyed 23 million views in the first three days since it was posted on YouTube. At the moment, it has approximately 82 million views in less than three months. So why did this fashion film become viral? Simplicity, honesty, and a rawness to the whole video.
Founder of fashion label Wren, Melissa Coker, and the film’s director, Tatia Pilieva, knew they’d created “something special” when ‘First Kiss’ was filmed in less than a day but they had no idea just how far-reaching their recording would be.
“No one knew who they were kissing until they turned up. They didn’t even know the person’s name, so they couldn’t Google or do any research. Only Tatia knew and I knew. That was key to capturing these moments,” Coker reveals.
All the women in the video are wearing Wren clothing but it is not the center focus of the video. Some might say that it did not successfully sell the clothes but the brand was sold and most people will look further into a brand that made them feel something in less than 4 minutes. Judging by audience reaction alone, this fashion film has proven to be more successful than major fashion brands. Lesson learned and all pun intended from this simple well-known principle: K.I.S.S (Keep It Simple Stupid).
Tags: AngloGold Ashanti, AngloGold AuDITIONS, Celestial Origins, Fashion Film, First Kiss, Gold, Luxury, Melissa Coker, Wren Studio
Musically adept and fashionably conscious: Meet Sauti Sol
The Next Level in Luxury: Personalization of the Luxury Object
The Designers Studio May 21, 2014
YSWARA: Curating An Authentic African Luxury Experience
Natalie Kimani March 1, 2018
LUXURY FEATURE: Taibo Bacar. Semi-colon
Natalie Kimani February 21, 2018
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The week in govtech: the biggest...
The week in govtech: the biggest tenders and awards (29/1/19)
This is the latest instalment of an exclusive series analysing the UK’s biggest public sector tech deals. Every Monday, in partnership with data analysis firm Tussell, we drill down into the most valuable tenders and awards from the last seven days. Here’s what we found this week…
Top five tenders
The Crown Commercial Service has issued the biggest tender of the week: a framework valued at up to £5bn for telecoms and network services. The framework will be available to any public sector organisation wishing to procure telecoms services, including traditional telephony, video conferencing and unified communications. Prospective suppliers have been invited to apply to be listed on the framework by Thursday (31 January).
Authority Contract Title Date Published Bid Deadline Framework Tender Value (High)
Crown Commercial Service Network Services 22/01/19 31/01/19 Y £5,000,000,000
N E L Commissioning Support Unit Framework Agreement for the provision of a Clinical Utilisation Review Software on behalf of NHS England 21/01/19 20/02/19 Y £15,000,000
The University Caterers Organisation Ltd TUCO Digital Services 23/01/19 21/02/19 N £10,000,000
Department of Justice (Northern Ireland)) Replacement ICT System 25/01/19 25/02/19 N £9,000,000
Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council Enabling Digital Mobility 25/01/19 25/02/19 N £7,000,000
Prior Information Notices
The most eye-catching notice of the week comes from Greater Manchester Police, which is searching for a firm to provide analysis of data acquired from mobile phones. “The platform will operate at secret level on a stand-alone system to be utilised as an intelligence tool,” the notice states. “The system must be capable of importing, storing and analysing data from multiple mobile phone forensic data extraction tools for intelligence purposes and bulk reporting.” It’s not yet clear when the tender will open.
Contracting Authority Contract Title Date Published Bid Deadline Framework
Herefordshire Council Market Engagement – Technology Enabled Care: Integrated Suite of Solutions PILOT 25/01/19 01/02/19 N
Greater Manchester Police Data Analysis for Forensically Acquired Mobile Phone Data 22/01/19 – N
Yorkshire Purchasing Organisation Data Centres, Maintenance and Management Including Design and Hosting 22/01/19 – Y
Top five awards
Infosys has won the biggest single award of the week: a £5m contract to supply the Medicines & Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency with test services “in support of a range of information technology projects”, according to the notice. The contract will last three years.
Contracting Authority Supplier Contract Title Date Awarded Framework Award / Framework Value
Powys County Council Multiple Suppliers Finance and Purchase to Pay Software System 01/08/18 Y £10,999,999
Home Group Multiple Suppliers Home Group — Website and UX Framework 16/01/19 Y £6,000,000
Medicines & Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency Infosys Limited Strategic Test Delivery 07/02/18 N £5,000,000
Home Office Methods Professional Services Limited BSTP Critical Systems Project Delivery Capability 31/10/18 N £4,000,000
The City of Edinburgh Council Charles River Development Limited Investment Front Office Software System 27/12/18 N £3,259,369
Two years after WannaCry, the NHS is still under-investing in security
The NHS is still not prepared for another major cyber attack, PAC warns
Former DWP minister calls for re-insourcing of digital tech
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Baxstrom found not guilty in attempted-murder case
By Jacob Klopfenstein The Journal
Updated: Monday, July 25, 2016 9:23 PM
After a weeklong trial, Garrett “Ty” Baxstrom was found not guilty Monday of second-degree attempted murder.
Baxstrom, 39, was accused in Montezuma District Court of shooting Kristi Roundtree, his then-common law wife, with a shotgun after an altercation on Aug. 15.
Roundtree, 38, was discovered late that night covered in blood and dirt and with injuries to her face, head, arms and back, according to a report by Montezuma County Sheriff’s Deputy Donnie Brown. She reported that Baxstrom tried to kill her.
Baxstrom was charged with attempted second-degree murder, first-degree assault with fists and a shotgun, and child abuse.
After deliberating for more than two hours Monday, the 12 jurors acquitted Baxstrom of all the charges. He was released from the court immediately, and his bond was discharged.
The trial began Monday, July 18 with Judge Todd Plewe presiding. Prosecutors Will Furse and Sean Murray argued on Tuesday, July 19 the trial that there had been a pattern of abuse in the couple’s relationship, and that Baxstrom had gotten drunk and angry with Roundtree and wanted to kill her. They said Baxtrom had the intent to cause Roundtree serious bodily injury, and he supplied himself with everything he needed, including guns and nightvision glasses, to do so.
Baxstrom’s attorney, Christian Hatfield, argued Monday in closing that prosecutors had proven nothing in the attempted-murder trial against his client. He said Baxstrom never tried to kill Roundtree. He refuted prosecutors’ theories, saying his client was not preparing to hunt down his wife and was not drunk and didn’t want to kill anyone. There was no evidence presented to suggest Baxstrom ever fired a gun, he said.
“It’s simply wrong,” Hatfield said of the state’s case.
Hatfield alleged that Roundtree had conspired with a neighbor to frame Baxstrom, planting evidence and shooting herself with a BB gun. He said that was the best explanation that fit the evidence presented in the case.
In closing arguments Monday, Murray said there was overwhelming circumstantial evidence to support the state’s theories. He said it would have had to be the “greatest conspiracy of all time” if Roundtree had attempted to frame Baxstrom.
“Mr. Hatfield has told you a tall tale,” Murray told the jury.
Hatfield and Murray both said the investigation of the crime scene by law enforcement after the incident was poor. Hatfield said investigators never administered gunshot residue tests, which might have determined if anyone involved in the case had fired a gun.
In an email statement, Murray said domestic violence remains a problem in this community, and he was concerned with the implications the verdict may have for victims.
“We can only hope that these victims know that there are people here to help and that we will continue to do everything in our power to protect them and bring their abusers to justice,” he said. “Victims don’t deserve to be abused or blamed by their abusers.”
Defendant takes the standIn testimony Friday, Baxstrom admitted to hitting Roundtree multiple times on Aug. 15 with the intention of knocking her unconscious. That demonstrated intent to cause serious bodily injury to Roundtree, which would justify a guilty verdict for the charge of assault with fists, Murray said.
The defendant testified for more than two hours on Friday. He said he only struck Roundtree in self-defense.
“I value my life,” he said.
He testified that Roundtree hit him in the face with a .22-caliber pistol on Aug. 15, briefly putting him out of consciousness. After coming to his senses, Baxstrom said, he attempted to take the pistol from Roundtree by using a self-defense move designed to break an opponent’s wrist. Failing, he then bit her arm and she dropped the weapon, he said. Baxstrom then pinned down her right arm and hit her about eight times, he said, attempting to knock her out so she would not hurt him.
After the fight, Baxstrom testified, he went inside the cabin to check on his daughter and lost consciousness again. He left the area with his daughter and returned to his home, a trailer on County Road G near Blue Door Pawn, where he worked. At home, he poured himself a whiskey mixed drink and watched a cartoon movie with his daughter, who was 3 years old at the time, he said.
After the movie, Baxstrom said, he took his daughter to the Hartman Draw cabin to look for Roundtree. When officers spotted him there, he said, he ducked into the car to check on his daughter before complying with their instructions. He was then arrested. He said he had not known that police were searching for him.
Wife testifies about day of shootingRoundtree, who had been married to Baxstrom for four years, testified Tuesday, July 19 that on the day of the Aug. 15 shooting, Baxstrom had prepared to move several of her belongings out of the cabin at Hartman Draw. Emotionally upset, she said, she walked away from the cabin down the road with the couple’s daughter in an effort to avoid an argument with Baxstrom. She returned about dusk, and the altercation began, she said.
After apparently being shot, Roundtree rolled down a nearby creek embankment, where she waited for several hours, she said. She then walked to a neighbor’s house, and the neighbor called 911, she said.
Baxstrom testified that he believed Roundtree fabricated or staged being shot with the help of another neighbor. When asked by Murray if he believed Roundtree would have been in the right mind to shoot herself with a shotgun after the couple’s altercation, Baxstrom said, “Yes.”
Roundtree filed for divorce from Baxstrom after the earlier incident in November 2014 and asked for a protection order. However, the couple decided not to divorce and to work things out between them, she said.
At the time of the fight, Roundtree was pregnant with the couple’s second child, which resulted in a miscarriage. Roundtree said that Baxstrom knew she was pregnant.
Governor appoints district court, county judges
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Trolled Advice Columnist Wraps Up an Episode of Seinfeld in One Paragraph
Via @LATimesfarmer
An unknown prankster sent in the plot of a two-part Seinfeld episode to the advice columnist Amy Dickenson. The episode in question is called "The Boyfriend" and just as the prankster writes, it deals with Jerry meeting his sports idol who then goes on to date Elaine.
Amy answered as if it was any other question with a short paragraph that offers solid advice and would have probably cut the end of the episode very short.
She admits on her own website that she missed the joke but she seems pretty good humored about it:
Every once in awhile, I get punked by a villainous, fun-loving reader. I have some affection for these episodes because I often think that if I didn’t actually have a job, punking advice columnists is exactly what I would do with my time. But alas I do have a job and so I am left with the task of sharing my humiliation, as well as trying to enjoy readers’ reactions.
Here's the beginning of the episode in question:
Finale of the Day: A Seinfeld Edit Gives the Show the Ending it Deserves
Via David Elmaleh
Ever since Hulu slapped every Seinfeld episode up, it seems like the 1990s show has resurged into modern parlance. That prompted YouTuber David Elmaleh to craft another take on what many see as a disappointing finale.
It seems like such an interesting beginning (or second season plot line) to a very different, dark and violent show...
Of course the sequel will be to open a coffee shop in Turkey.
Supercut of the Day: Run That B-Roll! Shots of Seinfeld Where Nothing is Happening
The show is about nothing and now nothing is happening.
Jerry Seinfeld Reveals Some Kind of Reunion
Just a few weeks ago, Jerry Seinfeld, Jason Alexander, and Larry David were all spotted hanging around the restaurant made famous by their award winning sitcom. Originally said to be a location for Jerry's web series, he recently (and vaguely) revealed that this secret project will be a Seinfeld reunion of sorts.
After giving an extremely vague interview to WFAN's "Boomer & Carton" show, producer Al Dukes pressed Jerry further which suggested the possibility of this reunion project to air sometime during the Super Bowl.
Game of Thrones as a Seinfeld Sitcom
YouTuber MatinComedy puts a Seinfeld-like sitcom spin into a scene from the popular medieval fantasy TV series Game of Thrones. It's amazing what a laugh track can do.
Collaboration of the Day
We thought this day would never come: With a new tagline -- "Soup for you! Soup for everyone!" -- Jason Alexander has partnered with the Original SoupMan as a celebrity spokesman.
"We had one of the greatest episodes of Seinfeld ever, somewhat at his expense," Alexander says. "But now, I get to make amends by helping bring his recipes to everyone
soup nazi
George Is Getting Upset of the Day
George Is Getting Upset of the Day: Mitt Romney loves to quote George Costanza at debates and rallies. He's done it at least three times in the past, including during last night's CNN debate.
Except he gets it wrong every time.
"As George Costanza would say, when they're applauding, stop," he told last night
RIP: Ian Abercrombie, at 77
RIP: Ian Abercrombie, a veteran British character actor who is best remembered for his role as Mr. Pitt on Seinfeld, passed away Thursday in Hollywood at age 77.
Abercrombie has played dozens of parts over the years since his start in a 1955 production of Stalag 17.
Though he is best known to many
mr-pitt
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Politics of Puerto Rico
All Latest Politics of Puerto Rico News
Statehood bill could make Puerto Rico a state before 2020
BY Rafael Bernal 03/28/19 02:25 PM EDT
San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz running for Puerto Rico governor in 2020
BY Aris Folley 03/22/19 04:19 PM EDT
Political shenanigans mask true problems in Puerto Rico
BY Charlie Kirk, opinion contributor 09/21/18 02:30 PM EDT
Puerto Rico governor asks Trump to consider statehood
Puerto Rico mayor: Territory's profile has grown since hurricanes
BY Rafael Bernal 07/29/18 07:30 AM EDT
Puerto Rico debt plan must be equal parts inspiring, realistic
BY Brad Setser, opinion contributor 10/09/17 04:00 PM EDT
Despite Puerto Rico's zero electoral votes, GOP still knows political value
BY Liz Mair, opinion contributor 09/28/17 02:40 PM EDT
Puerto Rico following Greek footsteps to economic woe
BY Desmond Lachman, Opinion Contributor 06/28/17 02:20 PM EDT
Puerto Rico has spoken — make it the 51st state in the union
BY José M. Saldaña, opinion contributor 06/14/17 11:40 AM EDT
Ryan meets with Hispanic Caucus to talk Puerto Rico
BY Rafael Bernal and Mike Lillis 04/20/16 05:31 PM EDT
Solving the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority debt problem
BY Benjamin Zycher, Opinion Contributor 08/14/15 06:00 AM EDT
In spending bill, a path to statehood
BY Erik Wasson 01/22/14 06:00 AM EST
Blog Briefing Room
Republican governor supports Sotomayor
BY Eric Zimmermann 05/26/09 04:17 PM EDT
Voting Rights a Step, but Puerto Ricans Need Voice on Status
BY Puerto Rico GOP Res. Com. Luis Fortuno 01/25/07 12:40 PM EST
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A dozen people protest for Lincoln youth jobs
Alex Colman
An organised protest against government work schemes took place on Lincoln’s High Street on Saturday, March 3.
Around a dozen people from the Lincoln Youth Fight for Jobs group protested against the government’s Get Britain Working initiative.
Jobseeker’s Allowance claimants from 18-24-year-olds were originally meant to partake in an unpaid four-week placement at a store to keep claiming their benefits.
But in the run up to the protest, the government backed down on the initiative, announcing it would scrap the threat of financial penalties for people who do not take the placements.
The demonstrators accused the scheme of exploiting young people as under 24s get their usual £53.54 JSA per week with employers not obliged to cover expenses.
Dave Tompkins from Youth Fight for Jobs said: “Private companies are benefiting from essentially taxpayer-funded workers but the public can fight all the cuts by getting involved with groups like ours and their trade unions.”
With around fifty people signed up to the protest there was underwhelming participation on the day. Alex Moore from Youth Fight for Jobs commented on the local support for the protest:
“I think the turn-out is a bit disappointing as we had a lot more people sign up to the event on Facebook and it could be the weather or the day but we still have plenty of people who are passionate about it,” he said.
Fundraisers sleep rough outside Lincoln Cathedral
Red Arrows’ first female pilot to move to ground-based role
Main Road, Toynton All Saints
2a School Lane, Coningsby
EXECUTIVE NEW BUILD – Back Lane, Old Bolingbroke
Delightful period detached family home
Old Main Road, Old Leake, Boston
3 bedroom Link Detached to let
2 bedroom Apartment to let
4 bedroom Mid Terraced House to let
3 bedroom Town House to let
4 bedroom Semi-Detached House to let
1 bedroom Park Home to let
5 bedroom Detached House to let
2 bedroom Detached Bungalow to let
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The “Blade and Soul” releases new copy with high falling possibility
Posted on August 31, 2012 by tinahue
A lot of players and the personage inside all are worried about the future prospect of “Blade and Soul”, one of the biggest reason is some update pictures in the game, if the player had been playing all the contents of the game before updating, it is hard to stop them from leaving the game, and the game’s developers NCsoft recently told players with the continuous actions, “don’t worry about the game does not have new content. Recently they announced game update content of September, and confirmed that the game will be added a new career before October.
The next ultimate copy is much-anticipated “bloody fishing port”
First of all, in September, will increase new ultimate copy “bloody fishing port” for you, the 45-level players can enter the copy, the falling property quality is higher than the current upper level copy. It takes about two hours in whole copy, totally has four BOSSES, before each BOSS there are about more than 10 small monsters needing to be cleaned up.
The relevant content about PVP and new professional
After updating the “bloody fishing port”, the game will continue to update PVP content and new occupation, the stories line is spread from the current moon plain to cyan mountains, this part of the story is much harder. PVP new system is expected to be updated in mid-September, will appear new PVP mode, and each big forces will also be improved. And about the new professional problem, NCsoft said should update a new career during October.
In addition, according to the game data displayed, the players’number playing the four copies will occupy 44% of all the players, copy demand saturation is 18%, so this game will open six people Easy model copy, to let the player get more fun.
Filed under: Blade and Soul | Tagged: content, high falling possibility, new copy, new professional, PVP | Leave a comment »
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Tag Archive: Champs Sports Bowl
2010 NCAA Bowl Predictions Part 1: Dec. 18th-28th
Filed under: NCAA Football News — Leave a comment
Bowl Predictions:
New Mexico Bowl- Brigham Young (6-6) vs UTEP (6-6)
Predicted winner: BYU
Why: BYU is surging into the bowl season after a slow start to the season while UTEP started strong and backed into the bowl season by finishing with just one victory in their last six games.
Key to the game: UTEP’s senior QB Trevor Vittatoe is the key to UTEP’s potential victory. In the last six games, of which they lost five, Vittatoe threw eight interceptions and only five touchdowns. Three of those five touchdowns came in their only victory against SMU. If Vittatoe can have an efficient game against BYU then UTEP could be poised for an “upset” of sorts.
Score: BYU: 24 – UTEP: 13
Humanitarian Bowl- Northern Illinois (10-3) vs Fresno State (8-4)
Predicted winner: NIU
Why: Despite losing their coach NIU is one of the best running teams in the country, and that running game should help their QB Chandler Harnish find passing lanes, especially with play action.
Key to the game: NIU’s QB Chandler Harnish. I was tempted to name their RB Chad Spann the key player in this game, but Harnish’s ability to throw efficiently (2,230 yards, 64.7% comp and 20 TD’s to only 5 INT’s this season) along with his ability to gain yards with his legs (764 yards and 5 TD’s) he needs to perform well and threaten Fresno State with his arm and his legs for them to win this game. If he plays efficiently they have a great chance to win.
Score: NIU: 31 – FSU: 21
New Orleans Bowl- Ohio (8-4) vs Troy (7-5)
Predicted winner: Troy
Why: Troy’s QB Corey Robinson may turn the ball over a fair amount, but he was productive with 3,300+ yards, 24 TD’s and 15 INT’s. Ohio’s QB Boo Jackson managed only 15 TD’s and 16 INT’s comparatively. Troy is a little more one dimensional with the pass, whereas Ohio’s offense is more balanced but not as explosive. This could be a bit of a sloppy game because both QB’s are relatively prone to turnovers.
Key to the game: Jerrel Jernigan, WR, Troy. Jernigan has had three consecutive seasons with 70+ receptions for Troy and has again been a favorite target of freshman QB Corey Robinson. He is an explosive receiver, and if he can get behind Ohio’s secondary he could have a big game. If they keep him relatively contained he could still have an impact because of his reliable hands.
Score: Troy: 34 – Ohio: 31
St. Petersburg Bowl- Southern Miss (8-4) vs Louisville (6-6)
Predicted winner: Louisville
Why: Louisville has a balanced offensive attack that has enabled them to go from QB to QB depending on injuries and still have relative success. Their defense is much stronger overall than it was when Petrino was there, so if they can muster a balanced attack against Southern Miss they should have a good chance to win. It will be interesting to see how their defense holds up against Southern Miss.
Key to the game: Bilal Powel, RB, Louisville. Powel is the heart of their offense and he is the feature back of their offense. When Powel has 90+ yards and one or more touchdowns Louisville has won or been in very close games in every week, so if he plays well Louisville tends to be in a position win.
Score: Louisville: 24 – Southern Miss: 20
Las Vegas Bowl- Utah (10-2) vs Boise State (11-1)
Predicted winner: Boise State
Why: I personally think Utah is very overrated, but besides that Boise State is a very balanced team. They have a great passing attack led by Kellen Moore, one of the most efficient and accurate passers in the country, as well as an underrated running game led by Doug Martin. Their defense is as good as it has ever been, and between that and their juggernaut offense I think Utah will be over-matched.
Key to the game: Utah’s running game. If Utah can run the ball and sustain drives it will keep Boise State’s high-powered offense on the sideline. If they try to get into a shootout with the Broncos they will lose, so they have to try to slow the pace of the game down in my opinion.
Score: Boise State: 45 – Utah: 24
Poinsettia Bowl- Navy (9-3) vs San Diego State (8-4)
Predicted winner: San Diego State
Why: San Diego State is a more balanced attack than Navy. They have two talented WR’s in Vincent Brown and DeMarco Sampson, a quality passing QB in Ryan Lindley and a quality running back to rely on in the running game. Navy’s offense revolves around their QB Ricky Dobbs. He is their best passer as well as their leading rusher for Navy, but San Diego’s run defense may be capable of slowing him down. If they do, and if they get ahead of Navy, they may not have the offensive firepower to play from behind.
Key to the game: Ricky Dobbs. If he plays well, helps control the clock and keeps San Diego State’s offense off the field then Navy can win. But if San Diego State slows him and Navy’s offense down then San Diego State will have an easier time winning this game.
Score: San Diego State: 31 – Navy: 17
Hawai’i Bowl- Hawai’i (10-3) vs Tulsa (9-3)
Predicted Winner: Hawai’i
Why: The Golden Warriors have an extremely potent passing offense like they always seem to have, but this time around they have a quality running game to attempt to balance out their high-powered offensive attack. Tulsa has a potent offense as well, but I don’t think they can win in a shootout with Hawai’i, hence why I give them the advantage.
Key to the game: Defense. It might sound simple, but whichever defense plays better overall will give that team a substantial advantage. Both have pretty good defensive backfields, so if one of them steps up and potentially creates some turnovers that team would gain an advantage.
Score: Hawai’i: 45 – Tulsa: 31
Little Caesars Bowl- FIU (6-6) vs Toledo (8-4)
Predicted winner: Toledo
Why: Toledo’s QB’s are much more efficient than FIU’s, even their redshirt freshman Terrance Owens who stepped in after their original starter, Austin Dantin, went down to injury. Toledo also played better competition and I think they are more prepared for this bowl game than FIU.
Key to the game: Terrance Owens, QB, Toledo- If Owens continues to play efficiently like he has since stepping into the spotlight then Toledo stands a great chance to win. But if he plays like an inexperienced freshman then Toledo will be in trouble.
Score: Toledo: 31 – FIU: 20
Independence Bowl- Air Force (8-4) vs Georgia Tech (6-6)
Predicted winner: Georgia Tech
Why: Georgia Tech’s defense is fast enough to slow down Air Force’s ground attack, and I think they are disciplined enough to do so also. But I am not sure Air Force is up to stopping Georgia Tech’s offense. Both teams are great at running the football, but ironically it might come down to whoever hits on a deep ball or two who comes away with a victory. I think that Georgia Tech has that potential with Stephen Hill.
Key to the game: Josh Nesbitt. Nesbitt is an interesting key to the game because he may or may not play as a result of his injury suffered in early November. He has not yet been cleared by doctors, but if he is healthy enough to go I would be shocked if he doesn’t play. He is the heart of Georgia Tech’s rushing attack and without him they just aren’t as effective. If he plays Air Force will have a lot to stop.
Score: Georgia Tech: 27 – Air Force: 21
Champs Sports Bowl- West Virginia (9-3) vs NC State (8-4)
Predicted Winner: West Virginia
Why: West Virginia’s offense is potent and it is led by sophomore Geno Smith who has had an extremely efficient season. Their offense is explosive and can score quickly or piece together a methodical drive with a dose of Noel Devine and Ryan Clark running the ball. NC State has a quality QB and a couple of nice receivers to throw to, but West Virginia’s defense is great at rushing the passer and I think they will force Russell Wilson into a couple potential mistakes.
Key to the game: West Virginia’s pass rush. If West Virginia can rattle Russell Wilson, force him into mistakes but also keep him inside the pocket so he can’t extend plays by scrambling or finding receivers on a broken play then they should have a pretty easy time beating the Wolfpack.
Score: West Virginia: 24 – NC State: 13
Insight Bowl- Missouri (10-2) vs Iowa (7-5)
Predicted Winner: Missouri
Why: Iowa won’t have Adam Robinson or Darrel Johnson-Koulianos against Missouri as a result of suspensions which will hurt their offense. I think Ricky Stanzi might have it in him to still pull off a win if he plays like he did late in games all last season, but I don’t know if he can do that this year. Not only that, but Iowa’s defense will be challenged by a potent Missouri defense and a quality QB of their own. Blaine Gabbert isn’t a great QB but he is a good one, and I don’t know if Iowa has the secondary to stop Missouri’s passing game. I also think that Missouri’s offensive line has a solid chance of slowing down Iowa’s very talented defensive line, which could make it a long day for Iowa’s defensive backs.
Key to the game: Iowa’s pass rush. If they get after Gabbert and can force him into mistakes then I think Iowa will in the game. But if Missouri slows down Iowa’s pass rush and gives Gabbert time to throw I think Missouri will ultimately win the game.
