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19 Best Games For Long-Distance Friends and Family
August 24, 2022 August 19, 2022 by Cassie Riley
Just because your favorite people are based far from you doesn't mean that you can't all come together and have fun like you ordinarily would if you were living a few blocks away from each other.
The world is continually going digital and there are a lot of virtual games that can help you stay connected with your loved ones. As much as nothing beats physical meetings, would you rather be bored to your wits end behind your phone screen or connect virtually with your friends and have a nice laugh over a game?
I'm sure you'd pick the latter. But the question is, what games can I play with my long-distance friends and family to strengthen the bond we have?
To answer your question, I have compiled a list of these games, with a detailed description of how to play them and where they can be downloaded. In the end, you just have to choose the one that works best for you, download it, and start enjoying it with your pals!
Without much ado, let's dive into the best games for long-distance friends and family.
Also Read: Best Cool Math Games Alternatives
Best Games For Long-Distance Friends and Family
1. Draw Something (Classic)
2. Mario Kart
3. Heads Up
4. Yahtzee
5. Kahoot
6. Quiplash on Jackbox Games
7. Skribbl
8. Checkers
9. Clue
10. Psych
11. Twenty Questions
12. Kiss Marry Kill
13. Never Have I Ever
14. Truth or Dare
16. Online Chess
17. Scattergories
18. Crazy Eights
19. Bingo Blitz
This is one of the best long-distance games to play if you have artistic friends or family members.
The game requires two players to draw the picture of a stated word one after the other. In the end, their partners will guess the subject of their drawing within a specified timeframe.
If you are worried about your drawing skills, then you go ahead to play this game. It's available to download for free on Google Play Store and Apple Store.
If you want to throw in a bit of action and adventure to the game, then Mario Kart is the one for you. In this game, you get to race against other players and win power-ups on your way.
Players either gain or lose points based on performance in a race or battle. The game strives to match players with similar ratings to make it even more competitive.
There is no need to create a personal avatar as this game has characters you can adopt. It mainly features characters from the Mario franchise such as Mario, Peach, Daisy, Toad, and others.
To play Mario Kart, you must have a Nintendo account, a persistent network, and a compatible smartphone – an Android or iPhone is fine. The game can be downloaded for free on Google Play Store and Apple Store with optional in-game purchases available.
Also Read: Multiplayer Online Games For Couples
Heads Up is a great online game to play with your family and friends that are far from you, especially the witty ones. It's fun, interactive, and gets you laughing until you're almost out of breath.
As the name implies, the game requires the players to place their phones on their foreheads, while their friends try to give them a clue to what's written on their card without saying the word or anything remotely connected to it!
You only have one minute to guess the right word before other cards appear. This game promises a lot of fun as there are several categories to pick from; ranging from animals, celebrities, movies, accents, and more.
One amazing feature of this game is that you can play it completely online either through zoom or Google Meet. Like other games, we have reviewed above, Heads Up works on both Android and iOS devices.
Also Read: Best Games Like Heads Up
Yahtzee is best suited for people who love dice games. If you fall under this category and your far-away friends love it too, then go ahead and play this game.
There are five dice involved and each player will have to roll the dice to get the highest score they can in a play. Each player is entitled to play 13 times before the game is over.
However, you can roll up to three times per play and after each roll, the scores are recorded on a board. In the end, the scores are summed up and the player with the highest score wins! It's that simple!
Yahtzee is free to download on both Android and iOS devices. You can also play it online from your browser.
Kahoot is the game to go for when you are in the mood for quizzes and you have smart and nerdy friends.
It is a great idea for educational fun games that require answering some trivia questions. You can create your unique quiz based on topics that might be of interest to your friends.
Playing the game is simple. You only have to create unique quizzes based on topics that might be of interest to your friends. They in turn provide answers to the quizzes. The player with the most right answers wins the round.
As usual, it doesn't matter where your friends are located. You only need to send them an invite link once you are done with the quizzes.
Alternatively, you can organize facetime or zoom meetings to play this game. This game is available for both Android and iPhone users. You can download this free on either the Google Play Store or the Apple Store.
Also Read: Best Kahoot Alternatives
Quiplash is the ultimate game of fun. It is exciting, interactive, and provides premium entertainment for all players.
The objective of this game is to prove you are the funniest or wittiest person among the group with your answers. The more hilarious your words are, the more likely you are to get all the points.
To play this game, at the beginning of a round, players are prompted with a question and each of them provides an answer. In the end, the audience votes on their favorite answers. If you have more votes, you'll earn more points.
One great feature of this game is that, as much as it accommodates between three to eight players at once, you can have more than 10,000 audiences. That's a lot! And everyone gets to cast their votes.
Also, the game isn't just available on smartphones, it also works on computers including Mac, Linux, and Windows.
If you and your friends love drawing, then Skribbl should be on your list for your next virtual game night with them.
To play this game, each player gets a turn to draw from the options provided in under 80 seconds. When you are not drawing, you have to guess what other players are drawing and type it before they are done.
The faster you are, the more points you get to win. In the end, the crown goes to the person with the highest points.
One great advantage Skribbl has is that it allows a player to create his room with customized words and drawing time. You can send invites to your friends once the room is created.
Each room supports up to 12 players. I love that the game isn't only available in English. You have other languages like Korean, Italian, Tagalog, and Hungarian.
You can download Skribbl for free on either the Google Play Store or the Apple Store for iPhone users.
Checkers is another great board game for your distant friends and family anytime you like. You can add some spice to this game by selecting a category such as Fourth of July checkers, St. Patrick's checkers, or Halloween Checkers.
To play Checkers, each player needs to make a move that will ultimately bring their opponent to ruin. This game works on all devices and can be downloaded from the Play Store and Apple Store.
Alternatively, you can play the game straight from your browser without downloading any app.
If you have been dying to play Sherlock Holmes with your friends or family, Clue provides the perfect opportunity to do this.
To play this game, each player assumes the role of one among six suspects in a murder case and tries to figure out how the victim was murdered, the exact location of the crime, and the murder weapons.
Players strategically move around a game board representing the rooms of a mansion for murder clues. Various colored pieces illustrate the characters, murder weapons, set, and solution cards.
Every player also gets to access a detective notepad where they keep an accurate record of the rooms, weapons, and characters. You can play this with your friends either on your Android or iOS device, or even your PC.
Psych is an exciting online game to play with your friends and family. This game guarantees lots of fun and provides ample opportunity for you to discover new facts about your friends.
To play this game, you have to come up with fake answers to real questions. Your opponents are saddled with the responsibility of figuring out which of your fake answers is real. You earn points for choosing the right answer.
The game is free to download from Apple Store and Play Store.
Also Read: Best Games Like Krunker
Twenty questions is a guessing game best suited if you and your friends love mental challenges. Here, you simply need to think of something and the system will automatically read your mind and ask specific questions.
The game is fun and exciting to play with your loved ones primarily through Zoom or Google Meet. You can play it straight from the website by first choosing your desired language and allowing the AI to do what it does best – ask questions.
You can also download the app free from the Apple Store or Google Play Store.
Kiss Marry Kill will get your friends or family laughing with each round. The game can be played in real-time or virtually.
To play this game, players get to pick three characters and then go on to decide who they want to kiss, who they would marry, and finally who they are going to kill in the worst way possible.
I love that the game reveals friends' innermost thoughts for each other. At least, you get to know who's crushing on you, who would love to spend the rest of their lives with you, and then – who would kill you.
The game is available for free download on the Google Play Store and Apple Store.
This fun online game will get your far-away friends and family spilling lots of crazy secrets. It's also a fun and exciting way to learn more about each other.
To play this game, players get to be honest about the activities they have never indulged in. You have different categories of questions to choose from.
There are normal, popular, party, sexy, and a couple of dirty questions. The game can be played virtually with friends anywhere in the world and there can be as many players as possible.
You can play the game with your smartphone after downloading it on Google Play Store, the Apple Store, or simply from the website.
Also Read: GTA V Geoguesser – The Complete Guide
If you are looking for the ultimate game of fun, then you need to play Truth or Dare. The game is guaranteed to keep you on your toes throughout the game.
Playing it requires players to take turns in choosing a truth (a question they must provide an honest answer to) or a dare (an action they must follow through on). You gain points when you successfully complete either of them.
It's a great way to learn more about your friends. Players can decide on the consequences of losing in a round to make the game more interesting. You might pay some cash or give in to some hideous request.
The game can be downloaded for free and works on both Android and iOS devices.
Monopoly is one of the most classic online games and a great choice for your long-distance friends or family members especially if they are as interested in financial literacy as you. This game allows you to make some money moves.
