As I mentioned earlier, the Dreadful Tales begin!
"Surely, Sir, you cannot be serious?" asked the woman in the grey dress. She crossed her arms, a sure sign of her displeasure.
"That's filthy, disgusting," she said closing her parasol.
Standing with unhurried grace, the handsome man looked at the city around them. Tall, soot covered buildings leaned precariously close to each other above their heads. Foul water dripped from eaves and gutters, while the sweet smell of rot pervaded the alley they stood in. The ever-present misty shroud that obscured the sun was unusually low today. The shadows of vast air ships prowled above it, like great whales beneath the surface of a turbulent ocean. Rats watched them brazenly from a nearby corner.


TeraFlex Universal 1-Hole Front Brake Line Anchor Kit properly locates your front brake line for safe tire clearance during full suspension movement. The secure mounting eliminates unnecessary movement of the flexible brake line and ABS/wheel speed sensor.
Made from EDPM rubber around a steel core for positive and permanent brake line location.
JK Front Brake Line Kit - 26"
JK Rear Brake Line Kit - 30"


text:
Alabama Family Uses Timber Framing to Build House
Mon October 15, 2012 - Southeast Edition
Ana Rodriguez - THE BIRMINGHAM NEWS
CHELSEA, Ala. (AP) A house built without nails.
It might seem impossible to many nowadays, but at one point, timber framing, as it is called, was standard practice. It's seldom done anymore. But for one family in Shelby County, it seemed like the perfect way to build a lakefront guest house.
When O.G. Touchstone, — Tut, as he likes to be called — set out to build on 26 acres along the outskirts of Chelsea, he imagined a simple place: a cabin on a private lake, no electricity, a wood-burning stove.
"Then the girls got involved," said Tut as he shook his head, his boots deeply embedded in the red mud by the building site.
The design, said Tut, took approximately one weekend to complete. The family — his wife, Kathy; their children, Jody, Green and Jesse; as well as Green's wife, Erica, and Jody's husband, Nathan Orrison — all pitched in with their ideas. Soon, the simple cabin grew to be around 3,000 sq. ft., said Tut.
"I got it back down to 1,100 square feet," Tut said.
The one thing they could agree on was that they wanted it to be unique. Six out of the seven family members are designers in some respect — ranging from architects to landscape designers. Tut himself was a landscape architect before he retired.
Jody was the first to suggest post-and-beam construction, also known as timber framing. Jesse, the youngest son who will be the primary occupant of the house, suggested the dog-trot design, including a breezeway open to the roof in the middle of the home.
When searching for a builder, Tut found who he thought was the perfect man for the job in Thomas Downs, owner of Southern Timber Framer LLC. Downs spent two years in Maine learning techniques used by timber framers. After he built a small timber frame during a week-long course, he was hooked.
"This type of construction is basically unheard of in the South," said Downs, as he lined up the next peg.
John McGee, an engineered wood and components sales manager at 84 Lumber in the Birmingham area who has been in the construction business since 1986, said that he has only known of one or two buildings erected with traditional timber framing techniques.
"That's very rare," McGee said when he heard about the Shelby County project. "It's a very unusual framing technique. It's a pretty extreme, old-school building style that you just don't see anymore."
Rather than traditional sheet-rock construction with studs and nails, the Touchstones' construction plan entails using heavy pine timbers connected with mortise and tenon joints. Diagonal bracing adds extra support, while wooden dowels hold the joints in place. Tongue-and-groove details, which allow the wood floor to fit together like a puzzle, reduce the need for metal and nails.
Although he uses a computer to help with measurements, the precision needed to ensure a smooth fit means measuring more than twice. Downs cuts the pieces off site, creating a puzzle of sorts that he puts together on location.
"I'll measure everything for about a week and a half," said Downs, "and then we'll spend another week cutting all the wood. All of it, though, will go up in about five days."
Once the frame of the structure is built, Structural Insulating Panels will be used to create the walls of the cabin. Although the timbers will only be visible from the inside of the house because of the use of SIPs, the design offers a less complex construction plan and better heat insulation.
The unique construction will be mirrored inside by the personal touches requested by each of the family members:
• Tut wanted a heated floor. "Brick gets too cold in the winter," he said.
• Erica wanted window seats. "We have to listen to Erica. She's carrying the families' first set of twins — my grandbabies."
• Kathy wanted lots of windows. "If I get Kathy's approval, everything else will be OK," said Tut of his wife.
Tut expects the house to be livable by Thanksgiving, but said he will probably put another year of work in before it is completely finished. The plans call for a 10-ft. ceiling fan, a 12-ft. screened porch, a 9-ft. open porch and an outdoor shower.
"I wanted it," said Tut when asked about the outdoor shower. "I like to take showers outside. Eventually, we'll put something inside. For now, the grandkids can use a sheep and goat trough," he said with a chuckle.
Eventually, Tut said he plans on selling the remaining land, property he and his friend, Tommy Turpin, bought sometime in the 1980s: a total of 150 acres surrounding a lake that holds 87,000 coppernose bluegill fish.
He will sell one lot a year — a total of 10 lots, ranging from four to nine acres each, eventually developing a subdivision that will feature estate-style homes. Tut said he will not be involved in the building of the homes, but will have some regulations for buyers. They won't be allowed to remove more than 10 percent of the trees on the property, for example.
Recently, Tut sold 20 acres to the Shelby County Board of Education where they will build a new elementary school. With the funds from that sale, Tut said he was able to begin work on a paved road off of Highway 47 that will serve as the main road to the subdivision.
For now, the house will serve as a residence for Tut's son, a place for Tut to stay while he works on the property, and a place for the family to visit, tucked away in the woods.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
NewsDo It Againdo it again EPdo it again robyn
Why Robyn, The World's Greatest Pop Star, Doesn't Care About Being Popular (Again)
Why Robyn, The World's Greatest Pop Star, Doesn't Care About Being Popular
Joshua Ostroff
Senior Editor, Huffington Post Canada
Dec 23, 2014, 10:12 AM EST | Updated Dec 23, 2014
Andy Sheppard via Getty Images
SOUTHWOLD, ENGLAND - JULY 19: Robyn performs with Royksopp on stage at Latitude Festival 2014 at Henham Park Estate on July 19, 2014 in Southwold, United Kingdom. (Photo by Andy Sheppard/Redferns via Getty Images)
Robyn is a lover and a fighter. Dressed in boxing shorts and a silver space top, the future-forward Swedish singer is hugging herself during "Dancing On My Own" like six thousand fans aren't watching the weirdness from the sands of Toronto's Echo Beach.
Suddenly the small blonde begins punching the air like a prizefighter and then slides across the stage on her knees as the crowd joins her en masse in belting out the cathartic, communal chorus. Turns out, no one is on their own at a Robyn show.
This late-summer concert was the end of a triumphant tour with friends and (now-retired) collaborators Röyksopp to celebrate their joint-EP "Do It Again." The record and its anthemic electro-pop title track made both our best album and best song lists, and their tour doubled as the year's best dance party, an unexpected win in a year marked by massive EDM fests.
Or maybe not that unexpected. After all, the sound of 2014 *was* the sound of Robyn, even if "Do It Again" wasn't the omnipresent radio smash it deserved to be. Top 40 dance-pop by the likes of Calvin Harris, David Guetta and Katy Perry feels like reductionist takes on the more complex, emotion-soaked fusion that Robyn has been releasing independently for a decade, ever since her major label rejected her too-prescient move into electro-pop.
Then there are the artists she directly inspired, like Tove Lo, a fellow Swede who hit it big with "Habits (Stay High)," and Canadian 90s throwback Keisza, whose "Hideaway" was inescapable. Or the ones that her acclaim has helped opened doors for, like art-pop up-and-comer Charli XCX.
Even Taylor Swift's "Welcome To New York" was sonically reminiscent of Robyn and her album "1989" was co-written with Max Martin, the famed Swedish popsmith who worked with a then-teenage Robyn on her initial 90s breakthrough "Show Me Love."
HuffPost Canada spoke with Robyn about the importance of those "shite" early days, the impact of EDM and why she no longer cares if her pop songs get played on the radio. After all, why would a former champ need another title fight when she's got this much love outside the ring?
Considering your pop star start in the '90s and critically acclaimed comeback as an outsider act, how are you feeling about how you built that success back up?
I feel like I'm really lucky to be able to do what I want. I've been able to take something out of the first ten years of my career, like experience and some money, and that made everything easier for me when I started my own record company. If you start from scratch with no funds it's much harder. I was able to turn all of that shite that happened to me in those first 10 years into something good.
So I feel very lucky, and I feel like there's so much more. I've just kind of started, actually. There's a lot of things that I haven't done yet, that I would like to do. And I feel like, not that I'm running out of time, but I feel a little stressed, too. I feel lucky and stressed.
It's interesting that you started out working with Max Martin, who now writes every nine out of 10 songs on the pop charts.
He did that already back then.
But that was the beginning, right? You and Britney, the Backstreet Boys. But it's interesting that now the stuff that he writes sounds a lot more like what you've been doing like the last five years. Hell, all of pop music is sounding a lot more like what you were doing five years ago.
You think?
I hope I don't sound like that. [laughs]
I just mean that when you started in the mid-90s, pop music and electronic music were over here and over there. That's not the case anymore.
Right. It's an interesting phenomenon
Of course, Europe never really saw the same separation we had here in North America. There, it never left the charts after the initial '80s, early-90s dance-pop boom.
What's cool about Europe, in that sense, is that a lot of kids who are fans but not like super music nerds, they're still exposed to music that has roots in something that's not commercial at all. That's because of the rave culture and because of people who create their own little worlds in the underground where it's about communities. That's really influenced the European music market in a way that it maybe hasn't here. Hip-hop has done that in North America but you don't have these local underground scenes influencing what's on the charts in the same way, I think.
I've never understood why European hits like "With Every Heartbeat," "Dancing On My Own" or "Do It Again" can't get much airplay here compared to, say, Rihanna or Gaga. Why do you think you're perceived as "underground" when your sound would surely be accessible to people if they just heard it? Why hasn't corporate radio picked up on your music?
Maybe because they don't feel safe that I will deliver the commercial-like space that they need to be able to really put their money into it. With all of these other artists there are so many other things — they are like fashion brands, they sell perfumes, they're in newspapers all the time and talk about their love lives, you know?
It's an industry around them that I'm not providing. I think that helps radio stations and other commercial entities to trust that those artists are gonna deliver something that they are going to make money off of.
So you're delivering the songs, but you're not delivering the brand.
Maybe, it's just a thought. I have no idea actually. But I really let go of that a long time ago. I feel like I'm not interested in resolving that problem anymore. We don't have to either because we have our own audience we need to work for.
That's true, and you're not the only ones; Pearl Jam sells out arenas without being part of the industry, Metric, a Toronto band, have built up enough of an audience that they can sustain themselves without having to play that game. Is that the future? Creating your own rules?
I think that's how it is right now.
How has EDM impacted you? Not the way you make your music but how it's received or your audience size?
Well, I don't know if it's made a difference because our music isn't played on the radio here anyways. I think the big part of it was that the R&B and hip-hop scenes started to incorporate sounds that got people introduced to electronic music, in a different way. Now they're used to that sound. It's something they recognize. Something that makes them feel comfortable. It's not weird anymore.
I think that's probably why it's easier for people to get into a dance scene, it's not strange. But I don't know how that's affected my career because I think, for me, it's the arrangements of the actual songs that are more commercial than the way it sounds.
Do It Againdo it again EPdo it again robynmusicrobyn