Score: Missouri: 24 – Iowa: 20
Let’s hope these predictions go alright! I for one am ready for one last round of college football! Enjoy! Thanks for reading!
Tags: Adam Robinson, Adrian Clayborn, Air Force, Austin Dantin, Austin Pettis, Bilal Powel, Blaine Gabbert, Bobby Petrino, Boise State, Boo Jackson, Bowl Predictions, Brigham Young, Chad Spann, Champs Sports Bowl, Chandler Harnish, Coach Kill, Corey Robinson, Darrel Johnson-Koulianos, December, DeMarco Sampson, Doug Martin, Florida International, Fresno State, Geno Smith, Georgia Tech, Hawai'i, Hawai'i Bowl, Humanitarian Bowl, Independence Bowl, Insight Bowl, Iowa, Jerrel Jernigan, Josh Nesbitt, Kellen Moore, Las Vegas Bowl, Little Caesars Bowl, Louisville, Missouri, Navy, NCAA Football, New Mexico Bowl, New Orleans Bowl, Noel Devine, North Carolina State, Northern Illinois, Ohio, Poinsettia Bowl, Ricky Dobbs, Ricky Stanzi, Russell Wilson, Ryan Clark, Ryan Lindley, San Diego State, Scandal, Southern Mississippi, St. Petersburg Bowl, Stephen Hill, Suspensions, Terrance Owens, Texas-El Paso, Titus Young, Toledo, Trevor Vittatoe, Troy, Tulsa, Utah, Vincent Brown, West Virginia
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Reed Begins 2020 Strong
Tom Reed’s campaign raised $347,220.13 between January 1 and April 1, more than 15 times the amount raised by announced Democrat primary challengers Tracy Mitrano and Dr. Scott Noren.
“We’re humbled by the support we have received from our neighbors across New York who care about the future of their families,” said Tom. “We will continue to fight for our shared values in the halls of Congress.”
“Tom travels the district to listen to the concerns of the hardworking people and communities we represent,” said Abbey Daugherty, a spokesperson for the Reed campaign. “With over 250 public town hall meetings and a record of standing up for rural New York, cutting taxes for families, and securing funds for priorities in our communities, Tom is an effective voice in Congress for the 23rd District.”
Reed defeated Tracy Mitrano in a decisive victory last November after Mitrano’s support for open heroin injection sites and disrespect for law enforcement proved too extreme for voters in New York’s 23rd.
“A strong start like this after another decisive re-election victory in November allows us to continue highlighting Tom’s record of caring, common-sense leadership,” Daugherty added.
[email protected] · (607) 684-6242
Tom Reed for Congress
Corning NY 14830
Paid for by Tom Reed for Congress
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No Boston Olympics: How and Why Smart Cities Are Passing on the Torch - PDF free download eBook
In 2013 and 2014, some of Massachusett's wealthiest and most powerful individuals hatched an audacious plan to bring the 2024 Summer Olympics to Boston. Like their counterparts in cities...
Details of No Boston Olympics: How and Why Smart Cities Are Passing on the Torch
No Boston Olympics: How and Why Smart Cities Are Passing on the Torch
In 2013 and 2014, some of Massachusett's wealthiest and most powerful individuals hatched an audacious plan to bring the 2024 Summer Olympics to Boston. Like their counterparts in cities around the world, Boston's Olympic boosters promised political leaders, taxpayers, and the media that the Games would deliver incalculable benefits and require little financial support fro In 2013 and 2014, some of Massachusett's wealthiest and most powerful individuals hatched an audacious plan to bring the 2024 Summer Olympics to Boston. Like their counterparts in cities around the world, Boston's Olympic boosters promised political leaders, taxpayers, and the media that the Games would deliver incalculable benefits and require little financial support from the public.
Yet these advocates refused to share the details of their bid and only grudgingly admitted, when pressed, that their plan called for billions of dollars in construction of unneeded venues. To win the bid, the public would have to guarantee taxpayer funds to cover cost overruns, which have plagued all modern Olympic Games. The United States Olympic Committee (USOC) chose Boston 2024's bid over that of other American cities in January 2015-and for a time it seemed inevitable that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) would award the Games to Boston 2024.
No Boston Olympics is the story of how an ad hoc, underfunded group of diverse and engaged citizens joined together to challenge and ultimately derail Boston's boosters, the USOC, and the IOC. Chris Dempsey was cochair of No Boston Olympics, the group that first voiced skepticism, demanded accountability, and catalyzed dissent. Andrew Zimbalist is a world expert on the economics of sports, and the leading researcher on the hidden costs of hosting mega-events such as the Olympics and the World Cup.
Together, they tell Boston's story, while providing a blueprint for citizens who seek to challenge costly, wasteful, disruptive, and risky Olympic bids in their own cities.
boston_olympics_smart_cities.pdf
boston_olympics_smart_cities.epub
boston_olympics_smart_cities_all.zip
Rarely Pure and Never Simple in PDF
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Zack Kassian
Grading the Sabres: Adam, Chewy and those departed
May 2, 2012 May 2, 2012 Chris OstranderLeave a comment
This is the final group of forwards I will evaluate. This set of grades will actually include reviews of the three players who were traded at the deadline, plus a pair of centers who are still with the team.
Luke Adam – B-
Adam sort of got a raw deal this season. After a scorching hot start, he ended up in the doghouse and eventually was sent down to Rochester after the All-Star break. His demotion was permanent as he is still playing on the farm. I loved his play with Thomas Vanek and Jason Pominville and I contend that line should probably have stayed together through the brief slump that eventually led to Adam being sent to Rochester.
Adam did struggle some along the way this year and may have needed more seasoning. However, I think he was handled poorly and I question if his confidence has been shaken by the way Lindy Ruff decided to ship him away.
All things considered, Szczechura proved he is a capable depth forward, perfect for the AHL and spot call-up duty.
Paul Szczechura – B
Just one game short of ten, I felt comfortable giving Szczechura a grade for his play. He was called up in the middle of Buffalo’s injury crunch and actually outperformed some regulars. He had a few very nice games at center and proved that he is more than worthy of an early call up in the future. Like Derek Whitmore, Szczechura doesn’t fill a fourth line role all that well but has that offensive touch that makes him intriguing to recall. Again, if the Sabres are in need of a bit more skill, Szczechura is likely to get a call. Continue reading →
Buffalo SabresBuffalo Sabres, Grading the Sabres, Luke Adam, Marc-Andre Gragnani sucks, Paul Gaustad, Paul Szczechura, Sabres report card, Zack Kassian
The Instigator Podcast 1.6 – Codylicious
February 28, 2012 May 10, 2016 Chris OstranderLeave a comment
Darcy Regier went big at the deadline this year and snagged Cody Hodgson from the Vancouver Canucks. Eric and I discuss the Hodgson swap along with other deadline dealings from the Sabres and the rest of the league in this episode of The Instigator.
Buffalo SabresCody Hodgson, Darcy Regier, Sabres trades, The Instigator Podcast, Zack Kassian
Double Minors: Power play, Vanek spur victory against Leafs
December 17, 2011 Chris OstranderLeave a comment
It was the home game Sabres fans were waiting to see. The Sabres put forth the closest thing to a 60-minute effort than they had all year long at home and it resulted in a 5-4 victory over the Leafs.
In terms of entertainment value, last night was easily tops for the home schedule this season. Buffalo rode a four-goal second period to the victory. The Sabres’ three power play goals were the difference, one of the few times this season the extra man unit has been the reason for a win.
Credit to the Leafs – who are massively improved – for creating chances and carrying a good portion of the play with their speed and creativity. That is a difficult to team to corral simply because of the speed they possess on each line.
Perhaps the most impressive part of this game was that Buffalo pressed down when their foot was upon the collective throat of the Leafs. Lindy Ruff was running his usual defensive shell in the third period, an easy decision with a two-goal lead, but the team didn’t sit around and wait. While a majority of the third consisted of chip-and-chase, the Sabres stayed aggressive on the rush and had a few good chances.
Vanek’s game-winner came as a result of the Sabres not falling into a prevent defense, although they did yield the Kulemin breakaway and the Grabovski tally as well. While it wasn’t a clean third period, it was far better than the effort put forth against Ottawa on Wednesday.
Buffalo capped their five-game home stand with a 2-1-2 record, that is six of a possible ten points. Considering the way in which they lost their overtime games, the record could have been 4-1-0. While home games have been a chore this season, a .600 point percentage and that record could possibly be considered an improvement.
Thomas Vanek, aside from that dreadful turnover, was a complete monster. He had two great goals and made up for his brief cold spell with a four-point night. A fantastic outing from Buffalo’s best player was just what the doctor ordered.
Zack Kassian had a couple good hits and used his body well. He is a beast on the wall and in the corners. He also had that tremendous takeaway that led to Vanek’s first goal. In terms of momentum swings, Kassian’s effort on the back check and eventual apple may have been the biggest for the Sabres.
Most Leaf fans were bemoaning the officiating last night. Not sure where they were coming from, however. The Phaneuf hit was clearly a boarding infraction, there is no debating that. Was it worthy of a major? Probably not, but the official had to make a choice then and there and he went with his gut. Considering that is the type of hit the NHL is attempting to eradicate, might help to explain why it ended up being a major. As for missed calls, that goes both ways. The other infractions in the Leafs’ parade to the box were quite obvious. Just a tough night for the boys in white.
Ryan Miller allowed four goals and his save percentage for last night was .878. However, he was not only the best goalie on the ice, he was great between the pipes. He made some big power play stops, he had a great pad save on Kulemin prior to his PS and he robbed Joffery Lupul on the doorstep. Miller has looked like the goalie who started the season for the Sabres. By no means is that a bad thing.
Brayden McNabb didn’t see too much ice last night. He was great in the time he was out there, but the limited time likely means a trip back to Rochester is nearing. That is unfortunate considering he has shown far more in-zone savvy than Marc-Andre Gragnani, who seems to have the uncanny ability to be horrible while still getting ice time.
Gragnani was much better last night than he has been in recent games. His power play contributions were noticeable and he didn’t make any glaring defensive zone errors. That being said, his arrogance about his recent play is troubling and his lack of physical play is maddening.
1. Thomas Vanek
2. Drew Stafford
3. Tyler Ennis
NHL Links
Buffalo SabresBuffalo Sabres, Sabres postgame, Thomas Vanek, Toronto Maple Leafs, Zack Kassian
The Morning Skate: Kassian set to make his debut
November 25, 2011 Chris OstranderLeave a comment
It is the debut every Sabres fan has been waiting for. Some have been saying to call Zack Kassian up since he signed his entry level contract and appeared in a handful of games for Portland last year.
Zack Kassian will make his much anticipated NHL debut in Columbus this evening. John Vogl reports the big winger will skate with Luke Adam and Matt Ellis. A wise choice by Ruff to put Kassian with the center he skated with for nearly the entire summer. That will give him some familiarity for this contest.
Kassian will need to play a physical game this evening. His draft position was determined by his physical play and scoring touch. He hasn’t shown much physical edge since breaking into the professional ranks and he needs to find that side of his game if he has any hope of becoming an NHL regular.
Buffalo’s biggest challenge tonight will be to find continuity as they enter yet another game with some sort of change to their lineup. While Kassian is the newest face; Jochen Hecht, Corey Tropp and Matt Ellis will all be shifted from their roles on Wednesday.
Columbus is entering the game with Curtis Sanford and Allen York as their goaltenders for the contest. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing considering Steve Mason has had seriously terrible season (3.63 GAA & .875 SV%) while Sanford is sporting a 1.33 GAA and a .946 SV%, granted that is in only five games of action.
Buffalo’s previous victory over Columbus came on the shoulders of a brilliant performance by Jhonas Enroth as the Blue Jackets out shot the Sabres 43-26. Buffalo’s special teams were deadly in the last meeting and both units have been impressive throughout the year and will continue to key wins and losses for this team. Especially if they continue to struggle with injuries.
Highlighted Matchup
Buffalo penalty kill. The Sabres power play gave them a 2-0 lead on Wednesday night, T.J. Brennan made it 3-1. However, the penalty kill failed them, allowing a pair of goals (including the tying tally) as the Sabres found a way to lose to the Bruins. The penalty kill is missing plenty of pieces (Kaltea, Myers, Weber) and will need to shore up for this evening.
Projected Goaltenders
BUF: Jhonas Enroth 12GP 7-2-1, 2.13 GAA, .930 SV%
CBJ: Curtis Sanford 5GP 2-0-2, 1.33 GAA, .946 SV%
10/27/2011, First Niagara Center, Sabres 4 – Blue Jackets 2
Buffalo SabresBuffalo Sabres, Columbus Blue Jackets, Sabres pregame, Sabres vs. Blue Jackets, Zack Kassian
The Morning Skate: Sabres look to extend Northeast Division lead at home
The Sabres return to First Niagara Center today to face the New Jersey Devils, a team fresh off a trip to Boston last night.
Buffalo remains without Ryan Miller and it appears that Cody McCormick may miss the game due to an injury sustained in Montreal. While no word has come down at this time the Sabres have two options, call up a forward from Rochester or dress seven defensemen. Obviously option two is far more attractive, especially considering the play of Corey Tropp in his four-game debut. Many fans are clamoring to see Zack Kassian, but it may be too soon for that. Marc-Andre Gragnani could end up on the wing, but that just seems like a monumental waste. However, he is probably better served in that position than any other.
The Devils fell to the Bruins thanks to a three-goal third period from the B’s. New Jersey is currently on the outside looking in at the Eastern Conference ‘s top eight. Their position is due, in large part, to a shoddy start and an injury to Marty Brodeur. Of course, Brodeur wasn’t stellar in his time before or after the injury either, so it could be a case of an aging core playing in front of an aged star.
Considering Johan Hedberg played in Boston, it should be expected that Brodeur will be in net for the Devils this evening. The Sabres will counter with Jhonas Enroth as he is expected to see the lion’s share of work until Ryan Miller returns.
Zack Parise vs. Thomas Vanek. Both were NCAA superstars, both the Devils and Sabres offense run through them, respectively. Vanek has been on fire all season, Parise has decent numbers through 16 games. It will be interesting to see which player comes out on top tonight.
BUF: Jhonas Enroth 8GP, 6-0-0, 1.76 GAA, .942 SV%
NJD: Martin Brodeur 6GP, 2-3-0, 3.02 GAA, .880 SV%
3/26/2011, HSBC Arena, Sabres 2 – Devils 0
Buffalo SabresBuffalo Sabres, Corey Tropp, New Jersey Devils, Sabres pregame, Sabres vs. Devils, Zack Kassian
Buffalo Sabres season preview: Black Aces
September 16, 2011 September 16, 2011 Chris Ostrander1 Comment
This is part five of a series previewing the Buffalo Sabres 2011-12 season. This edition will focus on the wingers and centers expected to play in Rochester. Here are links for parts one through four: 1, 2, 3, 4.
Zack Kassian is on the fence between Buffalo and Rochester at this point.
It is fairly easy to write out a rough depth chart based on the abundance of talent the Sabres have at wing. It has a trickle-down effect to the AHL level based on the players who are assumed to make the NHL roster, and those who will be riding the bus in Rochester.
The centers are being roped into this equation simple because there is very little organizational depth at the center position.
Aside from Zack Kassian and Ales Kotalik, the rest of the wingers in the Buffalo Sabres system are penciled in to begin the year playing for the Americans. Even Kotalik is likely to be sent down due to salary constraints. Since Kassian has seen little time at the AHL level, let alone against NHL talent, some seasoning in the minors will do him well. I fully expect to see him playing in every situation for Rochester as he is likely the top candidate to snag the AHL Rookie of the Year award for the Sabres organization. Continue reading →
Buffalo SabresBuffalo Sabres, Buffalo Sabres 2011-12 Season Preview, Buffalo Sabres prospects, Luke Adam, Marcus Foligno, Zack Kassian
Double Minors: Sabres prospects claim Traverse City championship
September 15, 2011 September 15, 2011 Chris OstranderLeave a comment
Count it as the first championship in the Pegula era. The Buffalo Sabres prospects claimed the 2011 Traverse City NHL Prospect Tournament championship in their first appearance in the event with a 5-2 victory over the New York Rangers prospects. Be sure to check out Sabres.com for Kevin Snow’s coverage and video highlights.
Buffalo sent a squad with numerous veterans, including the reigning AHL Rookie of the Year, and their dominance showed. The Sabres never trailed in the contest and asserted their victory with three third period goals. Nathan Lieuwen provided another strong performance as he ran his tournament record to 2-0 with five goals against.
The gamesheets are all kinds of incorrect on the Pointstreak website, so I can’t give a full statistical analysis. For example, Zack Kassian was credited with the final Sabres goal which was clearly scored by Marcus Foligno. Still, Kassian finished with four points which ties him with Luke Adam, Nick Crawford, Jonathon Parker and Phil Varone. If my math is correct, Marcus Foligno led the Sabres with five points (3+2).
Buffalo SabresBuffalo Sabres, Buffalo Sabres prospects, Luke Adam, Marcus Foligno, Phil Varone, Zack Kassian
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Finishing My Third Novel
Pavel Lebedev, Author
Last year, I finished two novels. Rough drafts, at least. This year, I’m finishing my third. All three novels will be around 80,000 words in length. I never revised the first two, and I am unlikely to try to revise the third. Instead, I intend to go back to short stories for five months or […]
Need Quick Tips And Tricks About Making Money Online? They’re Here!
Marketing Secrets
TIP! If you’re a writer, try writing on websites such as InfoBarrel or Squidoo. These websites allow you to write about your favorite topics and you also get a percentage of the revenue. Do you have trouble making ends meet each month? Do you want more money? It just might be a little bit easier […]
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FUTURE OF PODCASTING
Talk about it Friday
We have had one hell of a month with our interview line-ups and I am so excited for the future of our podcast. We are getting our press release ready and hitting the media with what we have not just to help us but get our guests voice heard by many people in the world. […]
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Camp NaNoWriMo – Day 17
Kate Russell - Writer
Hey Wrimos! 80 minutes tonight, bringing my total to 700 minutes. And I’ve stopped halfway through a chapter so I can hopefully pick it up easily tomorrow and keep going… I think I might read for a while now…honestly I have so many books to read I hardly know where to begin! I have dozens […]
FRYUP: DELUXE EDITION
Merging fact and fiction, ancient and modern, ‘Fryup: a Novel’ evokes a remote and quasi-mythical land whose inhabitants clamour to be heard; their urgent narratives inter-twining in a chaos of fantastical escapism and folkloric nostalgia. In doing so they unearth new palimpsestic possibilities for the imminent post-urban and unashamedly parochial age. 216 pages/£10+p/p. AVAILABLE FROM […]
Summer Conversational Series at Louisa May Alcott’s Orchard House: “Good Wives: Marriage and Family in Little Women Part Second and Beyond — Tuesday session
Louisa May Alcott is My Passion
NOTE: I was unable to attend this year’s Summer Conversational Series at Orchard House from July 14-18 so I asked participants to act as correspondents for the days they attended. Here is a very complete and wonderful summation of Tuesday’s talks by Lorraine Tosiello. The theme of this year’s conversation was Good Wives: Marriage and […]
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BRProud.com
WASHINGTON (AP) — John Paul Stevens, the bow-tied, independent-thinking, Republican-nominated justice who unexpectedly emerged as the Supreme Court’s leading liberal, died Tuesday in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, after suffering a stroke Monday. He was 99. During nearly 35 years on the court, Stevens stood for the freedom and dignity of individuals, be they students or immigrants or prisoners. He acted to limit the death penalty, squelch official prayer in schools, establish gay rights, promote racial equality and preserve legal abortion. He protected the rights of crime suspects and illegal immigrants facing deportation. He influenced fellow justices to give foreign terrorism suspects held for years at the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, naval base the right to plead for their release in U.S. courts. Stevens served more than twice the average tenure for a justice, and was only the second to mark his 90th birthday on the high court. From his appointment by President Gerald Ford in 1975 through his retirement in June 2010, he shaped decisions that touched countless aspects of American life. “He brought to our bench an inimitable blend of kindness, humility, wisdom and independence. His unrelenting commitment to justice has left us a better nation,” Chief Justice John Roberts said in a statement. The White House issued a statement saying President Donald Trump and the first lady offered their condolences to Stevens’ family and friends and praising “his passion for the law and for our country.” He remained an active writer and speaker into his late 90s, surprising some when he came out against Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation following Kavanaugh’s angry denial of sexual assault allegations. Stevens wrote an autobiography, “The Making of a Justice: My First 94 Years,” that was released just after his 99th birthday in April 2019. At first considered a centrist, Stevens came to be seen as a lion of liberalism. But he rejected that characterization. “I don’t think of myself as a liberal at all,” Stevens told The New York Times in 2007. “I think as part of my general politics, I’m pretty darn conservative.” The way Stevens saw it, he held to the same ground, but the court had shifted steadily to the right over the decades, creating the illusion that he was moving leftward. He did change his views on some issues, however. He morphed from a critic of affirmative action to a supporter, and came to believe the death penalty was wrong. His legal reasoning was often described as unpredictable or idiosyncratic, especially in his early years on the court. He was a prolific writer of separate opinions laying out his own thinking, whether he agreed or disagreed with the majority’s ruling. Yet Stevens didn’t consider his methods novel. He tended toward a case-by-case approach, avoided sweeping judicial philosophies, and stayed mindful of precedent. The white-haired Stevens, eyes often twinkling behind owlish glasses, was the picture of old-fashioned geniality on the court and off. He took an unusually courteous tone with lawyers arguing their cases, but he was no pushover. After his fellow justices fired off questions, Stevens would politely weigh in. “May I ask a question?” he’d ask gently, then quickly slice to the weakest point of a lawyer’s argument. Stevens was especially concerned with the plight of ordinary citizens up against the government or other powerful interests — a type of struggle he witnessed as a boy. When he was 14, his father, owner of a grand but failing Chicago hotel, was wrongly convicted of embezzlement. Ernest Stevens was vindicated on appeal, but decades later his son would say the family’s ordeal taught him that justice can misfire. More often, however, Stevens credited his sensitivity to abuses of power by police and prosecutors to what he learned while representing criminal defendants in pro bono cases as a young Chicago lawyer. He voiced only one regret about his Supreme Court career: that he had supported reinstating the death penalty in 1976. More than three decades later, Stevens publicly declared his opposition to capital punishment, saying that years of bad court decisions had overlooked racial bias, favored prosecutors and otherwise undermined his expectation that death sentences could be handed down fairly. One of his harshest dissents came when the court lifted restrictions on spending by corporations and unions to sway elections. He called the 2010 ruling “a rejection of the common sense of the American people” and a threat to democracy. As he read parts of that opinion aloud, Stevens’ voice wavered uncharacteristically and he repeatedly stumbled over words. For the 90-year-old who’d worried he wouldn’t know when to bow out, it was a signal. “That was the day I decided to resign,” Stevens said later. He also disclosed in his autobiography that he had suffered a mini-stroke. Justice Elena Kagan took Stevens’ seat on the court. The retirement of Stevens, known as a defender of strict separation of church and state, notably left the high court without a single Protestant member for the first time. “I guess I’m the last WASP,” he joked, saying the issue was irrelevant to the justices’ work. Justice Neil Gorsuch, who joined the court in 2017, was raised Catholic, but attends a Protestant church. A great-grandfather, Stevens eased into an active retirement of writing and speaking, still fit for swimming and tennis in Fort Lauderdale, where he and his second wife, Maryan, kept a home away from Washington. He is survived by two daughters, Elizabeth and Susan, who were with him when he died. Other survivors include nine grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren. Stevens’ first wife, Elizabeth, second wife, Maryan, and two children died before him. Funeral arrangements are pending, the Supreme Court said in a statement announcing his death. But he is expected to be buried in Arlington National Cemetery, next to Maryan. Born in 1920, Stevens was a privileged child of a bygone era: He met Amelia Earhart and Charles Lindbergh at the family hotel and was at the ballpark when Babe Ruth hit his famous “called-shot” home run in the 1932 World Series. He joined the Navy the day before the attack on Pearl Harbor, and was awarded the Bronze Star for his service with a Japanese code-breaking team. The code breakers’ work enabled the U.S. to shoot down a plane carrying the commander of the Japanese Navy, and that targeted wartime killing later contributed to his misgivings about the death penalty. After World War II, Stevens graduated first in his class at Northwestern University’s law school and clerked for Supreme Court Justice Wiley Rutledge. As a lawyer he became an antitrust expert, experience he brought to Supreme Court rulings such as one ending the NCAA’s control over televised college football games. President Richard Nixon appointed Stevens, a lifelong Republican, to the federal appeals court in Chicago. Judge Stevens was considered a moderate conservative when Ford — whose nominee would need the approval of a Democratic-controlled Senate — chose him for the Supreme Court. Stevens won unanimous confirmation after uneventful hearings nothing like today’s partisan shows. Stevens’ liberal bent once on the high court was “different than I envisioned,” Ford acknowledged decades later, but he still supported and praised him as “a very good legal scholar.” Stevens’ influence reached its height after other liberals retired in the early 1990s, leaving him the senior associate justice and the court’s leader on the left. For a dozen years after, he proved adept at drawing swing votes from Republican appointees Sandra Day O’Connor and Anthony Kennedy, often frustrating conservative Chief Justice William Rehnquist. Stevens’ clout diminished after Roberts arrived in 2005 and O’Connor was replaced by the more conservative Samuel Alito. But he didn’t lose spirit. Throughout his career, Stevens unleashed some of his most memorable language in defeat. He wrote a scathing dissent in Bush v. Gore, the 2000 case that ended Florida’s presidential recount and anointed George W. Bush: “Although we may never know with complete certainty the identity of the winner of this year’s presidential election, the identity of the loser is perfectly clear. It is the nation’s confidence in the judge as an impartial guardian of the rule of law.”