Monopoly is anchored on real estate and involves from two to eight players. Each player aims to bankrupt his competitors while fighting to remain financially buoyant by purchasing properties and managing his money in the best way that will guarantee income.
This game is available on App Store and Google Play Store and can be purchased for only $3.99.
Also Read: Best QuizUp Alternatives
If your friends or family love mentally stimulating games, then you should play online chess the next time you're organizing a virtual hangout.
The game can be played directly from their website and it usually starts with each player having a white-colored box at the bottom of the chessboard. Then the cheese pieces are set appropriately, while the second rank is filled up with pawns.
The rooks on the other hand are stacked up in a corner, followed by the knights. There is the bishop and finally the queen and king. The winner of the game of chess is the player who makes the right moves and captures the king of the opponents.
This game is available for download free on both Android and Apple devices. You can either go to the Google Play Store or the Apple store.
Explore: Best GameKnot Alternatives
This is another interesting online game for your long-distance family and friends that will surely improve your vocabulary.
To play this game, each player has to make a list of words that all start with the same letter. You score a point for each word on your list that isn't on anyone else's list.
A round can last for over three minutes and you can play as many rounds as possible. I love that the game is excellent for mental stimulation and an opportunity to learn new words.
It is a fun, competitive game and can be enjoyed by anyone, young or old. Scattergories is available for free download on both Android and iOS devices.
Also Read: Best Anki Alternatives
If you and your friends love card games, this game is right up your alley. The game aims to discard your cards and it requires a high skill set, logic, and adaptive skills.
To play this game, there are 52 standard cards. A player is served five cards to play. The left-over cards are placed facedown on the table with the top card facing up to signal the commencement of the game.
Each player is required to place cards with similar shapes or numbers as the top card. In the end, the player that exhausts his cards becomes the winner of the game.
For other players, the final scoring is determined based on the points of all the cards they still have. This game can be played virtually, and once a player creates a private room, he can invite others to join in.
The app download is compatible with all Android and iOS devices.
Also Read: Quizlet vs Anki
Bingo Blitz is the last on my list mainly because it's my favorite. What do they say about saving the best for the last?
If you are like me, who loves exploring and adventure, and you have friends that share the same personality, then Bingo Blitz is the best online game for you.
This game is a perfect blend of beautiful design, vibrant playing community, and smooth gameplay. It allows you and your friends to explore amazing places all over the world without necessarily traveling together.
While exploring, you get to collect a lot of amazing gifts for free. You can play the game on Facebook or simply download the app from Android's Google Play Store or Apple Store.
Also Read: Brainscape vs Anki
Distance shouldn't be a barrier to having fun with your far-away loved ones. As you can see, there are a lot of virtual games you can play with them.
Feel free to choose any of the games I have reviewed above and have fun playing them with your friends and family.
Cassie Riley
Cassie Riley has a passion for all things marketing and social media. She is a wife, mother, and entrepreneur. In her spare time, she enjoys traveling, language, music, writing, and unicorns. Cassie is a lifetime learner, and loves to spend time attending classes, webinars, and summits.
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Home | TV | TV Review: Requiem (Season 1) (2018)
TV Review: Requiem (Season 1) (2018)
Christy Lou Sturman 04/23/2018 TV
A shocking personal trauma sends cellist Matilda Grey and best friend Hal on a journey to unravel a missing child cold case. Along the way Matilda finds herself in a twisted search for her own identity and answers to questions she didn't know she needed to ask. With classic themes of British horror "Requiem" weaves a complex, supernatural tale of what may hide on the other side of mirrors.
A couple episodes into this series I caught myself thinking "this would probably be really good if her haircut wasn't so awful". By the end, however, her haircut was just one of many reasons this is not the best horror/thriller Netflix has offered. There are elements that make "Requiem" a fair time waster, slow binge and not a horrible mess of a show but it never quite lives up to what it seems like it promises.
The story starts with brief introductions to the horrible hair owning, concert cellist main character Matilda Grey (Lydia Wilson), her troubled mother Janice Gray (Joanna Scanlan) and Matilda's musical partner/friend Hal Fine (Joel Fry). I will quickly note here that the acting is in fact quite good, particularly from later characters in the series and the chemistry between most characters is believable which is one of the few reasons to actually enjoy this atmospheric mess of a show. After the unexpected death of her mother, Matilda finds information connecting her mom and in turn herself to the case of a missing child 15 years previous. In an effort to find some peace and closure Matilda and Hal take a presumably short journey to a tiny Welsh village in an effort to sort out what all of this means.
The trouble is while they are trying to sort out a cold missing child case the viewer is trying to sort out what they are watching – is it a sordid thriller, a haunted house ghost story, a demon fable, a modern day fairytale, a cop drama, something about naked witches in the woods or the tale of a good old-fashioned, devil-worshipping cult? The trouble is that it tries to be all of those things, all of the time plus it wants you to keep up with an assortment of love interests, emotional family entanglements and a more than necessary amount of mysteries within mysteries. And to top it all off, for some reason the series tries really hard to make scrying a thing, it's really not an interesting enough premise to be a thing, sorry "Requiem".
I said at the beginning that the series is not a horrible mess, and it's not horrible, but it is a mess. I did get caught up in the central idea of the story which is the who, how, what, where and why of a missing child, focusing on that is what made me stick with the series through to the end. There are some excellently portrayed characters as well, such as the missing child's mother Rose Morgan (Claire Rushbrook) and the innkeeper's daughter turned ally Trudy (Sian Reese-Williams) who kept me hooked in the story and interested in their outcomes. We are briefly treated to a scene with a young Matilda who is portrayed by Bella Ramsey (best known for her role as the immoveable Lyanna Mormont in "Game of Thrones"). There are some wonderful creepy elements and a good deal of classic British horror atmosphere, it often feels like you are watching a visual interpretation of those gothic Victorian-era romance novels in which unassuming, lovely, young women are sent to live in scary old houses on forgotten moors.
Music is supposed to be a major element of the story – Matilda and Hal are successful classical musicians, a dodgy CD plays a part in the first shocking incident, strange chants in children's voices are found in recordings which haunt most of the series, the whole thing is called "Requiem" after all, and yet…everything fails to make the musical impact that it could. There is an almost silly, musically set montage of misery right in the middle of the series, where you are given some important information to the story but there is a bigger dose of cringe-worthy melodrama than you can take in one sitting. I think that this moment was supposed to read almost like the playing of a piece of classical music but again it falls short of actually getting us to see or feel that. As someone who grew up in a musical family and surrounded by musicians of all sorts the one thing the series got right was the character of Hal, I had no problem believing he was a musician caught up in something above and beyond the ordinary (as it turns out the actor playing Hal is, in fact, a member of the band Animal Circus). There was an opportunity to actually create a soul-stirring requiem out of this story and never once does it feel like that was even a consideration.
After a bumpy ride through every horror element short of vampires and werewolves, the ending is sadly predictable. You are taken down several tantalizing roads that have the potential to create an exciting supernatural tale, but those roads always end in a bad accident and flesh-eating somnambulists with no closure. The slapdash cult-themed moment that ties everything together (and for some reason takes the oddly placed chance to try for some dry humor) is way too rushed and ends up being a major let down for what is supposed to be the fantastical crescendo. Everything that happens in the last 10 minutes or so will not be at all surprising, there is no great twist that will leave you stunned or even baffled.
Stripped to its bare bones "Requiem" had the potential to be a great British horror story, but it tries too hard, way too hard. I feel like it would have been better to have the story play out over several seasons – where we could have the haunted house season, the cop drama season, the demon season (though I fear we would be forced to have a scrying season which would kill the whole thing) and so on. Instead, we are force-fed all of it in one 6 episode go, missing the chance to savor the creep, get lost in the music or bond with enjoyable characters. There has been no decision, as of this writing, about whether there will be a Season 2, and no personal decision as to whether I would watch a Season 2 (I'm saying a tentative "yes" providing Matilda gets a better, far less distracting haircut). If you want to give "Requiem" a try all six episodes are available in Netflix in the US.
Tags british horror classical music haunted house Joel Fry Lydia Wilson Mirrors
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I loved it until after the missing child mystery was solved, when it just ran out of gas. The final revelation of who Matilda really is just seemed like a rehash of an average Supernatural episode. I love British but I don't watch it to see imitations of American horror!