This Past Due Policy was developed under the direction of the Morgan County Library Board, and was discussed and adopted in an open meeting. This policy will be reviewed by the library board on an as needed basis.
It is the intent of the Morgan County Library Board to maintain a policy regarding recovery of, and reimbursement for, past due, lost or damaged library materials.
The library is under no obligation to notify patrons of past due library items. However, written notices of past due items are sent to patrons as a courtesy.
Patrons will be notified in writing within three weeks after their library items become past due. If the patron does not respond, a second reminder will be sent within three weeks after the first notice. When the second notice is sent, the patron's account and all family members' accounts will be suspended. After all past due items have been returned and all fines paid, the patron and his/her family members will again be allowed to check out library materials.
If the matter is not resolved after the second request, final notice will be sent giving the patron 10 days to respond before the account will be sent to a collection agency. If the total replacement cost of one or more past due items exceeds $10.00, the account will be turned over for collection. The patron will then be charged the current retail cost of each past due item, a $5.00 per item past due fine, a collection fee of one-third of the total of the replacement costs and past due fines, and a $10.00 processing fee. If the total replacement cost of one or more past due items is less than $10.00, patrons will be sent a bill for the items and given 60 days to pay in full. If after 60 days the patron has not responded, their account will be suspended and library privileges lost. Patron will be sent a second written notice stating if account is not paid in full within 30 days, the account will be sent to a collection agency.
For patrons under the age of 18, notifications will be sent to the parent or guardian who signed the authorization card. If necessary, further action will be taken in the parent/guardian's name.
Until such time as an account is turned over for collection, the patron deals directly with the Morgan County Library. After that time, the matter must be resolved through a collection agency.


Summary: Read Revelation 8 KJV along with a helpful commentary.
This section tells about the "Seven Trumpets," which are a warning to the world of the severe judgments of God. In Bible times trumpets were used as a call for war. Judges 7:16-18. Also, the priests blew trumpets to signal the upcoming Day of Atonement, the annual day of judgement. Leviticus 23:23-32. The seven trumpets follow the pattern set by the seven seals and seven churches, but the trumpets focus on the judgments which God pours out upon the persecutors of His people during these periods of time. The first six trumpets bring partial destructions warning of the Great Day of Judgment and retribution which will end in the utter annihilation of Satan, sin and of all who refuse to repent and separate from their sin. Revelation 20:9-14. In the seven trumpets God avenges the blood of the saints upon their persecutors; specifically western Rome, eastern Rome and ultimately with the execution of the Antichrist and all who choose to follow him. The trumpets teach us that God will avenge His own. Deuteronomy 32:43; Luke 18:7-8; Romans 12:19.
8:3-6 The angel offers "incense" with the "prayers" of all the saints. Jesus mingles our humble prayers with the holy incense of His self-denial, His self-sacrifice and His righteousness. His merits make our prayers acceptable to God as a sweet fragrance.
The angle filled the censer with fire and "cast it into the earth." This symbolizes God's judgements on the nations. Those who refuse to accept the lesser judgements of the first six trumpets will be destroyed at the seven trumpet judgement. The seventh trumpet will sound after everyone has made a final and permanent decision for or against Christ; intercession for those who have rejected Him has ceased, probation has closed and every case has been decided. Revelation 22:11.
The "voices," "thundering," "lightning," and "earthquakes" are a symbol of the final judgement. They appear at the end of the seventh seal (Revelation 11:19), and at the end of the seventh plague. Revelation 16:17-18; cf. Revelation 6:14-17.
8:7 The first four trumpets are judgements on Pagan Rome for its persecution of God's people.
The First Trumpet: The "hail and fire mingled with blood" symbolize war and bloodshed. Ezekiel 38:21-22. "Trees" and "grass" depict people. See Revelation 9:4. God sent the barbaric Goths from the north to fall upon Rome, as a plague of "hail" to spill the "blood" of her people, and set her proud cities on "fire." The Goths, headed by their general Alaric, attacked the Romans from A.D. 396 to 419. They sacked and pillaged the city of Rome in A.D. 410. The term "third part" indicates that a large portion would be affected but not all; in this case it applies to Rome.
8:8-9 The Second Trumpet: The "great mountain burning with fire" which was "cast into the seas" represents a nation or kingdom. Jeremiah 52:25-27; Daniel 2:35, 44, 45. The sea, like the trees and grass from the first trumpet, represent people. Revelation 17:1, 15.
The mountain cast into the sea depicts a violent invasion of civilized and populated area. The Vandals, led by Genseric, their king, invaded Rome from Africa and the Mediterranean Sea between the years A.D. 428 to 468. Like a roaring volcano thrown into the Sea, their sack of Rome in A.D. 455 which culminated in the unrestrained burning and pillaging of the city was so dreadful that the world "vandalism" remains to this day a term for malicious destruction of property.
8:10-11 The Third Trumpet: The "great star" that fell "from heaven" is symbolic of a great leader. Revelation 1:20; 22:16; Genesis 37:9-10. Wormwood is a bitter medicinal plant, poisonous in large or concentrated doses. The leader that appeared as a sudden blazing star bringing such bitterness upon Rome was Attila, ruler of the Huns. Called "The Scourge of God," Attila, with his hordes of barbarian horsemen, raped, murdered and turned city after city into smoldering ruins without mercy. Revelation correctly portrays this invasion as a most bitter judgment.
8:12-13 The Fourth Trumpet: A "third" of the "sun…moon" and "stars" are "smitten" with darkness. This represents the removal of Western Rome's leaders. In A.D. 476 Odoacer, king of the Heruli, deposed the Western Roman Emperor, Romulus Augustus, bringing an end to the Western Roman Empire. From then on the Pope was the dominant figure in Western Europe.


text:
Q: What are properties in Ember? Or are they methods? This is probably a legitimately stupid question, but I feel like it is keeping me from understanding large portions of Ember.
In the following code:
App.IndexRoute = Em.Route.extend({
  skipSidebar: true
});

What is 'skipSidebar:'? What is it in regard to the javascript programming language and what is it in Ember?
Another example:
App.AboutRoute = Ember.Route.extend({
  activate: function(){
    this.controllerFor('application').set('renderAboutSubNav', true);
  },
  deactivate: function(){
    this.controllerFor('application').set('renderAboutSubNav', false);
  }
});

What are 'activate:' and 'deactivate:'?
In the first example I used 'skipSidebar' to render a partial:
{{#unless skipSidebar}}
   {{partial 'sidebar'}}
{{/unless}}

But I'm not really sure why I did that or what it is doing.
Essentially I see these names of what look like methods inside of routes and controllers and I'm not sure where they are coming from. If someone could explain this to me like I'm a golden retriever that would be awesome. When can I use them? When should I use them? How do I use them?

A: Since you commented that you are familiar with OO programming then this should be easy for you to understand.

What is 'skipSidebar:'? What is it in regard to the javascript programming language and what is it in Ember?

App.IndexRoute = Em.Route.extend({
  skipSidebar: true
});

In ember everything extends e.g. is a subclass of Ember.Object, Ember.Object in turn is the basic class object (the fundation) which provides you all the needed mechanics to programm in OO style. So in the case of skipSidebar, this is a class property allocated onto your extended Ember.Route object which as I said is also a subclass of Ember.Object.
So now imagine you would extend App.IndexRoute:
App.MyFooRoute = App.IndexRoute.extend({
  someFunction: function() {
    this.get('skypSidebar'); // this would retrieve the correct property defined in App.IndexRoute
  }
});

What are 'activate:' and 'deactivate:'?