Allergy Treatment Market Is Booming Worldwide
The demand in the global allergy treatment market is projected to increment at a healthy CAGR of 5.5% during the forecast period of 2017 to 2025, gaining traction from a number of factors such as presence of vast unmet medical needs in various emerging economies, growing prevalence of asthma and allergic rhinitis along with high […]
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Watchers by Dean Koontz
Welib ENG
From a top secret government laboratory come two genetically altered life forms. One is a magnificent dog of astonishing intelligence. The other, a hybrid monster of a brutally violent nature. And both are on the loose…Bestselling author Dean Koontz presents his most terrifying, dramatic and moving novel: The explosive story of a man and a […]
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Black Coloured Solid Shift Dress Black female
Sejarah Awal Dari Film di Indonesia
Zint Sejarah - Kumpulan Sejarah-sejarah Penting Dunia Terlengkap
Sejarah Awal Dari Film di Indonesia Zint Sejarah – Film ialah hasil cipta karya seni yang mempunyai keutuhan dari jumlahnya elemen seni untuk serta penuhi kepentingan yang berupa psikis. Elemen seni yang ada serta menolong satu film salah satunya seni rupa, seni photografi, seni arsitektur, seni tari, seni puisi sastra, seni teater, seni musik, seni […]
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Why I’m breaking up with a beloved New Years resolution…
Writings and Musings
…6 or so months into the year! “Confession: I have read Pride and Prejudice two hundred times. I get lost in the language, words like: Thither. Mischance. Felicity. I am always in agony over whether Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy are really going to get together. Read it! I know you’ll love it.”- Kathleen Kelly, You Got Mail […]
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Brother Odd (Odd Thomas #3) by Dean Koontz
Loop me in, odd one. The words, spoken in the deep of night by a sleeping child, chill the young man watching over her. For this was a favorite phrase of Stormy Llewellyn, his lost love, and Stormy is dead, gone forever from this world. In the haunted halls of the isolated monastery where he […]
#dean koontz, #odd thomas series
How to Get Cigarettes Online Quickly
Haritaki Third Eye
Consequently, following are several fiscal composition question together with principle on how best to tackle them effectively. If you are going to comprehend what the question is asking one to really compose, then there’s so significantly that one can integrate in your financial documents. Through the article, and after that start again they medicine 2nd […]
Deedi Reads
Rating: 5/5 | The Confessions of Frannie Langton is heartbreaking, moving, enraging, surprising, and much more. It addresses so many different issues — race, class, slavery, mental health, substance abuse, same-gender relationships, feminism. (Click the post to read more.)
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Sports Nutrition Market Report 2019-2024 | Industry Trends, Market Share, Size, Growth and Opportunities
Market Research News and Industry Reports
According to the latest report by IMARC Group titled, “Sports Nutrition Market Report Industry Trends, Share, Size, Growth, Opportunity and Forecast 2019-2024”, the market expected to grow at a CAGR of around 7% during 2019-2024. Get sample Copy of the Global Sports Nutrition Market Report: https://www.imarcgroup.com/sports-nutrition-market/requestsample Sports nutrition focuses on the provision of a well-designed […]
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Review: I Hold Your Heart by Karen Gregory @K_Gregory33 @KidsBloomsbury
I hold your heart Author: Karen Gregory Publication Date: July 11th 2019 Genre: Young Adult Publisher: Bloomsbury YA Pages: 320 pages Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Book Depository| Waterstones | Wordery| The tense, tender must-read book of the summer – perfect for fans of Louise O’Neill and Sara Barnard ‘You make me feel like there’s something good in […]
#blog, #blogger, #book blog, #book blogger, #book review, #book review blog, #book reviewer, #i hold your heart, #i hold your heart book review, #young adult
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Home Travel Guide Pho Pho 2000 Saigon: President Clinton’s Bad Dining Advice
Trip Directory
Pho 2000 Saigon: President Clinton’s Bad Dining Advice
thepointsoflife
The normalization of diplomatic relations between the United States and Vietnam occurred on July 11, 1995. Five years later, former President Bill Clinton and his daughter Chelsea Clinton went to the Land of the Blue Dragon, the first President to do so since the war ended.
As part of his trip to Saigon, President Clinton sampled the local fare at a restaurant called Pho 2000, a designation given to commemorate the President’s visit. Since then Pho 2000 Saigon (not to be confused with Pho 2000 Tenderloin) has become a must eat for tourists traveling to Vietnam. The place has gained so much popularity that they changed locations, now conspicuously located above a Coffee Bean in downtown Ho Chi Minh.
The first time I went to Pho 2000 was in May of 2010. Tricked by the President’s endorsement I had two quick bowls before wandering the streets of Saigon like George Costanza in search of suitable facilities to relieve myself. In 2013, as part of my Trip Heard Round the World and on assignment as a pho pundit, I returned to Pho 2000. With a stronger stomach and with an emergency evacuation procedure plan in place, I was ready to give Pho 2000 Saigon another shot. Unfortunately, the upgrade only applied to the facilities and not to the pho. While the moniker reads “Pho for the President”, the food is not even suitable for us pho plebeians.
Understandably, Pho 2000 is milking the publicity of President Clinton’s visit by investing their time in marketing not manufacturing. This is evident by the patrons of Pho 2000 of whom none are locals and by the employees who meekly serve bowl after bowl while their faces deliver another message- eat somewhere else.
It is for shame that Pho 2000 has become the first stop for international epicureans wishing to sample an authentic bowl of pho. The misrepresentation of this national dish will leave them disappointed, their taste buds the ultimate victims should they choose not to spring for another bowl.
To them and to President Clinton I say, fear not for on your next visit TPOL shall tell you where to go.
A bowl that isn’t empty isn’t a real bowl.
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vietnam: saigon to hanoi | pleasedoenjoy May 8, 2015 at 4:25 pm
[…] day these things remind us that war is never the answer. when we got back into the city we went to pho 2000 where clinton (willy) famously had lunch in, you guessed it, 2000. this would be the first of […]
Gene August 11, 2015 at 10:39 pm
have you tried the pho in the north?
much better in my experience this year
thepointsoflife August 12, 2015 at 9:49 am
yeah hanoi is the best
Pho-king October 15, 2016 at 4:05 pm
Your review sucks, it was good pho
thepointsoflife October 15, 2016 at 4:10 pm
Oooooh. Maybe your taste buds suck. Take that
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Mayor Bliss
City Connection - Mayor and Becky Jo Glover from city Office of Customer Service discuss 311, city website, outreach efforts
by (GRTV)
City Connection: 311 Grand Rapids Today we welcome into the studio Becky Jo Glover from the Office of Customer Service and Innovation for the The City of Grand Rapids. We'll learn about efforts to help citizens better connect with city government,...
City Connection - Communication Strategies with Doug Matthews and Amy Snow-Buckner
Every month, Mayor Bliss or a representative from the city will be open to all questions sent in during or in anticipation of her live on-air show "City Connection." The mayor will respond to citizen questions submitted by calling in,...
City Connection - Business Development with AJ Hills
Every month, Mayor Bliss or a representative from the city will be open to all questions sent in during or in anticipation of her live on-air show "City Connection." The mayor will respond to citizen questions submitted by calling in, emailing...
Three hundred trees to be planted during Mayor's Greening Initiative on April 28
by (dylangrosser)
Friends of Grand Rapids Parks is gearing up for its third annual tree planting event called the “Mayor’s Greening Initiative.” Three hundred trees will be planted across a three-mile area on the city's West Side, in celebration...
Updated: City Connection: Habitat for Humanity of Kent County executive director, Mayor Bliss to talk about Plaza Roosevelt
Join us today, Monday, November 6, 2017 at 5 p.m. on LiveWire, Comcast Cable 24, for tonight's episode of City Connection. Mayor Rosalynn Bliss will be joined by BriAnne McKee, executive director of Habitat for Humanity of Kent County. McKee and...
City Connection: Mayor Bliss, Managing Director of Public Services discuss Our City Academy
Join us today, Monday, September 11 at 5 p.m. on LiveWire, Comcast Cable 24, for tonight's episode of the City Connection. Mayor Rosalynn Bliss will be interviewing the city’s Managing Director of Public Services, Tom Almonte around the topic of Our...
City Connection: Mayor Bliss, Program Director Harris to discuss LEAD program and Mayor's 100 initiative
Join us today, Monday, June 12 at 5 p.m. on LiveWire, Comcast Cable 24, for tonight's episode of the City Connection. Mayor Rosalynn Bliss will be joined by Shannon Harris, program director in the city's Our Community's Children office,...
City Connection: Special Events Supervisor, Mayor Bliss to talk about city events
Join us today, Monday, May 1 at 5 p.m. on LiveWire, Comcast Cable 24, for tonight's episode of the City Connection. Mayor Rosalynn Bliss will be joined by Evette Pittman, Special Events Supervisor. She will discuss changes to events, how to work...
How far will we go to prioritize equity in Grand Rapids?
by (arcarpenter)
Two important equity meetings happened in downtown Grand Rapids on Thursday morning. Equity issues in development At City Hall, a panel of experts presented their findings on equity - or the lack of it - in the use of public land and incentives in...
Community advocate faces Grand Rapids' housing crisis, gentrification
It’s a Tuesday night at City Hall, and LaDonna Norman approaches the microphone to address the meeting of the Grand Rapids City Commission. For the past year or more, Norman has spoken during the public comment period at the end of nearly...
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jeandeleon15
I would.
As of now JD Martinez and Khris Davis are unusable.
Every other league in the world other than the National league uses it.
4/11/2019 7:14PM PDT
KBizzyGetBusy
See original thread.
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Old hands vs new philosophers: The Super Rugby semifinals coaching battles
Scotty Stevenson | Senior Sports Writer
It’s only fair that most of the focus ahead of this weekend’s Super Rugby semi-finals will be on the players but, as Scotty Stevenson writes, both crucial clashes will also be defined by a battle between the old and new schools of professional coaches.
Dave Rennie has never been one to mince his words. To be perfectly honest, he doesn’t usually dispense enough of them to make mince in the first place. When he does talk, he most often takes the opportunity to ask a question, and when I say ask a question I mean demand an answer. He’s what you might call the strong silent type, though give him a win and a beer and a guitar and he can carry a fine tune. His go-to conversational play is to make a statement and finish with an elongated “sooooo….” Leaving you to draw your own conclusions, which of course are the same conclusions Dave Rennie has already drawn, he’d just rather you said it, not him.
Scott Robertson is always talking because in his world there is always something that needs articulating. Either that or he uses conversation as a way to discharge enough of his reservoir of energy to ensure he doesn’t explode. Restless and relentlessly upbeat, the man known as Razor is just as happy fist-bumping his frontrowers as he is forensically dissecting a defensive screen. When he sends text messages they are punctuated with emoji. If there was an emoji for Razor it would be a guy on a surfboard holding a lightning bolt. He needs constant mental stimulation, and once told a player who was presenting to the team that he was boring everyone. Nothing like a bit of honesty, then.
There are similarities between the two coaches: they both command loyalty, they both have sensational playing rosters, they both have tasted provincial championship success – Rennie with Wellington and the Robertson with Canterbury – and they both have coached the New Zealand under-20 team to world titles. Yet, for all that, they are very different men who bring very different styles to their craft. If the pair were muppets, Rennie would be Rowlf the Dog and Robertson would be the entire Electric Mayhem ensemble.
Chris Boyd is a lot like Dave Rennie, though I cannot tell you how well he sings. Like Rennie he is from the old school, first coaching club rugby in Wellington in the 1980s and then taking the reins at the senior provincial level after Rennie’s tenure there came to an end in 2002. Boyd is a man who dresses a complicated mind in a cloak of simplicity and there is an artful direction in the way he coaches; he seems to be simultaneously adjusting the details while standing back and surveying the bigger picture. He coaches the way Dali must have painted Gala Contemplating the Mediterranean Sea, adding each brush stroke and then retreating to witness the hidden portrait of Lincoln come to fruition.
He is a traditional man who, with his assistants John Plumtree, Richard Watt and Dan Cron, has instilled in the Hurricanes a respect for graft and the hard yards. It’s worked. Under Boyd the Canes have twice been to the Super Rugby final and last year claimed a maiden championship. He has been able to alloy to the Hurricanes willingness to attack an awareness of how those opportunities are created.
Boyd vs Ackermann; Rennie vs Robertson (Photos: Getty Images)
In Johannesburg, Johan Ackermann has done the reverse. He has been able to unlock a creative instinct that was once buried in the belief that rugby was only about the hard yards and set piece dominance. Ackermann, like Robertson, has an affinity with his charges that comes predominantly from the fact he was once one of them – a Super Rugby player with the very team he now coaches. Like Robertson he has brought with him a different kind of energy, and a new level of success.
His players call him ‘Akkies’ and obviously love him. He told them after the loss to the Jaguares this year that he would grow a beard and only shave it off when they lost again. Presumably he will also shave it off if the Lions win the Super Rugby title because he leaves after this season to coach at English Premiership club Gloucester. He currently resembles a Nordic lumberjack yet his players say his formidable physique belies his caring and thoughtful approach.
For the Hurricanes, there is an inherent trust in Chris Boyd and his methods. He is a wise Yoda who has stood the test of time. For the Lions there is a desire to send off their big brother figure with a first-ever franchise title. Those motivations come with different emotional impacts.
And that is precisely why these semifinals have that added sense of intrigue. Each will pit a title-winning veteran coach against a new wave philosopher. The results could tell us whether the new age has dawned, or whether old school experience still counts in the coaching box.
This story originally ran on RugbyPass.com – the premier destination for rugby fans in Asia, streaming International Test Matches including The Rugby Championship, Super Rugby and more to your device wherever you are in Asia
The birth of a movement that divided NZ – and changed us forever
Trevor Richards
How sports commentary can normalise te reo Māori
Don Rowe
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January Roundup: New Year, Old Favorites
Abyssal (UK) - Novit enim Dominus qui sunt eius, AFM records, Agonia records, Apostolum - Winds of Disillusion, Ævangelist - De Masticatione Mortuorum in Tumulis, Blood Harvest Records, Chapel (Canada) - Satan's Rock N Roll, Circle - Hollywood, Circle - SSEENNSSEESS, Crystal Viper - Possession, Demilich 20th Adversary of Emptiness, Ektro / Future Lunch, Ektro records, Entartung - Peccata Mortalia, False Prophet -The Second Death, Frontiers records, Heikki Hautala - Pyövelin Vaatteet, hell's headbangers, Into the Void Records, Invictus Productions, iron bonehead, Jake E. Lee, Jesters of Destiny - Fun at the Funeral, Kuolemanlaakso - Tulijoutsen, MACABRE - Dahmer, Moribund records, Nebiros (Col) / Nekromanteion - In Command Tenebrae, Nechbeyth - Coerce Creed, Nocturnal Breed - Napalm Nights, NoiseArt, nordvist records, Primal Fear - Delivering The Black, Red Dragon Cartel, sammal, Sammal - No 2, Shroud of the Heretic - Revelations in Alchemy, Silent Force - Rising From The Ashes, Skull Fist - Chasing the Dream, Solstice (UK) - Death's Crown is Victory, Stilla - Ensamhetens Andar, Suicidal Angels - Divide And Conquer, svart records, third eye cinema podcast, Tortorum - Katabasis, Vardan - The Woods Is My Coffin, W.T.C. Productions, World Terror Committee
As we greet the first lurching fits and starts of a newly minted reset to the calendar, it is perhaps only fitting that we are joined by a number of old favorites – veteran acts marking either a welcome return to form or reunion, new works from familiar bands of the year or so prior.
Sure, there’s a few new kids throwing their hat in the arena in the hopes of grabbing a piece of your expendable dollar, but by and large 2014 seems to be dominated by the more assured stride of the seasoned player, storming into the lead right out of the gate. Only time will tell how the rest of the year plays out…and we’re off!
Crystal Viper – Possession (AFM)
King Diamond with a bit more of an NWOBHM or thrash influence. It’s more upbeat and major key in orientation, while still retaining some of the Euro-spookiness and light neoclassical influences. Oddly, they’re being marketed on their frontwoman Marta Gabriel, whose gravelly midrange rasp is average at best – you’ve heard dozens of female singers like this already, trust me.
Without the soaring clear toned soprano of the gothic and symphonic metal crowd or the range and authority of a Doro Pesch, Leather Leone or even Hellion’s Ann Boleyn, there’s really nothing to recommend about her voice. Much akin to Veronica from Benediction without the booming throatiness, Marta’s sound is quite generic in the end – not exactly grating or annoying like some ladies floating around the current metal scene, but nothing to get excited about either.
The band has an interesting sound as you can tell from the opening of this review, quite often hearkening back to the glory days of the San Francisco thrash scene but with a touch more exoticism than that would imply. Did I mention it’s supposed to be a concept album? There’s some ridiculous story about a possessed girl or something – the King and even Annihilator did it better (“Alison Hell”, anyone?).
Bottom line: lots of potential, pretty melodic and musicianship focused, but missing one essential piece somewhere that would make the puzzle complete. It should flash a big red warning light that the one track that actually stood out on the album was a cover of a metal band that never really managed to break through in their day (Riot’s “thundersteel”). Hopefully they’ll grasp that ephemeral je n’sais quoi in time for the next album.
Silent Force – Rising From The Ashes (AFM)
Wow, these guys are really something! “Caught in their wicked game” is the Yngwie track the Swedish fretboard shredder never actually got around to recording. “There ain’t no justice” smacks of 80’s metal ala Dokken, XYZ and latter period Y&T in particular – all wide open chords and summer night cruising down the Sunset Strip with the top down. Two tracks in, and already I find myself thinking could they possibly be any better? And it keeps on going…
New vocalist Michael Bormann (formerly known for his work with Bloodbound on their Book of the Dead album) replaces former frontman DC Cooper, who’s moved back over to Royal Hunt. While he comes to the picnic with a far more raspy delivery and approach, he’s also far less generic sounding – in place of Cooper’s sort of Michael Kiske without the soaring range, you get more of a John Schlitt (Head East/Petra) or early Rod Stewart thing going on (i.e. when he was still “Rod the Sod”, during and just after the Faces era). There’s a lot of energy and fire in Bormann’s approach, which suits the uptempo yet moody sound of the band to a T.
Bormann’s not the only new member – the ubiquitous Mat Sinner (of guitarist Alex Beyrodt’s other projects Sinner, Primal Fear and Voodoo Circle) joins on bass alongside ex-Edens Curse keyboardist Allesandro del Vecchio. The only other Silent Force vet here besides Beyrodt is drummer Andre Hilgers, and that’s a good thing for a change – much as with the recent changes in Eden’s Curse, the influx of new personnel appears to have breathed a refreshing vitality into the band, who have delivered their strongest album yet. Highly recommended.
Primal Fear – Delivering The Black (Frontiers)
Primo guitar work from Silent Force, Sinner and Voodoo Circle fretmeister Alex Beyrodt and a strong Accept vibe drive what must be the veteran German act’s 10th full length and Beyrodt’s second with the band.
Seriously, cross classic Udo-era Accept with Obsession and Minoru Nihara era Loudness, tag in a heaping helping of vim and vinegar, and you’ll have something approximating the driving crunch of the latest Primal Fear effort.
There’s even more than a pinch of Judas Priest to the proceedings, as evinced most particularly by “Alive and on Fire”, and it wouldn’t be out of hand to compare Scheepers’ violently rasping midrange to that of Racer X vocalist (and Badlands drummer) Jeff Martin.
With processed yet crackling guitars that speak as much to Akira Takasaki and his Rocktron rig or the Art Maco/Bruce Vitale compressed crybaby-through-Marshall tone as to any band out there nowadays, you could stop right at the guitars and be happy. Tag in some patented Mat Sinner melodicism and soaring backing vocals, and Ralf Scheepers’ otherwise overly agressive snarled take on Mike Vescera becomes not only quite palatable, but downright impressive. With a lesser band behind him, who knows, but with the Beyrodt/Sinner team giving him the right platform, it’s pure gold.
With the last Sinner, Silent Force and Voodoo Circle albums being equally showstopping efforts, it seems that the Alex Beyrodt/Mat Sinner team can do no wrong of late. All I can do is be impressed. Keep ’em coming, guys.
Red Dragon Cartel (Frontiers)
Speaking of Jeff Martin and Badlands, we have the debut from a project from Ozzy/Badlands axe slinger Jake E. Lee.
After early (and apparently unrecorded) stints with such major players as Ratt, Rough Cutt and Dio, Jake was tapped for the unenviable spot of filling the shoes of the recently deceased Randy Rhoads (perhaps the best and most beloved of all rock and metal shredders and one of the first to properly join the more blues and rockabilly oriented approach of rock n’roll to the more accomplished if dry classical guitar style).
While no replacement or consolation for grieving fans, Jake was a different animal entirely, bringing a more propulsive if glammy L.A. metal feel to the more staid 70’s heavy rock leanings Osbourne carried with him prior to Lee’s arrival. While Bark at the Moon was spotty at best, primarily famed for its driving title cut and bearing little else to hang itself on, the subsequent Ultimate Sin was a strong album through and through, bringing Osbourne’s aging hippie stoner schtick kicking and screaming into the modern age.
After laying low for a few years, Jake emerged with an entirely different bag of tricks in the newly minted Badlands. Alongside Lita Ford, Black Sabbath and eventual Kiss drummer Eric Singer (later replaced by the aforementioned Martin), Surgical Steel and Steeler bassist Greg Chaisson (who bizarrely also stinted with Christian rockers Die Happy – essentially Vengeance minus wacky vocalist/preacher Roger Martinez, who infamously turned satanist thereafter(!)) and late vocalist Ray Gillen (formerly of Black Sabbath’s Eternal Idol period), Jake proceeded to make waves among starving metallers flooded with a plethora of subpar faux-Southern rockers, fake punks and pseudo-Stones types the industry saw fit to shove down the throats of the listening public at the time.
With a bluesy feel that allowed them to sit comfortably amidst the tattooed junkie “sleaze metal” of the very late 80’s and pre-grunge 90’s initiated by acts like Guns N Roses, L.A. Guns and Hanoi Rocks, Badlands (like the equally accomplished Vain) proved something of a trojan horse amidst that scene of Aerosmith worshipping semi-talents by resting on the formidable skillset of Lee.
While playing things a bit more fast and loose than he was noted for during his earlier, more obviously Hollywood metal oriented stints, Jake’s fretboard skills and driving riffs pushed Badlands well beyond peers such as Spread Eagle, Law & Order or Cats N’ Boots to remain among the very few eminently listenable and praiseworthy albums loosely allied with that scene.
While vocalist Darren James Smith fails to impress on the level of the late Ray Gillen, his gratingly raw throated screams are certainly not outside the ballpark for Jake’s Badlands-era sound, which he more or less picks up from where he left off in the mid-90’s…but read on.
Drummer Jonas Fairley and bassist Ronnie Mancuso provide sufficient backup for Jake’s guitars, which merge Badlands stylings with some odd, somewhat inappropriate nu-metal/industrial touches. While opener “decieved” and later track “redeem me” should prove quite familiar to longtime fans, and the Sabbath-esque “war machine” does have some semi-Badlands bits surrounding the solo, “shout it out” seems to owe equal debt to EZO’s “destroyer” and one of those detestable loser bands like Slipknot, Korn or Limp Bizkit who proved a far lesser substitute for metal than either the “sleaze” or grunge scenes turned out to be.
Thankfully, Jake’s leads are as good as ever, but there’s far too much modernism creeping into the mix for my taste – the all mids, front and center bass on “feeder”, the chunka-chunka aggro Southern groove of “wasted”, and similar minded bits like “big mouth” add up to somewhat of a mixed blessing.
While it’s certainly great to hear a player on the level of Jake back in the public eye again with his chops seemingly undiminished, it’d be far more welcome with a touch more Badlands and a whole lot less 90’s/millenial aggro to the sound. With such a spotty-at-best setting for the diamond in the rough of Jake’s leads, it all depends on how desperate you are to hear the man’s solos, really – bar “decieved” and “redeem me”, I’m just not hearing the rest of what he’s got to offer here.
MACABRE – Dahmer (HELLS HEADBANGERS)
Wow, isn’t this swell. Akin to Carl Crew’s Secret Life of, some thrash act with strong punk influences and a dash of grindcore decided to dedicate an entire album to the notorious homosexual serial killer’s life and exploits. While Crew’s film was alternately horrific and bizarre and seemed to be leaning towards a skewed sympathetic viewpoint to the man’s inner conflicts, this is both more accurate and even more ridiculous.
Literally going chapter by chapter through his life and crimes (there’s a song about his stint in the army and even one about the fellow loon who killed him in the course of his prison sentence), this is 26 tracks of musically and emotionally schizophrenic nonsense that paints the whole affair as a sort of comedy of errors. With a delivery even more absurd and tongue in cheek than Genocide or Gang Green, it’s simply impossible to take any of this seriously, despite the true life biographical details being explored in relatively minute detail herein.
One track may be Chuck Schuldiner by way of Paul Baloff half-inhaled, half shrieked death metal vocals over a more traditional thrash backing, the next more grindcorish with the high/low dual vocals of Carcass, the next wholly over the edge into late 80’s punk. They even pull in military marches, blues-rock or folk-based country at various points, for comedic effect.
Through all of it, the humor aspect predominates, which simultaneously lowers the guard (can you really take this as “scary” or “evil” when the band is camping it up and screwing around quite this much?) and points to a more horrific societal trend towards not merely celebrating the criminally insane, but managing to turn nauseating and extreme murder into a sort of sick joke.
As such, I find myself torn on this one – it’s well played musically and gives off a surprisingly goofy ooky-spooky Nightmare Before Christmas style vibe (particularly in tracks like “Jeffrey and the Chocolate Factory”) and I certainly appreciate the fact based approach they take here – less the traditional death metal fantasizing than an unusual realist reporting of events. In their own weird corner of the world, Macabre is to be saluted for their polished, interesting and listenable efforts here.
It’s just the implications that bother me.
Heikki Hautala – Pyövelin Vaatteet (Ektro/Future Lunch)
So you get this album, and the cover is this sorta slasher film photo of some crazy eyed guy in a sewn together facemask. You’re expecting…mellow Bruce Cockburn style acoustic roots folk?
Yeah, I didn’t think so. But that’s what you get here. Now hell, I think the Bruce Cockburn Christmas album is the greatest album ever recorded for the genre, with some amazing musical research into obscurities across the spectrum and full of fascinating reworkings of what were likely much simpler tunes from bygone days into dark, nigh-polytonal territory. No song sounds the same as the last – if you haven’t heard it, take my word for it, it’s amazing.