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Book Review: All God's Chillun Got Wings and Welded by Eugene O'Neill
Posted on January 18, 2020 by Coreen Catenburg
"All God's Chillun Got Wings and Welded" is a love tragedy about race. Ella, a white girl, marries Jim, a black young man, but the marriage is more traumatizing than it is happy, and eventually, it overwhelms them. If Ella embodies the entanglements of ethnic intermarriage, then Jim more reflects the essence of marriage. Jim is hardworking but kind. Unlike most black people who were resigned to their fate and went with the flow, he has been making efforts to improve his situation and status. But as a descendant of blacks, he was haunted by racial prejudice and discrimination. The powerful external pressure was a constant reminder of his black identity and a heavy burden on him. The harder he tried, the more he felt the intensity of racial prejudice and discrimination, which made him helpless even in the face of good white people. Simply because he had done something that many blacks would not or could not do, he was an outlier in the black and white world. If it was a naive child who drank lime-water as a boy and wanted to whiten his skin to have the same complexion as the girl he liked, it was a grown man who dreamed of going to law school and becoming a lawyer. For this, Jim made a hard effort, but he couldn't get it. After growing up, most of the young people with the same color of skin were moving forward helplessly along the road of their parents' life.
Only he was diligent and studied hard. He became one of the few people of his age, making him incompatible with black and white people. Maybe we can blame Jim for not being strong enough, but how can a person fight against the whole society? We can see the huge invisible pressure of society from his repeated failures. On the other hand, his failure was accompanied by care and sacrifice for his sick wife. As a man, he loved Ella, and he loved the innocent playmate of his childhood without regret. In the face of the girl he admired so much, her physical and mental pain made his heart ache. Jim hopes that his love for Ella's ordeal will help her move on from her past. The past was over, but then Ella fell deeper into the misery of loving her husband but not being able to acknowledge his black identity from the bottom of her heart. All this made her suffer, she did not know what to do, the feelings of love and hate torn her heart. For Jim, Ella is his life, especially when they are ostracized by the whole society, and the husband and wife become a pair of unhappy lovers. For the sake of peace and happiness, they went to a foreign country, and he obeyed his wife, even as brother and sister, whenever she was happy. Instead, they found no peace in foreign lands. Although racial prejudice and discrimination did not exist there, what they heard and saw in their own country left a shadow in their hearts far more cruel and terrible than real life. Her union with her black husband made Ella feel ashamed and she tried everything to hide for peace.
There was nothing Jim could do about it. He loved his wife, but he could not relieve her mental pain. He could only blame himself for everything, even though he had done nothing wrong. Faced with his ailing wife, he felt guilty and could only try his best to take care of her to atone for his sin. Ella became more and more insane, and one more day with her was a greater risk of being killed. Sending her to a nursing home would liberate him, but it would kill her and she would die of shame which is something that Jim, who loved Ella so much, could never do. This is an ordinary man, on the one hand, he can not give up the dream, on the other hand, he is deeply in love with the woman. The woman he had married was sick, and it was the same woman who, fearing his success, had been trying to obstruct him. He must choose between this woman and his dream. In order to love this woman, in order to keep them together, he has to give up his dream completely. There was no hope of equality and harmony, no hope of success that would prove his worth and give his wife pride, and all that remained was a madwoman and a broken-hearted man. God created this world, and he also created human beings who live in it. But God has failed to instill in all men the capacity to accept and love all men. So in this world, no matter how good and how hard our protagonists work, they will face the only failure in the end.
-Coreen C.
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Calls to draw up guidelines on poster ban for Local Election candidates in Carlow
Leighlinbridge Tidy Towns group has already decided it does not want election posters in the village
Calls have been made to draw up guidelines on a poster ban for all Local Election candidates in Carlow.
Read also: Towns and villages around Carlow encouraged to go 'poster free' for Local Election
Cllr Brian O'Donoghue brought the issue up at this month's meeting of Carlow Municipal District and asked to formulate a meeting of all candidates in this year's Local Election with representatives from each Tidy Town group across Carlow.
"It would be to see if there's a possibility of putting some control on the use of election posters. Leighlinbridge have decided that they don't want election posters in the village.
"I did a poll on social media and 190 people voted with 86% of them agreeing that it was a good idea," he said.
Cllr O'Donoghue told members that if nothing was agreed at the meeting then people in the communities would have the usual "bizarre" situation with election posters strewn all over the place.
"I'm asking all candidates running in the Municipal Districts to meet and come up with the guidelines to make [the Local Election] a fair playing pitch," he added.
Councillors in Carlow Town have already debated banning election posters for the Local Elections in May as the number of posters going up becomes "a bit of a farce".


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Best Compensated Musicians of 2021: Bruce Springsteen, Jay-Z Top rated Earners
Of all the supposedly "pandemic-proof" careers out there, here's a surprising one particular: rock star. The world's 10 highest-paid out musicians of 2021 raked in a put together $2.3 billion, additional than double what they were being producing on an annual foundation in the yrs suitable in advance of Covid-19.
The coronavirus has decimated touring, with brutal results for artists who count on gigs as a main supply of income. But up in the stratosphere, icons from Bruce Springsteen to Paul Simon uncovered other ways to income in — particularly by offloading their catalogs for nine-determine sums.
"These are virtually like pieces of art — there is a finite amount of actual, super-superior-top quality hit music from the earlier — and there's this kind of all-out seize to very own people legal rights," says Josh Gruss, founder and CEO of Spherical Hill Songs, which has invested $1.3 billion on audio copyrights above the past ten years. "It's a incredibly steady stream of earnings which is there, and that would make it pretty interesting for investment decision."
Only Jay-Z, Kanye West, and Taylor Swift produced the cut without having a enormous catalog sale (scroll down to see the whole position). The remaining 7 of music's 10 major earners banked the bulk of their bucks by providing copyrights. Underscoring the industry's persistent pay back hole, they're all white gentlemen (Stevie Nicks offered her catalog for $100 million in December 2020, just lacking our cutoff). You have to extend to the major 15 to locate music's 2nd highest-paid out woman or an act born exterior the United States.
This unlucky truth has roots as aged as the music business enterprise itself, notably when it will come to gender disparity. For each and every Springsteen signed to a report deal, how a lot of female rockers were being disregarded? For each and every Dylan provided flexibility to generate his music — and accumulate intellectual assets — how a lot of women got pigeonholed as just singers? For each Simon who managed or negotiated the return of his legal rights many years ago, how numerous woman icons were being denied that respect? And so it goes for so many underrepresented demographics in the industry.
There are at minimum couple of young names amongst all the septuagenarian centimillionaires. Some of the even larger catalog revenue, like Ryan Tedder's $200 million offer, have now been described. Other individuals, like Blake Shelton's $50 million-moreover legal rights sale, have not. Regardless, it's clear investors are finally observing the worth of songs in the streaming age — for better or even worse.
"There's wonderful irony in the simple fact that when Wall Street will take note of songs' value, the digital platforms frequently really do not," says Jody Gerson, chairman and CEO of Universal Tunes Publishing Group. "Which suggests we must continue on to struggle for our songwriters equally in conditions of the worth of what they build and in terms of the treating tracks as art, not as assets."
So, for music's a person-percenters, what is the incentive to market? There is a variety of components, some of them arcane and disregarded, like tax fees: The sale of a catalog is ordinarily addressed as a money acquire, and for that reason taxed at a significantly decrease charge than a royalty test.
Then there is the simple fact that music use proceeds to soar, with global on-need spins surging 26.3% year-more than-12 months. That determine got a key strengthen from back catalog streaming, which spiked 19.3% this calendar year and accounted for 69.8% of total listening.
On leading of that, low interest prices about the globe suggest megabuyers like personal-equity agency KKR and Merck Mercuriadis' Hipgnosis Songs Fund can afford to pay for to borrow cheaply, spurring them to spend increased multiples and generate greater checks.
But several insiders feel these conditions are possible to change in the not-so-distant upcoming. Some be expecting to see tax-code changes, even though other folks stress growing inflation could direct to higher fascination fees.
"That has to lead to some kind of adjustment in the multiples becoming paid," states Gruss, who believes the new music-rights industry is nearing its peak, at least on the large finish. "But I've been incorrect right before — each calendar year when I assume it is maxed out, it retains going."
Browse on to see the full ranking of the world's leading-earning musicians. The listing steps pretax profits for calendar yr 2021 prior to deducting fees for agents, managers, attorneys, living charges, and so on. Estimates are generated by scouring community documents and interviewing individuals with direct information of significant specials.
Soon after a ten years at Forbes, Zack O'Malley Greenburg covers the business of songs at Substack — come across his operate, such as best earners No. 11-15, right here. He's the creator of four songs publications, such as the Jay-Z biography Empire State of Head. His tales have also appeared in The New York Moments, Washington Write-up, and Vanity Honest.