App.AboutRoute = Ember.Route.extend({
  activate: function(){
    this.controllerFor('application').set('renderAboutSubNav', true);
  },
  deactivate: function(){
    this.controllerFor('application').set('renderAboutSubNav', false);
  }
});

In this case a Ember.Route has additional functions on top of the basic functionality already provided by Ember.Object, in the case of a route this additional functions are mostly routing related. To make developers live easier ember provides a so called public API which consists of stub functions one can override to be notified when this functions are called in it's lifecycle. This functions are also called hooks. In the case of activate and it's counterpart deactivate, this are called/invoked by ember when a route is about to become active, and respectively un-active e.g. when the route changes.
To take things further, imagine you want some basic functionality to be always executed but also you want to extend the class and override these hooks without loosing the basic logic, then there is a method for that called this._super().
App.BasicRoute = Ember.Route.extend({
  activate: function(){
    alert('route activated');
  },
  deactivate: function(){
    alert('route deactivated');
  }
});

Now we extend App.BasicRoute:
App.DifferentRoute = App.BasicRoute.extend({
  activate: function(){
    this._super();
    // do stuff
  },
  deactivate: function(){
    this._super();
    // do atuff
  }
});

The above example would, call activate and respectively deactivate of it's parent class executing alert(...); because we invoked this._super() in the sub class, and additionally execute whatever logic you might have defined in the sub class.
Hope it helps.

A: From a pure Javascript syntax standpoint, this code:
App.IndexRoute = Em.Route.extend({
  skipSidebar: true
});

is equivalent to this Ruby:
App['IndexRoute'] = Em['Route'].extend( { 'skipSidebar' => true } );

That is, it's assigning an element of a Hash (which in Javascript all objects essentially are) to the result of a method call on an element of another Hash, with an argument that is yet a third Hash, this one in literal form (the basis of JSON).
In fact, you could write the JS in a form almost identical to the Ruby:
App['IndexRoute'] = Em['Route'].extend( { skipSidebar: true } );

... since the Name.Key syntax in Javascript is just a convenient shortcut for Name['Key'] that works when the key string is a valid identifier.  This works, too:
App['IndexRoute'] = Em['Route']['extend']( { skipSidebar: true } );

because Javascript is like Python in that methods are really just attributes (Hash elements) whose value is a function/closure.
Semantically, however, what this is doing in Ember is defining a class called IndexRoute, in the App object (which is used for namespacing) as a subclass of the Ember-defined class Route (in the Em object/namespace), and adding a property skipSidebar that will default to true for all new App.IndexRoute objects.  So functionally, it's more like this Ruby:
class App::IndexRoute < Em::Route
  attr_accessor :skipSidebar
  def initialize
    @skipSidebar = true
  end
end

In your second example:
App.AboutRoute = Ember.Route.extend({
  activate: function(){
    this.controllerFor('application').set('renderAboutSubNav', true);
  },
  deactivate: function(){
    this.controllerFor('application').set('renderAboutSubNav', false);
  }
});

we're again defining a subclass (this time of Ember.Route rather than Em.Route), and in the subclass adding or overriding two methods called activate and deactivate.  Ruby:
class App::AboutRoute < Ember::Route
  def activate
    self.controllerFor('application').renderAboutSubNav = true
  end
  def deactivate
    self.controllerFor('application').renderAboutSubNav = false
  end
end

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Offshore contractor Ezra Holdings on Friday announced four contract wins totaling nearly US$120 million (S$159.6 million) ofprojects in the Gulf of Mexico, West Africa and the Philippines.
Two projects - one in the Gulf of Mexico and one in West Africa - were clinched by its subsea services division EMAS AMC from two major oil companies, it said.
The African contract entails project management and installation of flexible risers, hydraulic umbilicals and anchor chains, as well as pre-commissioning services.
It was secured with a local joint venture partner and offshore works will likely begin in the second quarter of 2013.
The contract in the Gulf of Mexico is a strategic deepwater contract for the project management and installation of flowlines, umbilicals, jumpers and flying leads. It is scheduled to start in the third quarter of 2013, Ezra added.
Separately, its offshore support services division, EMAS Marine, also secured a eight-year contract, including options, for offshore exploration work with a major Philippines oil firm, as well as another five-year contract extension for one of their vessels in West Africa.