But Cockburn plays with his Canadianness for that album’s cover, sitting in a lounge chair amidst a good foot or two of snow…he’s not dressed up like some reject from a Necrophagia video!
That aside, this album does remind me of the Cockburn album considerably, in its folky darkness and use of mellow acoustic to express foreboding and a palpable sense of sorrow if not doom. Some may find it creepy, but this is right at home for me. Put it on with a glass of wine in hand and be prepared to pass out on the couch. Recommended.
Circle – SSEENNSSEESS (Ektro)
Could it be the REAL Circle again? Yes, this certainly appears to be the same guys who released Six Day Run around this time last year – all minimalist instrumentalia from the Glenn Branca by way of Sonic Youth school.
The album is pretty consistent and cohesive, with one minor exception: “radiant” is a bit overly aggro, particularly with the warbling, semi-yodeled vocals. Even so, it’s all more or less of a piece, and nothing here will really break the trancelike mood that permeates throughout.
If you’re a New Yorker, particularly the kind who haunted East Village hangouts like Kim’s Video, Generation Records, Venus Records, Bleecker Bob’s et al throughout the 80’s and 90’s, you’re familiar with this sort of thing intimately – trancey, mellow with an undercurrent of anger. Stereolab meets the early Velvet Underground with a dash of Television for spice.
As a native myself, need I add that I love this?
Circle – Hollywood (reissue) (Ektro)
This one’s a bit of an earlier offering from 2008, and appears to hail from a period more in line with what the band is trying to do now with Falcon – quite vocal-centric, more simplistically riff heavy, less krautrock ambient and leaning towards an artsy fartsy out of control art-punk (making a track like “earthworm” all but unlistenable in that respect).
There’s a dash of tongue in cheek Motorheadish metal (“sacrifice”) and too many portions that devolve into Lumpy Gravy-era Frank Zappa (“coda”, for one), which makes this a decidedly mixed bag. And what the hell’s up with that sketch of a hangdog Mexican guy on the cover? It’s vaguely Charles Bronsonish, but not really…who knows with these guys.
Unless you’re a hardcore Circle fan and need to get everything they release, stick with more dependable albums like Six Day Run or SSEENNSSEESS and give this bit of audio lunacy a pass.
Jesters of Destiny – Fun at the Funeral (reissue) (Ektro)
Weird obscurity from the fringes of the 80’s metal scene. Somehow they got a track on one of those somewhat spotty Metal Massacre comps back in the day, which eventually led to this sole release (and an EP of 60’s rock covers) on Little Eva’s record label (!) Yeah, they were strange, and it showed all over the place.
Musically, they’re more than competent, with a preference for wide open chords and a highly compressed guitar tone (think Boston without the multi track layering – this is definitely squeezed through a Rockman or something). He also displays some Fast Eddie Clarke influence (check out “I hate Bruce” if you don’t believe me), which reinforces the otherwise disputable ‘metal’ designation just a tad. The drum sound is great, very much of an in your face dead or flat tone, 70’s style. You’d think the great Ken Scott worked on the drum recording, all things considered…
The vocalist is a bit whiny ala Robin Zander, which suits the overall sound they’re shooting for here – late 70’s/early 80’s heavy rock with a tad more distortion to the guitars. Some keyboard bits and minor touches throughout have a tendency to pull the album into some strange corners, but it’s never less than interesting. Speaking in general terms, if you dig bands like Cheap Trick, you’ll probably love this.
Apostolum – Winds of Disillusion (Moribund)
An atmospherically gothic piano intro slowly pulls you into a lush dreamscape of an intro. It’s too bad the rest of the album doesn’t keep things in this modality, because instrumentally speaking, they’d have produced one hell of a record if it all came out like “light into the void”.
As it is, Apostolum certainly keeps things in a contemplative vein, with a slower, less tremolo fixated variant of black metal covered in dual harmony melody lines that feel vaguely melodeath in orientation. There’s plenty of arpeggiated acoustic work overlayed on the expected distorted stuff as well, which seems to point to a Germanic black metal genesis (Empyrium anyone?), but the band actually hails from Italy (otherwise only known for the often unlistenably nasty snarl and speed approach of bands like Death SS, Theatre des Vampires or the slightly more interesting Mortuary Drape, and of course the operatic bombast of Rhapsody (of Fire)).
Vocals stick to a sort of sinister Grover modality, which makes them acceptable enough. Whether you take them seriously or not is up to you, but it certainly works with the slow, somewhat sparse and doomy sound they’re offering here. At times the vocals even evoke Mirai Kawashima of Sigh.
Other than the aforementioned harmony lead overlays, there are really no solos here to speak of, and the only conceivable link to “death metal” here is a vague comparison to Gorement (of Ending Quest and Darkness of the Dead fame). Even beyond the vocals, Winds of Disillusion is too introspective, lead-absent and metaphysically sinister to classify as anything but black metal in the end.
Apostolum’s sound is consistently midtempo and dark enough to suggest some influence of Les Legiones Noires as well, particularly earlier Mutiilation, which means yeah, I dug this one. Definitely worth checking out, particularly if you like the bands mentioned herein.
Vardan – The Woods Is My Coffin (Moribund)
I love these quaint linguistic malapropisms and misconjugations of the English language. Others may laugh or sneer, but I find them somewhat endearing, indicative of a certain naivete that is too easily lost with the bitter pill of experience. So here I is to going tell to you record album this about am to being. (Okay, okay, I’ll stop with the garbledygook from here on out…you get the point.)
Beneath a great photo of a snowy Alpine wilderness path comes a new release from Vardan, whose …Dreaming…Living my Funeral we reviewed last month. This time around, we get the improved production I was grousing the band desperately needed, and as such we get a far superior effort all around.
When listening to that earlier offering, I knew there was a good (one man) band buried under all that high end noise, and here it is. Whether the music itself is any better or no is up to the listener’s personal interpretation, but suffice to say the guy took the time to fix the problem, and I for one am appreciative of that.
Another band out of Italy, you can add Vardan to Apostolum, arguably Mortuary Drape and the wholly unrelated Rhapsody (of Fire) to the positive end of what has traditionally been an unfocused and often unlistenable metal scene hailing from its sunny Mediterranean shores.
Too confusing for you? Let’s simplify that sentiment for the sake of clarity. Ready? Here goes, and feel free to say it in your best Frank Zappa/Mark Mothersbaugh game show host voice:
If you’re going to check out an Italian metal band (see, it even sounds funny to say out loud!), these guys are one of the few worth hearing.
Dark, grim, very underground and once again evocative of Mutiilation, Vlad Tepes or even the emergent Canadian black metal sound of Sepulchral Productions bands like Gris, Monarque, Sombres Forets or Neige Eternelle, this is atmospheric, ambient and relaxing – for the black metal newbie, think pre-jailtime Burzum without the haunting shrieks. Definitely recommended if you dig the style.
Demilich – 20th Adversary of Emptiness (Svart Records)
Weird stomach acid belch-croak vocals give the feeling you’re listening to one of Jabba the Hutt’s bowel movements. It’s really strange, but has a certain freakshow appeal to it that fans of early, true death metal know all too well. “Wow, that guy from Obituary has a crazy voice!” “Oh yeah? Check out this guy in Immolation!” “That’s nothing, check out this guy from Incantation!” and on…and on…and on…
It’s a compilation of their sole album Nespithe and all four demos, so if you’re a big fan of obscure Finnish death metal from back in the day, this is definitely the one to get…but read on.
As usual, the demos show a more aggressive, pleasantly raw take on the band’s output than what much of the same material would wind up sounding like on the album. The guitars are strange for the sake of it, as some bands coming at the tail end of the genre’s early 90’s heyday were wont to pursue, and one gets the strong impression that if they hadn’t so deliberately striven for weirdness, they could’ve been a real contender.
As it stands, while certainly of interest to fans of the genre and period being tapped into here, all they really have to hang their collective hats on in the end is a seriously bizarro vocalist who sounds like if they gave a microphone to the Dragon Quest bubble slime and a certain darkness to their sound that marks them as hailing from the days when death metal was an actual genre worth discussing.
So it’s a mixed call, in the end – definite value if you’re a fan of the band, a death metal historian and completist or just into weird shit. Your take as to whether it’s worth delving into or not.
Kuolemanlaakso – Tulijoutsen (Svart Records)
Another strange release from these Finns, at times sounding doom metal, at times death metal, it’s all over the damn place. Sometimes they’re singing clean baritone, then it switches to Alex Krull-like snarl-growls, then it goes straight into nastier death metal territory. And this is all in the course of the same song.
While well produced and certainly competently performed, it’s ultimately kind of hard to like, unless you’re a ravenous fan who doesn’t balk at bizarre cross-genre blending like this. It’s definitely got parts I really liked, and is most assuredly a much better release than October’s Musta Aurinko Nousee EP. Even so, it’s far too strange to pigeonhole in any nice neat genre box, which isn’t really a good thing. When you’re in the mood for doom metal, are you really in the mood for this? Ditto on death metal.
It falls between the cracks rather than bridging the gaps, ultimately satisfying a rarified few rather than a larger-than-normal audience. Much better this time, but still really weird stuff and therefore somewhat limited in audience appeal.
Sammal – No 2 (Svart Records)
Despite a strong initial offering, this 5 song EP improves on that more lengthy and comparatively unfocused effort by leaps and bounds.
With a more aggressive, uptempo approach that brings to mind some of the better “occult rock” of late, particularly that of Blood Ceremony’s Eldritch Dark, Sammal really brings their “A” game to No. 2. Much as on the self titled, Sammal offer late 60’s/early 70’s psychedelic rock complete with fuzz tone, sitar-like guitar lines and Hammond organ, but this time around there’s no slower excursions to drag things down. It’s far less Sabbath than most bands of similar bent and much more authentically “of its (intended) time”, with the overall approach and feel being much improved and refined thereby.
Interesting, as they make a point of claiming this is not a proper followup, but a collection of earlier material and leftovers… Dramatic improvement on what was an already quite palatable template.
Stilla – Ensamhetens Andar (Nordvis Produktion)
Very different production than the warmer, under a pillow muted feel of the more likeable Till Stilla Falla. It’s clearly the same band and not much has changed stylistically, but the cleaner, more trebly production actually hurts them and cuts a wide swath into the intended atmospheric and emotional effect.
There’s also something about the music this time around that feels very different – dare we say Stilla has gone a bit commercial? Both “ensamhetens andar” and “till slutet” feature somewhat catchy melodies, and certain tracks (“till slutet” again, “sjalavrangaren”) sound at least Tribulation if not Watain-like.
While not exactly a sellout or jump the shark album, it’s not what I was expecting from the band that put out the aforementioned Till Stilla Falla, and doesn’t hold up half as well.
Ævangelist – De Masticatione Mortuorum in Tumulis (Blood Harvest)
Really, really detuned guitars, depths of the belly belch and roar vocals with too much echo, and ghostly keyboard sampled choirs. The last part sounds interesting, but the first two parts and the generally atonal noisiness of the final mix squelch any possible recommendation here.
There’s far, far worse out there and I guess this bears a vague atmosphere of sorts, but I strongly doubt I’ll be pulling this one out ever again. By all means feel free to skip it.
False Prophet -The Second Death DLP (Blood Harvest)
Pretty cool semi-blackened thrash along the lines of Sacrifice circa Torment in Fire by way of Morbid Saint or perhaps even Infernal Majesty circa None Shall Defy. There’s a touch of Mike Browning to the vocals as well, and a certain veneer of underproduction that says Morbid Angel circa Abominations of Desolation.
While not quite as exciting or destined to bear the longevity of any of the classic thrash albums aforementioned, this is definitely a fun flashback to the days when there were far less bands cluttering up the landscape, and when just about every one we did have did their damnedest to make their shot at glory count.
If for nothing else than getting the basic idea right, I’ll give these guys a thumbs up in the sense of “A for effort”.
Shroud of the Heretic – Revelations in Alchemy LP – (Blood Harvest)
With a low rent hand drawn cover trying to be all witchy or whatever, I certainly wasn’t expecting extremely downtuned, belly-belching and reverb suffused brutal death metal…
It’s certainly sinister sounding enough to bring to mind some of the lesser also-rans of the early 90’s death metal scene, but it doesn’t really set me on fire either.
Interesting but a bit of a one note joke, the only “revelation” here is that Shroud of the Heretic turns out to be somewhat of a one trick pony, never actually varying the sound and approach a whit from the start of track one to the last seconds of track seven – not one jot or tittle. Take a gander and see if you care.
SKULL FIST – Chasing the Dream (NoiseArt Records)
Oh, come on, you know I love Jackie Slaughter and Skull Fist – they were one of the very first bands I contacted and put on air with the radio show, and I’ve stayed in virtual touch with the man ever since.
Perhaps the only true Shrapnel Records style shredder out there among the retro-trad scene today, Jackie wears his influences proudly and obviously on his sleeve for all to see. Jason Becker, Marty Friedman, Michael Angelo and Nitro, Ronnie LeTekro and TNT, Paul Gilbert and Racer X, they’re all there and more.
The kid can play, as can fellow guitarist Johnny Nesta nee “Johnny Exciter”, trading off leads like a modern day Cacophony or Racer X. As a fellow shred-head from back in the day, you know he’s got my wholehearted attention and thumbs up support.
Yeah, there’s good players all over the place nowadays, but few with any real soul and less with a dead on link to what made the 80’s forefathers of the scene great in the first place. Slaughter and company get it, and long may they reign.
Check out both of my interviews with the fretboard-burning madman of metal and Canada’s favorite son here and here.
SUICIDAL ANGELS – Divide And Conquer (NoiseArt Records)
Exodus style riffing, a guy who sounds like Russ Anderson from Forbidden on vocals and the sort of guitar solos you’d expect to hear from Alex Skolnick (Testament), Craig Lociciero and Glen Avelais (Forbidden) or Lee Altus and Doug Piercy (Heathen). Hell, there’s even an obvious Reign in Blood-era Slayer nod in “divide and conquer”, just to make sure all bases are covered.
Yeah, it’s one of the fairly rare San Francisco Bay Area retro-thrash acts on the scene today. As discussed with similarly minded Mortillery here and here, it’s far more common to hear bands taking on the Teutonic or South American blackened variants, so consider these guys something of a welcome anomaly.
Definitely brought this old thrasher back to the glory days for a bit, though Forbidden was sort of known at the time for having one of the lousiest vocalists on the scene (Anderson took a lot of shit for his less than soaring pipes back when…), so they could have taken a better role model on that end. Otherwise, a definite thumbs up and hope to hear more acts following suit.
Chapel (Canada) – Satan’s Rock N Roll LP (Invictus Productions)
Well, somebody’s a big fan of Joel Grind and the early Bathory worship of his Yellowgoat Project.
The first album has always stood alongside Sign of the Black Mark as far and away the best of the late Quorthon’s efforts, so I’m happy. If you’re more of the “one road to Asa” crowd much less his more faltering efforts as we progress later into the 90’s, don’t even bother – but if you love Motorhead, Venom and blackened thrash-style black metal, this is a definite go-to.
Not quite as essential as the aforementioned Yellowgoat Project, but certainly playing in the same ballpark and recommended for fans of Maax, Intoxicated and Promiscuity.
Solstice (UK) – Death’s Crown is Victory – (Into the Void Records (a division of Invictus Productions)
Speaking of “one rode to Asa”, here we get a British band who appears to be working similar territory to that, with vague hints of Primordial for good measure. But wait, that’s just the instrumental “fortress England”…hold up, now they’re trying to be some doom metal cross between Hour of 13 and Blacklist (of Sin Sentence fame). Say wha…?
In any case, it works well enough, with the yawning baritone vox-driven “I am the hunter” proving a worthy contender for placement among similarly backwards-leaning beefy toned music of the mid 80’s: a minor sideline of the scene that produced acts like Blacklist, Trouble and St. Vitus whom Solstice is so clearly trying to squeeze in among.
Apparently the band has been kicking around since the early 90’s, despite only releasing two albums and an EP prior to this one, all whopping four tracks of it. The title track and the closing instrumental fail to live up to the promise of either the viking/pagan inspired “fortress England” or the retro-doom of “hunter”, but it may be worth looking into on the strength of whichever of those two rather oddly conjoined tracks your genre preferences point you towards.
NOCTURNAL BREED – Napalm Nights (Agonia Records)
Retro minded musically speaking, but marred by some pretty ratty vocals. Kudos for the somewhat thrashy 80’s underground metal guitars (gee, they’re even tuned properly, how often do you see that nowadays?), but unless you’re a huge fan of Pat Lind from Morbid Saint or (at a stretch) Darren Travis of Sadus, the vocals are a bit hard to take.
Bottom line is, if this were 1985, any interested label would probably demand a replacement of vocalist before signing what is otherwise a more than competent band. Food for thought.
Abyssal (UK) – Novit enim Dominus qui sunt eius DLP (Iron Bonehead)
Another set of bowel-emergent vocals, but far less interesting than Demilich by dint of its very modernness: the black metal and noise influences are far too obvious.
Atonal and deliberately playing with meter (check out the pointedly stop-start-change style again drumming on opener “tongue of the demagogue”) while afflicted by muddy/hissy production, Abyssal relies on overly detuned guitars and Watainesque treble string sequences, but without that band’s skill or quality.
Third or fourth tier stuff, and yet another supposed death metal band that’s really a black metal band in disguise. The drummer’s interesting, but enough of this already. Don’t call yourself a “sanitation engineer” to disguise the fact that you’re a garbageman. Despite some variances with the general style, this is black metal, and a somewhat middling offering thereof at that.
Nechbeyth – Coerce Creed MLP (Iron Bonehead)
Despite some really low rent, thin and noisy production, this is at core yet another modern style black metal act. You’re talking to a traditionalist here and lover of the underground – and this certainly ain’t it. I guess if you like it fast and insubstantial…
The drummer gets a nice polyrhythmic double bass fill about 2/3 through “ruination conquest” and does similar work in portions of “eradication vertex”, so they’re not wholly without talent or merit – just doesn’t work for me in the least.
Nebiros (Col) / Nekromanteion – In Command Tenebrae – split 7″ (Iron Bonehead)
Nebiros is South American black metal with more than a touch of the sub-equatorial inclination towards blackened thrash. Not bad at all, but doesn’t distinguish itself all that much from similarly minded acts like Bestial Holocaust.
Nekromanteion is more underground and sounds very middle-American to these ears. A lot of slap echo and some extremely primitive early Sepultura riffing marked by cheesy Lovecraftian invocations. Not bad either, but no comparison to the real deal they share the split with.
Entartung – Peccata Mortalia (W.T.C. Productions)
A bit more mid to late 90’s Swedish or Norwegian black metal in sound than most of what’s coming my way of late. Like a good majority of the post-Kerrang article bands and albums of the scene, there’s not a hell of a lot to it and it certainly pales by comparison to the acknowledged classics of the style, but at least they’re not band #14,656 aping Watain over this past year (seriously…enough already…).
Consistently speedy without actually going anywhere, it’s competent enough to make mid to late 90’s BM fans happy. It doesn’t stand out in the least, but if you’re a huge fan of what turned out to be the early decline of the scene, this will certainly fit right in.
Tortorum – Katabasis (W.T.C. Productions)
Here we go again with the distorted yet arpeggiated open chords, endless variations on the tritone and bark-snarled vocals. You guessed it, it’s yet another Watain influenced black metal band. Zzzzzzzzz…
That noted, they’re a lot more competent than their tens of thousands of likeminded competitors, and bring a touch of Gaahl-era Gorgoroth to the mix to spruce up the usual formula a tad.
Tribulation still did it better, but if you’re craving the pre-Wild Hunt disaster Watain, you could certainly do much, much worse.
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Mobile security can no longer be ignoredPrevious article
Pwn2Own trifecta: Hacker exploits IE8, Firefox, SafariNext article
Android, iPhone security under scrutiny at CanSecWest
Author: Dennis Fisher
A parade of security researchers spent the better part of Wednesday at the CanSecWest conference putting the lie to the notion that iPhones, Windows Mobile devices and other smartphones are not really targets for attackers.
“Smartphones are a very nice thing to go after from an attacker’s point of view,” said Sergio Alvarez, a researcher who showed several methods for using application-level attacks to compromise the Apple iPhone and other devices. “With the iPhone, if you own the device, you can modify anything you want. Everything runs under one user. Any application can be used as an entry point to the phone.”
As Paul Roberts wrote today, smartphones have become nearly ubiquitous, especially in the enterprise, and little attention has been paid to the security of these devices, despite the fact that they can carry large amounts of corporate data and run a wide variety of third-party applications. The researchers who spoke on Wednesday gave Apple and Google credit for doing some things correctly, notably Apple’s decision to make the stack on the iPhone non-executable and Google’s use of sandboxing in the Android operating system.
But there are plenty of things the companies could do better, the researchers said. Jon Oberheide, a PhD candidate at the University of Michigan, who is working with Google on the Android security model, said the company would do well to add greater granularity for the permissions in Android and should follow Apple’s lead in including support for NX.
“They did a lot of things well, but there’s a lot of room for improvement,” he said.
Later in the day, Alfredo Ortega and Nico Economou, two researchers from Core Security Technologies, showed off a variety of attack methods–including shellcode–for both the iPhone and Android.
While there doesn’t seem to be any shortage of clever technical attacks, both Alvarez and Oberheide said that smartphone users also are at risk from less sophisticated attacks, including malicious applications that look legitimate. In other words, the mobile world is starting to look a lot like the desktop and the Web.
Latest FinSpy Modules Lift Data from Secure Messaging Apps
The espionage tool is capable of eavesdropping on calls and messages sent via Signal, Telegram, WhatsApp and more.
Agent Smith Malware Infects 25M Android Phones to Push Rogue Ads
Researchers say malware infects phones in order to sneak ads on devices for profit.
Apple Transparency Report Now Includes App Store Takedown Requests
Apple report now includes data on requests by governments to take down apps from the tech giant’s app store.
80 percent of enterprise IT systems feature unpatched CVE vulnerabilities. What are companies doing wrong when it c… https://t.co/9ZtPH9eKzD
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70+ free employee performance review templates – Word, PDF, & Excel
J. Michael Probert
The biggest problem with performance reviews, according to both managers and employees, is that they take too much time. That’s why we created this master list of free performance review templates: so you can save time by choosing the template that’s best for your team.
Every organization has a different time of year that they do employee reviews, so we’ve sorted by annual, biannual (every six months), or quarterly. If you’re just looking for a general performance review template, check out the reviews for any time of year.
Get your free copy of the best performance review template out there. Download now ⬇️
Remember, all of these templates are free (though some do require an email sign-up). If you find a template that charges money to use or download, please let us know so we can update the list. To jump to specific sections, click below:
Annual review templates
Biannual review templates
Quarterly review templates
General review templates for any time of year
You can get through this annual review template (#3) with time to spare.
1. This comprehensive Excel document from Smartsheet includes sections for objectives, employee skill assessment, and self-evaluation for employees to fill out. Get it now >
Format: Excel document
2. This annual form for evaluating managers is an Excel document focused on behavior-based leadership skills like “demonstrating confidence”, as well as performance objectives. Get it now >
3. Check out this short and simple annual review template that focuses on written reflections rather than metrics or grading. It’s suitable for any employee. Get it now >
4. This 3-page review form is plain but serviceable. It features a wide range of performance competencies, plus some goal-setting questions. Get it now >
Format: PDF, Word document, or Google Doc
5. This performance evaluation form offers a comprehensive list of over 50 attributes and skills, ranked from unsatisfactory to outstanding. Skip this one if you’re hoping for a short form—it’s a lengthy 12 pages. Get it now >
The next four documents (#6 – 9) are designed to be used as a set, with nearly identical questions and formatting. Developed by Emory University, they include detailed examples and definitions of expected behavior, including problem solving, building trust, and collaboration. Each link will take you to the same page, so be sure to select the document title that fits your needs (manager vs. non-manager, self evaluation vs. standard evaluation).
6. Non-manager annual self-evaluation form. Get it now >
Format: Word document
7. Manager annual self-evaluation form. Get it now >
8. Non-manager annual evaluation form. Get it now >
9. Manager annual evaluation form. Get it now >
10. The name says it all: this is a typical annual performance review. It’s a basic two-page template that asks supervisors to score employees on 15 attributes and list any concerns they have. Get it now >
11. Use this qualitative performance review if you want to get away from metrics and grades. It encourages leaders to write down impressions of their employee’s performance, along with examples of strengths and suggestions for improvement. Get it now >
12. One of the more detailed review forms that we’ve seen, with separate sections for a wide variety of metrics. There are several documents on this page; select “Annual Performance Review Review” for the right one. You must sign up to get access. Get it now >
Format: RAR
Biannual (6 month) review templates
This colorful 6-month review is #13 on the list.
13. This form says mid-year, but can also be used at other times to get a snapshot of employee performance. It assumes a discussion with the reviewer, so it features discussion prompts rather than grades. Get it now >
14. This 6-month template is a good fit for teams with temporary members who are being considered as potential full-time employees. The narrative-based review template ends with the supervisor’s recommendation that an employee be retained or let go. There are several documents on the page, so select the one titled, “Annual Employee Review Template”. Get it now >
The next five documents (#15 – 19) are designed to be used as a set, with the same questions and formatting. They include detailed examples and definitions of expected behavior, including problem solving, building trust, and collaboration. Each link will take you to the same page, so be sure to select the document title that fits your needs (manager vs. non-manager, self evaluation vs. standard evaluation).
15. Self-evaluation form — mid-year review (non-manager). Get it now >
16. Self-evaluation form — mid-year review (manager). Get it now >
17. Mid-year evaluation form (non-manager). Get it now >
18. Mid-year evaluation form (manager). Get it now >
19. Six month evaluation form – new employee (non-manager). Get it now >
Use this two-page form (#21 on the list) to measure progress each quarter.
20. This performance review is a little complicated to use: First, you need to enter your email address to access the full form. When you submit it, you’ll receive a PDF in your email inbox. Get it now >
Format: PDF via email download
21. Use this template immediately after an introductory period (90 days is standard) to make sure a new team member is a great fit. It allows for open-ended feedback, performance goals, and training needs to be documented. Of course, it can also be used for longstanding employees. Get it now >
22. This review template has a simple three-point scale to grade a new employee: below expectations, meets expectations, or outstanding. It’s designed to be used at the end of an employee’s first 90 days to decide whether they’ll keep working there. Get it now >
23. Grade your new employees with a three-point scale: excellent, improvement needed, or unsatisfactory. There are multiple documents on this page, so be sure to select the one titled “Introductory Period Performance Review”. You must sign up to get access. Get it now >
24. A comprehensive template that can be used at the end of a quarterly probationary period and then annually thereafter. There are multiple documents on this page, so be sure to select the one titled “Performance Review Template for Employees”. You must sign up to get access. Get it now >
Create a healthier work culture with upward feedback (#27).