Photograph Illustrations by Sean McCabe for Rolling Stone. Pictures in illustrations by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP (Swift) Jason Kempin/ACMA2021/Getty Photos (Shelton) Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP (Motley Crüe) Lauren Dukoff (Buckingham) Gus Van Zant (Red Very hot Chili Peppers) Hubert Boesl/picture-alliance/dpa/AP (Tedder) David Livingston/Getty Images (West) Dave Kotinsky/Getty Photos (Simon) Xavier Collin/Image Push Company/Sipa United states/AP (Jay-Z) Danny Clinch (Springsteen)
Bruce Compensated Earners JayZ musicians rated Springsteen Top
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Wool City Rivals
by john dewhirst
About BCAFC colours, crests and nicknames
BCAFC Programme, 2017/18
Bradford history
Links to other Bradford related websites
Origins & history of Bradford sport
Book Review: One Year, Two Seasons
8 Oct 2018 8 Oct 2018 johndewhirst
'One Year, Two Seasons' by Richard Wardell (City Gent Publications, 2018) £3.00
Author Richard Wardell had long thought about writing a book about supporting Bradford City and he could not have chosen a more eventful period to write about. In fact some of us would say that he has successfully written a horror story featuring Bradford City!
It is a long, long time since the Wembley Play-off Final in May, 2017 against Millwall when it seemed that Bradford City supporters were assured of a bright future. Fast forward to the beginning of the 2018/19 and it feels as though the world has been turned upside down. Optimism has been swapped for despondency and rancour. How we will look back upon this period in the future is anyone's guess but Richard Wardell has done a mighty fine job of documenting the change in outlook during the twelve months that followed the club's final game of the regular season at Rochdale on 30th April, 2017.
Put together in the same format as The City Gent, it is better described as a booklet (72 pages in size) but with the splendid cover by Paine Proffitt and a good selection of photographs One Year, Two Seasons is well produced and equally well-written. Published to raise money for the Plastic Surgery & Burns Research Unit and the Huntington's Disease Association it is richly deserving of support.
Richard is a longstanding supporter and one who is unlikely to have his commitment to the club shattered by what has happened at Valley Parade of late. His loyalty to the club and infectious enthusiasm is writ large on each page despite the tangible evidence of the implosion and dramatic loss of form from the end of December, 2017 about which we are all aware. This is a man who should be a positive thinking coach, if not a therapist.
Written as a journal Richard reveals the extent to which supporting his team has come to dominate his life and despite the bad results and disappointments, he demonstrates how it can be a satisfying experience with its various routines. It is something of an understatement when he writes that 'football is so much more than the 90 minutes on the pitch. It's about forming and maintaining friendships, it's about sharing stories with strangers, it's about communities, and it's about creating history and making happy memories.'
Amen to all of that. Richard demonstrates that without people like him we wouldn't have a football club and in truth, it would not be worth following. Long after foreign owners have got bored by their dalliance it will be the likes of Richard Wardell who will help Bradford City AFC begin the process of recovery and rebuilding.
John Dewhirst
You can find other book reviews on this blog – refer links from HERE
Published by johndewhirst
Author: 978-0-9566984-4-5 A History of Bradford City AFC in Objects (bantamspast 2014) 978-0-9566984-5-2 Room at the Top - The Origins of Professional Football in Bradford and the Rivalry of Bradford FC and Manningham FC (bantamspast 2016) 978-0-9566984-8-3 Life at the Top – The Rivalry of Manningham FC and Bradford FC and their Conversion from Rugby to Soccer (bantamspast 2016)	View all posts by johndewhirst
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Home Oral History Collection John J. Stavola oral history interview transcript
John J. Stavola oral history interview
John J. Stavola oral history interview transcript
Title John J. Stavola oral history interview
LST-37
World War, 1939-1945--Campaigns--Marshall Islands
Marine accidents.
LSMR-191
Kamikaze airplanes.
Kwajalein Atoll, Battle of, Marshall Islands, 1944
Description The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with John J. Stavola. Born in 1921, he joined the Navy in 1942. He trained with the diesel group at the Navy Pier in Chicago, Illinois. He was assigned to LST-37 as a Motor Mac. He remained with the ship for a month after it was transferred to the Greek Navy to assist with the transition. His next assignment was to the LST-43. He describes a Japanese air raid on Kwajalein. He also describes witnessing the disaster at West Loch in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii and rescuing his Executive Officer. He was sent back to the U.S. to pick up LSMRs. He shares an anecdote about prize fighter Tony Zale at the Naval Amphibious Base in Little Creek, Virginia. He returned to the Pacific for the invasion of Okinawa. He describes the naval battle for the island of Kerama Retto. He also describes the landing on Okinawa. He talks about picket duty aboard LSMR-191 and other activities in the waters around the island. He also discusses attacks by kamikazes. He returned to the U.S. with LSMR-191 when it was retrofitted as an ammunition carrier. He was discharged in January, 1946. The interview also contains information about his family during the Depression.
Creator Stavola, John H.
Thorpe, Kara
Title John J. Stavola oral history interview transcript
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Brownell v. Anderson, No. 26270.
Document Cited authorities 6 Cited in 11 Precedent Map Related
Court Supreme Court of Nebraska
Writing for the Court THOMPSON
Citation 222 N.W. 55,117 Neb. 652
Parties BROWNELL v. ANDERSON ET AL.
Decision Date 23 November 1928
Docket Number No. 26270.
117 Neb. 652
222 N.W. 55
BROWNELL
ANDERSON ET AL.
Supreme Court of Nebraska.
Nov. 23, 1928.
Syllabus by the Court.
"The remedy for the enforcement of the entire double liability imposed by the Constitution upon stockholders of a state bank in the event of insolvency is a suit in equity by a creditor for the benefit of all the creditors, or by the receiver, against all the stockholders." Rogers v. Selleck, 116 Neb. page ___, 221 N. W. 702.
A receiver of an insolvent state bank, duly appointed by the district court, lodged with the county court a contingent claim for double stock liability against the estate of a deceased stockholder, then being administered by it. Held, (a) that the filing of such claim did not vest the county court with exclusive jurisdiction over it, and neither did such filing deprive the receiver of the right to proceed in the district court appointing him, in a suit in equity, to determine the liability of such stockholder; (b) that the executor of such estate was a proper party defendant; (c) that it was the duty of the county court to direct the executor to retain in his hands sufficient of the assets to pay such contingent claim when the same became absolute.
Appeal from District Court, Dodge County; Button, Judge.
Action by R. O. Brownell, receiver of the First Bank of Nickerson, against W. A. Anderson and others, wherein Seymour S. Sidner, as executor of the estate of John Sidner, deceased, filed a special appearance. Judgment of dismissal, and plaintiff appeals. Reversed and remanded, with directions.
[222 N.W. 55]
Dolezal, Spear & Mapes, of Fremont, and C. M. Skiles and Ira D. Beynon, both of Lincoln, for appellant.
Courtright, Sidner, Lee & Gunderson, of Fremont, for appellees.
Heard before GOSS, C. J., DEAN, THOMPSON, EBERLY, and HOWELL, JJ., and REDICK and CHASE, District Judges.
THOMPSON, J.
This action was instituted by appellant, the receiver of the First Bank of Nickerson, against the appellees by way of a petition in equity, in due and usual form in such cases, to enforce the double liability of appellees as stockholders of the above insolvent bank under sections 4 and 7, art. 12, of the Constitution of this state. At the trial the appellee, Seymour S. Sidner, as executor of the estate of John Sidner, deceased, filed a special appearance which challenged the jurisdiction of the district court over him, as well as over the subject-matter. The court sustained the challenge and dismissed the action, to reverse which the receiver appeals and presents as reasons for such reversal, in substance, that, under the facts shown by the record and the law applicable thereto, the special appearance should have been overruled and appellant permitted to proceed with his action to final judgment.
The facts material for our consideration, as shown by the record, are: The First Bank of Nickerson is one organized under the laws of this state for commercial banking business at Nickerson in Dodge county. The appellees, defendants, with others were and are stockholders in the bank, one of whom, as above indicated, was John Sidner, who died testate a resident of Dodge county on August 15, 1923. On September 10, 1923, in the county court of such county, the will was admitted to probate, and Seymour S. Sidner appointed executor, who qualified and entered upon the discharge of his duties, and has been ever since so acting. On July 10, 1924, the bank was, by the district court for Dodge county, adjudged insolvent and Emil Folda appointed receiver, who subsequently resigned and R. O. Brownell, the appellant, was...
Brownell v. Adams, No. 27682.
...56 Neb. 201, 76 N. W. 587;Hastings v. Barnd, 55 Neb. 93, 75 N. W. 49;Brown v. Brink, 57 Neb. 606, 78 N. W. 280;Brownell v. Anderson, 117 Neb. 652, 222 N. W. 55. [2] Jurisdiction of equity to enforce constitutional liability of stockholders of an insolvent banking corporation is based upon t......
Parker v. Luehrmann, No. 28731.