December 4th – The house of the doctor and the Japanese consulate.
I have come to Xiamen, Fujian province. Xiamen has always been a foreign city in China. The town is laying on a small island and is a very modern and clean city. On the westside it is connected with the mainland by a bridge. On a very bright day you can see the outline of Taiwan in the east. 10 minutes with the ferry brings you to the neighbouring Gulangyu Island. In the middle of the 19th century many foreign nations obtained trade concessions and build their consulate on the island. Many of the splendid villa's are now owned by wealthy Chinese and foreign families. Others are waiting to be restored. If not they will whither away. In those houses still many less affluent Chinese people are living.
2009 Fujian - dilapidated house on Gulangyu.
With my guide Li Wen I visit several courtyards. In the first one we are welcomed by an elderly men. He was born in this house 66 years ago. At that time the house belonged to his father – a doctor, who build the house in 1935. In front of the house there had been a wonderful garden. Now it is only a concrete slab with some concrete tables to play chess or cards. The son of the doctor is still comparatively well off. He lives in a part of the downstairs floor. 7 other families also live in the house. But the house is very damp and you can see the walls crumble away. In a second courtyard the people are much less well off. A girl, her old mother and her baby son try to live from gathering old boxes and other paper. The house is in a very bad state and their few rooms have no outside windows. The kitchen and toilet are outside in the yard. Grandmother is preparing a few tiny fishes, which she kindly offers to share with us. Of course we do not accept this kind invitation. But to my big surprise the living room is almost filled up by a huge flat screen TV.
2009 Fujian - an apartment in the former Japanese Embassy on Gulangyu.
December 6th-2009, Brides and groomes at the beach.
On the east coast of Xiamen there is a footpath along the beach. a wooden platform to walk even by high tide People sit on the rocks and scrape mussels and shells or search for other seafood in the shallow puddles. On one flat rock a wedding photographer is working with a whole crew of people. The young bride is all in white - a strapless dress with a long train. Also the groom is in white, even his shoes. The assistants help to layout the train in a big circle on the rock. One of them walks over the train. It does not seem to matter. A slip of the dress ends up in a puddle of seawater. Also that doesn't matter. The young groom has to stand next to his bride on the train and is pushed in many difficult positions by one of the female assistants. The bouquet is thrown over to him, but he misses it and it ends up further on the rock. No problem, it is all plastic. An other assistant has another go at it, this time with more success. A stylist puts some more hairspray on the hair and the veil of the bride and then the photographer can start taking his pictures. He is taking pictures and smoking at the same time. Amazing how he does this. More changes of the dress and the carriage of the young couple. I really admire the shy young boy. It cannot be easy to look serious and loving while you have to bend your hips in an impossible curve and at the same time at least ten other couples next to you try to do the same. All these pictures are not the real wedding pictures. This al belongs to the preparation for the wedding and more sessions in other places will follow. That time the bride will be in pink, green or soft blue and the groom again will have a matching dress. All is rented. When I can see the bride from the back I see that she is slimmer then the average girls. The dress is heavily pinned in. Also when she lifts her skirts to move into another position, she does not show a beautiful pair of legs andnice wedding shoes, but under the skirt she wears blue jeans and black leather boots. On the big day the girl will be in red and perhaps even the groom. But that can still take some time. First these pictures have to be paid for.
2009 Fujian - home along the road. All utensils, needed to make tea in the traditional way, ready for use.
2 years ago I saw in Gansu province the wedding album of a young moslem couple. We could only reach their village by walking for an hour through a narrow cleft. In the photo's they were both dressed in their most beautiful moslem dresses – the girl without a veil – and in front of a big pink American old timer and another one with a bright red racing car. Daydreaming for one day only! They were very proud of their pictures and many poems in English telling about all the happiness in the world. Only neither they nor their family could read a word of it. But they were told that this was the most modern way to have your wedding album made. The picture with the race car hang almost full size over the bed, that filled the largest part of their home. Their home was a cave, hewed out in the rock, like most of the homes in that village.
With Li Wen - my guide - and female driver we set out to visit several Hakka villages between Nanjing and Yongding on the mainland. A few miles after Nanjing we turn from the main road into a small winding country road. Beautiful bamboo forest on both sides of the road. And then between the soft green of the bamboo I spot the first 'castle'. On top of a small hill there is an earthen round house – one of the famous Hakka houses. This one is not a museum, but a normal house in a small village. It takes a long walk up to reach the round house and unfortunately the rain is pouring down on us. But looking through the porch it is as if I have entered into a film set of some medieval warrior story.
2009 Fujian - entrance to communal courtyard of a Hakka house.
On the inner coblestoned circle of the house life is going on as usual. Wood has been stacked to dry, chickens and ducks try to gather some scraps of green and grain. The well is in the middle. Dogs everywhere. Many of these houses are 200-300 years old. In the old days as many as 400 people could live in it, all from the same family. The inside of these three-or four-story houses look perhaps most like a Shakespeare Theater. Wooden balconies in the first and second floor on which cloths and vegetables are laid out to dry. On the ground floor there are many small doors, all leading to individual kitchens. The front of the kitchens are made of wood. These massive buildings are made into shape layer by layer, using a mixture of raw earth, sand, lime, glutineous rice and brown sugar all reinforced by 'bones' of wood and bamboo. The foundation exists of big stones. The outer wall is at least one meter thick. On the path way between the kitchens people are sitting to chat and smoke. Each kitchen belongs to a separate family, but everybody is still related to each other. On the upper floors there are sleeping rooms and storages. Now there are40 people living in the house, 8 families and a number of single older men and women.
2009 Fujian - outside kitchen in a Hakka courtyard.
Everybody is very friendly and we are invited in for tea in almost every place. Here serving tea is still a ritual. The home grown tea is served intiny cups. Several times I had to drink at least 10 cups of tea before I was allowed to take a picture. It is good that the cups are very small, because the toilet facilities are notto be described.
2009 Fujian - private space in the communal Hakka house.
An old man tells us he was born in this house. The work on the land was always very hard, but there has never been hunger in the house. And next to the hard work there were the many festivals during the year and many big marriage festivities with lots of guest and many dishes on the table. He tries to give us a description of the cloth they were wearing at that time, but either he or my translator are not succeeding very well. Anyhow all of that is gone now. There is also no antique furniture left. During the cultural revolution the Red Guards destroyed the Ancestral Hall in the centre of the circle, but they left the house to the families. An old lady joins us. She is only about 140 cm high, fragile, but with beautiful white hair. She is not very Chinese looking. She tells us, she came from Quandong, the neighbouring province and was brought to the house when she was only 2 years old. Her parents had arranged, that – at the proper age – she would marry one of the sons of the house. It was the custom that the girl would leave her own family as soon as the contract was made. She told us too, that she was raised on horse milk to make her strong. Also her feet had not been bound, as the Hakka women have to be hard workers on the land. I heard this same story many times later onthis week.
We find a road with at least 30 round and square Hakka houses. Not all are inhabited any longer. The empty houses are sad to see. In other houses only a few old people are living. In one house there is only a blind father with his young daughter. He is beekeeper and has his bee hives fastened on the top floor of the small round house. Not only was there a fantastic light in this high, but small inner circle, but the whole circle smelled sweet from the honey. The next house is full of live again. Many young families and most of the houses have been modernized. Tiled kitchens, electric stoves and big TV's and stereo sets. In one of the outdoor kitchen two men are slaughtering a dog. The first time I saw a dead dog on the market in Guizhou in 2005 my stomach turned. Now I notice it, but do not react so strongly. I go on with taking a picture when - behind my back- a sudden crack split the dog's head. I think it better not to look.
2009 Fujian - home distillery in the Hakka house. The stuff tastes awful.
2009 Fujian - street around the Hakka house. Vegetables are laid out to dry.
The last days I met many po po's – beautiful ladies, always elegant in their Chinese jackets and their silver gray hair. Most of them were between 80 and 90 years old, one even 96. Just think what a turbulent time they have lived through. But how much of the big world events had reached them in their circular world. Most came from Guandong and they had all been brought to the house, when they were 2-3 years old. In between the Japanese armies had landed on Fujian's coast, not far from Xiamen. Mao had started his Long March in Fujian and through Fujian the Nationalist armies had retreated, before they left the mainland for Taiwan. Some of the most important events in modern Chinese history did happen on their doorstep. The kitchens of these old ladies show they are poor, but all are spotless clean. And in many I find a special atmosphere of a hard but gentle life lived through. Through an open kitchen door you can see one of these ladies having her meal. On the floor there is a tin with some food for her chicken. They are having a cosy meal together. But one day the chicken will just as well end up in the pot.
2009 Fujian - front of a Hakka house. On court level the living spaces, sleeping spaces higher up, storage above.
I notice that several of these ladies are holding tiny bamboo baskets in a very special way. They hold them with both hands covering the top of the basket, as if they want to be sure that no thief can put his hand inside. But it turs out these baskets are no handbags. Inside there is a small pot and in the pot some hot coals to keep their hands or their feet nice and warm. There have been many days I could have had very good use for such a warm 'handbag'.
209 Fujian - coming home from the fields. The water buffalo is here the draught-animal.
One of the ladies is especially elegant. She is even wearing a nice bonnet with a flower on the side. She lives together with her youngest son, who takes care of her. The son is 38. He was born when his mother was 43. He is the youngest of eight children and all his brothers and sisters are still alive. All eight children have been born during the cultural revolution – one of the most difficult times in Chinese history. It must have taken great efforts to give birth and raise eight children and keep oneself alive on top. Perhaps the mind of the lady is now faltering a bit, but she is very cheerful and findsgreat pleasure in our visit.
If Beijing has 9 million bicycles, then Dehua has at least 1 million motorbikes. And they all blow their horns constantly. This is porcelain city. There are many porcelain factories in Dehua and in the villages around. Big ones but also many one family businesses. They have been porcelain makers for generations. You can easily recognize their houses. Just look at the litter outside. Teapots and cups, bowls and spoons everywhere. But not only porcelain is made in this region. Also earthenware and bricks are made in very large quantities. Other families have different sources of income. The men most probably work in the factories, but the women and the old people are doing piece-work at home. They produce Christmas or Eastern decorations and iron basket and teapots covered with moose. All these decorative articles that end up in our shops for 3-6 euro's. They perhaps will earn a cent a piece.
2009 Fijian - private kitchen in a large compound - once the big house of the landlord. You walk through one 'home' to the next.
In Dehua the number of apartment towers cannot grow quick enough. In the surrounding villages the workers build their own 'modern' houses. Concrete structures filled with bricks. If there is no money for the window-frames then they leave the holes open, until they have earned enough to continue the building. It all looks like a hurricane has just past through. In between the remnants of the old farms - courtyard houses - 200-300 years old. They are falling together because of devaluation, negotiation and neglect. A modern man lives in a modern house – no matter what quality. Moa Tse Tung ordered during the Cultural Revolution the destruction of all old values. What has been spared in that period is now falling apart for the cause of globalization.
2009 Fujian - entrance hall to a part of the compound. High thresholds and no windows. An old defence against bandits and robbers.
Not so long ago it San Ban must have been a very nice small old town. There are still many of the old courtyard houses. But they are all in a very delipitated state. Many of them are now stables, storages or just standing empty, usually full of garbage. Of many of them the owner is not known. He may have moved out of China many years ago and did not reclaim his property. Until a few years ago it was possible to reclaim your possessions if you had papers to proof that you were the rightfull owner and many overseas Chinese have done so. Still it is not clear what will happen with these ancestral homes.
2009 Fujian - storage in the front, private space in the back.
In some houses still some very old people are living under pitiful conditions. These men and women are between 80 and 90 years old. From their ranks the young people followed Mao on his Long March, which started only 100km away from here. And not many of them survived to return. They went through all the misery and growing pains of the CPR China. They saw it all happen on their doorstep. They made it all possible. But they do not want to leave the houses. Many of them have been born there. Even when their sons have build a new home for them, they are very reluctant to move in. These old houses give them hold and shelter and together they will slowly wither away. And although they seem very poor, they manage to keep structure in their households and in their lives. They and their belongings are the last witnesses. After them there is nobody left to tell their grandchildren of the heroic past - of China's modern history. It is very quiet in the houses. Through the cracks in the roof and in the walls a blessing light falls on all those things, that soon will be no more.
We take the mountain road from Dehua to Nanchen. As we climb higher it gets cold in the car. The heating in the car does not work, usually not a problem in the warm climate of Xiamen.. The ventilation does not work either, so the windows have to stay open. Otherwise the driver cannot see a thing. It has also started to rain. We take a mud road down to an old village – Gaosi.
2009 Fujian - the entrance to the village. Still a few persimmon on the tree. The car has to stay on the main road.
Luo Cheng Chan is hogging firewood in front of his house. He is born in this village. He is 68 en was 6 years old when his parents moved to this house. In that time there were 40 people living there. He now lives there with his wife, who is 66. His two sons and grandchildren live in Dehua. They have more then 20 oxes and 2 pigs. He grows rice, vegetables and sweet potatoes for themselves and the pigs. The oxes find their food in the forest. Fatting the oxes is his main source of income. An ox sells for about € 200,00. A few other houses in the village are also still habitated. A woman offers us hot soup with sweet potatoes. For them the weather is exceptionally cold and the rain makes it even more miserable. The soup is just what we need. A simple but much appreciated lunch that day. In the village there is no restaurant, only a small shop.
2009 Fujian - our "stop kitchen".
I am surprised to see the many electric appliances in the houses. Waterboilers and highspeed cooking plates, rice cookers and a large number of pressure cookers. The relatives have brought them as gifts. Electricity has made the housework much easier. But now the cooking fire is much less on and this makes the kitchens very damp. But in the morning the big stove is heated, as they have to cook the food for the pigs. We all sit almost on top of the tiled stove. Many houses in the village are deserted and falling to pieces.
2009 Fujian - enough firewood to heat the stove in this very airy home.
A bit further on the road there is a big billboard "Louton Grand Canyon". A very new concrete road goes deep down into the valley. We follow the road along a light green foaming river. Farmers walk on the roadside, carrying vegetables, firewood and all kinds of equipment. One woman has at least 5 kg of pork dangling from her carry pole. The curving road falls down to the river only to go up steep again into a new bend. Bamboo forest on both sides, pine trees in the higher parts. Just as we decide to give up and return we see the village in a rounding in the shape of a horse shoe. Xucuo village is at least 300 years old. All houses are built against the slope of the mountain and made from a very dark wood. The foundation is made from large granite blocks. Huge granite slabs are used as steps and bridges over the brooks and water channels that reach every house and every field. The fields in the center of the horse shoe are very old terraces for rice and vegetables. In this village most houses are habituated. In every house we are welcome.
2009 Fujian - a winery, nice surprise along the road.
There are only old people and a few younger women around. All houses are occupied by several families, all related to each other. We are free to wander from kitchen to kitchen. Chinese courtyard houses are like warrens. Very narrow dark allies connect the different small kitchens and storages. Where the house has been enlarged, it often is build over a small brook. Where extra light comes in from the roof a wide wooden bridge is build over the brook . This offers a new place for an extra kitchen. Here also rainwater from the roof is collected that forms a small waterbasin in thecenter of the house.
2009 Fujian - nicely decorated pig stable.
Many of the 400 inhabitants are no longer farmers, but work in the industries around. The new road has made it possible for them to commute on their motorbikes. In this way the village stays alive. But perhaps not for long. A big tourist attraction is in the make for the river, the valley and also for the village. What in other villages is left to decay, is here seen as a good opportunity to bring new income to the area. We are not allowed to leave without accepting a present. So we are loaded with bags of bamboo shoots, steamed and then dried sweet potatoes and small nuts from the forest. If I should eat them my dentist would earn a fortune. I leave the presents to our driver. She does a great job for us. Not only has she to drive all those steep and curving roads, but she is also the only one to understand the several local dialects. And coming with a woman always helps to gain the trust of the old people.
Deep down next to the road we see a sea of black roofs. In the middle a very small hill sticks above them. On the hill three very old trees. This is Zhi Xi village – 760 years old. In this village there live 12000 people in 134 old houses, but there are only 4 family names. The houses are 200-300 years old. All of them are protected. One house measures easily 100.000 m2 and they all have over a hundred rooms. These houses are all build according to the 9 hall – 18 courts architectural system. In the wooden houses all the different courts and halls are interconnected. When it is raining tou can walk easily from one to the other without getting wet,. That is also the idea behind this architecture, as it rains very often in this mountain regions. Also this system was very well suited to keep the clan together. Now there live about 80 people in such a house. In old times there were often over 200. We need a guide to help us find our way through the very narrow alleys between the houses. Our first host sends his daughter with us, together with her friend. They are around 16 and both are wearing stiletto heeled high boots. They chat on their mobiles constantly.
2009 Fujian - entrance to the village. For motorbikes is inside the village no space.
Yang Ying Bao is the 'cultural relations officer' of the village. He is 76 years old. He joined the army when he was 16 and stayed in it for 8 years. Then he got a job in the forest department, but left his work at the beginning of the Cultural Revolution. Since then he has worked as a businessman. He has 6 children and 6 grandchildren and one great grandchild. All his children and grandchildren are living in the village. Today it is a festival day, so firework regularly forces us to stop our conversation. All workers are free and at home and all families are cooking large diners.
2009 Fujian - altar in the village hall. All ancestor placards are gone, destroyed by the red guards.
The smell of incense is everywhere and on many house altars a fried duck is ready for diner. The gods have new golden paper hats and new red paper dresses. For the festival the people eat small pancakes filled with a mixture of bamboo, mushroom and reddish. We have to eat them in every house we visit. Also the rice wine is abundant everywhere. In China it is always very difficult to say no, when something is offered. But I try to stay as sober as possible.
2009 Fujian - preparations for the festival.
December 23rd – Lu Fang town, Gang Tuo village.
The countryside north of the road from Lonyang to Changting is very poor. Many villages are almost deserted. The mud houses are falling to pieces. But Gang Tuo is more alive. We meet a group of 4 young farmers, who have formed an agricultural co-operative. They are 27-30 years old. They all see a future for themselves in agriculture. Since they are free to grow what they think is profitable, live has got much better for farmers. One of them has 100 mother pigs and offers manure for the others. They are growing tea, rice and sweet potatoes. The fourth has rented a large piece of forest and sells bamboo and pine from there. They also have a fishpond. As a toy, they race around in a Quad. I ask them whether for them it is difficult to find a wife. They do not see any problem, although none of them is married yet. When they have money to spend, they expect to travel and they also will repair the old house of one of them. Grandfather is 100 years old, happy and very proud of his grandson.
2009 Fujian - the dentist.
December 24th – Sibao town, Zhu YuanShan village.
The road to the top of the mountain is in a very bad state, although it is only two years old. Erosion has taken its toll and too heavy trucks have destroyed the mud road. We walk half the way to keep the car as light as possible and we have to push the car out of the mud several times. But our driver is courageous and we almost reach the village. Fortunately for the way back there is an alternative road. Ma Cong Yuan is 89, his wife 90. They both look very healthy, happy and alive. They have always lived in this village.
2009 Fujian - The ancestral home. Here the red guards never entered.
Ma Cong Yuan has not been in the army and the Red Guards have never come to their house. Only bandits have troubled them several times. There has never been hunger in the village. All of the turmoil of the last 90 years has gone past their house. If there was not food enough from the land, then there was always enough to eat in the forest. They hunted and gathered bamboo sprouts and several roots and wild vegetables. Once there lived 20 families in the village, now there are still twelve. Their grandchildren have decided to stay in the village instead of living in the small town down the road. They take their brand new motorbikes to go to work. The village has always been good for their parents and grandparents, so it will also be good for them and their children.
At midnight there were enormous fire works in Changting, because of the start of the 'Christmas Festival'. I seem to have been the only one who has slept through it.
2009 Fujian - smaal village street.
Today we will visit a friend of Li Wen. His friend is a Feng Shui Master. Li Wen asked his advice before he built the house for his parents. We have to drive two hours to Hong Shan town and then on to Tong Shan village. In Tong Shan an eight course Christmas dinner is waiting for me. It is rare they have guests in the house and certainly not one from outside China. My presence helps to enlarge the status of the Master. There is braised duck, fish soup, shredded pork, fatty pork cubes with jam roots and carrots, cabbage, another root vegetable, a green vegetable and a carrot and reddish salad, rice noodles and wheat noodles and rice for the driver. She cannot do without. And of course a good rice wine with many herbs in it, a splendid combination with such a heavy meal. But also his village is dying. It is too far to town for people to go from here to work.
2009 Fujian - nice inner court.The basin has long been the only water source. Now there is a running tap in the village.
On the top of the hill there is another village. This time the road is very good. The World Bank Program for Rural Roads has paid for it. So I am told by stone tablets along the road. This village is more alive. But also here many houses are locked. The owners live in town and may come back only for the festivals. But people are repairing the pavement in the alleys. The Long March went through this village and I find many old and new Mao posters on the walls, often above the house altar with the small god statue. Mao and the little god share the incense together.
Zhong Zu is the first village on the Long March. From here they went off. I am standing in front of the building in which Mao held his great speech. The old cobble stoned street is still fully intact. You can see them leaving before your eyes. What if he had not succeeded. What would then China look like to day. With what consequences for the rest of the world.
2009 Fujian -Communal court and water basin. Rain water was collected here.
For the people in Zhong Zu it does not make much difference. The people in the small street are still very poor. We knock on the door of one of the larger houses and a man opens. He tells us he is a doctor, but later we understand that he works at the local hospital. He is delighted that we knocked on his door. He is a collector of antique ceramics and shows us several of his pieces. All very valuable, so he tells us. Then he offers to take us around in the village, but it ends in a show tour along all his friends - endless cups of tea. But such a day happens every trip. It does not matter. It is the last day of this trip and it has started raining again. We invite him to have lunch with us, but no way. We have to be his guest. He buys food in the market and the girl next door has to prepare the meal. In the meantime he tells us his story. Shen Gan Gui is the son of a teacher at the Chinese medicine department of the local hospital. He is 57 years old. During the Cultural Revolution his father was attacked badly by the Red Gards from his own school. He had been forced to wear the white paper hat and the paper board around his neck with all his sins written on it. Of course our host could not go to school any longer and he had to work for the farming collective. There was a terrible famine in the village, as they all refused to work hard on the land. He never became a doctor. Later his father was rehabilitated. It was very important for him to show us the official paper, that proved that his father had become a member of the Communist party in 1966.
2009 Fujian - There is a small private kitchen in every crook, nook and corner.
Shen Gan Gui was embittered for not having been able to study. He told us he read many books for himself. He thought the Constitution of the USA and of England were the best in the world and the constitution of France was the worse. He would never in his life wanted to have anything to do with France. France should not have been allowed to join the EEC. We share his meal with him and thank him for his hospitality. A remarkable way to end my last working day in the countryside of Fujyan.