25. A basic one-page performance review that focuses on the employee’s goals and has a grading scale of unsatisfactory to excellent. This template is simple but satisfactory if you only need a quick snapshot. Get it now >
26. This employee self-evaluation form puts the employee’s perspective first when it comes to responsibilities, goals, and company values. The template is short, but be warned: the questions are somewhat vague and uninspired. Get it now >
27. It’s only fair that employees give feedback to managers, and this upward feedback template helps them do it. This form provides 360-degree feedback so management knows what to work on. Get it now >
28. This simple peer review template will help colleagues talk openly about their team’s performance. From the manager’s side, it’s priceless to know how teammates rate each other on items like “Integrity” and “Works to Full Potential”. Get it now >
29. Need to rank team members quantitatively? This numerical scale performance review form provides a five-point scale in a number of proficiencies. It’s still recommended that you add comments to each number ranking, so there’s some context for whoever is reading the review. Get it now >
30. If your team prefers narrative performance reviews, use this guide for discussing goals and performance. It works well for review periods of any length. Get it now >
31. This template is geared towards lower-level staff members rather than leaders. It’s a basic form to quickly rank your team in eight areas, from productivity to relations with others. Get it now >
32. This form prioritizes objective performance metrics over values or employee professional development. The six-page form is standard but old-fashioned in its focus and looks—skip it if you’re looking for something modern.Get it now >
33. This template is short and seems geared towards lower-level employees. Use its simple three-point scale to rank employees (does not meet expectations, meets expectations, or exceeds expectations). Get it now >
34. This is a basic form with well-thought-out questions that focus on strengths, weaknesses, and improvement areas of employee. Please note that you have to sign up in order to access the form. Get it now >
Format: Online form or PDF download
35. Want to change up your approach? Take this survey as an alternative to a traditional performance review. It makes filling out reviews much easier for managers. Please note that you have to sign up in order to access the form. Get it now >
36. This review is in survey format; in this case, the employee is reviewing their supervisor. This is an excellent way to get a quick measure of how employees feel about management, especially if anonymity is an option. Get it now >
38. Employees fill out this form to help their supervisor gauge their performance as a leader: approachability, use of company resources, and other leadership skills. It features useful but uncommon questions like “How consistently does your supervisor reward employees for good work?” Get it now >
39. Teams can (and should) be evaluated along with individual performers. This template asks insightful questions like whether your team is too large, too small, or just the right size. Get it now >
40. This self evaluation is designed for employees to fill out prior to an in-person meeting with their supervisor. Employee self evaluations like this one are an underrated tool for managers to get information directly from the source. Get it now >
41. This employee self-evaluation includes useful, less-common prompts like, “What can your supervisor do to ensure that you are making progress towards your professional goals?” Get it now >
42. This 360-degree review template can be used by anyone in your organization, at any time of year. Not everyone needs to fill out peer review forms, so make sure you select only those who work closely with the person they’re reviewing. Get it now >
43. This comprehensive template is ideal for first-time managers, since it includes a detailed rubric and an explanation of performance review best practices. Get it now >
Format: Word document or Google Doc
The next five documents (#44 – 48) are all variants of each other—the real difference is layout and the specific employee characteristics that the manager grades. Look through each one to see what you prefer. Each link takes you to the same page, and the documents don’t have descriptive titles. So if you don’t want to look through all the files, see the descriptions below.
This easy-to-use template is #46 on our list.
44. General employee performance review. To access, click on “Employee_Template_1”. Get it now >
45. Employee self-evaluation review. To access, click on “Employee_Template_2”. Get it now >
46. Standard employee performance review. To access, click on “Employee_Template_3”. Get it now >
47. Numerical ranking employee review. To access, click on “Employee_Template_4”. Get it now >
48. Essay employee evaluation form. To access, click on “Employee_Template_5. Get it now >
The next five documents (#49 – 53) are geared toward manual workers. They include detailed frameworks for measuring job performance against specific job objectives. Each link takes you to the same page, so be sure to select the title you want.
49. Appraisal form based on job objectives. Get it now >
50. Manual workers appraisal form. Get it now >
51. Appraisal form for earmarking potential for promotion. Get it now >
52. Self-appraisal form. Get it now >
53. Appraisal questionnaire. Get it now >
54. Use this simple, no-frills form to get insights from employees, with questions like, “What aspects of your job need clarification?” There are several documents on the page, so select the one titled, “Employee Self-Review Template”. Get it now >
55. This standard form allows you to rank a team member from poor to excellent on characteristics like job knowledge, productivity, and work quality. There are several documents on the page, so select the one titled, “Employee Performance Review Template”. Get it now >
56. Don’t want to average your ratings by hand? This Excel spreadsheet review template is for you. There are several documents on the page, so select the one titled, “Employee Review Template Excel”. Get it now >
57. This comprehensive template is geared towards nurses, but it can be edited and used for other healthcare workers, from phlebotomists to nursing assistants. There are several documents on the page, so select the one titled, “Employee Review Template Doc”. Get it now >
58. It’s easy to complete this sheet, as it only has two measurements per metric: meets expectations or does not meet expectations. Skip this one if you care about detailed and nuanced reviews. There are several documents on this page, so click on the one titled “Employee Performance Review”. Get it now >
59. Try this template if you want a comprehensive form that defines its metrics and provides directions and best practices on the form itself. There are several files on this page, so choose the one titled “Sample Performance Review”. You must sign up to get access. Get it now >
60. Here’s another simple one-page template for the busy manager. It includes relevant categories like “Works to potential” and “Work consistency”. There are several files on this page, so choose the one titled “Simple Performance Review”. You must sign up to get access. Get it now >
61. This brief template allows employers to rank team members on anything from technical skills to punctuality. There are several files on this page, so choose the one titled “Employee Performance Review”. You must sign up to get access. Get it now >
62. Managers should be held to a higher standard, and this detailed form helps you do that. There are several files on this page, so choose the one titled “Performance Management Review Example”. You must sign up to get access. Get it now >
63. This review encourages employee accountability for goals they set in the past. Includes separate section for employee self evaluation. There are several files on this page, so choose the one titled “Employee Performance Review Template”. You must sign up to get access. Get it now >
Use this development plan (#68) to support your team’s dreams.
These forms aren’t performance review templates, but they can help you keep track of important metrics throughout the year, or be used alongside a performance review to support your team members’ growth.
64. Employee attendance tracker. Get it now >
65. Employee training plan template. Get it now >
66. Group evaluation form. Get it now >
67. Professional development plan template. Get it now >
The next four documents (#68 – 71) are designed to be used alongside the performance review templates listed in #6 – 9 and #4 – 18. They can also be used as standalone resources. Developed by Emory University, they include detailed examples and definitions of expected behavior. Each link will take you to the same page, so be sure to select the document title that fits your needs.
68. Performance log. Get it now >
69. Professional development plan. Get it now >
70. Performance improvement plan (PIP). Get it now >
71. Upward feedback form. Get it now >
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NBA YoungBoy Ignores Boosie Badazz Warning Moving Back To Baton Rouge
NBA YoungBoy ignores Boosie Badazz warning, says he is moving back to Baton Rouge.
Lil Boosie recently issued a warning to young rappers to move from the state that they’re from to avoid getting extorted and targets by criminals. We’ve seen a lot of rapper from all over the country, moved away from the hood that they’re from and relocate to hip-hop hotbeds like Los Angeles and Atlanta. Some rappers decided to stay close to their roots, while others venture out looking for greener pastures.
While he never publicly stated it, NBA YoungBoy has not been living in Baton Rouge for quite some time. The Louisiana rapper recently revealed on Twitter that he is moving back to Baton Rouge. The motivation behind his decision is not yet known, but he is clearly ignoring some strong warning from one of his hometown veterans, Boosie Badazz.
I should also point out that YoungBoy Never Broke Again is currently on probation stemming from a past gun case where he was facing a decade in prison. Prosecutors in his hometown are still trying to get a judge to send him to prison for a slew of runnings with the law over the past year.
Boosie himself has taken his own advice and moved away from Louisiana. But if you’ve been following NBA’s career, then you would know that he tends to do things his way. Nevertheless, he could just be showing his hometown pride and decided that’s where he wants to continue to blossom into a global superstar.
IM MOVING BACK TO BATON ROUGE !!
— NBA YOUNGBOY (@GGYOUNGBOY) March 21, 2019
Boosie Badazz, NBA YoungBoy
More Boosie Badazz News
Meek Mill & Boosie Badazz Says “Lion King” Brought Them To Tears
Boosie Badazz Calls American Airlines Racist In Rant About Being Denied Boarding
Boosie Badazz Got Female Fans Stripping Down On Instagram Live While Kids Watch
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Pride & Joy The Marvin Gaye Musical
Don’t’ miss the hit Stage Play: PRIDE & JOY - THE MARVIN GAYE MUSICAL playing at the historic Chicago Theatre for 7 performances from June 19th – 23rd.
Featuring 28 songs from the legendary Motown catalog, including the greatest hits of iconic Grammy Award-winning singer, Marvin Gaye!
TICKETS NOW ON SALE!
Tickets available at the Chicago Theatre Box Office, Ticketmaster.com, Ticketmaster outlets, or by calling 800-745-300
PRIDE & JOY tells the riveting story of Marvin Gaye & Anna Gordy’s and union how the two change history, the music industry and Motown Records through ballads inspired by their love, conflict and creativity. The story journeys through romantic and even volatile clashes between Marvin and Anna, which ultimately influence the direction and sound of Motown.
Featuring 28 songs from the legendary Motown catalogue, including the greatest hits of iconic Grammy Award-winning singer, Marvin Gaye!
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Home Case Study SGX - Singapore Exchange Should You Buy Suntec Real Estate Investment Trust Today?
Ian Tai
Listed on 9 December 2004, Suntec Real Estate Investment Trust invests and derives income from a portfolio of office and retail properties located in Singapore and Australia. As I write, it has 7 assets valued at S$ 9.6 billion. In this article, I’ll cover 10 main things that you need to know about Suntec REIT before you invest.
#1: Stock Symbol
Ticker Symbol: SGX: T82U
Market Capitalization: S$ 4.50 billion (19 June 2018)
Share Price: S$ 1.69 (19 June 2018)
Industry: Reit
#2: The Portfolio
Presently, Suntec REIT is generating income from the following properties:
It owns 100% of Suntec City Office, 100% of Suntec City Mall, and as well as 60.8% of Suntec Singapore, a world-class convention centre. It derived income from a total of 601 tenants and had occupancy rate of 99.3% in 2017. In that year, Suntec City had recorded S$ 209.1 million in net property income (NPI) and thus, is currently the main income contributor to Suntec REIT.
Marina Bay Financial Centre (MBFC) Properties
It owns ⅓ interest in the iconic MBFC Properties, which consists of 2 Grade-A Office Towers and a subterranean mall in Singapore. MBFC Properties have enjoyed 99.8% in occupancy rate with 110 tenants. In 2017, these properties had contributed S$ 53.6 million in NPI and are the second largest income contributor to Suntec REIT.
It owns 100% of 177 Pacific Highway, a Grade-A Office Building that is situated in North Sydney, Australia. It is fully occupied with 10 key tenants such as CBRE, Cisco Systems and CIMIC Group Ltd. In year 2017, this property had contributed S$ 35.4 million in NPI, thus, it is the third largest income contributor to Suntec REIT.
One Raffles Quay
It owns ⅓ interest in One Raffles City. It consists of 2 Grade-A Office Towers in Singapore. It is fully occupied with 56 tenants. In 2017, this property had recorded S$ 28.8 million in NPI.
Southgate Complex
It owned 25% of Southgate Complex (Refer Point #5). This property comprises of 2 Grade-A Office Towers and a 3-Storey Retail Podium located in Melbourne, Australia. It recorded a 90.8% occupancy rate with a pool of 88 tenants. In 2017, this property had contributed S$ 7.3 million in NPI to Suntec REIT.
#3: The Financials
Overall, Suntec REIT has increased in both gross revenues and distributable income over the last 5 years. Gross revenues grown from S$ 234.1 million in 2013 to S$ 354.2 million in 2017. This, in turn, had resulted in stable growth in distributable income from S$ 211.2 million in 2013 to S$ 263.0 million in 2017. Distribution per unit (DPU) increased from 9.33 cents in 2013 to 10.01 cents in 2017.
Source: Annual Reports of Suntec REIT
#4: Balance Sheet Strength
As at 31 March 2018, Suntec REIT reported to have total debt outstanding of S$ 3.27 billion. Its aggregate leverage ratio is 36.6%, which is within the limit of 45% set by the MAS. Its all-in financing costs was 2.73% a year.
#5: Lease Expiry
Office Segment
Suntec REIT’s office segment has a weighted average lease expiry (WALE) of 3.62 years. 75.0% of its leases would expire starting in year 2020 and beyond. The office segment is more significant as it had contributed S$ 143.9 million, or 58.9% of Suntec REIT’s total NPI in 2017.
Retail Segment (Inclusive of Convention Centre)
Suntec REIT’s retail segment has a WALE of 2.22 years. 50.2% of leases begin to expire in 2020 and beyond. Its retail segment contributed S$ 100.5 million, or 41.1% of Suntec REIT’s total NPI in 2017.
#6: Latest Acquisitions
In November 2016, Suntec REIT has completed its acquisition of a 25% stake in Southgate Complex for A$ 144.5 million. This acquisition is one which has an option that allows Suntec REIT to buy another 25% stake in this property. It had generated S$ 7.3 million in NPI in 2017 (Refer Point #2).
In February 2018, Suntec REIT has exercised the option and hence, acquired the other 25% stake in Southgate Complex for A$ 144.5 million. Suntec REIT increased its stake in this property to 50% as it announced the completion of this transaction on 31 May 2018.
#7: Development Properties
Suntec REIT has two investment properties under development. They are:
9 Penang Road
It owns 30% of 9 Penang Road. Formerly known as Park Mall, Suntec REIT is developing it into a new Grade-A commercial building. It is a joint venture project participated with Haiyi Holdings Pte Ltd (35%) and SingHaiyi Group Ltd (35%) and is expected to cost about S$ 800 million. This project is expected to be completed by 2019.
Olderfleet, 477 Collins Street
In August 2017, Suntec REIT has acquired 50% interest of Olderfleet for A$ 414.7 million. It is located at Melbourne CBD, Australia and it is to be developed into a 40-storey state-of-the-art commercial office building. The construction of this building is scheduled to complete by 2020.
#8: Valuation
As I write, Suntec REIT is trading at S$ 1.69 a unit.
As at 31 March 2018, Suntec REIT has reported to have S$ 2.104 in net asset value a unit. Thus, its current P/NAV works out to be 0.80. It is presently on the lower end of its 5-year range of 0.720 – 1.015.
Suntec REIT adopts a distribution policy to declare and pay out at least 90% of its distributable income on a quarterly basis. It has declared and paid 10.01 cents in DPU for 2017. If Suntec REIT maintains its DPU at 10.01 cents, thus, its expected gross dividend yield is 5.92%, close to its higher end of its 5-year range of 4.66% – 6.45%.
Calculated based on Figures Presented in Annual Reports of Suntec REIT
#9: Investor Relations
For further enquiries or to request for additional investment information on Suntec REIT’s Investors Relation matters, you may contact:
Melissa Chow
Manager, Investor Relations
Email: melissachow@ara.com.hk
ARA Trust Management (Suntec) Ltd
#10: Major Shareholders
As at 26 February 2018, the main shareholders and their respective interest in Suntec REIT are as followed:
– Tang Gordon @ Tang Yigang: 9.62% (Direct)
– Celine Tang @ Chen Huaidan: 6.58% (Direct)
– Dr. Tan Kheng Lian: 10.51% (Direct (Negligible) + Indirect)
– Warburg Pincus & Co.: 6.16% (Indirect)
Tang Gordon and Celine Tang are husband and wife.
Suntec REIT has delivered stable distributions to its unitholders over the last 5 years.
Suntec REIT is enjoying near full occupancy for its properties and expects to generate additional rental income from 9 Penang Road and Olderfleet in one or two years time as soon as they are completed. Thus, it has laid itself a firm foundation to sustain distribution growth in the future.
If you are just getting started in learning about investing in the Asian Stock Market, we have created a full 15-Video Course for you to help you get up to speed on how to look for great investments in Asia. Click here to find out more.
suntec real estate investment trust
Suntec REIT
Previous articleIs Mapletree North Asia Commercial Trust Worth Investing In?
Next articleIs It Time To Buy Facebook Inc?
http://www.bursaking.com.my/index.php/home
Ian Tai is the founder of Bursaking.com.my, a platform that empowers retail investors to build wealth through ownership of fundamentally solid stocks. It is an essential tool that sifts out stocks that grow profits consistently from a database of over 900+ stocks listed mainly in Malaysia. As a Malaysian with close family ties in Singapore, Ian publishes a series of newsletters on how anyone can invest profitability in both countries.
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Slaughter-Free Fish Startup Raises $3.5 Million
The company’s CEO Mike Seldon will use capital funding to bring its alternatively-produced fish to market in years, not decades.
California-based technology startup Finless Foods recently raised $3.5 million in capital funding led by investment firm Draper Associates. The company specializes in creating clean fish—made from a small amount of animal cells in a lab setting—and, according to CEO Mike Seldon, will use the funding to finish its research and development phase and begin production. “We’ve already dramatically lowered cost and secured precious cellular material that will push us into rapid commercialization within years, not decades,” Seldon said. Seldon expects that Finless Foods’ clean fish—the production of which initially cost $19,000 per pound—will reach price parity to bluefin tuna by 2019. Heavily funded clean-meat startups around the world are aiming to reduce the number of animals that are slaughtered for food, including California-based company Wild Earth which recently developed koji-based dog treats and will eventually debut nutritionally complete clean-meat based foods for companion animals.
San Francisco Startup Unveils Lab-Grown Salmon
French Startup Aims to Debut Cruelty-Free Foie Gras by 2023
Startup Secures $12 Million to Make Slaughter-Free Steak
Jacques Cousteau’s Son Teams with Cell-Based Seafood Startup to Save the Ocean
Lab-Grown Shrimp, Crab, and Lobster to Debut in Asia
Price of Lab-Grown Meat to Plummet From $280,000 to $10 Per Patty By 2021
Impossible Fish? It’s on the Way.
Startup Raises $16 Million to Make Dog Food Without Hurting Animals
Dutch Startup Raises $3.5 Million to Crack the Clean-Meat Code
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Colombia's EPM sells $73 mln in ISA electric company shares
BOGOTA, June 26 (Reuters) - Colombian public services company Empresas Publicas de Medellin sold 13.2% of its shares in electricity company ISA for $73.3 million, the stock exchange said on Wednesday.
The sale was equivalent to more than 14.8 million shares at 15,700 pesos each.
The sale is part of a plan by Empresas Publicas de Medellin (EPM) to sell its more than 112.6 million ISA shares and raise some 1.76 trillion pesos ($552.2 million).
EPM plans to raise up to 4 trillion pesos by selling stock in several different assets, to ensure liquidity following problems at its flagship hydroelectric project Hidroituango.
$1 = 3,187.15 Colombian pesos Reporting by Nelson Bocanegra Writing by Julia Symmes Cobb Editing by Helen Murphy and Tom Brown
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ukbluegrass
British bluegrass and beyond
July 13, 2019 Katherine Boon
Review: Acorns and Toolshed by Ben Winship
Ben Winship
Ben Winship releases two albums on July 19th – his first solo work in 22 years.
The Idaho-based singer, songwriter and mandolinist is familiar to UK audiences having visited many times to tour with Growling Old Men and Brother Mule. Whilst those bands have released several albums in recent years, this will be Ben’s first solo outing since One Shoe Left in 1997.
Having taken so long to put these new solo projects together, Ben is going all out and releasing both albums at once. He explains, “I figured, why wait? Kind of like bread – I really want you to have it while its fresh. Plus, if I wait another 22 years, I’ll be pretty old…”.
First up, we have Acorns, an extremely listenable and straightforward old-time affair. Acorns is mostly comprised of Ben’s original work but has a few traditional tunes and covers thrown in for good measure.
Filled with wonderful musicianship from the likes of Brittany Haas, Chris Coole and Rayna Gellert, this album was recorded live in just a few days and as Ben says, it celebrates “the community spirit of real time, spontaneous music making”.
Highlights include a brooding version of the usually upbeat New River Train, and the reflective Fit To Be Tied that segues sweetly into Sail Away Ladies. Ben also takes the opportunity to recreate some of his past work, with Brother Mule’s Katy Bar The Door and Growling Old Men’s Lily Green getting old-timey makeovers.
With electric guitars, piano, drums and horn sections, Toolshed is a different beast altogether. It mixes blues, funk, dixie and folk, and in places is very reminiscent of Ben’s Fishing Music project.
As with Acorns, this album features lots of well-known names from bluegrass and Americana circles, with Mollie O’Brien and Joe Newberry contributing harmonies, and Britain’s Ben Somers lending his sax chops. A stand-out track is country-rock anthem Crossing The Great Divide, which employs a “pseudo-Band style arrangement” topped off with the soulful vocals of Infamous Stringduster Travis Book.
Toolshed strays a long way from the old-time of Acorns, but anyone familiar with Ben’s back catalogue shouldn’t find the material particularly shocking (the one exception being bonus track I Thought You Were A Goat #2, about which Ben confesses “my creative train veered SERIOUSLY off course…” – we’ll leave you to find out what that means).
Though widely separated on a musical front, Acorns and Toolshed share some common themes, most notably perhaps, conservation and the natural environment – hardly surprising given Ben lives in the shadow of the Rockies. Phoebe’s Rest is inspired by Wyoming naturalist Bert Raynes, and Always The Mountain makes use of Aldo Leopold’s call for us to “think like a mountain” (a phrase recently adopted as the hashtag for rewilding projects in Scotland). What’s The Matter With The Well? is a lament about the Deepwater Horizon oil rig disaster, originally written in 2010 but included here because as Ben says, “it’s important to be reminded of this fiasco so that we can prevent anything like it from happening again”.
Whilst neither album is strictly (and some might argue, not even remotely) bluegrass, they are hugely entertaining listens and the impressive list of musicians on both recordings should pique the interest of any fan of the genre.
Both Acorns and Toolshed are released on July 19th. CDs can be purchased direct from Ben’s website, with digital downloads available at Bandcamp and streaming via Spotify.
brother mule
growling old men
Previous Photo review: Man About a Horse
Next Midnight Skyracer announce autumn tour
© 2019 | ukbluegrass.com is developed and maintained by Katherine Boon
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Inside the right-wing YouTube empire that's quietly turning millennials into conservatives - 2018-03-13
Inside the right-wing YouTube empire that's quietly turning millennials into conservatives March 13, 2018, Mark Oppenheimer, Mother Jones
In the weeks after Donald Trump was elected president, Americans flocked to the internet with pressing questions. Some inquired about immigration to Canada. Others Googled "sanctuary city." A few wanted to know what a "manafort" was. And millions were newly curious about the Electoral College, which for the second time in recent memory was going to contravene the will of the majority. What was it? Why was it? Could electors defy their voters' wishes?
People turned to the New York Times and the Washington Post, Fox News, and even the Constitution for answers. But few sources were as widely consulted as "Do You Understand the Electoral College?" a five-minute video hosted by retired lawyer and television pundit Tara Ross. Her genial lecture, illustrated with colorful cartoons and pop-up text—"pure democracies do not work"—can be found at Prager University, an online video portal curated by the conservative talk-radio host Dennis Prager. The Electoral College video had about 850,000 views before the election, says Allen Estrin, Prager's producer and consigliere. "Two weeks later, it had 50 million."
The intellectual quality of Ross' video is decidedly junior varsity. She doesn't mention how the Electoral College was born of a compromise with slave states or note the degree to which it skews the will of the majority—for example, by effectively giving a Wyoming resident's vote almost quadruple the power of a Californian's. She also claims (bizarrely) that the Electoral College thwarts voter fraud. But never mind any of that. The video is short and memorable, with quick cuts, zippy graphics, and cool sound effects. It sucks you in.
{{cite news | first = Mark | last = Oppenheimer | title = Inside the right-wing YouTube empire that's quietly turning millennials into conservatives | url = https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2018/03/inside-right-wing-youtube-turning-millennials-conservative-prageru-video-dennis-prager/ | work = Mother Jones | date = March 13, 2018 | accessdate = December 16, 2018 }}
Retrieved from "https://umbraxenu.no-ip.biz/mediawiki/index.php?title=Inside_the_right-wing_YouTube_empire_that%27s_quietly_turning_millennials_into_conservatives_-_2018-03-13&oldid=116163"
Bradley Foundation
Dennis Prager
Dinesh D'Souza
Mark Oppenheimer
PragerU
Sebastian Gorka
Wilks Brothers
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Does foreign aid affect growth?
Axel Dreher, Vera Eichenauer, Kai Gehring, Sarah Langlotz, Steffen Lohmann 18 October 2015
There is no consensus on whether foreign aid is effective in boosting the economy of the recipient country. This column suggests that there is no evidence that aid affects growth. This finding does not imply that aid is necessarily ineffective. Much of the aid is not given to affect growth in the first place, but as humanitarian aid following disasters, to fight terror, please political allies, or influence decisions in important international organisations. Such aid should thus be evaluated with its own goals in mind.
Development and foreign aid: A historical perspective
Sebastian Edwards
Another sad result on aid effectiveness
Dierk Herzer, Peter Nunnenkamp
Making sure that aid reaches poor people
Moyo's confused attack on aid for Africa
Rich countries gave more than $130 billion to official development assistance in 2014. Over the last five decades, western donors spent $4.14 trillion – the equivalent of more than seven times the 2014 GDP of Nigeria. These flows are topped up by support from non-governmental organisations and other private charities, and so-called new donor countries. Yet, in many of the developing countries receiving the aid, poverty still looms large, and underdevelopment persists.