Supreme Court of Nebraska
...claim absolute for allowance in the county court. The administrator is a proper party defendant for that purpose. Brownell v. Anderson, 117 Neb. 652, 222 N. W. 55. 3. "The trust of an administrator or executor is a continuing one, and a decree of final accounting does not destroy the relati......
Walter v. Walter, No. 26107.
...the interest of plaintiffs in the east 80 would have been reduced to one-third, and their interest in Knox county estate would have been [222 N.W. 55]one-third, after the payment of $3,000 of legacies and a $3,000 mortgage. No prejudice is shown. It is said in 30 Cyc. 190, that, until a "pr......
Hoover v. Haller, No. 31980.
...Neb. 613, 97 N.W. 808. Certainly an action in partition is one for relief other than for the recovery of money only. Brownell v. Anderson, 117 Neb. 652, 222 N.W. 55, was a suit involving the liability of a stockholder in a state bank, brought against the executor of the estate of a deceased......


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AFA - Air & Space
Boeing Positions F-15 as F-22 Supplement
NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — In an effort to extend its F-15 business, Boeing unveiled a new upgrade package for the F-15C design — one specifically targeting an air superiority gap left from the decision to cut production on the F-22.
The new design, part of an effort dubbed "F-15 C2040" by the company, would double the number of air-to-air weapons carried by the F-15C from 8 eight to 16 while adding conformal fuel tanks for enhanced distance.
It would also feature updated electronics, including a long-range Infra-Red Search and Track (IRST) sensor and the already planned Eagle Passive/Active Warning Survivability System (EPAWSS). It would also feature an updated AESA radar.
The upgrades being proposed are not one large package. Rather, the company is offering a menu of options, one which can be targeted both at the 250 air dominance F-15s in the US inventory and the hundreds used by international customers abroad.
Mike Gibbons, F-15 program manager for Boeing, said the idea of this particular configuration came from a realization that "there is a real challenge the Air Force faces with air superiority."
Boeing's marketing theory goes something like this. The F-22 was supposed to be the air superiority backbone of the Air Force for years to come, working hand in hand with the F-35 to provide a high-end air capability. But then the F-22 program was cancelled well short of projected totals.
Gen. Mark Welsh, Air Force Cchief of Sstaff, acknowledged the challenge caused by the curtailed F-22 fleet in an exclusive interview with Defense News.
The F-35, Welsh said, "was never designed to be the next dog fighting machine. It was designed to be the multipurpose, data-integration platform that could do all kinds of things in the air-to-ground arena including dismantle enemy, integrated, air defenses. It had an air-to-air capability, but it was not intended to be an air-superiority fighter. That was the F-22."
For Boeing, the argument then is that an upgraded F-15C can help bridge the gap left by the F-22 cutback, at least until the next-generation air dominance program comes online in large numbers — around 2040.
Which isn't to say upgraded F-15s will replace the F-22. Indeed, Boeing is expressly positioning the system as an integrated capability with the F-22, thanks to its Talon HATE program.
Speaking to reporters last week in St. Louis, Boeing executives gave a first glance at the pod, which is on contract with the Air Force for 4 EMD pods. The pod is designed to allow easy data transfer between F-22 and F-15, built around the Boeing "Phantom Fusion" computer system.
Gibbons confirmed the Talon HATE pod is part of the upgrade package being discussed. He added that while the pod comes with an IRST capability, it is not the long-range IRST being discussed for the 2040C package.
Backlog orders on the F-15 line currently run out in 2019. While denying that means the end of the F-15 line in St. Louis, Gibbons did acknowledge it puts pressure on the Air Force to decide whether it wants these upgrades or not "in the next few" budget cycles.
Gibbons also said the work is largely non-evasive, with the exception of EPAWSS — which is already planned to be installed across the fleet in the early 2020s. That would provide an ideal window to do other depot work, he noted.
Speaking to reporters later in the day, Gen. Hawk Carlisle, the head of Air Combat Command, acknowledged that a capability upgrade would be nice, but that a service life extension program, or SLEP, is more important.
"When we look at the stress tests we've done on the f15c and were doing on the f15 and f16 there are issues were gonna have to do for service life extension with respect to the structural integrity of the airplane, so were working on those and what were gonna have to do in the future,
"If I could find a way with resources, I would do everything I could when we put those airplanes in to do a service life extension program and fix the structural issues, I would do everything in my power to try to do capabilities upgrade at the same time," he said. "I will try to do as much of that as I can find the resources."
As to how much a SLEP program would cost, Carlisle said the analysis is underway but "we know it's a pretty significant bill in the billions of dollars."
Lara Seligman contributed to this report.
Email: amehta@defensenews.com
Twitter: @AaronMehta
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HomeNewsHeritage BC recognizes Annable Block restoration
Heritage BC recognizes Annable Block restoration
By Submitted Article
Friday, May. 13th, 2022
Nelson CARES has won provincial recognition for its efforts to restore and conserve the Annable Block. (Submitted by Nelson CARES)
Heritage BC has honoured the Nelson CARES Society for its efforts in restoring the Annable Block (also known as Ward Street Place). The building was chosen as the winner of conservation category for this year's Heritage BC awards.
Nelson CARES bought the building in 2002, which is home to 45 residential and seven commercial tenants.
"It was truly a labour of love to restore and bring dignity back to this amazing building and to the people who live there," said project manager Jenny Robinson, who recently retired from the organization.
The award was presented Wednesday during the joint conference between Heritage BC and the BC Museum Association.
"This award is a wonderful acknowledgement for the building which now outwardly reflects the safety, stability and sense of community for the residents inside," Nelson CARES chair Ron Little said.
The Annable Block was built in 1912 and has been home to offices, storefronts, and furnished one-room apartments ever since.
"It's been a real privilege to have an opportunity to give back to a community that has given so much to me and my family," said Steffan Haake, the maintenance Lead at Ward Street Place.
"I'm honored to have been part of a project that helps conserve our town's rich history and simultaneously help deal with the present housing crisis that troubles so many of our communities."
In 2011 a budget was developed for the long-term restoration and operation of the building including a 30-year maintenance reserve. In 2014, a $700,000 fundraising campaign, partnered with the community to renovate one residential unit at a time. In 2017 extensive interior renovations were completed including a fire suppression system.
Nelson CARES completed a heritage conservation plan in 2018, which detailed significant upgrades to the building including, a rebuild of the roofline cornice, preservation of original Florentine glass transoms, awning renewal, updated cooling/heating system and new doors and windows.
"For me this has been not only an education in antique materials and design, but an eye-opening discovery that we have here in our community the contractors and the tradespeople capable of taking on some very unique challenges and also capable of reviving some antique skills," said project manager Bill Lynch.
Nelson CARES says the project was made possible with the support of the Columbia Basin Trust, the technical guidance of Heritage BC experts and skilled tradespeople in Nelson.


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EC announces preliminary decision on sharing
.	 Published on 11 September, 2002 . 0
The European Commission has reached a preliminary decision on the future of 3G network sharing, bringing good news for two international mobile operators. The UK-based O2 group and Germany's T-Mobile proposed a scheme some time ago which would see the pair sharing some of their UMTS network infrastructure in the UK and Germany, where both companies have bought 3G licences.
EC Competition Commissioner, Mario Monti, commented: "The examination of the network sharing agreements between T-Mobile and O2, the only two so far to have been filed for regulatory clearance, have led the Commission to believe that, provided that the appropriate safeguards are in place, such co-operation deals can bring benefits for the consumer in terms of a faster introduction of new services, more competition and a lesser impact to the environment." The EC will not give its final decision until it has studied the views of all other parties involved.
Written by BWCS for PMN Mobile Industry Intelligence.
The commission would have been foolish to reject the idea of network sharing entirely, but it is sensible to set certain conditions for such agreements. As Ericsson has highlighted, some markets may not be big enough to accomodate the number of licenses sold. In a sense, this is the EC attempting to patch up the damage caused by the greed of individual governments during the 3G license auctions.
This a positive step which will be welcomed by all in the industry for the exact reasons cited by Commissioner Monti: increased speed of deployment for the consumer and reduced environmental impact from 3G base stations. If properly regulated this should lead in turn to a more viable competitive landscape.


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Leona Lewis plans Adele duet
Leona Lewis wants to get back to the top of the US charts by making a track with fellow British singer Adele.
by : Elle Canada- May 24th, 2011
Leona Lewis wants to get back to the top of the US charts by duetting with Adele.
The British singer – who got to number one in the US singles chart with 'Bleeding Love' four years ago – wants to raise her profile stateside by collaborating with the 'Someone Like You' hitmaker.
She told Metro newspaper: "They've invited me to perform on US 'X Factor', so that will be exciting.