Increased beef production in Argentina, thanks to a changed political environment, means it could be set to take a larger slice of a new trade deal between the EU and Mercosur nations.
Talks between the EU and the Mercosur – Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay – appeared to culminate earlier this month with 99,000t/year of low-tariff beef reportedly allowed to enter the EU in return for lower tariffs on EU goods sent to South America.
This follows a period between 2003 and 2015 when the country almost disappeared from global beef export markets after a socialist, anti-farming government first stopped exports and then reopened them subject to huge taxes, in an attempt to drive domestic prices down.
As a result, beef became unprofitable and the national herd declined by 10 million head between 2008 and 2011.
However, a centre-right government elected in 2015 turned things around. As a result, the national herd is gradually growing and exports to the EU increased by 16% between 2016 and 2017.
Growing use of technology and increased efficiencies are also likely to drive Argentina's cost of production down, and increasing the volume of low tariff beef it can send will increase the level of competition with British farmers looking to export to the EU after Brexit.
Argentina currently supplies beef to the EU under two main, high-quality beef quotas. Quota 481 is tariff-free and allows export of grain-fed beef reared on feed lots. This is set at 48,200 tonnes/year from the global market.
The Hilton quota is around 66,750 tonnes at 20% export duty, with Argentina taking 29,500t of that – the largest share of the quota for the Mercosur block.
The Argentinian Ministry of AgroIndustry predicts the country will fulfil 90% of its Hilton quota this year.
Future production increases are likely to depend on continued political stability, with the next election scheduled for 2019.
What's happening in the UK market?
The most recent forecast on UK beef trade from the AHDB indicates that both import and export trade volumes are predicted to increase slightly in 2018.
Increased imports are predicted to come from Ireland, as production is forecast to rise there, and Poland, which sent 275,000 tonnes of beef to the UK in 2017.
This was an increase of 4.5% on the previous year, a significant increase particularly against a backdrop of a weaker pound.
However, domestic prices are not forecast to be hit significantly as a modest rise in exports is also predicted, alongside a small increase in domestic consumption, with UK consumers predicted to eat 1.2m tonnes of beef and veal in 2018.
Last year demand for beef in the UK increased by about 1.4% and an increase of 1% is expected in 2018.
The UK is currently about 75% self-sufficient in beef, with British farmers enjoying a market share of between 60-65% of domestic production.
By comparison, the EU as a whole was estimated to be 103% self-sufficient in beef in 2017.