The apparent lack of any correlation between the amount of foreign aid a country receives and its per capita rate of economic growth, in particular, has fostered vigorous debate among economists about whether or not aid is effective. Despite a large number of academic articles, this literature has not reached a consensus. Researchers seem divided into ideological camps, each fighting for their model, with one group claiming to show that aid works, and the other group pointing to a lack of robustness of these results. The earlier literature is far from providing causal estimates on how aid affects growth but rather shows (the lack of) correlations between the two. However, studying correlations alone can hardly provide insights – after all, aid could go to where growth is low or, as well, where good policies make future growth more likely.
Estimating the causal effect of foreign aid on growth: Current evidence
Attempts to estimate the causal effect of foreign aid on growth can be divided into four groups, all aiming to identify variables that affect growth only through aid (and use them as instruments for aid). One group relies on variables that are based on the size of the recipient country’s population to predict how much aid a country receives (e.g. Rajan and Subramanian 2008), a second uses past values of aid to predict current ones (and estimates difference or system GMM regressions, e.g. Minoiu and Reddy 2010), and a third predicts aid with the recipient’s political connections to their donors (e.g. Bjørnskov 2013). None of these strategies meets their goals. Population size affects growth through other variables than aid, like foreign direct investments or trade (Bazzi and Clemens 2013). Lagged aid can affect growth directly, even holding contemporaneous aid constant. And while political connections can be helpful to estimate the causal effect of politically motivated aid (the local average treatment effect, or LATE), there is little reason to be confident this effect could be generalised to represent those of aid in general.
Political motives of donors and aid
As we explain in Dreher et al. (2014), there are reasons to assume that the motive for giving aid affects the outcome. Among them, favoured countries get approval for aid projects of low quality that would not have been approved otherwise. What is more, political interests can reduce the motivation of the donor and recipient to invest in projects to make them most successful and to enforce the conditions that had been attached to the aid.
Figure 1 gives a hint of the political motives donors might have. The figure shows that countries of particular geo-strategic importance – measured by their presence as temporary members of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) – receive substantially more aid than other countries, and get almost twice the aid the same countries receive before they enter the UNSC. This relationship holds in more rigorous settings, highlighting the importance of vote-buying in international organisations as one important motive for giving ‘aid’.
Figure 1. Aid commitments and UNSC membership
Notes: 4-year periods, 1959-2009, 54 countries (Dreher et al. 2014).
We exploit the increase in politically motivated aid the temporary members receive and analyse the effectiveness of aid as their UNSC membership changes, relying on previous research that shows membership in the UNSC to be unaffected by aid. Figure 2 summarises the results of our econometric tests.
We find that aid to countries temporarily serving on the UN Security Council is less effective compared to aid received at other times.
As the effect of politically motivated aid (the local average treatment effect, if used in an instrumental variables setting) is different from that of other aid, we conclude that political connections between donors and recipients are unhelpful in identifying the broader effects of aid on growth.
Figure 2. Marginal effects of aid on growth
Notes: The left figure shows the effect for non-UNSC members and the right figure those for UNSC members. Bold lines show marginal effects and dotted lines the 90% confidence interval. Growth regressions are based on four-year periods, 1959-2009, 54 countries (Dreher et al. 2014).
The effect of aid in a difference-in-difference setting
The fourth, more recent group of studies tries to estimate the causal effect of aid in a difference-in-difference setting. These studies predict aid based on a combination of variables that affect the amount of aid a donor gives at a particular time and the probability that such aid is allocated to a particular recipient country (netting out the effect of aid amounts and the probability of receiving aid themselves). Werker et al. (2009), for instance, make use of oil price fluctuations that substantially increase the aid budgets of oil-producing Arab donors, in particular to Muslim countries. Nunn and Qian (2012) use weather variation in the US and its effect on US-food production as an exogenous shock on the domestic ‘overproduction’ that is being sent to developing countries as food aid. They assume that the bulk of this increase is likely to go to countries with a high probability of receiving aid, which they proxy with the share of years a country has received aid over their sample. The identification strategy thus relies on how years with different wheat production translate to differential outcomes in recipient countries with a high probability of receiving aid compared to countries with a low probability.
In Dreher and Langlotz (2015) we apply a similar methodology to a large number of donors and recipient countries (and focus on growth rather than conflict). Our interaction is between donor government fractionalisation and a country’s probability of receiving aid. Government fractionalisation leads to larger government budgets (see Figure 3, which shows a partial leverage plot that nets out the effect of other variables), while larger expenditures lead to an increase in the aid budget (Figure 4). The increase in total aid then translates in recipient-specific aid, with some countries having a higher probability of benefiting from the increase compared to others. Following the study by Nunn and Qian (2012), we proxy this probability with the share of years a country has received aid over the sample period.
Figure 3. Fractionalisation and central government expenditures
Notes: 4-year periods, 1974-2009, 96 countries (Dreher and Langlotz 2015).
Figure 4. Central government expenditures and aid budgets
Notes: 4-year periods, 1974-2009, 96 countries (Dreher and Langlotz 2015). The figure omits one outlier; this does not affect results.
We thus compare the effect of aid on growth in regular and irregular recipients of aid as donor fractionalisation changes.
Our results show no effect of aid on growth.
We provide a number of explanations.
First, aid might simply not affect growth.
Second, aid or growth might not be measured precisely enough to capture the relation between the two.
Third, the effects of aid might be spread over different horizons, and the four-year averages used in our analysis might be inadequate to capture these effects.
Fourth, aid might be effective in some groups of countries but not in others, and our pooled sample could hide such effects.
And finally, aid might be effective in raising growth in the specific sub-national regions the aid is given to, but this development might be insufficiently large to affect growth at the country-level.
We develop this idea in Dreher and Lohmann (2015). We are inspired by Galiani et al. (2014), who show that developing countries that pass the International Development Association’s (IDA) threshold for receiving concessional support receive substantial reductions in aid more broadly. Again, we rely on a combination of variables that shift the amount of aid available over time and the probability of the aid going to a particular location. Specifically, we interact whether or not a country has passed the IDA’s income threshold with the sub-national regions’ probability of receiving aid. We thereby compare regular aid recipients to irregular recipients as the recipient country’s IDA status changes (netting out the effects of how the change in status affects the whole country and variables that are specific to each sub-national region). We use geo-coded data for World Bank aid to sub-national regions of various size and find no significant effects of aid on growth (measured as night time light growth) at the regional level either.
We conclude that there is no robust evidence that aid affects growth. Of course, this does not imply that aid is necessarily ineffective. Much of the aid is not given to affect growth in the first place. A large share is given as humanitarian aid following disasters. Parts of aid are given to fight terror, please political allies, or influence decisions in important international organisations. As we have discussed above, the motive can affect the outcome. Such aid thus cannot be expected to increase growth but should instead be evaluated with its own goals in mind.
Bazzi, S, and M A Clemens (2013), “Blunt Instruments: Avoiding Common Pitfalls in Identifying the Causes of Economic Growth”, American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics 5, 2: 152-86.
Bjørnskov, C (2013), "Types of Foreign Aid”, University of Aarhus Working Paper No. 2013-08.
Dreher, A, V Z Eichenauer and K Gehring (2014), “Geopolitics, Aid and Growth”, CEPR Discussion Paper No. 9904.
Dreher, A and S Langlotz (2015), “Aid and Growth. New Evidence using an Excludable Instrument”, CEPR Discussion Paper No. 10811.
Dreher, A and S Lohmann (2015), “Aid and Growth at the Regional Level”, Oxford Review of Economic Policy, forthcoming.
Galiani, S, S Knack, L C Xu and B Zou (2014), “The Effect of Aid on Growth: Evidence from a quasi-Experiment”, World Bank Policy Research Working Paper No. 6865.
Minoiu, C and S G Reddy (2010), “Development Aid and Economic Growth: A Positive Long-run Relation”, Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance 50, 1: 27-39.
Rajan, R G and A Subramanian (2008), “Aid and Growth”, Review of Economics and Statistics 90, 4: 643-665.
Werker, E D, F Z Ahmed and C Cohen (2009), “How is Foreign Aid Spent? Evidence from a Natural Experiment”, American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics 1, 2: 225-244.
Topics: Development
Tags: foreign aid, developing countries, economic growth, aid recipients, aid donors
Axel Dreher
Professor of International and Development Politics, Heidelberg University
Vera Eichenauer
PhD candidate at the Alfred-Weber-Institute for Economics, Heidelberg University
Kai Gehring
Assistant Professor (Oberassistant) at the Chair of Political Economy, University of Zurich
Sarah Langlotz
PhD candidate in Economics at the Chair of International and Development Politics, Heidelberg University
Steffen Lohmann
Research Associate at the Development Economics Research Group, University of Göttingen
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Wedspawn: Ume Rain (Min7en)
Jun. 8th, 2008 at 9:42 PM
Title: Ume Rain
Pairing: Min7en (SMM Universe)
Rating: Rish
Summary: Loneliness and rain sometimes lead to sweet nothings.
“Sabishii, lonely,” Changmin chewed on the end of his pen, dimpling its blue plastic cap. The kanji he’d written boldly slashed across the line. A blue statement against the white paper. It felt incorrect and he tried again.
“Hitorimakura, lonely in bed,” The next line of kanji seemed more appropriate, darker and foreboding. It suited how he felt and the itching solitude of his body.
Is that all Shichi is to you? His inner voice sniffed, disapproval colouring its tone. A piece of meat for you to crawl on top of?
“No,’ Min scowled, annoyed at the gremlin that seemed to inhabit the back of his mind. “Shut up, you don’t know what you’re talking about.”
The pen found its way into his mouth again and his bottom teeth gnawed out a ridge along the soft end. Scribbling, Changmin tried out another phrase, turning it over on his tongue to test the feel of it in the air. “Sabishigaru, to miss someone. Pfah, that doesn’t hit it.”
“I am zettou, a lonely desolate island.” He wrote out the phrase, adding extra emphasis to the sweeping down strokes until the paper practically bled blue ink. “Desolation, barren. I am barren and lonely.”
Now you’re being melodramatic. The voice’s censure darkened. What are you? A character from a J-drama? Pffts.
“Life was a lot easier when I was sane,” He frowned, squishing the pout of his mouth to one side. Sending his mind-gremlin a fierce growl, he warned off any snarky comments from the back of his mind, “And you shut up back there. No more talking! Or I’ll go get a bowl of ice cream and eat it too fast.”
His skin felt too tight on him, cutting into his nerves until Min wanted to stand on the rooftop and scream in frustration. The rain outside made him lonely, touching something deep inside of him that only Se7en ever seemed to touch. It spread its cold fingers through his heart, icing over the happy memories he kept there.
“Not going to cry,” Min ordered himself, his eyes laughing at his commands and filling with a sting that threatened to course down his cheeks. “Gods damn me.”
He almost didn’t hear the singsong tone of his cell phone merrily announcing a call from the side of the bed. After finding himself staring at the screen, willing for a certain number to light up, Changmin had banished it off into the depths of his messenger bag, cursing its treacherous nature.
Sniffing, he wiped at his face, both angry at himself for falling into the doldrums and pissy at the caller for pulling him out of what would have been a good cleansing sob. Flipping the phone open, he barked a hello into it.
“Ah, a grumpy Minku. My favourite kind.”
It was so damned good to hear his voice. Min swallowed, not trusting his words to come out from his tightened throat. His tongue felt heavy with all of the things he wanted to say; all of the things he should say. Starting with how much he missed his Shichi to how he longed to just have Se7en touch his face to help him sleep. Opening his mouth, his heart poured forward, a rush of sounds that he was horrified to hear.
“Do you know what time it is?”
Se7en’s laughter fought with the thunder outside, booming loud and as crackling dangerous to Min’s nerves. In Changmin’s mind, his inner voice threw up its hands and stomped off into the darkness, disgusted by the question. Everything was silent in Min’s thoughts, his heart blooming open under the sunlight in Se7en’s voice.
“What are you wearing, little mink?”
“So fast into a dirty phone call. Are you in a hurry? Is that what happens when you get old? You can’t wait?”
“Old man.” Min chewed on his lower lip, shocked at the boldness he found on his tongue. Unable to help himself, he added softly, “Hyung.”
“Hyung yourself,” Se7en teased. “I’m serious, what are you wearing?”
“Jeans and a t-shirt. I wasn’t planning on a slutty phone call. Do you want me to take them off?” The hiss of Se7en’s breath in his ear made Min smile. He intimately knew that explosion of sound and the grunting discomfort that followed. Daringly, he teased the older man. “I’m wearing red briefs. Blood red. You like that against my belly, no?”
“Minku, you have no idea what you’re doing to me,” Se7en’s dark velvet voice purred, a rough promise in the undercurrent. “But I need you to keep your clothes on.”
“Oh?” Min raised his eyebrows, surprised then muttered, half serious, “You really are done then?”
“You just wait until I see you. My hand is going to make your ass as red as your underwear,” He threatened. “No, I need you to come down to the alley.”
“Why?” Curious, Changmin poked at the words he heard. “Wait, you said come.”
“Yes,” Se7en drawled.
“Not go to the alley, come down.” Nearly toppling from the side of the bed, Min grabbed at a pair of socks, shoving his feet hurriedly into their openings. “When did you get back from Korea? You’re downstairs!”
“Hurry it up, Minku,” His lover said. “It’s late and you know how we old men have to be in bed early. Wouldn’t want you to find me asleep in the car because it’s past my bedtime.”
He flew down the hall, slamming into Jaejoong. The eldest juggled a cup of soup in his hands, raising it up high and turning to avoid the flail of Min’s long limbs. Mumbling a brief apology to the singer, Changmin fumbled with his sneakers in the foyer, cursing the laces as they knotted under his fingers.
Jae shook his head at their youngest, walking into the living room to hand Yunho the steaming cup. Frowning, the leader craned his neck to stare at the oblivious Changmin.
“Where is he going?” Yunho glanced at the clock, his frown deepening. “It’s late. Where can he go this late?”
“It’s not that late,” Jae shrugged, settling into the cushions besides his lover. Shoving his cold feet under the pillows, he leaned against Yunho’s shoulders and reached for the book he’d left on the coffee table. “I’m guessing Dong-Wook is back.”
“He didn’t even come up?” Bending over, he placed a small kiss on the white of Jae’s neck, licking at the spot and laughing when he got a husky laugh in return. “Aish, what kind of boyfriend doesn’t at least come up to get you?”
“One that works for another company,” Jae reminded him, reaching up to slap at Yunho’s mouth. He decided against it, choosing to turn his head and capture the other’s mouth with his own. The burr of Yunho’s unshaven mustache tickled at him, leaving a slight red burn over his plump upper lip. “Ah, you need to shave. You leave marks.”
“You like it when I leave marks.” Yunho complained, rubbing at his face.
“Not on my face,” Jae turned back to his reading. “Manager doesn’t like it. Says it looks obvious.”
Yunho rolled his eyes and sipped his soup, wondering who their manager was fooling. They touched each other too often in public to hide their relationship. Jae was constantly reprimanding him for his wandering hands. Calling out to their youngest, Yunho said, “Do you have your house key? Or are you going to wake us up at three in the morning?”
“Once! I forget once!” Min shouted from the depths of the hallway, his shoes finally on and tied. “Don’t wait up!”
“Don’t wait up, hyung,” Yunho muttered after him. “Japan makes him rude.”
“He’s always been rude,” Jae replied, turning the page and falling into the author’s words again. “But if you notice, we’re home alone now. Yoochun and Junsu won’t be back for a long time and Min is now gone. Drink your soup. I have other things I want your mouth to do instead.”
The back of the apartment building was cold and Min fought with the heavy steel door leading to the side alley. He had fond memories of that alley, most notably when tucked into the tight darkness of Se7en’s sports car. Flinging open the door, he stopped short when he saw the gleaming black town car beading water under the pouring skies and the driver standing by stairs holding an open grey umbrella. The stern look on the man’s face soften when he spotted Changmin and he mounted the cement steps, angling the umbrella to protect Min’s head from the rain.
“This way, sir,” He spoke in Korean, soft familiar words that nearly made Min cry with the sympathy in them. “You must not get wet or you’ll catch a cold. That won’t do.”
“No, the other members would kill me,” Min flashed him a smile and bounded down the steps towards the car. The rear passenger door was open and a strong hand reached for him, grabbing his arm and pulling him in.
A burst of Se7en filled Min’s mind, the other man’s mouth slanting over his. It was an assault on his senses, the sweet anise and coffee scent of the other man’s soap warring with the spicy hot of cinnamon from his tongue. Se7en’s long fingers caressed over Min’s jaw, tracing the strong bones of the younger man’s face as if to burn them into his memory. Their mouths fought, searching both for dominance and surrender. Then Min sighed and gave in, tumbling down into the crook of Se7en’s lap and let himself be kissed into submission.
Fingers were under Min’s shirt, stroking at the soft down of hair at the base of his back. He purred in response, arching against Se7en to fill himself with the feel of the other man’s skin on his. Se7en’s buttons dug into his neck, leaving small round kiss-indents behind. They were made hot when Se7en bent his head and licked at the trail with his tongue, filling each with the moist tip before moving on to the next.
Want flowed over them, a flush working over Min’s face and over his shoulders. He heard a husky moan and then blushed redder when he realized it was coming from him. Se7en’s laugh embarrassed him and he buried his face into his lover’s neck, hoping the chill of the rain outside would wash away the heat. Min ached, wanting to feel Se7en around him, the heat of his fingers closing over his hardness. He missed the feel of the man, and his belly crawled with the need of him.
“You unmake me,” Se7en whispered, hot into the shell of Min’s ear. His teeth found an earlobe, sucking on it until Changmin couldn’t stand it any longer and pulled away with a shudder. “God, I dissolve like sugar in water when I’m around you.”
“You’re letting the rain in, sir. And the young man’s jeans are getting wet. I thought the purpose of the umbrella was to avoid that.” The driver made a tsking noise and waited patiently until Min pulled in his long legs. “As usual, sir, your disregard of the young man is notable.”
“That man hates you,” Min whispered, shaking the water from his sneakers. The shame struck hard and he covers his face with his hands. “Oh Gods, he heard me. When I was… oh Gods.”
“I am a deaf man, young sir,” The driver leaned forward, tucking the hem of Min’s pants into the cab.
“I thought you were blind?” Min looked at Se7en. “Wasn’t he blind last time?”
“Deaf and blind, young sir. It comes and goes. Usually when he’s around,” He said with a smile. “Keep warm please. There’s a blanket on the seat if he’s not thoughtful enough to cover you with it.”
“Where are we going?” Min settled against the seat, his legs still looped over Se7en’s lap.
“I have plans,” Se7en promised with a wink.
They sat, quiet and satisfied to be with one another. Se7en’s hands were filled with the feel of Changmin, rubbing over the other man’s wrist, feeling the slender strength of his bones. He observed Min’s face as the younger man watched Tokyo fly past the window, the evening sky bleached out from the city’s lights. Clouds hugged the tall buildings, pushing back the night’s black to bounce the shimmer back onto the streets.
“What do you see when you stare out of the window, Changmin?”
The teasing, seductive lilt was gone from Se7en’s voice and Min turned, staring at the older man, curious at the change in his tone. Serious was never one of Se7en’s moods, not outside of the bedroom. There was always a smile lurking at the edge of his full mouth and a twinkle hidden in his dark eyes. Those were gone now, replaced by an oh-so-solemn man bereft of simple dreams.
“I see…” Min pondered his answer, sliding back to rest against Se7en’s body. The older man wrapped his arms around Changmin’s chest, cradling him close. “I guess I see.. lives.”
“Lives?”
“Lives, hyung.” He whispered. “Behind all of those blinking lights are people. Some of them are loving one another and others aren’t talking, hoping the other will reach out to bridge the silence. Maybe someone is sitting against a window watching a long black car cut through the rain and wondering; who is in there? Not knowing that I’m lying against you and wanting more than anything to have you inside of me.”
“You talk like that and I forget I want to hear you speak.” Se7en laid a gentle kiss on the ridge of Min’s brow.
“I miss you when you’re not here,” Changmin replied, losing himself in the sea of lights outside of the steam-frosted window. “When I have time, I sit and think about where you are and what you’re doing.”
“And when you’re with me, you sit and think about what other people are doing,” He laughed, his breath ruffling Min’s long hair.
“When I’m with you, I think about other things,” Min hushed him with a bite under the chin. “And bad things happen. Horrible wonderful things that make me hurt when you’re not here.”
“Good,” Se7en mumbled, his jaw captured by Min’s teeth. “Ouch, let go.”
“Hah, surrender,” Min challenged, biting harder. His Japanese slurred with the roll of his lover’s skin on his tongue.
“I surrender,” The older man laughed.
“Call me hyung.”
“Oh no, not that game from you,” Se7en growled, pulling free of Min’s teeth. He hissed when his skin scraped out from the bite and he turned the younger man around, pressing him against the seat. “Hyung my ass.”
“I like your ass. I can call your ass hyung,” Min burst into laughter, husky and raw. Se7en raised his shirt and bit, finding the ridges of Min’s ribs. “Hey, we’ve stopped.”
“I guess we’re here,” Se7en said, sitting up. A knock sounded on the door and Min slid slightly away from Se7en’s intimate touch, pulling his shirt back down. Slapping at his lover’s arm, he kept his face hidden, trying to fade into the darkness of the back of the car. Se7en laughed at him and rolled down the window, turning his face when the rain sprinkled through.
The Sumida river flowed outside of the car window, reflecting the lights in its moving surface. Min grinned then pursed his mouth before he made some silly noise that would betray the tenderness in his heart. They’d parked there before, safely tucked away on an expanse of lawn away from prying eyes. His body recalled the spot perfectly, his sex tightening at the memory of Se7en’s mouth touching him for the first time and the tsunami of sensation he rode that night.
“Here you are, sir,” The driver passed a stacked cloth bundle through the open window. “Please keep the young man warm and dry. Or perhaps you’d enjoy a walk home in the rain.”
“Oh, food!” Changmin reached for the furoshiki. Dinner had been a sad affair for him, his food tasteless in his mouth as Yunho and Jaejoong murmured small love bird cooing at one another from across the table. Nodding his head in thanks to the driver, he thanked him formally. “Are you going to eat with us?”
“No, he’s not going to eat with us,” Se7en grumbled, shoving Min back from the window with a gentle push of his hand. “Go sit over there. This is our dinner.”
“Thank you, sir but I’m going to have noodles and tea,” The driver pointed to a neon splash of colour visible through the misty rain. “Please have a good time and if he gets too frisky, Min-chan, ring me and I shall take you home.”
“He likes me frisky.” Se7en shooed the driver away, scoffing at the man’s clicking tongue. “Go eat somewhere else. Come back in a few hours.”
“Thank you!” Min shouted before the window closed fully. “Hey, rude. I was still thanking him.”
“He takes too much an interest in you.” Se7en snarled playfully. “And not enough in me. I’m his boss.”
“Hah, you’re his cargo. And a frisky one too,” Changmin said, yelping when Se7en tugged at the waistband of his briefs, grabbing at the elastic peeking up the back of his jeans. “No grabbing. Or I’m shoving an ume in your mouth.”
“That’s not the plum I want.” He made a face when the sour red flesh hit his tongue. “Ack, god that’s…”
“I like them,” Min popped a bright yellow slice of daikon into his mouth. “And these too.”
“Here, let me feed you.” Se7en picked up an onigiri with his fingers, holding it out for his lover to bite into. Min closed his eyes, feeling the crunch of the salty nori between his teeth. The older man bent forward, following the bite of rice with a kiss flavoured with the tart ume. “Come closer.”
Min scooted forward, edging his thighs over Se7en’s lap until they nested together face to face. Crossing his legs behind his lover’s back, Changmin let himself be leaned back into the soft cushioned sides of the town car, Se7en pressed up against him with the bento between them.
He let himself be fed, alternating food with kisses. Se7en’s fingers were sucked clean by Min’s tongue, made wet enough to make the older man shiver. Unable to resist, Se7en licked his fingers dry, taking the taste of Min into his throat.
“Not hungry now,” Min whispered, the black of his pupils swallowing the reason in his gaze. “Put the food down, Shichi.”
“Yes, hyung,” He grinned when the young man narrowed his eyes to slits. Se7en set the bento carefully on the floor of the car then thought twice about it, thinking of Min’s long legs. “Hold on. If we get rice in the carpet, he’s going to kill us.”
“He’ll kill you. Me, he loves,” Snorting, Changmin slapped at his lover’s shoulder. “I could rub all of the rice into the seats and carpet and blame it on you. He would forgive me.”
“That is too close to the truth for me,” Se7en frowned. The partition between the driver’s front seats slid down smoothly with a push of a button and he reached up, placing the bento out of reach of Min’s lean body. The glass slide back up, its mirrored tint hiding them from view. “There, now I’ll live.”
“Not if we knock them over,” Min growled, sliding his arms around Se7en’s neck, sinking his teeth into tanned skin.
“It’ll take a lot for us to knock those over,” Se7en mused, a soft heat roaring down his chest and along the brush of hair arrowing down the flat of his stomach. “This is a very heavy car. We’ll have to really work at it.”
“Come on then, Shichi.” Min pulled his t-shirt off, laying himself bare to Se7en’s eyes. “See if you can rock me enough to move the car.”
“Baby, forget the rice,” Se7en cupped at the rise of Min’s ass, filling his palms with his lover. “I’m going to rock you so hard the stars are going to fall.”
min7en,
ume rain,
Jun. 9th, 2008 02:25 pm (UTC)
♥♥♥♥ heh. se7en probably thinks driver is paid too much.
:::grins::: love you. and hugs. i love writing for them. i like the snark :::nods:::
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Home / tv
David Tennant Responds To Doctor Who’s Political Correctness Backlash
By Christian Bone @ChristianABone 5 months ago
Doctor Who‘s eleventh season introduced Jodie Whittaker’s Thirteenth Doctor to the world and, as is usual with the show, the new Time Lord’s first outing caused fans to rile against the change in approach to the series. While some praised its increasingly diversified cast and emphasis on socially and politically aware stories, its critics described the new Who as becoming “too politically-correct.”