"What came into my head was a duet with Adele. I think she is incredible. I met her a little while ago. We did 'VH1 Divas' together and I just think she's awesome. She's done so well and her music speaks for itself. That's what it is – just talent."
The 26-year-old beauty has been working on her next album which she says promises a "different sound".
She said: "I've been working in Europe and the US with new producers. It's fresh and it's all coming together with a different sound."
Meanwhile, Adele has turned down a reported £500,000 to appear at three summer shows in London so she can instead hang out with her friends, as she doesn't want her whole life to be spent working.
The told Q magazine: "I've been doing this since I was 18 and if I do it how I could do it, if I worked my a**e off for ten years, I'd miss my whole twenties.
"I think that's where my insecurities have been coming in. What if I come out the other end and I dunno who I am? It'd be horrible.
"You've got to build up relationships. I'm at a point where I'm making my friends for life. I don't wanna forget how to be normal."
The 'Rolling in the Deep' singer added she is not "money-driven", and would be just as happy without a big bank balance.
She added: "I like things now I've got it but I'd still be alive and healthy and a good person if I didn't have money."
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Scientific Calls
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Lukas Fox | 10 September 2020 | doi:doi:10.5281/zenodo.3964396
Philipp Hübl on the characteristics of conspiracy theories the motivation behind their spread, and rational thought as a shield against it.
SCIENCE VERSUS PSEUDOSCIENCE
Most conspiracy theorists make abstruse claims: The world is flat and run by an alien species of "reptiloids" covered in human skin (Ronson 2001). Governments use airplanes to diffuse chemicals into the atmosphere, known as "chemtrails", in order to regulate the size or behavior of the population. The Rothschild family has been in charge of global finance and trade for centuries. 9/11 was an inside job. And Bill Gates is developing a vaccination against the coronavirus in order to secretly implant chips under our skin that can be used to control our minds. Especially during the current Covid-19 pandemic, new varieties of widespread conspiracy ideas have emerged. The idea behind conspiracy theories can be summarized as follows: Nothing is what it seems, and there is a master plan behind all major events in world history (Butter 2018; Barkun 2013). Conspiracy thinking underlies entertaining conspiracy theories, or at least, it is a disposition to holding conspiracy theories to be true.
At first glance, conspiracy thinking bears a striking resemblance to scientific thinking. Working in science, in order to make a name for yourself, you have to attack the standard view and come up with an original alternative explanation. You have to cultivate a skeptical stance and find a general principle underlying apparent heterogenous phenomena (like the law of gravitation or the structure of the DNA). This is precisely what a conspiracy theorist does, or so it seems.
At second glance, however, the differences between the conspiracy mentality and scientific thinking are even more striking. In fact, philosophers of science like Karl Popper, who coined the term "conspiracy theory", and others went to great length to pinpoint the demarcation between science on the one hand and pseudoscience, a mere dummy or superficial imitation of real science, on the other (Popper 1945). This enterprise is commonly called the "demarcation problem" (Hansson 2008).
Conspiracy theories often incorporate elements from pseudoscience, for instance by employing scientific terms or referring to "data", "research", "sources" and statements from "experts". Yet they typically shy away from employing the scientific method. Though there is no final consensus about the list of criteria for the demarcation between science and pseudoscience, there are some clear candidates: Scientific claims are based on systematic observation and/or experimentation, they should be consistent with other findings, and ideally expressed in precise logical and mathematical terms. Those statements need to be falsifiable, in other words, it must be possible to show that they are not true (Popper 1935). And the theories have to be ontologically parsimonious, typically expressed by Ockham's razor: "don't introduce entities without need", or put more colloquially "the simplest explanation is the best" (on parsimony, see Quine (1948)). Through critical self-examination, like peer review, scientific theories can be improved and enhanced. Scientific process and societal progress in technology, economics and social conditions go hand in hand.
By contrast, pseudoscience rarely emerges from systematic observations and it is rarely expressed in precise terms, let alone based on qualitative or quantitative studies (for a discussion, see Popper (1935), Bunge (1982), Hansson (2008), Thagard (1978)). The claims show no regard for consistency, are often immune to falsification and introduce mystical powers and forces instead of employing parsimony. Pseudoscience lacks peer review, shows neither scientific nor subsequent technological, economic or social progress.
THE COGNITIVE FALLACIES OF CONSPIRACY THEORISTS
Conspiracy theorists, too, rarely have formal training in science, or more broadly, in rational thinking, yet they entertain a penchant for the extremes. A newspaper didn't publish the "exact" numbers of participants of a political demonstration? Then the entire "mainstream media" must be lying. The wrong person was arrested after the terrorist attack 2016 in Berlin? The government is obviously behind it. The philosopher Jerry Fodor characterized this appetite for excess: "Apparently the rule is: if aspirin doesn't work, try cutting off the head" (Fodor 1986 p. 1)
As research in psychology shows, conspiracy theories are fuelled by two attitudes, one cognitive and one motivational: namely fallacies in reasoning on the one hand and certain emotional attitudes and personality traits on the other. Together they constitute the conspiracy mentality (Imhoff 2015).
First let's look at the cognitive fallacies (Kahneman 2011). Consider the above-mentioned conspiracy theory about reptiloids, mighty alien lizards controlling the world. This story is reminiscent of John Carpenter's 1988 film They Live, in which the entire upper class consists of extraterrestrials who disguise themselves as human beings, forcing the world population to work for them. The film is an allegory about capitalism, hidden power and critical outsiders who ultimately blow the rulers' cover. A conspiracy theory often starts from a point of healthy skepticism towards authorities, but then overshoots the mark, turning into the absurd opposite.
Studies show that conspiracy theorists are likely to have an intuitive thinking style that is guided by gut feelings, with little to no knowledge about statistics. They are typically young, have a low level of education, are more religious and spiritual than the average, believe in the supernatural, and are generally prone to extreme views (Bartoschek 2015). As some experiments indicate, conspiracy theorists don't find it problematic to have two contradicting beliefs at the same time. For example, in one study, subjects with a conspiracy mentality considered it more likely that Lady Di was killed by the secret service than was killed in a car accident (Wood 2012). At the same time, they considered it more likely that she is still alive, living under a secret identity, than being dead from the accident. In other words, conspiracy theorists find it more likely that Lady Di is simultaneously dead and alive. Schrödinger's Lady Di, so to say. Conspiracy theorists also fall prey to fake news more easily than the average, according to research on 2.3 million Facebook users (Mocanu 2015).
When it comes to pseudoscientific beliefs, the conspiracy theorist's naïve and fallacious theory of causation is particularly striking, namely the idea that a small elite secretly guides the destiny of mankind. Instead of accepting that human suffering often results from complex and elusive political, social and economic circumstances, they rather opt for personalized causes, namely a group of powerful Svengalis.
A theory of causation says something about cause and effect (for an overview, see Schaffer (2016)). We all tacitly employ a folk theory of causation, even if we cannot frame it in explicit terms. For example, we know that dropping the vase causes it to break on the kitchen floor. We know that insulting people makes them angry, in other words, that insults cause anger. And we know that sunburns are caused by rays of light.
Assumptions about causation are not only at the heart of the sciences, but so essential for the everyday thought and action that Immanuel Kant considered the principle of causation ("Every event has a cause") one of the basic principles of reason (Kant 1781/1787). We cannot try to understand the world without assuming that causes are followed by their effects. Many causes are complex, invisible, and have indirect and thus often distant effects. An Azores anticyclone is causing cloud formations over Paris. Hundreds of wrong decisions caused the financial crisis in 2008. And viruses like Covid-19, too tiny to be detectable by the naked eye, can cause a pandemic killing hundreds of thousands worldwide. Although causation is the "cement of the universe", as David Hume pointed out, it is challenging even in science to corroborate causal claims through experimental or other evidence.
Many people have a hard time dealing with distant, complex and invisible causes, because from our experience, we are only familiar with everyday causes in our vicinity occurring to medium-sized objects, like persons, cars and vases. The most salient causes we know from experience are human agents, or more precisely, their actions. This is probably the reason why the ancient Greeks regarded Zeus as the one who threw lightning bolts and why members of many ethnic religions still blame demons and witches for inexplicable happenings, for example for their house collapsing or for their child getting sick (Boyer 2001).
Conspiracy theories employ similar reasoning by making a small group of agents responsible for the suffering of the world: the CIA, the Freemasons, the Zionists, or simply "the elites". For them, agent causation is closer to home than introducing complex and abstract explanations that take into account multiple events as well as the dispositions and powers of the objects that appear in those events.
If you have formal training in dealing with probabilities you know that if two people have a fatal accident on the same day on two different continents, it is almost certainly due to pure chance, even if a few decades before, they had both worked side by side for the government. However, the conspiracy theorist will reject mere coincidence, and suspect a hidden message or a higher plan concocted by a person or a group. Psychologists call this tendency hyperactive agent detection (Barrett 2000).