Whether starting afresh in business or moving to a new business site, if leasing commercial property is your requirement, you do need to consider more than just the cost of the rent. Your business plan should include renting commercial property and starting out on the right foot can make all the difference between success and failure.
As a business owner, you will have done your market research into the different locations that you would consider to be good for your business. Your requirements may be along these areas; security, a good footfall, close to transport links, size requirements, location of your competitors, proximity to potential employees and more. However, considering the bigger picture can really prove a worthwhile investment, as once you have chosen your spot and 'signed up', costs, risk and demands from your landlord can quickly ruin your plans if they are done in haste.
As an example, and this is a frequent occurence, everything starts well as you develop your business from your leased premises, but then when the lease expires, your hard work may turn out better for your landlord than you. If your lease agreement has been badly written, or your solicitor gave you advice that wasn't highly tuned to your requirements at the outset, this can create an opportunity for your landlord to recognise a flourishing business and increase your rent on renewal. This is an eventuality that should have been dealt with as the agreement was drawn up.
There are many other ways in which a lease can work well for you, and your business, and there may also be a number of circumstances where better pre-planning could have saved you a lot of time, stress and money. Remember that you need to account for rent, service charges, maintenance, repairs, fees to parties such as solicitors (in some circumstance legal fees for your landlord), surveyors, business rates and more.
As previously stated, as part of your business plan, you need to calculate what you can afford, whether the property will be suitable for you (perhaps past the length of the initial agreement) and whether it can sustain your growth plans. This needs to be balanced by making sure you are not taking on something that is far too big for your current needs and bank balance. When accepting terms ensure you have satisfied your immediate needs, but also think about things going wrong, perhaps beyond your control, such as the market crashing. What are you left with if things don't go to plan? You may be tied in to a building that you owe a number of years rent for, but for which you have no break clause? What happens if you need to move out of the property before the term ends?
In the guide below; "Tenants: Your Commercial Property Leasing Guide" you will find information to help you not only overcome some of the potential pitfalls, but also to assess the options available to you for ensuring that your tenancy agreement works for you and your business. It is important to note that this guide will only help you ask the right questions and consider the fuller picture and to plan ahead as well as highlighting some of the risks. You should always seek legal assistance as each business and related properties will need to be seen as a completely bespoke piece of work by your solicitor who will provide a fit for purpose solution for you.
The terms of a lease will dictate the level of rent, whether VAT is included and also the dates when the rent is due. Other requirements that you may find related to rent that can be negotiated are rent-free periods where you require to under-take amendments, alterations and improvements to make the property fit for your business purposes. These will need to be agreed with your landlord and any other parties for development permissions. Rent reviews are also something that can be built into contracts and therefore, understanding that rent can be changed after these reviews is important. Typically, lease agreements for properties over five years will have a review scheme and your commercial property lawyer and surveyor will need to advise you on them. The increases in rent may be 'index – linked', which is subject to inflation, or related to 'market rent', which will take into account the rental market for commercial properties, demand for the property and other more localised conditions.
As with residential tenants, often there will be a rent deposit required which will be held by the landlord for security against numerous risks they may encounter from non-payment of rent or other breaches of your contract with them, or a personal guarantee where the tenant is a company.
Often alongside rent, but a separate issue for negotiation, are the service charges. Make sure that you are fully aware of the payment terms.
Am I allowed to use the commercial property for my intended uses?
This may be stating the obvious but the commercial property you are looking to rent may be perfect for your budget and be the right price but one of the first considerations you need to make is whether you are allowed to use the premises for the purpose you intend. Be careful, even if your landlord is happy with your intended use of the property you may find that due to planning permission, you are not allowed and this can be a costly mistake. Your local authority's planning department should be able to shed light on this and speaking with your solicitor will also eliminate any doubts. Another point to raise and think about is that the landlord of a shopping centre, for instance, may want a variety of businesses within their vicinity and therefore it is also important that the landlord is fully aware of what your plans are now and if you expect to diversify or change at a later point.
Who pays for damage and repairs for the commercial property?
Imagine that a year into your tenancy rain water starts to leak into the building. You make your landlord aware assuming that they will rectify the problem. Your landlord then shows you the lease agreement you signed twelve months previously that states you are fully responsible. Now imagine that this leak is due to substantial damage to the roof requiring the whole of it to be replaced. This could be a disaster for your business yet it is a common misconception that the landlord will take the responsibility for such issues.
The majority of leases (although not all) that you will encounter will be full repairing and full insuring leases (FRI Leases). Advice should to be taken on the interpretation of repair as you may well have to keep the property in good repair meaning ongoing decorating and upkeep which is another expense that can be overlooked. Within a lease there is often a section whereby the parties agree to a Schedule of Condition and it is vital that you understand and keep on top of the requirements of this schedule. Signing Schedules of Conditions without much care and attention can create risk and it may be a good idea for a surveyor to check the condition of the property as well as you asking your solicitor to explain the repercussions of your agreement. In the above scenario of the roof issue, your surveyor would have flagged this up and you will have been in a position to make an informed decision.
How long should the term of the lease be?
Again, a lease term is up for negotiation and it can be attractive to sign up for a longer term in exchange for a reduction in the rental costs but it is really important to look beyond just the savings. Terms have historically been longer than they are nowadays but with a fluctuating, uncertain market, businesses (particularly smaller ones) have chosen to negotiate shorter terms so that they reduce the potential liability of the business going into administration and being left with a liability of a number of years of rent being owed. Bigger businesses can often accept this risk but make sure you are fully aware of the risks you take on.
How can I get out of my lease early?
Negotiating a break clause in your lease is imperative. Often seen as an afterthought by an inexperienced tenant, the break clause can limit your risk of having to owe the remainder of your lease agreement term should you vacate the premises early. The specific clauses within the break clause should be fully understood and, bear in mind, that for a break clause to be accepted the landlord will often have terms in place that state that you, the tenant have fulfilled your obligations up until exit. The courts take an extremely strict line ensuring that your obligations have been met even if you feel that you have gone above and beyond to remedy certain aspects such as repair and up keep. These obligations include repairs, upkeep, rent payment and service charges as well as other obligations you agreed to from the outset.
It would be a good idea for someone within the business to make sure that all obligations are met and scheduled into place. These can be costly and if you do need to exercise the break clause, it can be a timely affair as there is likely to be quite a long notice period required as well as repair work that contractors may need to carry out. This cannot wait until the last minute as after the date has gone, and work is unfinished, you will have breached the terms of your contract and you cannot expect the landlord or the courts to appreciate the good intent.
Therefore, it is vital that you understand the terms of your break clause and that you seek legal advice should you look to exercise them.
What security does a landlord require?
As with any business decision, a landlord will require security in their investment and will require you or your business to provide this. With the current economic climate, landlords are reflecting on their security more and more, so this is a section of the lease agreement that requires serious thought and legal advice. A personal guarantee or someone else being required as a guarantor may be required and you will need to understand the full implications of this. Your family home and your possessions could be at risk. If there is no other option, you could negotiate the personal guarantee for part of the lease rather than the whole term to limit some of the risk, but again; know your risk and seek a solicitor's advice.
The other common form of security for a landlord is a rent deposit. Two options are available. Firstly, the landlord could take ownership of the rent deposit, holds it on trust and repays this according to the terms and obligations you have agreed to carry out from the outset. Alternatively, the tenant keeps ownership of the rent deposit and the landlord takes a charge out on this.
Sometimes provision of business accounts is enough or can make up part of the landlord's criteria, but often this is for bigger businesses or where the business is already known to the landlord.
Who insures the commercial property?
As you can see, there is a pattern emerging with regards to commercial leases and that is; there is no standard lease. They are all different, with clauses and variations that all require full understanding and planning on your part. Insurance is certainly something that needs thought, but it is common for the landlord to pay for the buildings insurance and you will likely be required to pay part of the premium. This is not a strict rule so do not assume this will always be the case.
Other business insurance will be your responsibility and may include: employers liability insurance, professional indemnity insurance, contents insurance, public liability insurance and more.
What are my options at the end of a commercial property lease?
This section is known as the security of tenure and it's important that you get it right. It is impossible to see into the future with regards to the market and where your business will be. You need to plan for eventualities so that your options are at their greatest when the time comes to consider extending the lease or vacating the premises. As with the section on break clauses, if you require to leave, planning in advance and abiding by the terms of the contract will be required as you may need contractors to carry out work, from general maintenance to bigger projects and attention to serious dilapidations. The schedule of conditions needs to be understood and again, it is worth making it a particular person's job in your business to make sure this is managed properly as well as seeking your solicitor's professional opinion.
Provided that you have not breached your terms and the landlord agreed from the outset to opt into the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954, you will have the right to extend your lease should you chose. There are conditions however, where the landlord can evict you or not allow you to extend your tenure, and they will need to serve a notice to quit.
If the landlord has excluded the Act, you will have no right to extend the lease. Consequently, if your business is built up of goodwill and you know from the outset that you will need to stay longer than the original terms outline you should seek advice on how to negotiate on this point.
This guide has been written to highlight some of the issues for tenants when entering into a lease agreement for commercial property. Every individual looking to lease a commercial property will have different requirements, therefore serious thought and advice from a specialist commercial property solicitor could really make the difference for you and your business.