Whittaker and her co-stars have previously defended season 11 against this particular criticism, and now former Doctor David Tennant has stood alongside them in dismissing the argument. While speaking with The Observer, the erstwhile Tenth Doctor poked holes in the flimsy phrase and suggested that “inclusivity” is not something that only Whittaker’s era has brought to the show.
“Is it possible to be too politically correct? What does that even mean? Inclusivity has always been one of Doctor Who’s strengths.”
Jodie Whittaker Picks Her Favorite Companion In Hilarious Doctor Who BTS Image
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Mandip Gill, who plays companion Yaz Khan – the first Muslim time-traveller that Who‘s ever had – has said something similar to Tennant on the subject. “Having the words ‘too’ and ‘correct’ in the same sentence is really bizarre to me,” she explained about her feelings on the criticism during an interview last year. “How can you be too correct about something?”
Circling back to Tennant though, and in the same chat, he also opened up about how he advised his good pal Jodie Whittaker about taking the coveted role of the TARDIS-owning Time Lord. He revealed that he didn’t offer any acting tips, but they did discuss the outside factors of playing such a popular and high profile character. For more of the two Doctors chewing the fat, you might want to catch the latest episode of David Tennant Does a Podcast With…, which features Whittaker as a guest. You can find it here starting tomorrow.
And as for those aforementioned criticisms, well, it’s worth pointing out that episode 11×03 “Rosa,” which saw the Doctor witness the Rosa Parks bus incident, recently won a Visionary Honors award for its “positive social impact.” It’s also considered to be one of the series’ finest outings in years. As such, I think it’s safe to say that Doctor Who showrunner Chris Chibnall and his team know what they’re doing.
Source: The Observer
Tags: doctor who
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Screamfest Review: The Amityville Murders – Family Dies
Fred Topel October 12, 2018 0 likes
Amityville is actually one of the franchises I have not seen entirely. Every time I do see one, it discourages me from filling in the gaps. After The Amityville Murders it’s probably going to be a while before I see another Amityville movie.
The Amityville Murders tells the story of the DeFeo family, whose murder predated the Lutz family moving into the house. It plays out exactly as the backstory from the 1979 movie and its 2005 remake said it did.
Murders tries to make you care about the DeFeo family but it’s not really equipped to do so. Ronnie (Paul Ben-Victor) is abusive and especially hard on his oldest son Butch (John Robinson), who is still at home because he couldn’t get into Syracuse University. Louise (Diane Franklin) tries to be a loving mother and manage her husband, but we also learn they’re talking about selling the family house (which in hindsight could have meant they’d still be alive today).
So these were real people and Ronnie was allegedly abusive. Portraying him as a stereotypical mob goon who takes it out on the women in his family belittles the true gravity of abuse. If this man really did abuse his wife and daughters and sons, they deserve better than a superficial take on their struggle.
Every time there is a serious dramatic scene that’s supposed to endear the DeFeo’s to you, you’re taken out of it by stilted lines like, “Hey, shut your trap.” Maybe that was a common expression in 1974 but it sounds like a first draft in 2018. Musical stings to add gravitas to mundane events like a bird crashing into a window go so far over the top that it makes them seem ridiculous, not foreboding.
Butch and his sister Dawn (Chelsea Ricketts) hold a seance in the basement and after that Butch starts getting sick and seeing things (he also does drugs, but the movie never really considers that they had an impact. It was the ‘70s, man.)
The supernatural occurrences are all things we’ve seen before, too often: being pulled by an unseen force, levitating objects, bloody visions, flashes of demon faces… I mean, if this all really happened, as many believe it did, then they predate Paranormal Activity but there’s got to be a way to make it compelling in 2018.
The filmmakers seem focused on getting cool shots, and they do manage some. One scene has the shadow of Ronnie speak to Butch, and there are some elegant camera moves, but what is going on within those frames is just blunt.
The Amityville Murders is the type of horror movie intended to make you feel miserable, so when it’s not visceral it’s just no fun at all. It stalls interminably to get to the inevitable end which, even if you didn’t already know the story, is confirmed in the movie’s very first scene.
If you really need to know what happened in the DeFeo killings, The Amityville Murders opens on the anniversary of their deaths November 13. Hopefully there will be better movies to discover at Screamfest this week.
Fred Topel also known as Franchise Fred has been an entertainment journalist since 1999 and specializes in writing about film, television and video games. Fred has written for several outlets including About.com, CraveOnline, and Rotten Tomatoes among others. His favorite films include Toy Story 2, The Rock, Face/Off, True Lies, Labyrinth, The Big Hit, Michael Moore's The Big One, and Casablanca. We are very lucky and excited to have Fred as part of the We Live Entertainment team. Follow him on Twitter @FranchiseFred and @FredTopel
Franchise Fred Interview: Jennifer Tilly on Cult of Chucky
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Backdraft 2 Movie Review: Chicago Fire
Quest for Camelot 20th Anniversary: RIP Warner Feature Animation
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Statistician to the Stars!
Books & Free Class
Podcast & Videos
Sorry Never Trumpers. God Bless President Trump & God Bless the U.S.A.
by BriggsPosted on July 5, 2018 July 1, 2018
On this slowest of slow days we have a pointer to an enjoyable essay on the death of Never Trumpism by Emerald Robinson.
The Never Trumpers have self-exiled. If not converted. Those in exile still pine for a return to the Old Ways, in which they were loyal opposition, feted and consulted as the important people they knew themselves to be.
Robinson asks, “What was your favorite blunder, or blown prediction, which marked their ignominious end?” Hers was “when Bill Kristol, longtime editor of the conservative magazine the Weekly Standard, showed up in New Hampshire telling people he would run against President Trump in 2020.”
Mine was when National Review put out their “Never Trump” edition. That proved what we had long suspected. That there was no difference between Democrats and Republicans or liberals and conservatives. The real divisions are between progressives and traditionalists, fantasists and realists, man worshipers and God worshipers.
The linked essay is by a NRO neocon who said “Many conservatives who oppose Trump have felt it morally imperative to declare that they will never vote for him, even if he wins the Republican nomination. They will vote instead for Hillary Clinton, or for a third-party candidate, or a write-in candidate, or no one at all.” This happened. But we recall that there is no difference between liberals and conservatives, and so it didn’t matter. Those of us on the other side of the Democratrepublican divide knew Michael Anton was right in his “The Flight 93 election,” which Robinson cites.
And now the “Never Trump intellectual crowd has no momentum and no popular following these days.” Robinson says, and we agree, though she still writes of a liberal-conservative divide, “it now seems self-evident that conservative pundits were preposterously out of touch.”
This myopia has several causes. The first is a kind of cultural “capture” that occurs when conservatives live in blue districts and big cities too long. They become, in other words, clueless (RINOS). The second reason is more obvious: many of these people are paid to be openly hostile to Trump’s agenda. The free trade absolutists at AEI and Cato are on salary to oppose any protectionist trade policies. Likewise, hawkish interventionists such as Max Boot knew they had no professional future once Trump’s isolationist instincts became policy.
Then comes her keenest observation:
The greatest disconnect is religious and cultural: the Republican Party is overwhelmingly Caucasian and Christian and traditional on social issues, while its pundits skew Jewish and agnostic and libertarian. Krauthammer wanted to have it both ways, which is not unlike the hedging that Brooks and Goldberg have displayed. George Will went so far as to say: “I’m an atheist. An agnostic is someone who is not sure. I’m pretty sure. I see no evidence of God.” Meanwhile, Gerson is a liberal Episcopalian who took to the pages of the Atlantic to attack evangelicals for supporting Trump. In sum, the conservative intellectuals didn’t understand the base’s concerns about religious liberty because they hardly cared for religion — which should have disqualified them long ago.
As Robinson rightly says of these people, they are “heretics who claim to be spokesmen for the Christian base.” Surprising, is it not, the number of Christians who put their trust and faith in those who did not believe Jesus Christ is Lord.
Not one of them every said that everybody ought to find God as soon as they can. Because the end draws near. Maybe not the end. But your end.
Comments to the article are worth scanning. People are not fond of Never Trumpers.
Published by Briggs
View all posts by Briggs
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Michael Dowd says:
“Never Trumpers” are conservative ideologues thus ‘neverlanders’. Ideology blinds folks to reality. Trump is a practical conservative who uses good ideas wherever he finds them. Up with Trump!
Kent Clizbe says:
Do not mis-under-estimate the power of the Trotskyite neocons’ information warfare. They are experts in manipulating Normal Americans’ feelings.
They have burrowed deep, deep into nearly all organizations that would be considered “conservative.”
They took over and destroyed the Tea Party–the most recent Normal American rising that expressed Normals’ issues clearly–Taxed Enough Already. Within a couple years nearly every Tea Party meeting was obsessively focused on “Sharia! They’re coming for your children!” This was the result of a massive influence effort by the neocons.
Robinson’s analysis is badly off-the-mark in asserting that the neocons are “paid” to hold their views. Very, very dangerous mis-assessment. They are totally beholden to their foreign master’s interests. But it’s not “pay” that creates that loyalty. It is much, much deeper than that. Their motivation is a tribal connection. They are acting in the interests of their foreign master because they believe their foreign master’s very survival is at stake. While they would likely lose their positions, publications, and status, should they actually advocate for American interests, they’re not doing it for the “pay.”
The key is that the neocons are not, and have never been, “conservative.” They are advocates for the interests of their foreign masters. They are experts at fitting in to whichever American political skin is needed for their foreign master to prosper. Communism? Did it! Trotskyism? Did it! Liberalism? Did it! Republicanism? Did it! Anti-communism? Did it! Scoop Jacksonism? Did it! Mondalism? Did it! Carterism? Did it! Conservatism? Did it! Anti-Trumpism? Did it! Progressivism? Doing it!
They are snakes in sheep’s clothing. Real Normal Americans have been fooled, and are being fooled (see the Normals’ slobbering over the fake “conservative” Krauthammer’s death).
Watch the snake’s shedding their skin. What will their next chameleon-color be? I don’t know–but you can watch as it happens!
See the slimy Max Boot’s exhortations against Normals in today’s Washington Post:
“That is why I join Will and other principled conservatives, both current and former Republicans, in rooting for a Democratic takeover of both houses in November. Like postwar Germany and Japan, the Republican Party must be destroyed before it can be rebuilt.”
The sooner these anti-Normals are outed, the better.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/i-left-the-republican-party-now-i-want-democrats-to-take-over/2018/07/03/54a4007a-7e38-11e8-b0ef-fffcabeff946_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.9984cc7e374c
Exring says:
Kent, I could not agree more. I recoil at the statements, “they are dumb”, “they have not looked at all the information”, “they are stupid”, etc. The “Pronoun People” are anything but those descriptors. Those wielding Power in D.C. are the “Most Accomplished Liars” we could have elected and there are many others “They” have put in place that we cannot touch, ref. FBI, CIA, IRS, and the list goes on. If I stand back and look at what has taken place over more than a century of time, we have been slowly maneuvered into what looks, for all intents and purposes, like a “Third World Country”. “They” have managed to do what every “invading” group knows to be needed for success, divide and conquer, take over “communications”, education, and remove all opposition once you have majority control of the above groups. POTUS Trump is the “refreshing” difference but will not stand if we, “The People” do not participate. The least painful way is at the “Voting Booth” but the public needs to understand what they are voting for. The next best method is much more “confrontational” . What are we going to do?
Lee Phillips says:
Sad, but ultimately not surprising, that Dr. Briggs lists as this author’s “keenest observation” a variation of “Jews control the media.” He drives this home by wringing his hands about the regrettable influence of “those who did not believe Jesus Christ is Lord.”
Everything here and in the linked article is a festival of genetic fallacies. Don’t bother to attend to the arguments of the researchers at the Cato institute, because they’re paid to make them. And don’t bother to listen to what George Will has to say, because he wears bow ties.
Mike Anderson says:
Hmm. I believe Briggs has been sighted wearing a bow tie now and then. But I’d never confuse him with George Will or an anti-Semite.
John B() says:
There were a few Never-Trumpers commenting here in the past (I’ll concede that some turned in their lifetime membership when faced with the reality of Hillary), I’d be more interested in their take on this.
Ye Olde Statistcian says:
Ten years ago, Trump was a registered Democrat who was touting Mrs. Clinton for VP or even Prez. He supported abortion on demand, and the Kelo decision on seizing private property from the little people to give to wealthy developers.
He claims to have changed his mind on much of this. Maybe he has.
Shecky R says:
Why do folks (Republicans/conservatives/libertarians/neo-fascists) who incessantly worship, venerate, and revere money & materialism, continue to label themselves “Christian”?
Shecky,
“…incessantly worship, venerate, and revere money & materialism…”
Please provide an example of these “folks” you think you’ve observed…?
Kent, I second that question. I do not know what “list of talking points” Shecky comes from but he needs to back up what he says with, at least, an example or two…
Sander van der Wal says:
Shecky R must stay on topic.
@Lee Philips
You cannot expect people being paid to make a certain argument, making the argument on the merits of the argument itself.
Regarding the genetics, nobody is mentioning the race of the supposedly Conservative thinkers (not even using modern typographic conventions like ((())) ). The argument is that a Conservative political party based on Christian values doesn’t have leading thinkers that are self-confessed Atheists or even Agnostics, or some religion that doesn’t share much with Christianity.
I would not expect that, and in Europe, where most countries have lots of political parties, it doesn’t happen a lot. A Christian-Democratic party has Christian intellecuals, the Atheists and Agnostics are Conservatives, or Liberals, or Social-Democrats, or Socialists, or Communists.
McChuck says:
Lee – The American media is, to a very great extent, owned and controlled by Jews, atheists, and socialists. This includes many of the ‘conservative’ foundations, think tanks, and pundits that have failed to conserve one single part of the culture. Not even the Lady’s room, the definition of marriage, or the concept of insanity. They are even now ceding ground to the pedophiles.
Please provide evidence to the contrary, if you have it. Which you don’t. Because this is the truth.
“The American media is, to a very great extent, owned and controlled by Jews, atheists, and socialists.”
Imagine how much better the media would be if this were actually true.
Shecky, give me all of your money.
Christianity is not a political party. Whether it’s true or false.
Neo anything isn’t something anybody wants to be called and the only nice neos are neonates.
Neoreactionists are unoriginal!
Just be neon. They’re in fashion this summer. Coral is the pantone? colour of the year.
If that’s not racist I don’t know what is.
Joy on Script Leaked From New 007 Movie, Leap Into The Dark
Mark on The Religion Of Man Triumphant
Joy on The Week In Doom — Tranny Madness is Big Business Edition
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13 Things Your Latina Mom Will Never Say
#mitúVOICE
Credit: iStock
By Trilce Ortiz January 18, 2016 at 8:45 am
Imagine you live in wonderland, a place where your every dream becomes a reality. This is what your Latino mom would sound like in such fantastic place:
It’s ok mijo, you don’t need to finish everything on your plate if you’re full.
CREDIT: Tyra Kahurangi / PINTEREST/ PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN/ WALT DISNEY PICTURES
We can just throw away the leftovers.
Sleep in, no tienes que ir a misa if you’re feeling tired.
CREDIT: CAMPUSRIOT/ MONSTERS, INC./ WALT DISNEY PICTURES
God will understand.
Don’t listen to la abuela, that Vicks stuff doesn’t work.
CREDIT: TUMBLR/ THE NANNY/ COLUMBIA TRISTAR TELEVISION
She’s old, what does she know about life anymore, right?
READ: 13 Things that Piss off Your Latina Mom Every Single Time
Por supuesto you can sleep over your friend’s house.
CREDIT: TUMBLR/ SPONGE BOBO SQUAREPANTS/ NICKELODEON
His parents are out of town? You guys are going to have a blast!
Isn’t that skirt a bit too long for going out?
CREDIT: WIFFLEGIF/ SPICE WORLD/ POLIGRAM FILMED ENTERTAINMENT
You are not going to get any guys looking like a nun.
You don’t have to come to family dinner.
CREDIT: CANWEHAVEAPOOLDAD/ THE SIMPSONS/ FOX
I don’t like them that much either.
No mijo, you don’t have to hug your tío.
CREDIT: TUMBLR/ SLEEPY HOLLOW/ PARAMOUNT PICTURES
He won’t be offended, I promise.
READ: Latina Moms Never Mean What They Say
No te preocupes por aprender español.
CREDIT: i-love-it-i-love-it / Tumblr / SELENA/ WARNER BROS.
We live in the US, who needs Español?
Claro que puedes tener novio mamita.
CREDIT: MTV/ HARRY POTTER/ WARNER BROS. PICTURES
Bring him for a sleepover so we can meet him.
We’re going to Chipotle for lunch.
CREDIT: CHISMEMUNDO.COM
Those refried beans I made last night are not that good anyways.
Si no te gusta, no te lo comas.
CREDIT: GIFRIFFIC/ FULL HOUSE/ WARNER BROS. TELEVISION
I can make you something else.
Llora papito if you need to.
CREDIT: MASHABLE/ SUPERNATURAL/ THE CW
It’s ok to connect with your emotions.
You need money to go out? ¡claro!
CREDIT: GIPHY/ KEEPING UP WITH THE KARDASHIANS/ E!
Is $100 enough?
Think your mom is capable of saying any of this? Share on Facebook by clicking the button below.
Tags: Mom, family
‘My Mom Insisted My Hips Changed’ Latinas Talk About Their Moms Finding Out They Had Sex For The First Time
By Andrea Reindl July 11, 2019 at 4:09 pm
There comes a time in a young woman’s life when she has to venture out into the world and experience everything out there that the world has to offer. And yes, “everything” includes sex. And while sex is a totally natural and expected step in a young woman’s coming-of-age journey, the Latinx community often holds notoriously conservative views about when it’s “okay” for a young woman to have sex for the first time.
This conservative attitude towards woman and sex is nowhere more prominent than it is in the minds of Latinx mothers. Many Latinx moms, especially from older generations, have been trained to believe that a young woman’s worth is tied to her virginity and that it’s a sin to have sex out of wedlock. This attitude makes it hard for girls to talk to their parents about sex, which means a large portion of the Latina population is uneducated about STIs, unwanted pregnancy, contraception, and how being sexually active can impact your emotions. Because of the shame surrounding extramarital sex in the Latinx community, many young women hide the fact that they’ve been having sex from their mothers in order to avoid conflict or avoid being shamed.
That’s why Fierce by mitú took to our Instagram page to ask our followers how their madres reacted when they found out their daughters were no longer virgins. We also wanted to know if our followers decided to keep their virginity statuses to themselves.
Check out the answers below!
1. This mom’s nosiness gave her more than she bargained for
@addictivestock/Instagram
“My mom found out I was having sex when I was 23 years old and she found my birth control (cringe!). This is a pretty common story I share with a lot of my friends but the way my mom found out was pretty mortifying. My novio, who I have been dating since I was 14 and who she has known for as many years, was over at the house. Because my mom has always been very nosey and a helicopter mom I would give him my birth control for safe keeping (For so many reasons Don’t DO THIS!!) Anyway. The birth control fell out of his bag and my mom flipped out. Any other scenario, had I hid it in a closet or sock drawer she would have found out sooner but I probably could have convinced her it was just for acne.” – Veronica, Chicago
2. This mama read between the lines and stayed silent
@lcdfotografia/Instagram
“I kind of had to fess up to my mom because I was moving in with my boyfriend. She’d been asking me since we started dating if I was using protection over and over again and I was too embarrassed to even say that we were having sex. I finally just told her that I was moving in with him and I think she got the deal.” Kathryn, Los Angeles
3. This mom insisted she could tell by just LOOKING at her daughter
“I told my mom years after, but she swears she knew the night I came home that it happened. I’m like c’mon, Mom. No way did you know. But, you know how they are–they know EVERYTHING.” – Laney, San Bernadino
4. The old “hyper-emotional” reaction
“My mom cried so so hard and then instantly got mad at me and gave me the silent treatment. She also claimed she “knew” that I wasn’t anymore anyhow ’cause I “started talking back”. But, I was 21 at that point!” – Yvette
5. The mom who doesn’t know…but c’mon: she knows
@precious.earth.nature/Instagram
“To [my mom] I’m still [a virgin] ’till I’m married….Nahhh I think she probably suspects I’m not by now”. – Connie, Southern California
6. The mom who lives in blissful ignorance
@maarjavahiphotography/Instagram
“I’m 30 years old and still haven’t told my mom. At this point she’s gotta suspect I’m not [a virgin]. But at least I waited until I was 19!” Anna, Chicago
7. The Suffocating Silence
@jevgenijasorokina/Instagram
“Literally my current situation, lol. I want to tell her but, I’m afraid of her reaction. I don’t think she’ll be mad, but I really would hate for her to cry about it. Send help!” Darlene, Riverside
8. The “Live Your Life” Type of Mom
@olga_lukaneva/Instagram
“I keep it to myself, but I’m pretty sure she knows me better. 😉 ” – Belle, Puerto Rico
9. The “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” Policy
@bailandoconjulieta/Instagram
“She never asked and I never told her… but for what it’s worth, I waited till I was at least 18.” Tania, Los Angeles
10. The Mom Who Tries and Fails to Guilt Trip
@glam_.dps/Instagram
“She said: ‘Why didnt [you] wait ’till marriage like [I] told over and over again?’. So, I said: “Who said I’ll ever get married?” Lizet, Bakersfield, CA
11. This mom who started crying when she walked in on the act
glam_.dps / Instagram
“I had skipped school to lose my virginity to my high school boyfriend. We had planned it out so that I would play sick and he would skip school and do it when my parents were out of the house. They boy work long hours so we figured we had some time. The actual act went well, but literally just as we finished we heard my front door open. No snuggling. We both jumped up to hide. I’ve always thought it took maybe 30 steps to get from my front door to my room, my mom took five. My boyfriend ducked out of the bathroom and somehow my mom got to the front of the house to confront him. I mean he had no shirt on and was pulling him his pants. She knew. She knew so much she cried.” Ana, Austin, TX
Tags: virginity, Dating, Mom, Relationships, Sex
The Internet Has Figured Out The #DisneylandFight Story And It Is A Doozy
Inman Entertainment / YouTube
By danielli July 11, 2019 at 12:28 pm
In case you missed it, there was a full out, nearly five-minute brawl at Disneyland on Sunday, and it was all captured on video. In the brutal video, we mostly see a man in a red shirt throwing punches at several different women and men. The actions are hard to watch, but the startling scene has the Internet obsessed. The brawl broke out right in front of Goofy’s Playhouse in Toontown, and the original video clip now has over 3 million views. Everyone in the brawl is assumed to be part of the same family.
If you’ve seen the video, you’ve probably only had the emotional bandwidth to ask this question.
Credit: @boopluvv / Twitter
Someone insulted someone’s mother, another mother was thrown to the ground, and it seems like everyone is just going at each other, regardless of gender or relation. It was a sad scene to
The narrative of the story is that they are related, hence the fact that they stayed together despite the fighting.
Credit: SJP35 Productions / YouTube
It doesn’t seem like it’s two separate families defending their own. They seem to be related to each other, which makes the fight exceptionally sad.
The Internet has provided a flow chart.
Credit: @dipbih / Twitter
None of this is confirmed by the family or authorities. We’re all in this together. From here on out, the term “we” will be used to describe the collective Internet “we.” We think White Shirt girl, Red Shirt and Black Shirt Girl are all siblings. Their mom is the Mama in the wheelchair.
White Shirt Girl dissed Red Shirt Guy’s girlfriend (Tan Shirt Girl).
Red Shirt Guy clearly has the biggest temper of them all, and resorted to physically attacking (what we think is) his sister. Her boyfriend (White Shirt Guy) stepped in to defend her. Then they start dancing around like they’re in a boxing ring. Black Shirt girl tries to intervene to get them to stop fighting. Then White Shirt guy just punches Tan Shirt Girl (Red Shirt’s girlfriend) straight in the nose. Now it’s really getting heated between Red Shirt Guy and White Shirt Guy.
While trying to intervene, Mama gets knocked down in the fight.
Now Red Shirt Guy is yelling, “I’m ready to go to jail tonight. I’m ready to go to jail.” Then Red Shirt Guy sees White Shirt Guy and starts yelling “fired on my motherf***ing b****, put your hands around my b****!” White Shirt Guy starts retreating, but Red Shirt Guy pulls White Shirt Guy’s girlfriend (also wearing a white shirt) by her hair.
Things start to calm down until Black Shirt Girl tells Red Shirt Guy that his girlfriend (Tan Shirt Girl) hit his Mama.
He turns to his girlfriend saying, “You hit my mama?” Tan shirt tries to explain that it was an accident (it was), but he punches her straight in the face. Then he starts violently pounding on her on the ground while a group of people tries to lift him off her. He pulls her hair along with him. Red Shirt Guy is finally restrained in a chokehold, and then the security finally shows up.
This whole time, the only Disney employee intervening is an older custodian.
Credit: @etherealtb / Twitter
Our hearts dropped for fear this older man would be violently attacked but he thankfully wasn’t. There are memes on memes of other Disney employees in costume just standing around.
Other folks are getting philosophical about the many bystanders who did nothing.
Credit: @lexiivilla / Twitter
Magic Mountain is side-eyeing this whole brawl so hard right now.
Meanwhile, Universal fans are taking the moment to show appreciation for their theme park of choice.
Credit: @ladante15 / Twitter
For all the shade amusement park goers throw at each other, we still don’t understand how this mega fight happened in Toontown.
This one media outlet’s narration has truly tickled The Internet.
Credit: @Iffy_Mae / Twitter
This reporter describes the fight with vivid detail. Rewatching the fight with narration that sounds like “but then, he slapped the daylights out of her,” is truly rewarding if you’re into that kind of thing.
The family maintains it never happened.
Credit: @j_t_starwars / Twitter
The family was all released once they all told park authorities that the fight never happened. Once the video footage came out, however, their questionable loyalty didn’t matter. Orange County prosecutors are currently reviewing the video to determine whether criminal charges will be filed. If they decide to file felony charges, the county district attorney’s office will also assess misdemeanor counts. If they don’t find any grounds for felony charges, the Anaheim city attorney would take over to pursue misdemeanor charges.
You can watch the fight below.