Still, how do some people come up with the insane idea that 9/11 was an inside job? The government of the United States attacking the World Trade Center killing over 3,000 US citizens in order to have a reason to invade Afghanistan? This is where a second fallacy comes into play, the cui bono principle, which says: "To whom is it a benefit?". The principle is attributed to the Roman philosopher Cicero, who used it in a criminal trial to uncover the motive of an actual perpetrator, thus proving the innocence of his client. From an evolutionary perspective, the principle makes sense. When it comes to actions, it is quite plausible to first ask about the motive, because this is the only way to explain our deeds and those of others (Davidson 1980). The police, for example have a hard time solving murders, if there is no motive, as we know from television shows.
From the point of argumentation theory, however, the principle is fallacious. The consequences of an act being useful for someone does not imply that they committed it. Incidentally, common sense alone can refute the conspiracy theory behind the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center. The US could have invaded Afghanistan on a less dramatic pretext. They could have simply said "The country has weapons of mass destruction."
THE MOTIVATION BEHIND THE CONSPIRACY MENTALITY
In addition to cognitive fallacies and biases, the conspiracy mentality has a second aspect that typically leads to motivated cognition stemming from protecting one's moral identity, especially when it comes to authority and power (Bruder 2013; for more details, see Hübl (2019)). In this regard, the conspiracy mentality is similar to Theodor W. Adorno's concept of an authoritarian character, a person who is particularly receptive to right-wing extremist ideas (developed by Adorno as well as Max Horkheimer and Erich Fromm, see Adorno et al. (1950)). Such a person is not only drawn to authority and power, he or she is also prone to superstition, belief in destiny, a social dominance orientation towards outgroups and the belief in evil (Hübl 2018a).
Since people with a conspiracy mentality have similar characteristics, it is apparent that the groups largely overlap. Conspiracy theories are particularly popular among right-wing extremists, and many conspiracy theories employ topics from right-wing extremism (Bruder 2013 p. 10). However, the conspiracy mentality can also be found among left-leaning liberals and progressives (Miller et al. 2016). Progressive conspiracy theories often regard topics of nature, health and medicine, such as genetically modified food or vaccination being linked to evil plans by "big pharma" or "the government".
At any event, the majority of conspiracy theorists employ right-wing attitudes and are concerned with power and authorities. Since they entertain an authoritarian thinking style, they want to dominate others. Hence, they are particularly bothered if authority lies in the wrong hands (van Prooijen 2013). Moreover, those who follow a conspiracy theory tend to think that other conspiracy theories are true, as expressed by psychologist Stephen Lewandowsky's tongue-in-cheek "NASA faked the moon landing, therefore, climate science is a hoax" (Lewandowsky 2013). This stance indicates a general suspicion towards out-group authority. From an evolutionary point of view, we may have evolved to be sensitive and distrusting towards power in our social group, especially since power is often complementary. When I have no power, others typically have it. But the inference from "others have power" to "others use their power against me" is a fallacy. It comes as no surprise that according to many studies, conspiracy theorists typically suffer from a feeling of powerlessness and inferiority (Goertzel 1994). They have the impression that nothing can be done against those in charge of politics and the economy. Often, they also feel socially excluded, disintegrated and alienated (Graeupner/Coman 2016).
One can even intensify this feeling in experiments generating conspiracy thoughts. Students interviewed in a classic anxiety situation shortly before an important exam made stronger conspiracy assumptions than the relaxed control group (Grzesiak-Feldman 2013). In another experiment, after being presented with unsolvable puzzles, subjects had to look at randomly generated pictures (Whitson/Galinsky 2008). They recognized significantly more "patterns" in these images than those subjects from the neutral control group. This suggests that when people are unable to bring order to the world around them, they will seek order and structure elsewhere.
The experiments could also explain why conspiracy theorists often present themselves as having a gesture of superiority (Imhoff/Lamberty 2017). They think that they have a secret knowledge that is kept from others and enjoy the feeling of being special. While other people are naïve and need to wake up from their dogmatic slumber, conspiracy theorists view themselves as skeptics who don't fall for deception. Plus, they always have a surprising story to tell.
As a coping strategy, this feeling of superiority could have two functions: On the one hand, it gives conspiracy theorists the impression of power as a substitute for their lack of power.
As opposed to the blind majority, they are "red pilled", seeing through the veil of deception. On the other hand, the narrative of mighty puppeteers serves as a rationalization of their own shortcomings (Imhoff/Bruder 2014). The second attitude would also explain why anti-Semitism is a frequent element in conspiracy theories. Anti-Semitic conspiracy theorists consider Jews inferior, but still powerful (Fiske 2002).
RATIONAL THINKING AS BULLSHIT RESISTANCE
The current pandemic is characterized by a loss of control due to an invisible threat. Both aspects promote conspiracy thinking. While full-fledged conspiracy theorists are often self-proclaimed skepticists and critical thinkers, they typically confuse science as a combination of method and positive scientific knowledge with the current knowledge alone. Science, as a method, is the systematic discovery of the truth, while the current scientific knowledge is by its nature preliminary. Conspiracy theorists take revisions in science (e.g. initially considering first-hand contact as main pathway of coronavirus infections, and later aerosols) or ignorance in certain fields of study (e.g. about the origins of the coronavirus) as indicating that the methodological enterprise of science itself is questionable.
What conspiracy theorists don't see is that autocorrection is an integral part of the scientific method, a fact that is often not stressed enough in the popular communication of science. This method has proven its worth for several reasons. First, it is based on the insight that knowledge is fallible: what you believe to be true can be proved to be wrong later (Popper 1935). Second, scientific theses are always empirically undetermined, no matter how good and large the data set is (Quine 1960). Later discoveries can throw a new light on your approach. Third, humans are fallible beings: we make mistakes. And even if we take all precautionary measures, we tend to employ typical heuristics and biases. This is why peer review and criticism from colleagues is such an important corrective in science.
Treating knowledge as preliminary and theories as undetermined is challenging for many in everyday life. Even people who are resilient towards conspiracy thinking, prefer to know what is going on instead of constantly dealing with ambiguity and indeterminacy. Why is that the case? Evolutionary psychologists tell something of the following story: Our everyday thinking is not geared towards virology, statistics and the philosophy of science, but has evolved in order to survive in a harsh and dangerous environment (Stanovich 2010). Living during the Stone Age in small groups, the thought patterns of our ancestors were advantageous even though they contradicted the principles of science. It was better on average, for instance, to follow those who appeared confident, because every full-bodied boast about the close-up area was easy to unmask: Those who could not correctly interpret the track of the wild boar immediately lost their reputation (Pinker 2018 p. 354 f.).
Yet, group cohesion might have been more important than the truth (Shaver/Sosis 2018). The group's identity included superstitious causal explanations about how the world worked, such as gods hurling lightning bolts. Those who questioned the standard assumptions of the tribe were ostracized or even killed. Moreover, the safest assumption was: correlation implies causation. If the companion ate a toadstool and died afterwards, then the natural assumption was that the mushroom had caused his death. It would have been absolutely ruinous to conduct a double-blind study with fly agarics and placebo mushrooms to systematically test the hypothesis "fly agarics are poisonous".
Today, we are still susceptible to those archaic thought patterns. However, they are harmful when it comes to pandemics and the like, since science does not work that way. Researchers are revising their assumptions and carefully formulating their hypotheses, which makes them appear uncertain and fickle to laypeople. Causes are rarely agents, but in the case of pandemics invisible entities like bacteria or the Covid-19 virus. To investigate them, you have to conduct experiments. In science, at least on average, anyone who disproves the group's mainstream view with good arguments and solid data is rewarded with fame, prizes and a tenured position instead of being outlawed. While science is arguably not as open and transparent as it could be, and while researchers, too, sometimes misuse their power, only very few got rich or powerful from their discoveries. And finally, correlation does not imply causation. For instance, the decline of the number of storks and the birth rates in Europe have been strongly correlated for decades now, as are margarine consumption in the USA and the divorce rate in the state of Maine (Matthews 2000). But those correlations tell us nothing about causation. In order to bring the nature of things to light, you need experimental and statistical methods. Claims from conspiracy theorists such as "the experts lie" or "Bill Gates is behind it" fall short of this standard.