The Gatekeeper allows staff, students and visitors to electronically sign in and out when arriving, departing early (in the case of students) or leaving temporarily for an external appointment. It can be customised to suit your schools requirements, from passes being printed to requiring approval from a designated workstation. It can be used to track boarders leaving/re-entering outside of normal school hours, to tracking the start and finishing times of relief staff. It includes a web-based component to allow staff to sign out from any device allowing schools to be aware of which staff are on/off site at any given time.


It's becoming easier to create an academic environment that addresses the needs of each learner and to allow them to progress as they demonstrate readiness. But an innovation agenda requires knowledge of current tools and new ways of learning and working–and that requires a new set of community agreements.
New learning tools and school models improve every month but at this stage it's still pretty complicated to implement next generation models–nothing works together and everything seems like a big change to constituencies. In fact, the work is challenging enough that it introduces new ways for principals and superintendents to get fired. Most mistakes reflect bad decisions, poor implementation, and/or weak communication.
Effective leaders have always advanced an improvement agenda by coordinating efforts to make the system we have work better. An innovation agenda is about creating new environments that work better for students and teachers–and that's a different job.
Organizational development: Schools that blend online and face-to-face learning work differently; educators work in teams to extend the reach of the most effective teachers and to support new teachers. Technology helps to personalize learning for students and buys time for teachers to work with small groups of students (see OpportunityCulture for more examples). Along with organizational design comes capacity building and working with a governing board on new policies and procedures that support rather than block the innovation agenda.
Technology development. An integrated education technology stack from student information systems to student access devices can be complicated to assemble (even with the Smart Series Guide To EdTech Procurement). The work will take several budget cycles and when it's done, it's time to start over.
Community development. It's always been a challenge to build support for public education but now education leaders need to build support with diverse constituencies for dynamic models and practices that may change every few years.
Change management. Putting a phased plan together (as described in the Blended Learning Implementation Guide), building organizational capacity, and managing iterative phases.
Each of these roles require fluency in new tools and engagement strategies. Like lean software development, these leadership roles starts with a vision of a better future that delights a constituency and is (frequently) conducted as iterative development–short cycles of action informed by feedback. Community conversations, rather than coding, marks each stage of iterative development. Engagement tools include social media, learning networks, surveys, focus groups, blogs, videos, and lots of good old face to face conversation.
A principal facilitates a faculty agreement to implement a multi-classroom leadership role to extend the reach of a skilled teacher and to provide support to several new teachers.
Both of these examples require organizational design, technology deployment, and the agreement of multiple stakeholders. The nature and scale of both agreements is likely to be adjusted over time as tools mature and lessons are learned.
No Superman. Improvement and innovation takes time to develop and spread in formal education. As noted in our new book Smart Cities That Work for Everyone, sustaining a thoughtful agenda over time is the most important key to expanding quality learning options.
Over the last 20 years, schools in three of America's great cities–Boston, Chicago, and New York City–benefited from a sustained partnership between a mayor and a K-12 system head. But we are not waiting for Superman–the key to progress at scale is not a china-breaker, it is broad and sustained leadership.
Beyond the elected and appointed officials in these three cities, community partners were key to developing and maintaining the agenda. The Boston Plan for Excellence supported Tom Payzant's improvement plan in the last decade and is now supporting the Boston Teacher Residency. New Visions for Public Schools and the NYC Leadership Academy supported the development of hundreds of high performing schools in New York. The Renaissance Schools Fund and then New Schools for Chicago played a similar role.
Hillary Clinton said It Takes a Village. Our study of cities suggests it takes an ecosystem–a web of support and opportunity supported by sustained leadership, community partnerships, and aligned investment.
"These high performing leaders embrace innovation and have the curiosity to learn from their teachers, colleagues, leaders in education and even other sectors about building truly creative learning environments for staff and students," Kirtman added.
Education leaders make deposits in the political capital account by creating a shared vision, exhibiting trustworthiness, and building support with clear communication among stakeholders. Good leaders cut good deals–they craft agreements that benefit constituents – they do what they say they will do. Great leaders create reliable hope.


While you�d like to get the best price for your home, consider our six reasons to reduce your home price.
Home not selling? That could happen for a number of reasons you can�t control, like a unique home layout or having one of the few homes in the neighborhood without a garage. There is one factor you can control: your home price.
These six signs may be telling you it�s time to lower your price.
You get the most interest in your home right after you put it on the market because buyers want to catch a great new home before anybody else takes it. If your real estate agent reports there have been fewer buyers calling about and asking to tour your home than there have been for other homes in your area, that may be a sign buyers think it�s overpriced and are waiting for the price to fall before viewing it.
If you�ve had 30 sets of potential buyers come through your home and not a single one has made an offer, something is off. What are other agents telling your agent about your home? An overly high price may be discouraging buyers from making an offer.
Ask your real estate agent about the average number of days it takes to sell a home in your market. If the answer is 30 and you�re pushing 45, your price may be affecting buyer interest. When a home sits on the market, buyers can begin to wonder if there�s something wrong with it, which can delay a sale even further. At least consider lowering your asking price.
If you�ve got to sell soon because of a job transfer or you�ve already purchased another home, it may be necessary to generate buyer interest by dropping your price so your home is a little lower priced than comparable homes in your area. Remember: It�s not how much money you need that determines the sale price of your home, it�s how much money a buyer is willing to spend.
Maybe you�re plum out of cash and don�t have the funds to put fresh paint on the walls, clean the carpets, and add curb appeal. But the feedback your agent is reporting from buyers is that your home isn�t as well-appointed as similarly priced homes. When your home has been on the market longer than comparable homes in better condition, it�s time to accept that buyers expect to pay less for a home that doesn�t show as well as others.
If weeks go by with no offers, continue to check out the competition. What have comparable homes sold for and what�s still on the market? What new listings have been added since you listed your home for sale? If comparable home sales or new listings show your price is too steep, consider a price reduction.


Are you skeptical about eating chard in its raw state? Once you taste this delicious salad, you will fall in love with chard's earthy, salty and tangy flavor. Our Chard Salad with Carrots, Beets and Sunflower Seeds isn't just pretty, but it has a juicy crunch that is exploding with vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and fiber. Filled with colorful vegetables, crunchy sunflower seeds and a flavorful dressing, this salad is so healthy, you will want to make it all year round. Perfect for an easy take-to-work lunch, a quick dinner option, or a fun party dish, this chard salad is even sturdy enough for leftovers the next day. Move over kale, there is a new super green that packs a sweet, vibrant and crisp bite of health in every velvety green bite!
This salad may be pretty to look at, but it also packs a big nutritional punch! Thanks to the swiss chard in this recipe, our vibrant Chard Salad is teeming with properties that help enhance and prolong our health. This leafy green vegetable is an excellent source of vitamins K, A, and C, as well as a good source of magnesium, potassium, iron and dietary fiber. It also contains inorganic nitrates, which may lead to lowered blood pressure and improved endothelial function. As we age, the health of the inner lining of our blood vessels is especially important, making chard an ideal addition to any diet. Consuming foods like swiss chard will help keep our bodies running at optimal levels and is powerful at fighting free radical damage, inflammation and disease development.
While our Chard Salad with Carrots, Beets and Sunflower Seeds is delicious on its own, it can also be served as a side. For further inspiration, try pairing this beautiful salad with our mouth-watering Grilled Cheese with Avocado and Sun-Dried Tomatoes for an overall heartier meal! With so much flavor and nutritional qualities, this recipe is the perfect go-to all year round.
In a large mixing bowl, add chard, carrots, beet, and red onion, and toss to combine. Set aside.
In a small bowl, whisk together olive oil, apple cider vinegar, honey, and salt until emulsified. Pour dressing over the vegetables, and toss together until combined.
Let vegetables marinate at room temperature for at least 45 minutes to 1 hour to soften the chard and beets.
Sprinkle with sunflower seeds and serve.
Disclaimer: Triad to Wellness is a nutrition consultant for the Sorghum Checkoff. We were notcompensated for this post; all opinions are our own.
supplementation on endothelial function: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
European Journal of Nutrition. 2016 Mar;55(2):451-459.