READ: Trump Supporter Fights FX’s “Pose” Star Indya Moore Outside Of Her TV Studio
Tags: Fight, Disneyland, Brawl, Disney, family
[Video] This Video Of A Teen At Her Quinceañera Sobbing For Her Father Is So Incredibly Sad
There seems to be no end to the horrifying stories we’ve been hearing that illustrate the fallout of the Trump Administration’s “zero tolerance” immigration policy one which has been the hallmark of his presidency since he took office. Among the headlines that describe the effects of the immigration policy are those highlighting the sub-human conditions […]
When My Mother Married My Father, Her White Family Excluded Us, But My Dad’s Latino Family Rallied To Support Us In Good Times And Bad
Growing up, I remember placing my hand against my dad’s much darker skin. Our skin tones were always very different. People would say I looked more like my mother but I think they were just seeing the same white complexion. I didn’t have my dad’s deep brown skin or his jet black hair but I […]
How I Learned to Forgive My Cuñada and Why You Should Too
I suppose it’s not that uncommon, but my cuñada didn’t like me much for many years. “Nice to meet you,” she said, in clipped and heavily accented English the first time we met. She shook my hand taking it away quickly and barely made eye-contact, but I knew she didn’t approve of my short hair, […]
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21 Airbnb Experiences For Every Occassion
Rick / Airbnb
By danielli June 6, 2018 at 5:14 pm
ICYMI, Airbnb has added a new feature called “Experiences,” where residents can now offer visitors their own take on the city they call home. From nature walks searching for sloths in Costa Rica, to Little Havana food immersion in Miami, Florida, there is an experience for everyone.
Out of the hundreds of experiences, here’s what we think would top your list.
1. Let’s start with the food.
CREDIT: Chrstine, Anneliese or Danny / Airbnb
For $56, you can get someone to take you to the best of the best Cuban restaurants in Little Havana. You’ll go to a tropical fruit farmer’s market, cigar shop, proper café Cubano shop, a viejito domino game in Domino Park and finish it off with a hot plate of food at a traditional family restaurant.
2. Learn to make your own Mexican bread from a professional baker.
CREDIT: Eliceo / Airbnb
You know how this ends: a feast of chocolate and vanilla conchas, hot chocolate and take home pastry molds and recipe cards. Yes, I will pay you $40 to make my own bread and then eat it. Teach a man to fish and all that.
3. Then experience todo del lucha libre in Mexico City for $50 per person.
CREDIT: Rick / Airbnb
Learn the ins and outs of the art of lucha libre from a local, make your own mask and then head to the arena to watch it in action. Of course, Mexican beers and candies are included in the price.
4. Dive into a Mexican indigo dip dye workshop for $27.
CREDIT: Anabel / Airbnb
If you’re up for a quieter night, meet Anabel, a Mexican fashion designer with a fascination for Mexico’s natural indigo dyes. Walk away with a cotton scarf, bandana or canvas bag dyed with organic indigo. Yes, please.
5. Let’s go to Cuba and learn to roll Cuban cigars for $5.
CREDIT: Marine / Airbnb
Your host is the fourth generation in his family owned and operated Cuban tobacco farm. You’ll see the full process of how to make an organic Cuban cigar, and then smoke it right on the spot!
6. Then go on a gay bar hopping tour of Havana.
CREDIT: Yunior / Airbnb
Passionate gay rights activists for 15 years, Yunior, Andres and Leandro will take you through Havana’s underground gay nightlife, out at Malecon & 23. Learn what it’s like to be gay in Cuba today. For $35, you get to support these activists, have a round of drinks and club entrance.
7. Watch how young Cubanos craft their own skateboards.
CREDIT: Cuba Skate Inc. / Airbnb
Then, check out their DIY skatepark, grab some delicious lunch and continue onto an art gallery along Paseo del Prado. Plus, all your $50 will go to Cuba Skate, Inc., a non-profit that creates youth development programs across Cuba.
8. Watch some of Cuba’s greatest artists in action.
CREDIT: Claudia / Airbnb
Visit the Lolo workshop where the best Matanzas artists go to work. You’ll also get a hands-on intro to ceramics class and be able to make a small object with the artist, while supporting their work for $37.
9. Go on a farm tour of the Valley of Silence for $35.
CREDIT: Daily / Airbnb
In western Cuba, there is a place called El Valle del Silencio. You’ll see what it’s like to run a family farm by learning about the coffee-making process, feeding the animals, ploughing the soil, harvesting crops and rolling and smoking a fresh cigar.
10. Explore Puerto Rico’s hidden natural water slides.
CREDIT: John / Airbnb
Y’know, just casually hike with a local guide to a river where gold was extracted in the 1800s. After your swim, you’ll hike to the natural river jungle water slides where you can go cliff jumping or just relax in a natural hot spring tub. He deserves your $38 for letting you in on the magic.
11. Get dirty body rafting in Puerto Rico’s mountains.
CREDIT: Mimi / Airbnb
You literally meet in the San Juan mall and wind up body rafting to a river cave in the mountains of Puerto Rico. For just $95, you get a full day adventure complete with a lesson in making coquito, una bocadillo and a history of Taíno veneration for the water.
12. Take care of rescued manatees for a couple hours.
CREDIT: Marina/Tony / Airbnb
Puerto Rico’s Manatee Conservation Center focuses on rescuing and rehabbing local manatees, researching the existing wild population and community outreach. One hundred percent of your $69 go towards the conservation, plus you also get to feed the manatees! #WorthyCause
13. When you’re done getting intimate with manatees, take a helicopter tour of Puerto Rico.
CREDIT: Puerto Rico Helitours / Airbnb
For just $150, you can join a retired Puerto Rico Police Air Unit pilot to see Puerto Rico in all it’s glory. Be sure to ask about the history of it’s nature and culture when you’re en route.
14. Dale, we’re visiting Costa Rica’s urban sloths.
CREDIT: Marcelo / Airbnb
For just $27 per person, you can expect a 2-3 hour tour of the University of Costa Rica’s bird species (more than 100), the Butterfly Garden and the small population of sloths located on campus just outside San José.
15. Take a casual dip in pristine Latin American waters.
CREDIT: Jonathan / Airbnb
Guys, Costa Rica is one of the cheapest places to travel. For just $86 per person, you can experience a 6.5 hour hike into Rincon de la Vieja National Park to visit the country’s most active volcanoes. All topped off with a dip in the Oropendula Waterfall.
16. Then, finish your day horseback riding on the beach.
CREDIT: Micha / Airbnb
Your Costa Rican host boasts of her horseback riding skills dating back to when she was just 8 years old. Just meet her at her Barn, meet your horse companion, and enjoy her private trail to one of the largest beach stretches in Central America, Esterillos Este for just $64 per person.
17. Once the sun goes down, enjoy a bioluminescent kayaking tour in Paquera Bay.
CREDIT: Vigdis & Thomas / Airbnb
Meet up with a marine biologist for a night kayaking tour of Paquera Bay, where the water is dark until you touch it. For a full hour, you’ll see how every paddle stroke leaves behind a swirl of bluish light for $38 per person.
18. Immerse yourself in the world of Frida Kahlo for $14.
CREDIT: Museo Frida Kahlo / Airbnb
El Museo Frida Kahlo is just south of Cancún, and waiting for you to relive Frida Kahlo’s accident in an interactive room with mapping and immersive audio. You can read her own letters, and understand her childhood and death.
19. Hit São Paulo’s nightlife with a Portuguese actress for LGBT charity.
CREDIT: Fernanda / Airbnb
Airbnb has “Social Impact” experiences that help raise money for needy charities. Fernanda is offering her time to explore São Paulo’s theatre scene along with a backstage tour of her own play. All for $111–for charity!
20. You can also take a tour of LGBTQ iconic bars in NYC for charity.
CREDIT: Jordan / Airbnb
Take a 3 hour guided tour right to where it all began: Stonewall Inn. Expect to take some shots and enjoy an intimate tour all around Manhattan, including Keith Haring’s studio, Elenaor Roosevelt’s NYC home and the firehouse that housed one of the first gay liberation underground meeting spaces.
21. But you don’t have to escape the country for some classical history.
CREDIT: Roberto / Airbnb
For $15, you can enjoy Los Angeles’ classical Latin music with Roberto Hermosillo and wonder how just two hands could create such beautiful sounds. Hit up your DTLA alley and enjoy.
Tags: Airbnb, Travel
Cancun Has a Major Algae Problem and The Cause Could Be Global Warming
@newsnest00 / Twitter
By Samantha Chavarria July 16, 2019 at 11:59 am
For the past several years, Cancun has notoriously become one of The Summer Spots. With promises of cheap beer, crystal clear surf and fun hangs, tourists typically flock to the vacation destination for good times in the spring and summer in troves. The location’s sands, beaches, and resorts are typically packed by this time of year, but a nasty visitor is washing up on the shores of these beaches, scaring off the usual summertime travel industry.
For the past several months, an invasion of seaweed-like algae hasn’t been just an eyesore for tourists, it’s also been a nasal deterrent.
Hundreds of pounds of seaweed-like algae is washing up on the shores of Cancun and it’s ruining the city’s tourist season.
Twitter / @tictoc
The past several months, the sunny resort town has been inundated with slimy, brown seaweed-like algae. It’s name is sargassum and it has washed up all along the coast around Cancun; stretching all the way down to Playa del Carmen and even further to Tulum. With the stench of rotten eggs, the algae smells just as gross as it looks and makes for a pretty unappealing soggy mess. It’s definitely not the sort of beach conditions that encourage tourists to visit.
Though Cancun businesses are feeling the effects of this invasion, the president of Mexico isn’t as concerned. President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has reportedly called the problem controllable and has only allocated 2.6 Million for the removal of the algae. The removal is a slow process — being shoveled away by city workers — but the lack of resources makes the task even more difficult. Also, the endless onslaught of fresh algae with every tide doesn’t help. Even using front loaders and trucks for the cleanup, the work takes several hours and results in an algae-covered beach only moments later.
Officials aren’t certain what the cause of this algae is but there are clues that point to it being caused by major global issues.
Twitter / @DKaimowitz
Scientists have suggested that the increase in algae is caused by the warming of our Earth because of the global climate change we are currently experiencing. This is the same hypothesis that has been suggested to explain Florida’s Red Tide. Earlier this month, scientists at the University of South Florida used satellite imaging to discover the largest bloom of the algae in the world. It’s being called the Great Atlantic Sargassum Belt and it is impacting beaches along North, Central, and South America.
Others believe that deforestation is to blame for the assault of algae on these beaches. Due to the logging and increased use of herbicide and fertilizers by Brazilian lumber companies in the Amazon forest, dangerous runoff flows into the ocean. The nutrients in these fertilizers encourage the growth of the algae; causing super blooms to occur.
In a release about a study of these super blooms, Dr. Chuanmin Hu of the USF College of Marine Science expressed concern about the state of the Atlantic ocean. He has predicted that:
“The ocean’s chemistry must have changed in order for the blooms to get so out of hand.”
Regardless of what the Mexican president and scientists say, locals who face this problem every day are the ones most impacted by the algae.
Twitter / @newsnest00
Tourism in the community has taken a major hit during a time when Mexico is already heading towards a recession. The first three weeks of June, hotel occupancy in the area dropped by 3.4%. Air travel to the city also saw numbers that aren’t as optimistic as Cancun usually sees during this time of year. It only claimed 1.2%, the smallest amount of growth that the area has seen since 2011.
It isn’t just the international travel industry that loses money to the algae. In a city like Cancun, as much as 40% of jobs are tied to tourism alone. Events like this — that impact the beaches so severely — threaten the livelihood of locals. The Mexican transportation industry, local artisans, restaurants, beach resorts, and sight-seeing locations depend on this busy season to provide the bulk of their yearly income. In order to lure travelers, hotels in the area are even running specials. In many places in Cancun, tourists can get as much as 20% off rooms and free transportation to unaffected beaches.
Cleaning up after this mess will take a lot more than a few hundred shovels.
Twitter / @ElCanaco
Reversing the effects of climate change can not really be accomplished on an individual level. Realistically, a single person does not cause this damage. Instead, it is large conglomerations that hurt our Earth with their anti-environmental policies. Until the governments of the world decide to hold these companies accountable, nothing productive will be done to stop this damage.
Right now, we’re seeing this onslaught of algae but who knows what is in store for our environment if we don’t make major improvements soon. It’s more than just our Cancun vacations that are counting on these changes.
Tags: Cancun, global warming, Mexico, Travel, traveling, Vacation
3 Slices Of Heaven In The Mexican Beachside You Have To Visit
Mexico, Jalisco, Costa Careyes \ Getty Images
By César Albarrán Torres July 11, 2019 at 2:50 pm
For decades, Mexico has been one of the main destinations for global tourism. The country offers amazing beaches where visitors can find both natural beauty and experienced hospitality workers who make their living by providing unforgettable experiences. We have selected 13 beaches that can cater for any kind of visitor and for budgets of all sizes. Remember that old Corona ad, “From where you would rather be”? Well, we would rather be in one of these slices of heaven.
1. Costa Careyes
Located in: Jalisco
Good for: high end, luxury traveling, honeymoons
Credit: xaviermaxemin / Instagram
This relatively recent development is located in the Mexican state of Jalisco, so you can also visit the city of Guadalajara or the many tequila haciendas in the region. This beach is pristine and hasn’t been developed as much as classics such as Acapulco or Cancun. It is pricey, but ideal for a romantic getaway or a honeymoon… you might leave the room for a bit just to witness the stunning sunsets. You can find more details here: https://www.careyes.com/.
2. Puerto de Veracruz
Located in: Veracruz, Gulf of Mexico
Good for: old fashioned Mexican charm
Credit: goopar / Instagram
Veracruz is one of the oldest cities in Mexico, the port where the Spanish started the development of the new colony. The old port has been revitalized in recent years, and you can experience the charm of jarochos: you can smoke a cigar while sipping a cafe con leche in the traditional La Parroquia. You can also listen to nostalgic regional son jarocho or join old folks in a communal dance known as danzon.
3. Bahia de Los Angeles
Located in: Baja California
Good for: those who love the stunning desert/ocean combo
Credit: xol_gran / Instagram
Less developed than beach towns such as La Paz and Los Cabos. This is a dream for those who love the combination of desert and sea. The Gulf of California bathes beaches that are red and feature spectacular rock formations crowned by cacti and succulents that defy the laws of gravity. A surreal but soothing destination.
4. Isla Holbox
Located in: Quintana Roo, Yucatan Peninsula
Good for: just relaxing on a hammock as the waves caress the sand
Credit: laryssa_ayres / Instagram
This island north of the Yucatan Peninsula is truly heaven on earth. It is part of the Yum Balam Nature Reserve, so it is not highly developed. The island is separated from the mainland by a lagoon which features flamingos and pelicans. Good to know: no cars are allowed on the island.
Located in: the Caribbean Sea, near Cancun
Good for: snorkeling and scuba diving
Credit: javi_viteri10 / Instagram
Another paradisiac highlight in the Yucatan Peninsula. This island has amazing beaches such as Playa Norte, plenty of resorts and scuba diving and snorkeling experiences. Even though it only has 4.22 km², it has it all: a lighthouse, Mayan ruins and even a sanctuary for sea turtles.
6. Puerto Vallarta
Good for: going out and sleeping in!
Credit: shanip94 / Instagram
This traditional beach destination captivated filmmaker John Huston when he shot The Night of the Iguana here. Elizabeth Taylor, who was tagging along with her then-husband Richard Burton, also fell in love with the dramatic landscape, food and good vibes of this awesome place, which is also famous for its vibrant nightlife. A perfect alternative for those who find Cancun and Los Cabos to be just a bit too touristy. It is near the Tequila region, so a little stop is in order.
7. Mazunte
Located in: Oaxaca
Good for: cheap and low key hippie vibes
Credit: omarjairbq / Instagram
This has been the de facto destination for Mexico City natives that just want to relax by the beach and eat some delicious Oaxacan food. Even though it is now a bit more developed than some would wish, it still retains a mystic but relaxed atmosphere. People feel so at ease that it is sort of a nudist beach: if that is your thing, clothes away! Seriously, one of the most beautiful places on Earth.
8. Mazatlan
Located in: Sinaloa
Good for: spectacular scenery and delicious seafood, Sinaloa style
Credit: mexicoentusojos / Instagram
An oldie but goodie. This resort town borders the Pacific shoreline in the state of Sinaloa. It was an impressive boardwalk or malecon that covers 21 km. Old Mazatlan is a 19th-century colonial jewel with gorgeous architecture. If you are into big-game fishing, this is the place to be. You can also eat some amazing Sinaloa seafood. A taco gobernador, anyone? (if you are wondering, it has shrimp, black beans, a secret spicy sauce, and melted cheese, all in corn tortillas of course!).
9. Playa Ventura
Located in: Guerrero
Good for: relaxing times and amazing food in a rustic environment
Near the legendary but now dangerous Acapulco lies this beach which is visited by turtles and offers a rustic experience. Food is just great: pescado a la talla and lobster smothered in chili and butter. What is not to like? We hope it keeps that rustic feel and that development doesn’t translate into big resorts.
10. Los Cabos
Located in: Baja California Sur
Good for: sea life watching
Credit: seemexicotravel / Instagram
A classic destination full of top-end resorts, but also the home of a charming town and plenty of spectacular animal sightings. You can take a whale watching tour or watch seals basking in the Baja sun. There are of course plenty of restaurants, bars, and nightclubs. And by the way, you might spot one of the many Hollywood A-listers who have made Cabo their preferred holiday spot. While you are here, why not rent a car and travel up the Baja peninsula all the way to the wine region near Ensenada?
11. Punta Cometa and Playa Mermejita
Good for: thinking about la inmortalidad del cangrejo
Credit: @yola_romay / Instagram
On the way to the charming Playa Mermejita (in Mazunte, see above) you can stop at this spot, which offers the most romantic sunset on Earth. You can also stare at the ocean and the beach and think about your life: nothing like being away from the tribulations of your daily life to reflect on where you are going.
12. Playa Pichilinguillo
Located in: Michoacan
Good for: unadulterated natural experiences
Credit: devagamx / Instagram
White sands, tame waves, and blue waters. This is a playa virgen that totally gives us The Blue Lagoon vibes. It is ideal to scuba dive or snorkel, as waters are almost transparent and fish are still unafraid of humans. The lobster here is delicious. Plus, you will be helping the local economy thrive as it is not yet subject to big transnational resort companies.
13. Playa del Carmen
Located in: Quintana Roo
Good for: a good mix of relaxing and fiesta!
Credit: destino.mochilero / Instagram
People who got sick and tired of how gringo Cancun looks have moved their business to Playa del Carmen, which started out as a “poor relative” and is now a hot spot for nightlife and glorious days at the beach. It attracted European tourism early, so there are plenty of culinary options as some visitors just decided to stay and open their own restaurants! Prices have peaked recently, but it is still a great option for those who believe that Cancun’s best days have passed.
READ: These Latin American Beaches Are The Perfect Getaways For All Of The Beach Bums In The World
Tags: tourism, Beaches, Mexico, Travel
For the past several years, Cancun has notoriously become one of The Summer Spots. With promises of cheap beer, crystal clear surf and fun hangs, tourists typically flock to the vacation destination for good times in the spring and summer in troves. The location’s sands, beaches, and resorts are typically packed by this time of […]
A Guatemalan Child Migrant Had His Throat Slit And Was Found Next To His Dead Father In Mexico
A 10-year-old Guatemalan migrant was left to die with his throat slit lying next to his father’s body on a dirt road in Morelos, Mexico.
YouTuber Daisy Marquez Shared Her Story Of Being Undocumented So She Could Help Others In The Same Situation
Beauty and lifestyle YouTuber, Daisy Marquez, started posting makeup tutorials on Snapchat for fun and then switched over to other platforms growing a fanbase of over one million followers across all of her social media platforms. What started as simply a fierce beauty and makeup channel turned into something much more as Daisy decided to share […]
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WCAG Compliance
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Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) compliance is essential for any website on the Internet today. WCAG provides a shared standard... WCAG Compliance
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) compliance is essential for any website on the Internet today. WCAG provides a shared standard for Web content accessibility that meets the needs of individuals, organizations, and governments. Web content accessibility guidelines are intended to be used by Web developers, Web authoring tool developers, Web accessibility tool developers, and anyone else who wants or needs a standard for Web accessibility.
What is WCAG Compliance?
In plainest language, WCAG exists to provide a better and more equal experience to disabled Web users. Web content that is WCAG compliant is rewarded on search engines today heavily compared to sites that are not WCAG compliant. There is a lot that goes into being WCAG compliant, and if you are new to the subject, it may be very confusing. If you need help, Website Comply can get your content in compliance quickly and affordably. Contact us today, and let us be of assistance.
What are the Guidelines of WCAG?
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines have 12 guidelines and 4 principles. The first principle is Perceivable. This means that the interface components must be presented in a way that users can perceive them. For example, this includes alternative text for images, alternatives for time-based media (such as captions), adaptable content, and distinguished content, which is using color contrast.
The second WCAG compliance principle is Operable. This is referring to the components of the interface. For example, the navigation should be accessible by keyboard without keyboard trap and provide users enough time to read and use the content.
The next principle is Understandable. This means the operation of the interface must be understandable. For example, consistent navigation should be provided. The section of the user interface components shouldn't change unless the user has been advised.
The fourth and final principle is Robust. This means that content must be robust enough that it can be reliable for users using different assistive technologies. Not accessible in today's Web is no longer acceptable.
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The most recent WCAG guidelines come in three flavors- A, AA, and AAA. Each level requires a different amount of effort to maintain that compliance, but it also makes it much easier for people with disabilities to use. You may have something as simple as a video embedded on your website. If someone is visually impaired, they're not able to see that video. Something that would match Level A compliance would be something as simple as creating an alt tag or explaining what the video is.
AA compliance would actually contain some captioning for the video itself throughout. AAA compliance would be creating an alternate media type or including an audio and text description of what is occurring in the video as well any of the other audio that is being played. This way anyone who is visually impaired will not be missing out on much in terms of content.
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Horoscopes 4/15-4/21
Mortality is the great unifier. Rich man, poor man, middle-class man; none escape the dance of death. Everyone will one day pass over that border into the unknown, but, as we all know, not before they get the chance to challenge the Grim Reaper to a game for their soul!
As the fastest person alive, you decide that a foot-race is the way to go. Once Death takes the lead, however, you find it hard to keep up. “Ha!” he shouts over his shoulder. “No man can outrun me!” You find this incredibly frustrating, having never wanted to die in a cliché.
A simple tug-of-war is your best bet, you figure, seeing as the Reaper is nothing but a bundle of bones. Unfortunately, said bundle of bones is jacked as hell.
You settle on a simple game of Simon Says. Unfortunately, He sees “Simon says let me live?” coming a mile away.
You challenge Death to a nice game of Sorry™. You know you can’t win, of course. He’s Death itself. But it’s an old favorite, and you’d like one more round.
You decide to lean on your training, challenging the Grim Reaper to a dance competition, only to find you’re not the only one to spend a few seasons with the Ballet Russe.
A simple game of chess seems the way to go. After all, it’s a classic. And besides, you’re a master at it. Your grandfather taught you well as a child and—ah, well, that’s a checkmate from Death already. That’s fine. Maybe best two out of thr—ah, yes, he’s done it again. Well, perhaps best five out of—ah, okay, yes. No, of course, straight to hell, yes sir.
To your dismay, the fucker even wins a coin toss.
You challenge Death to a Scary Story Competition. It’s fortunate He wins, really, as the tales He tells you would leave any mortal insane, begging for His release.
You challenge the Reaper to a battle of the wits, only to find he’s heard them all before.
You, too, challenge Death to a foot-race, but one where the winner is the he who finishes last. Death agrees, laughing. Two-hundred years in, you’re feeling pretty good about your choice. A few hundred years after that, however, society collapses. The last humans die out. Life on Earth more or less ceases to exist, except for you, the sole witness, who can no longer remember where he placed the finish line.
You rack your brain for hours, trying to find the perfect game, until you do: it’s called Magic Mines. You and your friend David made it up on the playground when you were eight years old. There’s no way the Reaper could win at a game no one knows! But, you soon discover, He knows it well. The Reaper, it turns out, is David. Which explains why He skipped your ten year reunion.
You give Truth or Dare a shot, thinking yourself capable of tricking the Reaper. Unfortunately, he loves it. He’s asking for too much. “Dare me to reap that baby,” he demands. “Come on! Dare me to take his soul! I’ll totally do it if you dare me.” He’s that guy, you know?
HoroscopesGeorge Srouji April 15, 2019 Astrology, Horoscopes, Danse Macabre
BANSHEE by Jessica Drake-Thomas
PoetrySubmission April 16, 2019 Poetry, Submission, Jessica Drake-Thomas, The Danse Macabre
Postcard Playlist 4/1/19-4/7/19
Postcard PlaylistsGeorge Srouji & Emma Coyle April 5, 2019 Postcard Playlist, Teeth
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Dubrovnik City Bus timetables and routes
Take the city bus to Old Town Dubrovnik
Dubrovnik City Bus
Getting around Dubrovnik by bus is the recommended method of transportation, especially during summer. Yes, its hot, som popular bus lines fill up the bus already at the first few stations, but considering all it is still better and cheaper than getting around by car.
All the areas of Dubrovnik are conveniently linked by buses that run according to the timetable, anywhere from every 10 minutes to every half hour. (map of Dubrovnik's bus network is available bellow). Many buses begin running at about 5.00 in the morning and pick up their last passengers after midnight.
The fare is 15 Kuna if you buy from the driver upon entering the bus, but a good tip is to buy them before from a kiosk ot other selling office because pre purchased tickets are cheaper (12 Kuna). You can also buy a Daily Ticket for the price of 30,00 Kuna. Tickets are usually also available at some travel agencies, from reception desks of most hotels, at the main bus station and at the ticket office at Pile Gate (entrance to Old Town Dubrovnik).
Upon boarding the bus you need to validate the ticket by inserting it into a validating machine, most bus drivers will assist you in case of validation problems.
Did you know that you can get a free bus ticket, visit museums and other top attractions in Dubrovnik, including the City Walls, and save up to 50%, by getting a Dubrovnik Card
More detailed information about timetables. The company in Dubrovnik that manages the city routes is Libertas Dubrovnik.
Timetable for all city buses in Dubrovnik
Dubrovnik City Bus routes, map of Dubrovnik's bus network
Website: http://www.libertasdubrovnik.hr/
Last updated on: 30.4.2019
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