We are made from crooked timber, as Kant has pointed out (Kant 1784). Empirical research on heuristics and biases can corroborate and specify this observation. We are prone to prejudices and mental shortcuts, because evolution has equipped us with an intuitive thinking apparatus that is not tailor-made for the modern world of science and technology. Fortunately, however, evolution has also given us reason, that is the ability to distance us from ourselves, and to think critically and scientifically, so that we can shield ourselves against mental shortcuts and recognize our own prejudices (Stanovich 2016). This is tiring, since it requires attention and intensive training, but it can save lives and prevent us from making fools out of ourselves in believing ludicrous fake news and conspiracy theories. Hence, in schools and universities and all essential political, social and scientific institutions we need obligatory courses in "critical thinking", or, as I like to call it: bullshit resistance (for more details, see Hübl (2018b)).
Philipp Hübl is a philosopher working in the philosophy of science, philosophy of mind and about moral identity. He is author of the books "Die aufgeregte Gesellschaft" (2019), "Bullshit-Resistenz (2018), "Der Untergrund des Denkens" (2015), among others, and has published articles on political and social topics in media like DIE ZEIT, FAZ, taz, NZZ, Die Welt, Republik, and El País. Hübl taught theoretic philosophy at the RWTH Aachen university, the Humboldt University in Berlin, and as Associate Professor ("Juniorprofessor") at Stuttgart University. In 2020, he is fellow at the Weizenbaum Institute in Berlin.
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Science Comics: Birds of Prey: Terrifying Talons (Hardcover)
By Joe Flood
Spread your wings with Science Comics: Birds of Prey, a new and exciting volume of First Second's nonfiction graphic novel series!
Every volume of Science Comics offers a complete introduction to a particular topic—dinosaurs, the solar system, volcanoes, bats, robots, and more. Whether you're a fourth grader doing a natural science unit at school or a thirty-year-old with a secret passion for airplanes, these graphic novels are for you!
In this volume, you'll get up-close and personal with some of the world's most skilled hunters, from the majestic eagle to the oft-maligned scavenger vulture! Armed with razor-sharp claws, keen eyesight, powerful wings, and killer instincts, these stealthy predators can make a meal of rodents, fish, snakes, lizards, monkeys, and even kangaroos! Discover how these amazing birds who are often at the top of the food chain, play an integral role in many different ecosystems around the world.
Joe Flood is a comic book author and illustrator whose work includes Cellies, Pirates of the Caribbean and Orcs: Forged for War. For the Science Comics series, he collaborated on Dinosaurs: Fossils and Feathers with MK Reed and wrote and illustrated Sharks: Nature's Perfect Hunter. He lives with his wife and daughter in New York's Hudson Valley.
"Flood's standout bird portraits use saturated colors to make plumage patterns particularly vivid and sharply defined lines for painstakingly detailed beaks and talons... [Science Comics: Birds of Prey] feeds, in a frank but not gratuitously gory way, middle graders' hunger to learn more about some of the animal world's most fierce and splendid predators." —School Library Journal
"A fun, fact-filled romp through the world of raptors."—Kirkus
Publisher: First Second
Series: Science Comics
Minimum Grade Level:
Juvenile Nonfiction / Comics & Graphic Novels / Science & Nature
Juvenile Nonfiction / Animals / Birds
Juvenile Nonfiction / Science & Nature / Zoology
Paperback (May 17th, 2022): $12.99


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Orioles reach deadline day to sign arbitration-eligible players
By: Roch Kubatko
The deadline for teams to reach agreements with their unsigned arbitration-eligible players is 1 p.m. today and the Orioles still have some unfinished business.
They will be exchanging salary figures with Trey Mancini, Hanser Alberto and Mychal Givens unless they can resolve the situation. Hearing dates will be established between Feb. 3-21, with the Orioles vowing to go "file and trial" rather than continue to negotiate.
I feel like I've been writing about this subject for months.
(Checks notes, sees that he has.)
MLBTradeRumors.com has predicted that Mancini will receive a raise from $575,500 to $5.7 million, while Cot's Contracts places his salary at $5 million.
The jump is going to be significant, no matter the outcome. The Most Valuable Oriole award is a nice negotiating tool.
Givens made $2.15 million last season and projections place his 2020 salary at $3.2 million or $3.5 million. Alberto's salary is projected to rise from $578,000 to $1.9 million or $2.25 million.
Left-hander Richard Bleier agreed on Dec. 2 to a contract that pays $915,000, a raise from $572,500 last season. The Orioles traded Jonathan Villar to the Marlins and Dylan Bundy to the Angels, leaving them with the four unsigned players heading into yesterday.
The figure was shaved to three after Miguel Castro signed for $1.05 million. He earned $569,000 last season before entering the world of arbitration eligibility.
The Orioles are 11-2 in arbitration hearings, the last loss coming against reliever Brad Brach in 2017. Former manager Buck Showalter relayed the result to players as they were stretching on one of the back fields at the Ed Smith Stadium complex.
One teammate yelled that Brach was paying for dinner.
Castro has more on his mind these days than arbitration. The robbery in the Dominican Republic has understandably left him shaken, knowing that only a jammed gun prevented the situation from turning far more tragic than a lost necklace.
It certainly puts contract negotiations in their proper perspective. And if anyone needed to receive some good news yesterday, it was this guy.
No one on the roster is immune to trade talks and executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias mentioned earlier this week that more veterans could be dealt later in the offseason. It wasn't a prediction. More of a confirmation that he's open to the idea after already moving Villar and Bundy.
Givens is viewed as the most likely to go if anyone is moved, but I'm still expecting him to begin the season in Baltimore - with the caveat that I'm allowed to change my mind.
Like, right after a trade is announced.
I haven't talked to every single person in baseball, but there are plenty who think Givens is more likely to be traded in July. But it only takes one phone call to shift the odds.
Alberto isn't irreplaceable, of course, but he's set up to start at second base with Villar gone, could platoon again at third base and might be allowed to play some shortstop after skipping the position in 2019.
A pretty important guy who won't need to worry about the waiver wire.
I won't need to worry about arbitration if the Orioles can get three more agreements by noon. Bury the subject and move onto the next.
(Checks notes, has nothing else to write about, vows to stop complaining.)
featured_sidebar, frontstory_orioles3, hanser alberto, miguel castro, mike elias, mychal givens, orioles, richard bleier, roch kubatko, trey mancini
Orioles sign Castro for 2020 season
Orioles agree to terms with Givens, Alberto and Mancini
Another look at the importance of winning on the farm
For this player, expectations will be high in 2020
Part two: A scout's take on O's prospects


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Home Politics Brexit: John Bercow rules out third meaningful vote on same deal |...
Brexit: John Bercow rules out third meaningful vote on same deal | Politics | The Guardian
The House of Commons Speaker, John Bercow, has said the government cannot bring the meaningful vote back to parliament again unless there has been substantial change to the Brexit deal.
In a shock move likely to infuriate the prime minister, the Speaker said the House of Commons was "being repeatedly asked to pronounce" on the same question.
Bercow suggested he believed such a change would involve a renegotiation at EU level, rather than clarification of the legal advice written by the attorney general, something that had been suggested this week.
Quoting from the guide to parliamentary procedure, Erskine May, Bercow said that by convention, the question "may not be brought forward again during the same session" and that it was a "strong and longstanding convention" dating back to 1604.
He said the convention had been confirmed again many times, including in 1864, 1870, 1882, 1891 and 1912. "Indeed, Erskine May makes reference to no fewer than 12 such rulings up to the year 1920," he said. "One of the reasons the rule has lasted so long is that it is a necessary rule to ensure the sensible use of the house's time and the proper respect for the decisions it takes.
"Decisions of the house matter. They have weight," he said. "It is a necessary rule to ensure the sensible use of the house's time and the proper respect for the decisions which it takes."
Bercow said the second meaningful vote motion held last week did not fall foul of the convention, because it "could credibly argued it was a different proposition" to that rejected on 15 January because of changes the government considered to be legally binding.
"If the government was to bring forward a new proposition that is neither the same, nor substantially the same as disposed of by 10 March, this would be entirely in order," he said, but added that it could not be "the same proposition or substantially the same proposition".
In a response to a point of order by the chair of the Brexit select committee, Hilary Benn, Bercow said a "demonstrable change to the proposition would be desired … a change in opinion about something does not in itself constitute a change of the offer."
He said the change must make the deal "fundamentally different", rather than just a unilateral reinterpretation.
"Not different in terms of wording, but different in terms of substance," he said. "This is in the context of a negotiation with others, outside the United Kingdom. That would be my initial feeling."
Bercow won immediate support from the leading Conservative Brexiter Bill Cash, in a flurry of points of order after the statement.
"It seems to me that what you have said makes an enormous amount of sense given the fact that, actually, this has been defeated on two separate occasions," Cash said.
The Speaker said the motion could be put forward unchanged if parliament was prorogued and then resumed, in answer to a question from the pro-Brexit Conservative MP Jacob Rees-Mogg.
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