Nordberg Group, the rock processing group of Metso Corporation's Machinery business area, has entered into an agreement to acquire the assets and operations of W.S. Tyler, Incorporated, also known as Centric, an American screen and crusher manufacturer. The acquisition still requires the approval of the US regulatory authorities. The parties have agreed not to disclose the acquisition price. Metso Corporation's shares will be used as payment of the acquisition.
This acquisition will strengthen Nordberg's position as a supplier of screens and classifying solutions for crushed products on the market where the quality and cleanness of crushed materials are becoming subject to increasingly stringent requirements. By combining its own and Centric's expertise, Nordberg will be able to supply more complete solutions for rock processing. Centric's installed base of over 16,000 screens and 4,000 crushers also offers a solid foundation for further developing of the Group's aftermarket business.
Centric is a leading North American manufacturer of screens and feeders used to sort rock and other materials. The company also manufactures crushers and portable crushing plants. Centric's main customers are quarries and mines.
Centric's manufacturing facilities are located in Gastonia, North Carolina, and Columbia, South Carolina. The company also has a small unit in Oakland, California, as well as a branch office in Quebec, Canada. Centric has over 100 years experience in crushing and screening and it markets its products under the brand names Hewitt-Robins, Tyler, Seco and Kue-Ken. Centric's net sales in 1998 totaled approximately to EUR 40 million and it has 300 employees.


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Home > Journals > International Angiology > Past Issues > International Angiology 2009 August;28(4) > International Angiology 2009 August;28(4):325-33
International Angiology 2009 August;28(4):325-33
The influence of intraluminal thrombus on abdominal aortic aneurysm wall stress
Georgakarakos E. 1, Ioannou C. V. 1, Volanis S. 2, Papaharilaou Y. 2, Ekaterinaris J. 3, Katsamouris A. N. 1
1 Division of Vascular Surgery, Medical School, University of Crete, Crete, Greece 2 Insitute of Applied and Computational Mathematics, Foundation for Research and Technology, Crete, Greece 3 Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of Patras, Patras, Greece
Aim. The aim of this study was to examine the effect of intraluminal thrombus (ILT) on the peak wall stress (PWS) in abdominal aorta aneurysm models (AAA).
Methods. Anatomically correct patient specific AAA models were created by 3D reconstruction of in vivo acquired computed tomography images from 19 male patients. Patients were divided in two groups according to aneurysm peak transverse diameter, 5-7 cm (10 patients, "intermediate" group) and >7 cm (9 patients, "large" group), respectively. PWS was evaluated in the presence and absence of ILT. The percentage of PWS reduction (DPWS %) was estimated as a percentage of PWS value in the absence of ILT. Finite element analysis was used to numerically compute the wall stress distribution assuming a 2-mm thick hyperelastic AAA wall material model and a 120 mmHg systolic uniform wall loading. The thrombus was modeled as an isotropic, elastic, homogenous and incompressible material. The volume of ILT was estimated as a percentage of the AAA sac volume.
Results. The ILT volume was 49.9%±10.6% in the "large" group and 58.6%±13.2% in the "intermediate" group (t-test P=0.14). The "large" AAAs have higher PWS values than the "intermediate" group, both in the presence of ILT (36.9±5.8 vs. 23.5±6.2 Nt/cm2, P=0.0001) as well as in the absence of ILT (52.6±15.4 vs. 35.0±10.5 Nt/cm2, P=0.01). The presence of ILT resulted in a decrease of PWS (DPWS) in all cases. There was no statistical difference between the two groups in the mean PWS reduction, in the presence of ILT (26.9±12.5 Nt/cm2 in the "large" group and 31.0±11.7 Nt/cm2 in the "intermediate" group, t-test P=0.48). However, a strong correlation between the ILT relative volume (ILT%) and the degree of PWS reduction was found only in the "intermediate" AAA group (Pearson correlation 0.86, P<0.001), whereas no correlation was observed in the "large" AAA group (Pearson correlation 0.05, P=0.9).
Conclusion. The presence of ILT reduced the PWS in all cases. In the "intermediate" AAAs our results showed a linear correlation between ILT relative volume and ¢PWS. However, in "large" aneurysms no such correlation was found. This indicates that the degree of ILT influence on the reduction of PWS in "large" AAAs may be related to other factors such as the geometric configurations of the AAA.


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Jamie Foxx, Ariana Grande, and more celebrities join protests after George Floyd's death
By Rachel Yang Updated June 02, 2020 at 08:00 PM EDT
Protests have spread across the country this week, with people turning out in droves in following the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis by a white police officer.
Celebrities such as Tessa Thompson, Ariana Grande, Timothée Chalamet, and more have shown up to protests in Los Angeles, New York, and other U.S. cities, in solidarity with Black Lives Matter and other organizations. Additionally, public figures like Chrissy Teigen and Janelle Monáe have shown their support by making donations to go toward bailing out those arrested for protesting.
Through her Twitter and Instagram Story accounts, the Westworld star documented her experience at the Los Angeles Black Lives Matter protest on Saturday. She shared a video of those in the streets kneeling and also shared that the event was peaceful until the LAPD "arrived and escalated it."
"@MayorOfLA are you seeing this? Also, where was the robust media coverage then?" the actress tweeted.
Grande also attended the protest and fought back against media coverage of the demonstration.
"hours and miles of peaceful protesting yesterday that got little to no coverage. all throughout beverly hills and west hollywood we chanted, people beeped and cheered along," the pop star tweeted. "we were passionate, we were loud, we were loving. cover this too please. #BLACKLIVESMATTER
Fans celebrated Grande for using her power to raise awareness for important issues. "Ariana Grande is one of the biggest artists in the world," one fan tweeted, along with a photo of the singer at the protest. "Not only did she use her platform to express her anger and pain towards what's going on she also participated in the streets with the rest of the protesters."
The Masked Singer host and rapper Nick Cannon shared numerous photos of himself protesting in Minneapolis. He donned a shirt reading "Please I can't breathe," which echoed Floyd's words in the video of his arrest. "BUT THEY GON HEAR US LOUD AND CLEAR!!!" Cannon captured one post.
Kehlani
Singer Kehlani also attended a protest in Los Angeles and shared searing black-and-white photos and videos from the scene. "LIVE. NO JUSTICE, NO PEACE. LOS ANGELES MAY 30TH 2020. RESPECT EXISTENCE OR EXPECT RESISTANCE," she captioned the post. "#BLACKLIVESMATTER OUTSIDE INSIDE TODAY YESTERDAY TOMORROW AND FOREVER. POWER TO THE PEOPLE."
Halsey was also at the L.A. protest, and said cops fired "rubber bullets at us." In a frightening video she shared on her Instagram Story, you can hear the bullets being fired. The singer encouraged followers to donate to bail funds for those who were taken into police custody.
Later, on Sunday, the indie pop artist attended the Santa Monica protest and thanked singer Yungblud, who was with her and "who literally ran exposed in front of rounds being shot to drag wounded people to safety without even thinking twice."
The Little Women star was also at the Santa Monica protest. The actor brought with him a poster bearing the names of Floyd, Trayvon Martin, Breonna Taylor, and other victims of police brutality.
Kendrick Sampson
Insecure star Kendrick Sampson recounted how he was hit by rubber bullets unleashed by police while protesting in LA on Saturday. The actor, who was with his How To Get Away With Murder costar Matt McGorry at the event, later said he had a gun pointed directly at him and got hit "7 times with rubber bullets and many with batons."
John Cusack, who was at the Chicago protest on Saturday, said cops "came at me with batons" and hit his bike. The actor even captured audio of police barking orders at him.
Riverdale actor Cole Sprouse said he was arrested while protesting in Santa Monica on Sunday. He posted about the experience on Monday, writing that he wouldn't be talking about it anymore so as not to draw "attention away from the leaders of the #BLM movement."
"It needs to be stated that as a straight white man, and a public figure, the institutional consequences of my detainment are nothing in comparison to others within the movement," Sprouse wrote in his post. "This is, and will be, a time about standing ground near others as a situation escalates, providing educated support, demonstrating and doing the right thing."
Other public figures have donated to help bail out protesters. Teigen originally gave $100,000, but doubled her donation after a commenter called protesters "rioters and criminals."
"Ooo they might need more money then. Make it $200,000," she replied to the user.
On Thursday, Monáe donated $1000 to the Minnesota Freedom Fund, a nonprofit helping to bail out protesters. She matched rapper Noname's donation, and other celebrities giving in that amount also included Kehlani, Kali Uchis, and Jameela Jamil.
Actor Jamie Foxx visited Minneapolis on Friday to join community leaders and protesters in the city where Floyd was killed. Foxx told the crowd he wasn't there as "a celebrity." "These are my brothers. This means everything because, at the end of the day when we see you guys out here on the frontline, we want to let you know you got support."
On Monday, Foxx also showed up in the Bay Area to help lead a kneel-in protest on the steps of San Francisco City Hall.
Here are more celebrities who attended protests across the country this week:
Cody Fern
Lil Yachty
Ben Affleck and Ana de Armas
The event that Ben Affleck and Ana de Armas attended was also held to save a historically black church that the new owner wants to turn into a residential compound.
To help combat systemic racism, please consider donating to these organizations:
Campaign Zero, which is dedicated to ending police brutality in America through research-based strategies.
Color of Change, which moves decision-makers in corporations and government to be more responsive to racial disparities.
Equal Justice Initiative, which works to end mass incarceration, excessive punishment, and racial inequality.
Don Lemon calls out celebrities for 'sitting in your mansions and doing nothing' amid protests
John Cusack says police 'came at me with batons' during George Floyd protest
Beyoncé, Billie Eilish, Ariana Grande, and more call for action in wake of George Floyd's death
Don Cheadle, Steve Carell, Kehlani, and more are helping bail out Minnesota protestors